Event participant attributes in OLX don't appear in NXT as participant options

Question

Wondering if anyone has a workaround for this.  We are using both OLX and NXT event registration forms for the same event.  OLX for registrations that require the purchase of a ticket (because an immediate receipt can be issued) and NXT for registrations that are free.  I've run into an issue where the OLX participant attributes (such as dinner selection) are not visible on the 'work with participants' screen of the event.  They appear on the participant's record as a custom field instead of a participant option and we have to manually add them as participant options for each guest who purchased a ticket. I thought maybe I could set them up as custom fields on the NXT event record, but the only option here are the custom fields that relate to the event in general, not each participant.  I understand that this would all be solved if we only used NXT event registration forms, but that is not possible right now.  Any suggestions outside of the manual review and correction?

Patty Driscoll · Answer

Thanks Aldera - yes I'm in BC.  You are right, we do use the advantage calculations on the receipts, which is why we are still using OLX for monetary transactions.  We do this for non-event related donations too since we feel its just a poor donor experience to make people wait days for a receipt - in the age of Amazon, we all expect instant everything 🙂

I look forward to the day that BB figures out how to transfer the existing functionality of OLX to NXT so that we can fully move over to using NXT forms and solve these 'one foot in each' issues.

Thanks for your feedback!

Aldera Chisholm · Answer

Hi Patty,

You are in BC, right? Unfortunately these fields do not connect. Your best scenario in the future is to use one or the other -  just OLX or just NXT for registrations, I know that's not the answer you want to hear!

I'm making the assumption that you want the OLX form because you want the eligible gift vs advantage fields which aren't in NXT receipts.  Lots of orgs don't fully calculate the advantage until post-event, so my practice has been to put a note in the confirmation email that they will get their receipt post-event, that way I can use NXT forms.

Happy to chat further if you want to look at options that would work for you - as a fellow Cdn who has played this scenario out a few times myself! :)