Why is an Event read-only when I open it? – Soapbox Support Center

Problem

You open an event in the Events Manager and a notice above the tabs names another administrator:

Jordan Lee is editing this event's settings. You can work in Summary, Reservations and Tickets. The other tabs are read-only until Jordan Lee saves or closes the event.

The toolbar has a Close button only, with no way to save the event. The notice shows the other administrator's own name. When the name isn't available, it reads Another administrator.

Why this happens

Only one administrator at a time can change an event's settings. The first administrator to open the event holds it until they save or close it. Anyone who opens it after that can still get in and work with its reservations and tickets, which is what a check-in desk with several laptops needs.

What you can do while the event is read-only

Tab	While another administrator is editing
Summary	Works as usual
Reservations	Works as usual
Tickets	Works as usual, including checking guests in
Edit, Reservation Info, Ticket Info, Assignments, Invitees, Messages, Integration	Read-only

Each read-only tab is dimmed and starts with the line Read-only while Jordan Lee is editing this event. You can read what is on it, but you can't change or click anything.

Note: Ticket assignments are read-only too. Only the administrator who is editing the event can move guests on the Assignments tab.

To leave the event, click Close. You return to the Events Manager, and the other administrator keeps the event.

Getting full access to the event

Ask the administrator named in the notice to do one of the following:

Click Save. This saves their changes and closes the event.
Click Cancel. This closes the event without saving.
Log out of the administrator.

Then open the event again from the Events Manager. The notice is gone and the toolbar has Save, Apply and Cancel.

Note: Apply saves the event and keeps it open, so the administrator who clicks it is still editing. Closing the browser tab without clicking Save or Cancel also leaves the event with that administrator for as long as they stay logged in.

If that administrator can't be reached, you can check the event in yourself. See How to regain access and edit a checked-out (locked) event. That article was written when a checked-out event could not be opened at all. The steps in it still apply, but you no longer need them to view an event, its reservations or its tickets.

Important: Check an event in for someone else only when you are sure they have finished. If they are still editing and you open the event after checking it in, the event becomes yours and their next save is refused with the message Someone else is editing this event's settings, so your changes were not saved. On the Assignments tab the message reads Someone else is editing this event, so the ticket assignments were not saved. Their unsaved changes have to be made again.

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