The internet sales module has a number of key features to enable a patron to buy from you. You don't need to spend time allocating tickets to another web ticket provider - and, as with all Theatre Manager modules - you control the final cost of all tickets, retain any fees you may wish to add for using the internet, and get the money immediately. Or, as many Theatre Manager users have expressed to us, keep the prices and fees low to facilitate a patron's use of the Internet.

What can a patron do with the web sales module:

• Existing patrons can maintain their name and address information online
• New patrons can add their name and address to the database
• Logon via email address and password
• Both main patron and spouse can login separately and do their own purchases
• Patrons can purchase tickets, passes, gift certificates, make donationsand purchase anything that you currently sell using theatre manager
• Items that a patron purchased are added to a shopping cart and tickets are held on the venue for as long as you like (we recommend 10 or 15 minutes). If the patron has been inactive for that time period or fails to complete the sale, the tickets are automatically released for somebody else to purchase. The box office will see these tickets as 'holds' in their seating maps
• Purchasing tickets will use the 'best seat' feature. As with Theatre Manager, the web module will never leave a single seat - so you won't waste seat inventory to ensure that more customers can be seated without leaving empty seats.
• You decide which events, donations, passes, etc. are available for sale and the patron will only see those you've selected. Payments are made via credit card and appear in the end-of-day wizard. You do not need to do any additional processing when a sale is made over the Internet
• Patrons can elect to add themselves to selected mail lists. This feature is intended for a few mail lists that you wish the patron to have access to. For example, a patron could sign up for 'send me audition notices' or 'advise me of my performance dates' - those kinds of things.
• The internet sales module comes with fully customizable web pages. You can change the look and feel of any web page and integrate it into your existing web site. All you need is an HTML editor (such as Dreamweaver or any number of other page editors).

To try out the Web Module, please check our Test Drive the Demo page for additional information on the technology, performance, security, how to get the Internet modules, etc.

Secure Server ID and Global Server ID

This turns on the lock symbol in the patron's web browser to give them confidence that you have secured their transaction and enable visitors to safely exchange credit card information and other private data with your site. Secure site certificates can be purchased from reputable suppliers such as Thawte, Tucows, Verisign, and Soltrus. You may also be able to acquire SSL certificates directly from our ISP provider.

Why You Need Web Security

As an e-commerce business, you must deliver the highest levels of trust and security so your customers can be certain that your site is genuine, and that the information they send you via Web browsers and other devices stays private and confidential. VeriSign Server IDs from Soltrus give you the power to secure and e-commerce-enable your site, giving your customers the most trustworthy

Web experience possible.

To deliver the world's highest level of trust, Soltrus, as a member of the VeriSign Trust Network, authenticates your organization before issuing a Server ID. Once a Server ID has been issued, your company is eligible to display the Soltrus+VeriSign Site Seal on your site. The Site Seal is an active link that allows your customers to view your Server ID information and verify that your business is real and that any confidential information they send you such as credit cards or online forms is encrypted and secured using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption. With Server IDs from Soltrus, your customers enjoy the same level of trust and security used by the Top 40 sites and Fortune 500 companies. In fact, 96% of Fortune 500 companies use VeriSign Server IDs to secure their Web sites.

What You Need to Secure Your Web Site

Soltrus offers the ideal solutions for your Web site - Global Server ID and Secure Server ID services. Both solutions offer you Class 3 security, the highest level of assurance available. In fact, VeriSign is the only global Certificate Authority and Soltrus is the only Canadian Certificate Authority subject to KPMG's SAS 70 Type II audit to certify trusted practices.

How to Secure Your Web Site

Securing your Web site is easy with a Server ID from Soltrus. The first step is to determine what encryption level best suits your needs. If you are a high-volume e-commerce Web site or if highly sensitive information is being transmitted via your intranet or extranet, you should consider purchasing a Global Server ID. Only Global Server IDs guarantee 128-bit encryption for everyone communicating with your site whether they are using an import or export-version browser.

The primary difference between the two types of Server IDs is the strength of the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) session that each enables.

