CMS Quick Start Guide
The CMS (Content Management System) is how you will enter all of your event information from performers to places of interest and stages, to news articles. The CMS makes it easy for you to make changes to your app on your own. It can be updated in real-time from anywhere - whether that’s pre-event, during, or post-event. You can update the information easily and efficiently and also make direct contact with your attendees through Push Notifications. Consider the CMS one of the most powerful tools for creating a relevant and up-to-date app for your event attendees. This guide will walk you through how to get started using the CMS.
Video Training:
We also offer a series of videos to help get you started using the CMS. These videos cover a majority of the content found in this written guide.
Log in to the CMS: https://cms.aloompa.com/
*if you do not have an account for the CMS please contact Client Support using the Support beacon or Contact icon.
The first time you log in to the CMS, you will be asked to provide details about your event. We refer to this as your onboarding process. Full details about that process can be found in on CMS Onboarding guide.
Across the top of your screen, you will see four tabs: Design, Event Data, Messaging, App Store, and Settings.
Before getting started we have a few tips:
1. Throughout the CMS you will see tooltips by most fields. Click on the question mark (?) to learn more about this field, get image specs, or see where the data will display within your app. Image specs are also available on every image uploader!
2. At the end of each of the step-by-step guides in our knowledge base we recommend saving and then publishing. Saving is mandatory to ensure you don't lose your changes but publishing is only required if you want to see those changes in your app. We do recommend that while your app is in the build process you publish after making changes so that you're able to see the updates on your test app and confirm you are achieving the desired results. If you do happen to add then publish data but are not seeing it populate to your app, check out this guide: I entered content into the CMS, why is it not showing in the app?
3. You'll notice on most screens that you can import data. This is a great option if you already have these details in a spreadsheet or are able to export them from an existing website. Review our guide on Importing Your Data to learn more.
4. If you find yourself in need of help, click the Support button in the lower right corner of your screen to search our knowledge base. You can also select the Ask icon to send a question to our Client Support team.
Now, let's get started!
The Basics
Most apps will need to use the following sections of the CMS. We recommend you review this section of the guide before starting to use the CMS. Let's walk through the purpose of each section and how to use it.
App Store:
This step is vital to the development process of your app. Until we receive this information and have everything set up, we cannot begin development. Be sure to use the ? tool tips throughout this page if you get stuck. They'll help guide you to where you can locate these fields in your Apple and Google Play developer accounts.
If you are a returning client please complete the following four items:
1 - Login to your Apple Developer account to ensure your account is up to date and all agreements have been accepted.2 - Create, download, and upload your Apple API key to the Apple App Store screen.Refer to this article: Generating an Apple API Key for Automated iOS Shipments
3 - Login to your Google Play Developer account to ensure your account is up to date and all agreements have been accepted.
4 - Enter the names of your Apple and Google Play accounts into their respective areas in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store tabs.
If you are a new client please review these details:
Refer to this article: Generating an Apple API Key for Automated iOS Shipments
We recommend that you enter data in the order that the menu items appear on your CMS screen. Items such as Events require that you select data you've already entered in Places/Stages and Performers. So, entering the data in the correct order will help speed up your process. Start with Places, then Performers, and finally Events.
Places:
Places are POI (Places of Interest) and Stages are actual stages or panel rooms (locations where events take place). Think of Places in more generic terms as places you want to go to at your event. A vendor or exhibitor is a place you want to go to at your event and is therefore included as a place (a POI). If you're hosting an event with actual stages or panel rooms, those are also places you want to go to at your event so are included as a place (a Stage). Here is a bit more about the difference between Stages and POI.
- Places categorized as Stages will populate in the Schedule section of your app by default while POI will not. We can add POI to the Schedule section of your app by request.
- Both POI and Stages can be added as locations on a GPS map.
- Both POI and Stages can be added to a button on your app, separately (for example, a Vendors button that lists all POI with the Category of Vendors) or combined (for example, a Places of Interest button that lists both POI and Stages as both have the Category of Places of Interest added)
- Stages can be added to Events, POI cannot. Most commonly we see Stages added to Events (Awesome Artist is playing at the Aloompa Stage) but if you have something less traditional like an artist giving autographs at a coffee shop you could accomplish that by adding the coffee shop as a Stage to then add it to the Event.
