Recommendations after upgrading from Event Espresso 4 Decaf to Event Espresso 4

Thursday, March 3rd, 2016

The regular version of Event Espresso 4 includes more message templates and shortcodes for the messages system. It is recommended that you reset some of your templates so they are up to date.

Note: this removes any customizations from the message templates.

Reset Message Templates for Event Espresso 4

Login to your WP-admin (WP Dashboard) and then look for Event Espresso in the admin menus. Then click on Messages. Then click on the Settings tab. Use the toggle to turn the messages system off. Then toggle it back on.

Now go to the Default Message Templates tab. We’ll need to reset the following message types:

Receipt
Invoice
Payment Received
Refund Issued
Registration Approved
Not Approved Registration
Registration Pending Payment

Look for the Screen Options in the top right area of your screen and click on it. Then look for the Pagination option and raise it to a higher value such as 20 and click on Apply to save changes and your screen will refresh and you’ll see all available message types on the page.

Now look for the Receipt message type and click on the HTML link. This will take you to the messages editor. Click on the Reset Templates button and then confirm. Then click on the Default Message Templates tab which appears at the top of the screen.

Now look for Invoice and then click on HTML. Click on the Reset Templates button and then confirm. Then click on the Default Messages Templates tab which appears towards the top of the screen.

Now repeat the step above for the remaining message types: Payment Received, Refund Issued, Registration Approved, Not Approved Registration, and Registration Pending Payment.

Be sure to toggle full screen in the bottom corner of the video.

Notes: in the video above we cover how to reset the message templates for Event Espresso 4. Be sure to reset the ones that are mentioned in the list at the beginning of this article.

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Flexible Payment Method

Sunday, February 28th, 2016

The Flexible payment method will allow you to provide your attendees/registrants with specific instructions (e.g., offline payment information) for how to pay for their registration.

View quick links for this payment method –>

Need to Buy a Support License for the Flexible Payment Method for Event Espresso 4?
Accept offline payments with the Flexible payment method for Event Espresso

Installation

This payment method is a plugin for WordPress and can be installed through your WP dashboard (WP-admin).

Download the latest version of the Flexible payment method for Event Espresso 4 from your Event Espresso account.

Then login to your WordPress dashboard (WP-admin) and go to Plugins. Next, click on Add New –> Upload and browse to the plugin on your computer. Then select the zip file and begin the upload process. Wait for the plugin to upload and then click on Activate.

Setup and Configuration

Login to your WP-admin (WP Dashboard) and go to Event Espresso –> General Settings –> Payment Methods. Once on the Payment Methods screen, click on Flexible and click on the button to activate the payment method.

event-espresso-flexible-payment-method
Below are the available fields and explanations for each field.

Name – This is the name of the payment method.
Description – This description is shown during registration checkout.
Admin-Only Name – This is a name of the payment method that will only be shown in the WP Dashboard (WP-admin).
Admin-Only Description – This description is used only in the WP Dashboard (WP-admin).
Open by Default? – This sets this payment method to be pre-selected on the registration checkout page.

You can offer multiple payment options to your attendees. However, if you have a single payment gateway enabled, then set it to Open by Default for a faster checkout experience for your attendees.

Title – This is the title of the payment method and appears on the registration checkout page.
Instructions – Provide clear instructions for how a payment should be made.
PMD Order – The value (number) can be used to sort or arrange this payment option. A lower value means that it should appear first during registration checkout.
Button URL – This is the URL to the image that will be used during the payment process of registration checkout.
Alternative Button URL: Download extra payment buttons
Usable From? – Select where this payment method should be available for use. This payment method cannot process payments through the WP-admin (WP Dashboard).
Update Settings – Click this button after making any changes to your payment method.
Deactivate Payment Method – Click this button to deactivate this payment method.

Update the instructions area to provide information on how you want your registrants/attendees to pay and then save changes by clicking on the Update button.