• Common questions about Secure Server ID's - With Secure Site Server IDs, a minimum level of 40-bit encryption is enabled when communicating with export-version Netscape and Microsoft Internet Explorer Web browsers. Export-version browsers are used by most Internet users including those in North America. 40-bit SSL encryption is strong enough for most intranets and lower-volume Web sites. When communicating with domestic-version Web browsers, standard Secure Site IDs enable 128-bit SSL encryption. Ideal for low-volume retail Web sites and intranet servers that require secure internal communications, Secure Server IDs give your Web site a minimum of 40-bit encryption


• Common questions about Global Server ID's - With Global Site Server IDs you ensure a minimum level of 128-bit SSL encryption when communicating with domestic and export-versions of Netscape® and Microsoft® Web browsers. This means that you can guarantee all of your customers the highest level of encryption commercially available today. 128-bit SSL has never been broken and is trillions of times stronger than 40-bit encryption. When you consider that most of the browsers in North America are export-version, the encryption power of Global Server IDs is critical for sites that want to reassure all of their customers that their sensitive data is secured with the highest available level of encryption.


• By enabling 128-bit encryption for all transactions, Global Server IDs can protect the security of your transactions and provide peace of mind for your business and reassurance to your customers. Whether your customers are using a domestic or export-version browser, their transaction will be secured using 128-bit encryption. This is especially important when you consider that most browsers used in Canada and the U.S. are export versions due to previous U.S. government restrictions. As well, Secure Server IDs offer only 40-bit encryption when an export-version browser is used. For businesses such as online merchants, healthcare organizations, insurance companies, banks and financial institutions, the increased level of encryption provided by a Global Server ID is vital.
  

Here's what you may get with the purchase of a Secure Server ID (please consult the supplier you are purchasing from for actual options and offers):

• Security - Secure Server IDs enable 40-bit secure sockets layer (SSL) sessions with export-version Web browsers in North America and throughout the world. With domestic-version browsers, the world's strongest encryption level of 128-bit encryption is enabled.


• Authentication of Your Business - a Server ID from Soltrus means that your business has been verified as a legitimate one by Soltrus - a world-class trusted third party. You can be confident that each VeriSign ID you purchase from Soltrus is backed by the most reliable and secure operations infrastructure and comprehensive security, trust and authentication practices.


• 30-Day Revocation and Replacement - conveniently replace your certificate at no extra charge within 30 days of purchase.


• Site Seal - with a Soltrus Site Seal displayed on your Web site you can reassure your customers that your site is safe to deal with. Your customers will be able to click on the seal to verify that your business is registered in Canada/USA and that their confidential information will be safely transmitted.


• Instant Renewal - Soltrus is now able to provide current Server ID customers with instant renewals. As long as you remember your enrollment challenge phrase and assuming your technical contact has not changed, our enrollment form will be pre-populated with your original enrollment information. This makes renewals easier and saves you valuable time.

I want to purchase a certificate, what do I need to provide the supplier to get one?

When getting your website security certificate, they require documentation for "Proof of Right". This means they will issue a Server ID after establishing that your organization is legitimate, and is registered with the proper government authorities.

The easiest and fastest way to do this is by providing them with your Dun & Bradstreet D-U-N-S number. If you do not know your D-U-N-S number, or do not have a D-U-N-S number, call (800)463-6362 or apply online at http://www.dnb.ca/duns/dunsrequest.html

If you do not wish to provide a D-U-N-S number contact the supplier directly and ask for their requirements. Typically any of the following additional information (Proof of Right) is acceptable. If all goes well, it takes about 5 business days to issue a Server ID. Not submitting a D-U-N-S number may result in an extra week delay in issuing a certificate.

• Articles if incorporation or partnership registration or business name registration (for sole proprietorships) or filing with securities commission
• Federal Business number (for tax purposes)
• Business name registration (if applicable)
• Business license (if required to carry on business)

The Web Sales Listener waits in the background while Theatre Manager is running. The listener allows patrons to connect to the database via the internet. To work, you will need to have Web Sales Enabled in Outlet Preferences, and have your web pages ready for patrons to connect. Click here for Outlet Preferences, Web Listener tab information.

