> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.crowdwork.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.crowdwork.com/for-theatres/customizing-your-theatre-settings.md).

# Customizing Your Theatre Settings

This page describes how to customize your theatre details.

## Customize Your Theatre

You can customize your theatre information, ticketing details, and how you collect and track patron information on the **Edit Theatre** page. Navigate to the Edit Theatre page by using the left navigation menu to expand **Theatre**, then click [**Theatre Details**](https://crowdwork.com/dashboard/theatres/0/edit).

> **Direct link:** [Edit Theatre Settings](https://crowdwork.com/dashboard/theatres/0/edit)

***

## General

* **Name**: The name of your organization. Used in the event URL.
* **Email**: The email connected to your account.
* **Domain**: The subdomain used in your CrowdWork URL. For example,
  * Your Shows link would be: <https://crowdwork.com/v/**YourSubdomain**/shows>
  * Your Classes link would be: <https://crowdwork.com/v/**YourSubdomain**/classes>
* **Timezone**: The timezone that every event time in your account is entered and displayed in. This single setting controls all of them — see [Timezone](https://docs.crowdwork.com/for-theatres/customizing-your-theatre-settings#timezone) below.

***

* **Logo**: The logo is displayed in the upper-right of your [Public page](https://www.crowdwork.com/v/testtheatrefordocumentation/shows).
* **Hero Image**: The large background image is displayed on your [Public page](https://www.crowdwork.com/v/testtheatrefordocumentation/shows).

### **Timezone**

Your theatre has **one** timezone, and it decides how every event time in your account is entered, stored, and displayed. Every show, class, and date follows this one setting.

> **Direct link:** [Edit Theatre Settings — General](https://crowdwork.com/dashboard/theatres/0/edit#section-general)

{% hint style="warning" %}
**Changing this setting changes the clock time of every event you have already scheduled.**

Event times are stored as absolute moments and shown in your theatre's timezone, so switching the setting re-labels all of them at once. Switch a theatre from Central to Pacific and an 11:00 AM class starts reading 9:00 AM — and the same shift applies to purchase windows and date exceptions.

If you need to change your timezone, change it **first**, then go back through your scheduled events and re-set their times.
{% endhint %}

**Three things that are easy to assume, and aren't true:**

* **Your address does not set your timezone.** Address and Timezone are independent fields — nothing converts one into the other. A theatre with a New York address and a Central timezone runs on Central time, so check the Timezone field itself.
* **If you never picked one, it's Central.** Timezone falls back to Central Time when it's left blank. If your event times look like they're an hour or three off, check this field first.
* **Your own computer's timezone doesn't matter.** When you type a start time on the event form, it's saved as that exact clock time in your theatre's timezone. Typing 7:00 PM on a laptop in Berlin still saves 7:00 PM theatre time.

**Two things you can count on:**

* Event times are shown in your theatre's timezone with the abbreviation attached — `11:00 AM CDT` — on your event pages, in your dashboard, and in the emails your patrons receive.
* Recurring events keep their local clock time across daylight saving. A weekly 7:00 PM class is still 7:00 PM after the clocks change in November — it doesn't drift to 6:00 PM.

**Running an event somewhere else?** Its start time still has to be entered in your theatre's timezone. See [Scheduling an Event in Another Timezone](/for-theatres/scheduling-an-event-in-another-timezone.md).

***

## Address

* **Address**: Your theatre's public address. It appears in your email footers, on your event pages, and in the venue details on confirmation and reminder emails, and you need one to send marketing email. We don't use it for billing, payouts, or tax, so if your theatre doesn't have a street address of its own, enter one you're comfortable showing patrons.

***

## Date Exceptions

* **Global Date Exceptions**: Prevent shows from occurring on specific dates (i.e. no shows on January 1st). This is a global list that will override any events scheduled for dates listed here.

***

## Global Descriptions <a href="#global-show-and-class-descriptions" id="global-show-and-class-descriptions"></a>

There are **three** of these fields — **Global Show Description**, **Global Class Description** and **Global Membership Description**. Each one is added below every description of that type *and* included in the matching customer emails, so it is ideal for refund information, parking info, or anything you'd want to appear on every show, every class, or every membership. All three take rich-formatted text (bolding, lists, links, etc.).

