opensesh docsCall for Papers
The CFP surface has two halves: a form builder for organizers under Call for Papers in the admin sidebar, and a public submission wizard that submitters reach through a shareable link.
Build a form
Go to Call for Papers (/admin/forms) and click Create form. The editor walks through six steps:
Setup
Name the form and pick basics.
Welcome
An optional welcome message shown before the wizard starts.
Submission questions
The questions about the talk itself (the abstract section).
Participant questions
The questions about each speaker (the participant section).
Settings
Open/close and behavior toggles.
Notifications
Confirmation and alert emails.
Everything autosaves
The header shows a Saving / Saved / Unsaved indicator and a Copy link button for the public URL.
Field types and library bindings
Questions can be: text, textarea, rich text, email, phone, dropdown, checkbox, file, or datetime. Dropdowns can also bind to the shared event library — format, track, tags, and level — so answers land as structured data that the Submissions desk, Evaluation, and Agenda can filter on, instead of free text.
Conditional fields
Every question starts as "Always shown — add condition". Click it to build a visibility rule that reads as a sentence: Show when a previous question is (or is one of) specific values. Use this to, say, only ask for workshop equipment when the chosen format is Workshop.
Settings that matter
| Setting | What it controls |
|---|---|
| Collect participants | Whether the wizard asks for speaker details at all. |
| Speaker role and Speakers per submission min/max | Control co-speaker collection. |
| Form open | The master switch for accepting submissions. |
| Allow multiple drafts | Lets a submitter keep several drafts in flight. |
| Send submitter confirmation and admin alert recipients | See Email. |
The public wizard
Submitters open /submit/<eventSlug>/<formId> and get a five-step wizard with a Step N of 5 indicator. Two things make it forgiving:
- Drafts — progress persists locally and server-side, so a half-finished submission survives a closed tab or a device switch.
- Magic-link auth — partway through, the wizard asks the submitter to Sign in to continue via an emailed magic link. No password, no separate signup. Returning submitters see "Resume a draft below, or start a new submission".
Publishing is validated
When a form is published, opensesh validates it first — you can't publish a form with broken conditional references or an empty question set.
Submissions arrive on the Submissions desk with status pending (or draft while unfinished). From there the review flow takes over.