To open the Web Sales Listener, you perform the following steps:

1. Choose Patron Sales menu item>>Web Sales Monitor>>Web Sales Monitor.

   

   
   
2. This will open the Listener.
   
   
   
   

   	The Listener will start when it is opened, if Auto Start is turned on in Default Data. If it was already open, but not running, you can click the Start Web Sales button to start the listener.
   	To stop web sales for a period of time, but to keep the listener open (to preserve your logs) click the Stop Web Sales button . Patrons will not be able to connect to the database.
   	The log will show you a history of what has been accessed today, and the time/date that it was accessed. If you wish to clear the log, you can click the Clear Log button
   	Will add a message describing the highest number of simultaneous connections seen in this session.
   	Allows you to ping the server to ensure that this workstation can access it.
   	Shows the length of time that this listener session has been running.

   
   

• The toolbar - to search for and see all the carts for a specific time range or status
• The patron window - to view all carts for a specific patron on the shopping cart tab
• by using 'Patron Sales->Web Sales Module->Shopping Carts
Once you find a specific cart, you can view the contents of them, as well as the web logs associated with that cart. If a cart
• is still active and the patron calls for assistance, you can also help them check their cart out manually and take over the sale for them.
• is completed but there have been some tickets left on hold for some reason, you can also use the detail window to move those held tickets into the patrons record. Carts that are eligible for this are those that are completed, yet have an order balance as per line 1 of the example below.

To manage Pending or Unsent emails, select menu item Patron Sales >> Web Sales Module >> Manage Pending/Unsent Emails.

Sometimes, these emails may not get sent and this window allows you to review email issues on a daily basis. You may also want to review email troubleshooting procedures in more depth, especially the page on SMTP error messages and correction strategies.

1. From the main menu bar, go to Patron Sales>>Web Sales Module>>Manage Pending/Unsent Emails.
   
   

   

   This will display a search list of all unsent emails.

   Option	Action
   Patron	Clicking the patron button after selecting an email in the list will open the patron window. This will allow you to edit the email address and correct it. You should take this action if you can see that the email address was obviously spelled incorrectly. You may want to contact the patron and get the correct spelling of the email address.
   Change Status	An email has 3 status codes. It can be 'Not Done', 'Done', or be in 'Error'. All emails on this window generally start in the 'Error' status as that is what the purpose of this window is. Actions you can take are: If you fix the email address (above) or have fixed the reason why the email was not sent, then select the email and change the status to 'Not Done'. The web listener will automatically try to resend the email. If you cannot figure out what it causing the email issue, you can set the status to 'Done' and the email will never be sent. You should probably contact the customer under such circumstances You should take this action if the error message indicates that there was an issue talking to the SMTP server that has been corrected -OR - after correcting an email address.
   Document	This allows you to view the contents of the email.

The Web Sales Listener waits in the background while Theatre Manager is running. The listener allows patrons to connect to the database via the internet. To work, you will need to have Web Sales Enabled in Outlet Preferences, and have your web pages ready for patrons to connect. Click here for Outlet Preferences, Web Listener tab information.

To open the Ticket Scanning Monitor, you perform the following steps:

1. Choose Patron Sales menu item>>Web Sales Monitor>>Ticket Scanning Monitor.

   

   The Lecco Monitor window opens.

   

Parts of the Window

This page is under construction.

To access the Apache Performance Statistic, select the menu item Patron Sales >> Web Sales Module >> Apache Performance Statistics

Google Analytics and Theatre Manager web pages

From the Google Analytics website: Google Analytics is the enterprise-class web analytics solution that gives you rich insights into your website traffic and marketing effectiveness. Powerful, flexible and easy-to-use features now let you see and analyze your traffic data in an entirely new way. With Google Analytics, you're more prepared to write better-targeted ads, strengthen your marketing initiatives and create higher converting websites.

• http://www.google.com/analytics/ - main Google Analytics site
  
• http://www.google.com/analytics/discover_analytics.html - Installation Checklist
  
• http://www.google.com/support/googleanalytics/bin/answer.py?answer=55488... - Adding the code to individual web pages or pasting in Company Preferences for all web pages.
  
