I want to share what tools I’ve found useful for managing my events. First, I’ll introduce Meetup.com for those who are unfamiliar with it, and describe how it helps me to publicize my events. Then, I’ll describe why I also have a self-hosted WordPress website using Event Espresso. Lastly, I’ll share some other plugins I’ve found helpful. I hope sharing my experience will be useful to anyone who is looking to explore more ways to manage their own events using some of today’s innovative event registration and networking tools.
(more…)Securing Your WordPress Event Ticketing Website
If you’re running an event ticketing business, you probably collect a lot of important information from attendees on your website. This may include:
- Usernames and passwords.
- Payment information (credit card numbers, bank details)
- Billing information (street address, phone numbers)
As a business owner, it’s important to make sure your event ticketing website is secure and protected against threats. By doing so, you can rest assured that your website will continue to run without any hiccups and your attendees’ personal information will be secure. (more…)
6 Essential Steps to Keep Your WordPress Website from Getting Hacked
Happy Internet Security Month!
These 6 steps will prevent 99% of hacking attempts on your WordPress website, and most of them only require a click or two and aren’t very technical.
Of course, we all want to keep our website secure and not get hacked. It’s not fun when a hacker takes control of your website… But we also have a life and might not understand all the technical jargon. So let’s skip the fluff and get your website secure.
Using Ninja Forms to Create Waiting Lists
The Wait List Manager add-on for Event Espresso 4 has arrived! Now you can automate the process of capturing wait list signups when your events sell out. Easily manage last minute event tickets and provide standby ticketing for your customers and increase profitability for your events.
Don’t lose customers when events sell out!
If your event has sold out that’s great, nobody likes empty seats and shows you are doing a great job promoting your events so congratulations!
However, when an event sells out, registration closes for that event which means you no longer capture details from your customers and you’re missing out on potential sales. Creating a waiting list for your events allows you to continue to obtain attendee details when your event sells out. That’s where Ninja Forms can help.
If you are not quite ready to deploy the new Wait List Manager just yet, you can opt to use the Ninja Forms plugin to capture the attendee details.
Ready to learn how to use Ninja Forms as a waiting list?
Just head on over to our documentation, where we created a step-by-step tutorial that shows you how to use Ninja Forms as the wait list for your sold out events. (more…)
5 Tips for Contributing to Open Source Software like Event Espresso
Many good software developers struggle and become frustrated when contributing to open source software. That’s because the skill set required for contributing to open source software is different from that required for writing closed source software.
About three years ago we decided to put our flagship WordPress plugin, Event Espresso, on Github in order to facilitate community contributions. It has always been open source (meaning the code that runs it is viewable by anyone who downloads it), but that made it much more accessible for contributions. Since then we have received numerous pull requests (requests to have code added to it), but not all contributions were ready. The purpose of this post is to help software developers better understand how to contribute to Event Espresso, WordPress, or any open source software. (more…)
New Features You May Have Missed from this Summer
Did you know we released some exciting improvements for Event Espresso this summer? It’s now possible for your audience to purchase multiple tickets from multiple events in one checkout, you can offer promotions and discount codes, you can list your approved attendees on a page, and much more! We think you will like what we’ve done.
Let’s take a closer look, shall we?
This is not an exhaustive list of enhancements, bug fixes, and security updates. For that information, please see our changelog.
Multiple Event Registration
Yes! It’s here, the long-awaited Multiple Event Registration add-on for EE4! Now you can create a shopping cart experience and allow your attendees to add multiple events to a cart for checkout.
Now your audience can register for multiple events with multiple tickets in one checkout using @EventEspresso http://evts.io/1KLClfT Tweet this
Here is a two-minute overview of the EE4 Multiple Event Registration add-on features:
With MER we introduced the ability to add events to a cart. In Event Espresso 4.7.7.p we added an enhancement to allow removal of multiple events from the cart simultaneously. This can be accomplished by setting the quantity to 0.
For more information, see the MER documentation here.
Promotions and Discounts
The Promotions & Discount Codes add-on for Event Espresso 4 adds powerful and flexible promotional pricing features to your events. You can create discount codes and promotions that can provide discounts for your attendees when they are registering for an event or buying tickets.
You can now give your event attendees promotions and discounts with @EventEspresso http://evts.io/1KLClfT Tweet this
https://youtu.be/GOF2kR24lk4
More on the new Promotions and Discounts add-on for EE4 here.
Event Espresso 4 REST API Add-on
The Event Espresso 4 REST API Add-on is available now! The current version gives you read access to all EE4 data. That means you can build client-side Javascript code, mobile apps, and programs in any language (and on any server) that can read data used in Event Espresso 4.
More on the Event Espresso 4 REST API Add-on here.
The Attendee List Shortcode
The Event Espresso 4.6.31.p update brought Attendee List shortcodes. Attendee lists can be helpful in a variety of ways, whether you want to create a password protected page to allow certain users to view the attendee list, or if you want to build social credibility by showing your potential attendees who has already registered for the event.
