Event data in the cart
When a visitor selects Get access, the product enters the cart carrying the identity of the event it was bought for. That link is what makes automatic enrollment possible.
What is attached
The cart item carries the event's identity alongside the product. It travels with the item through the cart and the checkout, and is written onto the order when the order is created.
Without it, an order for the ticket product would be indistinguishable from any other order, and nothing could know which event to enroll the buyer in.
The cart is emptied first
Selecting Get access empties the cart before adding the product.
Consequences worth knowing:
- a visitor cannot combine an event ticket with other products in one order;
- anything already in the cart is discarded without a warning;
- each Get access selection starts a clean cart.
If your shop sells events and merchandise together, say so on the event page — Event tickets are purchased separately — rather than letting buyers discover it.
One event per cart
Because each Get access clears the cart, a buyer cannot assemble tickets for two events in one order. Selecting the second event's button replaces the first.
For a buyer attending two events, that means two orders. If your programme expects people to book several sessions at once, the built-in path is not the right tool: sell a pass as a single product and enroll people manually, or use a dedicated booking solution.
Quantity
The button adds a single unit. A buyer wanting two places can change the quantity in the cart, and WooCommerce will happily sell two.
Be aware of what that does not do: enrollment attaches to the buyer's account, so buying two units enrolls one person. If your events regularly involve people booking for a companion, decide how you handle it:
- ask for the second name in the order notes and add the attendee manually;
- sell a two-person product and treat the order as one registration;
- state on the page that each attendee must order separately.
The plugin does not split a quantity into several attendees.
Changing the cart
Standard WooCommerce behavior applies: the buyer can change the quantity or remove the item.
Removing the item and adding the product again from the shop — rather than from the event page — produces a cart item without the event link, and therefore an order that does not enroll anyone.
This is the most common cause of a paid order with no attendee. See Troubleshooting.
Buying the product directly
The same applies to a buyer who finds the ticket product in the shop and buys it there. It is a valid purchase of a valid product, and it carries no event link.
Two ways to prevent it:
- Hide the ticket products from the shop catalogue, so the event page is the only route;
- Name them so nobody buys them by accident, and check paid orders against the attendee list.
The first is cleaner and is what most sites should do.
Verify
- Add something to the cart.
- Open an event and select Get access.
- Confirm the cart now contains only the event product.
- Complete the order and confirm the attendee is created.
- Then buy the same product directly from the shop and confirm that order does not create an attendee — so you know what that failure looks like.