Most of the development time in September has been dedicated to our new theme ‘Prism’ to be launched in October. There are a number of functionality improvements which come along with this and are bundled into the theme.
Conference Websites Major updates
Upgraded to WordPress 4.0
New media library experience with the grid layout.
Updated text editor to expand as you type, also ensures the toolbar follows you down the page
New: Prism theme
Beta Testing: Just launched the open beta!!!
New: Exhibitors
Alpha Testing: currently in alpha testing, hoping to be available for release in October!!!
Sphere theme (formerly the 2014 CW Theme)
NEW anchor shortcode added. Use [anchor id=”example”] to create an anchor point
Added opengraph declaration to header file, should fix sharing issue with linkedin
Renamed theme to ‘Sphere’ in line with new product line updates
Fixed issue with the fixed links on ipad and other tablets
tweaked the text widget css
Wedge theme (formerly the 2012 CW theme)
Updated: WordPress 4 support
Renamed theme to ‘Wedge’ in line with new product line names.
Added screenshot to match
Site Admin
Removed the shortcode helper plugin from the admin for administrators
Updated Images now compressed to a maximum of 2000 pixels rather than the originally restrictive 1000
Fixed issue in certain cases where the ‘discourage search engines’ setting was not being honored
Updated admin menu reconfig so that it’s filterable
October is aimed at bug fixes and tweaks as well as polishing and improving the new functionality tied in with the Prism theme such as exhibitor lists.
The developer diary let's you in on the behind the scenes of the conference websites product. As a monthly section we'll aim to keep you up to date on the full list of amends that take place across the platform so you can keep up with what's fixed and what we've been working on.
July and August have merged into a long run of developments. With new secretive functionality just over the horizon (to be announced soon) we’ve been busy behind the scenes. Whilst we’ve been working on a lot of structural changes in the foundations of the code we’ve also been able to dish out a new round of functional and aesthetic features for this new version.
Conference Websites Major updates
Upgraded to WordPress 3.9
Better inline image editing, resizing images in the editor
NEW anchor shortcode added. Use [anchor id=”example”] to create an anchor point
NEW supporting CSS for the new CTA button tool
NEW new option to adjust text color of the footer disclaimer
NEW options set for the editable thumbnails. Hides all image sizes by default, then adds required ones.
NEW new search engine optimisation fields for pages, can now edit page description/title
NEW support css for gravity forms Poll’s extension plugin
NEW support for exhibitor single pages ( not relevent right now 😉 )
NEW Support for the Post Thumbnail Editor plugin including default option values
NEW noIndex setting to pages. This also hooks into the sitemap to remove the page from the sitemap
Fixed bug with the taxonomy templates not pulling in the correct data
Fixed shortcode edit links broken in wp 3.9
Tweaks to sidebar nav styling, allows the word conference to fit into a single half width button
Tweaks to mobile navigation to allow longer sublinks.
Tweaks made to the rounded corner settings on sidebar widgets (now keeps a square corner top left if there is a title)
Updated: mobile version spacing and padding
Updated: Re-Enabled the iframe shortcode admin as this had been blocked
Updated: Sponsor logo size increased in sidebar widget
Updated: reworking of the media upload script to allow gallery selection in preparation
Updated CSS for footer content to ensure disclaimer and nav can sit side by side.
Updated styling and layouts of taxonomy pages to allow more content to be added without breaking aesthetic
Updated seminar time picker to allow full 24 hours
Removed hardcoded meta data from <head>. It’s now added using wp_head hook from plugin
Removed code flipping the holding theme back on in odd circumstances
Removed redundent admin columns from media and pages view in preparation for the media library plugin
Seminars
Fixed issue with wp 3.9 with shortcode edit buttons breaking the text editor
Fixed issue with the speaker role reordering (this issue is a TB fix from several months ago – code has been tested and works fine but worth watching for any future issues incase this wasn’t finished code)
Tweaked the default speaker avatar on the seminar list
Removed seminar quick edit functionality as it no longer worked and looked awful anyway. No usability loss.
Speakers
New Editable speaker thumbnails for more precise control over the images
Updated added specific editable image size for featured speaker thumbnail to the featured speaker layout
Fixed issue with shortcode edit buttons on wp 3.9
Sponsors
New sponsor logos sizings. Width increased to 200px
Fixed issue with shortcode edit buttons not working in wp 3.9
Conference Websites 2012 Theme
This theme is currently on a ‘support only’ status, as you can tell we’re not giving it the full backing of the 2014 theme, the reason is that the frame of the system is too dated, so we built a new theme (2014) which users can upgrade to for free by contacting us.
Fixed issue with wp 3.9 with shortcode edit buttons breaking editor
Removed quick edit functionality as it no longer worked and looked awful anyway. No usability loss.
Fixed issue with the speaker role reordering
Tweaked the default speaker avatar on the seminar list
Public or Private Poll Results: Poll results are only displayed to the user when using the Poll Widget or Shortcodes. This makes it easy to poll users on any type of form, including order forms!
Gravity Forms Powered: Conditional logic, limiting after a certain date or number of votes… it’s no different than creating any form in Gravity Forms!
The developer diary let's you in on the behind the scenes of the conference websites product. As a monthly section (starting today) we'll aim to keep you up to date on the full list of amends that take place across the platform so you can keep up with what's fixed and what we've been working on.
Mike joined the team as a specialist in PHP development and an immense knowledge of server setup and optimisations.
Throughout June Mike and Dom have been paying a lot of attention to the server setup. Readjusting some of the foundations of Conference Websites. This should give a tighter hold on our development environment as we’ve switched our version control hosts but also some optimisations on the server. Whilst there isn’t any immediate reward on this switch it will mean bugs and new features can blast through development much quicker in future.
