Do you currently run or plan to run events that need to accept bookings or registrations, such as seminars, community classes, charity fundraisers, corporate functions, or even a large-scale event like a school concert, a sporting or religious event, or any kind of event where people need to book to attend?
Co-ordinating event sign-ups can be a complex process. You will most likely have to manage scheduling, event dates, attendee numbers, data collection, collecting payments and sending invoices, confirmations, reminders and notifications, refunds and cancellations … perhaps even accommodating special needs and delivering tickets to attendees.
There are lots of benefits to setting up an automated online event registration system. It can make your business more efficient, save time and reduce expenses, help you easily replicate previous events, give event managers more control, improve user experience and increase your sales.
The problem is that setting this up can be very expensive.
Fortunately, if you run a WordPress-based website, you can easily install an inexpensive and highly professional web-based event booking solution.
Presenting …
Event Espresso – Event Registration & Ticket Manager
Plugin Description
The Event Espresso online event registration plugin for WP allows you to easily set up your event and begin receiving online bookings in just a few minutes.
(Set up multiple events and accept online registrations with Event Espresso)
Event Espresso is a feature-packed application that gives you full control over your event registration management process.
Customize registration forms
You can use several event registration strategies, from simple online bookings and straight up selling tickets, to creating custom registration forms in order to better understand your attendees, or integrating your event registration forms with social media sites like Facebook.
View detailed information about your event attendees
Please Note: At the time of writing this article, Event Espresso is transitioning between two different versions of their software: EE 3 and Event Espresso 4. The new EE 4 is significantly different than the older Event Espresso 3, as the software has been revamped using a different structure to enable future expansion. The Event Espresso 4 plugin platform has different features, user interface, data structure, coding method and price. The developers aim to eventually phase out EE 3, so keep this in mind as you learn more about this plugin.
To learn more about the plugin go here:
Benefits Of Using Event Espresso
Here are just some of the benefits and advantages of using Event Espresso to manage event registrations on your site:
Hands-Free Event Registration Management
Event Espresso provides you with everything you need to turn your current website or blog into a fully-featured event management site … from custom registration forms and automated response emails, to maximum seating limits, multiple price levels and discount codes, to printable tickets and seating charts.
Increased Business Productivity
By using an online event registration solution like Event Espresso, you save time and improve your business productivity by practically doing away with the chore of processing registrations manually.
Essentially, you are making it easier for event participants to register on their own.
Letting your attendees to do the data themselves frees you up from doing administration and lets you invest more energy on creating a memorable event.
More Control Over The User Experience
As you will soon discover, Event Espresso gives you complete control over the event management and booking process that you want your clients to experience.
Additional benefits and advantages include:
- Less Costs: Event Espresso gives you an inexpensive online event registration management solution compared to building your own solution or using a third-party service. The cost is kept low by using a model where you start with the core plugin (which suits the requirements of most users) and then buy add ons when you need additional functionality.
- More Sales: With Event Espresso you can accept new sign-ups any time of day or night. In addition, Event Espresso social sharing addons (see below) let people who are interested in registering for your event invite other people they know who may also be interested in attending.
- Green And Paperless Event Sign-Up Process: With Event Espresso, the event sign-up process can be performed entirely online, significantly reducing typical paper waste from tasks associated with enrollment.
- All Information Belongs To You. You control all the information you obtain from event attendees.
Features
Event Espresso delivers functionality to its users through built-in features (these are included with the plugin) and optional features that you can purchase, called add-ons.
Event Espresso offers many great built-in to website owners. Here are just some:
- Fast and simple to install and configure. Ready to start accepting registrations in minutes.
- Customized Event Registration Form. Event Espresso lets you collect unique data using custom event registration forms on your web pages to plan a unique experience for your clients.
- Customizable Event Page Designs. You can customize your events and signup page using Event Espresso’s template options and elements, as well as HTML and/or CSS.
- Ticket Selector. Present a number of ticket options to prospective registrants so they can purchase the ticket(s) that best suits their needs.
- Google Maps. Google Maps integration allows you to customize the settings of Google Maps on the event listing and event details pages.
- Spam Protection. Prevent the chance of spammers and bot software programs creating fake registrations on your web site by using reCAPTCHA settings that provide human authentication.
- Discount Codes. Leverage promotion and multiple discount codes to encourage prospects to make a buying decision without delays, or simply make your events more attractive for price-sensitive prospects. Also useful if you want to sell-out events close to timelines.