The membership one reaches further than you might expect: it appears on your public membership page *and* inside all three membership emails: the welcome email, the renewal confirmation and the renewal reminder. In the welcome and renewal-confirmation emails it sits alongside whatever that tier's own Confirmation Email Details field says. [See What Members Receive by Email »](https://docs.crowdwork.com/for-theatres/managing-memberships#what-members-receive-by-email)

{% hint style="info" %}
**Need help using the text editor?** See [Using the Rich Text Editor](https://docs.crowdwork.com/for-theatres/using-the-rich-text-editor) for a full guide to formatting, links, and more. The Global Description fields are for formatted text; images go in an individual show or class description.
{% endhint %}

***

## Fees <a href="#service-fees" id="service-fees"></a>

**How would you like service fees handled?**

By default, fees are passed onto the customer. If the ticket price is $10, fees are $1.64, so the customer pays $11.64, and the theatre gets $10.

You also have the option to absorb the fees if you'd like. Absorbing means if the ticket price is $10, fees are $1.64, so the customer pays $10, and the theatre gets $8.36.

{% hint style="info" %}
**Pass Along to Customer:** All fees are passed onto customer, and you get full ticket amount

**Absorb All:** Customer pays face-value of tickets, and fees are taken from ticket value

**Absorb Shows:** Fees are only absorbed for shows, class fees are passed to customer

**Absorb Classes:** Fees are only absorbed for classes, show fees are passed to customer
{% endhint %}

**Transparent Pricing**: Patrons see the full amount they'll pay, including surcharges and fees, before they reach the cart. This "all-in" pricing is always on.

***

## Purchase Window

**Ticket Purchasing Window**: By default, ticket sales will end at the start time of an event. Here you can specify how many minutes before the start of an event that ticket sales should close. Use negative numbers (i.e. -20) to close purchasing after the show has started.

{% hint style="warning" %}
**How this field works:**

* A **positive** number (e.g. **30**) closes sales 30 minutes **before** the event start time.
* A **negative** number (e.g. **-30**) closes sales 30 minutes **after** the event start time.

This setting controls exactly when ticket sales close for every event, so keep the value small and intentional — think minutes or hours, not weeks. Your public event pages always highlight an event's **next upcoming date**, but an excessively large negative number keeps long-past dates purchasable, which can fill a recurring event's date list with dates that have already happened. If you want to allow late sales, a value like **-30** (sales stay open half an hour after start) does the job, and **30** is a typical value for closing early. Stay within about 180 minutes either way. A value like -99999 is roughly 69 days, which leaves ten weeks of finished shows on sale and fills the date list on your public page.
{% endhint %}

***

## Surcharges

Surcharges are applied to the admission amount prior to donations or service fees. Add as many as you need; each is calculated on its own and listed separately at checkout. Surcharges are not added to free events.

Shows and classes each have their own list. Click **Add Show Surcharge** or **Add Class Surcharge** to add one; every surcharge in a list applies to all events of that type. Each surcharge has:

* **Amount** — the surcharge value. Percentages can include decimals, like 2.5.
* **Type** — Percent or Dollars.
* **Custom Label (optional)** — the name patrons see at checkout. Without one, the surcharge is called "Theatre Surcharge." Surcharges that share a label appear as one combined line at checkout.
* **Apply per Item** (Dollars only) — charges the amount once per ticket or registration instead of once per order.

Each surcharge is calculated independently, so one is never applied on top of another. A bundle that includes both shows and classes gets both the show surcharges and the class surcharges. To delete a surcharge, click **Remove** on its row and save.

**Charging sales tax:** CrowdWork doesn't calculate or remit sales tax on your behalf. To charge it, add a separate surcharge with a Custom Label like "Sales Tax." It then appears as its own line at checkout and as its own figure in the [Consolidated Summary](/for-theatres/reports-and-analytics/consolidated-summary-report.md) and [Event Settlement](/for-theatres/reports-and-analytics/event-settlement-report.md) reports.

