Seating charts in TicketsCandy are created at the account level, which allows you to build and manage your charts in one place and then use them with different events.
Creating a seating chart is the first step in setting up reserved seating for an event. After the chart is ready, you can enable seating charts for an event, create seated tickets, and connect those tickets to sections of your chart.
Setting Up Seated Tickets #
The complete setup includes the following steps:
- Create and Manage Seating Charts
- Enable Seating Charts for an Event
- Create a Seated Ticket
- Manage Seats and View Purchased Seats
This article covers the first step: creating and managing seating charts for your TicketsCandy account.
Open the Seating Charts Page #
The Seating Charts page is located in your Organizer Panel, not inside an individual event dashboard.
To open it:
- Log in to your TicketsCandy Organizer Panel.
- Click Settings in the left navigation.
- Select Seating Charts.
From this page, you can create and manage the seating charts available across your account.
Create a New Seating Chart #
If you have not created any seating charts yet, the page will initially be empty.
Click Create New Seating Chart in the top-right corner to open the seating chart builder.
When the builder loads, you will first be asked to select the type of seating chart you want to create. The chart builder is flexible enough to handle many different venue layouts, including:
- Stadiums – including very large venues with multiple sections and levels.
- Theaters – including layouts with multiple floors or seating areas.
- Race tracks – with multiple zones and seating sections.
- General admission areas – for areas without individually assigned seats.
- Fixed-capacity areas – for sections where you want to control the number of available spots.
- Tables – where guests can book individual seats at a table or, depending on the setup, the entire table.
- Gala dinners and banquet layouts
- Comedy clubs
- Dance floors
- Other custom venue layouts that combine seats, sections, areas, tables, and multiple floors.
On the next step, you will be offered a quick tutorial that explains how to use the chart builder. You can complete the tutorial or skip it and start designing your chart right away.
The chart builder has many options, so it may take some time to become familiar with everything it can do. If you need help creating your seating chart, please contact our support team and we will be happy to assist.
Create Categories for Your Seats #
While designing your chart, pay special attention to categories.
Categories are used to group seats together. Later, when you create seated tickets for an event, you will connect each ticket to one or more of these categories.
For example, a venue could have:
- A Left Section category
- A Center Section category
- A Right Section category
You could then create a different seated ticket for each section. Each ticket could have its own price, description, and other settings.
When a customer selects a seat from one of these sections, TicketsCandy can show the ticket option connected to that seat’s category.
Because categories are used to connect your seating chart with your seated tickets, make sure all seats that you plan to sell are assigned to the correct categories.
Saving Your Seating Chart #
While you are creating a new seating chart, your work is saved automatically.
Once you have finished designing and configuring the chart, click Back to Seating Charts in the top-right corner.
Your chart will now appear in the Seating Charts table.
Manage Your Seating Charts #
The Seating Charts page shows all charts created within your account.
For each chart, you can see its name, current status, and available actions.
Click the three-dot menu on the right side of a chart to access options such as:
- Edit – Opens the seating chart builder so you can make changes.
- Delete – Deletes the seating chart.
Seating Chart Statuses #
A chart can display different statuses depending on how it is currently being used.
Not Used
The seating chart has been created but is not currently being used by an event.
Active
The seating chart has been connected to an event and is currently being used.
Unsaved Changes
This can appear when you edit a seating chart that is already connected to an event.
Unlike the initial creation process, changes made to a chart that is already in use may need to be published before they become active. Until those changes are published, the Unsaved Changes status will appear next to the chart.
When you publish changes to a chart that is already being used by an event, those updates are applied to the active chart as well. For example, if you add new seats, the new seats will become available on the event’s seating chart after the changes are published.
Be careful when editing, moving, deleting, or otherwise changing seats that already existed on a published chart. If any of those seats have already been purchased, certain changes may affect or remove their existing booking information. The chart builder will display a warning if a change could affect previously booked seats.
Always review these warnings carefully before publishing changes to a seating chart that has already been used for ticket sales.
Seating Chart Errors #
TicketsCandy also checks your seating chart for configuration problems.
If a chart does not pass validation, the Seating Charts table will display the errors directly below the chart.
For example, an error may appear if:
- Some objects in the chart do not have labels.
- Some objects have not been assigned to a category.
Open the chart using Edit, correct the listed problems, and make sure the chart is properly configured before using it for ticket sales.
Next Step: Connect Seating Charts to an Event #
Once your seating chart is complete, you are ready for the next step.
Continue to Enable Seating Charts for an Event to select a seating chart for an event and begin setting up your seated tickets.
