Digital Passes allow customers to use their Apple Wallet and Google Wallet to store tickets. In this article, we’ll explain how to set up custom templates for Passes and how to include them in your Print at Home emails.
TIP: To register for access to set up Digital Passes, jump to the registration form below.
What are Passes?
Passes can be added to Instances and delivered using the Print at Home delivery method.
Once activated, customers will see the Add to Apple Wallet or Add to Google Wallet buttons in their Print at Home email:
When a customer clicks the add to wallet button, the Passes will be added and then stored in their device’s wallet.
The default template design for Passes appears in a simple black and white style:
You can add your organisation’s logo, customise the colours and add bespoke information fields by creating your own custom template.
How to start using Passes
To set up Passes, you'll need to:
- Update your Print at Home email template
- Create a new template design for your Passes
- Add the Template ID to your Instances
REMINDER: If an Instance does not have a Pass Template ID it will not display the Add to Apple Wallet or Add to Google Wallet buttons in the Print at Home email.
Update your Print at Home email template
To add links to download Passes, you will need to edit your Print at Home email template.
TIP: You can use the following pre-built HTML templates for your Print at Home emails: Standard HTML Print at Home Ticket Delivery with Digital Pass [.html] or Custom HTML Print at Home Ticket Delivery with Digital Pass [.html]. For instructions on how to customise these templates, read our article on System Email Templates.
Click through the steps below to learn how to add Digital Pass buttons to your Print at Home email:
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You can edit System Emails in the Admin Interface under Document Designs > Print at Home.
TIP: To access the Admin Interface, you’ll need the General Administrator Role. If you don’t have this Role, ask the Settings Administrator in your organisation to add this Role to your User Account.
- Click Edit under Print at Home Delivery Email.
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- Add the {DigitalPassButtons} merge field into the Email Body Text.
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To do this, choose a point in the email HTML and enter this field exactly as below, including the curly brackets and capitalisation:
{DigitalPassButtons}
TIP: You may want to copy and paste the code into a code editor or notepad to be able to read the code more clearly. To preview your Print at Home email, save your notepad file as .HTML and open it in a browser.
- Click Save
- Click Save
How Digital Pass buttons display in Print at Home emails
Below we've included some examples of custom HTML Print at Home email templates with and without Digital Pass buttons.
REMINDER: Digital Passes will only display in Print at Home emails which contain tickets for Instances which have the Digital Pass Template ID field populated. If a customer purchases tickets for multiple Instances which do and don’t have a Template ID, then tickets will be listed separately.
Click below to see an example of a Print at Home email for an Instance with a Template ID:
Click below to see an example of a Print at Home email for an Instance without a Template ID:
Click below to see an example of a Print at Home email with a combination of Instances with and without a Template ID:
How to create a new Pass template
You can create and manage different custom templates for your Passes in Spektrix Link.
Using a custom template you can:
- Add a logo
- Change the colour and design
- Add information about the event or venue
- Dynamically include information using Event Attributes, Instance Attributes and Seat Attributes.
You can also create and manage multiple Pass templates and use different versions for different Instances.
To use the default template, you can add the default template ID (1000001) to your Instances.
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To create a new Pass template, log into Spektrix Link.
REMINDER: Complete the Register for Passes form below to get access to Spektrix Link for Passes. For more information on Spektrix Link, read What is Spektrix Link?
Click the Passes menu on the left:
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In the Passes menu, you can:
- Add a new Pass template
- Toggle the view Inactive button to see inactive passes as well as active passes
- Search for template names
- Edit and copy existing Passes
- View the unique Template ID of each Pass
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To set up a new Pass template, click the New Pass Template button:
Give the template a unique and descriptive name, then click Save.
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Click each of the headings to edit the information displayed on the Pass. You’ll need to complete this information for both the Apple and Google versions of the design.
As you populate the Pass, the information you choose will display in the preview pane on the right:
Click into each of the following headings to configure your Pass:
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Front of Pass
You can choose which information to include on the front of the Pass in the customer’s wallet.
On each row, you can choose a Label and a corresponding Value.
You can enter custom text for each Label and then choose from the dropdown of available fields for the Value.
For example, Label: Event and the Value: Name.
There are a number of information fields available to choose from including Ticket Type, Event Name, Date and Time.
You can also leave a label blank if you do not want to add information to a row.
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Rear of Pass
You can choose which information to include on the rear of the Pass in the customer’s wallet.
On each row, you can choose a Label and the corresponding Value.
For example, the Label: Seating Plan Area and the Value: Area Name.
To add a new row, click the Add new field button. You can add up to seven labels in Apple and eight in Google wallets.
- Background colour - the background colour of the Pass.
- Labels - the colour of the label text.
- Text - the colour of the value text.
