An event sign up form is the shortest form a business runs and the one most often made long. A sign up is an expression of interest, not a registration: the visitor is saying put me on the list, and the form should take a name and an email and stop. The event form template on this page is that form, with the one optional field that earns its place and the confirmation that does the rest of the asking. It is then sized against the page's own traffic with the contact form design sheet, because the argument for a short form is not taste but the entries a month it produces from the same visitors.
The event form template, three fields
Name, email, and a single optional field for the number of people coming or the session preferred. Nothing is required except the email, because a sign up with no name is still a sign up. The submit button says what happens next, the confirmation gives the date and the place, and the follow-up email asks the questions a registration form would have asked on the first screen. Kept to three fields at nine seconds each, the form takes 27 seconds, and on the contact form design sheet that is the shortest form the sheet will ever time.
Why sign ups and registrations are different forms
A registration commits a place; a sign up commits nothing, and a form that treats them the same asks a visitor who has not decided to answer questions only a committed guest can. Keep two forms: the sign up on the announcement page with three fields, and the registration on the confirmation page with places, ticket type and payment. On the worked example a page with 1,200 visitors, 5% starting and 60% finishing produces 36 entries a month; a shorter form moves the finish rate, and the sheet prints what that is worth.
What to do with the list
The sign ups are the audience for the registration email, so each one is an entry that will change status from new to registered or to no reply. Keeping them in Shortcodo Pro rather than an inbox means the registration email goes to a list with statuses, the no-replies get one reminder, and the people who registered are not asked to sign up again. The form's shortcode is kept beside its entries so the same form goes on the next event's page.
Questions people ask about event sign up form
Should the event sign up form ask for a phone number?
Only if you will call. An unused phone field is nine seconds and a reason to abandon; the sheet prints both.
Can the sign up form take payment?
It should not. A sign up commits nothing; payment belongs on the registration form, priced first on the payment form calculator.
How many sign ups should the page produce?
The sheet works it from the page's visitors and your measured start and finish rates. Enter last month's and the answer is your own.