A step-by-step guide for how to add data to the Places screen can be found here: Adding Places / Stages
Performers:
The term ‘Performers’ is a general term you will see used throughout the app. Your performers could be chefs, guest speakers, artists, etc. - anything that will be featured at a specific time on an Event listing.
A step-by-step guide for how to add data to the Performers screen can be found here: Adding Performers
Events:
Events are where the Places/Stages and Performers join together with a time and other details to populate the Schedule section of your app. Think of them as event listings within your overall event. You can keep it simple and add a generic Category such as "All Events" to your events or get more granular by adding genres or event types as Categories to populate in the Type section of your Schedule & Lineup. For example, a Food & Wine event could add a category of Food and one of Wine to allow customers to view events only in Food or only in Wine.
A step-by-step guide for how to add data to the Events screen can be found here: Adding Events
Articles:
Articles give you the ability to communicate news to your app users. You could send an article with highlights of the app that you want to ensure users don't miss, feature certain vendors/sponsors or artists, or anything else that you can imagine. News can be featured in your app with a News button or you can link a Push Notification to a single Article, allowing you to notify customers with a short and sweet notification to read a longer article you've written.
A step-by-step guide for how to add data to the News Articles screen can be found here: Adding News Articles
If you would like to use an RSS Feed to populate News, we've got you covered. Review this guide: News Article RSS Feeds.
FAQ:
The FAQ screen allows you to add frequently asked questions about your event to your app. You can manually enter Questions and Answers on this screen or import the data if you prefer.
Review our guide on Including FAQs for examples of how our clients have configured their FAQ pages.
A step-by-step guide for how to add data to the FAQ screen can be found here: How to add FAQ.
If you already have FAQs on your event website and prefer that we link to that instead of entering data in the CMS just let Client Support know.
Static Images:
The Static Images screen populates your static event map. This is a great opportunity to add a visual map for your attendees to get the lay of the land at your event.
Read more about Static Maps, including image size recommendations here.
A step-by-step guide for how to add your static map can be found here: How to upload a static map
Maps:
The Maps screen is available for those clients who have purchased the GPS Map upgrade. This functionality utilizes Google Maps and GPS coordinates, allowing your customers to navigate around your event in real life. This is accomplished by adding GPS coordinates to your Places and Stages so they are available as pins on your GPS Map. We also offer the option of a "map overlay" which combines a static map image of your event with GPS coordinates (contact Client Support for assistance with this).
A step-by-step guide for how to set up your GPS Map can be found here: Setting Up Your GPS Map
Translations:
The Translations screen allows you to modify verbiage in your app to match your brand. For example, by default, we use the word Performers. If this word doesn't quite fit your event because your "acts" are chefs or something else you can update that in the Translations tab. This is not to be confused with our language support which offers you the ability to set a translation to another language for every field in your app. To read more about that, check out our Advanced CMS Training Guide.
A step-by-step guide for how to use the Translations screen can be found here: How to change verbiage in your app
Social:
The Social screen stores all of your social media accounts, hashtags, and Spotify or YouTube links for your event. The data you enter on this screen can be included in a menu button on your app. Keep in mind these are the social media accounts for your event. You're able to add social media accounts to individual acts in the Performers section in the Event Data tab.
Many clients group together News & Social into a single button with a bottom header that allows users to toggle between News and Social (see image below). We've also seen FAQs, News & Social grouped together or just FAQs and Social.
Categories:
You've seen Categories throughout the app on various screens already. You can create Categories within a Place, Performer, Event, Articles, FAQ, etc. This Categories Screen in Settings allows you to modify the name of the Categories. You're also able to view all Places, Stages, Performers, Events, etc. with that Category applied and remove or add content to the Category in bulk. This can save you time clicking into each individual Place, Performer, etc to update the Category. If you need to reorder the News Articles or Partners/Sponsors screens in your app you can do that on this Categories screen as well by selecting the category and dragging the individual items into the preferred order.
Messaging:
The Messaging tab contains Notifications and Push Tags.
Push Tags:
Push Tags are categories specific to Push Notifications and allow you to categorize the notifications going out to customers. When app users are onboarded to your app (i.e. when they open it for the first time), they can opt-in to enable all notification types or select the category of notification they would like to receive from the app. For example, they can opt to receive all event notifications or only emergencies.
All apps have a default set of Push Tag Categories based on what we have most commonly seen our clients use. However, you are welcome to edit the Push Tag Categories or put them in a different order on the Push Tag screen.
