A Lock Overlay applies Locks (also known as kills, set asides, holds) to your Seating Plans. Locks can be used to make seats unavailable for general sale. For example, for press, artists, agents, house or access seats.
A Lock Overlay is required when setting up Event Instances.
Before you read this article, make sure you’re familiar with:
Why Create a Lock Overlay?
A Lock Overlay can be used to allocate Locked Seats in a Seating Plan. In your Seating Plan, you can set various Lock Types, for example, wheelchair access seats, press seats and artist seats. Lock Overlays allow you to manage all possible Locked Seats in a Seating Plan.
You can create different Lock Overlays for different Instances and different Layouts. For example, you may want to Lock more press seats for show previews.
When creating Lock Overlays, only one Lock can be applied to a Seat. There is no maximum limit to how many Seats in a Seating Plan can be Locked. Each Seat can have Locks.
You can switch and clear Locks on a Seat in the Sales Interface at the time of purchase without affecting the Lock Overlay.
You’ll need to set up your Lock Types before creating a Lock Overlay. For more information, read How to Set Up and Edit Lock Types.
Viewing Lock Overlays
Lock Overlays are specific to each Seating Plan. View all the Lock Overlays for a Seating Plan in the Admin Interface > Seating > Seating Plans.
TIP: To access the Admin Interface, you’ll need the General Administrator Role. If you don’t have this Role, ask the Settings Administrator in your organization to add this Role to your User Account.
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From Seating Plans, click on the name of the Seating Plan:
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Click on the Locks tab:
You’ll see a list of all Lock Overlays sorted by Name, created for this Seating Plan on the green panel on the left side of the screen:
Creating a new Lock Overlay
To create a new Lock Overlay for your Seating Plan:
- Navigate to Lock Overlays
- Click +New
- Give the Overlay a Name for internal use
- Click Ok
- Click on your new Lock Overlay
Locking Seats
Follow the steps to lock Seats for your Seating Plan:
Multi-Area Seating Plan
While a Lock Overlay covers all Areas, you must lock Seats in each Area separately.
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Select an Area by clicking the Overview Image or from the dropdown:
- Click Edit
- Follow the steps to lock Seats based on if the Area has Reserved or Unreserved seating
- Click Save for the Area
- Repeat these steps for each Area in the Seating Plan
Reserved Seating Plan Areas
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Click Edit.
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Select a Layout Overlay from the dropdown above the Lock Overlay list.
A Lock Overlay can be created specifically together with a Layout Overlay. For example, if press Locks usually appear in the first row but the first row is removed, you can create a Lock Overlay that places the press Locks in your Seating Plan’s second row.
However, if you’re using a Lock Overlay across multiple Instances with different Layout Overlays, we recommend selecting an Overlay with the widest selection of Seats (no or minimal masked Seats).
You’ll be able to switch between Layout Overlays after applying your Locks to view how Locks appear on different Layouts.
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You can apply one Lock Type at a time. If your Lock Overlay will contain multiple Lock Types, follow these steps to apply each Lock.
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Select a Seat or multiple consecutive Seats. If you need to lock multiple Seats that are not near each other, lock the seats separately for each section. You can use one of the following methods to select multiple Seats at once:
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In a Single Row: For Seats in a single row, hold the Shift key on your keyboard and clicking the first and last Seat . Any Seats in between will also be selected.
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Multiple straight rows: For Seats in multiple straight rows, choose the rectangle icon for Rectangle Mode:
Click and drag your cursor to create a rectangle around all the Seats to select.
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Multiple curved rows: For Seats in multiple curved rows, choose the paintbrush icon for Paint Mode:
Click and drag your cursor to “paint” over the Seats to select.
REMINDER: Each Seat can only have one Lock Type. You can change the Lock type on an existing Locked Seat.
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Once you’ve selected your Seats, click the up arrow next to Apply lock type and select a Lock Type from the dropdown:
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The Locked Seats will appear with the letter or symbol of its Lock Type:
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Repeat for other Lock Types.
- Click Save.
To clear Locked Seats in a Lock Overlay, follow the steps in Clearing Locked Seats.
Unreserved Seating Plan Areas
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Click Edit.
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Select a Layout Overlay from the dropdown above the Lock Overlay list.
A Lock Overlay can be created specifically together with a Layout Overlay. For example, if a Layout Overlay masks half the Seats, you may want to reduce your number locks.
However, if you’re using a Lock Overlay across multiple Instances with different capacities, we recommend selecting an Overlay with the highest number of Seats (no or minimal masked Seats).
You’ll be able to switch between Layout Overlays after applying your Locks to compare the number of Locks to the number of available seats.
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Enter the number of Locks for each Lock Type. The number should not exceed the number of Available Seats, which is the capacity of the selected Layout Overlay.
WARNING: When creating or editing an Event Instance, if you select a Lock Overlay that exceeds the number of available Seats, you’ll get an error and won’t be able to proceed until a Layout Overlay with an equal or higher number of Seats is selected.
- Click Save.
To clear Locked Seats in a Lock Overlay, follow the steps in Clearing Locked Seats.
Clearing Locked Seats
Follow the steps to clear the Locks on your Seats for your Seating Plan:
Multi-Area Seating Plan
While a Lock Overlay covers all Areas, you must clear lock Seats in each Area separately.
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Select an Area by clicking the Overview Image or from the dropdown:
- Click Edit
- Follow the steps to clear lock Seats based on if the Area has Reserved or Unreserved seating
- Click Save for the Area
- Repeat these steps for each Area in the Seating Plan
Reserved Seating Plan Areas
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Click Edit.
