Pre-Event Mode
Let guests choose their child event and template and answer every survey before the event, then bring one code to skip all of it on the day.
Pre-Event Mode explained: let guests pick a child event and template and answer every survey before the event, get one code and QR, and skip those steps on the day. Includes every setting and how it differs from Pre-Survey Mode.
What Pre-Event Mode is
Pre-Event Mode turns the whole event flow into a link guests can complete at home. They open the event, pick a child event and a template (if you offer them), answer the event survey and the template's own survey, and finish with one code and QR. They never reach the design editor. At the event, they scan or type the code and the steps they already completed are skipped.
A link and QR for the whole event
Every parent event gets its own pre-event link, which you can copy or download as a QR code and share anywhere.
The same steps as on the day
Child event, template and surveys appear in the same order guests would see at the event, styled with your own pages.
One combined code
All the answers, photos and choices end up in one 6-character code with a QR image.
Skip steps at the event
A valid code skips the child event and template steps it already answers, and pre-fills the survey.
Pre-Event Mode is not Pre-Survey Mode
The platform has two different ways to collect answers in advance. They are set up in different places, they do not affect each other, and you can use both on the same event.
Pre-Event Mode (this page)
Set up on the event (Advanced tab). Covers the whole guest journey: child event, template and several surveys, with one combined code. Guests never open the editor.
Pre-Survey Mode
Set up on a single survey (its Settings tab, switch Pre-Survey Mode). Covers one survey and one code, and is redeemed by the Data Receiver question. See Received Data & Pre-event Surveys.
Which one should I use? Use Pre-Event Mode when guests choose between child events or templates, or answer more than one survey. Use Pre-Survey Mode when one survey is enough and the event has a single design.
What guests see
Guests open the pre-event link on their own phone. It is a normal web page and needs no app.
- 1
Landing page
The event landing page appears first, with its button. You can switch this off to go straight to the first step.
- 2
Child event and template
Guests choose a child event (if the event has any) and a template, just like on the day.
- 3
Surveys
The event survey and the template's survey are shown one after another. If a template has no survey, the guest goes straight to the code.
- 4
Human check
A short check confirms the guest is a person before the code is created.
- 5
Code screen
The guest gets a QR, a 6-character text code, and buttons to copy, download, print or email the code to themselves, with a summary of their choices.
Turning it on
Pre-Event Mode is a setting of the parent event.
- 1
Open the event
Go to the Events page and open the parent event you want to use.
- 2
Open the Advanced tab
Find the Pre-event mode section.
- 3
Enable pre-event mode
Switch on Enable pre-event mode. The link, its QR code and all the options appear.
- 4
Save the event
The link only works after the event is saved. Copy it, or download its QR, and share it.
Screenshot placeholder — The Pre-event mode section in the Advanced tab of an event, with the link, QR and options
Settings
These options appear once pre-event mode is on:
Pre-event link and QR
The event's landing page with ?preEvent=1. It uses your custom domain if the event has one.
Show on completion
Choose whether guests see the QR and the text code, only the QR, or only the text code.
Code expiry
How long a code stays valid. The default is Never. Set it to the end of your event or activation.
Single-use codes
On by default: each code can be redeemed once. Turn it off so the same code can be reused, for example for a group badge.
Show the landing page first
On by default. The link opens the landing page and its button starts the steps. Off: the link goes straight to the first step.
Pre-event layout and background
Style the pre-event page with the Advanced Layout Builder, or set a pre-event background image that replaces the landing image on this link only.
Pre-event screens
Customise the two screens that belong to this mode, the human check and the code screen, and the colours of the confirmation card.
Scan QR button and code entry
Customise the Scan QR button, and choose whether guests can scan, type the code, or both (at least one stays on).
What is inside the code
One code covers the whole session:
All surveys combined
Each answer is stored with its survey name in front of it, so questions with the same title in different surveys never clash.
The chosen design
The code carries the event, the chosen child event and the template, so those steps are skipped on the day.
Photos and AI results
Pictures and AI results from the surveys are kept with the code and restored when it is redeemed.
On the day
When pre-event mode is on, the event itself also changes for guests who arrive without a code.
- 1
A code screen first
The landing page button opens a "Do you have a code?" screen. Guests scan or type their code, or tap "I do not have a code" to follow the normal steps.
- 2
Steps are skipped
With a valid code, the child event and template steps are skipped and the guest goes straight to the survey or the editor. If the chosen child event is no longer available, the guest gets the normal steps.
- 3
Data Receiver is filled in
The Data Receiver question of the event survey is filled with the accepted code. The code is marked as used only when that survey is submitted, so the event survey needs a Data Receiver question.
The wording of the code screen (title, text and skip button) comes from the event survey's translations, in the pre-event section of the translations editor. Type it once per survey and language.
Emails and where the codes appear
Guests can email themselves their code and you can be notified for every code issued, with the Pre-Event Code emails in Email Customizer. Every code is listed in Received Data with the source "Pre-event" and extra Child event and Template columns, one survey result is saved per survey, and the emails appear in the email log of Event Analytics.
Guests need an internet connection to receive their code, because the code is created on the server and cannot be forged. Offline, their answers stay on their device until they reconnect. Photos and AI results also need the guest to be online while answering.
Related guides
Child events and templates: Child Events and Using Event Templates. Redeeming codes in a survey: Received Data & Pre-event Surveys. A full recipe: Advanced Use Cases.