Core Concepts

What's the difference between Events and Lists?

Events have dates. Lists don’t.

Use Events for gatherings. You get calendar invites, RSVP tracking, check-in, and attendance data.

Use Lists for ongoing groups (newsletter subscribers, guest directories, internal team, etc.) and for sending out survey forms (post-event surveys, address updates, event preferences, etc. ). Perfect for multi-event tracking (e.g. event series dashboard).

Both get the same tools: campaigns, landing pages, documents, tasks. Events add the date-specific stuff and different registration modes (waitlist, maybe, decline).

What are Personal vs Public Links? (Registration Links)

Personal Links

• Unique per guest
• Pre-fills their information
• Can’t be transferred (only works for one guest)
• Does not ask for name and email

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Public Links

• One link for everyone
• Anyone can register
• Shareable on social media
• Good for maximizing attendance
• Name and email questions added automatically

Referral Links

Public Link variants with source tracking. Same open registration, but you know if they came from LinkedIn vs. newsletter.

How do parent-child relationships (Event Families) work?

Parent-child relationships sync contacts upward from any child up to all connected parents.

Perfect for:

• Event series (create a Parent List with multiple Event children)
• Multi-day conferences (Create a Parent Event with each daily session as children)
• Dashboard/Overview contact tracking (one List collecting from multiple other Events/Lists)

The parent’s guest list shows everyone from all children with a Child Guestlist column tracking which event/list each guest has been added to.

Team Members vs External Collaborators?

Team Members

• See all events and lists (must request access)
• Access contact database
• Create new events
• Your actual employees

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External Collaborators

• Only see assigned events
• Can’t access contacts
• Can’t create events
• Can’t remove guests
• Can only send campaigns as themselves
• Limited to what you share
• Vendors, contractors, partners

How do I share the guest list with people who aren't Gatsby users?

View-only links to your guest list tabs are the easiest way to do this! They don’t require login and only show the information you’ve provided.

Use the dropdown arrow next to your guest list view/tab » Enable Public Link.

Campaign Email Basics

How do I send an invite?

Add guest to the guest list. Create campaign email » include {rsvpLink} merge tag » send campaign.

Learn more.

How do I resend the same invite to more people?

Use Not Sent To feature in the original invite campaign to send the same invite/email to new additions on your guest list.

How can I follow-up with guests who haven't RSVP'd?

1. Filter by Status

   Use guest list filters to find people who have the “Invited” and “Clicked” RSVP status. These guests have been sent an invitation, but not responded.

2. Send Targeted Follow-Up

   Select these guests and create a reminder campaign with their RSVP link to register. Expect to send 2-3 follow-ups and include a deadline to RSVP.

Can I send from someone else's email?

Yes, if connected. Check for the “Send Emails” permission under Team Settings » Linked Services. Or, enable and create a SendGrid sending account configured for your domain.

External Collaborators cannot send from other email addresses.

Email design modes: Basic vs Marketing

Basic Mode

Looks like regular email from Outlook/Gmail. No background colors. Full width. Best for deliverability and personal invites.

Marketing Mode

600px centered design (or full-width). Background/foreground colors. Best for including images in your email.

You can switch between them with the dropdown in campaign editor. Same content, different presentation.

How Registration Works

We want to post our event on social to allow people to register their interest.

Activate the Public Link for the event, activate the waitlist for registrations, and edit the Register for Waitlist button to say “Register Interest.”

Can I require approval for all registrations?

Yes, use waitlist mode:

RSVP Settings » RSVP dropdown » select Waitlist. Everyone needs your approval before they’re accepted. Guests are sent a Waitlist email (not confirmation email).

How do I approve waitlisted guests?

Guest List » filter for “Waitlisted” RSVP status for guests to approve » change RSVP status to Accepted.

You’ll be prompted to send a confirmation email. If you don’t send, follow-up with a campaign email notifying the guest.

Can I let guests pick sessions?