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Select a Layout Overlay from the dropdown above the Lock Overlay list. We recommend you select a Layout Overlay with the widest selection of Seats, to ensure that you don’t miss any Locked Seats, which may be unintentionally masked.
You’ll be able to switch between Layout Overlays after clearing your Locks to view how Locks appear on different Layouts.
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To clear all Locks on the Lock Overlay, click Clear All.
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To clear Locks on one or more Seats, you can select a Seat or multiple consecutive Seats. If you need to clear multiple Locked Seats that are not near each other, clear the Locked Seats separately for each section. You can use one of the following methods to select multiple Seats at once:
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In a Single Row: For Seats in a single row, hold the Shift key on your keyboard and click the first and last Seat . Any Seats in between will also be selected.
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Multiple straight rows: For Seats in multiple straight rows, choose the rectangle icon for Rectangle Mode:
Click and drag your cursor to create a rectangle around all the Seats to select.
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Multiple curved rows: For Seats in multiple curved rows, choose the paintbrush icon for Paint Mode:
Click and drag your cursor to “paint” over the Seats to select.
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Once your Seats are selected, click Clear Selected.
- Click Save.
To Lock Seats in a Lock Overlay, follow the steps in Locking Seats.
Unreserved Seating Plan Areas
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Click Edit.
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Select a Layout Overlay from the dropdown above the Lock Overlay list. We recommend you select a Layout Overlay with the highest number of Seats.
Once you clear your Locks, you can also switch between Layout Overlays to compare the number of Locks to the number of available Seats.
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Enter the number of Locks for each Lock Type. You can enter 0 to clear all Locks or reduce the number.
- Click Save.
To Lock Seats in a Lock Overlay, follow the steps in Locking Seats.
Editing an Existing Lock Overlay
You can edit your existing Lock Overlays from the Seating Plan or from a single Instance.
If you edit from the Seating Plan, the changes will apply to all new Instances. You can choose to apply the changes to any or all live or draft Instances using the Overlay.
You can also edit the Lock Overlay for a single Instance. Follow the steps in Editing Instances to update the Lock Overlay.
You can also clear and apply Locks in the Sales Interface as you are selling Tickets. This will not affect the Lock Overlay. Follow the steps in Selling Locked Seats.
To edit existing Lock Overlays from the Seating Plan, follow these steps:
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Navigate to Lock Overlays.
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Click on the Lock Overlay you’d like to update.
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Follow the steps to apply or clear Locks.
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Click Save.
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If you’ve edited a Lock Overlay that is used in live or draft Instances, a pop-up will appear:
Select:
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None: Applies new Locks and clears Locked Seats in the Overlay for future use but won’t affect any of the Instances currently using it. Those Instances will retain the properties of the original Overlay. The Overlay name will change to include a version number and the last edit date. You may also see the text (old version).
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All future live Instances: Applies new Locks to Seats in the overlay for all live Instances currently using it and for future use. This will not update draft Instances currently using it. Those draft Instances will retain the properties of the original Overlay. The Overlay name will change to include a version number and the last edit date. You may also see the text (old version).
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All future live and draft Instances: Applies new Locks to Seats in the Overlay for all live and draft Instances currently using it, and for future use.
- Those selected below: Choose which live Instances to apply new Locks to Seats in the Overlay. Instances not selected will retain the properties of the original Overlay. The Overlay name will change to include a version number and the last edit date. You may also see the text (old version).
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Click OK.
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For Instances with Seats that already have a Lock or Locked Seats that are now clear, a Lock Overlay Options pop-up will appear:
You can choose any or both of the options:
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Change the lock type for reserved seats already locked?: Check this box to swap Lock Types on Seats in the Live and Draft Instances.
REMINDER: Each Seat can only have one Lock Type.
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Clear lock on reserved seats currently locked?: If your new Lock Overlay has cleared previously Locked Seats, check this box to clear those Seats in the Live and Draft Instances.
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Click OK.
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An Update Instance Results Report will run. Download the Report to your computer and open the file to view any errors.
The Report will list the Event Name, the Instance Start Date and Update Status. An example Update Status is “Updated successfully, but some seats that were locked had been previously sold or masked.”
TIP: You may need to go to the Sales Interface and run an Event Instance Occupancy Report to view the previously sold Seat that is now Locked. What you decide to do with the newly Locked Seat is up to your organization. You can contact Support for guidance.
Copying a Lock Overlay
To copy a Lock Overlay:
- Navigate to Lock Overlays
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Next to the Lock Overlay’s name, click the down arrow:
- Select Copy
A copy named Name - Copy will be created. Click on the new Lock Overlay to lock or clear Seats.
Deleting a Lock Overlay
To delete a Lock Overlay:
WARNING: Deleting a Lock Overlay is permanent and cannot be undone.
- Navigate to Lock Overlays
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Next to the Lock Overlay’s name, click the down arrow:
- Select Delete
- From the pop-up, click Confirm
If any Instances use the Lock Overlay, they will retain the properties of the original Overlay. The Overlay name will change to include (deleted):
Renaming a Lock Overlay
To rename a Lock Overlay:
- Navigate to Lock Overlays
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Next to the Lock Overlay’s name, click the down arrow:
- Select Rename
- Enter a new Name
- Click OK
Instances using the Lock Overlay will use the new Lock Overlay Name.