• http://www.google.com/support/analytics/?hl=en - Google Analytics Help Center
  
• http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/Google+Analytics/?hl=en - User forums

Be sure to make a copy of the entire htdocs folder prior to making any changes. Arts Management Systems is not responsible for correcting changes made to web pages by clients or designers working on the client's behalf.

What do I put Google Analytics in Theatre Manager?

Theatre Manager offers the ability to add Google Analytics in two different methods. One applies the code to the top of the page, the other to the footer.

When using the Asynchronous Snippet code by Google Analytics, add the code to the script/googleHeader.html page.

Alternatively the sample source can be added to the footer of each web page. This is done directly in Theatre Manager under Setup >> Company Preferences in the Web Listener tab. Enter the code in the Footer Code section of this tab.

Important points to remember when testing changes:

After each change, be sure to clear the cache on all web listeners.
Always manually clear your browser cache so that you are looking at fresh content and not stored pages.
If the web sales will not work after you have made changes to them, simply replace the htdocs folder with the original that you copied before you began.

• Automatic Credit Card Authorization module - either PCCharge or Orbital Gateway
• Web Sales module - included sample HTML web templates to be installed on the Apache web server
• a dedicated computer running the Apache web server software
• a 'Demilitarized Zone-DMZ' component of your 'Local Area network-LAN'
• a dedicated computer known as the Web Listener to process requests from the Apache web server
• an additional Theatre Manager User License for the Web Listener
• a static IP address and a sub-domain address in the format of tickets.yourvenuename.com
• ADSL or cable modem equivalent speed is good enough

This particular demo is set up as follows:

• The computer running the Theatre Manager web listener is a Dell Optiplex SX260 with 512 megs of memory, 2.4 Mhz processor and 40 gig harddrive space. We picked it because it is very small and we can take it to trade shows and it looks good in a box office. You can get cheaper ones that do more
• Running Win 2000 pro server and you will be connecting to a windows IIS web server that comes with Win 2000 Pro server
• There is one copy of Theatre Manager (version 6.11.02) running the background to listen to whomever connects and update the database in real time
• You will be coming in through a Cable modem line (fast download, 760K approx upload). This is about the same as an ADSL line.

• a Dell 400 Mhz with 300 megs of ram and win 2000 pro
• an Apple Powerbook 667 Mhz running under classic OS mode

The web listener that acts as a mini web server. It is interfaced to the web by opening a port in your firewall that points specifically to the computer/port hosting a copy of Theatre Manager turned on as a web listener.

You will need to have at least:

• the credit card draft capture module and an available workstation licence
• an ADSL or cable modem connection to your office a static IP address at your disposal to point the web sales to a router/firewall to prevent the bad stuff getting in
• a computer to run the Internet sales component on a site security certificate to ensure website encryption (we can help you buy one). This gives you secure credit card transactions between the user and your site
• (optionally) a web site and domain name in the outside world to hold the majority of gifs and your current web content. Most of you with web sites have this already
• and some knowledge of how to put together web pages and do a bit of HTML/javascript programming (again, we can help here - but it isn't support - the rates for website integration are the same as our standard rates)

The Web Sales module runs on a workstation just like any other copy of Theatre Manager. While the web sales listener is running on this workstation, this workstation can not be used for other daily activities.

• new user licence: $495
• site certificate: The price will depend on if you would like 40-bit SSL encryption or 128-bit SSL encryption
• modules: this will depend on if you have the Enterprise edition of Theatre Manager with all modules or not. If you have it then all the HTML pages we've built is supplied (comes with the support agreement)
• integration: if you would like us to integrate TM Web Sales to your web site, we can help at the day rate of $450/day. If assitance is not required, after receiving the HTML pages you are on your own. We estimate at the moment that integration will take 2 days. You will just need to maintain the web pages afterwards which will be mostly content

If you have the Enterprise edition of Theatre Manager with all modules, you will get the Internet code and documentation as part of our normal upgrades (your customer number will start with TVAMCxxxxx). However, the HTML code needs to be integrated with your web site to make it work. Either you can do it, or you can have us help you, or, if you wish, you can ship us your web site and we'll integrate it and give the web site back to you (note: this kind of thing is not support, and is not part of your support agreement).

