Event Management: Create, Edit, and Promote Events

Events are the core entity in Eventify. Each event record brings together a name, rich description, cover image, pricing, capacity tracking, a geocoded location, and metadata such as category and status — giving organizers a complete picture of every event they run and giving attendees everything they need to discover and attend.

Event Model Fields

Every event is stored in the events table. The table is defined by the migration below and the corresponding Event Eloquent model.

bigint

required

Auto-incrementing primary key.

string

required

Public-facing title of the event.

text

required

Full description of the event shown on the event detail page.

string

required

Relative storage path to the event’s cover image (e.g. images/example.jpg). Served via the public disk.

integer

required

Remaining tickets available for purchase. Decremented on each ticket sale.

integer

Running count of tickets sold. Incremented on each ticket sale. Defaults to 0.

integer

required

Ticket price in the application’s base currency unit.

datetime

required

Date and time the event begins.

datetime

required

Date and time the event ends.

bigint

Foreign key referencing the users table. Set to null if the owning user is deleted.

bigint

Foreign key referencing the locations table. Set to null if the location is deleted.

bigint

Foreign key referencing the categories table. Set to null if the category is deleted.

bigint

Foreign key referencing the statuses table. Defaults to 1 (Disponible). Set to null if the status is deleted.

timestamp

Column defined by $table->softDeletes() in the migration. Note: the Event model does not use the SoftDeletes trait, so this column is not automatically managed by Eloquent.

The full migration that creates this table:

Schema::create('events', function (Blueprint $table) {
    $table->id();

    $table->unsignedBigInteger('user_id')->nullable();
    $table->foreign('user_id')->references('id')->on('users')->onDelete('set null');

    $table->unsignedBigInteger('status_id')->default(1)->nullable();
    $table->foreign('status_id')->references('id')->on('statuses')->onDelete('set null');

    $table->unsignedBigInteger('location_id')->nullable();
    $table->foreign('location_id')->references('id')->on('locations')->onDelete('set null');

    $table->unsignedBigInteger('category_id')->nullable();
    $table->foreign('category_id')->references('id')->on('categories')->onDelete('set null');

    $table->string('name');
    $table->text('description');
    $table->string('img_url');
    $table->integer('capacity');
    $table->integer('attendees')->default(0);
    $table->integer('price');
    $table->dateTime('start_date');
    $table->dateTime('end_date');
    $table->softDeletes();
    $table->timestamps();
});

Creating Events

Authenticated users (and admins) create events through the dashboard at GET /dashboard/events/create. The creation form collects the following fields:

Form Field	Input Name	Description
Event Name	`eventName`	Title of the event
Description	`eventDescription`	Full event description
Cover Image	`eventImage`	Image file upload
Category	`eventCategory`	ID from the categories table
Capacity	`eventCapacity`	Total ticket supply
Price	`eventPrice`	Per-ticket price
Start Date	`eventStartDate`	Datetime the event begins
End Date	`eventEndDate`	Datetime the event ends
Street Address	`eventAddress`	Street-level address
City	`eventCity`	City name
Region	`eventRegion`	State, province, or region
Country	`eventCountry`	Country name

When the form is submitted to POST /dashboard/events/store, EventController::store() runs the following sequence:

Create the Location record

A new Location is instantiated and populated with country, city, region, and address from the request.

Geocode the address via Nominatim

The controller builds a combined address string (address, city) and issues a GET request to the Nominatim OpenStreetMap API using a Guzzle HTTP client:

$fullAddress = $location->address . ', ' . $location->city;

$client = new Client();
$url = "https://nominatim.openstreetmap.org/search?q="
    . urlencode($fullAddress)
    . "&format=json&limit=1";

$response = $client->request('GET', $url, [
    'headers' => ['User-Agent' => 'eventify-app']
]);

$data = json_decode($response->getBody(), true);

if (!empty($data)) {
    $location->latitude  = $data[0]['lat'];
    $location->longitude = $data[0]['lon'];
} else {
    $location->latitude  = null;
    $location->longitude = null;
}

Coordinates are stored on the Location record. If the Nominatim lookup returns no results, latitude and longitude are saved as null.

Save the Location

$location->save() persists the record and provides the id needed for the foreign key.

Build the Event

A new Event is instantiated and all form fields are assigned, including user_id from auth()->id() and location_id from the saved location.

Upload the cover image

If an image was included in the request, it is stored in the public disk under the images/ directory:

if ($request->hasFile('eventImage')) {
    $path = $request->file('eventImage')->store('images', 'public');
    $event->img_url = $path;
}

Auto-assign status

The event’s status is determined automatically based on the initial capacity:

if ($event->capacity > 0) {
    $event->status_id = 1; // Disponible
} else {
    $event->status_id = 2; // Agotado
}

Save the Event

$event->save() persists the record, and the user is redirected to /dashboard/events with a success message.

Image uploads require that you have created a symbolic link from public/storage to storage/app/public. Run the following command once after deployment:

php artisan storage:link

Without this link, uploaded cover images will not be publicly accessible.

