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Hidden VIP Competitions

Run exclusive draws for select customers by hiding a competition from your public site while keeping it fully playable through a direct link.

Sometimes you want to run a competition that only certain people can find. Maybe it is a thank you draw for your most loyal customers, an exclusive offer for your VIP list, or a quiet test before a bigger launch. The Hidden / VIP Competition setting lets you do exactly that.

When you mark a competition as hidden, it disappears from your public site but stays completely live. Anyone you give the direct link to can open it, buy tickets, and take part as normal.


What "hidden" actually means

Turning on the Hidden / VIP Competition setting keeps the competition out of every place customers would normally discover it:

  • It will not show on your homepage.

  • It will not appear in your category pages or competition listings.

  • It will not show in your results or past winners pages.

  • It will not turn up in your site's own search.

  • It will not appear in related competitions or upsell suggestions during checkout.

  • It will be kept out of search engines like Google, so it will not be indexed.

  • It will not be pushed out through your connected marketing feeds.

What stays the same:

  • The competition is fully playable. Tickets, payments, promotions, instant wins, and the draw all work exactly as normal.

  • Anyone with the direct link can open and enter it.

Hidden is not the same as inactive

The Active toggle decides whether a competition is running at all. The Hidden / VIP Competition toggle only decides whether people can find it.

For a hidden competition to accept entries, it still needs to be Active. Think of it as live and running, just unlisted.


Make a competition hidden

1

Open your competition

In the admin panel, click Competitions on the left, then open the competition you want to hide. To start a fresh one, click New Competition.

2

Turn on Hidden / VIP Competition

In the competition settings, find the Hidden / VIP Competition toggle and switch it on.

3

Make sure it is Active

Check that the Active toggle is on as well, otherwise the competition will not accept entries.

4

Save your changes

Click Save (or Create for a new competition). Your competition is now live but hidden from your public site.


Share it with your VIPs

A hidden competition can only be reached through its direct link, so this is how you invite people in.

  1. Open the competition in your admin panel. Near the top of the editor you will see a Shareable competition link card showing the competition's web address, with a Copy link button and an option to open it in a new tab.

  2. Click Copy link to copy the full address. (You can also just copy it from your browser's address bar on the live competition page.)

  3. Share that link with your chosen customers, for example by email, SMS, or a private social post.

Anyone who clicks the link lands straight on the competition and can enter as normal. Anyone who does not have the link will not stumble across it.


Find your hidden competitions later

Hidden competitions still appear in your admin panel so you can manage them as usual.

To see them on their own, open your Competitions list and use the Visibility filter. You can switch between All competitions, Hidden only, and Public only to quickly find what you are looking for.


What your customers see

If a customer enters a hidden competition, it behaves just like any other for them:

  • It shows in their account, under their orders and tickets.

  • They receive the usual confirmations.

  • They can see their ticket numbers and the result once the draw takes place.

The only difference is on the public side of your site. Because the competition is hidden, its winners will not appear publicly. That covers:

  • Your results and completed competitions pages.

  • Your instant winners list page and the instant winners carousel.

  • The recent winners and instant winners data used by custom Twig blocks.

Everything still draws and pays out normally behind the scenes.

Simple "instant winners today" totals, such as the one in the Winner Stats Display block, count every instant win on your site, including wins from hidden competitions. Only the named winner lists leave hidden competitions out.


Make a competition public again

Changed your mind? Open the competition, switch the Hidden / VIP Competition toggle off, and save. It will return to your homepage, listings, and the rest of your site straight away.

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