If you don't have the Enterprise edition and all modules, then you'll need to upgrade Theatre Manager. Call (403) 536-1214 to determine what will be needed based on your current licence.

Theatre Manager's Internet Web Sales module helps your venue to sell your products (such as tickets, passes, gift certificates, donations) over the Internet and interact in real time with the Theatre Manager database. Although it is a separate module of Theatre Manager, it requires all of the tools and functionality incorporated into the Enterprise Edition necessary for the Web Sales module to work. These could include the Credit Card Authorization Module, Multi-user Access and support for all items that can be sold on the Internet (such as tickets, passes, gift certificates, donations).

This is a big step for most of you and security is a concern. However, the whole design of the Web Module plus some standard Internet security items deal with the issues. The following addresses security:

• Site certificate - This forces 128 bit encryption of all traffic between the users web browser and your site. Each time you go to a web site that says it is secure, this is what they are using. You will have the same high level of trust with this as you would with other sites that are secure. This is the KEY element of the trust of a web site
• Firewall/Router - This stops the bad guys from getting in to your network. It would need to be programmed so that there is only one specific 'hole' in it that goes to Theatre Manager. For those technical people who play with routers, you can look like a particular port on the outside that does complete re-direction on the inside so nobody knows where the traffic is really going once it is in your network
• Theatre Manager Web Listener - We designed this to act like a web browser. It only responds to very specific commands to talk to the database (you can see the effect on the demo). You cannot do any more than that and the user cannot put anything onto your hard drive
• Web server computer - Using a second computer to host a web server (as in our example above) that is running IIS or apache and is behind the firewall and is properly set up means you can protect yourself. These servers are what most of the Internet is using when you surf
• Credit card server - This is completely behind the firewall and should be running on a different machine. Since it is behind the server and firewall (and especially if it is on a different machine that the web server), you can get to it and all authorizations are secure

The security of credit card sales over the Internet is provided through your IIS server (the web server component that comes with Windows 2000 PRO or similar server technology). This requires a site security certificate from Arts Management Systems, Verisign or some other provider. This certificate turns on the 'lock' on the patrons browser - meaning they have secure, encrypted communication with your venue.

When they use that, the encrypted credit card gets passed from their browser through the firewall and into Theatre Manager. Theatre Manager authorizes it using PCAuthorize - all behind your firewall. It is not our credit card software that gives security - it is the secure site certificate that authenticates that your venue is really your venue. Getting a site security certificate means sending off proof of incorporation/DUNS number to Verisign or one such similar vendor.

The responsibility of securing is really divided as follows:

• The web server does it between the browser and your venue
• Theatre Manager hides it in the database
• The credit card software is behind your firewall and handles the phone linkage to the bank

The Web Sales module will do automatic credit card authorization within Theatre Manager itself. When you perform your End-of-Day Wizard, you will see all the credit card transactions processed from the Internet. All credit card authorizations are processed behind your firewall on your router. This results in the secure transaction processing just like you are doing today.

Yes. What happens is you would start up Theatre Manager on a machine inside his firewall that acts as a web server for Theatre Manager. Your network technician will need to open up a port into your firewall for a specific port number to allow Internet traffic to come in. We use port 5111, but it can be set to any port that you have available. Plus you can set up the firewall to only allow traffic from the ISP (interconnection) to come through, blocking everyone else (i.e. the bad guys).

The idea is that the end user goes to your web site and hits the web server at the ISP on the Internet. This serves up most pages and gifs. One of those pages is a 'buy tickets' page. That page gets redirected through the firewall and asks Theatre Manager to authenticate the patron and handle the sale. When the user checks out his shopping cart, the message goes back in the firewall and Theatre Manager authorizes the credit card using PC authorize - inside the firewall. Thus, all other Theatre Manager processes like End-of-Day Wizard functions as if the sale was made over the phone.

