What's New - July 2025 | Zoho Backstage

Start smart, end strong.

From knowing who’s coming to celebrating who showed up, July’s updates help you run events that feel organized from the first invite to the final thank you.

Planning an event used to be like writing a choose-your-own-adventure book where half the pages were missing. You'd start with the eternal question mark of RSVPs, stumble through the middle hoping everything holds together, and end wondering if anyone would remember your event existed.

Not anymore. This month, we’re rolling out features that bookend your entire event experience, starting from the very first “maybe” to the final moment of recognition. Because every great event deserves a beginning that makes sense and an ending that lasts.

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RSVP for events

No more guessing who’s coming.

Event planning has a dirty little secret that no one talks about. You send out invites, hold your breath, and hope you’re not overcatering for ghosts or scrambling at the last minute because twice as many people arrived. It’s like planning a dinner for 50 and ending up with a buffet for 12, or walking into a packed room with no chairs.

Sound familiar? You’re not alone.

Welcome to the end of that chaos. With the new RSVP feature in Zoho Backstage, you can stop planning on hunches and start organizing with clarity.

Why RSVP changes everything

Unlike traditional event management where attendance is a coin flip, RSVP gives you crystal-clear visibility into three simple categories, ensuring that preparation and resourcing decisions are based on real data, not guesswork:

• Attending — Your confirmed guests (the heroes of your story)
• Not Attending — Honest folks who save you money
• Maybe — For those who want to say yes, but life’s a little full right now

This means you can finally plan seating, food, swag kits, and logistics based on actual responses instead of relying on educated guesses.

How it works:

• Navigate to Registrations > RSVP. To activate this feature, the organizer must create at least one ticket class—either free or paid.
  

For paid events, the flow gets even smoother. When guests click Attending, they’re redirected to your event website with all their details pre-filled. There’s no friction or abandoned carts. Just smooth transactions that convert intentions into actual ticket sales. Fewer clicks, fewer drop-offs, more show-ups.

Once RSVP is enabled:

• Invite-only, automatically: Once RSVP is enabled, your event becomes exclusive. Only invited guests can respond, keeping crashers and confusion at bay.
• Plus-one, not plus-chaos: Let guests bring their plus-ones without losing track of headcount. Set limits, track companions, and maintain control over your guest list.
• Response deadlines: Set a cutoff date for responses. Because someone needs to make the final catering call, and it might as well be you.
• Automated everything: From invitation emails to response tracking, the system handles the heavy lifting while you focus on making your event amazing
  

Response management

The RSVP dashboard organizes your guests by response status so you always know where things stand. From sending reminders to bulk editing responses, everything is built to save you time and sanity.

And when someone finally clicks Attending, they receive a ticket immediately—just like a regular registrant. Companion info is tracked in the Orders tab, so your count stays accurate.

Most importantly, you can plan your space with confidence. Goodbye awkward standing corners. Goodbye over-ordered food. Hello intentional, data-backed design.

RSVP is now live in Zoho Backstage. Because the only surprise at your event should be how perfectly everything runs when you actually know who's coming.

Plan availability: Included in the Free, Essentials, Premium, and Ultimate plans. 

Learn more

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The Certificate Builder

Turn recognition into a moment that lasts

As your event wraps up, recognition takes center stage. Whether it’s a workshop, training session, competition, or conference, handing out a certificate transforms an experience into something lasting. It becomes something people are proud to showcase. But designing and managing certificates has always been tedious. Until now.

Say hello to the Certificate Builder, your all-in-one solution to create and deliver beautiful, professional certificates at scale. No design skills, no complicated workflows.

Drag. Drop. Done. 

Design certificates that match your event’s identity, whether you prefer a classic look or a bold, modern feel. The drag-and-drop editor lets you add everything from participant names and event details to logos, images, and signature fields.

You can customize fonts, positioning, background styles (solid, gradient, or image-based), and even insert QR codes that link to secure verification URLs. You can choose between A4 and US Letter formats and set the layout to portrait or landscape. Everything you create can be previewed before it’s sent, so you know exactly what your participants will receive.

Dynamic fields and smart placeholders help you generate thousands of certificates in just a few clicks. Whether you’re awarding attendees, speakers, sponsors, exhibitors, organizers, or staff, the builder supports role-specific templates for each participant group. For attendees, you can create a common certificate for all or tailor it by ticket class to recognize different levels of participation.

You can clone templates across events and manage all certificates from a centralized panel. Easily create new designs or update existing ones.

Certificates are sent directly from your event workspace, either individually or in bulk. Use the Download Certificate link option within Scheduled Emails to deliver them automatically based on roles or attendance status, such as checked-in or no show.

You can send certificates in bulk or download them if you prefer handing them out in person. No exporting. No extra tools. Just click, send, and move on.

