Scenario
An event company is planning a conference that takes place on July 31, 2022 and includes bookable workshops. When an attendee purchases a ticket, the following must occur:
- The purchaser must select a ticket type that determines the cost of the ticket.
- The purchaser must then select the workshop they would like to attend.
- The conference can accommodate 450 attendees and each workshop can accommodate 150 attendees.
- The tickets must be sent to the individual attendee or attendees.
- Attendee details should be captured before checkout using the Attendee Details Page.
- PDF tickets should be enabled if downloadable or printable tickets are required.
- The workshop booking details should display on the ticket.
- Attendees should be checked in at the event using the FooEvents Check-ins app or from the WordPress admin area.
Here is an example of such an event: Conference with Bookable Workshops
This help document outlines the configuration needed to create a conference product with bookable workshops using FooEvents and WooCommerce.
This help document assumes that you already have FooEvents and WooCommerce installed on a WordPress website and have a basic understanding of how FooEvents works. If you are new to FooEvents, you should read our Getting Started guide before continuing.
Products Used
- FooEvents for WooCommerce
- FooEvents Bookings
- FooEvents PDF Tickets
- FooEvents Ticket Themes
- FooEvents Check-ins apps
Recommended Bundle #
All plugins required to set up a conference with bookable workshops can be purchased individually. They are also included in the FooEvents Bookings Bundle. This bundle also includes FooEvents PDF Tickets, which is commonly used for conference and workshop registration workflows.
This use case uses FooEvents Bookings because attendees need to select a workshop when purchasing their ticket. Ticket types are managed using WooCommerce variations, while workshop capacity is managed using FooEvents Bookings.
Setup
Create an event product #
Go to Products > Add Product in the main menu and complete the standard WooCommerce product fields such as the title, main description, short description, product image, gallery, tags and categories.
Use a clear product name, such as “Conference with Bookable Workshops”. The product description should explain the conference date, venue, ticket types, available workshops, what is included with registration, and any important arrival or workshop instructions.
General #
Go to Product Data and select Variable product from the product type dropdown.
This allows you to create different ticket types, such as Delegate, Standard, Student and VIP, while still using the same event product and workshop booking configuration.
Attributes and Variations #
Next, create product variations that allow purchasers to choose between the following ticket types:
| Variation | Price | Stock Availability |
| Delegate | $499 | 200 |
| Standard | $299 | 50 |
| Student | $0 (free) | 100 |
| VIP | $599 | 100 |
Purchasers will be charged different amounts depending on the ticket type they select.
Go to Product Data > Attributes and create an attribute called Ticket Type. In the Values field, specify the different ticket options. Be sure to check the Used for variations option and then click Save attributes.
Go to Product Data > Variations. Use the Create variations from all attributes option to generate the variations.
Set each variation to Virtual and set the relevant price. If you want to manage capacity per ticket type, enable Manage stock for each variation and set the number of tickets available using the Stock quantity field.
You can also set each variation to Downloadable if that matches your store configuration, but this is not required for FooEvents to generate and send tickets.
Enable the Attendee Details Page #
For this conference workshop setup, attendee details should be collected before checkout using the Attendee Details Page. This gives purchasers a dedicated step where they can enter attendee information for each ticket before continuing to WooCommerce checkout.
Go to FooEvents > Settings > Attendee and enable Enable Attendee Details page. FooEvents can automatically create the Attendee Details page, but if you use your own page, make sure it includes the following shortcode:
[fooevents_attendee_form]Select the page in the Attendee Details page setting and save your changes.
You can also enable the copy attendee details option if you want purchasers to copy details from the first attendee to the remaining attendees. This is useful when one person registers multiple attendees from the same company.
For more information, see the Attendee Details Page guide.
Event Settings #
Go to Product Data > Event Settings.
To activate event functionality, set Is this product an event? to Yes.
Set Event type to Bookable and complete the standard event fields as needed. This should include the conference start date, start time, end time, time zone, venue details and organizer contact details.
In the Attendee Details section, enable the attendee fields that should be captured for each ticket. At minimum, you should enable attendee full name and attendee email address so each ticket is linked to the correct attendee.
You can also enable attendee phone number, company name and designation if those details are useful for your conference registration workflow.
Configure the booking display options in Event Settings > Display Options. For this example, the workshop selection should be displayed on the product page so attendees can choose their workshop before adding the ticket to their cart.
The following settings can be adjusted based on your requirements, but for this example they are configured as follows:
- Enabled – Capture attendee full name and email address.
- Product Page or Checkout + Product – Display booking slots and dates on.
- Enabled – Hide booking time in slot dropdown. This refers to the time each workshop will take place.
- Enabled – Hide stock availability notice. This refers to workshop availability and not ticket type availability.
- Enabled – Show stock availability in the date and slot dropdowns. This refers to workshop availability and not ticket type availability.
- Disabled – Show out of stock booking dates.
