When you're organizing a production in Stager, you often need practical information from the external party, for example, the tour manager.
You want to know in advance what needs to be arranged:
what technical equipment they’re bringing or require, whether they’ll be eating at your venue (and any dietary needs), and if accommodation is needed.
With an advancing form, you can collect all this information in one structured place. Add the topics that apply, include helpful details, ask open questions, and let the external party upload documents like riders directly into the form.
In Stager you create a form based around specific Topics, where you include all open questions. You send a unique link to the external party and possibly provide a Due date. The party has until that date to complete the form, after which it closes.
The submitted answers are immediately visible in Advancing. If the form is linked to a Program item, the information will also appear under the relevant topic in the Program tab of that item. that Program item.
Overview
Go to Planning - Advancing to see an overview of created advancing forms. At the top of the screen you can switch between the advancing forms that are in use or the archived ones. In the overview you see:
The name of the form.
Whether the form is linked to a Program item and if so, to which one.
The date on which the form closes and can no longer be completed by the external party.
The link to the published form.
The status by topic.
The list is in order of those forms due today and below, those with a date in the future. Advance forms with a due date in the past are automatically archived. Archive a form by placing it on the second tab. This way you can keep a clear overview of what information you have already received and whether you still need to find answers. Archived forms are saved and remain visible.
Statuses by topic
Not in use: Topic is not used and is not visible in the form.
To do: Topic has been added to the form but information (texts, questions, files) needs to be added by the organizer.
In progress: Organizer has added information (texts, questions, files) to a topic.
Waiting for response: The advancing form is published but the third party has not yet added information.
Response received: The external party has answered a topic’s question(s).
Completed: The organizer has manually set the topic to the status 'Completed'. The external party sees that their answers are confirmed and can no longer change it.
Create an advancing form
You can start an advancing form in two ways: via Planning → Advancing using the yellow + New advancing form button at the top right, or directly within an event when you're in the Program tab of a Program item. In both cases, you give the form a name, set a closing date, and optionally link it to a Program item, this can also be done later. Then select the Topics you want to include in the form.
The created advancing form is very similar to a Program item, where the same topics can be found. For each topic you choose which information you want to add or request:
Text: Add a text as information for the external party.
Question: Ask a question, where the external party has the option to add an answer.
File: Add a file.
Request file: Ask a question where the external party can answer by uploading a file.
Share the link
After creating the form, you publish it. The published advancing form receives a public link, similar to the Itinerary. Share this link with the external party so they can fill in the information.
You can make the form unavailable at any time by clicking Retract publication. The form will no longer be accessible via the link, but remains visible to you as the organizer. You can continue editing and republish it using the same link, so there’s no need to resend it.
If needed, you can also delete the form entirely. This permanently removes the form and deactivates the link.
Process the incoming information
You can find the completed information from the external party on the right side of the advancing form. As soon as you link the advancing form to a Program item, you will also see the information that has been received via advancing in the Program item, under the relevant topic. Afterwards you share the agreements you make with the external party via an Itinerary. You can also see the progress in the advancing form for each topic in the Program item, and you can click directly on it. This way you are always aware of a production’s progress.