The SSL site certificate happens at the apache server. The apache server could use a PERL script to redirect some web requests to the Theatre Manager's web sales listener and, in effect, becomes completely transparent to the user that most traffic is handled by the site at interconnection while the database input/output is handled inside the firewall.

In the Internet world, there is a big difference between number of simultaneous users and number of effective users. When we mention 5 simultaneous users per second in our testing, it means 5 people clicking on a link on their browser at the same time as fast as they can to determine response time. On the Internet, there is 'time latency' - meaning that once you see the list of shows you might want, you might think for a few seconds to make a decision before continuing. In other words, you might click to get a page and then wait between 2 and 20 seconds making a decision till you click the next step in the process. Suppose, on average, that a new link is clicked every 10 seconds by every person to create a ticket sale. This means 5 users x 10 seconds per decision = 50 effective users at the same time (without breaking a sweat on an older, slower machine). It wouldn't take to long to sell a 500 seat house.

As many as you want. Each patron gets little slices of time. The number that can be supported simultaneously varies with what you have. Things that increase the number of simultaneous users are:

• faster machine
• larger Internet pipeline (e.g. 2 ADSL lines are faster than one)
• splitting normal website stuff from TM Web Sales (if you have a website already, you are set up for this)
• setting up multiple web listeners (NOTE: One web listener is able to handle more than one order at a time)
• or all the above

The graphic is a gif of your choice, so you can do anything you want, including getting rid of the graphic, or having many of them, or if you like, adding streaming video or quicktime VR and show the look of the stage from their vantage point. All of these are actually outside Theatre Manager - they are just standard web page elements available to your web designer.

We understand that some venues would like to be able to let the customer pick the seats. We will likely add that in a future version (i.e. probably by summertime).

We did not in this version because we spent a lot of philosophical soul searching and round table discussions with box offic managers. Many started out with the above as a desire. Then we pointed out that customers would, in all likelihood, leave single seats or others that were hard to sell - resulting in a potential revenue loss, depending on how sold out things become.

The result of the discussions was that it was best if we created a routine that suggested seats, never leaving singles available because that was what they were doing by 'eyeball' in the box office. In other words, one of the functions of the box office manager is to give best seats to the customer that result in maximum profit for the theatre and there was a lot of intangibles that go into managing the house dressing.

So that was the rationale for what we did for the first version. Yet we are aware of the desire and will accommodate it.

It is only a picture and we put it there to show those people who are implementing the web module that they can have pictures of whatever they want on the page. It could be a photo from the event, small graphic showing sections of the theatre so that people can relate 'section A' to roughly where they are sitting.

We can envisage a future version where we dynamically generate the gif and only show the customer where they might sit. As for showing how sold out the house is, we thought that to be private to the theatre - in other words you may be selling tickets for others and you don't want renters or whatever snooping around to see what is is up with their event.

Also, you many have a lot of holds in place for a reason, and it may be aggravating for a customer who get the closest available on Monday which is row H. On Tuesday, you release a bunch of group tickets and not the best available is 4 rows closer. So the customer might be in again getting more and he finds out that something happened and he can get closer. We thought this would generate a customer service call/complaint to your box office that you would prefer to avoid.

It's one of the reasons the box office suggests best seats and a lot of dialog occurs between the customer/box office in a manual sale to give the customer comfort. Oftentimes, you never show them the actual map, you just point out on a picture where the best was.

We tried to take these long standing box office customs and procedures into account and simulate them.

Now, on each web interaction with the customer, you have access to all the variables in Theatre Manager. You can do things like add a variable to the page that says 'Only 25 seats left - hurry and buy now' or whatever suits the situation for an event.

Generally, our thoughts are you don't care. Why?