- Enabled – Hide the booking date in combined dropdown.
- Slot -> Date – Bookings selection order.
For more information, see the FooEvents Bookings guide.
Ticket Settings #
Go to Product Data > Ticket Settings.
The ticket that attendees receive after registration will act as confirmation that their conference ticket and workshop spot have been booked. It should include the event information, attendee details and workshop booking details.
Select the relevant HTML ticket theme and, if FooEvents PDF Tickets is installed and enabled, select the relevant PDF ticket theme. For a professional conference, use a branded ticket theme that includes your conference logo, colors, event name, venue, date, and barcode or QR code.
You can change the subject of the ticket email using the Ticket email subject field.
If you would like to convey information that only attendees should receive, use the Ticket email body field. This is useful for arrival times, registration desk location, workshop room details, parking instructions or what attendees should bring.
Enable the ticket settings that match your workflow. In most cases, you should display attendee details, date and time, barcode or QR code, price if required, and booking details on the ticket. You should also enable ticket emails and, if you want each attendee to receive their own ticket directly, enable the option to email the ticket to the attendee rather than the purchaser.
If you are using custom attendee fields, enable Display custom attendee details on ticket where needed.
For more information, see the ticket configuration guide.
Enable PDF tickets #
Requires the FooEvents PDF Tickets plugin.
Go to FooEvents > Settings > PDF Tickets and enable PDF tickets. You can also choose whether PDF tickets should be downloadable and whether they should be attached to the HTML ticket email.
After enabling PDF tickets globally, return to the conference product and confirm that the correct PDF ticket theme is selected under Product Data > Ticket Settings.
PDF tickets are useful for conference workshops because attendees often expect a printable or downloadable ticket that includes their workshop booking information.
For more information, see the FooEvents PDF Tickets guide.
Booking Settings #
Go to Product Data > Booking Settings.
Next, set up the workshops. In this example, there are three workshops that take place at 11am on July 31, 2022. Each workshop has 150 spots available.
Create a slot for each workshop and specify the conference date. Set the number of spots available for each workshop. The workshop booking availability works independently from the ticket type availability configured on the product variations.
For example, the event can have 450 total tickets available across all ticket types, while each workshop has its own separate capacity of 150 spots. This lets attendees choose a ticket type and then reserve a place in the workshop they want to attend.
Event Terminology #
Go to Product Data > Event Terminology. In this section, you can change the terms used to describe your workshops.
For this use case, you may want to rename booking-related labels so they use workshop terminology. For example, you can use “Workshop” instead of “Slot” where appropriate. This helps make the booking process clearer for attendees.
Variation table layout #
FooEvents includes a built-in option to display supported event variations in a table layout. This is useful for conference registration because attendees can view ticket types, prices and availability in a clearer format.
You can enable the variation table globally by going to FooEvents > Settings > General and enabling Display event variations as a table.
You can also control this per event by going to Product Data > Event Settings > Display Options and setting Display variations as a table to either use the global setting, enable it for this event, or disable it for this event.
Important: The variation table display depends on the WooCommerce product and variation configuration. Avoid using blank or “Any” variation values for ticket types, as these can prevent the table layout from being used correctly.
You can now click Save or Publish to make your event available on the front-end of your website.
Usage
Attendees can select the ticket type and then specify which workshop they would like to attend.
After adding tickets to the cart, attendees will be directed to the Attendee Details Page, where they can complete the required attendee fields for each ticket before continuing to checkout.
Once attendee details are saved, the customer can complete payment through the standard WooCommerce checkout process.
Once the order reaches the configured ticket generation status, attendees will receive a ticket email that contains the relevant event and workshop booking information. This status is controlled by the Send on order status setting under FooEvents > Settings > General.
Attendee Check-ins using the FooEvents apps #
You can manage booking attendance using the free FooEvents Check-ins app. Bookable events use booking-focused screens in the app, making it easier to manage attendees by booking date and slot. Ticket barcodes or QR codes can also be scanned in the app to speed up the check-in process.
Before the event, complete at least one test check-in using a real test ticket. Confirm that the attendee can be found, the barcode or QR code scans correctly, the workshop booking details are shown, and the check-in status updates in WordPress.
For more information, see the FooEvents Check-ins app help guide and the attendee check-ins guide.
Final checks before opening registration #
Before opening ticket sales to the public, complete a full test registration from start to finish.
Confirm that the product page displays the correct conference information, ticket types, ticket prices, ticket stock, workshop options and workshop availability. Add multiple ticket types to the cart, select workshops, complete the Attendee Details Page, confirm that required fields cannot be skipped, and complete checkout using a test payment method.
After checkout, confirm that tickets are generated at the expected order status, ticket emails are sent correctly, PDF tickets are available, booking details display correctly on the ticket, attendee details are visible in FooEvents > Tickets, and check-ins work as expected for the selected workshop.
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