How does idloom's ticket structure work?
Before configuring anything, it helps to understand how the three layers relate to each other.
| Layer | Required? | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Participation categories | Yes (at least one) | The first choice a registrant makes. Mutually exclusive: each registrant selects exactly one. Defines pricing, status, location, and availability. |
| Option groups | No | Containers that organise options into labelled sections. Use them when you have multiple options and want to group them logically. |
| Options | No | Additional choices available after a category is selected. Can be linked to specific categories to create registration paths. |
A simple event may need only one or two participation categories and no options at all. A complex multi-day conference or trade show with breakout sessions, meal choices, and networking add-ons will use all three layers.
Before you start
To set up categories, groups, and options you need an active idloom account (any plan).
Pricing-related settings (ticket price, VAT rules, early-bird, coupons, volume discounts) require a paid event to be configured. Some advanced settings require the Premium plan; these are noted where they apply.
How do you set up participation categories?
Every event in idloom requires at least one participation category. Registrants see categories as the first selection step and can only pick one. Navigate to Tickets > Categories in your event editor to get started.
For each category, you can configure:
- Name: the label the registrant sees, for example "Member", "Non-member", "Early career researcher", "Exhibitor", "Workshop participant", or "Online attendee".
- Description: optional supporting text shown under the category name on the registration form.
- SKU: a unique internal code for this category, useful for accounting exports and integrations.
- Price: set a ticket price for paid events. Leave at zero for free categories.
- VAT rule: assign a tax rule to this category if your event applies VAT per ticket type. Advanced VAT management (multiple rates, country rules) is available from the Premium plan.
- Quantity: cap the number of registrations available for this category. You can manage quantity per category individually, or use a global shared pool across all categories (for example, a venue cap of 500 total attendees regardless of category).
- Limit per registration: if enabled, allows a registrant to select more than one of the same category in a single registration (for example, buying three delegate passes at once). Set the maximum number allowed per registration.
- Location: attach a physical venue, an online link, or an online stage to this category. Useful for hybrid events where in-person and remote attendees register under different categories. Multi-location and hybrid event features are available from the Premium plan.
- Start and end date: define when this category's session or access period begins and ends.
- Registration close behaviour: if a date is set, choose whether registration for this category closes at the start time or the end time of the category.
- Default registration status: set the status automatically assigned to registrants who select this category. Useful for managing approval flows (for example, auto-confirming members but placing non-members in a pending state). Custom registration statuses are available from the Premium plan.
To add a category, click Add category, fill in the fields above, and save. Repeat for each category your event requires.
> Tip: once a registrant has selected and confirmed a category, you cannot delete that category from the event. Plan your structure before opening registration.
How do you create option groups?
Option groups are optional. Use them when your event has several options and you want to present them in clearly labelled sections, for example separating programme choices from meal preferences or social event add-ons.
If you only have a handful of options and no need to organise them into sections, you can skip groups entirely and add options directly.
For each group, you can configure:
- Name: the section label shown to registrants, for example "Day 1 sessions", "Dietary requirements", "Pre-conference workshops", or "Social programme".
- Description: optional supporting text displayed under the group name.
- Number of choices (min/max): set how many options within this group a registrant must or can select. Set both min and max to 1 for a single-choice group. Set min to 0 to make the group entirely optional.
- Collapsible display: enable to show the group as a collapsible section on the registration form, which helps keep long forms readable.
How do you add options?
Options are the additional choices available to registrants after they have selected a participation category. They are optional: your event does not need any. When you do use them, each option can be linked to all categories or only to specific ones, allowing you to build different registration paths depending on the category chosen.
Options share most settings with categories, plus a few additions. For each option, you can configure:
- Name and description: same as categories. Examples: "Morning keynote only", "Full-day access", "Gala dinner seat", "Certificate of attendance", "Parking pass", or "Printed proceedings".
- SKU, price, and VAT rule: same as categories.
- Quantity: cap the number of times this option can be selected. You can also share a quantity pool across multiple options: set a maximum on one option, then link other options to it so they all draw from the same cap. This is useful when a session room has a fixed capacity regardless of which session slot an attendee picks.
- Limit per registration: same as categories.
- Location: same as categories (Premium plan for multi-location and hybrid).
- Start and end date and registration close behaviour: same as categories.
- Default registration status: same as categories (custom statuses from Premium plan).
- Calendar view: display this option as a calendar entry rather than a plain list item. Useful for session or time-slot options where the date and time are the primary information.
- Category path: choose which participation categories make this option available. Select All categories to show it to every registrant, or restrict it to one or more specific categories. This is how you build paths: for example, a "Member networking dinner" option visible only to registrants who selected the "Member" category.
- Option group: assign this option to a group so it appears within the correct labelled section on the registration form.
What does the registrant experience look like?
Understanding the flow from the registrant's side helps you design a structure that is clear and easy to complete.
- The registrant selects one participation category. For example, at a pharmaceutical industry congress: "Healthcare professional", "Industry delegate", "Academic researcher", or "Press".
- Once a category is selected, only the options linked to that category appear. A "Healthcare professional" registrant might see a group called "Session tracks" with four breakout choices; a "Press" registrant might see only an "Accreditation type" group.
- Within each group, the registrant selects their choices according to the min/max rules you configured.
- Options with no linked group appear outside any section, in the order you set.
The cleaner your category and option structure, the shorter the form feels to the registrant even when many choices are available.
What pricing and discount features can I add to tickets?
Once your categories and options are in place, idloom offers three additional pricing layers you can apply on top:
- Early-bird pricing: set a reduced price that automatically expires on a date you choose, or when a capacity cap is reached. Configurable per category or option.
- Coupon codes: create discount codes that apply globally or only to specific categories and options.
- Volume discounts: automatically apply a discount when a registrant selects the same item multiple times, or when a configured combination of items is selected.