Creating an event

Creating an event

    Event creation is a five-step process and is explained below. 
To create a new event, click on NEW EVENT button under the EVENTS tab on the menu bar (see Figure 1). Event preferences are determined in the first step. 




Step 1: Event Preferences

A list of questions appears with radio box. Yes or No is selected depending upon the requirement of the Event. 















a. Do you wish to enable discount for early purchase? If Yes is selected, it enables early bird feature, there will be option to enter discounted amount and period when it ends. If No is selected, there won’t be any discount option available at next step.
b. Do you wish to restrict total number of tickets? If Yes is selected, there will be an option to enter the total number of tickets the Event has. If No is selected you cannot restrict the number of tickets sold for an event.
c. Do you wish to restrict number of tickets per user? If Yes is selected, there will be option to enter Maximum ticket each customer can buy. If No is selected there won’t be any restrictions on number of ticket a customer can buy.
d. Do you wish to enable seat plan? If Yes is selected then Allocated Seating Plan will be activated, there will be flexibility to choose between Rectangular and Round seating plan. A huge range of seating plans can be generated with various combinations. If No is selected there won’t be any seating plan.
e. Do you want to pass on the service fees to your attendees? If yes is selected, the customer will pay the service fee at checkout in addition to their ticket. If No is selected, the organiser will pay the service fee. 
Click Save & Continue to proceed to next step.

Step 2: Price and Restrictions

If YES is selected to all the above questions, then the below screen will appear.  In this step Ticket Type, Early Discounts, and other restrictions are set. 

a. Ticket Type

 An Event can have different type of tickets like Standard, Premium, Gold, etc. each having different Ticket Price. To add ticket type, click on Add Ticket Type button. Add the name of ticket type, ie, 'Standard'. Click on Add Ticket button if you want to add the ticket type to different levels (Levels can be Adult, Child etc.) 


b. Ticket Name(s)

 Here we set the different ticket levels and names. 


          c. Setting Restrictions

            Here we set number of tickets, price, discount dates etc.
      


          Below field needs to be filled in to Set Price and Restrictions- 
a. Set Colour- The Colour the set can be chosen by clicking on Set Colour drop down box.
b. Base Price- The Base price is the ticket price for that ticket type
c. Total Ticket- Total Number of Tickets for that ticket type is entered
d. Max Per Customer- Maximum number of ticket a person can buy from that type
e. Sort Order- Order in which they appear
f. Early Discount Ends On- The Date after which no discounts will be given
g. Discount Type-  The Discount type can be Fixed or in Percentage
h. Discount Amount- The amount of money which is discounted

c. Add Ticket Type

There can be several Ticket Types each having its own price, total number of tickets, maximum per customer, discount information etc. To Add Ticket Type, click on the Add Ticket Type button as shown in below image. Several types can be added by clicking on Add Ticket Type each time. Click on Save & Continue to proceed to next Ticket Type.




            d. Group Tickets

            Here we can add Group tickets, by selecting the checkbox 'Do you wish to enable group tickets?'. Similar to a single ticket, you will need to add a Ticket Type Name, e.g.             Gold - Family Pass. Then set the price restrictions and total tickets, sort order etc. Total Tickets Per Group relates to the amount of tickets each group receives, e.g. if your             group ticket is a family pass of 4, select 4 as your Total Tickets Per Group. Total Tickets relates to the amount of tickets available overall, e.g if you have 5 family passes of             4 available, the Total Tickets available will be 20.



            NOTE: Group Tickets can be made available at the same time as a single ticket type.