Every certificate can include a QR code that links to a custom URL of your choice. You can use this to direct recipients to a relevant page, such as your website, portfolio, or resource hub. This adds a professional touch and extends the value of each certificate.

More than just a gesture, certificates reinforce your event’s value and brand identity. They increase engagement, strengthen participant loyalty, and leave a lasting impression that lives beyond the event.

Recognition shouldn’t be hard. Now it isn’t.

Try the Certificate Builder today and deliver achievements that people remember.

Plan availability: Included in the Ultimate plans 

Learn more

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Canceled requests and action history in registration approvals

See the full picture. No request goes unnoticed.

Ever had an approval request vanish into thin air? We thought disappearing acts should stay in magic shows, not event management. The enhanced Registration Approval workflow in Zoho Backstage gives event organizers better visibility into canceled approval requests, along with a full history of who took action.

Previously, if an order pending approval was canceled, it would disappear from the approval tab. This made it difficult for organizers to track the request or know who canceled it. With this update, all canceled registration approval requests are now retained and shown within the Registration Approval section of your event dashboard.

This change helps maintain a clear audit trail of registration activity. Whether an order was approved, rejected, or canceled, the full record remains accessible, including the user who performed the action.

To view this information:

1. Navigate to Registrations > Registration Approval. 
2. You’ll now see five status types listed: Pending, Approved, Rejected, Canceled, and Completed.

Canceled requests appear alongside the others and can be filtered like any other status. For each request, you’ll also see who approved, rejected, or canceled it, giving you full transparency throughout the registration process.

This update improves accountability and helps organizers understand how many requests were withdrawn or canceled, which is especially helpful when analyzing attendee behavior or refining approval criteria.

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Exhibitor enhancements 

Booth member listing preferences  

Speaking of visibility (because we're on a roll), let's talk about your exhibitors. You can now control who sees exhibitor booth member details on your event website. These profiles, which were previously visible only to logged-in users, can now be made public using a simple toggle. This is ideal for trade shows, public expos, or hybrid events.

To show/hide booth member profiles:

• Navigate to Exhibitors > Exhibitor Settings and enable/disable the Public Visibility of Booth Member Details toggle. 
• When enabled, anyone can view booth members without logging in. When disabled (default), visibility remains limited to signed-in users.

This update gives organizers more flexibility over exhibitor visibility, helping tailor the experience for both open and closed event formats.

Plan availability: Included in the Premium and Ultimate plans 

Exhibitor tags 

Easily group and showcase your exhibitors with the new exhibitor tags in Zoho Backstage’s Exhibitor module. Tags help organizers manage exhibitors more effectively and make it easier for attendees to find relevant companies.

You can now assign multiple tags, such as FinTech, Startup, or Europe, to each exhibitor while creating or editing their profile. These tags appear across key touchpoints, including exhibitor listings and profile pages on both the website and the mobile app. 

Attendees can filter exhibitors by tags to discover booths that match their interests. Organizers can use the same filters in the editor for faster management. Only active tags (those assigned to at least one exhibitor) are shown to attendees, ensuring a focused browsing experience.

Organizers also have control over tag visibility. Exhibitors can choose to hide certain tags from public view. These hidden tags remain visible to organizers in the editor but won't appear to attendees.

Manage tags from the Exhibitor tab or directly within an exhibitor’s profile. Tag-based filtering is already available on the web and mobile app.

Plan availability: Included in the Premium and Ultimate plans 

TikTok links in exhibitor profiles

Exhibitors can now showcase their brand’s TikTok presence directly on their profile page. This new social link appears alongside existing options like LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram.

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Other enhancements 

We also have a few more touches to make your backstage run even smoother.

Attachment support for demo emails

You can now attach files to your scheduled test emails, allowing you to preview the full email experience and ensure all documents are ready for your attendees.

Session restarting

We’ve simplified the session engagement flow by removing the Re-Present Session option. Instead, presenters can now Restart sessions, and each restart is tracked separately for engagement metrics like chat, poll responses, and Q&A.

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Every great event tells a story

From that first tentative “maybe” response to the final certificate download, your event now has a story that actually makes sense. No more planning in the dark. No more anticlimactic endings. Just clear beginnings, smooth middles, and memorable conclusions.

Because the best events aren’t just well attended. They're well remembered. And now you have the tools to make both happen.

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Onward and upward

We’ve been rolling out a steady stream of updates, each one bringing us closer to the platform we’re working hard to build for you. While some features are still evolving, they’re all meaningful steps forward. Each update is designed with care, built to meet real needs, and shaped by your feedback.

Now that we’re in the second half of the year, we’re picking up even more momentum. There’s plenty more on the way, and we can’t wait to show you what’s next.

Thank you for growing with us and being part of the journey. We’re building something great, and we’re glad you’re here for it.

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All the features and enhancements mentioned in this article are available across all Zoho Backstage-supported data centers.

If you have any questions or need further assistance, please contact support@zohobackstage.com. 

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