2. Set up Register¶

Where: the event site, under Register. You need: admin on the Register module (see Step 5 — Make sure someone can administer each module).

Before you start¶

The event has a working Stripe key (1. Create the event). Tiers and merchandise cannot be saved without one.
The Register module is switched on.
You know your prices. A tier’s or item’s price cannot be changed after you create it.

Almost everything below is a tab on one page: Register → Advanced → Registration Settings (/app/register/system/settings/). If you are an admin but the Advanced group is missing from your menu, open that address directly.

Step 1 — Create merchandise¶

Do this first, so tiers can include it.

Open Registration Settings → Merchandise and click Add New Merchandise.
Fill in:
- Name of Item and Base Price (whole dollars).
- Maximum Sale Quantity — the most one person can buy in a single order. Leave blank for no limit. It is not a stock count.
- Is Active? — leave on.
- Customization Options — click + New Option to ask the buyer something about the item, for example a Select Field for shirt size.
Click Create Item. Repeat for each item.

Step 2 — Create tiers¶

Open Registration Settings → Tiers and click Add New Tier.
Fill in:
- Tier Name and Tier Price (whole dollars).
- Badge Prefix — optional. A tier with a prefix gets its own badge number sequence (see Step 5).
- Merchandise Included in Tier — move the items this tier comes with into the selected list.
- Is Active? — leave on. An inactive tier disappears from the list and cannot be offered on a form.
Click Create Tier. Repeat for each tier.

Tip

Create separate tiers for pre-registration and at-the-door prices (for example “Weekend” and “Weekend — On-Site”). Because prices are fixed, a price change always means a new tier; you then choose which tiers each form offers.

Warning

Maximum Sale Quantity on a tier does not stop sales when the number is reached. To stop selling a tier, remove it from the form (Step 7).

Step 3 — Review the e-mails¶

Midsummer fills in default e-mails when the event is created. Read them and put them in your own words.

E-mails tab — the confirmation sent after a successful payment. Edit the body, click Render Preview, then Save. Keep %%QR_CODE%% in it: attendees need the code at check-in.
Upgrade Email tab — sent when someone starts a tier upgrade. Review Subject, Reply-To, and Body, then Save.

The Variables list beside each editor shows the placeholders you can use.

Step 4 — Decide on self-edit and self-upgrade¶

Both are off on a new event. Each is a single toggle that saves immediately.

Self-Edit tab → Allow Users to Edit Their Registrations. Attendees can change their own details. They can never change their tier, merchandise, donation, or coupon this way, and you can lock any other field with its User Editable? setting in the form editor.
Self-Upgrade tab → Allow Users to Upgrade Their Registration Tier. Attendees can move to a more expensive tier and pay the difference. Only tiers offered on their form are shown.

Step 5 — Set up badge numbering¶

Open the Badge Settings tab.

Enable Badge Number System — on by default.
Assignment Mode — Automatic gives each attendee the next number; Manual has staff type the number at check-in.
Global Prefix — optional text in front of every number, for example 2027-.
Sequential Number Width — how many digits (4 gives 0001).
Blackout Numbers — numbers to skip, one exact badge number per line.
Check the Format Preview, then click Save Settings.

Good to know:

Numbers are assigned at check-in, not at purchase. To number badges ahead of time (for pre-printing), use the Badge Assignment tab → Bulk Auto-Assign.
A tier with a Badge Prefix counts separately from the rest, and its numbers read global prefix + tier prefix + number.

Step 6 — Create the registration form¶

Open Register → Management → Registration Forms and click Add New Form.
Fill in:
- Form Name, Slug, and Description.
- Primary Registration Form? — turn on for your main attendee form.
- Form Open Date and Form Close Date — set both.
Click Create Form.

Important

Three things decide whether attendees can register. There is no separate “publish” switch.

Exactly one form is the Primary Registration Form. It is what the Register Now link opens, and it needs no sign-in. With no primary form, attendees see error E:REG:1 (Error e-reg-1). Turning the toggle on for a second form does not turn it off on the first.
Both dates are set, and today is between them. A form with a missing date is closed.
The form meets the minimum requirements in Step 7.

Other forms — staff, vendors, at-the-door — are created the same way with Primary left off. They are reached by their own link (View Form on the form’s card).

Step 7 — Build the form¶

Click Edit on the form’s card. You start on the Registration Form tab.

Minimum requirements. A form cannot be saved without these two fields:

Field	What to do in it
Basic Details	Collects the attendee’s name and e-mail address. Add it, open Edit, and save.
Registration Tiers	Add it, open Edit, and click each tier this form should offer so it is selected. A form with no tiers selected cannot be checked out.

Then:

Click Add New Field and add Basic Details and Registration Tiers, configured as above.
Add Merchandise Field if you sell add-on merchandise, and select the items in its Edit dialog. Unselected items are not offered.
Add anything else you need — Input Field, Select Field, Checkbox Field, Signature Pad, Markdown Text for instructions, Coupon Field, Donation Field.
For each field, set its Label, whether it is Required, and whether it is User Editable?.
Click Save Form.

Warning

Every field you add must be opened with Edit and saved once, even if you change nothing. Until then, attendees see “Waiting for initial configuration…” in its place.

Form details. Edit Form Details in the same editor holds the settings you gave when creating the form, plus:

Require Login / Require Staff Assignment — for non-primary forms.
Allow Cash Payment — for at-the-door forms. Cash registrations are checked in only after staff mark the cash as received.
Auto-Apply Coupon — applies a Stripe promotion code to every checkout on this form. Coupons themselves are created in the Stripe Dashboard.

Step 8 — Design the badge label¶

Each form has its own label design. In the form editor, open the Label Design tab.

Under Label Settings, choose the Printer Type — the label stock you print on (Avery, Dymo, and Brother presets, or Custom with your own width and height).
Under Add Elements, add Text, Image, QR Code, or Barcode elements and drag them into place.
Insert attendee data from System Variables (name, badge number, registration level, QR code) and from Form Fields (anything your form collects, such as a badge name).
Click Save Label.

Labels print through the browser’s print dialog, so the label printer must be installed on the check-in computer and selected there.

Step 9 — Set the check-in procedure¶

In the form editor, open the Check-In Procedure tab.

Click the + tile and add the steps staff should walk through, in order — typically ID Check Step, Merchandise Check Step, then Badge Print Step.
Click Save Check-in Procedure.

The Badge Print Step is what prints the label from Step 8 and assigns the badge number. A form with no steps still checks people in — it just does so in one click, with no label.

Step 10 — Test it¶

On the form’s card, click View Form and read it through as an attendee would.
Confirm the card shows both chips: Primary Registration Form and Form Currently Open.
Signed out, open Register Now and check the form loads and shows your tiers.

Ready check¶

Every tier and item you plan to sell exists, at the right price.
The confirmation e-mail reads the way you want and includes the QR code.
Self-edit and self-upgrade are set the way you decided.
Exactly one form is primary; it has both dates; it shows Form Currently Open when it should.
The form has Basic Details and Registration Tiers, every field has been saved once, and the right tiers are selected.
The form has a label design and a check-in procedure.

Later, if you need them: Devices & Kiosks for check-in kiosks and rapid check-in terminals, and Management → Watch Lists to block or flag specific registrants.