Question 1

What is MasterLyst?

Accepted Answer

MasterLyst is a modern project coordination tool that lets organizers create, share, and manage signups effortlessly. It's designed for schools, churches, nonprofits, sports teams, and anyone who coordinates group activities.

Question 2

Do I need an account to create a project?

Accepted Answer

Yes, you'll need a free account to create and manage projects. However, participants signing up for your project don't need an account — they just fill in their name and email.

Question 3

Is MasterLyst free to use?

Accepted Answer

MasterLyst offers a free tier that lets you create projects, collect signups, and view analytics. Premium plans unlock additional features like SMS invites, recurring events, and custom branding.

Question 4

How do I create my first project?

Accepted Answer

After signing in, click "New Project" on your dashboard. Give it a title, add time slots or tasks, and share the link with your group. It takes less than a minute.

Question 5

What are the different project modes?

Accepted Answer

MasterLyst supports three modes: Signup Sheets (participants claim time slots or tasks), RSVP (participants respond Yes/No/Maybe to an event), and Forms & Surveys (collect structured responses with custom fields, skip logic, and analytics).

Question 6

How do Forms & Surveys work?

Accepted Answer

Forms mode lets you build custom questionnaires with field types like text, dropdown, checkbox, rating, and more. You can set required fields, add skip logic to show or hide questions based on previous answers, and view response analytics with charts and heatmaps.

Question 7

Can I add a poll to my project?

Accepted Answer

Yes! Any project can include a poll where participants vote on options you define. Results are displayed in real time so everyone can see the group's preferences.

Question 8

Can I customize the fields participants fill out?

Accepted Answer

Yes! You can add custom form fields like phone number, organization, dropdown menus, checkboxes, or any other information you need from participants beyond the default name and email.

Question 9

How do notifications work?

Accepted Answer

Participants receive an email confirmation when they sign up. Organizers can opt in to get notified for each new signup. The system also sends automatic reminders before events and waitlist alerts when spots open up.

Question 10

What are recurring events?

Accepted Answer

If you run the same event weekly, biweekly, or monthly, MasterLyst can automatically create new projects on your schedule — so you never have to set things up from scratch.

Question 11

Can I invite people via text message?

Accepted Answer

Yes — premium users can send SMS invites directly to participants' phones. Recipients must first opt in by checking the SMS consent box when they provide their phone number on a signup form. It's a great way to boost signups for people who don't check email often.

Question 12

How does SMS consent work?

Accepted Answer

When a participant provides their phone number on a signup form, they'll see a consent checkbox to opt in to text message updates. Messages are only sent to participants who have checked this box. Participants can opt out at any time by replying STOP to any message.

Question 13

What analytics are available?

Accepted Answer

All plans include basic analytics showing signup trends, participant counts, and fill rates. You can track which projects are most popular and monitor participation over time. These insights help you plan better events.

Question 14

What happens if I accidentally delete a project?

Accepted Answer

Don't worry — deleted projects go to your Recycle Bin and stay there for 15 days, giving you time to recover them if you change your mind. After 15 days, they're permanently deleted. You can restore a project anytime by visiting the Recycle Bin tab on your dashboard.

Question 15

Can I customize the look of my signup page?

Accepted Answer

Yes! You can choose from multiple design themes to give your signup page a unique look. Premium users can also add a custom logo, brand colors, and header banners.

Question 16

What is the AI Assistant?

Accepted Answer

MasterLyst includes a built-in AI assistant that can answer questions about the platform, help you plan events, and generate content like survey questions or signup descriptions. Just click the chat icon in the bottom-right corner of any page.

Question 17

Can the AI help me create forms and surveys?

Accepted Answer

Yes! The AI can generate custom form fields for your project. Describe what information you need to collect, and the assistant will suggest a set of fields you can add with one click.

Question 18

Are my conversations with the AI saved?

Accepted Answer

If you're signed in, your conversation history is saved so you can pick up where you left off. You can search, sort, and export past conversations from the history panel. Guest users' conversations are not saved.

