Understanding Event Statuses

Every event in Dear has a status that indicates its current state. Understanding statuses helps you manage your events effectively and know what guests can see. This guide explains each status and when to use them.

The Three Event Statuses

Draft

What it means: The event is being prepared and is not yet visible to attendees.

Visual indicator: Gray badge

When to use:

• You’ve just created the event

• You’re still finalizing details

• You haven’t decided on final information yet

• You want to preview before going live

What guests can do:

• Nothing - draft events are completely private

• Invitation links don’t work for draft events

• RSVP pages are not accessible

Best for: Events in the planning stage that aren’t ready for guests to see.

Published

What it means: The event is live and visible to attendees.

Visual indicator: Green badge

When to use:

• All event details are finalized

• You’re ready for guests to RSVP

• You want to start sending invitations

What guests can do:

• View their personalized invitation via their unique link

• Submit RSVP responses

• Add plus-ones (if allowed)

• View event details

Best for: Active events where you want guests to interact.

Cancelled

What it means: The event has been cancelled and is no longer happening.

Visual indicator: Red badge

When to use:

• The event is definitively not happening

• Plans have changed and the event is called off

• You need to indicate to guests that the event is cancelled

What guests can do:

• May see a cancellation notice when visiting their invitation link

• Cannot submit new RSVPs

• Previously submitted RSVPs are preserved for your records

Best for: Events that will not take place.

Changing Event Status

How to Change Status

1. Go to your event and click Edit

2. Find the Status dropdown

3. Select the new status

4. Click Save

Status Transitions

You can change between statuses at any time:

Status and Invitations

Event status affects what happens with invitations:

Sending Invitations

• Draft: You can prepare messages but shouldn’t send them (links won’t work for guests)

• Published: Safe to send invitations - links will work

• Cancelled: You may want to send a cancellation notice

Scheduled Messages

If you have messages scheduled to send:

• Draft status: Scheduled messages may not send or may result in broken links

• Published status: Scheduled messages will send normally

• Cancelled status: Consider cancelling scheduled messages

Status vs. Archiving

Status and archiving are different concepts:

You can have:

• A published, archived event (completed but was live)

• A draft, archived event (never went live, stored away)

• A cancelled, archived event (cancelled and filed away)

Typical Event Lifecycle

Here’s how status typically changes through an event’s life:

1. Create Event → Status: Draft
2. Finalize Details → Status: Draft (still working)
3. Ready for Guests → Status: Published
4. Send Invitations → Status: Published
5. Event Occurs → Status: Published
6. After Event → Status: Published (or Archive it)

Or if plans change:

1. Create Event → Status: Draft
2. Plans Fall Through → Status: Cancelled
3. Clean Up → Archive the event

Tips for Managing Status

Keep Draft Until Ready

Don’t publish until you’re confident in your event details. It’s easier to make changes when no one is watching.

Communicate Status Changes

If you change a published event to cancelled, send a message to guests explaining the situation. Don’t leave them confused.

Use Cancelled Sparingly

Only use cancelled status when the event truly isn’t happening. If you just need to make changes, revert to draft instead.

Check Status Before Sending

Before sending invitations, verify your event is published. Sending invitations for a draft event results in broken links.

Troubleshooting

Guests can’t access their invitation

• Check that the event status is “Published”

• If it’s in Draft or Cancelled, guests won’t be able to view it

I changed status but nothing seems different

• Make sure you clicked Save after changing the status

• Refresh the page to see updated badges

Should I cancel or delete?

• Dear doesn’t typically allow deletion

• Use Cancelled status for events that won’t happen

• Archive if you want to clean up your list

Can guests see when I change status?

• Guests don’t receive automatic notifications about status changes

• If you cancel, consider sending a cancellation message manually

Related Articles:

• Publishing Your Event

• Archiving Events

• Creating an Event

• Sending Invitations