Post-event workflow

What to do once the event has happened. Most of it is about records and the next edition; a little is about tidying up.

What happens automatically

Once the end date has passed:

• the event leaves upcoming lists;
• its registration button shows the finished label and is disabled;
• the page stays reachable at its URL;
• the event stays in the calendar and in the archives.

Nothing needs unpublishing.

1. Export the definitive list

Export the attendee list one more time. Registrations can still be edited afterwards, so the post-event export is the record.

Name and file it:

open-day-2026-03-14-attendees-final.xls

2. Record the numbers

From your door list and the export:

The plugin calculates none of these. A folder of dated exports does.

3. Reconcile a paid event

Compare paid orders with the attendee list one final time, so the financial and attendance records agree. Resolve anything outstanding — refunds, missing enrollments, duplicate purchases.

4. Decide about the attendee data

Apply your retention policy. Typically:

• keep the export for as long as your policy states;
• decide whether the registrations stay on the event or are removed;
• decide whether the user accounts created by registration stay.

Nothing is deleted automatically. If your privacy notice states a retention period, someone has to run it.

See Attendee data and privacy.

5. Update the event page

A finished event is a public record. Small edits make it a good one:

• add a short line saying the event took place;
• relate the write-up or the photo gallery as related content;
• confirm the Go back button points at your events page, so the page is not a dead end;
• leave everything else as it was.

6. Do not delete it

Unpublishing or deleting a finished event breaks every link to it — newsletters, social posts, printed material — and removes your public record. The plugin has already removed it from the upcoming list, which is the only thing that needed to happen.

If an event genuinely must disappear, export the attendee list first: deleting the event takes its registrations with it.

7. Prepare the next edition

While the details are fresh:

• note what to change — capacity, format, timing, wording;
• update your template draft event, if you keep one;
• create the next edition as a new event, since there is no recurrence;
• carry over what worked, and the corrections you just noted.

See Duplicate and reuse events.

8. Follow up with attendees

Any thank-you, survey or recording link is sent by you, from the exported addresses. The plugin sends nothing.

If you promised a follow-up on the event page or at the door, this is the step where that promise is kept.

Checklist

• [ ] Final export taken and filed.
• [ ] Numbers recorded.
• [ ] Paid orders reconciled.
• [ ] Retention policy applied to data and exports.
• [ ] Event page updated and left published.
• [ ] Related write-up linked.
• [ ] Follow-up sent.
• [ ] Next edition created, or noted.