Inviting guests

An event lives through its guests. This page teaches you step by step how to share and control access to your gallery – from a quick QR code and link (the default code) to finely granular invitation codes with their own role, expiration and usage limit.

Who can see this area?

The host (owner) has full access. Event admins can see the area too, but can only create and manage codes for roles they are allowed to grant (see role gating). Moderators and guests never reach the admin area at all – moderators work on the moderation page.

Reaching the “Access” area

1. Open the admin area via the profile menu in the top right (entry Management → Admin portal).

2. In the left sidebar, group Event, click Settings and then the Access tab (key icon). Direct route: /admin/settings?tab=access.

3. The tab is headed Gallery access with the subtitle “Who may open your gallery, what guests may do there, and what their sign-in looks like.”

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   Settings → Access: gallery protection, what guests may do, and the invitation codes – all on one page. ① the tab row with Access open, ② gallery protection with three choices: Password Protected (guests need a code), Completely Private (Advanced) (only invitations you create yourself work, the default code is off) and Open Access (anyone with the link can view), ③ Save Changes at the bottom. Further down the page come the guests' default permissions and the Invitation codes card.

The separate “Manage Invitations” page is gone

Until August 2026 all of this lived on its own page at /admin/manage-invitations, and that page had a simple and an advanced mode. Both are gone: the route redirects to Settings → Access (an old link carrying ?mode=advanced jumps straight to the invitation codes there), and the two modes have merged into one view – access protection and your own codes now sit one below the other. The sidebar entry Protection / Access & Protection is gone too.

Do not confuse it with “Print Templates”

The sidebar entry Print Templates (group Event) leads to a different area (/admin/templates) – the print and template manager for QR cards and posters. Access and codes are managed here under Settings → Access. Designing QR cards is covered in QR cards & posters.

The area you are in expands in the sidebar and lists its tabs – Access included.

What this tab contains

The tab is made of two cards, one below the other:

1. Gallery access – with the numbered sections 1/2 Gallery Protection and 2/2 User Permissions plus the unnumbered fold Guest Experience.
2. Invitation codes – holding the Custom Invitations block, your own codes with their own role.

Tip

The order is deliberate: first you decide who gets in (gallery protection), then what those people may do (user permissions). The second question cannot be answered sensibly before the first.

1/2 Gallery Protection: choosing the access mode

Under the question How should people access your gallery? you pick one of three options:

1. Password Protected – “Guests need a code to enter”. Two fields fold out:

   • Default Invitation Code (placeholder “e.g., wedding-2024”). The Random button generates a readable code. This code is embedded in the simple invite links and QR codes (“This code is used for simple invite links and QR codes.”).
   • Checkbox Include default invitation code in QR code – when ticked, the code is baked into the generated QR codes so guests join without typing.

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   ① Password Protected is selected – only then do the fields below fold out. ② the Default Invitation Code, here ‘bright-lens-260’. ③ Random rolls a new, readable code. ④ the checkbox Include default invitation code in QR code.

2. Completely Private (Advanced) – “Only custom invitations work. Default code disabled.” The link Manage Advanced Invitations already sits in that very row; once selected, the info box Maximum Privacy Mode appears with the same button. Both jump to the Invitation codes card further down.

   

   ① Completely Private (Advanced) is selected. ② the Maximum Privacy Mode box spells out the consequence: ‘The default invitation code is disabled. Only custom invitations you create manually will grant access.’ ③ the Manage Advanced Invitations button jumps to the invitation codes.

3. Open Access – “Anyone with link can view”. Once selected, the row adds “(Set default permissions below)”, and the card Default Guest Permissions appears with two tiles:

   • Viewer (eye icon) – “Can view photos and like them”.
   • Contributor (camera icon) – “Can upload photos and complete tasks”.

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   ① Open Access is selected, which is why ‘(Set default permissions below)’ follows it. ② the Viewer tile, ③ the Contributor tile – the highlighted tile is the active default role.

