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Event automation and task templates

Professional plan

Build task templates and event rules so every new order gets its deliveries, setups and pickups without you typing them in.

Automation is where you decide which tasks an order turns into. It is part of the Professional plan. On the Free plan the page shows an upgrade panel instead, and orders don't generate tasks automatically.

Without any event rules, a confirmed order gets PartyPad's standard delivery, setup and pickup tasks, as described in How tasks are created from an order. Templates and event rules let you replace that with your own crew's way of working.

The page at a glance

The cards across the top show your Automation Rate, Time Saved, Success Rate and Active Templates count over the last 30 days. Below them are the tabs:

  • Overview: automation stats, an Automation Status card and the list of active templates.
  • Activity: the latest automated task generation runs.
  • Event Rules: which templates fire on every new event.
  • Templates: the task templates themselves.
  • Settings: automation settings, including the emails your crew receives about tasks.
  • Skills: the skill catalog you assign to contractors and require on templates. Only admins see this tab.

Anyone whose role can read automation can open the page. Changing templates and rules needs an admin role.

Build a task template

A template is one task, written once: its type, timing, wording, pay and required skills.

  1. Open the Templates tab and click New Template.
  2. Under Basic Information, fill in Name (a unique identifier, lowercase, no spaces), Display Name, Task Type (Delivery, Setup, Pickup or Maintenance), Priority and Workflow Type.
  3. Under Timing, set Hours Before Event and Estimated Duration (hours). For a Setup or Maintenance task, Schedule At picks which of the order's dates the task hangs off: Delivery (with the drop-off crew), Pickup (with the teardown crew) or, for Maintenance, Event time.
  4. Under Template Content, write the task title and description. Variables in double braces fill in from the order, for example {{eventName}}, {{equipmentList}}, {{surfaceType}}, {{accessInstructions}}, {{setupInstructions}} and {{specialNotes}}.
  5. Set a Compensation Formula for the task's pay, for example 50 + (equipmentCount * 5).
  6. Pick Required Skills. Only contractors with those skills can take tasks made from this template.
  7. Leave Active Template on and save.

From the template list you can Edit, Clone or Delete a template, search by name, filter by type, and Activate or Deactivate several at once. Ridealong Template creates a ready-made Maintenance template for a second rider.

Turn templates into event rules

An event rule says "create this task for every new event." Rules fire when the order is created, even while it is still on Hold, so the work exists before the order is confirmed.

  1. Open the Event Rules tab.
  2. Choose a template in Select a template and click Add rule.
  3. Set how many tasks the rule creates for each new event, from 1 to 10.
  4. Optionally click Add condition to limit the rule to some orders. You can test the total price, delivery type (Drop-Off, Full-Service or Pickup), guest count or rental agreement status.
  5. Use the switch on the rule to turn it on or off.

Once you have at least one rule turned on, rules replace the standard tasks for every new order. An order that matches no rule's condition gets no tasks at all, so check your conditions cover every order you take.

Removing a rule doesn't delete its template. The template stays on the Templates tab.

Who gets the tasks

Tasks from event rules are created unassigned, for you to assign on Dispatch or Tasks, or for contractors to claim in the crew app.

To hand them out automatically, add contractors under Preferred assignment on the rule, in order. PartyPad gives each task to the first person on the list who is free for that time. It walks the list once, so a rule that creates three tasks goes to three different people. A task nobody on the list can take stays unassigned. Only contractors whose skills cover the template's required skills can be added.