Due to the nature of the server work it’s blocked the product development in June but we’ve still managed to get some vital fixes and tweaks through.
Changelog
New Features
NEW Product highlighter added as a standard feature across 2014 theme sites.
NEW anchor shortcode added. Use [anchor id=”example”] to create an anchor point
Updates / Changes / Fixes
Updated: seminar time picker to allow full 24 hours
Updated: Fixed issue with the initial splash theme creating a site with the new template
Fixed: issue with the speaker role reordering
Fixed: Missing image for the the default speaker avatar on the seminar list
Removed: quick edit functionality to adjust session times as it no longer worked. Due to the new taxonomies added this feature has become bloated so decision was made to remove as it’s no longer quicker to use the quick-edit.
Updated: Clean up in seminar coding to avoid clash with main events plugin.
All of the best tools in the world have one common purpose, to be used to the best of their abilities and to solve whatever problem is put in front of it. With Conference Websites we’ve tried to give you the best possible starting point to ensure you can smoothly market your conference and give it the exposure it needs.
One area we’re unable to help with and unable to influence is your conference’s own branding. When a delgate-to-be (or not-to-be) visits your website they’re not looking at the framework in the back, the admin tools available or the site accessibility report. They’re staring straight at your branding.
From this initial point of impact there are thousands of different thoughts that can run through the user’s mind. The key thing is to ensure that it’s positive.
Below are two examples of a separate conference website. Each uses the same tools and options to create an event website. On the left ‘Climate Change London’ and on the right ‘The Glamping Show’. Whilst the subject of the event changes each of these should easily give enough to work with for any design or creative agency.
Strong branding alongside a themed website including on-subject images
Missing images, poor branding and a small header do little to capture the user
‘Climate Change London‘
This site uses the fear factor and darkness of the topic surrounding climate change. The red clearly spells danger to the visitor and set on the white content background it stands the event out as an answer. The red show name and the ‘add to diary’ are the two clear messages the visitor receives when first arriving whilst the black offers up more information but without distracting the user, the information is available when required.
Glamping Show
This website starts with poor branding, we can feel when a website has been professionally designed and built. Whilst the frame of the site is the same as the climate change website the branding inside the frame is very weak. The washed out colours don’t combine well with the main header image.
Quick improvements
As a marketer you don’t always have a professional designer handy to turn around poor branding. Working with what we’re given and working out the steps required to make it a success can be a fine art.
Trying to turn around the glamping show website to help it carry the branding I’d recommend the following steps…
1. Change the background
The background can be replaced for something stronger. Working with the header creative you should be able to use stock photography (via istock or similar). Find a large (2000 pixels by 1000 pixels) image which is on brand or with a running theme.
In this case I’ve swapped the washed out blue background for a vibrant image with plenty of great connotations (warm summer sun, late evenings off work) the potential delegate can relate to in the chosen field.
2. Add photos
Photos either from the last years event or using stock photography of related images help to break up long areas of text. This makes the page (and the event) more visualy stimulating encouraging the user to feel energised about the event.
3. Add a clear call to action
As soon as the visitor arrives on the site there needs to be one clear action to consider before leaving the website.
4. Limit the amount of text blocks
Text is very useful but large blocks of text will turn the user to skim read or even close the window. If you need to have a large page of text then ensure the text is broken up with images, quotes or small icons relevant to the section to keep it interesting.
In the example below I’ve continued with the branding I was supplied but using the site tools I’ve been able to tweak the content to try to make up for the poor header creative supplied
Missing images, poor branding and a small header do little to capture the user
Clearer layout of content with attractive backgrounds and a pulled together site theme
Even if you don’t have the budget for world dominating branding, the simple steps above should help you to ensure it doesn’t dictate the success of your conference website.
We’ve won the ‘Best Marketing Services Supplier’ award at the Conference Awards 2013
Up against some tough competition in a very general awards category we’ve extremely pleased to have won the award. It’s a great achievement to have won this award just over 14 months after the launch of the ‘Conference Websites’ product.
This was the first time the Conference Awards has also included supplier awards. Judged by a panel of 18 key senior figures in the conference industry from companies such as UBM, Incisive Media and Haymarket.
Following on from this award we’re going to celebrate, before Monday morning where we’re continuing our determined approach to make the Conference Websites product the most efficient, affordable and quality product it can be.
The Best Marketing Services Supplier award goes to Conference Websites by @Miramedia#confawards
— GCN | Global Conference Network (@GlobalConfNet) June 7, 2013
RSS Ticker, it’s now possible to pass an RSS feed url into the strapline, this allows you to show the latest news from an external source such as a news website or related blog.
Track Descriptions, seminar programmes have track headings, now you can show a description as well. This is automatically added for you to display at the start of a new track.
Bug fixes and amends, tweaks and improvements. As always we’re trying to fix any bugs that come up, if you notice any, let us know on the support site.
We’ve just launched another great update to our conference websites platform. Photo galleries!
A gallery is a great way to give your visitors the confidence and desire to book a ticket for your conference. Show off all the hard work you’ve put in to make sure the event looks great on the day.
After the event a gallery of photos after the event will help draw your visitors back to your conference website where you can inform them of the next event or latest news.
How to add a gallery to your site.
Admin view of adding galleries.
To start, go to the ‘edit’ screen of the page you want to place your gallery on i.e. Admin > Pages > Select page you want to place the gallery on.
Click the ‘Add Media‘ button, just above the main page text editor. Then ‘Create Gallery‘ in the top left hand corner.
Upload or select your photos from the media library then click ‘Create a new gallery‘.
Order: You can change the order of the photos to display by dragging and dropping the images around.
Columns: Choose how many columns of photos you’d like to show