***

## Checkout Options <a href="#additional-features" id="additional-features"></a>

* **Collect Phone Numbers**: Enable the ability to include phone numbers during the checkout flow.
* **Collect Newsletter Opt-Ins**: Enable the ability to allow customers to opt-in to newsletters during the checkout flow. Opted-in patrons become the audience for newsletters and promotions — see [Email Marketing](https://docs.crowdwork.com/for-theatres/email-marketing).
* **Collect Waitlist Submissions**: Enable the ability to allow patrons to join a waitlist for sold-out events. When enabled, a "Join Waitlist" button automatically appears when an event reaches max capacity. Options include Everywhere (default), Only Shows, Only Classes, or Do Not Collect. See [Setting Up Waitlists](/for-theatres/setting-up-waitlists.md) for complete details.

***

## Donation Options

Accept donations from your patrons — at checkout, on a dedicated public Donations page, or both.

**Collect Donations**: Choose where patrons can donate.

| Option               | Description                                                                             |
| -------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Disabled**         | Donations are turned off entirely.                                                      |
| **Everywhere**       | Donations appear at checkout **and** on your dedicated public Donations page.           |
| **Only Events**      | Donations appear during ticket and registration checkout only — not on the public page. |
| **Only Public Page** | Donations appear only on your dedicated Donations page — not at checkout.               |

**Checkout Donation Text**: A message shown under the **Add a Donation** heading in the checkout window for shows and classes.

**Suggested Amounts: Show Checkout**, **Class Checkout** and **Donations Page**: Up to three suggested donation buttons for each place donations appear. Leave a box empty to show fewer buttons; patrons can always enter a custom amount.

**Donation Page Campaign Text**: A custom message displayed on your dedicated public Donations page to let supporters know what their donations support — like an upcoming season, a community outreach program, or general operating support.

{% hint style="info" %}
**Want a full walkthrough?** See [Setting Up Donations](/for-theatres/setting-up-donations.md) for guidance on configuring donation settings, sharing your Donations page, tracking contributions, and getting notified when donations come in.
{% endhint %}

***

## Public Pages

Two settings control how your [Public page](https://www.crowdwork.com/v/testtheatrefordocumentation/shows) of shows first appears:

* **Shows Default View**: whether the page opens on the **Calendar** tab or the **Cards** tab. Patrons can switch to the other tab themselves.
* **Shows Calendar DOW**: the day each week starts on in the calendar view.

> **Direct link:** [Edit Theatre Settings — Public Pages](https://crowdwork.com/dashboard/theatres/0/edit#section-public-pages)

***

## Email Communication

**Theatre Contact Email**: The address CrowdWork uses whenever a patron — or CrowdWork itself — needs to reach your theatre by email. It's set in the [General section of your Edit Theatre page](https://crowdwork.com/dashboard/theatres/0/edit#section-general), and it drives more than its name suggests:

* **Patron replies land here by default.** When a patron replies to an order confirmation, event reminder, gift card or donation receipt, membership confirmation, or a direct message you send from CrowdWork, the reply comes to this address — unless you've set a **Show Orders Email** or **Class Orders Email** below, which takes over for the order emails it covers.
* **It appears in your email footers** — the "you can reach \[Your Theatre] at…" line at the bottom of patron emails.
* **It's the default Reply-to for email campaigns** — though each campaign can set its own Reply-to as you build it.
* **Payment plan notifications arrive here** — the emails CrowdWork sends you when a patron's installment succeeds or fails — unless you've set a **Show Orders Email** or **Class Orders Email** below. A class's plan notices then go to the Class Orders Email, and a show's to the Show Orders Email.
* **New promotions start with it** as their public contact address.

{% hint style="info" %}
**Point it at the inbox that should hear from patrons.** If replies to receipts and reminders should reach your box office rather than a general info@ address, change this field — every future confirmation and reminder will direct replies there. Payment plan notifications move with it, unless a per-type field below is set. To send show and class mail to different inboxes, use the **Show Orders Email** and **Class Orders Email** fields below instead; each one takes both the order replies and the payment plan notices for its type.
{% endhint %}

{% hint style="info" %}
**The sending address doesn't change.** Patron emails are always sent *from* <purchases@crowdwork.com> — that's part of what keeps deliverability strong for every theatre on CrowdWork. These settings control where *replies* go, not the From address patrons see. Marketing campaigns are separate again: each campaign sets its own Reply-to as you build it, in [Building a Campaign](https://docs.crowdwork.com/for-theatres/email-marketing/building-a-campaign).
{% endhint %}

> **Direct link:** [Edit Theatre Settings — General](https://crowdwork.com/dashboard/theatres/0/edit#section-general)

**Show Orders Email** and **Class Orders Email** (optional): Two addresses that split order mail by what the patron bought. Replies to confirmations, receipts, refunds and reminders for orders containing **show** events go to the first; the same emails for orders containing **class** events go to the second. Payment plan notifications follow the same split: a plan on a class notifies the Class Orders Email, and a plan on a show notifies the Show Orders Email. Both live in the [Email Communication section of your Edit Theatre page](https://crowdwork.com/dashboard/theatres/0/edit#section-email).