Yes, guests can register once, pick sessions, get individual calendar invites for each.

1. Anything that needs it’s own calendar invite, needs to be an event in Gatsby
2. Add survey question: Event RSVP » Multiple Events - Multiple Select
3. Each selection sends separate confirmation email (with calendar invite attached)

For detailed instructions on multi-event registration, see our Multi-Event Registration Guide.

System Limits & Technical

Are there event capacity limits?

Technical limits

• No hard limit on event size
• Tested with 10,000+ guests
• Performance may slow with over 5,000 guests
• Landing page: Handles thousands of concurrent visitors

Email sending limits

Connected accounts

• Gmail: 2,000/day
• Outlook: 1,000-2,000/day (varies by license)
• Limits include all emails sent (not just in Gatsby)

SendGrid

• No daily limit (within reason)
• Requires DNS configuration
• Must use “clean” lists that haven’t been purchased/scraped.

Even under daily limits, sending 500+ emails in a 24 hour period can trigger higher-spam scores. Space out large sends over days.

Attachment limits

• 24MB total per email
• Individual files under 10MB recommended
• PDFs can be watermarked

Image and file size limits/recommendations

Images on Landing Pages

• Gatsby does not compress, resize, or optimize images.
• PNG, JPG, GIF, WEBP, AVIF, SVG supported
• Less than 5MB recommended (24MB maximum)
• Optimal size varies on template (use 2880px wide as a baseline)

Images in Emails

• Gatsby does not compress, resize, or optimize images.
• PNG, JPG, GIF recommended
• Less than 2MB recommended (24MB maximum)
• In Marketing mode, 1200px wide recommended

Documents

• 24MB max per file
• PDF watermarking available
• All common formats supported

Videos on Landing Pages

• 24MB max for direct upload
• Unlimited via YouTube/Vimeo embed
• MP4 recommended format
• Gatsby does not re-encode/optimize videos for streaming

Performance considerations

Large guest lists (2,000+ people)

• Import in batches under 1,000 at a time
• Use filters to navigate large lists
• Limit visible columns on the guest list
• Consider multiple events vs one massive event

High-volume email sending

• SendGrid recommended for over 2,000 recipients
• Space out large sends over time
• Monitor sender reputation

Concurrent Check-In

• Multiple devices/lanes recommended for over 200 guests
• Test QR scanning setup before event day
• Have manual backup process ready

Browser compatibility

Fully supported

• Chrome (last 2 versions)
• Firefox (last 2 versions)
• Safari (last 2 versions)
• Edge (Chromium version)

Not supported

• Internet Explorer (any version)
• Mobile browsers for editing (view-only works)

Mobile app limitations

iOS app

• Check-In with QR scanning
• Badge printing
• Basic guest list viewing
• Basic contact editing
• iPhone and iPad supported

Android app

• Not supported for event organizers

Not in mobile app

• Landing page editing
• Email campaign creation
• Seating chart design

Export event data

Export guest list data by selecting guests » More Options » Export to CSV.

Export multiple events: contact us to enable.

Email copied to clipboard

Integrations

Microsoft Outlook email sending requirements

Your Microsoft Outlook will need to be cloud hosted. Gatsby’s integration uses the Microsoft Graph API which on-prem Exchange servers do not support.

Badge printing requirements

Specific hardware needed

• Brother QL-820NWB printer (only model that works)
• DK2205 labels (2.4” width)
• iPhone or iPad (Android support TBD)
• Gatsby mobile app from App Store

Learn More

Salesforce integration requirements

• Marketing User checkbox required
• Change Data Capture enabled
• Custom fields for RSVP/Attendance

Affinity integration requirements

• API key required
• Multiple Value Dropdown fields
• People-type lists only

Zapier integration requirements

• Pro plan required (webhooks not in free tier)

Zoom integration requirements

• Admin access required for setup
• Webinar license for webinar events and attendance tracking
• Guests must use same email for attendance matching