Posts Tagged ‘Mobile’

Updated: Android & Apple Event App for Event Espresso 4

We’re happy to announce that we’ve recently released some updates to our Android and Apple event app. The latest round of event app updates include many new features, security fixes, and optimizations.

Latest Event App Updates

New features

  • Added a new UI to show registrations in group when scanning
  • Added a new UI for sorting registrations by name and registration date
  • Added a new UI for event sorting by name and date of event
  • Added a filter for paid/unpaid and approved/unapproved registrations
  • Added the name of datetime to the individual event screen
  • Added tabs tabs for today’s, upcoming, past, and all events
  • Added three new scanning modes (lookup attendee, continuous scanning, continuous check-in only)
  • Added a refresh button to the event details screen
  • Added currency formatting that is set on Event Espresso powered website
  • Added ability to auto-discover API URL (if you’ve changed your default API URL, the app should auto-discover the available API URL)
  • Added a link a link to our documentation page on the login page of the app
  • Added an alert if the payment has not been made when scanning

Fixes/Updates

  • Fixed issues with logging in to app if no events were published
  • Show a “no records found” message when there are no results in search, or otherwise
  • Exclude incomplete and trashed registrations
  • Don’t show events if unable to authenticate
  • Disallow check-in for other datetimes

Coming Soon

  • Use timezone offset from WP > Settings Timezone (we’re still working on updates to the REST API to support this feature)

Get Started Now

Download the Mobile Ticketing App | View Documentation

Android Event App Apple Event App

Requirements:

  • Event Espresso version 4.8.41+ (Works w/ Decaf & Regular)
  • WordPress version 4.5+
  • Apple: iOS version 9+
  • Android: KitKat version 4.1+
  • Optional: Ticketing add-on (required for scanning tickets)

Updating

Depending on your device settings, updates may, or may not be downloaded and installed automatically onto your device. If the app is not updated automatically, please visit the Android and Apple store on your device to initiate the update manually.

Troubleshooting

If you have trouble using the mobile event app, see our event app documentation page or contact us in the support forums.

Screenshots

Here are some screenshots from the latest version of the Event Espresso mobile event app:

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Event App for Check-in & Ticket Scanning Now Available for Event Espresso 4

The Event Espresso 4 check-in & ticket scanning event app is now available for Android and Apple devices!

Get Started Now

Download the Mobile Ticketing App | View Documentation

Android Mobile Event App Apple Mobile Event App

Requirements:

  • Event Espresso version 4.8.41+ (Works w/ Decaf & Regular)
  • WordPress version 4.5+
  • Apple: iOS version 9+
  • Android: KitKat version 4.1+
  • Optional: Ticketing add-on (required for scanning tickets)
Hey #EventProfs, @EventEspresso has a mobile app to check-in and scan #tickets on #WordPress Share on X

Event App Overview

Event Overview - Check-in & Ticket Scanning Event AppSince our event app announcement back in February, our team has been busy building brand new event mobile apps for onsite check-in & ticket scanning. The new Event Espresso 4 event app allows you to transform your Android and/or Apple device into an onsite attendance management tool for events. Allowing event managers another option to manage check-ins at the door of their events.

Quickly check-in attendees and view information about your events and attendees. Built-in ticket scanning capabilities allow you to scan tickets (optional upgrade) at your classes, meetings, conventions, concerts, and everything in between. Event managers can also login to the website to view attendance records, generate an attendance list and export the list to a report in CSV format.

Benefits

Use the event app to check attendees in/out of events, view attendee/registration and event info. Additional benefits of using the Event Espresso 4 Event App at your event include:

  • No more messy attendee lists to deal with, just search for an attendee names and check them in from the app
  • Mobile Event App Registration OverviewSpeed up registrations at the door, by using your mobile device to scan attendees tickets (optional upgrade), instead of using your laptop and barcode scanner
  • Integrates in real-time with the attendee list in Event Espresso, within your own website
  • Easily view attendee/registration info, such as:
    • Attendee list per datetime
    • Ticket purchases
    • Payment status
    • Check-in status
  • Allows for multiple check-in “stations”. Eg, use multiple Android/iPhone devices to log into to the same attendee list so employees can check-in attendees using multiple different devices
  • Device-to-device QR Code scanning helps to keep your events “Green” by providing an environmentally friendly ticketing solution
  • Makes your organization efficient and innovative with easy access to event info, such as:
    • Event list
    • Venue info
    • Datetimes
    • Registration totals
    • Capacity statistics

Who is this for?

Anyone using Event Espresso 4 to manage events/classes and accepting registrations on their WordPress website can use this event app to scan tickets, monitor attendee access, view registration details, and more.