{% hint style="success" %}
**This is the fix for "the box office shouldn't be answering class questions."** Put your box office address in **Show Orders Email** and your education or workshop inbox in **Class Orders Email**, and each patron's reply lands with the people who can actually answer it. Class payment plans usually belong to the education team too, and their notices land there as well.
{% endhint %}

* **Leave either one blank and nothing changes for it.** Replies and payment plan notices for that type go to your Theatre Contact Email. Set neither field and everything goes there.
* **An order with both a show and a class gets both addresses.** The patron's reply reaches both inboxes, so neither team misses it.
* **Orders with no events use your Theatre Contact Email.** Gift card purchases, donation-only receipts, and refunds on them have no show or class to route by.
* **The footer follows the reply address.** The "you can reach \[Your Theatre] at…" line at the bottom of an order email shows whichever address the reply will actually go to — so what the patron sees and where they land match.

> **Direct link:** [Edit Theatre Settings — Email Communication](https://crowdwork.com/dashboard/theatres/0/edit#section-email)

**CC Email Addresses**: Addresses that are automatically copied on the direct emails you send to patrons from CrowdWork — the messages you send to selected ticket holders from the [Admissions table](https://docs.crowdwork.com/for-theatres/managing-admissions#contacting-attendees), and the invitations you send to waitlist subscribers from [your waitlist](https://docs.crowdwork.com/for-theatres/setting-up-waitlists). Add as many as you like — pick a staff address from the dropdown, or type any other address and press Enter.

> **Direct link:** [Edit Theatre Settings — Email Communication](https://crowdwork.com/dashboard/theatres/0/edit#section-email)

This is how a box office keeps its own record of what went out to patrons, without anyone having to remember to copy themselves on each message.

{% hint style="warning" %}
**These are CC, not BCC.**

The addresses you list appear in the headers of every message that goes out, so recipients can see them. Use an address you're comfortable showing patrons.

You also get **one copy per email, not one per send.** A message to ticket holders goes out once per order, and a waitlist message once per subscriber, so reaching 80 orders puts 80 copies in each CC'd inbox. A mail rule that files them into a folder is worth setting up before you turn this on.
{% endhint %}

{% hint style="info" %}
**This setting does not apply to email campaigns.** Marketing campaigns sent through [Email Marketing](https://docs.crowdwork.com/for-theatres/email-marketing) ignore it — deliberately, since a per-recipient CC on a campaign to your whole list would bury your inbox. To see a campaign before it goes out, [send yourself a test email](https://docs.crowdwork.com/for-theatres/email-marketing/building-a-campaign) instead.
{% endhint %}

**Email Header Logo** (optional): An image shown at the top of your marketing emails in place of your theatre logo. Leave it blank and your logo is used.

***

## Custom Tracking Pixels

Add custom HTML to your [Public pages](https://www.crowdwork.com/v/testtheatrefordocumentation/shows). It's great for adding tracking pixels from Google, Facebook, etc. Once this field has code in it, visitors see a cookie notice, and the code loads after they click **Accept** (see [The Cookie Notice](https://docs.crowdwork.com/for-theatres/tracking-pixels-and-conversion-events#cookie-notice)).

{% hint style="success" %}
**CrowdWork fires checkout events automatically.** Once you paste your pixel base code here, CrowdWork sends standard e-commerce events (like `purchase`, `add_to_cart`, and more) to Google, Meta, TikTok, and other platforms — no additional code needed. See [Tracking Pixels & Conversion Events](https://docs.crowdwork.com/for-theatres/tracking-pixels-and-conversion-events) for the full list of events and platform setup details.
{% endhint %}