Does your company currently run or plan to run events that require bookings or registrations, such as seminars, community courses, non-profit fundraisers, social conferences, or even a big event such as a music concert, a sporting or religious event, or any kind of event where people need to register to attend?
Co-ordinating event registrations can be a time-consuming process. You will most likely need to manage event schedules, availability, attendee numbers, data processing, payments and invoicing, confirmations and reservations, reminders, refunds and cancellations … perhaps even accommodating special requests and issuing tickets to participants.
There are many benefits to setting up an automated online event registration system. It can make your business more efficient, save time and lower expenses, help you easily copy settings for previously-run events, give event managers more control, improve client experience and grow your sales.
The problem is that setting up an online event registration system can be very costly.
Fortunately, if you run a WordPress-based digital presence, you can download and install an inexpensive and highly professional online event registration system.
Introducing …
Event Espresso – WordPress Event Management And Ticket Registration Software
Plugin Description
The Event Espresso online event registration plugin enables you to easily schedule multiple events and start processing online bookings in minutes.
(Set up multiple events and receive online event registrations with Event Espresso)
Event Espresso is a feature-rich software that gives you full control over the event registration management process.
Create custom event registration forms
You can employ various event registration strategies, from simple online bookings and straight up selling tickets, to setting up custom registration forms for collecting detailed information about your event attendees, or integrating your event bookings with an autoresponder system for ongoing follow-ups.
View detailed information about your event attendees
Note: Currently, Event Espresso is transitioning between two different versions of their plugin: EE 3 and Event Espresso 4. The new Event Espresso 4 is impressively different than the older EE 3, as the plugin has been rebuilt using a different structure to enable future growth and expansion. The EE 4 plugin software has different features, user interface, data structure, coding method and pricing. 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.
Learn more here:
Plugin Benefits
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 online presence into a fully-featured event management website … from custom registration forms and automated response emails, to attendee limits, multiple pricing levels and discount codes, to printable tickets and even seating charts.
Higher Business Productivity
By using an online event registration system like Event Espresso, you save time and increase your business productivity by literally doing away with the chore of processing registrations and bookings manually.
Essentially, you are enabling event participants to enrol themselves.
Allowing your enrollees to do the data themselves frees up your time and lets you focus more of your attention on creating a more unique event.
More Control Over The User Experience
As you will soon see, Event Espresso gives you full control over the event management and registration process that you want your attendees to experience.
Additional plugin benefits include:
- Significantly Lower Costs: Event Espresso provides you with an inexpensive online event registration management solution compared to other options or using a 3rd-party service provider. This is made possible through a model where users buy the core plugin (which suits the requirements of most users) and then purchase optional addons only if you need additional features.
- More Sales: With Event Espresso you can accept online sign-ups outside normal business hours. In addition, Event Espresso social and marketing features (see below) let people who are interested in attending your event share your information with friends who may be interested.
- Green Event SignUp Process: With Event Espresso, your event booking process can be completed wholly in digital form, significantly reducing traditional paper consumption from tasks related to enrollment.
- All Information Belongs To You. You control all the data you obtain from event attendees.
Features
Event Espresso delivers functionality to end-users through built-in features (these come with the plugin) and additional features that you can purchase, called add-ons.
Event Espresso offers many built-in to website owners. Here are just a few of these:
- Quick and easy to install and configure. Ready to start accepting registrations in minutes.
- Multiple Ticket And Pricing Options. Event Espresso allows you to set up as many types of tickets as you need and set prices, ticket quantity limits, and more.
- Customizable Event Designs. Create a unique look and feel for your events and bookings page using Event Espresso’s unlimited template options and parts, as well as HTML and CSS.
- Ticket Selector. Present several ticket options to prospects and let them purchase the ticket(s) that best fits their needs.
- Custom Post Types. You can Event Espresso into your theme and display contact data throughout other areas of your site.
- Spam Protection. Prevent the likelihood of spamming and bot software programs making false registrations by using reCAPTCHA option that confirm human activity.