Install Now

Download the Mobile Ticketing Apps | View Documentation

Android Mobile Event App Apple Mobile Event App

Event Smart Customer?
You can use the event app with Event Smart, too. Just let us know so we can turn on your REST API feature.

Screenshots

Events Overview

The event app design team took a some extra time to give the event overview a few nice design updates this time around. Including the use of featured images, event descriptions, better datetime display, and selecting among multiple datetimes.

Event Overview - iPad - Check-in & Ticket Scanning Apps

Attendee Overview

The registration overview screen allows entry staff check-in/out the attendees from within the event app. If you allow your attendees to leave, then re-enter later, you can easily check the attendee out, then check them back in from the attendee overview screen. This also updates the check-in/out records in your website database.

ee4-app-attendee-overview

Check-in & Ticket Scanning

Ticket scanning allows entry staff to easily scan tickets at the door (EE4 Ticketing add-on required). When a ticket is scanned, a response is sent back to your event website checking that attendee into the event.

Ticket Scanner - Check-in & Ticket Scanning App  Successfull Check-in - Check-in & Ticket Scanning App

Ready to Get Started? Install Now

Download the Mobile Ticketing Apps | View Documentation

Android Mobile Event App Apple Mobile Event App

Sweet! Hey #EventProfs, @EventEspresso has a mobile app to check-in and scan #tickets on #WordPress Share on X

Troubleshooting

If you have trouble using the event app, see our event app documentation page or contact us in the support forums.

Credits

The event app wouldn’t be possible without the work that was done by the WordPress REST API team, the Event Espresso Core Developers, and our new Event App Development team.

We also owe a big shout out to the Event Espresso community (customers, support team, third-party developers, and non-profits organizations) for believing in us for over 7 years.

Contribute

Help shape the future of Event Espresso mobile apps. If you’re a user or developer and would like to leave feedback about the Event Espresso mobile apps, contact us on our support forums. Your feedback is invaluable and helps us to improve the experience, each and every day.

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Is Your Theme Ready for When Google Changes their Mobile Search Algorithm?

Twenty Fourteen Mobile-Friendly Theme with Event Espresso

Twenty Fourteen Theme

In order to sell tickets and collect registrations online, it is important that your website is easy for anyone to access and use. Google is changing their mobile search results algorithms to rank websites higher that give readers easier access to read and interact with their websites. Is your website ready?

When and HOW is Google changing its mobile ranking algorithm?

On April 21, Google is expanding their use of “mobile-friendliness as a ranking signal”. When this is implemented, worldwide, if you search for something on a mobile device today, then search again on April 21, the list of search results may change depending on if the websites among the search results are ‘mobile-friendly”.

Depending on the type of events you organize, industry and audience, 60% or more of your registrations may come by those using a mobile device (phone or tablet). The number of people using mobile devices is growing fast. So regardless of whether someone is using a desktop computer, tablet or mobile phone, you want your audience to be able to find your events and buy tickets.

If the websites for those search results are not “mobile-friendly”, that website will be penalized and will not appear as early in the search results. However, this does not apply to searches done via a desktop device.

Could this be you?

Is Your Website Theme Mobile-Friendly?

 

If you’re using WordPress, then you must evaluate whether you are using a theme that is “mobile-friendly”. Mobile-friendly can mean several things, but I want to describe it in two ways: Accessibility and Ease of Use.

You can use Google’s “Mobile-Friendly” test tool to see if your website will be impacted in their algorithm change or not. This tool gives you more of a pass/fail rating, but offers suggestions for improvement.

If your website/theme is not mobile-friendly we recommend doing two things:

  • Modify your current theme to better accommodate mobile devices. If you need assistance with your theme, we recommend you contact a Event Espresso Pro for help.
  • Consider using a different theme. There are many free themes that are available from wordpress.org that are mobile-friendly.

Accessibility

Can people access at all the information on your web pages without it being too cumbersome? Is there information that is hidden behind tables or images or divs, is there media (video, audio, etc.) that does not play on mobile devices?

In order to attract customers, you want to review whether the information you publish is accessible. The more people that can access your websites, the more people are likely to attend, and the more successful we can all be.

Web accessibility is not going away, and requires on-going, conscious, effort and investment.

Ease of Use – Compromises are Required

Determining if your website is mobile friendly should also consider how easy it is to use. The easier to use, the better it will convert visitors into customers.

However, because the screen is small, you will have to compromise. You cannot expect the desktop and mobile-views to be exactly the same. It’s important to prioritize your design so that you present the most important information and functionality first, and the less-important items further down the page.

Is Event Espresso 4 mobile-friendly?

