Does your company currently run or plan to run events that require co-ordinating registrations, such as seminars, community classes, not-for-profit fund raisers, networking functions, or even a large-scale event such as a music show, a sporting or religious event, or any kind of event where people need to register to attend?
Co-ordinating event sign-ups is a time-consuming process. You will most likely need to co-ordinate scheduling, available dates and seating, attendee numbers, data collection and storage, payment processing and invoicing, confirmations and reservations, reminders and notifications, refunds and cancellations … perhaps even accommodating special requests and issuing tickets to event registrants.
There are lots of benefits to setting up a web-based event registration system. It can streamline your business processes, save time and lower expenses, help you easily copy settings for previously-run events, give you more control, improve user experience and increase your sales.
The problem is that setting this up can be costly.
The good news is that if you own a WordPress-based site, you can easily install an inexpensive and professional web-based event booking solution.
Presenting …
Event Espresso – Event Management & Registration Plugin For WordPress
Plugin Description
The Event Espresso online event registration plugin enables you to easily create an event and start receiving bookings literally in a few minutes.
(Set up multiple events and take online event bookings with Event Espresso)
Event Espresso is a feature-rich application that gives you full control over the event registration management process.
Event Espresso lets you customize event registration forms
You can employ multiple event registration strategies, from simple online enrolments and straight up ticket-selling, to setting up custom registration forms in order to better understand your attendees, or integrating your event bookings with social media and autoresponders.
View detailed information about your event attendees
Please Note: Currently, Event Espresso provides two different versions of their software: EE 3 and Event Espresso 4. The new EE 4 is impressively different than the older Event Espresso 3, as the platform has been redeveloped using a different structure to accommodate future expansion. The EE 4 plugin platform has different features, user interface, data structure, coding method and price. The company plans to eventually migrate completely to EE 4, so keep this in mind as you learn more about the benefits and features of this plugin.
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Plugin Benefits
Here are just some of the benefits and advantages of using Event Espresso to manage event registrations on your web site:
Automated Event Registration Management
Event Espresso provides you with everything you need to turn your existing website or blog into a fully-featured event management website … from custom registration forms and automated response emails, to seating capacity limits, multiple price options and discount codes, to printable tickets and even seating charts.
Higher Business Productivity
By using a web-based event registration system like Event Espresso, you save time and increase your business productivity by practically eliminating the need to process registrations and signups manually.
Basically, you are facilitating attendees to enrol by themselves.
Allowing your attendees to do the data themselves frees up your time and lets you focus more of your time on planning a more unique event.
Complete Control Over The User Experience
As you will learn shortly, Event Espresso gives you more control over the event management and booking process that you want your participants to experience.
Some additional benefits and advantages include the following:
- Less Costs: The Event Espresso plugin is an inexpensive online event registration management solution compared to other options 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 needs of most users) and buy addons when you need extra functionality.
- Increased Sales: With Event Espresso you can accept new event sign-ups any time of day or night. Not only that, but, Event Espresso social and marketing addons (see below) let people who are interested in attending your event invite friends who may be interested in attending.
- Green And Paperless Event Registration Process: With Event Espresso, your event signup process remains entirely online, significantly reducing typical paper consumption from tasks associated with admin and record-keeping.
- Own Your Information. You control all the information you acquire from your event attendees.
Features
The Event Espresso plugin provides functionality to users through built-in features (these come with the software) and additional features that customers can buy for an extra cost, called add-ons.
Event Espresso provides many unique features to WordPress users. Here are just some:
- Quick and easy to install and implement. Ready to start using in minutes.
- Custom Event Registration Form. Event Espresso lets you gather unique information using custom event registration forms on your website to plan a tailored experience for your clients.
- Customizable Event Page Designs. You can customize your events and registrations page using Event Espresso’s limitless template options and components, and HTML and CSS.
- Collect Payments. Event Espresso integrates with payment gateways, allowing you to collect booking fees before running your events.
- Custom Post Types. You can Event Espresso into your theme and display events data throughout other areas of your site.
- Spam Protection. Reduce the likelihood of spamming and bots making false registrations on your web site with reCAPTCHA option that validate human activity.
- Discount And Promotional Codes. Set up promotional and discount codes to encourage visitors to register without delaying, or simply make your events more affordable for others. Also useful for helping to sell-out events close to deadlines.
