Use this link to share with your colleagues:
How to Use the Event Inventory API to Display Event Instances on Your Own Website: https://help.pm.leapevent.tech/a/1062226
Your PatronManager account comes with a ticketing site ready to sell tickets. However, you might prefer to create customized event listings on your own website and only use the PatronManager-provided ticketing site for the final transaction.
If you'd like to automate this process, and you (or your website partner) know how to use APIs, you can take advantage of our Event Inventory API.
APIs are somewhat complicated, and they aren't for everyone. In addition, the code that looks at an API will run on your own website, which means our support team won't be able to help you set up or troubleshoot that code. If all that sounds good to you, read on!
What can the Event Inventory API do for me?
The API keeps patrons on your website longer
The first page of your Public Ticketing Site is an Event list--but you don't have to use it! You don't even have to use the PTS's Event or Instance detail pages. If you'd like to keep patrons on your own website as they choose Events and Instances, the API can help you. Patrons will only be transferred to the Public Ticketing Site once it's time to select seats (for assigned seating events) or enter a ticket quantity (for general admission events).
The API allows you to build customized solutions for your organization
The buyer is still directed out to the secure PatronManager ticketing site to make their purchase, but the API allows you to customize the way events appear on your own website with calendar integrations, filtered views, search functionality, and more.
For example, this organization has an event calendar on their website with category filtering options at the top; clicking on one of the events sends the buyer to that Event Instance page on the PatronManager ticketing site.
Here are a few more examples of it in action:
The Neo-Futurist Theater has a nice calendar integration.
Interlochen Center for the Arts uses the API to power a robust search feature on their site.
Some clients also use the API to display two different pages on their website: one for ticketed events, and one for merchandise. Both are ultimately sold through their PatronManager ticketing site, but they've customized their pages to provide two different buyer experiences.
That's amazing! Is there anything the Event Inventory API *can't* do?!
API limitations
You can use the Event Inventory API to display and filter Event Instances on your own website, but your patrons can’t purchase tickets directly on your website -- they’ll still need to be directed to the PatronManager ticketing site to select their tickets and check out.
If you're looking to display data in real time, note that the Event Inventory API can’t be directly retrieved by browser-based Javascript due to strict CORS enforcement by Salesforce.
Instead, we recommend implementing a server-side solution to process the Event List JSON, and vote up this Product Idea!
Additionally, by default, events that are not yet On Sale (i.e. the Sale Start Date is in the future) are omitted by the API. If you'd like these events to appear in the API, you'll need to update the following fields on the Ticketable Event:
- "Sold Out" Message
- "Not On Sale Yet" Message
- "No Longer On Sale" Message
Sounds great. How do I get started?
The code that looks at the Event Inventory API runs entirely on your own website, which means PatronManager can't help you build or maintain it. You'll want to loop in your web designer or developer, as they'll need to set this up for you.
We've provided publicly-visible documentation on the Event Inventory API, which includes definitions of all available fields. It also has further technical language your developer will find useful.
Send this link to your web developer
https://doc.api.pm.leapevent.tech/
They can take it from there!
How fast does the API update?
This fast:
In all seriousness, it updates instantaneously. The display on your website might be delayed slightly, however, depending on the code your developer writes.
What if I want to include custom fields?
You may wish to include custom fields in the Event Inventory API so that you can filter by or display additional Event information on your website. No problem! You can pull custom fields from the Ticketable Event and Event Instance into the API. You'll need our support team to adjust a setting on the back end the first time you do so; after that, you can add more fields whenever you'd like.
In this example, we’re adding a new "Class Code" picklist field to our Ticketable Events so our patrons can filter Events by Class Code on our website.
1. Create your custom field(s)
This article will walk you through the steps.
2. Check to see if the field set(s) you need already exist
2.1. Click on the gear in the upper right-hand corner, and click on Setup
2.2. Navigate to the Object Manager tab, search "ticketable" and click on "Ticketable Event"
In this example, our Class Code field is on the Ticketable Event, so we'll head to the Ticketable Event object. If your custom field is on the Event Instance, then you'll find and click the Event Instance object instead.
2.3. Go to "Field Sets" and check to see if you have a field set for the API
If a field set already exists for use with the Event Inventory API, skip to step 4. Otherwise:
3. If an Event Inventory API field set doesn't already exist, submit a support request
Let us know you're working with the Event Inventory API and you want to add custom fields to Events and Instances. We'll create the field sets for you and assign them on the back end; any fields you add to them in the future will automatically appear in the API.
While you're waiting, you can skip ahead to step 5 and add data to your new field(s)! Once we've created the field sets, you'll come back and complete step 4.
4. Add your field(s) to the field set(s)
You're almost done! Now you'll add your field(s) to the Event Inventory API field set(s) on the Ticketable Event and/or Event Instance.
If you're coming back to this after a break, follow these steps to get back to the field set you need.
4.1. Click the dropdown arrow next to the Event Inventory API field set, and choose "Edit":
4.2. Search for your field, and drag-and-drop it into the area below
4.3. When you're finished, save!
5. Add data to your field(s)
Head over to your Ticketable Event or Event Instance via the Event Inventory, click "Edit", and fill in your new custom field with the data you need.
Need to add data to a bunch of Events or Instances at once? Our DIY Data article will show you how!
What else can I do with the API?
Adjust the URL to populate the Order Source field automatically (with any value you want!)
You can use this for other purposes, too, like autopopulating the Order Source field with the name of an email campaign -- but some folks also like to embed the Order Source into the links they use with the Event Inventory API. Click here for step-by-step instructions.