In this article, we’ll walk you through adding Events that you have set up in your Spektrix system to your Spektrix Link website, and how to configure the display of pages which appear in the purchase path.
REMINDER: Before starting to configure your Spektrix Link website, make sure you have followed and completed all of the set up steps in the article How to Set up Spektrix Link.
In this article, we’ll cover:
- How to add Events to Spektrix Link
- The Purchase Pathway
- The View Events page
- The Event Availability page
- Button text
- Event Instance Information
- iframe linked pages
- Mailing list sign up form
- New feature additions
How to add Events to Spektrix Link
First, you’ll need to create a Web Event ID in Spektrix for each of the Events you want to add, then you’ll need to create and add links to each of the event listings on your primary website.
How to add a Web Event ID
TIP: You’ll need the Settings Administrator Role on your User Account before you can change these Settings. If you don’t have this, ask the Administrator in your organisation.
- Navigate to the Admin Interface.
- Select the Event you want and go to the Website tab.
- Enter a unique identifier for your Event in the Web Event ID box. The unique ifentifier should be letters or numbers only, do not use symbols.
REMINDER: You don’t need to fill in Web URL or any other event-related website content fields.
How to add links to your primary website
Follow these steps to join your primary website to Spektrix Link.
- On your primary website, create Event listings which match the Events you’ve created in Spektrix.
- From each of the Events that are listed on your primary website, create a link or button which directs the customer to Book Now or Buy Tickets. Direct the hyperlink of this button to the appropriate URL in Spektrix Link by using the following format:
purchase.mytheatre.com/EventAvailability?WebEventId=MyWebEventIdGoesHere
Replace the part in yellow with your Spektrix Link website URL.
Replace the part in blue with the Web Event Id for the corresponding Event in your Spektrix system.
- Test that each Book Now button on your primary website directs to the correct Event in Spektrix Link.
- If you’ve added Instance Attributes, confirm that they are appearing as expected next to each Instance.
- Repeat steps 1-4 each time you put new Events on sale.
If you’ve only recently added a Web Event ID to your Spektrix system, you'll need to manually synchronize the inventory or wait 15 minutes for the inventory to sync in Spektrix Link before you test it.
TIP: If you have Events which consist of only a single Instance, you can bypass the Event Availability page. To do this, take your Choose Seats URL and link directly to this page from your main website.
The Purchase Pathway
The purchase pathway refers to the customer journey from viewing the Event Availability page, choosing an Instance, adding tickets to the Cart/Basket all the way to check out.
If you want to see a preview of this process for a particular Event, then follow these steps.
- In the Configuration Console, go to your website and click the cog symbol.
- Click the domain link listed near the top of the page.
- Enter a valid Web Event ID.
TIP: If you need a reminder about how to log into the Configuration Console for Spektrix Link, read How to Set Up Spektrix Link article.
Next, we’ll cover how to configure the pages which appear within your purchase pathway.
The View Events Page
If you do not wish to host your Event listings on your primary website, you can create a link from your primary website to the View Events page on Spektrix Link.
This page will show all of your Events which are set up as active and on sale to Web. The page sorts the Events by date from first to last.
Each Event will also show:
- Event description: This is the Event description added during Event set up. It will show the first 100 characters and then has a “show more” button to expand.
- Image: If you upload an image during Event set up then this will show here. Image size must be 1056 x 480px.
If there is no image added in Spektrix the default image will be displayed.
Events with only one Instance will show a single date.
You can rename the View Events page in the Configuration Console, under the Website Settings > Navigation Bar.
When selecting an Event from this page, the customer will be directed to the Event Availability page.
TIP: You can add this page to the Continue Browsing button from the basket by adding the URL for this page to Basket Book More Tickets in Website Admin > Domain specific config. This will show the Continue Browsing button at the bottom of the basket next to Checkout button.
Filtering the View Events page
You can manage which Events display on the View Events page using filters which are powered by Attributes. Filters will display in alphabetical order.
- Exclusion Filter
The Exclusion Filter will allow you to exclude certain Events from your View Events page.
To do this you will need to set up an Event Attribute as a Check Box named:
- SLExcludeFromViewEventsPage
Add the Attribute to the Event you want to exclude and check the box.
TIP: The Event Attribute name must match the SLExcludeFromViewEventsPage exactly and is case sensitive.
- URL Filter
You can use one or more Event Attributes to create a filtered View Events Page. To do this, you can add a parameter onto the end of your View Events page in the Configuration Console.
