Explanation of New Features
In our effort to provide the theater community with the tools needed to run successful shows, we have developed a number of features that Production Teams, Actors, and Attendants might find useful.
User Profiles
Ticketing
Audition Signups
Masking/Special URLs
Searching
User Profiles
Ever wanted to easily create an online theater portfolio? Tired of being know as Charlie, Charles and Chuck? You gotta take advantage of the new user profiles. In a few easy steps you can easily create an account and unify all your information.
1. Create an Account - To get started, follow the link on the bottom of any page to register for an account. Fill out the information, and optionally upload a picture to be shown with your profile. Note that you must provide a valid email address for verification. Your e-mail won't be given out. If you choose to allow people to email you through the site, they can email you through a form without knowing your email. Once you register, an email will be sent to the provided address. It will contain your name and password which will be used to login in the future as well as a link to confirm your identity.
2. Link Names - Because of the transition, your old theater credits will be kept separate from your new account. To link them together, you must request that certain names be integrated into your profile. After you click the confirmation link, the site will automatically suggest names which are similar to yours. Click the links to request names which are yours. Note that requests must be approved by an admin, so it may take a day or two for your changes to apply. Once you've done this however, all shows will now show the name on your profile. In addition, if there are names other than those we've suggested that you'd like to link, just make sure your logged in, then go to the name's profile and you'll see a link to integrate it with your account.
3. Share and Integrate! - Once your logged in, you can search for other names that might be yours. In addition, you'll see a button to view your profile on the left hand menu. In your profile you can share upcoming shows to your facebook page or make sure all your information is correct. Send your profile link to friends or family. In the future, we hope to make audition forms auto-complete for you and to link auditions and the playground to your profile!
Ticketing
Ticketing for all free shows can now be handled through our website. This should make it easier for everyone to decide when to see a show. There are a few important features that will be explained:
Settings for shows:
When you edit your show information you should see a new set of options. These are:
Url_Key This is required, it is a short key (without spaces) that will uniquely identify your show. For example, Romance's key is romance, however we love have also made it love, or whatever we like.
This key enable people to access your site at the address http://www.yaledramacoalition.org/url_key and to reserve tickets at http://yaledramacoalition.org/reserve/url_key (Of course replacing url_key with whatever you choose).
The url key give you a clean, direct link to give out on your posters.
Ticketing Email - If you aren't using our ticketing system, or even if you are. This is where your "show" email goes. I.E. your_show_yale@gmail.com..PLEASE NOTE THAT YOU SHOULD NOT USE THIS EMAIL ON YOUR PUBLICITY MATERIALS!!! This is simply the email that confirmation emails will "appear" to come from, that way people can respond to them with questions.
Enable YDC Ticketing System - Exactly what it sounds like. Makes everything work.
Seats per Show - Number of seats available to the public (If you want to reserve 5 per show for prod staff, this should be taken out BEFORE)
Max tix per email - This essentially equates to maximum tickets per reservation, how many can one person block out? (0 means no limit)
Enable Waitlist - If this box is checked, people will be allowed to reserve a show even if all tickets are sold. Meaning they will be on the waitlist. They WILL be informed that all tickets are sold and the only option is the waitlist. In addition, people on the waitlist may NOT reserve tickets for another time (without giving up their waitlist tickets).
Instant reservation confirmation - when people make reservations, they will receive an email (from that address you put in above) with their reservation info, and a link to change/cancel the reservation. STRONGLY RECOMMENDED!
Tickets on Sale - The first day people will be allowed to reserve tickets. This should be after you are sure of all your showtimes. You cannot modify showtimes to which people have already reserved tickets.
Freeze Tickets XX Hours Before Show - This serves to disable reservations in time for you to print off the list before each show.
Speaking of printing! You can view/print off a list of all reservations from your Show edit page. Next to each showtime, you will find a View/Print link.
What the users see:
So all this crap gets mashed up into a presentable fashion for patrons. Off the home page, upcoming shows page, and show information page they will see a link to make a reservation. After clicking this they will see a pretty screen with your poster and show information like the one shown at right.
Notice that it's very straightforward (for them). They will be notified about the status of any show (IE Sold out / Waitlist) on a confirmation page. In addition, if they decide they would like to change or cancel the reservation at a later time, they are given and email'ed (see above) a link to do so.
Audition Signup
One night after treking back and forth to check audition times on 220 York, we came up with an idea. Put them online! The benefits are twofold. For the auditioners, it allows them to signup for slots from anywhere. For you, it gives you the ability to see exactly who is auditioning when, alongside their email and phone numbers.
To get started using online audition slots, simply go to your show's management page and check the box that says "Enable YDC Audition System". Now you should see a link to create/manage audition times. Clicking this link will take you a page where you can create audition times (Shown below). Simply select a start time, end time, and audition duration (Time alloted for each slot). You can do this multiple times to create multiple blocks throughout or across days.
Once you've created the times, you'll be able to check back anytime and see who has signed up. Now, when people go to the auditions page, they will be presented with a page similar to the one shown above at right. They can enter their name, phone, and email and simply click on a timeslot to signup. Easy! Finally, there is an option back on the manage show page to "Make Auditioner Names Public", selecting this box will replace "Slot Taken" with the name of the person who signed up for that slot. This way you can choose which method you prefer.
Search
Ever wanted to see someone's previous experience? Ever needed to find a lighting designer? Ever needed to find that one show you saw that weekend? Than the search feature is for you. Off both the archives and upcoming shows pages there is a link to "Click here to search for a specific person, crew member, or show". Doing so will lead to a page similar to that shown at right.
Here you can search for a crew member, show, or actor. Using position, character name, date ranges, and partial names. Simply fill in what you know, and you will see some results which you can click on for more information. Clicking my name (on the actual page), for example, would lead you to a list of all the shows I have been in.
Head over to the search page and give it a try!
Masking
This is for people to customize the "Face" of their show. For instance, you can access the romance show information at:
http://www.yaledramacoalition.org/romance
Note that this doesn't look like a normal URL. That's right, you can use certain things to key into different features of the site:
http://www.yaledramacoalition.org/reserve/romance
would for instance take you to our reservations page.
Managers can create a "key" for each show. Say we wanted "brosbeforeall". Then you could do the same things as above via:
Ydc.org/brosbeforeall
If both of the above fail, it will try to search for shows with the title in their name.
So, all you need to do is pickout the name you want from your show options page, then this links will work as above for you. Enjoy!!!