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Build a seating map and manage assigned seating
Build a seating map and manage assigned seating
Updated over 2 months ago

Enable assigned seating for any event and any venue with our interactive seating map builder. Whether it’s table seating for a gala-style event or an auditorium for your performance, allow your guests to choose their own seats, set up reserved seating, and easily manage seat placements.

To begin creating your venue navigate to seating maps on the left-hand menu while managing your event


Create and edit your seating layout

Use the interactive map builder to recreate the bird’s-eye view of your venue’s layout using a range of seating options such as rows, tables, and areas and elements such as objects and text.

Changes to the venue are made under the layout tab

To build your seating layout:

  1. Manage your event via the events tab

  2. Head to seating map on the left-hand menu bar

  3. Click create new map

  4. Give a name to your map template via the edit ✏️ icon in the top left

  5. Add your seating by clicking on an element

    1. Table (round)

    2. Table (square)

    3. Seating rows

    4. Area

  6. Drag and place your seating elements

  7. Use the objects menu to add in-room features such as the stage, bar areas, exits etc

  8. Click save

To edit your seating map click seating map > edit

Seating maps are automatically saved as templates that can be copied to other events under your account

Edit your seating elements

You can adjust seats per row, row labels, table names, alignments, and labels

  1. Click on a seating block or table

  2. Under the info tab on the left hand side:

    1. Adjust table names

    2. Adjust the number of seats per table or row, or adjust the number of rows

  3. Under the settings tab

    1. Adjust table prefixes

    2. Adjust row labels, alignments and edit individual rows


Map your ticket types to your seats

You will need to 'map' your ticket types to the seats you have created in your venue layout. Ticket mapping tells the system where buyers can sit based on the ticket type they have selected.

This is where you can control restricted seating for tiered-pricing, VIP, or Staff ticket types, for example.

You must map your ticket types if you want to allow guests to choose their tickets during checkout and/or manually assign guests to the seat map

To map your ticket types to seats

  1. While on the seating map tab click edit map

  2. Select the mapping tab

  3. Click to select a seating block or table

  4. On the left-hand menu, select the ticket types that apply to these seats

  5. Click save

You can map multiple ticket types to the same seat, but each seat can only be purchased once.

Click on an entire seating block or table and select all ticket types that apply OR use the multi-select tool to select specific seats within a particular seating block or table

Multi-select tool

The multi-select tool allows you to select multiple elements or individual seats within an element.

Click the arrow icon in the bottom menu bar or hold SHIFT on your keyboard and click+drag with your mouse.


Match your ticket type capacities to the number of seats mapped in your seating plan

To ensure that you do not oversell your event or run into issues with seat availability, you can ensure the number of seats mapped with a particular ticket type match that ticket's capacity.

If your ticket capacity is higher or lower than the number of seats you've mapped for that ticket type, you will receive a see issue warning in the top right

Click manage capacity to review any discrepancies

You can manually change your ticket mapping or select auto match to override your ticket capacities, automatically, with the number of seats you have mapped to each ticket.

Select auto match all to apply changes to all your mapped ticket types.
Save your changes.

While auto-matching, your ticket capacities will change with the number of seats they are mapped to.

To increase or decrease your ticket capacity, you will need to map these ticket types to additional or fewer seats, respectively.

Note: If you have not enabled auto match for your ticket mapping, you can manually change your ticket capacities via tickets > ticket types as per normal.

We recommend you review your ticket capacities to ensure buyers do not run into issues during seat selection in the checkout process


How to make tables or seats private

You can mark tables and rows on your seat map as "private" meaning cannot be booked during the checkout process, even if they are ticket types mapped to it.

This is a great option if you wish to display the table on a seating map, but prevent any actual sales.

To make a table or private:

  1. Click on the table or select the seats/rows you would like to make private

  2. Click settings left-hand menu

  3. Toggle ON Make this table private

    1. The table/seats will change to a dark shade when private

  4. Click done

Reserving tables for VIP, sponsors, or special guests?

You can also achieve a similar restriction by creating a ticket type for VIPs and mapping only that ticket type to specific seats

These seats will only be available to these ticket holders


How to let buyers choose their own seats during checkout

Ticket buyers can choose their seating locations during the checkout process after they have selected their ticket types, which will appear on their digital ticket and your reporting.

To let buyers choose their own seats:

  1. Click the seating map tab or close the seating map builder

  2. Toggle ON attendees can pick their own seats

You must map your ticket types to seats for buyers to choose their own seats


How does a buyer choose their seats during checkout?

Buyers will be prompted to choose their seats after they have selected their ticket types, as this will determine where they can sit in the venue.

They will then be asked to finalise their buyer and ticket holder information before completing their purchase.


How to assign and move seats for ticket holders

At anytime you can manually assign unassigned ticket holders to available seats, or move existing ticket holders from one seat to another.

Seating locations will automatically be updated on a digital ticket and your reporting.

To change the seating location of a ticket holder:

  1. Navigate to the assigned tab on the left-hand menu

  2. Toggle between attendees (ticket holders) or buyers or use the search bar to find a particular ticket

  3. Select reassign next to the ticket holder

  4. Click on the new desired seat

  5. Select move to save

To assign an unassigned ticket holder to a seat

A ticket holder may be unassigned if the option to choose seats at checkout was disabled, they purchased a ticket type that was not previously mapped to the seat map, or their ticket was generated via a bulk upload

  1. Navigate to seating map > manage attendees

  2. Select the unassigned tab to see all tickets not assigned to a seat

  3. Select assign next to the ticket holder

  4. Click on the desired seat > assign

Changes to seating locations will not be notified to buyers and ticket holders

These changes will be visible immediately on their digital ticket.

If you have made many changes to your venue layout and assigned seating we would recommend getting in touch with buyers using an email campaign.

You can advise them to refer to their digital ticket and/or provide them with a direct link to their ticket using the @ViewTickets shortcut in your email message

> Learn more about sending an email campaign


Commonly asked questions

Why are buyers not being asked to choose seats at checkout?

If the seat selection stage and seat map does not appear when moving through the event checkout it is due to either:

  1. You have not enabled attendees can choose their own seats while on the seating map page

  2. You have not mapped any or that ticket type to your seat map. If a ticket type is not mapped to the seat map, the system will assume it does should not have assigned seating.

Will a seating map work with a recurring event?

Yes, seating maps and their capacities apply to each event date within an event page.

For example, your event has 3 nights; Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. A guest can buy seat ‘A1’ for the Friday session, however another guest can select Saturday or Sunday and find seat ‘A1’ still available.

However, we do not recommend using a seating map for an event which has created multiple ticket types for each day/session. If you require assigned seating we would recommend creating a separate event page for each day.

I have orders for my event but I can’t click on the ‘unassigned’ tab to assign them

  • Make sure your ticket types have been mapped to your seats via the ticket mapping tab. Tickets cannot be assigned if the ticket type hasn’t been mapped.

Can I share seating maps with my team members?

  • Seating maps are currently restricted to an account level. However, you can pass on seating map templates through events.

  1. Create the seating map template under your account

  2. Your team member shares to you the event they would like the seating map applied to

  3. Open the event > seating maps > copy the seating map template

  4. Moving forward your team member can apply this template to future events they create

I reach the seating map stage of checkout, but the seat map doesn't load?

If you're able to reach the seating map stage of checkout but the seat map does not load or render it could be due to your browser settings. You may likely have disabled WebGL in your browser which is an essential browser setting to allow for 2D and 3D images to appear on websites, like the Humanitix seating map.

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