The basic idea behind RSVPMaker is that every event is a post — an event post, rather than a blog post — meaning you use all the same authoring and editing tools, but event posts have a date and time associated with them.
When you add a new event post, you will be prompted to enter the date and time up front, along some basic details like whether you want to collect RSVPs (registrations). You can also use RSVPMaker to announce events for which no registration is required.
Once an event post is loaded into the editor, you can change the date and time using a calendar widget that appears in the sidebar (assuming you’re using the Gutenberg editor introduced with WordPress 5.0). To change other parameters, including pricing for an events you charge for, navigate to the RSVP / Event Options screen associated with each post.
You will see several submenu options under RSVP / Event Options, which will take you to the screens for customizing confirmation and reminder messages and for customizing the registration form.
In RSVPMaker, your confirmation message is also modeled at as a WordPress post that you can edit as you would any other content. Reminder messages work much the same way, except that they have a specific interval relative to your event date / time associated with them. The reminder message headline becomes the subject line of the email message, and the body copy becomes the content of the email message.
The RSVPMaker form is modeled as a series of custom content blocks that specify the data you want to gather from each person who registers (details).
When you are editing a form, a confirmation message, or a reminder message, you will see a navigation option in the black admin menu at the top of the screen that allows you to navigate back to editing or viewing the parent event post. First, make sure you save your work.
Multi-Date Events and Event Templates
RSVPMaker allows you to create a single event that stretches across multiple dates — so one registration (if you’re taking registrations) for an event that lasts all weekend.
The more common requirement is to support events that recur on a weekly or monthly schedule, with many of the details repeated each time. For example, the local Chamber of Commerce holds a breakfast meeting on the first Wednesday of the month at a standard location, and the phone number to call with questions is always the same. We need to be able to account for occasions when the schedule or meeting place changes, and we want to be able to add details about a specific month’s event.
For that, use an Event Template. The template defines the standard meeting schedule and the details that should be included in every event listing by default. From an Event Template, you can create a series of events along the projected schedule (all those first Wednesdays in my example). Each of these events will include the content and the settings specified in the template, including details like event pricing.
Each individual event can then be edited individually, for example to add the names of a guest speaker. If the Event Template changes, perhaps because your standard meeting place has changed, you can update any previously published future events with the new details. (More about Events and Event Templates).
Many event parameters can also be changed on the RSVPMaker Settings screen on the WordPress dashboard. For example, you can specify whether the feature for collecting RSVPs should be on or off by default. A link from the settings screen allows you to create a standard RSVP form to be used if a custom one has not been defined.
The settings screen is also where you would enter the required credentials for the PayPal or Stripe payment services or the MailChimp email broadcast service.