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December 2019 Release Notes: https://help.pm.leapevent.tech/a/1163628
Welcome to the December release! Check out this video for a quick overview, and read on for more details on what's new.
What's New in This Release
The December 2019 release makes it possible to give special groups of patrons access to presale tickets using a passcode on the ticketing site. These passcodes work alongside member early access via PatronPortal, allowing you to run multiple overlapping presales for different groups. You can also give passcode users or members private access to specific seats.
And that's not all; try the new step-by-step guide to help you identify the right report for your needs -- invaluable for new users, and a handy tool for more experienced folks as well. "I want to track trends about ticket sales to see when patrons are buying the most tickets" -- three clicks will land you on specific instructions to do just that.
There are also layout changes on the Event Instance page to make it easier to get the information you need at a glance, adjustments to the Transaction Summary report, and more.
This release includes:
- Presale Passcodes
- Report Finder tool
-
Changes to the Event Instance page (inside PatronManager)
- Including new behavior for the Original Quantity field on GA Event Instances
- Public ticketing site improvements
- Bug fixes and other improvements
Release Notes Webinar
Recorded December 12, 2019
Presale Passcodes
Have you ever wanted to...
- Offer a presale to patrons in a specific group, like a fan club or employees of a company that's sponsoring one of your events? And to offer that presale via a simple passcode on the ticketing site?
- Offer early ticket access to PatronPortal users while also offering early access to certain non-members (perhaps with different date ranges)?
- Give members, a fan club, or sponsor affiliates access to a special block of seats (which may also include special pricing)?
- Make the credit card brand/BIN gating feature clear up front by requiring a passcode (e.g. "AMEX")?
Good news: now you can do all these things!
You may notice that Early Access Dates (which were specifically for members logged in to PatronPortal) have been renamed to "Member/Passcode Access". Everything that existed before is still there, but with lots of new options added in!
Check back here in early December for links to materials to learn all about your new presale and access options.
New reporting tools
Ever wondered where on earth to start when your boss or a board member asks for a particular kind of report? We know the feeling. The Report Finder walks you through a series of questions, choose-your-own-adventure style, and then gives you a recommendation to get you started.
Check back here in early December for links to additional documentation -- and when you try it out, let us know what you think! Your feedback will help make the reporting tool even smarter.
Have you made the switch to Lightning? Report Finder is built in to a brand-new Lightning app to put all your reporting resources right at your fingertips.
To start your move to Lightning, check out our handy guide here.
Already using Lightning?
There's one upgrade step you should complete to make the reporting app the best it can be! Click here to for instructions to follow after you've received the release. This should take you about five minutes.
Event Instance page layout changes
The Event Instance page inside PatronManager is changing! All the functionality you're used to is still there, but with a different look and a few new options.
The new layout shows Allocation information first, with a quick option to expand to view all your Price Levels. You can also view and edit Allocations independently, and see the Total Capacity* in the top section of the page.
This release also changes the behavior of the "Original Quantity" field when adjusting retail quantity for General Admission Allocations, making it easy to keep track of your total inventory.
*Note that the Total Capacity field may be inaccurate for previously-adjusted General Admission Event Instances.
Collapsed view highlights Allocation info at a glance
Quickly see the names, sale status, and inventory (both original and remaining available) for all your Allocations at a glance. Reserved seating Allocations will also display a color chip corresponding to the color of those seats.
Click "Expand All" to see everything you're used to at once
This opens all the Allocations to display more information including the Price Levels they contain, along with additional options to manage those Price Levels or add more.
...and click "Collapse All" to return to collapsed view
Expand/collapse individual Allocations for a more focused view
Use this option to view details of one or several Allocations at a time, while keeping a bird's eye view of your other Allocations.
Edit everything at once, as in the old view...
Click the "Edit All" button to bring all Allocations into expanded edit mode. This option should look familiar, and it allows you to make changes to all Allocations and Price Levels in one pass.
