Tools at the event

Many events offer more than the photo gallery: you can check when things happen, what is for dinner, where your seat is — or request a song. Photogala calls these extra pages tools. Which ones exist is entirely up to the host; you only see the ones they switched on.

Where to find the tools

The “Event info & tools” rail

The event home page has a section with that heading: a row of tiles, each with an icon and a name. Tapping one opens the tool’s full page. If the tiles do not all fit on screen, you can swipe the row sideways. If no tool has an entry, the rail is not shown at all.

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The “Event info & tools” rail on the home page – each tile opens that tool's full page.

The rail can also hold tiles of the host’s own: extra info pages of the event and links they entered themselves, to the venue’s map or to a hotel, for instance. Such links normally open in a new tab, so you don’t lose the gallery.

How a tool page is put together

Every tool page has the same frame — whether you landed in the menu, in the schedule or on one of the host’s own pages.

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① The header card with the tool's name and a short description. ② The Event info & tools rail — the same one as on the home page, so you can jump straight on. ③ The tile of the page you are on: outlined, with a filled icon. ④ Back to home takes you back to the event home page.

The rail shows all of the event’s tools, not just the other ones — the current page is highlighted among them. Two tools deliberately do not show this frame: RSVP and the digital invitation. They stand on their own, with no gallery navigation and no links to other tools — whoever arrives through an invitation or reply QR code is meant to see exactly that one page.

The widgets on the home page

Some tools put their most important content right on the home page — just scroll down there. The host decides per tool whether such a widget appears; if nothing has been filled in, it is not shown in the first place.

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The schedule widget on the home page: Up next, with time and title below it – here 13:15 — Guests arrive. Tapping it opens the full schedule.

Two routes to the same place: ① the card “Find your seat” with the “Find seat” button, ② the “Seating Plan” tile in the “Event info & tools” rail.

A widget exists for the thank-you note, the event info, the schedule, the seating plan, the menu, the song requests and — if the host adds it — the digital invitation. RSVP and custom pages have none; you only reach those through the rail, the navigation or a link.

The gallery navigation

Custom pages your host created — “Directions” or “FAQ”, for example — can additionally be linked in the gallery navigation. You then reach them from anywhere, not just from the home page. No other tool ever appears in the navigation – that stays reserved for the gallery itself: home, gallery, activity, tasks, albums and leaderboard, depending on what the host switched on.

A link or QR code

Two tools are normally not in the rail: the digital invitation and RSVP. They are meant to be sent out, and you reach them through the link or QR code you received. RSVP always stays direct-link only; the digital invitation can be added to the rail deliberately by the host — then you find it there as well.

The tools from a guest’s point of view

Digital invitation

A designed invitation page with countdown, venue, schedule, dress code and replies — your host sends it as a link or QR code. It is the entry page to the event and therefore normally does not appear in the tool rail, though the host can deliberately put it there. From the invitation you can reply, request a song or look at the seating plan without leaving the page.

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The entrance you see first: ① Open invitation starts the animation, ② Skip intro takes you straight inside. Which door appears is part of the host's design.

→ The digital invitation

RSVP

This is where you accept or decline, add your companion, pick your meal and note dietary requirements. This tool also comes to you as a link or QR code; it deliberately does not appear on the home page. If you arrive via an RSVP QR code, you see only the form — without the gallery navigation around it.

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① The step indicator with its progress bar – how many steps there are depends on what the host asks for and on whether you accept. ② First and last name; this step is skipped when your personal invitation link has recognised you already. ③ Continue moves to the next step.

→ Accept or decline (RSVP)

Seating plan

Shows you where you sit. You type your name and get your table and seat; the plan jumps to the spot. You can also search for places in the room — bar, WC, dance floor. The plan is drawn as an illustrated scene and can be enlarged in fullscreen.

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The search field on top, the plan with tables, seats and floor objects below – typing your name is enough.

→ Find your seat

Menu

Shows food and drinks at a glance: the courses with their dishes, depending on the setting with a photo, a description and notes such as vegan or gluten-free. If you arrived via a personal link, you only see your own dish per course — with the note You are seeing your personal menu. and the button Show all dishes.

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① The Menu tile in the Event info & tools rail, ② a course, ③ a dish — as a list or, as here, as a card with an image, depending on the host's setting.

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One dish card up close: ① photo, name and description, ② the magnifier opens the photo full size, ③ a note chip such as vegetarian. Dishes without a photo show up as a plain text card.

Schedule

How the event unfolds: reception, ceremony, dinner, first dance, speeches. The home page additionally shows the Up next widget. If your host created several schedules, you can switch between them; pre-selected is the one whose time window is currently running. The schedule is the only tool with a Print button — handy if you would rather have the running order on paper.

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The schedule shows you how the event runs. Above the list, on the right, sits the Print button, and above that the tile rail with the Schedule tile highlighted.

