Event sign-up: the complete guide
The date is set, and now you need sign-ups: who’s coming, how many people, which shift, which menu. Here’s how to set up your sign-up.
Options, seats, number of people, questions for participants, print, Excel and CSV are free. Invitations, response deadline and reminders come with Pro (CHF 7 per month or CHF 70 per year). More about Pro
When to use a sign-up
A sign-up is the right choice when the date is set and you want to know who’s coming and what people choose: club dinner, general meeting, volunteer shifts, course, outing. If the date is still open, start with a scheduling poll.
Participants don’t need an account: they open the link, enter their name, choose one or more options and answer your questions.
Step by step
Title, description, location
Open Create sign-up and give it a title, for example “Club dinner 2027”. Put the date and time in the description – a sign-up has no date field of its own. Enter the location or a video link under “Location or video link”.
Add answer options
Under “Answer options” you’ll find three suggestions already (“Yes, I’m coming”, “No, I can’t make it” and “Other messages”). Change or delete them, or add more with “Add option”. Participants can tick one or more options.
- Attending or not: “Yes, I’m coming” / “No, I can’t make it”.
- Shifts: “Set-up Sat 08:00–12:00”, “Bar Sat 18:00–22:00”, “Clear-up Sun 10:00–14:00”.
- Workshops: “Workshop A”, “Workshop B” – each option with its own seats.
Seats and people
For each option you can enter “Max. seats”. If families or groups are coming, switch on “Participants state how many people are coming (e.g. a family of 4)”: participants then enter the “Number of people”, and “Max. seats” becomes “Max. people”.
Questions for participants
Use “Question for participants” to attach questions to an option; only people who choose that option will see them – for example the number of people and the menu for “Yes, I’m coming”. Under “What participants will see” you can see straight away what the form looks like.
Create and share the link
Click “Create sign-up”. If you’re not logged in, you’ll now create a free account with your email address – everything you’ve entered is kept. Then share the sign-up link via WhatsApp, by email or on a notice board.
Review the sign-ups
On the results page you can see how many people have signed up for each option, a summary of people, children and quantities, and the list of all sign-ups. When logged in, you can print the list or download it as an Excel or CSV file.
Every field explained
You see these fields on the “Create sign-up” page. All of them are free.
| Field | What does it do? | When is it useful? Example |
|---|---|---|
| Event title | Required. Shown on the sign-up page and in emails. | “Village fair volunteers 2027”. |
| Description | Free text above the options. This is where the date, time, programme and costs go. | “Saturday 14 March, from 18:30. Aperitif on the house.” |
| Location or video link | Location or link (up to 1000 characters), clickable if it starts with https. Also appears in the confirmation emails. | The restaurant’s address, or a Zoom link. |
| Answer options | The choices for participants. At least one option. Several can be chosen at once. | Yes/no, shifts, workshops, car sharing. |
| Max. seats | Maximum number of sign-ups for this option (1 to 9999, empty = unlimited). Participants see “3 seats left” or “full”; a full option can no longer be chosen. Anyone already signed up keeps their seat. | A shift with 4 volunteers, a workshop with 12 seats. |
| Participants state how many people are coming (e.g. a family of 4) | Adds the “Number of people” field (1 to 99) to the form. “Max. people” then counts people instead of sign-ups. If there isn’t enough room, the person sees how many seats are still free. | Family event with 80 seats: the Keller family signs up 4 people. |
| Waiting list when an option is full | When an option with “Max. seats” is full, further people can join the waiting list and see their position. When a seat becomes free (a cancellation, a changed answer, more seats), the first person who fits into the free seats moves up and receives an email. People on the waiting list do not count as participants. Ticked when you create the sign-up. | Course with 12 seats: the 13th sign-up is number 1 on the waiting list and moves up as soon as someone cancels. |
| Question for participants | Up to 6 questions per option, shown only when that option is chosen. For the types, see the next section. | Menu choice, children, allergies, number of cakes. |
| Sign-up valid for | 1 week to 6 months (default 3 months), unlimited with an account. After that the sign-up is archived. With a response deadline (Pro), it ends 14 days after the deadline instead. | Until shortly after the event. |
| Publish in calendar | Only with an account and your own calendar: adds the event as a date when you save, with a link to the sign-up. Date required, all day or with times. Title, description and location come from the sign-up. If a date already exists, editing shows it instead. | Club dinner on 14 March at 7 pm: appears on your club’s calendar page right away. |
The sign-up form also always has an optional “Note (optional)” field for short remarks.