   This choice is the default role: it applies to every printed QR code, to public invitation links and to any access without a code of its own. Pick Viewer and an extra block Viewer only Access appears with the line “Only invited guests can upload to the gallery. Manage invitations and share secure access codes.” plus a Manage Invitations button – uploading is then reserved for whoever gets a custom code with the Contributor role.

Readable random codes

Both Random (gallery protection) and Generate (the invite dialog) build the code the same way: adjective + event word + three-digit number, joined by hyphens – for example golden-gala-421 or festive-moment-108. Codes like that can be dictated over the phone and printed on cards without anyone mistyping them. The hint text in the dialog uses happy-eagle-123 as its example.

Lock the default code before printing

Changing the default code makes all already-printed codes, links and QR codes using the old password invalid. Finalise the code before you print QR cards.

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This is how the access mode looks to your guests: the welcome screen decides who gets in and how.

2/2 User Permissions

Right below it you answer the question What can non admins do in your album? – again with two options:

• View Only Gallery – “Users can look but not add photos (Only admins can upload)”. Pick it and a yellow Upload Restriction Warning box appears: uploading is then restricted to administrators – “even with invitation codes”. Below it a tip line starts with “Tip: To allow guests to contribute photos, select ” – and breaks off there. What it means is Open Sharing.
• Open Sharing – “Users can add photos from gallery (Mobile friendly)”.

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① View Only Gallery is selected. ② which is why the yellow Upload Restriction Warning sits below it: only administrators can upload then, not even with an invitation code. ③ Open Sharing is the opposite choice – guests may contribute photos themselves.

Note

This section lived under “Privacy & Moderation” until August 2026. It was pulled together with gallery protection because both are the same question in two steps: first who gets in, then what that person may do.

The “Guest Experience” fold

Below the two numbered sections sits an unnumbered fold with three checkboxes around how your guests sign in. If it is collapsed, tap the Guest Experience row once – the three options then sit below each other.

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The Guest Experience fold: in this example only Show Event Branding on Login Page is ticked – the Invitation codes card already starts below it.

This is how you switch one of them on: tick the box → tap Save Changes at the bottom. Only then does it take effect for your guests.

• Quick Gallery Access – “Guests can enter the gallery instantly. A random nickname is assigned automatically.” If the gallery is password-protected or completely private, one more line adds: the password is still required, only the nickname step is skipped. Off means every guest lands on the welcome screen first and chooses there.
• Guests must choose a name – without it, anyone who enters no name gets an automatic nickname like “FlashMaster4823”. The hint below: useful for company parties and club events; at private celebrations a mandatory name tends to cost you uploads. On means no name, no entry.
• Show Event Branding on Login Page – shows your logo, cover image and title on the password page. Untick it and guests see a plain page without your event.

The first two boxes pull against each other

Quick Gallery Access and Guests must choose a name point in opposite directions: the first skips the name step, the second makes it mandatory. For a private celebration use quick access only; for a company party use the name requirement only.

Saving

Two different save routes in the same tab

• Gallery protection, user permissions and guest experience are saved like any other setting: with the central Save Changes button at the bottom. Until then the tab carries a red dot (“Unsaved changes”), and leaving the page warns you with a dialog.
• Invitation codes save immediately: creating, editing, activating and deleting are operations of their own – they do not wait for the save bar.

The former buttons Save & Activate and Save Protection Settings are therefore gone.

While something is unsaved: ① the Access tab carries a small red dot after its name, ② the bar at the bottom waits with Show Preview and Save Changes.

The “Invitation codes” card

The second card on the tab is headed Invitation codes with the line: “Alongside the general access code you can hand out your own — one for family who may upload photos, say, and one for colleagues who only watch.” Inside sits the collapsible Custom Invitations block with counter badges active / inactive.

