Introduction To Participants
Learn how Auctria tracks the guests at your event and how to use guest numbering.
👥 What are Participants?
Participants represent the people who are attending your event and/or engaging online. In most cases, "participants" and "guests" mean the same thing.
If you’re selling Tickets, we recommend setting up one participant per guest. This ensures you get an accurate headcount and is required if you want to track details like meal choices or Tables And Seating.
A participant record keeps track of individual guest details (name, email, meal preference, etc.) and is also required for registering credit cards if you’re using payment processing.
➕ Adding Participants
There are a few ways participants can be added to your event:
- Manually: Add participants individually from the dashboard using Add New Participant.
- Import: Bring in participant lists from an Excel (
.xls) file with import. - Online registration: Allow guests to register themselves when they purchase Tickets through your event website (Registration/Checkout).
IMPORTANT
Participants are saved at the event level. Even if someone has been part of a previous event, they’ll need a new registration for each event they attend.
🛎️ Add During Check-In
You can also create or update participant records right from the Check-In By Organizer page. This is handy for last-minute arrivals—assign a new Paddle# or add a brand-new participant on the spot.
📱 Add by Text Message
If Text Messages are enabled, guests can register via text. See Enable Registration By Text for setup instructions.
🛠️ Managing Participants
Once created, a participant’s details can be updated at any time through their Participant Details page.
More About Participants
Other related features you may find helpful:
🔗 Linked Participants
When multiple participants share the same Paddle#, they are considered linked. This allows family members, couples, or groups to bid together.
See Sharing Participant Numbers for setup instructions, Linking Versus Merging Participants to learn how linking differs from merging, and How To Link Participants for more details.
⭐ Primary Participant
A linked group can have a designated Primary Participant. The primary record is the “main” account for that paddle number and will:
- Be listed first on reports and statements
- Act as the default contact for receipts and communications
- Serve as the base record for linked transactions
The Primary Participant can be set by opening their record and clicking Make Primary on the left sidebar.
Where you'll see it
- A ⭐ icon marks the primary at check-in, on the participant record, and in searches.
- The primary is listed first in the family, and is automatically used in quick entry forms, checkout, and chooser lists.
💡 Tip! Setting a Primary Participant after linking helps keep check-in and checkout smooth for your team and guests.
👥 Additional Participants
On each participant record, there’s also an Additional Participants field. This is an informational only field—use it to note the names of extra guests bidding under the same Paddle#.
These names will display on Participant Statements, but unlike linked participants, they won’t have full participant records.
💡 If you’re selling tickets and creating one participant per guest, you don’t need to use the Additional Participants field.
Last reviewed: September 2025