?attribute_Type=AttributeValue
For example, if you'd like to only display Events with the Attribute 'Cinema' on your View Events page, you would add the parameter ?attribute_Type=Cinema onto the end of your View Events page URL in the Configuration Console.
You can also combine two Attribute Values using the '|' symbol: ?attribute_Type=Cinema|Theatre
This parameter is not case sensitive. If the name or value of the attribute has any spaces, the spaces need to be omitted.
For example, the query parameter for an Attribute with name ‘Event Genre’ and value ‘Fantasy Fiction’ will be ?attribute_EventGenre=FantasyFiction.
REMINDER: URL filter parameters are not case sensitive. If the name or value of the Attribute has any spaces, the spaces need to be omitted.
- Custom Filter
The Custom Filter can be set in the Configuration Console.
Using the Cusom Filter you can choose to make any Event Attributes you have set up available as a filter on the View Events page.
The Customer can then choose from the available options to filter the page themselves. The Customer can use up to four filters, Event search, date range filter or free text search. The Attribute list displays to the Customer in alphabetical order.
Like the URL Filter, the Custom Filter cannot have spaces. For these filters, you may wish to use attribute names and values that don’t need spaces.
Event Availability page
The Event Availability page is generally the first page the customer will reach on your Spektrix Link site, having been directed when choosing an Event from your primary website.
This page displays details about each Instance of a specific Event. This includes things like:
- Optional Event image and description
- Instance dates and times
- Availability buttons
- Event Instance information
Optional event image and event description
If there is Website Content set when setting up your Event in Spektrix, this page displays the content and the event image.
TIP: We recommend that you do not add $ShowImage$ or $ShowThumbnail$ as this will already be displayed on your Spektrix Link site.
If no website content is set, the Event Availability page will not contain any marketing content. Additionally, the View Events page will not show the ‘More Info’ button for this Event.
Availability buttons
Instances will show a Book Now button unless:
- The Instance has no available seats, in which case it will display a Sold Out message.
- The percentage of available tickets falls below the Limited Availability threshold set up in your configuration settings. The Book Now button will display as Limited Availability when the Instance has a certain percentage of seats left available.
Manually Changing Button Text
To manually change the text on a button, you can create a new Instance Attribute as a Text Field or Dropdown List named:
- SLBookNowText
The Attribute must be marked as visible in the API.
TIP: The Instance Attribute name must match the SLBookNowText exactly and is case sensitive.
When you have created the Attribute, you can use a Text Field or Dropdown List to create the Attribute Values which will overwrite the Book Now text. To add the Attribute to an Instance, edit the Instance in the Admin Interface:
If any Instance has this Attribute, it will override the default text regardless of ticket availability.
For example, you could use this option to mark an Instances as “Members Only” or “Priority Booking”. However, if an Instance is then sold out, you will need to manually update the text in the Attribute Value because it won’t automatically update.
TIP: You can apply this Attribute to multiple Instances at once using the Bulk Instance Updater Tool.
Event Instance Information
On the Event Availability page, you can add icons or captions alongside specific Instances to give extra information.
To add these icons, create and apply the following Instance Attributes to the relevant Instances in Spektrix.
The following Attributes should be created as a checkbox and marked as visible in the API to appear as an icon alongside the Instance.
- SLCaptioned (for captioned performances)
- SLSigned (for signed performances)
- SLAudioDescribed (for audio-described performances)
- SLTouchTour (for touch tour performances)
- SLPreview (for previews)
- SLOpeningNight (for opening night)
- SLMatinee (for matinee performances)
- SLPWYC (for Pay What You Can performances)
- SLRelaxed (for relaxed performances)
You can also choose to add a free text message to an Instance.
Create this Attribute as free text and marked as visible in the API:
- SLFreeText (for adding free text to appear alongside an Instance). Add the free text into the Attribute value.
REMINDER: The Instance Attribute must match exactly and is case sensitive.
The colour of captions or icons will match the background colour of the Button Styles colour you set under Website Styles.
iframe Linked Pages
The rest of the pages within the purchase path are iframes. To learn more about iframes, read the article What are iframes?
If you’re looking to change something about how the iframes in your purchase path appear, or if you need to edit some of the text that appears within an iframe, read our guide on Configuring iframes.
The iframes which are used in the Spektrix Link purchase path are:
To directly access your Choose Seats page, go to the URL:
https://{{purchase.mywebsite.com}}/ChooseSeats/{{instanceID}}
Replace {{purchase.mywebsite.com}} with your public facing Spektrix Link subdomain.
Replace {{instanceID}} with the Instance ID.