Usage

The Flexible payment method will provide your registrants/attendees with information on how to pay for their event registration.

This payment method does not move or transfer any funds. Instead, you are providing information on the steps that an attendee needs to complete to pay you.

Inspiration for Using this Add-on

+ Thanks for starting registration. Call us at 800-123-1234 to complete your payment for your registration. We accept all major credit cards.

+ Please send us a payment through Square Cash to the following email address: hello@example.com

+ You can pay the day of the event. Be sure to arrive early. We accept VISA, MasterCard, Discover, American Express through the Square app.

+ Please send a bitcoin payment to this bitcoin wallet address: iamabitcoinaddress

+ You can pay the day of the event. Be sure to arrive early. We accept VISA, MasterCard, Discover, American Express through the PayPal here app. You can even pay through PayPal using the app.

This payment method defaults to the similar messaging as shown above. Be sure to update the messaging via the instructions field for this payment method in through your WordPress dashboard.

Troubleshooting

I configured the payment method, and payments are not being processed. Can you help?
This payment method does not process or transfer actual funds (monies). You’ll need to provide instructions on how an attendee/registrant can pay (e.g., pay the day of the event or call a phone number to pay with a bank card). This can be done by using the Instructions field on the Flexible payment method settings.

When I refund a payment, does it also refund a payment automatically?
Refunds in Event Espresso 4 are currently a two-step process.
1) Apply the refund through the transactional details screen of Event Espresso in your WP-admin (WP dashboard).
2) Then process a refund through the payment option that was used. For example, if an attendee/registrant paid via money order, then you would need to refund their payment through a new check or new money order.

Customizations

Our support team cannot write custom coding for you. Below are some examples on customizing this payment method.

Download extra payment buttons

Need to Buy a Support License for the Flexible Payment Method for Event Espresso 4?
Accept offline payments with the Flexible payment method for Event Espresso

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Install Event Espresso

Sunday, February 28th, 2016

Event Espresso is an event registration and ticket sales plugin for WordPress that can be installed through your WP dashboard (WP-admin).

Download the latest version of Event Espresso from your Event Espresso account page. It will be saved to your computer as a zip file (event-espresso-core-reg.zip).

Note: if your computer automatically unzips the file, it will look like you downloaded a folder not a .zip file. The folder will need to be re-zipped, or you can change the setting on your browser to not automatically unzip files.

Then log in to your WordPress dashboard (WP-admin) and navigate to Plugins. Next, click on Add New –> Upload and browse to the plugin zip file on your computer. Then select the zip file and begin the upload process. Wait for the plugin to upload and then click on Activate.

Note: If you are unable to upload the Event Espresso plugin because the file size is too large, then you can search the internet for how to increase the plugin file maximum upload size in WordPress, or contact your website host and they can do it for you.

Be sure to toggle full screen in the bottom corner of the video and set the quality to HD.

If you already have Event Espresso installed, you can simply update Event Espresso.

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How to select a Timezone for your WordPress site

Sunday, February 28th, 2016

The time settings are very important to getting people together at the same time. So, it’s very important to make sure the timezone of your website is set to the correct location so that the events, ticket sales, and dates are correct and so that Event Espresso can function the way you expect. Plus, it’s important that attendees know when your event is scheduled.

event-espresso-select-a-timezone

Login to your WordPress dashboard (WP-admin) and then go to Settings. Then look for the Timezone setting and select a city/region near you using the dropdown menu and then click on Save Changes.

Be sure to toggle full screen in the bottom corner of the video.

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Adding Related Events Using Advanced Custom Fields

Thursday, February 18th, 2016

Requires Event Espresso 4.8.x and above.

In this tutorial, we’ll create a “Related Events” section (example) that will be displayed in the event details page. We’ll be using example code from the ACF plugin documentation for Relationships and action hooks available to us within Event Espresso 4.

