Paper slips, online
Draw lots online for Secret Santa
Wichtlify replaces the paper slips in a glass: a free website and app for Secret Santa. You add the names, it draws in secret, and each person opens a personal link with only their name, even when away.
- Free, and everyone gets one name in secret
- Anyone who is away still gets their own name by link
- Nobody draws themselves; partners can be kept apart
How it works
Drawing lots online in four steps
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Create the groupOccasion, date and budget, such as the Christmas swap and £5 (or €5).
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Add the namesAnyone who must not draw someone, such as a father and son, you set as an exclusion.
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Draw in secretWichtlify draws a name for everyone, the absent included. Nobody sees the whole list, not even you.
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Send the linksYou send each person their own link, by WhatsApp or e-mail. In it they add wishes and see their name.
Match night at the Red Lion
Kelly swaps the pint glass of slips for an online draw
The Red Lion darts team plays in the Wolverhampton pub league every Thursday. Every December they do Secret Santa: each player buys one present, up to £5, for one other player. For years the slips went into a pint glass on the bar. That worked until three players stopped coming on Thursdays: someone else pulled their slips for them, and one name came out of the glass twice before anyone noticed.
This year Kelly, the captain, runs the draw online. She creates the group, adds herself and the twelve other players, and sets an exclusion, a pair who must not draw each other, for Mick and his son Ryan. On Thursday 26 November she draws at the bar.
Personal links
Each player opens only the name they drew, through a link
Each player gets their name through a personal link, a web address only that player uses. The ten in the pub open theirs on their phones, and Kelly sends the other three theirs in a private message. Only Kelly needs an account. The others open the link in the browser, with no account and no app; the app is there for iPhone and Android. The presents are swapped on the last match night before Christmas, Thursday 10 December.
What changes
No slip is left over, and nobody draws themselves
With an online draw there is no last slip for whoever turns up late, and Mick can never get Ryan. If the exclusions ever left no possible draw, Wichtlify would say so before drawing, not after the slips are out.
Kelly takes part too and sees only the name she drew. In the group she can see who has opened their link and who has not entered wishes yet, never who drew whom. If a player drops out after the draw, the free emergency repair fills just that gap, and everyone else keeps the name they have shopped for. A draw needs at least three people, and up to 100 fit in a group on the web.
Wichtlify fits when each person should open only their own name, even when some are away. A running order, a single winner or picking sides is an open draw, and Wichtlify does not do that kind; the comparison of secret and open draws shows the difference. For a quick draw of names for a small group, use a Secret Santa name generator. If nobody is buying presents but each person should still get one secret name, Wichtlify also works as an online hat for names.
Paper for one player
A printed card for someone without a phone
You do not need printed cards for an ordinary draw. If you want more, add Wichtlify Pro: €4.99 a year, renews automatically, bought in the iOS or Android app and valid for all the groups on your account. One of its extras is a printed card for a player without a smartphone.
Whoever prints the cards sees the names, so it is a job for someone who is not in the draw.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Can we still reveal who had whom at the party?
In part. After the party you can switch on the reveal, which is off by default. Each person then learns only who gave to them, not who else had whom, and Wichtlify never shows a list of all the pairs.
Does Wichtlify remind people to add their wishes?
Yes, free of charge: a note in the link, a push in the app and an email to anyone with a confirmed address. Reminders on dates you choose are a Pro feature.
What if someone wants to join after the draw?
Add them and draw again, as long as nobody has looked at their link yet. Once people have looked, only a player who drops out can be replaced, so a latecomer can take that place.
Next steps
When the draw is part of something bigger
Pick up where the draw leaves off: a bigger group, a gift budget or people who should not draw each other.
Club Secret Santa
For a whole club whose members train or play on different nights.
Plan a club Secret SantaSecret Santa gifts under £10
For a £5 limit, with ideas that suit someone you only know from the pub.
See ideas under £10Online draw
For when you are still unsure whether your draw should be secret or open.
Compare the twoPut the pint glass back behind the bar
Set up your group now. You can keep adding names until the evening you draw.
Set up the draw – free