Group Types and Groups - General guidance

This is one of the hardest parts of the SignMeUp system.  Read through this guidance carefully as if the groups types are not set up correctly it will affect how the attendees are allocated.  The powerful functionality will allow you to group attendees across multiple group types within the same event.  You will be able to create:

• Group Types - The main way your attendees will be grouped - a heading name only

• Groups - The categories within Group Types

• Sub-group Types - A second way to group your attendees and are specific groups within Group Type or Sub-group Type - a heading only

• Small groups - The categories within Sub-group Type

Diagram 1 depicts how SignMeUp manages the information and diagram 2 gives two worked examples of setting up Group Types and groups.

Diagram 1

Diagram 2

Group Type - The first step is to decide how you want your participants to be organised and grouped. The Group Type (yellow in diagram 2) is the primary way your attendees will be grouped. In diagram 2, the Group Type of ‘Sport’ has been created if you want the attendees first split by the sport they have chosen. If you want to first group your attendees by age you would create the Group Type of ‘Age Groups’.

Sub-group Type - It is possible that you will have lots of attendees who are the same age and you want to group them further within the age group into smaller groups. This is shown in orange in diagram 2. In the first example, the attendees who have been grouped by Sport, will then also be grouped by their Age Group.  In the second example, the attendees who have been grouped by Age Group will also be grouped into Small Groups.

Groups and sub-groups - The second step is to create the groups within each Group Type and Sub-group Type by using the ‘manage groups template’ button.  In diagram 1 the attendees are primarily sorted by age, and a group for each age needs to be created.  These Groups have been named ‘fives’, ‘sixes’ and ‘sevens’ to show the age of the attendees within these groups.  The attendees can then be further grouped within the age groups into a Sub-group Type; ‘small groups’.  Each of the groups (fives, sixes, sevens) can be split into multiple sub-groups within the Sub-group Type category of ‘small groups’.

In diagram 2 example 2, when an attendee registers they are first sorted by age into the correct age group (for example into the ‘eights’) and then into a small group within that age group (possibly called ‘Group A’, but it can be anything). This specific Sub-group will only contain eight year olds.  There is a different Group A for seven year olds and a different Group A for nine year olds.  

In diagram 2 example 1, when an attendee registers they are first sorted by the sport they have chosen (for example into Swimming) and then into a small group within that swimming group (possibly by age, called the ‘Sixes’).  This specific Sub-group will contain only six year olds who have chosen Swimming.  There is a different Sub-group for five year olds who have chosen swimming and a different Sub-group for six year olds who have chosen football.

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