How Car Show HQ works
Reference for the parts worth reading twice: gate check-in, judged scoring, spectator voting, and where the money goes. Written for the volunteer who has to run it on Saturday, not for a developer.
Show day
Check-in and windshield cards
The registration table: the printed stack, the Card desk for walk-ups, self check-in, how car numbers get assigned, and the card PDFs.
Read the doc →Gate Mode
Scanning passes at the entrance, the three verdict screens, collecting from drive-ups, and reading the arrived counter.
Read the doc →Gear & services
The reader, tablet, stand and power the kiosk runs on, what the show itself needs, and the vendors organizers recommend.
Read the doc →Your own pages
About, Rules, Directions: write a page, give it an address, put it in the menu.
Read the doc →Scoring and results
Judged scoring
Judged show as a kind of show, the Judging page, judge cards with a QR, average versus sum, tie-breakers, and when standings become visible.
Read the doc →The location check
Off, ask, or require: what each does, what voters see, and the staff pass for a phone that cannot prove it is on site.
Read the doc →Results and awards
The tally, the overrides, the ceremony script, and the trophy table, in the order the afternoon happens.
Read the doc →Spectator voting
QR ballots, open versus closed voting, People's Choice at a closed show, and what happens when voting closes.
Read the doc →Money
Group entries
Invoice a club or sponsor for a block of entries. Paid, the code sends itself.
Read the doc →Payments and payouts
Connecting your own provider, who is merchant of record, refunds and chargebacks, and what we can see.
Read the doc →Raffle tickets
Numbered tickets sold online by QR and at the table, a live 50/50 pot, and a Draw button.
Read the doc →Spectator donations
A donate page with a QR code, a line on the ballot, and the big-screen code, settling to your own account.
Read the doc →Sponsor invoices
Bill a sponsor for their level, or record one who already paid. Paid, they're on the list.
Read the doc →Sponsors and tiers
Levels as packages, a price list on your own site, invoices, and logos sized by level on the homepage.
Read the doc →Tickets and the store
Admission with a QR each, scanned at the gate from a phone; parking, merch and VIP on the same page with a pickup desk.
Read the doc →Trust
Setup
Cars and coffee
One page for a meet that repeats: next date, who's coming, and the rain-out call.
Read the doc →Importing entrants
Last year's spreadsheet becomes this year's confirmed entries, with numbers, in one preview-and-import pass.
Read the doc →Recurring shows
Weekly, biweekly, and monthly series: what the next occurrence inherits, what never carries over, and how to stop the chain.
Read the doc →Setting up registration
Fees, the form, the window, categories, and what the registrant sees, all before the first entry.
Read the doc →Testing your show
The stage ladder, the times that move it, a dry run with fake entries and votes, and wiping the test data before you go live.
Read the doc →Voting-only shows
No registration here, just numbered cars and a ballot. One setting, one batch of numbers.
Read the doc →Docs, guides, and support
These docs explain how Car Show HQ works. If you are looking for advice on running a show at all, whatever software you use, that lives in the organizer guides: budgets, class lists, sponsorship, volunteers.
And if you have a question about your own show that a page cannot answer, support goes to a real person who replies within a day.
Run your first show on it
Every feature in these docs is included, free, with no size cap.
