Product Update: Email Improvements, Maps Feature Improvements, and More
Platform 5.4
Event App 32.0.0
Studio 1.4
Onsite 1.1.11
This month's batch of updates brings lots of new customization to some popular Event App and Registration features! Click the video below or keep reading to learn all about what we've cooked up. 👩🍳
Customize checkout messaging by ticket type
In a world of hybrid events, early bird specials, VIP passes, sponsor registration, and other ticketing nuances, one-size-fits-all messaging can be difficult to craft. That's why we're excited to announce that you can now create checkout messages and confirmation, cancellation, and refund emails that are unique to each ticket type in your Registration form! 🌈
In your Webex Event or Community, the Registration Checkout Settings page now has three tabs — Confirmation messages, PDF tickets, and Emails.
- Confirmation messages - Customize the confirmation page that appears after attendees purchase a ticket.
- PDF tickets - Choose whether the Event date, location, ticket QR code, ticket description, event description, or checkout confirmation message are included in the PDF version of the ticket that attendees receive after they register.
- Emails - Customize the confirmation emails attendees receive after they purchase a ticket and the cancellation and refund notification emails attendees receive after you cancel or refund their orders.
When you create a new message, ticket, or email, assign one or multiple ticket types to them, so if a single message makes sense for multiple tickets, you don’t have to duplicate your work. Have lots of different tickets? No problem! Create up to 50 unique messages, PDF tickets, and emails of each type.
Things to know:
- Attendees who buy multiple tickets in the a single order are shown a generic confirmation message, which you can customize.
- Newly created tickets are automatically assigned to the default confirmation message, PDF ticket, and emails.
- When you delete a custom confirmation message, PDF ticket, or email, its assigned tickets are moved to the corresponding defaults.
- All custom messages, PDF tickets, and emails are automatically translated when language selection is activated.
Excited to start crafting some amazing communications? Read our brand new article about customizing Registration checkout messaging for complete instructions.
Other email improvements
From name, Reply to, and Subject customization
Email messages customized to each ticket type are awesome, though there's more to an email than the message. That's why we've also added the ability to customize the From name, Subject, and Reply to email addresses for checkout, cancellation, and refund emails!
Because you can now customize emails by ticket type, this means that tailoring these fields to each type of attendee is now possible. Want to make sure speaker or VIP questions are routed to exactly the right person for quicker response? Easy! Create a confirmation email for the VIP ticket and enter the 'Reply to' email that will get their questions answered pronto.
Use the variables below the email message to easily customize the message, 'From name', and 'Subject' to individual attendees, too.
Include PDF ticket and Web App buttons in custom Registration Emails
We've also added the ability to include the PDF ticket in the emails you create in the Promote > Emails menu. This is perfect for "See you soon" emails that help attendees who registered months ago find their tickets when your event is only a couple of days away.
Automatic App Store and Play Store button links
Previously, when you added the App Store or Play Store CTA buttons to an email, you had to then open up your Event App's promo page, copy the URLs one by one, and paste them into the 'Button Link' fields. That's a lot of work for something that should be easy.
Now, we automatically fill in those fields with the correct link to the Webex Events App or your Branded App. Less work? Yes, please!
Read our article about creating and sending Registration emails for complete information.
Maps feature improvements
The Maps feature is one of the most popular features for in-person events, so maps should be visually appealing, fit with your brand, and help attendees find their way around your event venue as easily as possible. This release will help you achieve those goals!
New shape options
Previously, drawing a clickable region on a map was only a matter of drawing a blue rectangle. Maps of venues with curving or angled rooms tended to look odd. Drawing shapes on very small spaces such as exhibitor booths could also be a poor experience. So, we're adding three new shape options:
- Custom shape - Click to start drawing a line around an area of the image. Click again to add a corner. Click the point at which you started to complete the shape.
- Circle - Click to start drawing a circle around an area of the image. The place you click is the center of the circle. Click again to finalize the circle.
- Pin - Click to add a pin icon on the map image.
Customizable colors
Before, those rectangles we mentioned only came in blue. No offense to you blue lovers out there, but it doesn't fit every brand. Want to add shapes or pins for each of your exhibitors, customized with their unique brand colors? Now you can!
When you add a location to a map image, you can customize the fill and border colors for shapes and pins. Use the opacity slider in the color selector to control how much of the map image is visible below the shape.
Multi-map list view
Attendees sometimes didn't realize that an event had multiple maps because the map selection menu wasn't automatically presented when attendees clicked the Maps feature. To address this, we now display the list of all maps when attendees first click the Maps feature, and attendees can tap the one they want to view.
Other Maps feature updates
We've also made some other updates to the Maps feature, including:
- When you draw a location, the location's edges can now snap to the edges of other locations you added previously.
- The zoom effect when an attendee taps on a location doesn't zoom in as far now.
- If a feature item is associated with a location, the Location section now appears in that item in the Mobile App and Web App, regardless of the Event type.
💡 Keep in mind, app versions older than 32.0.0 will display all shapes and pins in the default blue, regardless of custom color selection, and circles will be displayed as pins. Be sure to update your Branded App to the latest version as soon as possible and advise your attendees to update the app on their devices.
To learn all about using the Maps feature, read our Feature Guide: Maps article.
Mirror my video in Webex Events Production Studio
When you look in a mirror, you see an inverted image of yourself. When you raise your right hand, your reflection appears to raise its left hand. We humans are used to this effect, so when a webcam video of you doesn't behave like a mirror, it can be disorienting.
We've now added the Mirror my video feature to the Webex Events Production Studio's camera settings. Activate the toggle to flip your self-view video so that it behaves like a mirror.
💡 Keep in mind, other people in the Studio will always see the non-mirrored version of your video, regardless of your selection.
Read our Introduction to Webex Events Production Studio to learn all about this Webex Events customer exclusive streaming solution.
That's all for today, folks! Head over to the Webex Events Platform and explore these new changes for yourself.