- Event Check-In List. Generate an exportable list of attendees and check in everyone who has attended.
- No Ticket Events. You can create events without requiring registrants to select tickets. Use Event Espresso for any kind of event, not just when tickets are for sale.
- Public Commenting. Add social a new level of interaction to your events by encouraging potential attendees to ask questions about your event and past customers to post reviews that can help others choose whether or not to register. Moderation settings for comments are set up in the WordPress commenting admin area.
- Optimized For The Latest WordPress Version. The EE 4 user interface follows the WordPress guidelines to help you build beautifully-designed event pages that are easier to use and mobile-friendly.
- 15+ Languages. Event Espresso is is available in 15+ languages, and more languages are being added all the time.
- Default Tickets. If you create identical tickets for most of your events, you can set up as your default ticket for the next event simply by checking a box.
- Venue Manager. The venue manager in EE 4 allows information about venues to be made available throughout the Event Espresso admin and the public areas of your website to inform potential participants of your event’s location. The venue profile has many standard WordPress settings such as tags, categories, discussion settings, comments, etc., but also includes venue information such as venue capacity, venue site URL, phone number, physical and virtual location, maps, etc. You can also display venues throughout various parts on your theme as well as on a venue archive page on your website where you can set up and reuse venue profiles for multiple events or display every event you have listed for a particular venue.
- A Community Of Event Experts. Event Espresso lets you engage with a community of experienced event managers, programmers, web designers, marketers and businesses who also use the plugin. You can network with other members of the Event Espresso community using their community chat room, user support forums, job board, and social media discussions on Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin and Google+.
- Social Sharing. Event registrants and website visitors can spread the word about your events using social share buttons.
- Transaction Reporting. Event reports gives you information of all of your registrations and transactions, enabling you to track the performance of your events with the aggregate number of people who have registered and how much money has been collected.
Additional features include:
- Define Extra Meta Information. This allows you to have more control and options over your event page content and how the information displays to readers.
- Metabox Management & Reorganization. Event Espresso leverages the WP user interface, which brings the ability to organize the user interface to suit your workflow. Each meta box can be collapsed, re-arranged or completely deleted from your workflow configuration.
- Autonomy, Flexibility And Value For Money: According to the philosophy stated on their website, Event Espresso’s goal is to “empower business and organization leaders with the event registration, ticketing and management tools that maximize the success of events.” To achieve their mission, the software has been built using a modular and highly effective model that provides users with great autonomy and flexibility and delivers value for money in the process.
The premium edition of Event Espresso also includes 40+ added features, including:
- Email shortcodes for including customer data in emails and updates.
- Question groups that simplify the process of reusing commonly asked questions for similar events.
- Default payment status.
Add ons
As mentioned earlier, Event Espresso provides “add-ons”, which allow you to further expand the functionality of your event management system.
Some of these add ons include:
- Events Vector Maps Template Add-on: The Vector Maps custom events list template lets you display all upcoming events by location. There are four maps available: USA, UK, Canada and Australia.
- Recurring Events Drop-down Custom Template Addon: The Recurring Events Drop-down custom template lets you organize the events with multiple datetimes into a dropdown list.
- Events Date Range Template Add-on: The Date Range custom event list template enables your users to browse for events that occur in a certain date range.
- Events Social Sharing Add-on: This add-on adds social sharing features to the end of your Event Espresso “thank you” page that allows your attendees to post a message about their event registration on Twitter and Facebook after registration.
- Custom Template Addon: The Custom Template add on lets you display your event lists in a variety of exciting and interesting ways.
- Seating Chart Add-on: The seating chart add on is great for venues and events that sell and reserve seats for attendees in advance. This is ideal for venues and events such as theaters, concert halls, play houses, sports arenas and stadiums. The Seating Chart add on lets you promote reserved or assigned seating to your events and venues directly from your WordPress site. The Seating Chart add on lets you control the experience for your attendees and design assigned seating charts and attach a single price to every seat.
- Multiple Event Registration Addon: The Multiple Event registration addon gives your potential attendees the ability to register for multiple events at once. In each event listing attendees will be given the option to either register for a single event or add multiple events to their cart. With the Multi-Event Registration add-on, attendees can register for several events at once and even add additional attendees to any of the same events in the same checkout process.
- EE4 Events Table Template Add-on: The Events Table Template addon gives event managers an easy-to-use system that lets you edit the look and feel of your event lists. It comes with a simple table template with category filters, table search, table paging and more. It also lets web developers design custom templates using one of the included templates as a base template.