      
      Step 3: Event Details


       In this step, the event details are set. The screen appears like below:



a. Event Display Name- Name of Event, this name appears at frontend
b. Event Name- Name of the Event 
c. Event Start Date and Time- The Date and Time when event will be started
d. Event End Date and Time- The Date and Time when event will be end
e. Event Booking Start Date and Time- The time when booking for the event will start
f. Event Booking End Date and Time- The time when booking will end for the event
g.Event Venue- The Venue the event will take place. You can create a new venue by selecting "Create New Venue" this will prompt you for the address, name etc.
h. Event Banner- The banner of the event, it will appear when at the front end of website (Supported format: JPG, PNG; Ratio: 730x460.)



i. Event Description- Detailed description of Event is entered here. It will appear at Event Details page at front end like below



j. Ticket Instruction- The ticket instruction appears on the order PDF that is emailed to customers. 




After filling in all the above information, click on Save & Continue to proceed to next step 


Step 4: Seating Management


If the seating plan is enabled, here we can set the allocated seating for the event. Rectangular Seating Plan and Round Table Plan options are available.


Rectangular Seating Plan


The Rectangular Seating Plan can be square or rectangle and can be further customised once the basic plan is generated.  To generate the basic plan, enter values into the four set fields:

i.   Total Blocks - the number of blocks the venue will have.
ii.  Max. Blocks Per Row - the number of blocks that will be appear each row.
iii. Min. Seats Each Block - the number of seats each block will have.
iv. Max. Columns Each Block - the number of columns each block will have.


After entering the values click on Save & Generate Seat Plan. In the below example, we can see there are total 6 blocks, per row there are 3 blocks, number of seat in each block is 25 and column in each block is 5.



Once the basic plan is generated, there is flexibility to:
- Assign the ticket type(s) to seats
- Assign your own seat numbering system
- Rename blocks
- Hold seats from ticket sale (and release back to sale)
- Delete seats (and add them back if you need to)

Note, if your desired seating plan does not feature consistent numbers of 'Blocks per row', 'Seats each block' and 'Columns each block', then you will need to enter the maximum values when creating the initial plan, and then delete seats to create the gaps you require in your bespoke plan.  For example, if you require a plan with 2 blocks at the front (with a space between them) and 3 blocks at the back, you must enter the 'Total Blocks' as 6 not 5, 'Blocks per row' as 3 and so on for the other two field values. You will then have the opportunity to delete the block not required, leaving a space. Take the same approach for differing numbers of rows, columns and seats per block. 


a. Assign Ticket Type(s) to seats

If there is a restriction on maximum number of seats at any ticket type then the same numbers of seats musts be assigned to that type. i.e. at Step 2, the maximum number of Gold tickets was set as 75 and the maximum number of Silver tickets 75, therefore before saving the plan you must assign exactly 75 seats to ticket type Gold and 75 seats to ticket type Silver. Ticket Type(s) can be assigned to a whole block, individual row, individual column or individual seat at a time.


i. Block – To assign a Ticket Type to a block, right click on any seat of that block, move the cursor to where it says 'Block', then select 'Add to Gold' (etc). 




ii. Row - To assign a Ticket Type to a row, right click on any seat of that row, move the cursor to where it says 'Row', then select 'Add to Gold' (etc). 




iii. Column - To assign a Ticket Type to a column, right click on any seat of that column, move the cursor to where it says 'Column', then select 'Add to Gold' (etc). 



iv. Individual Seat- To assign a  Ticket Type to an individual seat, right click on the seat, move the cursor to where it says 'Selected Seat', then select 'Add to Gold' (etc). 



b. Assign Seat Numbers and Rename Blocks 

When creating a basic plan, a seat numbering system will be automatically generated. However, you can assign your own numbering system if you like. 

A new numbering system can be assigned to a:
- whole block at a time
- row of a selected block or across all blocks horizontally
- column of a selected block or all blocks vertically
- an individual seat
i. Block - To assign seat numbers to a block, right click on any seat of that block, move the cursor to where it says 'Block' and select 'Update seat numbers'. A pop-up will appear with 3 fields to complete:
• Seat No. Prefix - the prefix that the seat numbers will have e.g. A, B, C etc.
• Seat No. Min. Length - the minimum length of numbers after the prefix, eg. entering 3 will generate A001, A002, A003.... A020
• Start - the numeric value from which the seat numbers will start and will be incremental in nature. eg. entering '1' will generate first seat number as A001. 
Click Update button once the values are entered.

