AES Suite 9.7

Summary

This version is a minor update, released on October 19, 2021.

New Features

Mobile Bidding App (EC)

Suggested Donation Amounts

Donation packages can now be configured to display buttons for up to 12 suggested amounts.  These amounts will remain consistent across all donation packages.  It is not currently possible to set different suggested amounts for different donation packages.

In addition to the suggested amount buttons, there is an open field for the user to enter any amount they choose.

When the user submits a donation on this screen, they will see an option to be “anonymous” in all public recognition.  This setting applies to all public facing reports and leaderboards for all purchases, bids and donations made by the user/contributor.

Optionally, this page may also display a donor recognition board.  Options include displaying donor names only, or displaying donor names beneath the amount given. 

Existing Feature Improvements

Customer Portal (AC)

Sending a Test Email

When composing a message, click on "Preview" above the email text field to view the email in a new tab of your browser. From here, you may now fire a test email to one or more recipients by typing the email addresses, separated by a comma.

The email content will mirror the email you are viewing exactly, with your user information used to populate smart links and data snippets.

Table Seating Export

On the seating tab, there is an option for exporting a PDF of the guest list in a condensed format, perfect for backup lists should internet suddenly become unavailable. We added a new option to the printout configuration, which allows you to exclude online only contributors who are not planning to arrive at the event.

Searching the Message Recipients Grid

When composing a new message, you may now search the recipient list by any of the visible criteria.  This feature should make it easier to identify critical recipients when auditing or building a list.

Sorting of Sales Data at Packages Screen

We made improvements to the sorting function in the sales/winning bid data grid of Packages > Package Details > Sales. You may now sort by any of the columns by clicking the header.

New Snippets for Messaging

When composing a message, we have added new options for personal data snippets:

• Affiliation Type
• Ticket Package
• Custom Questions - will populate with an option to insert for each custom field configured in settings

New Conditions for Messaging

When composing a message, we have added new options for conditions behind the recipient list:

• Has arrived
• Has not arrived

These conditions would be useful should you wish to message only those who have or have not yet arrived at the venue.

New Data Available in Custom Report Generator

• Added the "Anonymous" column to the ‘Bidder’ entity.
• Added the "Anonymous" and "Timestamp" (Sale/Winning Bid) to the ‘BID DUMP MASTER’ preconfigured report.
• Added the Contributor "Registration Notes", "Group", "Cell Phone", "Alt Phone", and "Email" fields to the ‘Custom Fields’ entity.

Mobile Bidding/Giving App (EC)

Improvements for Anonymous Contributors

When two or more contributors share a bidder number, we combine their names in donor recognition boards such as the cash call big screen report, or donor/bid history lists on the mobile bidding app. Previously, when one of the two contributors had chosen to be shown as anonymous, the display might appear as "Firstname Lastname and Anonymous". Now, we will simply display "Anonymous" in order to protect the identities of both contributors.

Updated Statistics for Auction Eye

We have improved reporting on the Auction Eye page (event statistics quick view for power users) to now include more useful registration data:

• Needs to check-in = Sum of all attending contributors who have not yet completed either express or traditional check-in
• Completed check-in = Sum of all attending contributors who have completed either express or traditional check-in
• Arrived at venue = Sum of all attending contributors who have either had their QR code ticket scanned, or have completed traditional check-in
• Checked-in but not arrived = Sum of all attending contributors who have completed express check-in but have not yet had their QR code tickets scanned

Ticketing App (ELP)

Warnings during checkout when a user is already logged in

When a user checks out on the ticketing app, logs in to the mobile bidding app, or visits the site via smart link sent from AES messaging, we create a cookie on their device/browser to keep them logged the next time they visit the site. This feature makes remembering username/password combinations for end users nearly obsolete, but can cause issues for administrators who choose to enter RSVPs and sponsorships on the contributors behalf. Since the contributors login persists (even after closing the web browser), entering purchases for different users (on the same web browser and device as before) will continue to add the purchases to the first contributors account unless the user makes a concerted effort to log out after each purchase is complete.

In order to prevent this scenario, we have added clear warning messages on the checkout screens, indicating the currently logged user.