It is assumed that you are familiar with ACF, are capable of adding new fields to WordPress posts/custom post types, and can add new hooks to your WordPress theme/functions.php. If you are unfamiliar with ACF, please refer to the details and documentation on the Advanced Custom Fields website.

Add a New ACF Field Group for Related Events

Create a new ACF Field Group (WP Admin > Custom Fields > Add New) [screenshot]
Using the screen shot as a guide, add the following field to the group:
Events (events | Relationship | espresso_events)
1. Field Name: events
2. Field Type: Relationship
3. Post Type: espresso_events
Set the “Show this field group if ” setting to “Post Type > is equal to > espresso_events”.
[optional] Change the order, position, and style of the meta box in the EE4 event editor.

Add a Custom Hook

Next we need to add the code that will output the related events. There are actually two options, which I will outline below:

Option 1: Child Theme
Add the following code to the functions.php file in a child theme. For more information about child themes, checkout the WordPress Child Theme Documentation.
Option 2: Site Specific Plugin
[Recommended] Create a site specific plugin using the code below. For more information about site specific plugins, check out our documentation on the subject.

function ee_related_events() {

	$posts = get_field('events');

	if( $posts && is_singular( array( 'espresso_events') ) ): ?>
		<div class="related-events">
		<h3 class="event-venues-h3 ee-event-h3">Related Events</h3>
		<ul>
			<?php foreach( $posts as $p ): // variable must NOT be called $post (IMPORTANT) ?>
				<li>
					<a href="<?php echo get_permalink( $p->ID ); ?>"><?php echo get_the_title( $p->ID ); ?></a>
				</li>
			<?php endforeach; ?>
		</ul>
		</div>
	<?php endif; ?>
<?php
}
add_action( 'AHEE_event_details_after_the_content', 'ee_related_events' );

The snippet above uses an EE4 action hook called “AHEE_event_details_after_the_content” to display the contents of the “ee_related_events()” function, which contains the HTML for the related events. The data for the ACF field is pulled from the WP global $post variable. So you can add post data (description, date, etc.) to the output if you like.

Create a New Event & Add Related Events

Create a new Event Espresso event (WP Admin > Event Espresso > Events > Add New Event)
In the new meta box generated by ACF using the steps outlined above, select the related events. [screenshot]
Publish the event.

View the Event on the Front-end

You should end up with something like this in the event details:

Finishing Up

That basically covers adding a related events to a single event. You can easily add other post types, like venues, attendees, posts, pages, etc.

Add a Course Curriculum Section to the “Thank You” Page Using Advanced Custom Fields

Add a Sponsors Section to Events Using Advanced Custom Fields

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Messages System: How to create and send a newsletter

Tuesday, January 12th, 2016

The Batch message type that is available in Event Espresso 4 allows you to create and send messages to individual attendees. The name of this tool is named the “batch” system because you can send messages to individuals in batches so as to not overload your website server.

While the Batch message tool is useful to send individual one-off or ad-hoc messages to attendees, if you regularly send messages to groups of attendees, or to your entire attendee list, we recommend using an email service provider such as MailChimp which can give you an even more professional look and service to manage emails and get reports.

Note: If you have recently updated from an older installation of Event Espresso 4 the Batch message type may need to be activated. You can activate the Batch message type on the settings screen for the Messages system (Event Espresso –> Messages –> Settings). Once on this page, you click and drag the Batch message type and move it to the active box.

Custom batch (newsletter) messages can be created by clicking on the Create Custom button that appears on the default Batch message type row.

Alternatively you can edit and use the default message. New templates will appear in the custom templates tab in the Messages admin screen.

To send, you go to the registrations screen for the event, select the registrants, and scroll down past the list where you can click on the Send Batch Message button. A modal will display where you can select a template and make edits to the newsletter message. Once it’s ready to send, you click the Send button.

You can also view the messages that have been sent to individual attendees by clicking the microphone button.