Example - from the values entered in the below screenshot ('Seat No. Prefix' = A, 'Seat No. Min Length' = 2, 'Start' = 1) the seat numbers generated will be A01, A02 and so on.  
If the 'Seat No. Min. Length' was 1 instead of 2, then seat numbers would have been A1, A2 and so on.
Figure 19


ii. Row - To assign seat numbers to a row, right click on any seat of that row, move the cursor to where it says 'Row' and select 'Update seat numbers'. A pop-up will appear with 4 fields to complete:
• Seat No. Prefix - the prefix that the seat will have e.g. A, B, C etc.
• Seat No. Min. Length - the minimum length of numbers after the prefix. eg. entering 3 will generate A001, A002, A003.... A020
• Start -  the numeric value from which the seat numbers will start and will be incremental in nature. eg. entering '1' will generate first seat number as A001. 
• Apply Change to - this can be done by two ways:
a. Selected Block – the seats in that row will be re-numbered in the selected block only.
b. All Horizontal Blocks - the seats in that row will be re-numbered across all the blocks horizontally. 

Click Update button once the value is entered.

Example - from the values entered in the below screenshot ('Seat No. Prefix' = A, 'Seat No. Min. Length' = 3,  'Start' = 1,  'Apply change to' = 'Selected blocks') the seat numbers will be A001, A002 and so on for the selected row in that block only. 
If the 'Seat No. Min. Length' was 1 instead of 2, then seat numbers would have been A1, A2 and so on.
Figure 20

iii. Column - To assign seat numbers to a column, right click on any seat of that column, move the cursor to where it says 'Column' and select 'Update seat numbers'. A pop-up will appear with 4 fields to complete:
• Seat No. Prefix - the prefix that the seat will have e.g. A, B, C etc.
• Seat No. Min. Length - the minimum length of numbers after the prefix. eg. entering 3 will generate A001, A002, A003.... A020
• Start - the numeric value from which the seat numbers will start and will be incremental in nature. eg. entering '1' will generate first seat number as A001.
• Apply Change to - this can be done by two ways
c. Selected Block – the seats in that column will be re-numbered in the selected block only
d. All Vertical Blocks - the seats in that column will be re-numbered across all the blocks horizontally.

Click Update button once the value is entered.

Example - from the values entered in the below screenshot ('Seat No. Prefix' = A, 'Seat No. Min. Length' = 3,  'Start' = 1,  'Apply change to' = 'All vertical blocks') the seat numbers will be A001, A002 and so on for the selected column for all blocks up and down. 
If the 'Seat No. Min. Length' was 1 instead of 2, then seat numbers in that column would have been A1, A2 and so on.
Figure 21


iv. Individual Seat - To assign a seat number to a particular seat, right click on the seat, move the cursor to where it says 'Selected seat' and select 'Update seat number'.  
Figure 22



v. Renaming a block - a block can be renamed as well, double click on the block name. A pop up appears. Rename the block and click Update.
Figure 23




c. Hold seats from ticket sale (and release back to sale)

Organisers may wish to hold specific seats for sale on future dates or reserve them for VIP guest etc. If a seat is held from ticket sale, it will still show in the venue seat plan, but won’t be available for booking. Seats can be selected for hold by block, row, column or individual seat.
           
