Description
Turn a WordPress page into a complete reserved-seating experience. Buyers can
explore the venue, see live availability and prices, choose exact seats, and
continue to checkout without calling, emailing, or guessing where they will sit.
A better seating experience for buyers
- Interactive venue maps for rows, tables, booths, general-admission areas,
accessible seating, and multiple floors. - Live availability that updates while buyers are viewing the event.
- Clear seat details and prices before a buyer makes a selection.
- Ticket tiers and active event offers shown through the SeatLayer buyer
experience when configured for the event. - Temporary seat holds during checkout, with automatic release when a buyer
does not finish. - Mobile-ready controls with touch selection, pinch-to-zoom, responsive
summaries, and a layout designed for smaller screens. - Best-available assistance when buyers want SeatLayer to find seats
together. - Email confirmation with the seats purchased after successful payment.
Built for WordPress organizers
- Add the SeatLayer seating chart block in the Gutenberg editor.
- Use
[seatlayer_chart event="your-event"]in classic content, builders, or
shortcode-compatible areas. - Choose an event from the editor when an optional SeatLayer secret key is
configured, or paste an event key without storing a secret. - Load the SeatLayer buyer SDK only on pages that contain a chart.
- Keep payments in the organizer’s connected Stripe or Razorpay account.
- Manage venue design, event pricing, offers, orders, and ticket delivery from
the SeatLayer dashboard.
Choose the checkout experience
Hosted checkout — the safe default
After choosing seats, the buyer continues to the SeatLayer-hosted event page to
pay. SeatLayer completes the Order and ticket-delivery flow through the payment
account connected by the organizer.
Checkout from your WordPress page — optional
Enable Let buyers pay without leaving this site under Settings
SeatLayer. Razorpay opens on the page. Stripe opens its secure checkout and
returns the buyer to the WordPress page afterward. This option requires in-page
checkout access and the exact WordPress origin to be registered as a SeatLayer
embed domain; otherwise the plugin safely keeps the hosted-checkout flow.
How it works
- Create a SeatLayer account and design or select
your venue. - Create an event, set prices and offers, and connect Stripe or Razorpay.
- Add the SeatLayer block to a WordPress page and choose the event.
- Publish the page. Buyers can select seats and purchase through the configured
SeatLayer checkout.
Requirements
This plugin connects WordPress to an existing SeatLayer account. Venue design,
events, pricing, offers, and managed checkout are configured in SeatLayer; the
plugin is not a standalone seating designer or a WooCommerce checkout extension.
Learn about the WordPress integration ·
Choose the right SeatLayer integration
External services
This plugin is a client for SeatLayer, a hosted seating and ticketing service. It
does not work standalone, and using it means your site and your visitors talk to
SeatLayer. This section explains each external service, when it is contacted, and
what data is sent.
SeatLayer CDN (cdn.seatlayer.io) — loads the seating-chart renderer.
- When: only on pages that actually contain a chart. The browser loads
https://cdn.seatlayer.io/seatlayer-js@0/seatlayer.js. - Sent: nothing the plugin adds. As with any script request, the browser sends
its own IP address, user agent, and referring page.
SeatLayer API (api.seatlayer.io) — provides layouts, live
availability, seat holds, and payment sessions.
- When (visitor): as soon as a chart renders, to fetch the seating layout and
live availability; then when a visitor selects seats, to hold them; then, if
they buy, to start a payment. - Sent (visitor): the event key, the seats selected, and — at the payment step
only — the buyer’s email address and, if given, their name. A payment is
started with the hold identifier alone: the plugin never sends an amount, and
the SeatLayer server recomputes the total from its own records. - Also sent for optional in-page checkout: the chart page’s public URL, used only
when it matches a pre-declared embed domain so Stripe can return the buyer. - When (administrator): only if you save a secret key, and only inside the block
editor, to list your events in a dropdown. Your server makes this call, not the
browser, and the key is never sent to a browser. - Sent (administrator): your secret key. No visitor data.