To directly access your Supplementary Events page, go to the URL:
https://{{purchase.mywebsite.com}}/SupplementaryEvents/{{instanceID}}
Replace {{purchase.mywebsite.com}} with your public facing Spektrix Link subdomain.
Replace {{instanceID}} with the Instance ID of the Instance your Supplementary Event is associated with.
For example, for the Event Othello on Thursday at 6pm, I have an Instance ID 1234. For the Supplementary Event Preshow dining on Thursday at 6pm, I will use the Instance ID (1234).
Spektrix Link uses Express Checkout and therefore cannot make use of features that only relate to Classic Checkout (such as the Customer Questionnaire).
- My Account
- Fixed Series
- Ticket Subscriptions
- Gift Vouchers
- Login/Logout
- Donations
- Memberships
- Merchandise
Checkout flow: Choose Seats page
In the checkout flow, there are three alternative routes to the Choose Seats page.
- Choose Attendee - for use with Facilitated Booking. Instead of reaching the Choose Seats page, Customers will be directed to the Choose Attendee iframe linked page.
- Require Login - instead of reaching the Choose Seats page, Customers will be directed to the My Account iframe linked page. This will force Customers to log in before continuing through the checkout flow.
- Best Available - instead of reaching the Choose Seats page you can give Customers the option to have the Best Available seats selected for them, or force a Best Available seat selection.
To set this up on certain Instances, you can use Instance Attributes.
Create the following Instance Attributes as a Checkbox and marked visible in the API. The names of the Attributes must match exactly and are case sensitive:
- SLAskForAttendee
When this box is checked on an Instance, the Choose Attendee iframe will display first in the checkout flow. -
SLRequireLogin
When this box is checked on an Instance, Customers will be directed to the My Account page to login before continuing in the checkout flow.
For Best Available, create the following Instance Attribute as a Dropdown and marked visible in the API. The name of the Attribute must match exactly and is case sensitive:
-
SLDisplay
Create two Dropdown Values: Best and Select.
When Best is selected: If a Best Available overlay is present on the Instance, the Customer will be presented with the options configued in your Best Available settings.
When Select is selected: The Seating Plan will display.
REMINDER: The Instance Attributes must match exactly and are case sensitive.
Filtering iframe Linked Pages
You can manage what displays on the Donations, Memberships and Merchandise pages by using Attributes and adding a query string onto the end of the Page URL using the field ‘Query Parameter / URL’.
To do this you can use, or create, Attributes to categorise the different items. For example, you may wish to create a Merchandise Attribute to group all of the Merchandise items associated with a particular Event. You can then use the Attribute to filter the Merchandise page to only show Merchandise items with a particular Attribute value.
To filter an iframe linked page, go to the URL of the page you want to filter.
- Add the query parameter ?Attribute_{{Type}}={{AttributeValue}} to the end of the URL.
- Replace {{Type}} with the name of the Attribute. Attribute Names and Values are case sensitive. All spaces must be replaced with %20.
For example, if my Merchandise Attribute is named "Shop items" I would update the URL to
?Attribute_Shop%20items={{AttributeValue}}
- Replace {{AttributeValue}} with the Attribute value.
For example, if my Merchandise Attribute value is "Wicked Shirt" I would update the URL to
?Attribute_Shop%20items=Wicked%20Shirt
REMINDER: Attribute Names and Values are case sensitive. All spaces must be replaced with %20.
To learn more, take a look at Filtering iframes on the Support Centre or, for web Developers how to filter iframes with Attributes on the Integrate Portal.
Sorting the Memberships page
To sort the Memberships page, go to the URL of the Memberships page you want to filter.
- Add the query parameter ?SortBy=PriceAsc
This will sort your Memberships from lowest price to highest.
Mailing list sign up form
The mailing list sign up form allows customers to join your mailing list without creating a full account.
This will capture:
- First name
- Last name
- Email address
The mailing list sign up form has in-page email validation. If the Customer successfully submits their details they will see a confirmation message.
Any customers who sign up this way will automatically have the Contact Preference of ‘This preference is linked to dotdigital option ticked’ added to their account.
Read more about Contact Preferences.
New feature additions
When we release new features for Spektrix Link, follow these steps to update your site.
From the configuration console:
- Save the styles and settings.
- Manually sync the configuration console.
- Check your website is displaying correctly by opening the URL in an incognito browser.
TIP: There should be no need to download and re-upload the CSS file for changes to apply. Doing this often causes (1) in the file name and may cause your style sheet to be applied incorrectly.
Further Reading
To continue learning about Web Integrations, visit the Integrate your website section on the Support Centre.
We’d also recommend the following articles as a great next step: