Does your organization currently run or plan to run events that require co-ordinating bookings or registrations, such as workshops, group classes, not-for-profit fundraisers, corporate conferences, or even a large-scale event like a show, a sporting or religious event, or any kind of event where people need to register to attend?
Managing event sign-ups is a complicated and time-consuming process. You may have to co-ordinate event schedules, available dates and spaces, registration numbers, data processing, payment processing and invoicing, confirmations and reservations, reminders, refunds and cancellations … perhaps even accommodating special requests and issuing tickets to event attendees.
There are many advantages to setting up an automated online event registration system. It can make your business more efficient, save time and lower expenses, help you easily reproduce repeat events, give event managers more control, create a better customer experience and grow your sales.
The problem is that this can be quite expensive.
The good news is that if you own a WordPress-powered digital presence, you can set up an inexpensive and professional online event registration solution.
Announcing …
Event Espresso – Event Manager & Ticketing Registration System For WordPress
Plugin Description
The Event Espresso online event registration software enables you to easily schedule your event and start processing registrations literally in a few minutes.
(Set up multiple events and accept online event bookings with Event Espresso)
Event Espresso is a feature-rich application that gives you complete control over your event registration management process.
Create custom registration forms
You can use multiple event registration strategies, from simple online registration and straight up ticket sales, to setting up custom registration forms for collecting detailed information about your attendees, or integrating your event registration forms with social media sites like Facebook.
View detailed information about your event attendees
Important: Currently, Event Espresso offers two different versions of their plugin: Event Espresso 3 and EE 4. The new EE 4 is impressively different than the older Event Espresso 3, as it is being rebuilt using a different structure to enable future growth and expansion. The EE 4 plugin platform has different features, user interface, data structure, coding method and pricing. The developers aim to eventually phase out EE 3, so keep this in mind as you read more about this plugin.
For more details go here:
Benefits Of Using Event Espresso
Here are just a few of the benefits of using Event Espresso to manage event registrations on your website or blog:
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 emails, to seating limits, multiple price options and discount codes, to printable tickets and seating charts.
Increased Business Productivity
By using a web-based event registration solution like Event Espresso, you save time and improve your business productivity by literally eliminating the chore of processing registrations and signups manually.
Basically, you are making it easier for participants to perform the registration themselves.
Letting your enrollees to do all of the data themselves frees up your time and lets you spend more resources on delivering a memorable event.
Complete Control Over The User Experience
As you will discover in a moment, Event Espresso gives you complete control over the event management process that you want your attendees to experience.
Some additional benefits of the plugin include:
- Lower Costs: The Event Espresso plugin provides you with an inexpensive online event registration management solution compared to building your own solution or using a 3rd party service provider. This is made possible by using a model where users pay for the core plugin (which suits the requirements of most users) and then purchase addons only if you need extra functionality.
- Increased Sales: Event Espresso lets you accept online sign-ups any time of day or night. In addition, Event Espresso social sharing and marketing features (see below) let people who are interested in attending your event share your information with other people they know who may be interested in attending.
- Green And Paperless Event Registration Process: With Event Espresso, the event sign up process can remain wholly online, eliminating typical paper waste from tasks associated with enrollment.
- Own Your Information. You control all the information gathered from event attendees.
Event Espresso Features
The Event Espresso software provides functionality to its users via standard features (these come with the plugin) and additional features that users can buy for an extra cost, called add-ons.
Event Espresso provides many unique built-in to site owners. Here are just a few of these:
- Fast and simple to install and set up. Be up and running in minutes.
- Customized Event Registration. With Event Espresso you can collect specific information using a custom event registration form on your website to create a customized experience for your customers.
- Customizable Event & Registration Page Designs. Create a custom look for your events and enrollments page using Event Espresso’s unlimited template options and components, plus HTML and CSS.
- Ticket Selector. Present a number of ticket options to prospective registrants so they can purchase the ticket(s) that will best fit their needs.
- Google Maps. Google Maps integration enables event managers to configure the look and control settings of Google Maps on the event listing and event details sections.
- Default Price Types. Price types allow event managers to create new prices that adjust the base ticket pricing of the default ticket.
- Promotional Codes. Leverage promotional and multiple discount codes to encourage people to register now, or simply make your offers more attractive for others. Also useful for helping to sell-out events close to timelines.
- Event Check-In List. Generate a list of event registrants and check-in those who have attended.
- Ticketless Events. You can promote events without making it necessary for participants to get tickets. Event Espresso can be used for any kind of event, not just when tickets are for sale.
- Private Commenting On Contacts. Keep notes about a contact on their profile and how you’ve assisted them. Private commenting helps you keep records of when event registrants contacted you, your internal notes, and how you’ve assisted them.
- Draft Events. Draft events let you develop an event over multiple work sessions without displaying it live on your site. You can keep editing your events until you are ready to go live, or schedule to publish your event page at a later date and time.
- Your Organization Settings. Configure your profile to display throughout Event Espresso and your WordPress themes. Your organization information include: business name, address, city, state, country, zip/postal code, primary contact email address, phone, VAT/tax number, logo, Facebook profile URL, Twitter profile URL, LinkedIn URL, Pinterest profile URL, Google+ URL, Instagram URL.
- Upload Events. EE 4 provides an advanced importing feature that allows you to import bulk event data all at one time. You can export, edit and import details about events, datetimes, tickets, prices, registration questions, venues, terms, taxonomies, term relationships and more.
- WYSIWYG Editor. Event Espresso uses the native WP WYSIWYG editor, allowing you to quickly and easily add graphic images and write your event descriptions without having to learn HTML or CSS, just like any typical WordPress post.
- Registrant Records. You can manage your attendee’s profiles and payment history and keep all of their data organized and easily within reach.
