Creating Competitions

Competition Product Type

YetiRaffles adds a new "Competition" product type to WooCommerce. This product type is specifically designed for ticket-based competitions with unique features including ticket number assignment, draw management, and instant win prizes.

Creating Your First Competition

1. Navigate to Products

   In your WordPress admin, go to Products → Add New

2. Add Title and Description

   Enter a compelling title (e.g., "Win £1000 Cash") and add a detailed description explaining the prize, draw date, and terms & conditions.

3. Select Competition Product Type

   In the Product Data metabox, select Competition from the dropdown menu. This activates all competition-specific settings.

4. Configure Product Settings

   Fill in the various tabs and options detailed in the sections below.

5. Add Images

   Set a featured image and add gallery images to showcase your prize.

6. Publish

   Once configured, click Publish to make your competition live.

General Tab Settings

The General tab contains the basic pricing and SKU settings for your competition.

Pricing

• Regular Price: The standard price per ticket (e.g., £0.99)
• Sale Price: Optional discounted price for promotional periods

SKU

Optional Stock Keeping Unit for internal tracking. Useful if you manage competitions in external systems.

YetiRaffles Competition Settings

The YetiRaffles tab contains all competition-specific configuration options.

Maximum Tickets

Set the total number of tickets available for this competition. This determines how many unique ticket numbers can be sold.

• Recommended: 100-10,000 tickets depending on prize value
• Higher ticket counts work better for lower-value prizes
• Premium prizes can have fewer tickets for better odds

Draw Date & Time

Set when the competition ends and the draw will take place. Customers cannot purchase tickets after this date/time.

• Date picker allows you to select any future date
• Time is set in 24-hour format
• Displayed to customers on the product page
• System prevents purchases after this deadline

Max Tickets Per User

Limit how many tickets a single customer can purchase. This prevents one person from buying all tickets.

• Leave empty: No limit (not recommended)
• Recommended: 10-25% of total tickets
• Example: For 1000 tickets, set max 100-250 per user

Ticket Configuration

How Ticket Numbers Work

When a customer purchases tickets, YetiRaffles automatically assigns sequential ticket numbers from the available pool.

Ticket Availability Display

The product page automatically shows customers:

• Total tickets available
• How many tickets remain
• Percentage sold (progress bar)
• Maximum they can purchase

Advanced Settings

Competition Status

Competitions can have several statuses:

Status	Description
Active	Competition is live and accepting entries
Scheduled	Not yet started (if using scheduled publishing)
Ended	Past the draw date, no more entries accepted
Completed	Winner has been drawn and notified
Cancelled	Competition cancelled (refunds may be processed)

Automatic Draw

Enable automatic winner selection when the draw date is reached. If disabled, you must manually run the draw from the admin area.

Featured Competition

Mark this competition as featured to display it prominently on your site (requires theme support or custom template).

Product Variations & Bundles

Ticket Quantity Bundles

While competitions are simple products, you can create perceived bundles by:

1. Using grouped products with different quantity tickets
2. Offering coupon codes for bulk purchases
3. Creating separate "bundle" products that add multiple tickets

Example Bundle Strategy

• Single Entry: £0.99 for 1 ticket
• 5 Entry Bundle: £4.50 for 5 tickets (10% savings)
• 10 Entry Bundle: £8.50 for 10 tickets (14% savings)
• 25 Entry Bundle: £19.99 for 25 tickets (20% savings)

Tax & Shipping Configuration

Tax Settings

Competitions are digital products and may have different tax implications depending on your jurisdiction:

• Set tax status to "None" if competitions are not taxable in your region
• Consult local regulations regarding lottery/competition taxation
• Some regions require lottery licenses for prize competitions

Shipping

Competition products are virtual by default (no shipping required). However, if you need to ship physical prizes:

• Uncheck "Virtual" in the General tab
• Configure shipping classes if needed
• Consider shipping costs in your pricing strategy

Competition Categories & Tags

Organize your competitions using standard WooCommerce taxonomies:

Product Categories

Create categories to group similar competitions:

• Cash Prizes
• Electronics
• Vehicles
• Holidays & Travel
• Luxury Items

Product Tags

Use tags for filtering and cross-promotion:

• Featured
• Ending Soon
• New
• Popular
• High Value

Testing Your Competition

Before making your competition live to real customers, thoroughly test all functionality:

1. Create Test Competition

   Set up a competition with a small number of tickets (e.g., 10) and near-future draw date

2. Test Purchases

   Use WooCommerce test mode to purchase tickets and verify ticket assignment

3. Check Email Notifications

   Confirm customers receive ticket confirmation emails

4. Verify Limits

   Test max tickets per user functionality

5. Test Draw Process

   Run a test draw to ensure winner selection works correctly

6. Review User Experience

   Check the customer-facing pages and account dashboard

Common Use Cases

Need Help?

If you have questions about creating competitions, check out our Troubleshooting Guide or FAQ.

Next: Learn about the Instant Win Manager