- Mobile Ticketing Apps. The Event Espresso mobile registration system allows you to validate tickets, speed up in-venue registrations, set up multiple check-in “stations” and track attendees.
- Event Check-In List. Generate a list of attendees and check-in everyone who has attended.
- Event Manager Pre-approval. Be selective about who can attend your events.
- XML RSS Event Feeds. Keep your site readers up-to-date about your events, bring in more visitors and expand your content reach with the built-in XML RSS events feed.
- SEO Friendly Page URLs. Keyword-rich URLs leverage your Permalinks configuration settings. “Pretty” web links that use relevant keywords enhance the context of your pages and is favored by search engines, helping you get a more targeted audience to your events.
- 15+ Languages. Event Espresso is currently available in more than 15 languages, with more translations coming soon.
- Upload Event Data. Event Espresso 4 provides a CSV-based importing capability that allows you to upload bulk event data at once. You can export, edit and import details about events, datetimes, tickets, pricing, custom registration questions, venue info, terminology, taxonomies, term relationships and more.
- Event Venue Manager. The venue manager feature in EE 4 allows details about a venue to display throughout the Event Espresso admin and the front end of your site to inform site visitors of the location of your event. The venue record displays many of the standard WP settings such as tags, categories, discussion settings, comments, etc., but also lets you add venue details like venue capacity, venue website, telephone number, physical and virtual location, location map, etc. You can also display all of your event venues throughout various areas 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 all the events for a given venue.
- Automatic Software Installation Updates. Event Espresso provides simple one-click updates to make sure that you have the latest features and to keep your installation working with the latest version of WordPress.
- Social Sharing. Event participants and website visitors can help increase exposure for your event using social share buttons.
- Accurate Event Attendee Manager. You have control of your customers’ records; who has enrolled, for what event and what amount they’ve paid. With the attendee manager, you can get an overview of registered participants and their payment status, easily add/edit attendee records and payments, export a list of attendees to a CSV file for additional reports, send customizable payment reminders and receipts and communicate with your registrants individually or collectively.
Extra features include:
- Object-Oriented Programming (OOP). Event Espresso is simple enough for most users, and also extremely robust and customizable for enterprise-level users and web developers. The bottom line is that by using OOP, EE 4 allows for more complex developments and customizations to the plugin.
- Maintenance Mode. Pause registration capabilities for regular website visitors when website maintenance is required. You can continue to work on your event pages during maintenance mode.
- Flexibility, Autonomy & Value: According to the philosophy stated on their website, Event Espresso’s objective is to “empower business and organization leaders with the event registration, ticketing and management tools that maximize the success of events.” To achieve their objectives, the company operates on a modular 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+ additional features, including:
- Email shortcodes for including attendee data in confirmation emails and updates.
- Question groups that simplify the process of reusing the same group of questions for similar events.
- Default payment status.
Addons
In addition to an incredible array of features, Event Espresso provides “addons”, which allow software users to significantly expand the functionality of managing an event.
Some of these addons include:
- EE4 Events Grid Template Add on: Displays events in a pure CSS grid-like structure using the featured image. Hovering over the image will display further information. If the event does not have a featured image, it will use a default image.
- Recurring Events Management Add-on: The Recurring Events management addon enables you to put your events on autopilot by scheduling repeated events weeks or months … even years ahead. You can create as many future events as you like. Event Espresso will automatically open and close registrations for all recurring events.
- Events Calendar Table Template Add on: The Calendar Table template is a list template with a bold date and customizable “register now” button. The template can also be customized to display the event thumbnail instead of a date.
- EE4 Events Social Sharing Addon: This addon adds social sharing features to the end of your Event Espresso “thank you” page that allows your registrants to post a message about their event registration on Twitter and Facebook after registration.
- Custom Template Addon: The Custom Template add-on is capable of displaying your event lists in a number 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 perfect for venues and events such as theaters, concert halls, play houses, sports arenas and stadiums. The Seating Chart add-on allows you to offer reserved or assigned seating to your events and venues from your WordPress website. The Seating Chart addon lets you manage the environment for your customers and design assigned seating charts and attach a single price to every seat.