Premium feature

Multiple roles and custom invitation codes are a premium feature. If it is not unlocked, a premium hint covers this block – the gallery protection above it stays usable. Without an upgrade you keep the default code with one role. See Pricing & upgrade.

Empty state: No Custom Invites Yet with the button Create Your First Invite.

The action bar above the table

① the metrics ‘2 Total Invites · 2 Active · 0 Inactive’, ② the Search invites… field, ③ the Filters button, ④ Create New Invite.

• Metrics on the far left: a count plus Total Invites, Active and Inactive. Clicking them does not filter – the numbers are display only.
• Search field Search invites… – searches code and description.
• Button Filters opens a dropdown (see below).
• Button Create New Invite top right, above the bar. The same button appears once more below the table, next to the italic Pro tip: “Create separate invites for different roles or user groups for better access management.”

The filter menu

The dropdown behind Filters: ① Filter by Role, ② Filter by Status, ③ Sort By with its three criteria.

• Filter by Role: three chips – ALL, VIEWER, CONTRIBUTOR. No other role can be used as a filter.
• Filter by Status: ALL, ACTIVE, INACTIVE.
• Sort By: Date Created, Usage Count, Role. Clicking the same criterion twice flips the direction – the small double arrow on the active entry shows it.

If active filters show No matching invites found, reset everything with Clear All Filters.

Several codes at once

① the row checkboxes – the one in the table header selects all. ② only then does the Bulk Action (2) button appear next to Filters, holding Activate Selected, Deactivate Selected and Delete Selected.

As soon as you tick rows, the Bulk Action (N) dropdown appears next to Filters – N being the number of selected codes. On a narrow bar both buttons wrap onto a second line together. It holds Activate Selected, Deactivate Selected and Delete Selected. Deleting asks first with Confirm Bulk Delete (“Are you sure you want to delete N invites? This action cannot be undone.”).

The table

One row of the table: ① the code with its copy button, the Active status chip and the small QR button, ② the role chip, ③ the uses with a progress bar (here ‘0 / 10’), ④ the row's three-dot menu.

It has six columns:

• Selection checkbox (header: select all).
• Code – the code in monospace with a Copy to clipboard button next to it; below it the status chip Active / Inactive and a small QR button that opens the share dialog. There is no separate QR column.
• Description – the internal description and the creation date (Created).
• Role – a role chip with icon and colour (Viewer = eye, Contributor = camera, Moderator = wrench, Admin = gear, Owner = people icon).
• Uses – used/maximum with a progress bar; a Limit reached badge when the limit is exhausted.
• Actions – the row’s three-dot menu.

Below the table sits Showing 1 to N of N entries with the Previous and Next buttons. Both stay greyed out permanently: the list always shows every code at once, the pager is display only.

The row menu

A row's three-dot menu. ① Use within Template carries exactly this code into the template manager, ② Share opens the QR code and link. Delete sits apart at the bottom, in red.

The five entries come in this order: Edit Invite, Deactivate or Activate, Use within Template, Share and – set apart – Delete.

Tip

On a row, right-click (or a long press on a phone) opens a context menu with the same five entries; there Share and Use within Template swap places.

Handing a code out: the share dialog

The small QR button in the code column and the Share entry in the row menu open the same Share dialog (“Invite others – they can view the photos and add their own.”).

① the QR code with its Download button, which saves it as an image. ② the Link field – the code rides along as a parameter. ③ Copy Link puts it on the clipboard.

• The QR code carries the hint “Scan with your phone camera to open the gallery”. Download saves it as an image – handy for WhatsApp or a printed poster.
• The link carries the code as a parameter, for example https://photogala.net/a/@sarah-adams-hochzeit?p=trauzeugen-2026. Whoever opens it is in without typing anything.
• Below the field, WhatsApp, Email and Facebook share the link directly.
• At the very bottom it says “Anyone with this link can open the gallery.” – so treat the link as confidential as the code itself.