Questions for participants
Click “Question for participants” on an option and pick one of the ready-made questions. The results add everything up automatically.
| Question | What participants fill in | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| How many people are coming? | Number from 1, pre-filled with 1, required. | Total number of people. |
| Of which children? | Number from 0, pre-filled with 0, required. | Total number of children (“of which 3 children”). |
| Choice | 2 to 10 answers to choose from, required. Either one answer per sign-up or “Quantity per answer (e.g. 1× meat, 2× vegetarian)”. With quantity per answer, the total must not exceed the number of people given; fewer is allowed, for example for children who don’t need a meal. | Quantities per answer, e.g. “5 meat, 4 vegetarian”. |
| Remark | Free text, optional. | Allergies, requests – in the list, in Excel and in the CSV. |
| Custom question – number | Number from 0, required or optional – you decide. | Total, e.g. “How many cakes are you bringing?”. |
| Custom question – text | Free text, optional. | Answers in the list, e.g. “Which song would you like?”. |
In the Excel and CSV files every question has its own column.
Number of people: switch or question?
There are two ways to count people. The “Participants state how many people are coming (e.g. a family of 4)” switch applies to the whole sign-up and is the only way to limit seats by number of people (“Max. people”). The “How many people are coming?” question is attached to one option and gives you a total, but doesn’t limit anything.
Rule of thumb: if you have an upper limit, for example 80 seats in the hall, use the switch. If you only need the number for the kitchen plus the menu choice with “Quantity per answer”, use the question.
Fields with Pro
With Pro, creating a sign-up has three steps. The same Pro settings apply as for the scheduling poll:
| Field | What does it do? |
|---|---|
| Lists, groups, people, Guests | Personal invitations by email; you see who hasn’t signed up yet and remind individuals, a selection or everyone. |
| Response deadline | Sign-up deadline: up to and including this day; after that the page is read-only. 14 days later the sign-up is archived. |
| Automatic reminder | Reminds invited people who haven’t answered yet in the last 5 days before the deadline (no earlier than 2 days after the invitation). |
| Hide other people’s sign-ups | Participants only see their own sign-up. |
| Participants’ email address required | Anyone signing up via the link must enter a valid address. |
| Open participation, Visible from, Show on portal page | As described for the scheduling poll. |
Results, printing and calendar
- Overview: a bar for each option with the number of sign-ups or people, and “7 / 10” for limited options.
- Summary: for example “4 sign-ups · 10 people, of which 3 children” and the quantities for the menu choice.
- List: every sign-up with choices, answers, note and date. You remove individual sign-ups with “Remove response”.
- Print, Excel and CSV: when logged in – for the kitchen, the till or name badges.
- Publish in calendar: add the event to your Wannja calendar, with a link to the sign-up. You can also do this right away when creating or editing the sign-up.
- Close: the sign-up stops accepting responses; “Reactivate” opens it again. Without Pro, this is your sign-up deadline.
- Waiting list: who is waiting in which order and who moved up when. People on the waiting list do not count as sign-ups, in print and in the export either.
Three examples to copy
Club dinner
Options “Yes, I’m coming” / “No, I can’t make it”. For “Yes, I’m coming”: “How many people are coming?”, “Of which children?” and a choice “Menu” (meat, vegetarian) with quantity per answer. Full example
Volunteer shifts
One option per shift with “Max. seats” set to 4. Full shifts are locked, and you can see at once where people are still needed. Full example
Course with workshops
One option per workshop with its own seats, plus a remark on prior knowledge. Full example
Common mistakes
| Mistake | Better |
|---|---|
| Date missing | A sign-up has no date field – put the date and time in the description or the title. |
| “Max. seats” counts wrongly for families | Without the switch, every sign-up counts as one seat, however many people it covers. Switch on “Participants state how many people are coming (e.g. a family of 4)”. |
| Renamed an option – are the answers gone? | Renaming in edit mode keeps the existing sign-ups. Answers are only lost if you delete an option; Wannja warns you first. |
| People sign up twice | Wannja doesn’t accept a second sign-up under a name that’s already there. To make changes, people use the edit link from their confirmation email. |
Frequently asked questions
Can people choose several options at once?
Yes. Participants tick as many options as they like, for example two shifts.
How do I set a sign-up deadline?
With Pro, via the response deadline. Without Pro, you close the sign-up by hand with “Close”; after that the link no longer accepts sign-ups.
Can I change options or questions after creating the sign-up?
Yes, under “Edit”. Renamed options keep their sign-ups. New or changed options are marked “new” for everyone who has already answered.
Do participants get a confirmation?
Anyone who enters an email address gets a confirmation with an edit link, the location and the options they chose.
What happens when an option is full?
With “Waiting list when an option is full” (ticked when you create the sign-up), people can join the waiting list and see their position, e.g. “number 2”. If someone cancels, changes their answer or you increase “Max. seats”, the first person who fits into the free seats moves up – automatically and with an email if the address is known. Without the switch, a full option can no longer be chosen.