i. Block - To hold seats of an entire block, right click on any seat of that selected block, move the cursor to where it says 'Block' and select 'Hold Tickets'. A small symbol will appear on each seat indicating it is now held from ticket sale at the front end.  To release the tickets back to sale, select 'Release tickets'.
Figure 24

ii. Row - To hold seats of a specific row in a particular block, right click on any seat of that selected row, move the cursor to where it says 'Row' and select 'Hold Tickets'. A small symbol will appear on each seat indicating it is now held from ticket sale at the front end.  To release the tickets back to sale, select 'Release tickets'.
Figure 25



iii. Column - To hold seats of a specific column in a particular block, right click on any seat of that selected column, move the cursor to where it says 'Column' and select 'Hold Tickets'. A small symbol will appear on each seat indicating it is now held from ticket sale at the front end.  To release the tickets back to sale, select 'Release tickets'.
Figure 26




















iv. Individual Seat - To hold a specific seat, right click on the seat, move the cursor to where it says 'Selected Seat' and select 'Hold Ticket'. A small symbol will appear on the seat indicating it is now held from ticket sale at the front end.  To release the ticket back to sale, select 'Release ticket'. 
Figure 27


d. Delete seats (and re-add seats)

Seats can be deleted from the plan in order to customise according to your needs. Seats can be deleted as a whole block, row, column or individual seat at a time.

Note, if you have set a limit to the number of tickets for the event, and are planning on deleting seats to create a bespoke plan, then you will need to first create a Basic Plan bigger than you need.  This way, once you have deleted seats, the total tickets will equal the total seats.

i. Block - To delete an entire block, right click on any seat of that selected block, move the cursor to where is says ''Block' and select 'Delete block'. This will leave a space where the block used to be.  Please note, when deleting a whole block at a time, the seats cannot be re-added once the plan is saved. If unsure, it may be better to delete row by row whereby you will be able to re-add them if you need to later.

Figure 28

ii. Row - To delete a specific row of a particular block, right click on any seat of the selected row, move the cursor to where is says 'Row' and select 'Delete row'. This will leave a space where the row used to be. To re-add the seats, right click on the space where each seat used to be (you will see a square box), and select 'Add new seat'. 
Figure 29

iii. Column - To delete a specific column of a particular block, right click on any seat of the selected column, move the cursor to where is says 'Column' and select 'Delete column'. This will leave a space where the column used to be. To re-add the seats, right click on the space where each seat used to be (you will see a square box), and select 'Add new seat'.
Figure 30


iv. Individual Seat - To delete a seat, right click on the seat, move the cursor to where is says 'Selected seat' and select 'Delete'. This will leave a space where the seat used to be. To re-add the seat, right click on the space (you will see a square box), and select 'Add new seat'.
Figure 31


v. Re-add seat(s)
To re-add seats, click on each seat (a square box will appear) and select 'Add new seat'. Once re-added you will need to re-assign the seating level and seat numbering if required. 
Figure 32

Preview the generated Seat Plan

The Seating Plan generated can be previewed by clicking on the 'Preview' button on the right-hand-side as shown below.
Figure 33


The whole Seat plan can be viewed. The slider bar helps to achieve it as shown below.  Moving the cursor over the seats gives the seat number of that selected seat.  
To exit the preview mode, click on the exit button on the upper right corner.
Figure 34

Round Table Plan

A round table plan features round tables surrounded by seats and can be further customised once the basic plan is generated. To generate the basic plan, enter values into the three set fields:

i.   Total Tables - number of tables the basic plan will have
ii.  Max. Tables Per Row - number of tables each row will have
iii. Max. Seats Each Table - number of seats each table will have

 
Figure 35
After entering the values click 'Save & Generate Seat Plan'.  In the below example, the values entered were:  'Total Tables' = 6, 'Tables Per Row' = 3, and 'Seats Each Table' = 10. 
Figure 36


Once the basic plan is generated, there is flexibility to
- assign the level(s) of tickets to seats
- assign your own seat numbering system
- rename tables
- hold seats from ticket sale (and release back to sale)
- Delete seats (and add them back if you need to)


The above actions can be performed by table or one seat at a time. It works the same way as for rectangular tables, therefore please refer to the the detailed steps in the Rectangular Table Plan section above.