- Multi-Event Registration Addon: The Multiple Event registration add-on gives your potential customers the ability to register for multiple events at once. In each event listing registrants will be given the option to either register for a single event or add multiple events to their cart. With the Multi-Event Registration addon, attendees can register for several events at once and even add additional attendees to any of the same events in the same checkout process.
- Events Table View Template Addon: The Events Table Template addon gives event managers an easy-to-use system that allows you to change the design 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 build custom templates using one of the included templates as a base template.
- JSON API Add-on: The new Event Espresso JSON API addon permits other applications, websites, mobile apps, etc… to access your Event Espresso content through an Application Programming Interface (API).
Note: The Event Espresso development team is continually adding new features and improvements to its plugin, including new add-ons.
For complete details about the newest Event Espreso features and add ons, visit the plugin website here:
User Testimonials
Here are some of the many great testimonials that users have posted about Event Espresso:
”Thanks to you and the rest of the team for Event Espresso – Every time I get a signup for an event, I think about how much time EE saves me – and signups happen while I’m out on the water teaching kayaking, not answering the phone. :-)” Tue Brems Olesen, OnAdventure
”I have to say that it has been the right choice for me…I’ve been extremely pleased with the way my site is working.” Robin, RobinTime
”I played around with the free version for a couple hours then purchased the Pro for a client. Love it and so do they! Sweetest Event plugin I have tried.” Bill Chambers, Bill Chambers Design
Plugin Tips
Whether you are an education services provider, trainer, workshop promoter, or event consultant, there are just endless possibilities of what you can do with the Event Espresso plugin.
After downloading the plugin and becoming a registered owner, search the user forum for tips and practical suggestions to improve your event management and registration process or improve the experience of your participants.
Plugin Support
Event Espresso is compatible with all WP plugins and themes that follow standard WP coding rules. If you have problems with the plugin, however, you will find that Event Espresso provides great user support, as many of its plugin users attest:
”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 exceptional support that includes access to a support forum, in-depth online documentation with faqs, knowledge base and how tos, email 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 proven track record of support, so this is definitely a plugin you can count on to organize and manage your events.
Event Espresso Pricing
Event Espresso is available in a number of editions, including a FREE basic edition (named Event Espresso Decaf). For support and advanced plugin options, however, you should consider downloading one of the paid plugin versions below:
- Personal License – This edition enables you to run Event Espresso on one domain only. Includes 51+ Premium features, (add-ons sold separately) and 1 year of upgrades and support. Cost = $69.95.
- Everything License Edition – This license enables you to install Event Espresso on one domain only. Includes 51+ Premium features, 29 Premium add-ons and one year of upgrades and support. Cost = $279.95.
- Developer Licensing – This enables you to configure Event Espresso on 5 sites. Includes 51+ Premium features, (addons sold separately) and 1 year of upgrades and support. Price = $249.95.
Pricing details of the Event Espresso plugin depends on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. Currently, the plugin is being retailed for the prices shown above. Check the plugin’s website for current pricing details: Event Espresso – Event Espresso
Note: The above reflects the pricing when this review was written. This may not be the actual pricing charged by the plugin author when you visit the website.
Event Espresso – Additional Plugin Info
The Event Espresso development team is continually adding new features and improvements to its software. Make sure to register for their newsletter when you visit their site to receive the latest information and updates.
Use the software’s online documentation tools for answers to common questions about setup and using Event Espresso, and the support forums if you have questions related to your particular use-case, or to notify developers about issues and give feedback.
For detailed installation and support documentation, demos, downloads, videos, tutorials, FAQ and more, visit the Event Espresso web site.
The Bottom Line
Event Espresso is the preferred WordPress event booking and ticketing management plugin, used by thousands of users.
If you own a WordPress-powered web site and you plan to run an event that requires scheduling dates, times and venues, booking attendees, or reserving seating, then you will probably not find a more suitable WP plugin for your needs than Event Espresso.
For more details, check out the plugin here: Event Espresso – WordPress Event Management & Registration Plugin
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