- EE4 Infusionsoft Integration Addon: With the Event Espresso 4 Infusionsoft integration all-in-one sales and marketing plugin add on, you can completely automate your customer relations and email marketing campaigns to seamlessly capture event attendee data, track enrollments, and accept payments from your web site.
Note: Event Espresso regularly adds new features and improvements to the software, including new addons.
For more information about the newest Event Espreso features and addons, visit the plugin website:
Testimonials
Here are some of the many great testimonials that plugin users have posted about Event Espresso:
”Congratulations on an absolutely fantastic plugin. I’m really impressed with its functionality and add on features and will definitely upgrade my client’s production site to the premium version (when ready for launch) to incorporate all the features. As I have told another client “this plugin is the cat’s meow”.” Pete Mansel
“I just completed my first event using Event Espresso. I really believe without Event Espresso my event would not have been the success it was.” Cathy Earle, Women Only Weekend
”Hello. I wanted to say that I’ve purchased Event Espresso twice now for two different organizations and have had great success with the purchases. Outside of photography, I also build small websites with WordPress as the CMS. I built two websites for two different martial arts organizations who host yearly seminars and tournaments. The plug in has provided a way for attendees to sign up online from both Canada and the United States with ease, and also allowed the organizations to easily manage payments, attendee lists, and many other aspects of the events. Thanks to Seth for creating such a great plug in, and for your constant support!” James Zedd, James Zedd Photography
Event Espresso Tips
Whether you are an education services provider, trainer, conference planner, or event consultant, there are just countless possibilities of what you can do with the Event Espresso plugin.
After downloading your copy of the plugin and becoming a registered user, search the forums for new ideas and practical suggestions to improve your event management and registration workflow and enhance the experience of your event customers.
Plugin Support
Event Espresso works with with other WordPress plugins and themes that follow standard WP coding rules. If you experience issues with the plugin, however, you will find that Event Espresso provides highly responsive user support, as so many of its clients confirm:
”It’s magical. Support is amazing, plugin is simple to use, a 3 year old could use the iPhone app…it all is very impressive and professional.” David, House of Prayer
Event Espresso provides incredible support that includes access to support forums, comprehensive online documentation with faqs, knowledge base and how tos, one-on-one support and even a monthly VIP member pass that gives you access to community of developers, designers, event managers, publishers and webmasters that use Event Espresso tools, plus faster support response times.
In addition, Event Espresso boasts a well-staffed team of experienced WordPress developers with a proven track record of support, so this is definitely a plugin you can rely on to organize and manage your events.
Plugin Price
Event Espresso is available in a number of plugin editions, including a FREE basic edition (called Event Espresso Decaf). For support and advanced plugin features, however, you should consider downloading one of the ”Pro” plugin versions below:
- Personal License – This license option enables you to run Event Espresso on one site only. Cost includes 51+ Premium features, (addons sold separately) and one year of upgrades and support. Cost = $69.95.
- Everything Licensing – This allows you to install Event Espresso on one domain only. Price includes 51+ Premium features, 29 Premium add ons and one year of upgrades and support. Cost = $279.95.
- Developer Licensing – This license option enables you to set up Event Espresso on 5 domains. It includes 51+ Premium features, (add-ons sold separately) and 1 year of upgrades and support. Cost = $249.95.
Pricing for the Event Espresso plugin depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time special offers. When we last checked, the software is being retailed for the amounts shown above. Check the plugin’s website for current pricing details: Event Espresso – Event Registration And Ticketing Management
Please Note: The pricing above was current at the time this review was written. This may or may not be the actual price charged by the plugin seller when you visit the site.
Additional Information
The Event Espresso development team is continually adding new features and improvements to its plugin. Make sure to stay subscribed to their customer update list to receive the latest information and updates.
Search the software’s documentation pages to find answers to common questions about setting up and using Event Espresso, and the support forums for questions related to a particular use-case, or to report bugs and give feedback.
For detailed documentation, demos, downloads, videos, tutorials, FAQ and more, visit the Event Espresso website.
Our Recommendation
Event Espresso is the preferred WordPress event registration and ticketing manager software, used by thousands.
If you are a WordPress user and you currently run an event that involves scheduling dates and venues, enrolling participants, or booking tickets or seating, then you will probably not find a more suitable software for your needs than Event Espresso.
For more details, check out the plugin here: Event Espresso
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