Note, if your desired seating plan does not feature consistent numbers of 'Tables per row' or 'Seats each table', then you will need to enter the maximum values when creating the initial plan, and then delete tables / seats to create the gaps you require in your bespoke plan.  For example, if you require a plan with 2 tables at the front (with a space between them) and 3 tables at the back, you must enter the 'Total Tables' as 6 not 5 and 'Tables per row' as 3. You will then have the opportunity to delete the table not required, leaving a space. Take the same approach for differing number of seats for each table or if you don't want the seats to go all the way around the tables.


Step 5 Event Settings

 The final step of your creating your event is Event Settings. Here we set the following:

a.   Event Status
b.  Event Prerequisites
c. Additional Detail - Per Attendee
d. Additional Detail - Booking
Figure 37


a. Event Status

a. Event Status - Active: when ticked, the event will be live at the front end of your website. If not, it will not appear at all. Note, the ability to book tickets will be determined by the dates you set at Step 3. 
b. Event slider Status - Active:  when ticked, the event will feature in the event banner slider on the home page of the front end. 


b. Event Pre-Requisites

The system has the capability to restrict access to events by pre-setting specific personal details about each invited customer that they then need to enter before they can book their ticket. One or more of 4 different criteria can be used:  Email address, Customer ID, First Name and/or Date of Birth. This customer data can be imported via the Import Attendees section (Attendees - Eligible) in the left hand side menu.  To enable this tick ‘Do you wish to restrict the event to a specific list of attendees?' and toggle on (green) the required criteria.  For example, in the below screen the customers will have to enter their email address and date of birth which matches to those uploaded in the system before hand and then proceed to book. 

Figure 38

c. Additional Detail - Per Attendee

When ticked, you can set various questions / requests for information to be completed for EACH attendee.  Eg.  Name, Date of birth, email address, Dietary requirements etc. They can be set as mandatory or not.  This information can be then downloaded in a report via the Attendees - Ordered menu tab. 

To enable this tick ‘Does the event require attendee information’ and the below screen will appear.  
Figure 39
There are 6 field types to choose from in order to design as may questions as you need to:

All questions can be ticked as mandatory or not.

Text Field - asks the attendee to enter a simple answer to a question, eg. First name, last name.
Text Area - allows the attendee to enter a longer answer over multiple rows.
Checkbox - asks attendee to tick a box as a 'yes' response to a certain requirement / question. eg. 'Will you require parking?' or 'Are you over 18 years of age?'.
Date Field - asks attendee to enter a specific date, Eg. Date of birth
Select - asks attendee to select one option from a list of options. Eg. male / female
Checkbox Group - allows the attendee to tick multiple options from a list of options. Eg. Do you have any specific dietary requirements?'

Default Attendee - when clicked, 4 basic fields will be automatically set up - first name, last name, date of birth and dietery requirements.

For example, drag the Text Field option into the main area and click the pencil icon to edit.
Figure 40

The below screen will appear with the following settings:

Mandatory  - tick if this question must be answered for each attendee. 
Field name - you need to change this to suit your question, eg. First Name.
Help text - enter here any further instruction the attendee may require to answer the question. It will indicated by a small question mark next to the field name.

Place holder - enter here any instruction you want to appear in the answer box. It will automatically disappear once the attendee clicks in the space.
Value - enter here any default answer you want to appear in the answer box. To change, the attendee will have to type over it. This will override any Place Holder instruction. Leave this blank if you do not want a default answer.
Max. Length - enter here the maximum number of characters you wish to allow for the answer. Leave blank if no limit (never set as 0).


Figure 40

For each of the other field types, please follow the instructions in the Help boxes.

d. Additional Detail- Booking

The event organiser may want to collect information from the customer regarding the booking in general, and not per attendee. Eg.  For a single order, there can be 5 attendees but there will be just one customer doing the booking.  If required, tick this option and drag the relevant field type(s) into the space and complete the same way as for the above module (Additional Detail - Per Attendee).

Click Save and Continue. The event is now created. 

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