Enhance Your App's Events with Things To Know

Every day, new audiences attend performing arts events.  And many of them open their programs only to find program notes written for patrons with a much deeper understanding of the art form, the work, its context, etc.

If you knew that a new patron was attending your event, what would you tell them to guide them toward a positive experience? 

This is the thought that prompted us to develop Things To Know - a new feature in the At The Event module for the mobile suite.

What Is It?

Things to Know is a list of short, interesting, and useful facts related to the event.  These can range from trivia about the programming or people involved with the production to parking information to social media campaigns.  Perhaps you want to let patrons know about near by food options or pre-concert activities? Things to Know can be used for anything that improves your audience's experience.

How Are Arts Organizations Using It?

How Does It Work? 

Step 1: Once you've created an At The Event instance, you will be greeted with a checklist showing you what features are available to you.  Click on "Things to know" to get started adding your first item.

Step 2: The next screen will eventually show you a list of all Things to Know added for the ATE, but to get started, click on "Create your first Thing to Know."

Step 3: Here is where you add the important details. Be sure to include....

• A Name to help you identify it later (this will not be shown to the public)
• A relevant image
• 500px wide by 250px tall is recommended
• Do not number the images, InstantEncore will do that for you
•  The text information (HTML is allowed in case you wish to link out to more details)

Once you have everything filled out, click "Add" and your first Thing to Know is done!  You will be able to repeat steps 2 and 3 using the "Add Thing to Know" link until you have added everything you wish to include.

You can manage your existing Things to Know by clicking the Name and making any needed edits.  Re-ordering them can be done using a simple drag-and-drop method. To remove one completely, just click on the trashcan icon to the right.

Adding Auto-Dial Links to Phone Numbers in Your Mobile App

As you've added custom information to your app - such as Accessibility, Parking or Contact information - you may have also included phone numbers that your patrons can call to get further assistance.

Using the instructions in the how-to video below, you can easily turn those phone numbers into links that can be tapped to automatically open the smartphone's call app and dial the number directly with just one tap.

Get URL - A Tool for Enhancing Navigation Inside (and Outside) Your App

Ever thought about linking At The Event or a custom tab to a video or music album? What about creating a QR Code for a specific event to use in a marketing campaign?

The "Get URL" tool lets you quickly get an in-app or external URL to any tab or content that you've already added.

How Does It Work?

How Might You Use It?

Deep Linking for Custom Tabs 

A few months ago, we talked about how to make your app unique with custom tabs.  If you have quite a few custom tabs that are related to each other, then you may want to create a submenu tab with deeper links to those related custom tabs.  The submenu tab visually organizes information for the end user.

To create a submenu tab with deep linking:

• Start by creating the custom tabs that will be featured on the submenu tab.
• Go to Mobile >> Tabs in the control panel and disable the Display in App checkbox for each of those custom tabs.
• Create the submenu tab.
• Add a button, bullet, or text label for each custom tab to be featured.
• Use the Get URL tool to find the In-App Link for each custom tab.
• Connect the In-App Link to its respective item on the submenu page.

Creating Custom Actions for At The Event's Info Screen

As the video demonstrates, you can use the Get URL tool to add custom actions to the Info screen when you activate At The Event for a performance.

When you use the Get URL tool to add a custom action to At The Event, be sure to use the In-App Link to keep the navigation within your mobile app.

Linking to App Content from an External Source

The video also mentions using the Get URL tool to connect a QR code with content in your app.  (To learn more about QR codes, click here.)  You can also use the Get URL tool to share app content like streaming music via email and social media.

If you are going to link to in-app content from an outside source, be sure to use the External URL associated with your content.

Any questions?  Contact support@instantencore.com.