A Fotowall event is the container for one night: one wall URL, one set of guest QR codes, one moderation queue, one gallery at the end. You’ll spin one up for each wedding, gala, conference, or company offsite. This guide walks the new-event flow end to end.
Before you start
You only need two things:
- A Fotowall account. Sign up at app.fotowall.io. The free tier includes a sandbox event for testing.
- Your event’s name and date. Everything else (template, branding, sponsor logos) can be edited after the event is created.
You do not need guest contact info, a venue address, or your final guest count. Those are optional.
[SCREENSHOT: empty admin dashboard with “Create event” button highlighted in the top right]
Step 1: Open the new-event flow
From the admin dashboard, click Create event in the top-right corner. The new-event panel slides in from the right.
If this is your first event, you’ll see the new-event panel auto-open on first sign-in.
Step 2: Pick a template
Fotowall ships with five templates: Gala, Wedding, Corporate, Conference, and Festival. Templates set sensible defaults — accent color, default display mode, welcome message tone, and moderation strictness — but every default can be overridden later.
Rule of thumb:
- Gala for fundraisers and black-tie nights. Mosaic mode by default, strict moderation.
- Wedding for receptions. Slideshow mode by default, light moderation.
- Corporate for offsites and holiday parties. Magazine mode by default, sponsor placement built in.
- Conference for multi-day events. Ambient mode by default, photographer attribution surfaced.
- Festival for music or food events. Mosaic mode at higher density, moderation off by default.
You can switch templates later — but switching mid-event resets cell counts and transition timings, so pick the closest one now.
[SCREENSHOT: template gallery showing five thumbnails, with Gala selected]
Step 3: Set the event name and date
The event name is what your guests see on the upload page and what the public gallery URL uses as a slug. Keep it short and human — “Sarah & James — Reception” not “smith_reception_2026_final_v3”.
The event date controls when the wall goes live and when uploads stop accepting new photos. Set it to the day of the event in your local time zone. We auto-detect the time zone from your browser; double-check it if you’re setting up an event in another region.
Step 4: (Optional) Add an accent color
Type a hex code or pick from the color palette. The accent color is used for the heart button, sponsor frames, the upload page CTA, and the QR code background. Defaults to indigo (#4F46E5).
If you don’t know your accent color yet, leave it on the default. You can change it any time without affecting photos already uploaded.
Step 5: Click “Create event”
That’s it. The dashboard refreshes with three things visible:
- Your wall URL — open this on the screen at the venue.
- Your guest QR code — print this for tables, entrance signs, and program inserts.
- The admin link — moderators use this to approve photos in real time.
Each link is permanent for the lifetime of the event. Bookmark them.
[SCREENSHOT: event detail page showing the three URLs in a card layout with copy buttons]
What to do next
Now that the event exists, you’ll want to:
- Invite your team so your moderators can sign in with their own credentials.
- Generate printable QR codes in the formats your stationer needs.
- Test the upload flow on your phone so you’ve seen what guests see.
- Display the wall on a TV at your venue — even a dry run a week out is worth the time.
A note on test events
Until you upgrade to a paid plan, every event is a sandbox event: photos auto-delete after 24 hours, the wall watermarks “Sandbox” in the corner, and you can’t share the public gallery URL outside your team. This is intentional — it means you can do a full dress rehearsal before you commit.
When you’re ready to go live, click Upgrade event on the dashboard. Pricing is documented on the pricing page.