Would Squarespace be Suitable for a Larger Site

Hi - I have to create a website and wondered if Squarespace would be able to handle it. I read the support articles for creating forms & linking/integrating with 3rd party websites, but I wanted to hear thoughts from actual users. The site will be for a 3 day event and will specifically need:

1. A way for event attendees to buy tickets and then download/print right then and/or send a copy to their email. Each ticket will need to be unique with a barcode or similar so they can't be copied and shared. I don't yet know exactly how the tickets will processed at the gate, so how we do this might change. This seems like the biggest challenge.
2. The event will have vendors who will rent booths beforehand. The site will need a signup form for these vendors and a way for them to pay. Booth prices will vary depending on size. This looks relatively easy.
3. Classes & presentations - The event will feature over a dozen classes & presentations that attendees will sign up for beforehand. Most of the classes will sell out quickly, so we need the ability to have it switch to "Sold Out" once the maximum amount of seats are sold. I could close the registration manually, but that would be a pain.
4. The event will have a competition where attendees will be able to enter an item and then have it judged. We need a basic form where attendees can register to enter and submit a photo/sketch of what they plan to enter.

The site will have a blog, a map of the exhibit floor and other "basic" stuff like a list of vendors, a volunteer sign up form, contact info and similar. We'd like a way for attendees to be able to log back in and see what classes & presentations they've signed up for if possible.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

I think it should be able to handle this with the help of external services.

1. It would be worth looking at Ticket Tailor https://www.tickettailor.com/ if you're not aware of them. I've used it briefly and was very impressed with its ease of use, features and functionality. You pay a small fee of course for each transaction (free if the event is free btw) and it can handle barcoding and I would think your gate checking issue. They have a widget you can use in Squarespace - https://www.tickettailor.com/sell-tickets-on-squarespace/

2. Yes this looks starighforward.

3. Squarespace has a specific Events type in most templates I think but I haven't used it so this could work for you. Also just wondering if Ticket Tailor might be able to help with booking of classes too -not sure. Also might be worth looking at Appointment Scheduling Blocks in Squaresapce and maybe Acuity - https://support.squarespace.com/hc/en-us/articles/206545577-Appointment-Scheduling-Blocks I haven't used these so not sure of this.

4. You can upload documents so should be able to handle uploading of photos/sketches.

A blog of course will be fine, a map of the exhibit floor - possibly but maybe would have to use external service or software - or image if nothing else. Sign up and contact forms all good - maybe use Mailchimp with Squarespace for this and actually possibly other things - they integrate really well. Could then use Maillchimp to send out newsletters about the event to subscribers etc.

You can also set up logins with passwords for specific pages - so possible but not sure how it would work for a large amount of attendees.

Hope this helps a bit.

I'm curious about building a website for a similar kind of event. Nice to see your question already here. 

I'm wondering if you thought about how big your attendee lists are and how you're going to handle registration lists?  I haven't used the squarespace integrations into google sheets in a while. It seems like in order to sell tickets on square pace for, say 250 people registering, and to keep all the attendee info organized so you can check them in, find emergency contact info, etc, you'd have to have someone on your event team that's willing to do some spreadsheet work for you to organize and print lists ahead of time.  (The event I'm thinking about would be in the woods, so everything would have to be printed on hard copies before arrival).

I'm also wondering about being able to email specific lists of people through squarespace, like those who have registered, those who have registered as teachers (or vendors), etc...or would I be having to cut and paste manually from form responses to create those segmented email lists?

And what kind of plan would you get?  Business or Commerce? I wondered how much money you'd have to make to make it worth it to not have the 3% fee that squarespace charges on business accounts... I did some calculations based on the $18/mo business plan and the $26/mo commerce plan, and came up with $267/month or $3204/year in money paid via your squarespace to make it cost effective to pay for a commerce account. 

Also, I've used event software like eventbrite before, and it's pretty great for this kind of thing. really simple to get the right spreadsheet printouts, download info, email segmented lists of people, etc... I'm wondering if it makes sense to get squarespace for a website, and then handle the registrations on eventbrite...

Lily

On 1/8/2020 at 6:00 PM, Skippermark said:

We'd like a way for attendees to be able to log back in and see what classes & presentations they've signed up for if possible.

As far as I'm aware of, it's possible to do this on Squarespace, but It's not a part of their platform. If this is high priority, i'd suggest finding software that's designed for these kinds of things. 

Edit: I've been on vacation! I forgot that Squarespace is implementing "Customer Accounts"...not sure when it's ready.