Creating and Editing Events

It doesn’t matter if you have one or on hundred occurrences of an event, you can manage all of the details from a single admin panel. Creating additional occurrences is one-click simple and we have several exclusive tools that make creating list style information a snap alongside the comprehensive free form content area that accepts copy, images, video, and audio clips.

Once the event is saved, the system will automatically use the details to populate throughout several places throughout the site based on your settings. Moreover, you can customize the layout for each respective event page; have some show sidebars, others not. You can even customize which sidebar content to display; all from the same admin panel!

The system is so powerful, flexible, yet so user friendly that we have users coming up with new ways to use it that we never even imagined. How cool is that?

The single event index page shows you each event, listed chronologically along with teach respective occurrence. The view can be filtered by category, season, or future dates only.

Categorization

It’s one of the simplest admin panels in the system but Venture’s categorization structure is at the heart of its power! It allows you to segment your events into just about as many ways as you can dream up, but in the end, it’s all about the system fitting your needs instead of making you fit the system. It doesn’t matter if you use traditional subscription series or want to break theme vents up into day based categories, Venture can do it.

And forget the one event, one category structure of older systems. you can assign multiple categories to one event which will allow you even greater flexibility when creating specialized upcoming concerts lists and calendar widgets.

Assigning colors to each category carries over on the frontend by automatically creating a color coded event key so patrons have an easier time identifying events and converting into sales! And just like everything else with Venture, it’s all taken care of automatically once you create the category or make an edit down the road.

Using Categories to Create An Event Index

Using the category structure to create event index pages couldn’t be easier. All you have to do is decide 1) show all or future dates, 2) display as list, calendar, or both, 3) which event categories to include, 4) which event seasons to include and you’re done. Venture takes care of everything else automatically. Better still; each page you create will display information in exactly the same fashion based on the parameters from the Event Settings Admin Panel (see below).

And perhaps the best part is if you change details on any individual event, the system automatically pushes them through to each and every index page.

And since this is a user-defined shortcode, you can insert it into any page and leave it as the only content or mix and match with other content. It’s a perfect way to create subscription sales pages!

The system is so flexible, you can even use the event manager to create artist rehearsal schedules and then filter an index to display that information on password protected artist-only pages.

Using Categories In Event Widgets

Venture’s Event Manager comes equipped with three power event widgets that allow you to display event information throughout the site in a number of different ways.

The Calendar Widget is a compact powerhouse that displays all or as few events as you wish. When a user clicks one of the colored event icons, the respective event info unfolds below. And unlike other systems, you can insert custom display calendars on different pages, which opens up nearly unlimited possibilities. Imagine having a subscription sales page that has a calendar widget which only displays events in the respective subscription series so users have an easier time seeing what’s included.

The Upcoming Concert Widget is a marvel of simplicity. At its heart, it is designed to show upcoming concerts based on category and season filters. You decide how many events to display but the filtering options means you use it as an upsell widget, like a “may we suggest” or “if you liked” widget. Like the calendar widget, you can insert as many as you like throughout your site and have each one display different content based on category filters. You can even use it to display all the events for mix-and-match or flex subscription sales pages; the potential is limited only by your creativity!

Venture’s What, When, Where Widget is designed as a set-up and forget tool to be used exclusively on single event pages. It prominently displays the most in-demand info ticket buyers look for in the form of the event name, dates/times, ticket price, ticket purchase link, Venue name, and Google Map link. Better still is lists related info for each event occurrence. All you have to do is enable the widget and Venture does the rest.

Season Management

Venture’s Season Manager works in tandem with the with the category structure in such a way as to allow users the ability to assign specific seasons to each event. You can use a simple structure such as “2012 Season” or drill down into more detail by breaking seasons into segments; such as “2012 Summer”.

Once you have your system in place, you can use seasons as an additional layer of filtering when putting event index and event widgets into place. This feature makes creating season archive pages a snap; you’ll be able to create them in mere seconds regardless of how many events exist!

Venue Management

Venture’s Venue Manager is another simple yet powerful admin panel that works in tandem with the category structure. All you have to do is fill out the address info, give the Venue a name, and the system will display the location on a Google Map for you to verify. Once that’s done, all you have to do is click the “save” button and you’re all done!

The system will then add the venue into a master drop down list which is available in each event’s respective occurrence. This is an incredibly useful tool for groups that regularly perform the same event in multiple venues!

Event Settings

The Event Settings admin panel is where you’ll take care of all your universal event settings, such as selecting which components to display on event index and single event pages along with the order they are displayed on the page. Each component is drag and drop and automatically pushed through to the frontend on every single event page after saving so you’re guaranteed a clean, uniform look on each and every page.

Additional settings include default time display, enable/disable Google Map automation and popup size, default currency symbols ($, €, £, ¥) and box office contact info.

Multiple Display Index

Venture provides the option for displaying each occurrence of an event as an independent entry on index pages as well as grouping each occurrence under the respective event heading.

This is an especially handy tool as groups that perform no more than five occurreneces of a single event can feature each instance whereas groups that offer dozens of performances of a single event will provide better user navigation by grouping them together.

Another fantastic feature for the grouped option is the ability to set the maximum number of performances displayed before Venture’s exclusive “display toggle” kicks in. When clicked by users, the toggle will unfold the remaining occurrences without requiring the page to reload.

This helps keep page footprints to a manageable size that improves overall conversion. When using the grouped occurrence option, events are displayed on the index page in chronological order based on the date of the first occurrence for each respective event.

Venture is so smart than when combined with the “Only Display Future Events” index shortcode filter, the index grouping tool automatically realizes when there are fewer future events than those set for the display toggle setting and the system merely removes the display toggle box!