Free WordPress Volunteer Sign Up Sheets Plugin
The #1 alternative to SignUpGenius for WordPress. Create and manage volunteer sign-up sheets directly on your own website. Perfect for schools, PTAs, churches, nonprofits, and any organization that coordinates volunteers.
What’s New in Version 6.1
- Centralized License Manager: A new “Licenses” page under the Sign-Up Sheets menu lets you manage license keys for the main plugin and all extensions in one place. Have a Complete Bundle or All Access key? Use the “Activate All” button to activate every extension at once.
- Disable Signups After Start Time: New option to automatically prevent signups once a task’s scheduled start time has passed — no more last-minute sign-ups for tasks already underway.
What was new in Version 6.0
Version 6.0 was a major release with powerful features for organizations that need to delegate volunteer coordination:
- Author System: Delegate sheet management to committee chairs or event coordinators with the new “Signup Sheet Author” role. Authors can only see and manage their own sheets, perfect for organizations with multiple event coordinators.
- Email Template Management: Create unlimited custom email templates for confirmations, reminders, and notifications. Assign different templates to different sheets or even individual tasks.
- Modern Task Editor: Completely redesigned task management with a sleek modal-based interface. Edit tasks in a pop-up window, copy tasks between sheets, and drag-and-drop to reorder.
- Author Filtering: Display only sheets from specific authors on the public side using new shortcode/block parameters.
- Performance Improvements: Refactored core architecture for faster page loads and reduced server resource usage.
Important: Plugin Now Hosted Here
This plugin remains 100% free. To receive automatic updates, simply “purchase” the plugin (at no cost) to generate a free lifetime license key. If you already own the Complete Bundle, your existing license key will work.
Prefer not to register? Download the latest release directly from GitHub. Note: GitHub zip files require renaming the folder before installation (remove the version number from the folder name).
Why did the plugin move from WordPress.org?
The WordPress.org SVN repository became corrupted in February 2025, preventing any updates for over 6 months. Despite a security vulnerability being discovered, the plugin team was unable to resolve the issue. To ensure users receive timely updates and security patches, the plugin now uses the same professional licensing system as the paid extensions. The GitHub repository is now public for community contributions.
How to update from the WordPress.org version
- Click the “Free – Purchase” button to get your free license key and download link
- In WordPress admin, go to Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin
- Upload the downloaded zip file and confirm the replacement
- Enter your license key on the Sign-Up Sheets → Licenses page for automatic future updates
No need to deactivate first — all your data is preserved.
Why Choose Volunteer Sign Up Sheets?
- Keep Your Data: Unlike third-party services, all volunteer data stays on your own website
- No Per-Event Fees: Create unlimited sign-up sheets at no cost
- Privacy First: Volunteer contact info is never shown publicly
- Professional Emails: Automatic confirmations and reminders keep volunteers informed
- Easy Management: Intuitive admin interface with powerful export options
- Flexible Display: Gutenberg blocks, shortcodes, and widgets for any layout
Four Event Types for Any Situation
- Single Events: One-time events on a specific date (fundraisers, field trips)
- Recurring Events: Same tasks repeated on multiple dates (weekly programs, monthly meetings)
- Multi-Day Events: Different tasks on different days (conferences, book fairs)
- Ongoing Opportunities: No specific dates (committees, year-round helpers)
Powerful Admin Features
Volunteer Management
- View all signups with sortable, searchable DataTables interface
- Export to Excel, CSV, PDF, or print directly from the browser
- Add, edit, move, or clear signups from the admin dashboard
- Live search to sign up volunteers from the front-end (admin only)
- Email all volunteers for a sheet or across all sheets
Email System
- Automatic confirmation emails when volunteers sign up
- Two reminder emails per sheet at customizable intervals
- Reschedule notifications when event dates change
- HTML or plain text format with template tags for personalization
- New in v6.0: Create and assign custom email templates per sheet or task
User Roles & Permissions
- Signup Sheet Manager: Full access to all sheets without admin privileges
- Signup Sheet Author (v6.0): Create and manage only their own sheets
- Optional login requirements for viewing or signing up
- Validation system for non-WordPress users (email verification)
Public-Facing Features
- Clean, responsive sign-up forms that work on any device
- Gutenberg blocks with live preview for easy page building
- Shortcodes with extensive parameters for custom displays
- Sidebar widget showing upcoming events needing volunteers
- User signups list so volunteers can see and manage their commitments
- Hidden spambot field prevents automated form submissions
- GDPR compliant with WordPress privacy tools integration
Extend with Add-ons
Enhance your volunteer management with official extensions:
- Calendar Display — Show events in a beautiful calendar format
- Custom Fields — Add custom fields to sheets, tasks, or signup forms
- Customizer — Customize text, colors, and create custom layout templates
- Groups — Organize sheets by category with optional BuddyPress integration
- Waitlists — Automatic waitlist management when tasks fill up
- Mailchimp — Mailing list opt-in during signup
- Automated Emails — Triggered and conditional email campaigns
Complete Feature List
- Unlimited sign-up sheets with unlimited tasks per sheet
- Four event types: Single, Recurring, Multi-Day, and Ongoing
- Drag-and-drop task reordering
- Optional task descriptions with HTML support
- Item details field for collecting additional info (e.g., “What dish are you bringing?”)
- Allow duplicate signups or volunteer quantities per task
- Copy sheets and tasks for quick event creation
- Reschedule events and notify all volunteers automatically
- “No Signup” event type for display-only calendar entries
- Test mode for admin-only preview before going live
- Sheet visibility controls (hidden until ready)
- DataTables with saved states for custom admin views
- Move signups between sheets, tasks, or dates
- Validation system for non-WordPress user signups
- Automatic cleanup of expired sheets and signups
- CRON management with debug logging
- PTA Member Directory integration for contact forms
- WordPress Multisite compatible
- Extensive hooks and filters for developers
- Translation ready with included .pot file
Reviews
Great instructions and support. Thank you for all that you do!
We use this all the time for all of our volunteer sign up activities. It works every time and provides everything that we need for our events.
We run an aquatics athletics booster club that needs all kinds of volunteers. Whether its items or people or time, the Volunteer Sign Up Sheets has covered all the scenarios. I have completely replaced Signup Genius and integrated different sheets for different needs. I am so pleased with the time it has saved out team!
i built database driven websites for the living in the late 90’s. so i know this isn’t rocket science but it takes more than coding to build a successful endeavor which Stephen has done. after being out of the web biz for a decade and change, there was little interest getting back into the minutia of code. Sign up sheets was filled the need and was more than happy to buy the calendar plugin, which works equally as well while being as easy to setup also.
It worked right out of the box with not much tweaking, though there are many options to customize for many scenarios – it is well thought out. After a few months there was an issue, but as i all too well know this is not uncommon when upgrades are made and variables have to be brought to heel again. This is where the difference was made in his quickness to reply, knowledge and overall helpfulness.
I installed this plugin to support signups for an Open Mike I run (https://dantappanmusic.com/open-mike-signup). I had previously used SignupGenius but was frustrated by the limitations (and the ads) with its free version.
I’ve been using the free version of this plugin for a couple years now and it meets all my needs. Five stars.
You must log in and be a buyer of this download to submit a review.
Comments are closed.