Invitation-only events: links, approval, declines

A closed event has a simple rule: only people you invited may come. Most tools implement that rule with a hidden page and a password, which protects nothing once the password is in a group chat. The better model is a personal link per guest, with an approval step where you need it. This is how that works, and what to decide before the first invitation goes out.

Four ways to open a registration

Every event in Mission Support has an access mode, and the mode decides who can register.

• Open. Anyone with the page address can register. For a public lecture.
• Shared link. The page is hidden; anyone with the invitation link can register, and every registration waits for your approval. For a members’ evening where the link travels by mail.
• Personal invitations. Only people you invited can register, each through their own link. The link is the invitation. For a reception, a launch, a VIP list.
• Walk-in only. No registration page at all; guests are registered at the door. For a small internal event.

The first two are enough for most events. The third is the one this article is about.

One link per guest

A personal invitation is a registration row in the status “invited”, with a link that belongs to that one person. When the guest opens it, the form already knows who they are. Name and email are filled in; if you lock the address, they cannot register for someone else. They confirm, add what you asked for, and get a ticket. Or they decline, and the list shows that too.

Because the link identifies the guest, you know who opened the invitation and who did not, without a tracking pixel. A guest who forwards the link forwards their own invitation, and you see it under their name.

Approval before the ticket

Some lists need a second look. Press, partners, a guest who registered through a shared link: you want a person to say yes before a ticket goes out. With approval on, a registration arrives as pending. The guest gets a mail that the registration was received. You approve it in the list, the ticket mail goes out, the seat is counted. You decline it, the guest gets a polite mail and the seat is released.

Approval is per event, not per workspace. Turn it on for the launch and off for the lecture series.

Companions, by rule

A plus-one is a rule, not a note in the margin. Set per event whether companions are allowed, and how many. The guest adds them on the form; each companion gets a ticket of their own, linked to the inviting guest. At the door, the host’s ticket shows the companions, and they can be checked in together.

Declines that are recorded

A decline is as important as a confirmation, because a seat is at stake. The invitation mail has a decline link, the registration page has a decline button, and both change the row to declined. The organiser can decline a registration as well, which sends a mail you can edit. Either way the list shows who said no and when, and the reminder campaign skips them.

The mails, in your words

Invitation, confirmation, approved, reminder, declined: each is a template per event, editable under one tab, with placeholders for the guest’s name, the event and the link. The sender is your own address once your domain is verified, with a reply-to that a person reads. Preview, send a test to yourself, then send the batch.

Sending a batch

Import the list as CSV or TSV with a preview, or add guests by hand. Select the invited guests and send. Invitations go out in batches; the list shows who received the mail and whether the mail provider accepted it, so a bounce is visible the same day.

Decisions to make before you start

• Lock the email address or not. Locked means the link works only for the invited address; unlocked lets a guest correct a typo.
• Auto-confirm or approve. Auto-confirm for a trusted list, approval for everyone else.
• Companions. Allowed, how many, and whether they need names.
• The decline message. What the guest sees after saying no.
• The reminder. When it goes out, and to whom: not responded, or everyone not declined.

What personal invitations are not

They are not a password. A password protects a page; a personal link identifies a guest. They are also not a mass mailing tool: a campaign to your whole contact list is a different feature, with the legal footer and the unsubscribe link it needs.

Personal invitations and the decline flows are part of the Pro plan and the single event pass. The invitations feature page lists the details and the plan limits.