- Manual Registration. you have the option of booking event attendees at the door, or sending in paper-based registration forms for manual registration later.
- Waiting Lists. Latecomers can subscribe to a waiting list if your event is full. Additionally, you can specify that wait-list members pay for their spots if you plan to add more capacity for the event.
- XML RSS Event Feeds. Automatically update customers, drive quality traffic and reach a wider audience with the built-in XML RSS events feed.
- Keyword-Rich Event Page URLs. Keyword-rich event page URLs leverage your WP Permalinks configuration settings. SEO-friendly urls with topic-relevant keywords add to the context of your pages and improves your search rankings, helping you get a more targeted audience to your events.
- Your Organization Settings. you can configure your organization’s profile to be deployed throughout Event Espresso and your WordPress themes. Organization information include: organization name, street address, city, state, country, zip/postal code, email address, telephone, VAT/tax number, business logo, Facebook profile URL, Twitter profile URL, LinkedIn profile URL, Pinterest profile URL, Google+ URL, Instagram URL.
- Default Tickets. If you find yourself creating similar tickets for most of your events, you can easily set up as your default ticket for the next time you create an event simply by ticking a checkbox.
- WP Visual Editor. Event Espresso uses the native WP WYSIWYG editor, so you can quickly and easily add graphic images and write your event descriptions without knowledge of HTML or CSS, just like any WP post.
- Automatic Software Upgrading. Event Espresso provides simple one-click software installation upgrades to make sure that you have the latest features and to keep your software installation up-to-date with new versions of WordPress.
- Invoice Payment Reminders. Follow-up potential event registrants who have not paid in full for their enrollment with a standard but personalized invoice with one click. Your invoices will address pre-registered participants who have not paid their registration yet by name, give them the balance they owe, and include a link to the event, a payment link and a url where they can download a PDF invoice.
- Attendee Reports. Event reports provides you with data of all registrations and transactions, enabling you to measure the performance of your events with the aggregate number of registrations and how much money you’ve collected.
Additional features include:
- Hooks, Actions And Filters. These allow web developers to implement safer and more reliable customizations and extensions to the Event Espresso plugin that are 100% compatible with the WordPress software platform.
- Control Box Management And Organization. Event Espresso lets you leverage the WP user interface, which gives you the ability to reorganize the user interface to match your workflow process. Each control box can be collapsed, re-arranged or deleted from your workflow configuration.
- Flexibility, Autonomy And Value For Money: Event Espresso states on their website that their mission 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 company operates on a model that provides users with great autonomy and flexibility and delivers value for money as a result.
The premium edition of Event Espresso also includes 40+ added features, including:
- Email shortcodes for including attendee data in confirmation emails and updates.
- Default surcharge (the same as adding a service fee to tickets).
- Category titles and descriptions on event listing pages.
Event Espresso Add-Ons
As mentioned previously, Event Espresso provides “addons”, which allow you to further expand the functionality of events.
Some of these add ons include:
- Events Vector Maps Template Add-on: The Vector Maps custom events list template allows you to display upcoming events by location. There are four maps available: USA, UK, Canada and Australia.
- Recurring Events Management Addon: The Recurring Events manager add on enables you to put your events on autopilot by scheduling repeated events weeks or months … even years in advance. You can schedule as many future events as you like. Event Espresso will then automatically open and close bookings for all of these recurring events.
- Events Date Range Template Add on: The Date Range custom event list template lets your users to browse for events that take place in a certain date range.
- Social Coupons Integration Add-on: If your site uses Groupon.com you can easily accept Groupon codes to your events. You can also specify whether events accept the social coupons or not.
- Custom Template Add on: The Custom Template add-on is capable of displaying your events in a range of visually exciting ways.
- Seating Chart Add-on: The seating chart add on is for venues and events that sell and reserve seats for attendees in advance. This is for venues and events such as theaters, concert halls, play houses, sports arenas and stadiums. The Seating Chart addon lets you offer reserved or assigned seating to your events and venues from your WordPress website. The Seating Chart add-on lets you manage the environment for your attendees and design assigned seating charts and attach single prices to each seat.