Editing Events

Organizers can edit their events via GET /dashboard/events/edit/{event}, which loads the edit form pre-populated with the existing values. Changes are submitted via PATCH /dashboard/events/{event}, handled by EventController::update(). The update logic handles two important cases: Image replacement — If a new image file is uploaded, the controller deletes the old image from storage before saving the new one:

if ($request->hasFile('eventImage')) {
    if ($event->img_url) {
        Storage::delete('public/' . $event->img_url);
    }
    $path = $request->file('eventImage')->store('events', 'public');
    $event->img_url = $path;
}

Geocoding on address change — The controller compares the incoming address and city values against the current Location record. Re-geocoding is triggered only when something has actually changed, avoiding unnecessary API calls:

$addressChanged = $location->address !== $request->input('eventAddress')
               || $location->city    !== $request->input('eventCity');

if ($addressChanged) {
    $fullAddress = $location->address . ', ' . $location->city;

    $client = new Client();
    $url = "https://nominatim.openstreetmap.org/search?q="
        . urlencode($fullAddress)
        . "&format=json&limit=1";

    $response = $client->request('GET', $url, [
        'headers' => ['User-Agent' => 'eventify-app']
    ]);

    $data = json_decode($response->getBody(), true);

    if (!empty($data)) {
        $location->latitude  = $data[0]['lat'];
        $location->longitude = $data[0]['lon'];
    } else {
        $location->latitude  = null;
        $location->longitude = null;
    }
}

On the edit form, admins can also manually override the status_id field — for example, to mark an event as Finalizado after it has concluded.

Event Status

Status is automatically managed by the application and reflects the current availability of an event. The assignment logic is applied both at creation time and during ticket purchases:

Condition	`status_id`	Label
Created with `capacity > 0`	`1`	Disponible
Created with `capacity == 0`	`2`	Agotado
Last ticket sold (capacity reaches `0`)	`2`	Agotado
Manually set by admin after the event	`3`	Finalizado

See Categories & Status for the full list of status labels and their meanings.

Deleting Events

Events are deleted via DELETE /dashboard/events/delete/{event}, handled by EventController::destroy():

public function destroy(string $id)
{
    $event = Event::findOrFail($id);
    $event->delete();
    return redirect()->route('events.index');
}

The events table migration defines a deleted_at column via $table->softDeletes(), but the Event model does not use the SoftDeletes trait. As a result, $event->delete() performs a hard delete — the row is permanently removed from the database. Ticket records and any other data referencing the deleted event’s ID will lose their association.

Explore Page

The public /explore route displays all events to unauthenticated and authenticated visitors alike. Events are ordered from newest to oldest:

public function showExplore()
{
    $events = Event::orderBy('created_at', 'desc')->get();
    return view('explore', compact('events'));
}

The home page (/) uses the same ordering logic via showHome(), providing a consistent discovery experience across both surfaces.

PDF Reports

Authenticated users can download a PDF summary of any event by visiting:

GET /events/{event}/report

The EventController::downloadEventReport() method loads the reports.event-report Blade view and streams it as a PDF download using the DomPDF library:

public function downloadEventReport(Event $event)
{
    $data = compact('event');
    $pdf  = Pdf::loadView('reports.event-report', $data);
    return $pdf->download('event-' . $event->id . '.pdf');
}

The downloaded file is named event-{id}.pdf. The report view receives the full $event model instance, including its related location, category, status, and ticket data.

The PDF report route is defined outside the /dashboard prefix group and carries no auth middleware. It is publicly accessible to any visitor who knows or guesses the event ID. If you want to restrict report downloads to authenticated users, add the auth middleware to this route in routes/web.php.

Relationships

The Event model declares the following Eloquent relationships:

// Event belongs to the user who created it
public function user()
{
    return $this->belongsTo(User::class);
}

// Event belongs to a location (geocoded address)
public function location()
{
    return $this->belongsTo(Location::class);
}

// Event belongs to a category
public function category()
{
    return $this->belongsTo(Category::class);
}

// Event belongs to a status
public function status()
{
    return $this->belongsTo(Status::class);
}

// Event has many tickets
public function tickets()
{
    return $this->hasMany(Ticket::class);
}

User

The organizer who created the event. Foreign key user_id; set to null on user deletion.

Location

A dedicated locations record holding address, city, region, country, and geocoded latitude/longitude.

Status

Reflects current availability — Disponible, Agotado, or Finalizado.

Get Started

Core Features

Dashboard & Administration

Database

Event Management: Create, Edit, and Promote Events

Event Model Fields

Creating Events

Editing Events

Event Status

Deleting Events

Explore Page

PDF Reports

Relationships

User

Location

Category

Status

​Event Model Fields

​Creating Events

​Editing Events

​Event Status

​Deleting Events

​Explore Page

​PDF Reports

​Relationships

User

Location

Category

Status

Event Model Fields

Creating Events

Editing Events

Event Status

Deleting Events

Explore Page

PDF Reports

Relationships