Scanning a ticket in the Event Day app.

Scanning Tickets at the Gate

On event day, your gate staff check people in by scanning ticket QR codes with the EventDay App on a phone or tablet. After this article you will be able to get the app onto your staff's phones, tell a good scan from a rejected one, and reverse a scan you made by mistake.

Every scan is checked against your event as it happens. That means a ticket can only be used once, even across several gates on separate phones, and a ticket bought for a different event is turned away automatically.

Before doors open

Scanning is tied to a private access link. Each event has its own link, and anyone who has it can scan for that event — share it only with your gate staff.

1. In your dashboard, go to Box office and open the event.
2. On the event page, click Event day App in the top bar. A Scan & collect window opens with three steps: Download the EventDay App, Open or share the access link, and Scan tickets & accept payments.
3. Click Copy EventDay link (staff) and send the link to your gate staff. The window also shows a QR code: a staff member can scan it with their phone's camera to open the scanner. Switch the toggle under it from Open scanner to Install app to show a QR code that goes to the app download instead.
4. Ask staff to install the app first if they don't have it. A Download on the App Store badge is in the same window.

The same link also appears further down the event page under Ticket preview, in the Ticket scanner section, with its own copy and QR code buttons.

If a staff member opens the link on a phone that doesn't have the app installed, they are taken to the app store first.

Scan a ticket

1. Open the app on the event. The camera screen shows Ready to scan.
2. Keep the switch at the top set to Scan. (The Buy side is for selling to walk-ups. The camera turns off while you're on Buy, so switch back to Scan to keep checking people in.)
3. Point the camera at the attendee's QR code, on their phone screen or on a printed ticket. You don't need to tap anything — the app reads the code on its own.
4. Wait for the result. The app shows Checking ticket... for a moment while it verifies the ticket.
5. Admit the attendee when the screen turns green and says Valid ticket. The app plays a ding, adds the scan to the running activity list, and returns to Ready to scan for the next person.

If a code can't be admitted, the app plays an error sound and shows a short message explaining why. See What each result message means below. The message clears on its own after about three seconds and the app goes back to Ready to scan.

Tickets bought together

Each ticket carries its own QR code that can be admitted once. When one code covers several tickets — for example, a family bought four tickets in one purchase — the app shows Valid group ticket and opens a panel listing the tickets by type, with how many are still unused.

1. Select how many tickets to redeem right now.
2. Tap Redeem selected tickets. The screen confirms the redemption and returns to Ready to scan.

The rest of the group can be admitted later with the same QR code. If every ticket in the group has already been used, the scan is rejected with Used group ticket — "All tickets in the group are already redeemed."

Scanning passes

A pass is one ticket that admits someone to several events, such as a season pass or a membership. Passes scan the same way as tickets. A good scan shows Valid pass instead of Valid ticket.

If the pass is a membership, the confirmation also names the membership tier the person bought and is tinted in that tier's color, so staff can see at a glance which level of access they're admitting.

Some passes cover more than one admission at a single event. When you scan one of those, the app asks how many people to admit before it finishes, the same way it does for a group ticket. The remaining admissions stay available for later scans, and the scan activity list shows how many are left.

A pass only works at events it covers. Coverage comes from the event categories the pass was set up for — football, school dances, and so on — and from the dates the pass is good for. A membership covers the categories in its program, within the season or sales window it was sold under. If the event isn't in a covered category, or its start time falls outside the pass's dates, the scan is rejected.

What each result message means

Why is an already-used ticket amber instead of red?

Because it isn't a fake. An amber screen means the code is a genuine ticket for this event that has already been scanned in — a different situation from a code the app doesn't recognize at all. The person in front of you may well be the rightful holder, so the amber screen is a prompt to look into it rather than to turn them away.

What if someone insists their ticket is valid but it says "already redeemed"?

That message means the code has been scanned in before. Two common causes:

• Someone forwarded the ticket, and the other person already used it.
• A member of the group already came in on the same code.

Open the scan activity in the app to see the earlier scan, including how long ago it happened and the ticket type. If you decide to let the person in, you can either undo the earlier scan (below) or sell them a ticket at the gate.

What if I scan the same code twice by accident?

Holding the camera on one ticket won't check it in twice. If the same phone re-reads a code it admitted in the last few seconds, the app treats it as the same person still standing at the scanner rather than a second entry, and won't count it again.

If a staff member points the camera at something that isn't a ticket at all — a parking sticker, a QR code from another app — the app rejects it once and then ignores that same code for about 30 seconds, so it doesn't keep buzzing while the camera is aimed at it.

How do I undo a scan I made by mistake?

1. Open the scan activity in the app.
2. Select the scan you want to reverse and review the ticket details.
3. Tap Undo scan.

The ticket becomes valid again and can be scanned normally. Tap Cancel to leave without changing anything.

Undoing a scan is a staff action. It works when the phone is on your event's access link or the person is signed in to your dashboard, and only for events that belong to your organization.

How do I see who has already come in?

The app keeps a running list of scans for the event, newest first. Each entry shows the attendee's name, the ticket type, and when they were scanned in, so you can check a specific person or see how the line is moving. The list refreshes as your staff keep scanning, including scans made on other phones at other gates. Email addresses are shown partly hidden, so a phone left on a table at the gate doesn't display your buyers' full contact details.

What if someone arrives without a ticket?

Flip the switch at the top of the screen from Scan to Buy and sell them a ticket on the spot. Sales made at the gate land in the same event totals as online sales. Switch back to Scan when you're done so the camera turns back on.

If a ticket type has a set capacity and that capacity is reached, the app shows a warning on that ticket type — for example "40 / 40 sold — at capacity" — but it still lets you sell. That way a walk-up line doesn't stop because a count ran out.

What if two gates scan the same ticket at the same time?

Only one of them gets a green screen. Each scan is checked against your event in real time, so the first one in wins and the second sees Ticket already redeemed. You can run as many phones as you have staff for.

What if the camera doesn't turn on?

The first time a staff member opens the app, the phone asks for permission to use the camera. If that was declined, the scan screen shows Camera access needed instead of the camera view. Tap Open Settings, allow camera access for the app, then come back to the app and tap Try Again.

What if the gate loses internet?

Scanning needs an internet connection — every scan is checked against your event in real time. A phone that drops its connection shows No connection – scan again instead of admitting anyone.

Before the event, confirm your gate has Wi-Fi or cell coverage. If coverage at the gate is weak, test from the exact spot where staff will stand, not from inside the building.

What if a staff member's app stops letting them scan?

Have them open the event access link again. That link is what puts the app on your event, and reopening it restores access. If they still can't scan, confirm they're using the current link for the right event — a link copied for last week's game won't admit tonight's attendees.

Can I scan without installing the app?

No. Scanning happens in the EventDay App. Opening the event access link on a phone without the app takes the staff member to the app download first, so have staff install it before the event.

Practice before the event

The event page has a Ticket demo section — "Try scanning this ticket with the scanner above!" Have each staff member scan it once so they have seen the camera, the green screen and the ding before a real line forms. Demo scans don't affect your real ticket counts.