Notifications:
The Notifications screen allows you to create and schedule push notification content for your app users. We recommend that while planning out your push notification schedule you review our Push Notifications Best Practices document and recommendations on Creating Dynamic Content for ideas on how to increase engagement of your app using notifications.
A step-by-step guide for how to set up Notifications can be found here: How to Create Push Notifications
Settings:
The Settings tab contains a variety of screens that allow you to change the settings on your app. For now, we'll just review the basics. Check our Advanced guide for anything not covered here.
General:
The General screen contains the overall location of your event and Integrations. The weather icon in your app is driven by the Latitude / Longitude but needs the City field in order to appear in your app. So, be sure you are adding all 3 fields if you need to make an update to the weather location after the initial setup of your app.
Display Event End Times in List View - If this is not checked, your events will not display the ending time on the screen that lists all events. If it is checked, the end times of your events will display.
Display End Times in Event Details - If this is not checked, your events will not display the ending time on details screen of your events. If it is checked, the end times of your events will display.
Integrations will list the URLs for your app in both app stores. You should not change these links as they drive functionality in your app that directs customers to the app store if a page from the app is shared with them. You can copy the URLs if you need to send a customer or coworker a direct link to the app stores to download the app.
Date Formats:
The Date Formats screen allows you to configure the way dates will display to your app users. We set a default when creating your CMS but you are welcome to modify that on this screen. Please note, when changing date and time formats, currently the grid view display will not update unless a new version of your app is shipped. Please notify Client Support if you need assistance with this.
Note that you have the flexibility to set the date/time formats differently between your Discover Screen, Details View, and List View. Revisit this page if you notice dates and times are not appearing the way you would like in a specific part of your app.
EEEE / EEE = The day of the week, i.e. Wednesday / Wed
MMMM / MMM / MM = The month, i.e. November / Nov / 11
dd / d = date, i.e. 02 / 2
yyyy = year
h = hour (12 hour format)
HH = hour (24 hour format)
mm = minute
a = this determines if am/pm is displayed
Export:
This screen allows you to export CSV files for a variety of data points on your app including:
- Event Schedule: Lists each Event Title and the number of users who added those events to their schedule.
- Native Form Responses: If you are using our Native Forms functionality, you are able to export a list of the data collected from form submissions here.
- Performer Likes: Lists each Performer's Name and the number of times users marked that they "liked" those performers.
- POI Favorites: Lists each Place/Stage title and the number of times users marked those places as a favorite.
- Product Adds: Provides data on the number of Products that users added to their favorites (applies only when using the Products functionality).
- Push Engagement: Lists each Push Notification sent through your app, the message, push tag, number of users received and the date and time the notification was sent.
- Push Tokens: Provides data on the number of users who have subscribed to push notifications for each category of push tag in your app.
Schedule Days:
The Schedule Days screen shows the start and end date of your event as we have programmed it during the build process. You are able to modify the way those dates display in your app on this screen.
If you find that you are trying to add an event on a date and are unable to do so, it is likely because that date falls outside of the Schedule Days. As you are unable to modify the dates on this screen yourself, please contact Client Support to update the overall event dates for your app.
User Management:
The User Management screen allows you to Invite Users to the CMS yourself. Just click "Invite User," add their email address and send. The user will receive an email from us to access their account. Please note, that any user you add will have the same level of access to your CMS as you currently have.
A full step by step guide for the User Management screen is available here.
Design:
The Design tab contains settings for the design of your app, the Marquee, and Web Embeds (add-on feature). For this guide, we'll just cover the Marquee and design components. For more details on Web Embeds, please refer to our Advanced CMS Guide.
Design - Images
Within the Design tab, select the Images option.
The News Header Image appears at the top of your News screen within your app. We will add an image to this screen when your app is created, but you are able to modify that by clicking "Remove Image" and uploading an image of your choice. The recommended image size is 1125× 705 png or jpg file. Be sure to click Save and then Publish your changes if you modify this image.
Marquee:
The Marquee is a banner that appears at the bottom of your home screen. You can include a countdown to the start of your event, highlight events happening now and coming up, and include text and hyperlinks. These fields can be set to display pre-event, during the event, and post-event.
A step-by-step guide for how to set up your Marquee can be found here: Including a Marquee
We hope this has been a helpful guide to get you started with the CMS. If there is a topic or product not covered in this guide, please check out our Advanced CMS Guide.