With the new [ESPRESSO_EVENT_ATTENDEES] shortcode, you can display lists of approved attendees for your events. There are several parameters that can be used to display different kinds of lists, like lists for a specific event, datetimes, tickets, and even certain registration statuses. With no parameters set, the default shortcode shows the attendees for the earliest active event or if there is no active event, then the earliest upcoming event is shown. If it is used in the event description area (via your event editor), then it will show the attendees for that specific event.
The Events CPT Slug
In version 4.7.3.p, we added the ability to change the event slug for the Events custom post type. Previously, the slug defaulted to /events/. You can now change the slug in Event Espresso > Events on the Templates tab.
WP User Integration Enhancements
In version 2.0.1 of the WP User Integration add-on, we added the [ESPRESSO_MY_EVENTS] shortcode to display list of registrations for user on a front end WordPress page.
Click the image below to see it in action.
“Your Registrations” page now available in the Event Espresso 4 WP User Integration Add-on! http://t.co/Guve91T3Ta #WordPress #eventtechTweet this
Read more about the “Your Registrations” page here.
Event Check-In Now More Mobile Responsive (WP 4.3+)
We added mobile styles to the event check-ins and other EE admin list tables (WordPress 4.3+ only). We also moved attendee the list table search field closer to the top of the mobile view for easier access.
New Messages Shortcode Picker UI
We made creating or modifying message templates easier by adding a message shortcode picker which displays the shortcodes that are available for each field.
Click the image below to see it in action.
So, what do you think about these improvements? Have you used any of these new features? If so, what do you think?
Your Registrations Page Now Available in the Event Espresso 4 WP User Integration Add-on
We managed to sneak in a great new feature without anyone even knowing. That’s right, the “Your Registrations Page” is now available in the WP User Integration add-on for Event Espresso 4.
The “Your Registrations” page is a front facing page for logged-in members of your website to view their registration history. Just by logging into your website, and viewing a specific WordPress page on the front-end of your website, users can view events they’ve registered for in the past.
If you are using the EE4 WP User Integration add-on in your WordPress website, just add the [ESPRESSO_MY_EVENTS] shortcode to any page and your users will see a nice looking table of past registrations.
That’s not all!
We’ve also packed it full of other nice features, such as:
- Responsive table design
- Expandable rows that allow your user’s to:
- view purchase history
- view/edit personal details
- download ticket(s)
- print receipts
- make a payment
- Customizable using shortcode parameters:
template: defaults tosimple_list_table. Can be eithersimple_list_tableorevent_sectionas the template slug (see screenshots above for difference. This has been designed so developers can hook in their own templates down the road if they want (or we can add additional layouts at whim as well).per_page: defaults to10. This allows the user to set the limit of rows that are shown before pagination kicks in on the main table (the event_section template does no pagination of tickets listed for each event).your_events_title: defaults to localized “Your Events”. This allows for users to customize the label for the listing.your_tickets_title: defaults to localized “Your Tickets”. This allows for users to customize the label for the listing of your tickets. Note, the “Your Tickets” label is currently only used with theevent_sectiontemplate.
- Customizable templates. Developers can override the templates by copying the files from the template directory into your theme.
Don’t have the WP User Integration add-on?
What are you waiting for? Get the WP User Integration add-on now.
Already have this add-on?
You’re probably wanting to know how to use this great new feature. No worries! You can learn how to use it here. If you need support, just ask 🙂
Ticket Selector Embed Code Now Available for Event Espresso 4
It’s a great day to be an event promoter! We are pleased to announce a that we have added a “Ticket Selector Embed Code” feature to Event Espresso 4. This is just one, of many features that was requested and added to Event Espresso 4, based on a feature request from an Event Smart (our hosted event registration and ticketing system) customer.
What is the Ticket Selector Embed Code?
Ever wanted to make it easy for registrants to find your events? What about allowing prospective registrants to select tickets right from a third-party website? Well, the new “Ticket Selector Embed Code” feature for Event Espresso 4 allows anyone with the embed code for your event, to display a ticket selector for that event, on almost any HTML website, Facebook page, WordPress.com and/or WordPress.org posts and pages.
Learn how to embed the Ticket Selector in a Facebook page
http://eventespresso.com/wiki/ticket-selector-embed-code/#facebook_embed
http://eventespresso.com/wiki/ticket-selector-embed-code/#facebook_embed
How do I use the Ticket Selector Embed Code?
It’s very simple, really. All you have to do is copy the embed code and place it into an HTML page, blog post, or page on any website and the ticket selector for your event will display in an iframe. When a ticket is selected an the registrant submits the form, they are then taken to your website to finish the registration. Easy, right?
Documentation for Ticket Selector Embed Code
http://eventespresso.com/wiki/ticket-selector-embed-code/
http://eventespresso.com/wiki/ticket-selector-embed-code/
This screenshot shows what appears when the “Embed” button is clicked:
Finally, this screenshot shows the embed code placed directly into a WordPress blog post, but actually, as stated previously, the embed code can literally be added to almost any web page on the internet!
What are your thought about this new feature?
Are you as excited about this feature as we are? How will you use the new ticket selector embed code? Please share your examples and feedback in the comments below.