- Staff Management. Save time and keep your data organized by reusing staff profiles for multiple events or displaying their profile using a shortcode in an event description.
- Accurate Event Attendee Management. You control your customers’ information; who has registered, which event they have registered for and what amount they 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 event attendees to a CSV file for additional uses, send customizable payment reminders and receipts and communicate with your customers on a person-by-person basis or all at once.
Additional features include:
- Define Extra Meta Information. This feature allows web-based software developers to have more control and options over your events and how the information displays to your readers.
- Full Logging & Remote Logging. EE 4 allows you to generate a log file with debugging data which can be useful for developers when diagnosing problems.
- Flexibility, Autonomy & 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 modular that provides users with great autonomy and flexibility and delivers value for money as a result.
The premium version of Event Espresso also provides you with over 40 added features, including:
- Live-filtering when you search for events within the Event Espresso admin.
- Question groups that make it easy to reuse a common set of questions for similar events.
- Category titles and descriptions on event listing pages.
Add ons
As well as an amazing number of features, Event Espresso provides “add-ons”, which allow end-users to further expand the capabilities of events.
Some of these add-ons include:
- Events Grid Template Addon: 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 Drop-down Template Add-on: The Recurring Events Drop-down custom template lets you organize many datetime events into a dropdown list.
- 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 is featured on Groupon.com you can easily accept Groupon codes to your events. You can even specify whether events accept the social coupons or not.
- Custom Files Add-on: The Custom Files add on lets you override certain aspects of the plugin.
- Roles And Permissions Basic & Pro Addon Versions: This addon lets you involve others in the event management process and give new users the ability to create events or regional managers permission to manage events. The Roles and Permissions Basic add-on allows you to manage & customize the WordPress users roles and give them different permissions with different capabilities, allowing staff to help you manage your events or the events that others create. You can customize roles so that users do not have access to certain parts of your WP dashboard and/or certain parts of your Event Espresso settings. If you’d like to create geographic regions for other people to manage events, use the Roles and Permissions Pro addon.
- Multi-Event Registration Add on: The Multiple Event registration addon gives potential customers 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 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 Calendar Add on: This add-on uses the WP calendar to display events and categories of events in an attractive graphical calendar.
- JSON API Add on: The Event Espresso JSON API add on enables other applications, online tools, mobile applications, etc… to access your Event Espresso details through an API (Application Programming Interface).
Note: The Event Espresso development team is continually adding new features and improvements to its software, including new add-ons.
For full details about the newest Event Espreso features and add-ons, check out the plugin here:
Customer Feedback
Below are some of the many testimonials that satisfied users have posted about Event Espresso:
”My hope with this whole integration is to be able to show other school districts an affordable and easy solution to these registrations. I cannot believe how much money they are charged for less by other companies. This has the potential to save schools tens of thousands, which is huge right now.” Kelly, College Station Independent School District
”When you can get a company to expend more money switching systems just to use your plugin…you’ve really accomplished something.” David, House of Prayer
”Loving the functions and support from Event Espresso. One of the best plugins I’ve ever bought!” Nathan
Event Espresso Tips
Whether you are a gym owner, teacher, festival planner, or event consultant, there are simply endless possibilities of what you can do with the Event Espresso software.
After purchasing the plugin and becoming a registered owner, go through the forums for inspiration and practical suggestions to streamline your event management and registration process or improve the experience of your customers.
Support
Event Espresso is fully compatible with other WP plugins and themes that follow standard WordPress development rules. If you have problems with the plugin, however, you will find that Event Espresso provides great technical support, as many of its plugin users confirm:
”These guys are right on any problem or issue or even general questions. You can’t really put a value high enough on the kind of support these guys offer.” Mark Wigston, Muskoka Graphics
Event Espresso provides great support that includes access to support forums, in-depth online documentation with faqs, knowledgebase and how tos, one-on-one support and even a monthly VIP member pass giving 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 solution you can depend on to organize and manage your events.
Software Pricing
Event Espresso is available in various plugin editions, including a FREE basic edition (called Event Espresso Decaf). For personal support and advanced plugin features, however, you may want to consider purchasing one of the premium plugin editions below:
- Personal Licensing – This enables you to install Event Espresso on 1 domain only. Price includes 51+ Premium features, (add-ons sold separately) and 1 year of upgrades and support. Cost = $69.95.
- Everything License – This enables you to run Event Espresso on one site only. Pricing includes 51+ Premium features, 29 Premium add-ons and one year of upgrades and support. Price = $279.95.
- Developer Licensing – This allows you to configure Event Espresso on 5 domains. Cost includes 51+ Premium features, (addons sold separately) and 1 year of upgrades and support. Cost = $249.95.
Current pricing for the Event Espresso plugin can vary, depending on whether there are any promotions or limited-time specials being offered. Presently, the plugin retails for the prices shown above. Check the plugin’s website for current pricing details: Event Espresso – Event Manager & Ticket Registration System For WordPress
Please Note: The pricing above was current when this review was written. This may or may not be the actual price charged by the plugin author when you visit the site.
Additional Plugin Info
The Event Espresso development team is continually adding 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 documentation pages for answers to common questions about setting up and using Event Espresso, and the support forums if you have questions related to a particular use-case, or to report errors and share feedback.
For detailed installation and support documentation, demos, downloads, videos, tutorials, FAQ and more, visit the Event Espresso product web site.
The Bottom Line
Event Espresso is the preferred WordPress event registration and ticketing manager software, used and trusted by thousands of companies.
If you are a WordPress user and you plan to run events that require scheduling dates and venues (offline and online), enrolling participants, and/or selling tickets or seating, then you will probably not find a more suitable plugin for your needs than Event Espresso.
For more details, visit the plugin website here: Event Espresso – Event Registration & Ticketing Manager
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