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Colors
In the Colors section, you can update the colour scheme of your Pass.
In Apple wallets:
In Google wallets:
- Background colour - the background colour of the pass.
Colours can be entered using a HEX code or selected from the color slider.
When creating default colour schemes, you must ensure the colours you use follow your accessibility standards. You can use a contrast checker to check whether your colour scheme is accessible.
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Configuration
In the Configuration section, you can specify date, time, currency and issuer name format preferences.
Click the dropdown menu in each section and choose from:
Date Format
- DD/MM/YYYY
- MM/DD/YYYY
- DD MMM YYYY
- MMM DD YYYY
- Custom: choose your own date format, for example: DD-MM-YYYY or MMM Do YY.
Time Format
- 12h
- 24h
Currency
- £ (Pound)
- $ (Dollar)
- € (Euro)
Issuer name
Enter the name of your organisation or venue into the issuer name field. This will default to your Spektrix client name.
The issuer name will display in the notification banner on the customer's device:
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Images
Under the images section, you can upload files which will display as your logo and Pass icon.
Logo
Your logo will display in the top left corner of your Pass:
Click upload image (or drag and drop) to add the file from your computer.
The image must meet the following specifications:
- Image Size: Recommended is 380 x 150px
- File Size: Maximum 1.0MB
- File Type: Supported image files are .PNG and .jpeg only
Click Save.
Icon
Your Pass icon will display in the notifcation banner on your customer's device:
On Google devices, the icon will only display when a logo is not present.
To upload an icon, click upload image (or drag and drop) and select the file from your computer.
The image must meet the following specifications:
- Image Size: Recommended is 59 x 59px
- File Size: Maximum 1.0MB
- File Type: Supported image files are .PNG and .jpeg only
Click Save.
How to add custom data to your Pass using Attributes
To add custom data to your pass, you can use Event Attributes, Instance Attributes and Seat Attributes.
TIP: Attributes should have This attribute is visible in your API integrations checked for the attributes to pull into Passes.
To add custom data you'll first need to set up the Event, Instance or Seat Attributes you want to use, then:
- Click the Get Sample Data button
- Enter the barcode of a ticket linked to an Event, Instance or Seat Attribute you want to add.
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You can find the barcode of a sold ticket in the Sales Interface:
- Once you have entered a barcode, click Save.
Your Attributes will now be available as Values from the dropdown menu and appear with the prefix Attribute:
The preview pane will also be updated with information linked to the ticket barcode you have entered.
Long Event names
If your Events have long names, you may see them appear truncated in the preview or on smaller devices in Apple Wallet:
The Event Name may appear full on larger devices or when the pass is accessed in different ways, for example, when displaying in the notification banner.
If you'd like to ensure consistency across all devices, you can create an Event Attribute for a shorter name, for example "Event Name (Short)" and use this value instead of Event: Name.
Preview Passes
Once you have completed the information, preview your Passes in both the Apple and Google formats.
- Click Preview passes to open the preview.
- Check that the information displays as you intended.
You can click the Get Sample Data button to populate information in the pass preview.
- Click the Get Sample Data button
- Enter the barcode of a ticket
The preview pane will be updated with information linked to the ticket barcode you have entered. This will also add the linked Attributes on your system to the Values list.
Add the Template ID to Instances
Once you have created your new pass, you’ll need to add the Digital Pass Template ID to the Instances you want to apply it to.
You can find the Template ID in the Passes menu of Spektrix Link, or at the top of the screen in the Pass editor:
If you do not wish to use a custom template, you can use the Default Template ID: 1000001.
You can edit Instances individually to apply the Template ID, or edit multiple Instances using the Bulk Instance Update Tool.
You can check which template is set against Instances in the Admin Interface.
Go to the Instance > Basic Details.
You will see a Digital Pass Template ID below the Print at Home PDF template design:
If an Instance does not have a Digital Pass Template ID it will not display the Add to Apple Wallet or Add to Google Wallet buttons in the Print at Home email.
TIP: If you add a Digital Pass ID to an Instance after you have already sold tickets, customers who already have tickets will be able to see the add to wallet buttons online under the e-ticket tab when logged into their accont online. You can also regenerate tickets to send out an updated email to all customers.
Scanning and Returning Passes
Scanning for Passes works in the same way as scanning PDF e-tickets. To re-send or regenerate a customer's Print at Home email, follow the steps in Regenerating and Resending Print at Home tickets.
When a ticket linked to a Pass is returned, the ticket will remain in the customer's wallet unless they remove it manually. Returned tickets cannot be scanned.
For more information about ticket scanning and Spektrix, read:
Register for Passes
- Standard HTML Print at Home Ticket Delivery with Digital Pass.html2 KB
- Custom HTML Print at Home Ticket Delivery with Digital Pass.html3 KB