How event registration states work
The short version
Section titled “The short version”A registration moves through four possible statuses: pending payment, registered, attended, and cancelled. Pending payment is a time-limited hold that keeps the spot reserved during checkout. The hold counts toward capacity so the event does not oversell.
How it works
Section titled “How it works”When a member selects a ticket and starts the checkout flow, MapleGather immediately creates a registration record with status pending payment. This hold reserves the spot — the capacity shown to other members drops by one — while the member completes payment.
If payment succeeds, the status changes to registered and the spot is confirmed. If payment is not completed within the auto-cancel window (default 30 minutes, minimum 5, maximum 120), the hold expires and the status changes to cancelled. The spot is released and capacity goes back up.
For free events, there is no payment step. The registration goes straight to registered when the member confirms their RSVP.
Once a member checks in at the event, an admin marks them as attended. The attended status cannot be reversed through self-service — it requires an admin action.
A registration that is cancelled — whether by the member, an admin, or by a payment hold expiring — can be followed by a new registration if the event is still open.
Why it works this way
Section titled “Why it works this way”The pending payment hold is how MapleGather prevents overselling at popular events. Without it, two members could both see “1 spot left,” start checkout at the same time, and both succeed — resulting in one more registration than the event can hold.
By reserving the spot immediately on checkout start, only one of those members gets the spot. The other sees a “sold out” message before they reach payment.
The auto-cancel window balances this against the risk of spots being locked by incomplete sessions. If a member starts checkout and closes the tab, the spot returns to the pool after the window closes.
Edge cases and boundaries
Section titled “Edge cases and boundaries”Capacity reached vs. sold out: When availableCapacity reaches zero (including pending holds), new registrations are blocked with a “Sold out” state. If all pending holds later expire, capacity becomes available again and registration reopens automatically.
Admin comp registrations: Admins can override capacity when registering someone on behalf. The override is logged in the audit trail.
Cancelled event: When an admin cancels an event, all registrations move to cancelled regardless of their current status.
Self-cancel restrictions: The event organizer controls whether members can self-cancel and for how long. If self-cancel is disabled or the window has closed, members see a “Contact organizer” message instead of a Cancel button.
Put it into practice
Section titled “Put it into practice”- If a member says their payment went through but they’re not in the attendee list, check whether their registration is still in pending payment status — payment may still be processing.
- If a ticket shows “Sold out” but the event doesn’t seem full, check the attendee list for registrations in pending payment status. Those holds count toward capacity and will expire within the auto-cancel window.
- For free events, registrations go to registered immediately — there is no pending payment state to troubleshoot.