SeatLayer hosted buyer page — completes the
default hosted-checkout journey.
- When: only if a buyer chooses to check out. Their browser is redirected to
https://app.seatlayer.io/e/EVENT?hold=HOLD_ID. - Sent: the event key and the hold identifier, in the URL. No amount, and nothing
about the buyer.
Stripe or Razorpay — processes payment through the organizer’s connected
gateway account.
- When: after a buyer selects seats and presses pay. Razorpay opens its payment
window on the page; Stripe redirects to its secure checkout. - Sent by SeatLayer to the gateway: the authoritative amount, currency, and
buyer email needed to process payment. - Privacy: Stripe Privacy Policy ·
Razorpay Privacy Policy
Card details are handled by Stripe or Razorpay on the account you connected.
They never pass through this plugin, your WordPress site, or your database.
Blocks
This plugin provides 1 block.
- SeatLayer seating chart
Installation
- Install and activate the plugin.
- Create your venue, chart, and event in the SeatLayer dashboard.
- Connect Stripe or Razorpay in the SeatLayer dashboard under Payments.
- Add the SeatLayer seating chart block to a page and choose your event.
Optionally, add a SeatLayer secret key under Settings SeatLayer so the block
editor can list your events in a dropdown instead of you pasting event keys. The
chart itself works without a key.
FAQ
-
Do I need a secret key?
-
No. The seating chart works with just the event key, which is not a secret. A key
only makes the editor nicer, by listing your events in a dropdown. -
Where is my secret key stored?
-
In your WordPress database, like every other plugin setting. It can create and
modify events, so anyone with database or administrator access to this site can
read it. If that is not acceptable for your setup, leave it blank and type event
keys by hand — nothing else needs it. -
Does this work with WooCommerce?
-
Not yet. Today buyers pay through SeatLayer’s checkout using your own Stripe or
Razorpay account. A WooCommerce integration — seats as cart line items, paid
through your existing Woo gateway — is planned separately. -
Can two people buy the same seat?
-
No. A seat is held on SeatLayer’s servers the moment a buyer selects it, and only
one hold can exist per seat. If they don’t pay in time, the hold expires and the
seat returns to sale. -
What happens if a payment succeeds but the seat is taken?
-
The buyer is refunded automatically. This is rare — it needs the hold to expire
during payment — and the order is flagged in your SeatLayer dashboard so you can
check it. -
Does it slow my site down?
-
The chart’s code only loads on pages that actually contain a chart.
-
Can buyers pay without leaving my site?
-
It is optional and off by default. Enable Let buyers pay without leaving this
site under Settings SeatLayer. Razorpay opens on the page; Stripe opens
its secure checkout and returns the buyer afterward. Your SeatLayer account must
have in-page checkout enabled, and the exact WordPress origin must be registered
as an embed domain. Otherwise buyers safely continue through hosted checkout.
Reviews
There are no reviews for this plugin.
Contributors & Developers
“SeatLayer Seating Charts” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin.
Contributors
Translate “SeatLayer Seating Charts” into your language.
Interested in development?
Browse the code, check out the SVN repository, or subscribe to the development log by RSS.
Changelog
0.2.0
- New: an optional Checkout setting that lets buyers pay on your page instead of
being sent to SeatLayer. Off by default, and it falls back to the redirect on
its own if your account does not have in-page checkout. - With that setting on, a buyer paying by card now returns to the page they
bought from instead of finishing on SeatLayer. Declare your site under embed
domains in your SeatLayer dashboard to switch it on; without it the buyer still
pays and still gets their tickets, just on SeatLayer’s page. - Deleting the plugin now removes its settings, including any saved secret key.
- The two messages a visitor can see if a chart fails to load are translatable.
- Documented every SeatLayer service the plugin talks to, and what is sent.
0.1.0
- First release: SeatLayer block and
[seatlayer_chart]shortcode. Buyers are
handed to SeatLayer’s buyer page to pay through your own Stripe or Razorpay
account.