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We Recommend Using an SSL Certificate

Monday, January 4th, 2016

An SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificate helps encrypt the traffic between your web browser and a web server. The SSL protocol has been replaced by TLS (Transport Layer Security) which is more secure. The term “SSL” is still generally used today to for a mechanism for securing data that is transferred.

If you purchase an SSL certificate today through your web host or another provider then you may ask for an SSL certificate but you would actually be provided with a TLS certificate which is modern and more secure.

Do I need an SSL certificate?

If you are processing payments on your website, then an SSL certificate is recommended as it helps make the payment process more secure since your registration checkout will load over HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure).

For example, your registration checkout page URL will be able to load via HTTPS and here is an example of the URL (note the https at the beginning):

https://example.com/registration-checkout/

As an added benefit, your registrants/attendees will be more comfortable sharing their information on your site and Google considers HTTPS to be a ranking signal.

Where can I get an SSL certificate?

Your web host (hosting provider) will be able to provide you with an SSL certificate for a fee. Be sure that you ask for a dedicated SSL certificate.

Here is a sample message that you can share with your web host to start a conversation about getting a dedicated SSL certificate:

https://gist.github.com/lorenzocaum/dabb95b664c671076a0d

Remember that the verbiage SSL certificate is still commonly used today and you’ll actually receive a TLS certificate which offers more security.

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Welcome to Event Espresso

Thursday, December 3rd, 2015

We are pleased you have joined our community of web and event professionals. Our goal is to make your event sales and registration process more simple and more profitable.

Use this page to become familiar with how to receive support, and our other product offerings; come on in!

Getting Started with Event Espresso 4

Here are the commonly used resources to help you install, configure and publish your first event quickly in EE4.

Get Started with Event Espresso 4 »

Getting Started with Event Espresso 3

Here are the commonly used resources to help you install, configure and publish your first event quickly in Event Espresso 3.

Get Started with Event Espresso 3 »

Do you need a little extra help? Take a look at the Getting Support options below.

Getting Support

Standard Support:

Each Event Espresso Support License comes with 12 months of standard support. Standard support includes access to the Event Espresso:

Documentation – Resources for the beginner and advanced users.
Support Forums – Professional help from Event Espresso staff and experienced users.
Pre-release Channel – Alpha or Beta versions of Event Espresso products that are being tested before official release.
Professionals – Hire a developer or development agency to help you with your project.
Resources – Resources, Guides, Tutorials, Tips, Strategies and reports on how to be successful with WordPress event registration and ticketing plugins; especially for event managers, developers and business owners.
Translate Event Espresso – Learn how to translate Event Espresso into your language.
Vote on New Features – Help guide the development of your favorite event registration system.

Premium Support (optional):

Sometimes it’s best if you just ask the experts to get involved quickly and directly. We have a few options to make your life easier and your events more successful:

Priority Support Tokens – If you can’t figure things out, we’ll do our best to make sure your specific challenges are resolved and your events are successful (excludes custom coding or custom development).
Custom Gateway Integration – Would your business and your events be more successful if you could use a different payment gateway, or do you already have an account with a payment gateway that Event Espresso does not yet support? We can integrate the payment gateway you need.
Sponsor a New Feature – Need a new feature and really wanna make it happen? Sponsoring features puts your request to the front of the development plans.

Community Chat

Join a real-time community chat group (hosted by Event Smart) for professionals that are leading the way in events from event management, event technology and event marketing to work-life balance.

Join the Discussion →

Developers

The full version can be found on Github and provides everything that you need to sell tickets, collect payments, and manage events all from within your WordPress dashboard.

Developer Resources

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Braintree Payment Gateway

Friday, November 27th, 2015

The Braintree payment gateway will allow your attendees/registrants to pay for their event registration with a credit card, debit card, or even through PayPal.

View quick links for this payment gateway –>

Need to Buy a Support License for the Braintree Payment Gateway for Event Espresso 4?
Accept event payments with the Braintree payment gateway for Event Espresso