- EE4 Event Ticketing & Bar Scanning Add on: The Ticketing addon adds the capacity to generate tickets with bar codes. The Bar Scanning add on adds the ability to scan ticket bar codes. The ticketing addon includes the ability to customize event tickets. Multiple barcode types are included for handling check-in scans at venues. Registrants can either print out their tickets or display them on their mobile devices. The barcode scanner can be used for checking in or checking out registrants and to validate tickets.
- EE4 Events Table View Template Add-on: The Events Table Template addon provides event managers with a simple and 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 enables developers to design their own custom templates using one of the included templates as a base template.
- JSON API Addon: The Event Espresso JSON API add on gives permission for other software applications, web sites, mobile apps, etc… to access your Event Espresso content through an Application Programming Interface (API).
Note: Event Espresso regularly adds new features and improvements to its plugin, including new addons.
For complete details about the latest Event Espreso features and add ons, visit the plugin website here:
User Feedback
Here are some of the testimonials that plugin users have posted about Event Espresso:
”EventEspresso saves us money, saves our secretary 16-24 hours and looks so professionally done that people ask us how we do it; which we happily tell them, “Event Espresso, and be sure to get the ticketing add-on.”” David, House of Prayer
”Your plugin rocks! Seriously, saved me hours on the phone setting up attendance manually. Kudos. :)” William, Petruzzo Photography
”Event Espresso is very nice and functional plugin. Set it up is not very easy for a beginner like me, but you have one of the best support team in your side. They answer all questions in a timely manor. I didn’t know anything about setting up the plugins, Thanks to Event Espresso Support team that now I can find my way around this plugin. Event Espresso helps our company to manage the workshops, keep track of our students, manage the emails, and much more. We upgrade from personal License to Business license in just two weeks of using Personal license. I strongly recommend the Business license.” Ted Karlsalr, Omnilargess
Plugin Tips
Whether you are a gym owner, trainer, seminar promoter, or event management professional, 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 licensed owner, go through the user forum for tips and practical ways to streamline your event management workflow or enhance the experience of your attendees.
Event Espresso Support
Event Espresso works with with all WP plugins and themes that follow WordPress coding standards. If you do need support with the plugin, however, you will find that Event Espresso provides excellent support, as so many of its satisfied plugin 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
The plugin provides comprehensive support including access to support forums, in-depth 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.
Additionally, Event Espresso boasts a well-staffed team of experienced WordPress developers with a solid track record of support, so this is definitely a plugin you can count on to manage your events.
Event Espresso Price
Event Espresso is available in a number of editions, including a FREE basic edition (called Event Espresso Decaf). For support and advanced software options, however, you may want to consider downloading one of the ”Pro” plugin versions below:
- Personal License Edition – This license allows you to run Event Espresso on 1 site only. Price includes 51+ Premium features, (add-ons sold separately) and 1 year of upgrades and support. Cost = $69.95.
- Everything License – This option enables you to install Event Espresso on one site only. Includes 51+ Premium features, 29 Premium addons and 1 year of upgrades and support. Price = $279.95.
- Developer License – This lets you run Event Espresso on 5 sites. It includes 51+ Premium features, (add-ons sold separately) and 1 year of upgrades and support. Cost = $249.95.
The cost to purchase the Event Espresso plugin can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. Presently, the plugin is selling for the pricing shown above. Check the plugin’s website for current pricing details: Event Espresso – Event Registration And Ticket Manager
Note: The above reflects the pricing at the time this review was written. This may not be the actual price charged by the plugin seller when you visit the website.
Event Espresso – Additional Information
Event Espresso regularly adds new features and improvements to the software. Make sure to register for their newsletter when you visit their site to receive the latest information and updates.
Look up the software’s online documentation tools for answers to common questions about setup and how to use Event Espresso, and visit the support forums for questions related to your particular use-case, or to notify developers about errors and give feedback.
For all documentation, demos, downloads, videos, tutorials, FAQ and more, visit the Event Espresso website.
The Bottom Line
Event Espresso is the preferred WordPress event booking and ticketing management plugin, used by thousands of users.
If you are a WordPress user and you plan to run events that require managing dates and venues, enrolling attendees, and/or reserving seating, then you will probably not find a more suitable software for your needs than Event Espresso.
For full details, check out the plugin here: Event Espresso – Event Registration And Ticket Manager
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