The “Create New Invite” / “Edit Invite” dialog

Via Create New Invite (or Create Your First Invite, or editing a row) the dialog opens with the title Create New Invite or Edit Invite. It has six numbered sections:

1. 1. Access Level Configuration (badge Most Important). In the dropdown with the placeholder Select a role you choose:

   • Viewer – “Can view photos and like them”.
   • Contributor – “Can upload photos, complete tasks, and participate in challenges”.
   • Moderator – “Approve/reject content and manage basic event settings”.
   • Admin – “Full configuration access and user management capabilities”.
   • Owner – “Full access and ultimate control over the event”.

   

   ① the Select a role dropdown – the step that matters most, hence the Most Important badge. ② Generate rolls a code; the field may also stay blank.

   For Moderator, Admin or Owner a red Security Note appears right under the dropdown: “Security Note: For privileged roles, it is recommended to set max usage to 1 for better security.”

   

   ① the Moderator role is selected. ② which brings up the red Security Note – and further down the usage limit already reads 1.

2. 2. Invite Code Setup (key icon). Text field with the placeholder “Custom code (leave blank to auto-generate)” and a Generate button. Leave the field blank and a code is generated automatically. The hint below uses ‘happy-eagle-123’ as its example.

3. 3. Invite Details. A text area for an internal description (“Internal description (visible to admins only)”) – not shown to guests. Use it descriptively, e.g. “Photographer” or “Catering staff”.

4. 4. Access Settings. Two checkboxes, both ticked by default:

   • Enabled – “When enabled, new users can register using this invite code”.
   • Active – “When active, users who previously used this code can still access the event”.

   

   ① Enabled decides whether anyone *new* can still come in with the code. ② Active decides whether the people who already used it stay in. Untick only the first and you lock nobody out – the code just stops taking newcomers.

5. 5. Expiration Settings (calendar icon). A date/time field: “Leave blank for no expiration. Times are in your local timezone.”

6. 6. Usage Limits. A number field (placeholder “0 = unlimited uses”). If you pick Moderator, Admin or Owner, Photogala sets the limit to 1 by itself and shows the red Security Note above.

   On a computer, sections 5 and 6 sit side by side:

   

   ① Expiration Settings – blank means the code never expires. ② Usage Limits – the 1 is already there because Moderator was picked above.

Saving: at the bottom the buttons Cancel and Create Invite or Update Access Code (loading state Saving…). If you pick a privileged role with a limit other than 1 and save, a security warning appears first that you must confirm.

Unlike the gallery protection above it, this dialog does not wait for the save bar at the foot of the page: with Create Invite the code is live at once.

Role gating for admins and moderators

• Only roles you are allowed to grant are selectable. Non-grantable roles appear disabled with the suffix Owner only.
• Event admins can create codes up to and including Moderator – a note explains: “Event admins can create Moderator and lower invites. Only owners can create Admin or Owner invites.”
• Existing Admin or Owner codes can only be edited by the owner; otherwise the save button is disabled and a red box explains why (“Only owners can edit existing Admin or Owner invites.”).

For what each role may do, see Roles & permissions.

Thinking about the default role and your own codes together

There is no separate Default Role Assignment card any more – the default role is the Viewer / Contributor tile choice at the top of gallery protection. It applies whenever somebody comes in without a code of their own: through printed QR codes, through public invitation links and through any shared access.

When the default role is already Contributor

With it set to Contributor, anyone with the link can already upload – custom codes cannot take that away, they can only grant more. If you want to control who may upload, you have two routes: choose Password Protected, or set the default role to Viewer and hand out upload rights through custom codes. Both are set on this same tab.

Assigning a code directly to a guest

From Managing participants you can assign an existing code to an already-registered guest. Here is how to get there:

1. Open Participants and tap the guest’s row – the detail dialog opens.

2. Tap Edit User at the top. Without this step you can see the codes already used, but no button to add one – it only appears in edit mode (and only if your role may manage that guest).

