How to Create and Edit Lock Overlays

In this article you will learn how to create and edit Lock Overlays, and how to add them to your Instances.

Before you read this article, make sure you’re familiar with:

• Introduction to Seating Plan Overlays
• Setting up Lock Types

You can create multiple Lock Overlays for each seating plan, allowing you to change which seats are available to general sale on an Instance by Instance basis. For example, if you have more seats locked for members for preview performances of a new show than you do for later performances, you can use different Lock Overlays for these different Instances.

Creating a new Lock Overlay

1. Go to the Admin Interface > Seating > Seating Plans
2. Click on the Seating Plan you wish to create a new Lock Overlay for
3. On the next screen, click on Locks in the top menu, then click New to create a new Lock Overlay
4. Give a name to your new Lock Overlay; this name is only visible in the Admin Interface, so you can be as descriptive as needed
5. Click OK and your new Lock Overlay's name will now be listed in the left hand pane
6. Click the Edit button to make changes to it

If your reserved or unreserved Seating Plan has multiple areas, you'll need to select each area (such as Stalls, Circle, Balcony) from the dropdown list in the top left hand corner and assign locks to the seats or unreserved areas within them as necessary.

Assigning Locks on reserved Seating Plans

To assign Locks to seats on a reserved Seating Plan, you can either click seats individually or, to select several seats at once, you can use one or more of the following options:

• Hold the Shift key on your keyboard, and click two seats on the same row; any seats in between will also be selected:

  

• Choose Rectangle Mode from the top left of the Plan and click and drag to select all seats under the rectangle:

  

• Choose Paint Mode from the top left of the Plan and click and drag your cursor over the seats that you want to select:

  

If you need to add further seats to those selected, hold the Shift key and click or click and drag.

When you have selected all the seats that you want to assign a particular Lock Type to, click the arrow next to the Apply Lock Type button and choose the Lock Type from the list of all available Lock Types on your system:

The selected seats will then change to the symbol that was assigned to that Lock Type.

When assigning Locks to seats, you can choose to view the Seating Plan with a particular Layout Overlay applied, allowing you to see which seats have been masked and any changes to the background image. Click the dropdown in the top left hand corner to select the relevant Layout Overlay:

Once you've assigned all the Locks necessary, click Save.

Assigning Locks on unreserved Seating Plans

For unreserved Seating Plans, you choose your locks from a list of all available Lock Types on your system:

From here, set how many of each Lock Type you want represented in this Lock Overlay.

Once you've set all the locks necessary, click Save.

Editing a Lock Overlay

You can change the Lock Overlay for any Instances that are already on sale. There are a few ways in which you can do this, depending on where else the Lock Overlay is being used, and if your changes will affect all or only some of these Instances:

• You can update a Lock Overlay at the global level, changing it for use going forward and against all or some of the Instances currently using it. To do this, follow these steps:

  1. Head to Admin > Seating > Seating Plans and select the Seating Plan in question
  2. Click Locks from the options listed at the top
  3. Select the Lock Overlay you wish to edit, then click Edit to assign Locks to different seats or unreserved areas as required
  4. Click Save and a pop-up will appear:

  

  Once you have selected the relevant option and clicked OK, a report will automatically run in the top right hand corner. This report is checking that the edited Lock Overlay can be applied to all of the Instances you've selected. Open this report in Excel and you'll be able to see which Instances have been successfully updated. 

  With reserved Seating Plans, the Lock Overlay will always apply, and the Lock will exist against any sold seats. This means that, if the ticket is returned, the seat will not go back to general sale, but will be locked instead.

  On unreserved Events, if there are not enough seats available for all your Locks, the report will show you which Instances were affected so that you can go in and manually assign Locks as needed. 

  If you select None or choose to update Instances seen under the Those selected below option, or if any Instances are not successfully updated, Instances that you've chosen not to update and those which have failed to update will now have a 'custom' Lock Overlay that reflects the original version.

• If you only need to change a Lock Overlay for a particular Instance instead of making a global change, you can create an entirely new Lock Overlay, either starting from scratch as before or copying an existing one, and apply this to an Instance. 

  To copy a Lock Overlay, click the down arrow next to its name and select Copy:

  

  This copy will be named as the original Lock Overlay name plus ‘- Copy’:

  

  If it's not the first time you’ve copied a particular Lock Overlay, the new one will have ‘- Copy (number)’ appended to its name.

  You can rename your copied Lock Overlay by clicking the down arrow and selecting Rename.

  Once you’ve made the necessary edits to your new Lock Overlay, make a note of its name and then follow these steps:

  1. In the Admin Interface > Events, select the relevant Event
  2. In the Instances tab, select the Instance you wish to edit
  3. In the Seating Plan tab, click Edit in the bottom right corner
  4. Under Lock Overlay, select the Change the lock overlay? checkbox
  5. In the Lock Overlay dropdown, select the new Lock Overlay you've created

  From here, you'll be given different options depending on whether the Seating Plan is reserved, unreserved, or a combination:

  

  For reserved Seating Plans, only the options for reserved areas will appear:

  • Change lock type for seats already locked?: this will overwrite the current Locks on the Plan as per the Lock Overlay you have chosen
  • Clear lock on seats currently locked?: this will remove the Locks on the current Plan and make the seats available as per the Lock Overlay you have chosen
  • Choose both options for the exact Lock Overlay to apply; this will remove any Locks currently applied and apply the new Locks

  For unreserved Seating Plans, only the options for unreserved areas will appear:

  • Clear lock on seats currently locked?: this will remove the Locks on the current Plan and make the unreserved seats available as per the Lock Overlay you have chosen

  For Seating Plans with a combination of reserved and unreserved areas, you will need to make the same choices as above for both areas.

  The Seating Plan display will show you exactly how your plan will look depending on which option(s) you select, enabling you to review the changes before clicking Save.

You could also use the Bulk Instance Update Tool to change the Lock Overlay of multiple Instances at once.

You should now be able to create and edit Lock Overlays in Spektrix.