Template Overview


Templates can be set up in a variety of ways. The purpose of a Template is to be able to set up the majority of your Events only one time. 


In order to schedule Events, you must first have a published Event Template. Nearly all of the functionality that is available within Events can set up within a Template.  Additionally, a majority of the settings can be locked down or made optional. 

Creating a Template

To create a new Template, start at the Tenant Homepage and click the Admin button at the top of your screen. Then select Event Templates as shown below.


From the Template Search page select Create Event Template located on the right. 

 


The following pop up window will be displayed. 




Select the Event Type from the drop down menu. Choices include:

  • Online - anything event that requires a computer or telephone
  • Offline - anything that requires a Venue (i.e. a live event without an online component)
  • On Demand - a previously recorded event or immediate entry event


Select a Template Name, add any Template Description you desire, and then click Submit.


After creating the initial Template, you will be dropped into the Template Details page. From this page you can customize your Template in many ways.



Event Scheduling


The Template can be customized via the Menu options on the left. The scheduling section is where you can set the Registration Window and the Attendance Window defaults. Simply choose one of the corresponding Actions on the right to complete your task.




 The following screen shots show your options upon clicking either Action.


 


Event/Audio Providers


Select Set Event Providers to choose which Providers you will allow on your event.



After clicking Set Event Providers, the following pop up will be displayed.



Select the appropriate Meeting and Audio Providers and click Submit.


IMPORTANT: The Event/Audio Providers section is where you would associate specific Meeting and Audio Provider options for your Template. This step creates the list of providers available that can be chosen when the Event is created using this Template. If you do not add them in your Template, they will not be available to the Event.


Registration Fields

The Registration Fields section is where you can build customized individual registration fields. A required First Name and Last Name single text type question and an optional Email Address question are preconfigured by default in Templates.  To change and/or add, click Setup Registration Fields.



Similar to all other registration platforms, you can add or subtract registration fields. Once clicking on Setup Registration Fields, you will be taken to the Registration Fields Editor.


Existing registration fields are displayed on the left while the Edit and Add options are displayed on the right.



To edit an existing registration field, highlight the desired field (red box above) and edit appropriately (blue box on right).  


You can copy a field by simply clicking on the green box with a grey cross in it. To add a new field, select the Add Field tab from the box on the right.



After you have selected a new registration question type, you will be taken back to the editor. From there you can label your question, mark it as required, and edit several other options.


When you are finished editing, click Back to Template from the menu options on the left. 


NOTE: Pay close attention to the ‘Required’ and ‘Locked’ check boxes to properly control the field behavior for future event building.   


Custom Event Fields


Following the Registration Fields section is an optional Custom Event Fields section. By default, Templates do not have any prebuilt custom event fields. This is because the presentation of these fields are dependent upon a site theme having special coding references added so they will display on the site and/or in the notifications. For InterCall default themes, though, we do have our notifications coded to accept and display 3 specific custom event fields. These fields are:

Contact Name

Contact Email Address

Contact Phone Number


In order to get this contact information into the notifications of the specially designed themes that get uploaded, you will need to build out these fields in your template.  To do this, select Setup Custom Fields on the right under the Actions bar.



The Custom Fields Editor page will open and you will see the Edit Field and Add Field tabs. In the Add Field tab, select the Single line text button. You will move into the Edit Field tab where you can add the first field, Contact Name, into the Label text box. The new custom field will format in the center screen with your label.  Select the ‘Save Fields’ button to ensure you save this field, or continue to the next fields and save all fields when you have completed them. 



NOTE: You will notice that when you select the Save Fields button and the save completes, the page will not change, but the field(s) have indeed been saved.


Repeat the field-adding process for the remaining two fields, Contact Email Address and Contact Phone Number. Save Fields and return to the main Template build page by selecting Back to Template in the upper left of the black frame.  Your Custom Event Fields page should now look like the image below:



Notice that by default all three fields are set to REQUIRED. This is set only in the Template and cannot be changed at the event level. Ensure whether or not you need these fields to be required. If you begin an event project using this Template, when you get to the custom fields section, you will have to enter information into those fields in order to publish the event.  If you (the client) do not want the custom field contact information, then you will need to abandon the Event and begin a new Event using a different Template or return to the Template and adjust the setting of the custom fields.


Waitlisting


The next tab is Waitlist Settings. After you have clicked on the tab, select Set Waitlist Settings on the right under Actions bar. 



Then toggle the button under Settings Available. It will turn to green as shown below. 



Once you have turned the settings on, you can select a mode. You have three options: 

  • No waitlist - leave Waitlisting disabled
  • Waitlist enabled - activates Waitlisting on the template
  • Stakeholder screening -  turns on screening in the platform


Waitlisting is tied to the Capacity of the event. If the event is at capacity, and Waitlisting is enabled, people can add themselves to the Waitlist as opposed to registering. The process is exactly the same. Instead of receiving a confirmation email, they will receive an email letting them know that they have been added to the Waitlist. 


To allow Waitlisted registrants into the event, after you have published the event, go to the Event Details. Once you are there, select Waiting List.




Next, click on the name of the registrant. This will take you to the Registrant Details page. Select Promote From Waitlist from the actions section. 



The following popup will appear: 




Click Submit to finish adding the registrant.


IMPORTANT: Using "Promote from Waitlist" from the Admin UI will BYPASS ANY REGISTRATION LIMITS.  That is, an ADMIN can promote a person on the waitlist even if the event is at capacity. THIS IS BY DESIGN. The same holds true for Admin Registration and Screening. 


Waitlist must be enabled at the event level from the Event Schedule Window as well. 



To use Stakeholder Screening, select the option from the Waitlist menu shown above. This will add every registrant to the Waitlist automatically. Each registrant will have to be approved using the same method as shown in the Waitlist instructions above. 


Notifications


There are two categories of Notifications within iER: Transactional and Scheduled.


Transactional notifications are triggered by some action taken by the user. For example, once a user has completed their registration transaction, an enabled confirmation notification is immediately sent by the system to that user. Scheduled notifications are just that--they will only go out when the current date and time is equal to the predefined schedule. By default, all of the system transactional notifications are enabled. In order to avoid a transactional notification from being sent, it must be disabled in the template and/or in the Event. To keep enabled transactional notifications from being disabled at the event level, they can be locked at the Template level.


IMPORTANT: 99% of all notification content has been prebuilt and is defined within a Theme. Only one section per notification is customizable from within the Admin UI. Custom notifications are produced by the Registration Development Team and are only offered in premium registration development projects.


To add or edit email notifications, click on Notifications from the menu options on the left. 


To add a new notification, click Add Notification on the right in red.


To edit an existing notification, click the Notification Type in blue. You can then select Update Notification on the right in purple.



Selecting Add Notification will bring up the Add Scheduled Notification window, shown below.




NOTE: Throughout the iER Admin UI you will find many content editors. These are all Markdown editors and are symbolized as such with the   symbol. For the most part, Markdown has replaced HTML as the language behind iER email.

 

TIP: Markdown is a simple way to write content for the web. Find out how to use it here:  http://markdowntutorial.com/


Selecting Update Notification will bring up the Transactional Notification window shown below.




Both adding and editing notifications allows you to set the timing of the notification and format custom content within the customization section. Once you have added and formatted your custom content, you can see how it will be rendered within the email by clicking on the green Preview button.


Registration Restrictions

The next section is the Registration Restrictions tab. From this page, click on Set Registration Restrictions from the actions tab on the right. 




After clicking the Set Registration Restrictions button, the following pop-up will appear. 




From this page you can change the Visibility, Allow Guest Registration with a Guest Limit, or Enable Access Groups. 


Changing the Visibility of an event from Public to Private means that the event goes from being listed on the Site’s Catalog page to being available only by direct link. 


Allowing Guest Registration makes it possible for people to register more registrants than just themselves. For instance, if the Guest Registration limit was set at 3 registrations, a registrant will be able to register 3 additional people beyond themselves. The same registration questions that the registrant has to fill out for themselves will need to be filled out for their guests as well. 


Ecommerce Settings

The final section before publishing is Ecommerce Settings. It’s here that Ecommerce can be activated so that an event using a Template with Ecommerce enabled will have the resulting Ecommerce fields.


IMPORTANT: In order for Ecommerce to function, you have to ensure that the Global Ecommerce settings have been obtained from the client and configured within the Tenant Admin Account Settings.


Click on the Admin icon at the top of your screen. Then click Account Settings. 



Select the Ecommerce Settings tab on the left of your screen to add credentials. The only Payment Processor that iER uses is Authorize.net. You will need a Merchant Login and a Merchant Key.



To activate Ecommerce at the Tenant level, click on Set Ecommerce Settings. 



The following window pop-up will appear: 



Just toggle the button underneath Ecommerce Enabled to turn Ecommerce on for your event. 


Publishing


Finally, after making any adjustments to the Template, you must publish it so that it can be used to create and guide the individual event creation process.


Select Publish Event Template to publish or Abandon Event Template if you plan on deleting your work. 





Keep in mind that after you publish your Template, in order to make edits you will need to Unpublish it first. The Unpublish feature can be found in the Publishing section of the Template Editor. It appears after you have initially published your Template.


VERY IMPORTANT: Changes made to a Template apply only to events created after the changes have been published.  It does not go back and update existing events. Templates are IMPORTANT to get correct if you want to avoid re-work.