While the event is running, the current item stands out from the rest:

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① A progress bar below the running item and the remaining time on the right – here 45min left. ② The Now marker next to the title. Everything before and after stays faded; the display refreshes itself every 30 seconds.

Song requests

This is where you ask for your song — title, artist and a note. The entry in the tool rail is called DJ Wishes, the page itself is headed Song requests. You can withdraw your own requests later.

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Only the song title is required — artist and note help the DJ find the right track.

→ Song requests

Event info

Everything you need to know beforehand: directions, parking, dress code, who to ask. The host writes the text and picks an image. If something is filled in, the content usually appears as a widget on the home page already.

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The event info as one continuous card: the host's heading – here Everything you need to know – and below it section by section: Venue, Getting there, Parking.

Custom pages

Additional info pages the host creates freely — “Our story”, “Hotels nearby” or “Photos & privacy”, for example. Each page can have its own icon and can appear individually in the tool rail or in the navigation; the rest you find through the overview.

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The overview Info & pages lists every published page of the host – tapping a row opens it.

Thank you

A thank-you note after the event, with text and image. This page is typically unlocked only some time after the event date — before that you do not see it.

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The thank-you note as it shows up for you after the event – the Thank You tile in the rail is outlined as the current page.

Guest list

Invisible to you. The guest list is purely a planning tool for the host: names, contact details, replies, meal choices and seats in one table. There is no guest page and no widget for it, and the server hands the list out to the host only. No guest can see who else is invited.

Budget

Invisible to you as well. The budget is the host’s cost planning — items, quotes and payments. It has neither a guest page nor a widget either, and guest requests are rejected on the server. So of the eleven tools, nine can be visible to you and two never are.

Why a tool is missing for you

Three possible reasons

1. Not enabled. The host has not switched the tool on, or has not written anything into it yet. Empty widgets are never shown in the first place.
2. Outside the time window. Some tools are only visible during a certain period. The thank-you note typically appears only after the event, and RSVP disappears once the reply deadline has passed.
3. Direct link only. RSVP deliberately never appears in the rail, and the digital invitation only if the host explicitly added it. If you mislaid the link, ask your host for it.

On top of that, the host decides per tool whether it gets an entry in the tool rail at all. So a tool can exist and still only be reachable through its own QR code.

When the event knows who you are

Some links are personal — for example the QR code on your place card or a personalized invitation link. Open the event through one of them and it knows which guest-list entry belongs to you. That changes three things:

• In the menu you only see the dish noted for you per course. Show all dishes takes you back to the full card.
• In the seating plan your own seat is highlighted automatically, with no need to search.
• In RSVP you are recognised straight away and your previous answer is pre-filled.

If you scan another card later, the most recently scanned code counts. Read more under Why do I only see my own menu?

Example

At your cousin’s wedding the home page shows four tiles under Event info & tools: Schedule, Menu, Seating Plan and DJ Wishes. Above them the Up next widget already reads “First dance in 25 minutes”. You tap Schedule — the page opens with the header card Schedule, below it the same tile rail, in which Schedule is now outlined. A tap on Menu takes you straight on without the detour via the home page; Back to home takes you back there. RSVP is deliberately not in the rail – for that you had the QR code on the invitation card back in July. The Thank You page only appears two weeks later, because the host put it on a time window. And the guest list, which holds your name with table and meal choice, you never get to see – it is a planning tool only and never leaves the server.

Do I need an account?

No. You move through the tools just like the rest of the gallery. For tools you write into — that is RSVP and song requests — Photogala silently creates a guest session in the background so your entry can be matched to you. You do not have to sign up.

Troubleshooting

The Event info and tools rail is missing entirely. Then no tool with a list entry is active at this event. That is perfectly normal for events that only use the photo gallery.

I can see the rail, but not on every page. The rail exists on the home page and on the tool pages. It is not in the gallery, in albums or on your profile — from there you get back through the event’s name at the top left, which always leads to the home page.

A tool I saw yesterday is gone today. Most likely a time window: the host can limit every tool to a period. Once it ends, the tool disappears from the list.

A tool opens, but the page is empty. The host enabled it but has not filled it in yet. Have another look later.

I land on an error page instead of the tool. The link points at a tool that is not released for you — because it has been switched off in the meantime, for instance. Open the event from the home page and check the tool rail.

The texts are in the wrong language. The content comes from the host and only exists in the languages they maintained. You can change your display language under Changing the language.

Related pages

Find your seatType your name, find your table and seat, view the plan in fullscreen.

Accept or decline (RSVP)Reply — with companions, meal choice and dietary requirements.

Song requestsRequest songs and withdraw a request.

The digital invitationThe designed invitation page with countdown, venue and schedule.

• For Hosts: Tools — Overview — how these tools are set up.
• For Hosts: Guest menu — order and visibility of the tiles in this rail.