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September 2020 Release Notes: https://help.pm.leapevent.tech/a/1290053
This release brings you phase 2 of the PatronManager Virtual Events solution! We've added a pile of new features this month. Read on to learn more about:
Features released on September 1
Features released on September 14
- Download a recording of your livestream
- Action buttons (tip jar)
- A "Custom" option for external livestreams
- Google Analytics for virtual events
And that's not all! This month brought a few other bug fixes and improvements as well.
Click to view a recorded webinar highlighting VOD and other features in this release
Video On Demand
Attach a video file to an Event Instance, sell tickets valid for specific lengths of time, and let your patrons view the content at their leisure.
This feature includes built-in access control to prevent concurrent uses of the same ticket on different devices, automatic ticket delivery and attendance tracking (see when patrons chose to watch!), and more.
Ready to get started? Head over here to learn how to create a VOD Event Instance.
Want to see what the experience would be like for a patron? Click here to "buy" a free ticket to our sample event!
Embedded Donation Forms
You can now embed a PatronManager Donation Form on the PatronManager player page! Your patrons can donate while watching your content, without leaving the page* or missing a beat.
After they give (or if they decide not to), they can click an arrow to collapse the side panel out of view (and click again to bring it back), or use the controls on the player to put the video into fullscreen mode.
* If a patron is using Safari as their web browser, the Donation Form will open in a separate tab, as Safari is not compatible with this type of embedded content.
Ready to get started? Head over here to learn all about Embedding your Donation Form.
Livestream Control Panel
Livestreams hosted on the Patron Technology player -- a.k.a. the "Livestream (RTMP)" Content Format -- now have an admin control panel for your use!
From here you can view basic analytics in real time (such as the number of current viewers and top locations), enable/disable chat and reactions, preview the broadcast before showtime, and more.
Chat
Chat is here! It will only appear to your patrons if you enable it for a given livestream, so if this is not a feature you want to use, that's ok.
You can also toggle it on and off during your stream (for example, to allow patrons to chat during breaks and intermission, but not during the performance).
Finally, even if it is enabled, patrons will be able to hide it from their view if they'd rather not participate.
You can now enable chat and emoji reactions from the Control Panel:
Once chat is enabled, your patrons will be prompted to enter a nickname to start chatting:
Once chat is enabled, you can also add emoji reactions if you'd like:
You can participate in the chat from the Control Panel; messages from the moderator are flagged for visibility, and you can pin a message by checking the box before sending:
Patrons who prefer not to see the chat can click an arrow to hide it from view (or select the fullscreen option on the player), and can click the arrow again to bring it back:
Chat has built-in moderation tools:
- Profanity filter - messages containing words from Google's banned words list are blocked
- Rate-limiting - a user cannot send more than 7 messages/minute
- Character limits - a message cannot be more than 250 characters in length
You also have manual moderation tools on the Control Panel. Click the three dots next to a message to open a menu, where you can:
-
Ban This User: this mutes them in chat; they will not be able to send further messages
- The user will move to the "Banned Users" tab; you can reinstate them from there.
-
Ban This User From Event: this removes the user from the livestream entirely, and invalidates their ticket
- This cannot (currently) be undone.
- Delete This Message: this deletes the message from chat for all viewers
Features released on September 14
The following features are now available:
Did you know: livestreams hosted on our player are recorded for you automatically? Now you can access those files via the Control Panel and download them directly to your computer for editing, or to upload to a separate Video On Demand Event Instance for ongoing sales.
Because livestream broadcasts are dependent on factors like your internet upload speed, for the best possible quality we recommend recording performances in-house with your own equipment.
Do you want patrons to be able to donate to a featured artist's Venmo or PayPal account directly? Perhaps you'd like to upsell merch. Or maybe something entirely different! You can now add action buttons below the player for all these things.
Each button will have a label you choose, and when clicked will open the URL you define in a new tab. You can also label the button row if you'd like (e.g. "Tip Jar").
Have you wanted to direct patrons to an external livestream hosted on your website? Or on another platform not listed under our recommended sources? You can now choose "Custom" for the External Stream Type, and enter any URL you'd like.
Be sure to enter the correct and complete URL (including the "https://" part) -- failing to do so can cause your ticket links to break.
Would you like to pull basic analytics for page views of your virtual events? Add your Google Analytics ID in the Virtual Event Settings section of PatronTicket Settings to gather info about page views, browsers/devices used, and more.
Bug Fixes and Improvements
With each release, we tidy up bits of unexpected behavior and make incremental improvements to PatronManager.
Previously, virtual Event Instances could only be cloned individually, not alongside a Ticketable Event.
Now you can clone livestream Event Instances alongside Ticketable Events. Video On Demand Event Instances cannot yet be cloned en masse, but that functionality is coming soon.
When cloning "Livestream (External)" Event Instances en masse, be sure to update the Stream URLs so your patrons wind up in the right place!
When an installment of a scheduled Recurring Donation fails (for example, if the patron's credit card expires or is declined), PatronManager marks it as a Payment Exception and sends an alert email to the Donation Administrator.
In the past, the system would retry the card daily, until a user intervened to resolve the exception or until the charge went through. In theory, this is helpful -- but in practice, it generated daily error messages and could cause multiple charges if a patron's card was reactivated after being frozen for a long period of time. In some cases, too many repeated attempts can even trigger fraud warnings, which can be difficult to resolve.
Now, PatronManager will stop trying after it alerts a user of the first failed charge, so that a user can address the problem. Be sure to familiarize yourself with resolving payment exceptions, and check that your Donation Administrator is an active user so that you receive these kinds of alerts.
A few clients alerted us that certain patrons were having difficulty using their new Donation Forms, specifically on older iOS devices (e.g. iPhone 6 and earlier). This issue has been fixed.
That's all for now!
Want to be part of the product development process? We conduct regular user research sessions and we'd love to include you. Head over to your Community Profile to add your preferences and tell us how you'd like to participate!