Developers Corner: Using Advanced Custom Fields to Quickly Extend EE4
Ever wanted to add details about an event sponsor to each event? How about adding a custom downloads or course curriculum section on the thank you page? Or better yet, access to training videos?
Look no further! Using the Advanced Custom Fields plugin for WordPress the event presentation and content delivery possibilities are endless.
Over 20 Custom Field Types!
Fully customize WordPress edit screens with powerful custom fields. Boasting a professional interface and a powerful API, it’s a must have for any web developer. The Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) plugin allows you to take full control of your edit screens & custom field data. With over 20 field types (free, premium and user submitted) to choose from, custom data management couldn’t be easier, or look any better!
Easy Integration with Event Espresso 4
Once ACF is installed, simply create a field group, add your fields and define the location rules. The custom fields you create will appear in the EE4 event editor and are ready to accept custom data. Fields that are populated with data can be displayed throughout your event and registration pages. ACF will allow you to add just about any type of custom content to your Event Espresso 4 registration pages. Such as event sponsors, course curriculum, downloads, video tutorials, and much more. The possibilities are endless!
How Do I Get Started?
Itching to get started, but don’t know how? Don’t worry, we have you covered! I have created a couple of examples to get you going, and will add a few more as time goes on.
Simply follow along with the tutorials below, and I will show you how to add a course curriculum and/or event sponsor section to your registration pages.
Tutorials
Requires Event Espresso 4.3
Creating a Course Curriculum/Downloads Section After Payment
This tutorial covers using the ACF plugin and the EE4 “Thank You” Page Actions & Filters to create a course curriculum/downloads section that will be displayed on the EE4 “Thank You” page. So once someone registers for a class/event, the curriculum/downloads section will be displayed and allow registrants to start downloading files immediately.
Creating an Event Sponsor Section Throughout the Event Registration Pages
This tutorial covers using the ACF plugin and the EE4 Single Page Checkout (SPCO) Actions & Filters to create a sponsor details section that appears throughout the registration process.
Developers Corner:
Theming in Event Espresso 4
What is the best way to customize EE4?
We think the BEST way to theme EE4 really depends on a few factors with the biggest factor being what you want to change. Sometimes all that is needed is a few CSS edits and other times customizations are done via a child theme, or even editing the PHP, HTML, and/or CSS files.
Basically, this means that existing WP theme developers will have an easier time developing customizable event designs for EE4, which in turn can benefit the end user. Developers are encouraged to view the list of currently available theme templates and tags.
Depending on what you want to change and your skill level, here are some options:
Child Themes
We want to make things as simple as we can for the end user, but with all the possible themes in use, there is a limit to how simple we can make it to customize things. The best solution (which is what we’ve taken IMO), is to integrate EE4 in “proper” WP ways that the majority of WP developers will understand. This ultimately benefits the end users who hire theme developers, or theme shops, that support EE4 templates in their themes.
Reassembly of the EE4 templates
Oh wait! Your theme doesn’t support child themes? No problem, simply reassemble all of the EE4 template parts and combine them with your theme’s templates to make one cohesive archive-espresso_events.php (or single-espresso_events.php, etc) file, that integrates perfectly with your theme. The files that contain the template tags that should be loaded automagically, anytime an incoming request is for one of EE’s CPTs (otherwise they can be found in the /core/helpers/ folder).
The Event Espresso specific template parts include:
- Event Details (description)
- Event Datetimes
- Event Tickets
- Event Venues
- Event Venue Location
- Event Venue Detail (excerpt)
Custom Post Types
We think theming Event Espresso will be easier using Custom Post Types (CPTs), because we are now following the WordPress (WP) Theme Development Standards. This makes it easy for WP developers and theme shops to build integrations with their themes and plugins in EE4.
EE4 CPT data includes normal post data including:
- Title
- Description
- Tags
- Categories
- Featured Image
- Commenting
- Excerpt
- Custom Fields
- Slug
- Author
This data can be queried and displayed in themes along with other post data.
View a list of currently available theme templates and tags.
What option is right for me?
We don’t know the specifics of your website, so it’s up to you to decide where to go from here. We are happy to recommend a few helpful tips:
- If your goal is along the lines of “I want the events page to match my theme better” then the answer is usually a CSS solution. Sometimes a few CSS edits are all that are needed, and if you don’t have a child theme set up (or don’t want to) you can install a CSS builder plugin like this one and customize with CSS (it turns out that you can do a lot with CSS changes only).
- Just want to change the wording of a few phrases? If so, no need to hack templates, just use Josh’s WP gettext filter.
- If you need to add/remove content that’s not already in the event template, then setting up a child theme and working through the templates and using Event Espresso’s WordPress hooks and filters may be the way forward.
- Sometimes, if it’s a PHP, HTML, or CSS based solution, you may need to contact a developer familiar with PHP, HTML, and/or CSS to help out. Our support team is also available in the support forums and will recommend the best solution for what you are trying to accomplish.
Are you a WordPress theme developer? Want to see how Event Espresso 4 integrates with your theme? Request access to the Event Espresso Core (4.0+) GitHub repository and get acquainted with the premier event registration system for WordPress.
We also have additional Event Espresso developer documentation at http://developer.eventespresso.com/.