Creating Events

Events are the core organizational unit in PicPeak. One event = one shareable gallery. This page walks through every field on the Create Event form, what it controls, and which global settings affect its default value.

Quick walkthrough

Open the admin panel

Navigate to https://your-domain.com/admin and log in.

Click New Event

From the dashboard or the Events list.

Fill in the form

The full field reference is below. The form is split into four sections: Identity, Customer, Access, Display.

Save as draft, or publish immediately

The Save as Draft button keeps the event invisible to guests until you publish it later. Save & Publish puts it live (and fires event.published webhooks).

Upload photos

Drag-and-drop into the upload zone or click to browse. Thumbnails are generated as the upload completes.

Either copy the link from the Event Details page, or click Resend Creation Email to trigger an email to the customer with the link and password.

Field reference

Identity

Field	Type	Required	Notes
Event type	dropdown	yes	Wedding, Birthday, Corporate, Family, Other, plus your custom types. Drives default theme + slug prefix.
Event name	text	yes	Used as gallery title and in `<title>`.
Event date	date picker	gated by `event_require_event_date`	Used to compute the slug suffix. If gated off, a random hex suffix is used.

The event slug is derived as {type-prefix}-{slugified-name}-{date}, e.g. wedding-smith-jones-2026-05-12.

Customer contact

Field	Type	Required	Notes
Customer name	text	gated by `event_require_customer_name`	Used in greeting copy in emails.
Customer email	email	gated by `event_require_customer_email`	Receives gallery-created email, expiration warnings, password resets.
Customer phone	tel	optional	Hidden by default. Enable in Event Defaults → Phone field. Available in `event.*` webhook payloads.
Admin email	email	gated by `event_require_admin_email`	Receives expiration warnings + archive notifications. Usually your own.

The “gated by” toggles are in Event Defaults.

Access control

Field	Type	Default	Notes
Require password	checkbox	from `event_default_require_password`	Pre-checked by default. Off = guests reach the gallery via the share-link token alone.
Password	password	(none)	Min 6 chars, no all-numeric. Use the Generate button to get a memorable random one.
Confirm password	password	(none)	Must match.
Client access enabled	checkbox	off	Issues a separate share link with its own PIN. Lets a client review and hide individual photos before guests see them.
Client password (PIN)	text	(none)	Required if client access is on. Usually a 4–6 digit PIN.

Changing the gallery password later regenerates the share token — old share links will stop working immediately. The customer needs the new link.

Limits

Field	Type	Default	Notes
Expiration (days)	number	from `general_default_expiration_days` (30)	Sets `expires_at = now + N days`. On expiry the gallery is auto-archived.
Photo cap	number	`0` (unlimited)	Max number of photos for this event. Replacement uploads (same filename) don’t count.

Display & theming

Field	Type	Default	Notes
Theme preset	dropdown	from event-type’s recommended preset	One of nine bundled presets (see Branding).
Layout	dropdown	from theme preset	Override the layout independently of the preset. See Gallery Interface for the seven layouts.
Header style	dropdown	from theme preset	`hero` / `standard` / `minimal` / `none`.
Hero divider	dropdown	from theme preset	`wave` / `straight` / `angle` / `curve` / `none`.
Custom CSS template	dropdown	(none)	Pick from globally-managed CSS templates (admin’s Settings → Custom CSS).
Welcome message	rich text	(empty)	Shown above the photo grid. Markdown / basic HTML.
Default photo sort	dropdown	upload date desc	What sort guests see first. They can change it via the filter bar.
Hero photo	photo selector	(auto: first photo)	Pick which photo is used in the hero section. Selectable from any uploaded photo.

Workflow

Field	Type	Default	Notes
Save as draft	checkbox	on for first-time create	When on, event is created with `is_draft=true`. Guests get a 404.
Allow user uploads	checkbox	off	Lets guests upload photos to the gallery via a special token URL.
Upload category	dropdown	(none)	Required if user uploads on. New photos are auto-assigned to this category.

Per-event protection overrides

The Edit Event page (after creation) exposes additional knobs that override the global defaults from Image Security:

Field	Default	What it does
Download protection level	from global default	`basic` / `standard` / `enhanced` / `maximum` for this gallery only
Allow downloads	on	Master toggle. Off = no download buttons, no bulk-zip.
Watermark downloads	from global watermark default	When on, downloads get the brand watermark composited over them.
Watermark thumbnails	off	When on, thumbnails are also watermarked (legibility caveat — small thumbs may be unreadable with watermarks).

What happens when you publish

For new events created with Save & Publish:

Database row is inserted with is_draft=false, is_active=true.
Share link + token generated.
event.created webhook fires.
event.published webhook fires.
If a customer email is set: gallery-created email is queued.

For drafts that you publish later (via the Edit Event page → Publish):

is_draft flips to false.
event.published webhook fires.
Gallery becomes accessible at the share link.
Customer email (if any) is not auto-sent — use Resend Creation Email to trigger it manually.

Re-saving a published event does not re-fire event.published. The webhook is one-shot per draft → live transition. Use Send Test Event in Webhooks if you want to retest a receiver without publishing a new event.

After creation

The Event Details page gives you:

A copy-to-clipboard share link
The current password (with a regenerate / change action)
Photo grid + uploader
Per-event settings panels (downloads, protection, theme, feedback)
Activity log
Resend Creation Email, Archive Event, Regenerate Share Token action buttons

See Archiving Events for what happens when you archive.