Question 19

How do I share my project?

Accepted Answer

Every project has a unique shareable link. You can copy it, email it, text it, or post it anywhere. You can also generate a short link or QR code, or send email invites directly from MasterLyst.

Question 20

Can multiple people manage a project?

Accepted Answer

Yes! You can invite collaborators to help manage a project. They'll be able to view signups, edit slots, and send invites alongside you.

Question 21

Can participants cancel their own signup?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Every confirmation email includes a secure cancellation link, so participants can free up their spot if plans change — no need to contact you.

Question 22

How do I find my existing signups?

Accepted Answer

Visit the "Find My Signup" page and enter the email address you used when signing up. MasterLyst will show all your active signups and let you resend the confirmation emails if needed.

Question 23

Is my data safe?

Accepted Answer

Absolutely. MasterLyst uses industry-standard encryption and secure cloud infrastructure. We never sell your data or send promotional emails to your participants.

Question 24

Who can see participant information?

Accepted Answer

Only the project organizer and any invited collaborators can see full participant details. Other participants can see names on the project but not email addresses or other private fields.

Question 25

Can I delete my account and data?

Accepted Answer

Yes. You can delete your account from the Settings page. Your account enters a 30-day grace period during which you can restore it. After 30 days, all your projects, contacts, and personal data are permanently removed.

Question 26

How does payment collection work?

Accepted Answer

Premium organizers can set a payment amount on any project. When participants sign up, they're taken to a secure Stripe checkout to pay. A 5% + $0.50 platform fee is applied per transaction — organizers can absorb it or pass it through to participants with an itemized breakdown.

Question 27

How do I receive funds from participants?

Accepted Answer

Funds become eligible for distribution 10 days after receipt. Connect your Stripe account via Stripe Connect on the Edit page, then transfer eligible funds directly to your bank account.

Question 28

What is Stripe Connect and do I need it?

Accepted Answer

Stripe Connect is required to receive payouts. It links your bank account so you can transfer collected funds directly. Set it up from the Edit page under the payments section.

Question 29

Can I track payments and balances?

Accepted Answer

Yes! The Edit page shows a full payment summary including total collected, platform fees, available balance, and distribution history. Admins also have access to a reconciliation dashboard.

Question 30

Can participants pay offline?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Organizers can record manual/offline payments for participants who pay with cash or check. These are tracked alongside online payments in the payment summary.

Question 31

What's included in the free plan?

Accepted Answer

The free plan lets you create projects, collect signups, send email confirmations, manage contacts, and view analytics. Note that projects and contacts inactive for more than 120 days are automatically moved to the Recycle Bin to keep your account tidy. Upgrading to a paid plan removes this limit.

Question 32

What do premium plans include?

Accepted Answer

Premium plans add SMS invites, recurring events, custom branding, email templates, advanced invitation tracking, payment collection, unlimited address books, scheduled reminders, design themes, and AI-powered form generation. Analytics are included on all plans.

Question 33

What counts as a live project?

Accepted Answer

A live project is any project that is open and actively collecting responses. Draft or closed projects don't count toward your plan limit. Archived projects also don't count — only projects with an active shareable link that participants can currently sign up for.

Question 34

How do I change a project to live status?

Accepted Answer

A project becomes live as soon as you publish it. Click 'Publish' on the project edit page to open it for signups. To take a project offline, close it or move it to drafts — it will no longer count as live and will free up a slot on your plan.

Question 35

Can I cancel my subscription?

Accepted Answer

Yes, you can cancel anytime. You'll keep premium features until the end of your billing period, then revert to the free plan.

Question 36

What is the 120-day data retention policy?

Accepted Answer

On the free plan, projects and contacts that haven't been updated in over 120 days are automatically moved to the Recycle Bin. You'll have 15 days to restore them before they're permanently deleted. Premium and Enterprise plans have unlimited data retention, so your data stays as long as you need it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Getting Started

Project Modes

Features

AI Assistant

Sharing & Collaboration

Privacy & Security

Payments & Collections

Billing & Plans