QR Code Ticketing Improvements

• We are now supporting multiple Apple Wallet tickets for the same event, on the same device. The tickets will now be displayed side-by-side when different contributors tickets are added to the same device.
• We have added the ability for a logged in user to load a QR code ticket for another contributor without logging out of their own account. This will make the process smoother for those who may elect to manage their guest's individual registrations for them.

Sharing a Bidder Number

When a user has multiple admission tickets under their account, they can choose to have separate attendees share a bidder number for payment and invoicing purposes. Previously on the checkout and update guest names screens, we labeled this feature as "Share a buyer account". This verbiage has been changed to "Share account with" based on user feedback.

Event Manager App (EM)

Sorting of Search Results at Check-In Screen

We made improvements to the sorting function in search results at Check-In.  Data will now sort by alphanumeric values first, and empty rows will always be moved to the end of the list.

Bug Fixes

Customer Portal (AC)

• Fixed an issue that would cause the ‘Banner Image’ checkbox to unexpectedly become selected under Setup > App Settings > Email Settings
• Reformatted the body of staff/organizer notification emails that are fired when a new comment is added to an event profile. The email will now correctly display line breaks in the body text.
• Fixed the cause of an error that could occur when bulk editing contributors.
• Increased the size of the grid that appears when the table is selected on the seating tab. Now, the grid is unlimited in size to accommodate very large tables.
• Fixed a bug that would cause SMS message content to get cut off in the composition screen, when adding a smart link at the end of the text body.
• Fixed an issue where warning screens would not populate with any content.
• Fixed an incorrect error message that would rarely appear when trying to edit an exact bid amount.
• Fixed an issue with the arrival times custom report, where rows on the report were being duplicated.
• Fixed a bug that would prevent the 'admission ticket' or 'Has balance due' smart link/button from inserting into a message body.
• Fixed an issue where creating a new table from the contributor detail screen would not correctly display the new table.
• Fixed a sorting issue on the 'Group' field in contributor details screens. This data will now sort in alphanumeric order.
• Removed the option for setting a custom field answer type to 'single select' when 'affiliation types' is the answer criteria. By nature, affiliation type is a multi-select field only.
• Added the ability to submit credit cards (in batch only) when the "review before processing" setting is selected. Previously transactions would not be submitted until this setting was deactivated.
• Added additional logic to support copying of categories from a different event, when the source event has more than 10 categories with unique numbering schemes.
• Fixed an issue with the 'unpaid bidders' counter on the payments page. Previously secondary contributors with unique bidder numbers were not being correctly counted in the total, now they are.
• Fixed an issue where similar (but unique) affiliation types such as "Parent - 3rd grade" and "Parent - 4th grade" were being seen as fitting the same criteria for messaging conditions.

Mobile Bidding/Giving App (EC)

• Improved favicon formatting sizes and declarations in order to be indexed correctly by Google search results.
  Fixed a compilation error that could occur when using the "look me up" feature on the bidder login screen. Note - this function is only available when self-registration is disabled.

Ticketing App (ELP)

• Improved loading time for Hero images on the home page
• Fixed an issue where the "Donate" button was not opening in a new tab when the livestream video section was active.
• Improved favicon formatting sizes and declarations in order to be indexed correctly by Google search results.
• Fixed a button label on express check-in (page 2) that now says "Send Invitations" instead of "Save".
• When the contributor does not have a table assigned, we are now hiding the "Table:" field from the printed admission ticket.
• Fixed an issue where Affiliation Type fields were not being correctly populated with existing data when assigned to a custom field.
• Fixed multiple issues with the checkout process, which could result in confusion between "Online" and "Attending" types and inaccurate count being saved for the "# of attendees" field. Now, when:
  • Existing "Attending" contributors buy multi-units, donations or sponsorships, they will continue to be marked as "Attending" and the "Online" type is no longer added.
  • Existing "Online" contributors who purchase admission tickets will be switched to "Attending" and the "Online" type will be removed.
  • "Sponsor" type will still be added if the user purchases a valid sponsorship package.

  Event Manager App (EM)

• Corrected a logo alignment issue on half page bid paddles
• Improved popup screen loading, to eliminate the possibility of locking up the application when users click too many times on the same button. This would tend to happen only on slow data connections where the user wasn't sure that the initial click was received. We also added a loading animation to better indicate the page is loading.
• Fixed an issue where only the primary contributor would be marked as 'arrived' when in fact all associated contributors sharing a bid number should be marked as well.