3. In the Invitation codes block, tap Add Invitation Code.

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The Add Invitation Code dialog: per code the role chip (here Contributor and Moderator), the description and the counter “0/5 used”. The button at the bottom stays greyed out until you pick a code.

The dialog offers:

• Search Search invitation codes… and the sorting (Code (A-Z) / Code (Z-A), Least used / Most used, By role). The Filter by role: control hides behind the funnel icon next to it – it only unfolds after a tap.
• An info banner “New invitation codes cannot be created here.” with the link Manage Invitations, which jumps to the invitation codes on this Access tab – in the dialog you only assign, never create.
• If the code has a higher role, a yellow banner notes that the guest’s role is raised automatically. For an equal or lower role it stays unchanged.
• Only active, non-expired and non-exhausted codes are offered. Role gating applies here too (“Only owners can assign Admin or Owner invitation codes.”).

Printing a code on QR cards

Via Use within Template in the row or context menu you jump into the template manager with exactly this code, to use it on QR cards or posters. If you only want to send it quickly, use Share instead – the QR image and link are ready there. More about this under QR cards & posters.

Example

Everyone should be able to see the photos, but only family and the witnesses should upload – and the photographer should also be able to approve content.

At the top of gallery protection you set the default role to Viewer. Anyone who merely scans the QR code can look and like, but not upload.

Then Create New Invite: role Contributor, leave the code field blank and hit Generate, and write Family & witnesses as the internal description. Enabled and Active stay ticked, the expiration stays blank, and you leave the usage limit at 0 – the code may be used any number of times. Create invitation.

For the photographer you create a second code, this time with the Moderator role. The moment you pick it, Photogala sets the usage limit to 1 by itself and shows the red Security Note. Leave both as they are: the code is meant for exactly one person, and a moderator code that gets passed around hands strangers access to approvals.

You print the contributor code on the family’s place cards and send the moderator code to the photographer personally.

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“Use in template” takes you exactly here with the selected code already applied: ① embeds it in the QR code so guests are not stopped by the code prompt, ② sets where the code leads, ③ downloads it as an image right away, ④ switches to the designed templates.

Troubleshooting

• I cannot find the sidebar entry “Protection” any more → it does not exist any more. The area has dissolved into Settings → Access; /admin/manage-invitations redirects there.
• I am looking for advanced mode → there is none any more. Access protection and your own codes now sit one below the other on the same tab.
• A premium hint covers the invitation codes → the multiple-roles feature is missing from your plan. See Pricing & upgrade. The gallery protection above still works.
• Old QR code / link no longer works → the default code was changed (see the warning above).
• A code does not work → check: Enabled off? Active off? Expiration date passed? Usage limit reached (Limit reached)?
• Role not selectable / “Owner only” → your role is not allowed to grant that role.
• “New invitation codes cannot be created here.” → create the code first in the Invitation codes card on this tab.
• My change to the access code is gone → the gallery-protection fields only save via Save Changes at the bottom of the page. Only the invitation codes save immediately.
• “Previous” and “Next” below the table are greyed out → that is by design. The table always shows every code; the pager is display only.

Best-practice tips

Tip

• Grant only as many rights as needed: guests = Contributor (upload) or Viewer (view only), helpers = Moderator, co-hosts = Admin. See Roles & permissions.
• Create one code per group (family / photographer / catering staff) with a descriptive internal description – it makes tracking and deactivating easier.
• Always give privileged codes (Moderator/Admin/Owner) a usage limit of 1 and, if needed, an expiration date.
• Finalise the default code before printing and do not change it afterwards.
• Keep Include default invitation code in QR code enabled so guests join by QR without typing.
• Codes you no longer need are better deactivated than deleted – that way you can still tell who joined through which code.

What comes next

Which role fits which job, and how co-hosts take a bigger event off your shoulders, is covered under Roles & permissions. From the guest side, joining is described under Joining an event. The neighbouring settings areas: General · Appearance · Gallery features · Moderation & safety.