Registration Setup: Get Your Event Ready to Accept Participants

Registration is more than a form. It is where participants choose their experience, understand the cost, and take their first step toward your event.

Use this guide to plan your registration setup, prepare clear participant instructions, and test the journey before opening registration.

Available settings and actions depend on your event configuration, enabled products, and permissions. This guide covers setup decisions rather than exact screen-by-screen instructions.

Start with the participant journey. A coach registering a team needs a different experience from a parent registering a child or an individual booking a camp.

• Decide whether registration is for teams, individuals, or both.
• Confirm who should complete the registration and who is responsible for payment.
• Define divisions, age groups, sessions, or participation categories.
• Document eligibility requirements and the information needed to verify them.
• Set capacity for each category, accounting for venue space, scheduling, staffing, and equipment.
• Decide which details are required at registration and which can be collected later.

For team events, distinguish between registering the team and completing its roster. Make both deadlines clear.

Use KAP to structure your setup

Give KAP the event details you have already confirmed. Ask it to identify missing decisions before you begin building.

Example prompt:

I’m setting up registration for a youth basketball tournament on [dates] at [venue]. Coaches will register teams in [divisions], with a maximum of [number] teams per division. Team registration and roster submission have separate deadlines. Help me outline the registration requirements and flag decisions I still need to make.

KAP can help you organize the plan. Review its recommendations against your venue arrangements, competition rules, and event policies.

Participants should understand the full cost before they commit.

• Confirm registration prices and currency.
• Identify applicable taxes, processing fees, and additional charges.
• State what is included and what requires a separate purchase.
• Define any deposits, remaining balances, and payment deadlines.
• Document discount eligibility, conditions, and expiry dates.
• Explain whether submitting a registration secures a place or whether payment or approval is also required.

Only configure payment options and pricing rules supported by your event setup. Check how totals appear to the participant, not just how they appear to your team.

Every extra question adds work for participants and your staff. Give each field a purpose.

• Collect a reliable contact name and email address.
• Add the participant or team details needed to administer the event.
• Clearly label required and optional fields.
• Explain unfamiliar questions and the format expected for each answer.
• Avoid collecting sensitive information unless it is necessary and you have an appropriate process for handling it.
• Confirm who should have access to registration information.

Use KAP to review your questions

Example prompt:

Review these registration questions for clarity and duplication: [paste questions without participant data]. Identify what should be required at registration, what could be collected later, and anything that needs a clearer explanation.

Use sample information when preparing prompts. Do not include personal, medical, or payment details unless your organization has approved that use and the necessary access controls are in place.

Make important conditions visible before submission or payment.

• Publish cancellation, refund, transfer, and event-change policies.
• Confirm any required waivers, participant agreements, or guardian consent.
• Explain registration, payment, roster, and document deadlines.
• State how incomplete registrations and unpaid balances will be handled.
• Explain waitlist or approval processes, if applicable.
• Keep event-related communications and optional marketing consent clearly distinguished.

Have the appropriate advisers review legal and consent requirements. KAP can help improve wording, but it does not establish legal sufficiency.

A successful submission should answer: “Am I registered, and what do I do now?”

• Clearly state whether registration is confirmed, pending approval, or awaiting payment.
• Include the event name, dates, location, and selected category.
• Explain outstanding payments, documents, or roster requirements.
• Tell participants when schedules and final instructions will be available.
• Include accommodation or spectator ticket information where relevant.
• Provide a monitored contact method for questions or corrections.

Use KAP to draft participant instructions

Example prompt:

Draft a registration confirmation for [event]. Registration is confirmed only after [condition]. Participants must complete [requirements] by [deadlines]. Include these next steps: [details]. Keep it clear, direct, and welcoming. Do not invent missing information.

Review the result before using it. Preparing a message is not the same as sending it.

Do not open registration based on a preview alone.

• Test the participant experience on mobile and desktop.
• Check category selection, required fields, deadlines, and capacity rules.
• Verify prices, fees, discounts, and payment totals.
• Complete an approved test transaction where available.
• Check confirmation messages and receipts.
• Confirm authorized staff can find the registration and its payment or completion status.
• Test relevant exceptions, such as missing information, a declined payment, or a full category.
• Resolve blocking issues and remove test records where appropriate.

Ask someone who did not build the setup to test it. They are more likely to spot instructions that only make sense to your team.

• Event details, prices, policies, and deadlines are approved.
• Registration links point to the correct event.
• The complete journey has been tested.
• Staff know how to handle questions and exceptions.
• Someone is assigned to monitor early registrations and payments.

Using KAP during setup: Ask it to organize requirements, review questions, draft instructions, or prepare a final checklist. Its ability to access your event or make changes depends on connected tools and permissions. Confirm what it can do in your account, review proposed actions, and verify saved changes before treating the setup as complete.

Once registration opens, watch for repeated questions, incomplete submissions, and payment issues. Use that feedback to make the process clearer for the next participant.