In general, Event Espresso 4 adopts the layout as dictated by your theme’s blog archive template. So, if your Event Espresso pages are not passing Google’s “Mobile-Friendly” test tool, it will be because of your theme OR a plugin causing trouble . I’ve tested over two dozen free themes with Event Espresso and they all passed as “mobile-friendly”. That doesn’t mean that some of the Event Espresso elements can’t be improved to be easier to use, but they are passing the “mobile-friendly” test so you will not be penalized because of Event Espresso. If you have specific suggestions for improving how Event Espresso responds to mobile devices, please let us know.

See also: Theming in Event Espresso 4

Questions?

If you have questions about either mobile-friendly event websites, we’re always happy to chat, just contact us.

Note: This article was adapted from the Event Smart Blog article: Google is Changing Their Mobile Search Results Algorithm, are You Ready?

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JSON API Plugin Now Available

Event Espresso API`

The new Event Espresso API addon allows other applications (other websites, mobile apps, etc) to access your Event Espresso data through an application programming interface (API).

What kind of really useful stuff can I build?

Using the Event Espresso API, you can get information on all events and attendees, and even check attendees in and out of events. Supposing you have WordPress installed and active on mysite.com, once this addon is activated you can send an HTTP GET request to http://mysite.com/espresso-api/v1/events/public to retrieve all the event information from your site in JSON or XML format, which your client application can then use and display however you like. You can access and work with most of the Event Espresso admin features, allowing you to create solutions based on your needs. The API enables developers to build innovative and engaging applications that can interface with any website that uses the Event Espresso plugin for events, classes, meetings, scrapbook conventions, concert ticketing, including:

  • Mobile applications (e.g. Event Espresso mobile apps)
  • Custom onsite and offsite calendar integrations
  • Custom event lists with role based (public/private) access to event data
  • Custom website app integrations
  • Role-based access to attendee data
  • Cached database queries
  • Offsite registration forms (coming soon)
  • Ability to create customized analytics

Is the API supported?

Yes, Event Espresso customers have access to our Restful API Codex and support in the support forums. The API is compatible with Event Espresso version 3.1 and 3.2 (coming soon).

How does it work?

The Event Espresso API gives developers a complete API platform for directly accessing data event and attendee data securely and efficiently from outside your web server. All a developer needs to know about is the API Endpoint URL for your site. Example: https://eventespresso.com/testdrive/espresso-api/v1/events/public.pretty_json

How do I get access to the addon?

Anyone with a current Event Espresso Business or Developer Support License or Ticketing addon can download this addon for use on their site, from within their profile/account page.

Is this a replacement for the Espresso Services API?

Yes and No. The current versions of both the Event Espresso iPhone and Android mobile apps CANNOT be used with this API. However, you should have no problems running both API’s side by side. We are working on switching over the iPhone app to the new API as soon as possible. We are also actively looking for someone to help us switch the Android app to the new API. The new Event Espresso iPad app will be available soon.

Why did you create this addon?

We are hoping the addition of this addon will drive developer adoption around for Event Espresso plugin and our community of dedicated users.

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Mobile Ticketing Apps Released

Event Espresso Mobile Ticketing Apps

Event Espresso Mobile Ticketing Apps

We’d like to announce today that we have released the Event Espresso Mobile Ticketing Apps for iphone, iPod, and Android mobile devices. These mobile platforms bring event managers and organizers even more autonomy and power to setup their own registration system.

The Event Espresso plugin for WordPress and our iOS and Android apps:

  • Speed up registrations at the door
  • Integrates in real-time with the attendee list in Event Espresso
  • Allows for multiple check-in “stations”. Eg. Use multiple iPhones/Android phones to log into to the same attendee list so employees can scan tickets using multiple different mobile devices
  • Send an e-mail to the ticket holder with a “Thank you for Attending” – This will save time from currently having to check the name off and having attendees sign a confirmation that they were present at the event. This will help to avoid refund situations (coming soon)
  • Keep your events “Green” by providing an environmentally friendly ticketing solution
  • Custom tickets can double as a name badge
  • Makes your organization very official and innovative

Download the Mobile Ticketing Apps | Purchase the QR Code ticketing addon

Requirements: Event Espresso version 3.0.19.p.34 or greater and purchase of the QR Code ticketing addon. Note: the ticketing app will work with some earlier versions of Event Espresso, but 3.0.19.p.34 has the ability to check people in/out of the event if the ticketing addon is installed.

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iPhone and Android Onsite Check-in App Development

We are very happy to announce that we have begun development on a new iPhone and Android app to scan tickets at the door. If you are using our  QR Code ticketing addon. This will be an innovative new way (for Event Espresso users) to check-in attendees at the door.

Update: iPhone/iPod and Android Apps Now Available.

More information coming soon! If you would like to support the development and get the app and ticketing system at up to 50% off, please let us know.

iPhone Ticket Scanner Home Screen iPhone Ticket Scanner - Accepted Screen iPhone Ticket Scanner - Declined Screen

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