Your Guest List

This article contains the following information about how to use the guest list feature on Hostology:

1. What is the Guest list?
2. How to create your guest list
3. Bulk Upload - Adding Multiple Guests
4. What happens if I don't add an email address to my guest?
5. Editing your guests "Settings"
6. Updating and Editing your Guests + Groups

What is the Guest list?

The Guest list is your space to add everyone that you want to attend your event! It's been designed to make the planning process as easy as possible, where you can share important dietary information with your venue, or send beautiful invites to your guests. We would say the guest list (and understanding it!) is key to making the most of Hostology! So we have made this article to help you on your planning journey.

Firstly, you can really easily find the Guest list section on the left hand menu (on desktop), or via the pop out menu in the top left of the screen (on mobile)

You are also able to manually RSVP for your guests. This can be done by clicking the clock/pending icon on the left of the guest you want to RSVP for, which will open a small box with confirm, pending and declined. If you know that a guest will be attending then you can set them to confirmed, if you know they will not be attending then you can set them to declined: 

How to create your guest list

To start adding guests, you will see that you have two choices. "Add Guest", OR, "Add Group".

• Add Guest - This will add your guest as an "individual". Where if you invite them to the platform, they will be responsible for their information only. (You can always add to a group later)
• Add Group - This will prompt you to add a guest (NB - the first guest will be the "Group Lead"). And then add further guests to this group. This allows the group lead to be responsible for updating their guests information, RSVP's and booking accommodation. E.g. You might create a family as a group, with a parent as a Group lead, who will RSVP for their partner + Children and make all arrangements.

To Add a guest you will need to be in the ‘Guest list’ section. You can then select the "Add Guest" or "Add Group" button based on the information above.

Once you select the button, a pop-up will appear, where you will need to fill out the required fields (*) to then create your guest, including contact information, a tag (E.g. Family or Friend), dietary requirements (including a dietary note - which allows you to add any specific concerns, outside the recognised dietary and allergens)and a note about them.

You will have the option to ‘Add another guest’ and complete the required information, then click create group - NB Children can only be part of a group.

Bulk Upload - Adding Multiple Guests

To upload multiple guests at once, start by clicking 'Import':

Once you select 'Import' a pop-up will appear where you can view the format in which you need to create your CSV file. Once you have created your CSV file, click on 'Upload' and select your file. Then click on 'Import' to upload your guest list.

If you select the wrong file and wish to upload another, click on the bin icon next to the file name (appears while hovering over it). The upload button will be highlighted again allowing you to upload a another file

To add or not to add? (What happens if I don't add an email address to my guest)

As Hostology allows you to add guests to rooms and invite them to your event - it is important to add contact information to your guests. Hostology will send information to your guests via email. The two emails a guest will receive are:

• An invitation - If you send an invite to a guest who has an email address, they will receive this via email.
• A Room Booking Confirmation - If you assign a room to a guest, they will receive an email asking them to confirm it and make payment arrangements.

If you add a guest with an email address, when you add them to a room or invitation, they will receive the above emails inviting them to create an account - RSVP and/or confirm their room. They will also be able to see things like your Gift List.

If you do not add an email address to a guest, they will not be able to login/receive any of the information above. This can be useful when you are in the early stages of your planning process! Or if you want to do all of the guest management manually. Any guest that does not have an email address will show with a "No email" tag like below:

Adding guest "Tags"

When you're adding a lot of guests it can be handy to add tags to differentiate them. To add a tag, simply click on the "select tags" type in the name of the tag you'd like and press enter. This will create a new tag which you can now add to any existing or new guests. You can also create a new tag when you're adding a guest in the same way, click on "select tags" type in the name of the tag you'd like and press enter. 

Editing your guests "Settings"

When creating your guests, you can also update and manage what part of the day they are attending. This is not as robotic as it sounds! Where the settings are directly related to the parts of the event that this guest will be invited too. Especially any itinerary items which have food and drink (where the system will link their dietary information for you and your venue).

To manage and update the settings of which elements of the day you want your guests to attend, you can simply select the 3 dots on the far right and select "Manage Events".

From here you can then remove/add the parts of the day this guest should be invited too (this can help with the invites section! Check out more on how to create invites here).

Updating and Editing your Guests + Groups

As Mentioned, when creating your guest list, you can always update, edit, or even delete a guest.

To edit a guest, simply click on their name, then select the edit option when you are on their profile. This will allow you to update contact info, tags, dietary information and any notes.

The key additional thing you can do here, is add other individuals to become part of that Guests Group. This can be useful for many reasons, but if you have created all guests as individuals - it is an easy way to create groups and allow for one person to be responsible for updating RSVPs and other information... helping you get more efficient responses.

It can also make it even easier for you to book in your guests to accommodation, where if you add a group to a room, it will automatically add all the guest information to the room and provide the guest lead with the details to arrange payments. One less task for you!

Lastly, before you delete a group lead you will need to select another lead member.