Movie listings -- seeking your advice.

Tuan --

With your excellent help, I've got Events Booking set up to display single performances beautifully. Now I'm wondering if it might also be possible to show movie showtimes using Events Booking.

They're not much different from single events, except that I'd like to only have to create the event once, and then show multiple dates and times that it's happening. Unfortunately Recurring Events probably won't work, as these showtimes are at random dates and times, not daily, weekly or monthly, etc. (No pattern.)

I was thinking maybe the category column layout, with each column being a movie, and each showtime being an event? But that looks like I would have to make a sub-category for each movie? That seems like it would become excessive very quickly. I'm hoping there's a more logical, better way that's easier for my site admins to update.

Do you have any advice on how I might best use Events Booking to show these irregular showtimes, so that we only need to enter the movie event details once, and then enter each showtime separately, using the same movie details?

Is there a single event with multiple dates option? If not, please consider adding this feature in future versions of the software.

Hello Matt

This plugin might help eventbookingdoc.joomservices.com/plugins/additional-dates

Also, if you use that plugin, you can go to Events Booking -> Configuration, set Show Children Events In Parent Event Detail Page config option to Yes so that all these events is displayed on a single page and users can choose to register for the date they want. See joomdonationdemo.com/eventbooking/featur...tures/multiple-dates for sample

Tuan

Tuan! That sounds EXACTLY like what I need. I am so glad I asked this question! Your software just gets better and better! Thank you!

Matt

You're welcome. Please continue setting up. If you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to ask us

Tuan

I've got just one (kind of big) request for modification...

I *love* the column layout for the "Intro" section, and the Additional Dates plugin is working fine from an Administration standpoint. But putting the additional dates and times on a second location apart from the first is going to be confusing to users.

Could you help me modify the Intro Page layout so that the other dates and times show up right under the first one on the Intro layout (without having to click the Choose Date & Location button). I just need them all showing together on the intro page, so I hope it's just a matter of inserting a call for those database entries?

Eager to hear your thoughts on this.
Matt

Oh, and because we have prices that vary from matinee to evening, senior citizen or student or child prices, etc... it might be easiest to just remove the prices from the listing and include these rates in the text field instead. But if I leave the price field blank, it puts FREE in the listing.

I'm sure there's a simple fix for this somewhere?

Lastly, I like that the location opens a map, but I don't want it to take the user away from the page they're on. Any way to set a target to open in an new tab instead?

Hello Matt

1. I don't understand your request for modification yet. Could you send us link to the page and explain the modification you need?

2. You can write anything you want to show for Price in the Price Text setting of the event and that text will be displayed instead of Free. Not sure if it addresses your concern?

3. The map should be opened on a modal popup. Could you send us link to the page so that I can check to see why it is not being opened on popup like that?

Tuan

1) I've made a mock-up of what I'd LOVE to see in a customized layout. You can view it here: libertyhall.stpcreative.com/eventsbooking_cinema_layout.jpg

2) Our ticket prices for movies vary depending on the customer (student discount, senior discount, etc). So it would be best to just leave it off the page right now, and keep it as simplified as possible. But leaving off a price changes it to free. Maybe there's a quick and easy CSS solution (display: none;) that would work, and not break anything should we wish to put it back in the future?

3) The map clearly looked like it was intended for a modal, but it is opening in the whole current page tab. You can view this bug here: libertyhall.stpcreative.com/cinema/now-showing and click on either event location link.

INSTEAD of a modal, could these location links just open a new tab to the Directions Link that the modal would have shown? I try to skip unnecessary clicks whenever possible.

Thank you for your continued help with this site. Events Booking is proving to be a truly substantial piece of code, with potential that I hope to grow into for many years to come.

Matt

So I've started digging into some of these simpler wish-list items on the columns layout, and re-arranging the order of the description and event date, time and location was simple enough in events_columns-layout.php within the /components/com_eventbooking/themes/default/common directory.

I'm sure what I did will need to be saved somewhere else, so it won't get overwritten on update. Is this as simple as putting it in a separate directory as an override?

I look forward to seeing what advice you have on my other wishlist items -- most of all getting the additional dates on the same column layout. (I don't want to use the event detail page at all. And we won't be registering anyone for these events -- merely displaying the times and dates, so a simplified layout is what we really need.)

Thanks for all you do!
Matt

Hello Matt

You need to move the modified file to PATH_TO_TEMPLATE/html/com_eventbooking/common folder so that the change won't be lost when you update to future releases of the extension

PATH_TO_TEMPLATE is path to the template which you are using on your site.

Regards,

Tuan