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Hello [FIRSTNAME],
Welcome to a new Fusion Ticket newsletter. We hope Fusion Ticket has been a part of your successful event planning. If you haven't been to the Fusion Ticket site in a while here is what we've been up to.
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| What's New in Fusion Ticket? |
| Beta 6 Release
After the last release we found some issues that we needed to fix as soon as possible. It seemed better to reduce the list of enhancements we wanted in BETA 6 and concentrate on stability. All is now done, and a Beta 6 release will be available, for the general public, shortly.
Many of the BIG changes will not been seen from the outside:
- One step updates. Now updating is just a mouse click away.
- A new email engine that is more stable than the current one. Also it gives extra information about the results of sending emails. The good news is that without any changes the old templates still work
- All tables now use the InnoDB MySQL engine, so we can use transactions, and the possibility to setup FOREIGN KEYS to avoid deleting a record that links to another record.
- We have rewritten most of classes which are used to communicate between the database and other parts of fusion ticket.
- We have added logging programs to help you see what is going on within your system, like an email-log, an order-log, and some debugging trace log's that can help us find many of the problems.
- In the past we found that some servers changed the file names to lower case when those files where copied to the server. We have changed all file names to lowercase.
- Consolidated admin, pos, and control images to the root image directory.
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The more visible changes are:
- Can no longer add Discounts, Categories, or Zones after an event is published for the first time.
- Changed navigation links to buttons for ease of use.
- Category size for numbered seats is now computed by the program which eliminates cat errors when publishing.
- Added Global Discount which takes advantage of promo codes for discounts.
- Program no longer allows duplicate template names.
- Fixed captcha error in registration.
- Discounts in main events are automatically transferred to sub events.
- In previous versions whenever an order was reused (= now reissued), or changed from reservation to ordered, there was a new order created, this is now changed.
An order will keep its Order Id for the life of the order.
- New Utilities tab which includes: Orphans, Garbage, Email Log, and DB Backup.
- New tabs in Order Overview: Tickets, User, Status log, Notes
- Added a “custom” folder for POS templates.
This folder, like the one in the web shop, can be used to make changes to the default templates. This will make it easier to update your site to a new version.
- System managers can now be activated or deactivated. This avoids deleting a manager you may use in the future. It also sets up the possibility of grouping managers in future versions
- Automatic Updates: After you have installed Beta 6 all future updates will be done from with in the program. No more cumbersome downloads.
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| Other information on our website |
Shape our Future! Do the FT Survey
The Team at Fusion Ticket want to continue development of the system to further meet your ticket selling needs. To do this we need feedback to tell us what you like or dislike, how you use it, what you use it for and also a few details about yourself. To help you and us we have created a short User Survey.that will soon be available on the Fusion Ticket site.
Please take the time to complete the survey here.
Thank-you for your help.
Checkout with SSL/HTTPS Notices.
Prior to Beta6, $_SHOP->Root and $_SHOP->Root_secure required setup in init_config. These values can now be removed for non-secure use as FT now calculates these entries automatically.
We strongly suggest setting up your site with an SSL certificate, though, to protect your patrons from user detail theft.
To instruct FT to use ssl for the checkout pages you need to add $_SHOP->secure_site = 1; in the init_config.php script. Without this setting the user will be prompted that the page is not secure.
Videos
We are creating a library of instructional videos. The first effort, "Installation", is now available on the website. If you have video/production skill and would like to help please let us know.
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What to Expect in Beta 7
We hoped that Beta6 was the last beta but after seen so many problems that where still in the system that we decided that we wanted to create a interim version (beta6) where we fixed this issue in.
In the next version we will work on the next issues:
- The discount system will be extended based on the input of our users
- The user management system will be completed.
- Completion of the database updating to lowercase and renaming.
- An updated seat chart.
- And of course, strengthening to core units and removing the final bugs.
As usual, Donors will receive all previews, patches, and additional support as we move towards Beta 7. Please keep an eye on the Donors Private Forum.
We are hopeful that Beta7 will be the last beta. But time will tell of we find more thinks to do that need to be fixed before.
The FT Manual
The wiki (our Fusion Ticket Manual) has been updated to comply with the new features of Beta 6.
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| What is Fusion Ticket and Who is it for? |
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Fusion Ticket is an open source Box Office and On-line Ticketing Solution consisting of 4 distinct modules:
Online shop : Patrons purchase tickets from your website.
Point of sale : Patrons purchase tickets from the venue Box Office, or any location you choose, in person.
Ticket Taker : Validate tickets at the event using a keyboard or barcode scanner.
Administrative : Control events, users, seating, etc.
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Our goal is to create a complete, easy to maintain, box office solution, yet still offer functionality, design flexibility, and a full feature set, targeting charities and small venues.
For the most part it is unrealistic for small organizations to use a professional ticket sales company requiring an initial set up fee in addition to commissions on each ticket sold.
The software is used regularly for a variety of events. Just look at the sites using Fusion Ticket on our web links page.
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How can I Help?
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Donations
Although we try to maintain this software for as little as possible, we have working lives and other items that need doing. Your contributions allow us to spend more time supporting members, developing plug-ins and additional features, instead of the bare minimum. A contribution, of any amount, helps get us toward the next release and our ultimate goal.
When you have contributed a total minimum of $50, you receive Donor status Donors receive access to private sections of Fusion Ticket where mid version bug fixes, patches, and pre-release versions are available free of charge. In addition Donors receive enhanced beta support.
When making donations please add your email address and Fusion Ticket login ID so credit can be given where credit is due.
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Can we contribute more than just money?
We are currently searching for a good css/jquery designer with html/smarty skills.
This would include cleaning up the css and tpl files and helping to move admin to a smarty controlled environment..
If programming is not your strong suit then help other users with the software, as everyone's skills differ. Any time the programmers spend explaining something is time spent away from bug fixing or feature improvements.
You may also spend time testing for bugs, reporting them in detail, and work with the programmers, on the IRC, to correct them.
Meanwhile, making suggestions to improve usability and functionality are always welcome.
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Maintain the Fusion Ticket Copyright
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If you really want to help then do not remove or change the copyright notice at the bottom of the webshop, which is also the link to our site, because you then deprive the project of future members and resources. If you must remove the copyright, for any reason, please contact us to purchase the proper license.
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Thank you for your help and support on behalf of Chris, Niels, Lou, Mike, and all those who have contributed to the success of Fusion Ticket.
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