Cancel and Save options appear at the top and bottom of the list.
...or edit one Allocation at a time
Click "Edit Allocation" to bring just that Allocation (and its Price Levels) into edit mode. This lets you make adjustments to one Allocation at a time without losing track of where you're making changes.
Cancel and Save buttons appear on the right side of the Allocation.
"Original Quantity" now updates when you adjust GA Allocations
Previously, the Original Quantity field was static on general admission Event Instances, and did not reflect changes made to the retail inventory. Now, adding or removing inventory updates not only the Retail Quantity, but the Original Quantity as well.
This means the Original Quantity for any Allocation now represents the total number of seats or tickets that could be sold in that Allocation, while Retail Quantity continues to represent the number of available (unsold/unreserved) seats or tickets.
Quantity adjustments only affect the Original Quantity field following this release. Prior quantity adjustments are not reflected, meaning the "Original Quantity" fields (and therefore the Total Capacity) may be inaccurate for Event Instances that were previously adjusted.
New "Total Capacity" field sums the Original Quantity across all Allocations
A new field on the Event Instance shows you the total inventory for that Instance, by summing the total Original Quantity across all Allocations (regardless of the Allocation Sale Status). It updates dynamically when you make quantity adjustments for subscriptions and general admission Allocations, helping you keep track of your changes.
The new Event Instance layout was developed with help from a set of 15 clients who participated in our user research sessions. Many thanks to all involved.
Want to be part of future development projects? Add Product Discovery preferences to your profile in the Client Community if you'd like to receive invitations to similar feedback sessions!
Public ticketing site improvements
The new public ticketing site was released earlier this year, and each new release brings you incremental improvements and bug fixes -- many of which are based on your feedback.
Return of the seat legend
When purchasing reserved seats, your patrons can quickly see the price or price range for each Allocation's color, before adding the seat to their cart.
Benefit renewal link in Portal matches Membership heading link
If you use Benefits and PatronPortal, you can prompt members to renew from their Portal account by setting the number of days before and after the expiration date to show a renewal reminder:
Previously, the renewal link would always direct patrons to the Memberships area of your ticketing site. Now, that link follows the rules you define in PatronTicket Settings for the Memberships link in the header on the new public ticketing site:
This means you can use the renewal options in PatronPortal, even if you don't use the Memberships page on the new PTS -- you can send patrons to your website to review their membership options in more detail, for example, or direct them to your membership donation form.
Choose Your Own subscription updates
Previously, the new PTS displayed Event Instances that were sold out or inactive as selectable options for a Choose Your Own subscription. Now your CYO subscribers will only see valid Event Instance options to choose from.
We also clarified the error message that appears if one or more of a patron's selections sells out or is marked inactive between choosing it and clicking "Next", so they'll know which Event Instance(s) are no longer available and can make other choices.
Bug fixes and other improvements
With each release, we tidy up bits of unexpected behavior and make minor adjustments to the product.
Transaction Summary report improvements
The recently-released Transaction Summary report allows you to see all your financial data in one report, including both ticketing and donation income. This release includes improvements to make the report easier to read, including new lines for "Ticket Total" and "Net Total" as well as indentation adjustments to help clarify the math. Head over here to see the changes.
We also adjusted the functionality of the report to provide better options for organizations using our Group Sales feature. Click here to learn how to use this report with Group Sales.
Email notifications fixed for Ticket Order qualification tasks
A few of you told us that your qualification task reminder emails had stopped working. This has been resolved, so your task reminder emails should resume (or continue) as usual.
Bluefin device preference saved in PatronManager Box Office
A subset of clients that use PAX devices with Bluefin were prompted for their credit card device preference multiple times. Now the system will remember your selection.
Malformed email address no longer breaks Orders in Box Office Express
Entering an incorrectly-formatted email address into Box Office Express could sometimes cause an unrecoverable order error and force the user to start over. Now the system will provide an error message prompting you to fix the email address instead.
That's it for 2019!