• the payments go through end of day just like anything else
• the tickets get printed using the end of day or batch print process - just like anything else
• Tickets have certain promotions so the reports tell you that
• You can create a promotion 'type' called internet if you want (e.g. like group tickets, education, etc.). This is in default data. If you do that, you can also assign GL codes so that all internet ticket sales get sent to the GL codes specified in each event - just like group or education or subscription, etc.
• the donations get put into the donors account - just like entering at box office

When a patron has submited their order, an email will be sent to them confirming their order was processed and received. The email is found within the WebPages directory called TMcheckoutInvoiceEmail.html.

You are free to edit this page as you would a normal web page to suit your style so that the email looks the way you want it to. If you so wish you may place images on the email or links to pages on your web site that you would like the patron to visit. You are only limited by your creativity and/or expertise in web design.

For a sample of what an invoice could look like please click here

The end of day practices are no different from what you do today - you run the End-of-Day Wizard. While you are 'settling the deposit batch', you can have Theatre Manager freeze credit card authorizations. So, if you do it at end of day or first thing in the morning, you will probably minimize any potential disruption on the patron buying on the Internet.

During the deposit process, the patron will get a web page indicating that the authorizing of credit cards is 'temporarily unavailable' due to maintenance, backups or what ever you want it to say. The patron is also advised that their shopping cart has not been lost and will resume exactly where they left off - when they continue.

We expect you'd have perhaps a couple of 5 minute +/- outages in a day and infrequently used times.

During backups, Theatre Manger will 'shut down' temporarily while the backups run. We suggest to run the backups at 2:00AM or 3:00AM in the morning - and set it up so that your backup program does a disk-to-disk copy for the Theatre Manager database only. That probably takes no more than 5 minutes. Theatre Manager then starts itself back up. Refer to the settings in Default Data to set the backup starting time and length of time.

During the backup process, the patron will get a web page indicating that the system is 'temporarily unavailable' due to maintenance, backups or what ever you want it to say. The patron is also advised that their shopping cart has not been lost and will resume exactly where they left off - when they continue.

We expect you'd have perhaps a couple of 5 minute +/- outages in a day and infrequently used times.

The internet module differs significantly from all other modules in one respect - it includes source code for HTML web pages which you can customize and brand your web site in your own way. Yes, there will be help pages to document what might happen - all this as part of the current support and maintenance agreement. That's how we work - the enhancements are free and a sample web site is free.

However, incorporating our sample HTML web pages into yours, or your current web pages into our templates is custom programming and development. Each and every site is different and there is no way around that. In the past, each of our customers has hired a local web developer to build their web sites. We think they'll probably hire that same person to integrate the sample web pages we provide.

So, if we give you the sample HTML web pages and your web developer does all the integration - no problem - no effort - no cost from Arts Management. If he needs a pointer or two, we want all our clients to acknowledge that when we help you, we have become involved in your custom web site development.

Our experience so far is that one site said they wanted to do it themselves and two asked us to help. When they asked us to help, it took 3-5 days of time (mind you it was a beta process, so we expected it to take a bit longer as we were learning, so 3 days wasn't bad). In the other case where a very experienced web developer wanted to do it themselves, it took him 80+ hours to revise an existing web site and involved us for the same 5 days debugging what he had done and setting things up - more time to help somebody than simply do it. Yes, we are giving away the software for web development, but we can't give away that much time - the web setup is almost a full blown installation in its own right.

Our prices are low and our support is generous - in your previous experience with us, you know that and your staff realize that as well. We hope you understand that we can't let custom development occur free of charge for all of our clients. Web sales is implementation of a brand new module and not support of an existing module.

There are none. There are no per ticket or per transaction fees levied by Arts Management for the use of the Internet Web Sales Module. None. Most other internet ticketing vendors require you allocate tickets to them that they sell on your behalf and charge the patron a fee, sometimes as much as $4.50 USD a ticket. They also hold the money for Internet ticket sales until a reconciliation occurs. There are no such hidden costs or cash flow issues using Theatre Manager's Web Sales Module.

Patrons can edit their own patron account, change their password or add new household members online.

To do so, they must have an existing online account and be logged in to their account.

When a patron arrives at your web sales, they click on the Login button on the top navigation bar, in the standard templates. If you have customized your web Sales, the placement may be different.

Once logged in, using their email address and password, they then click on the Account button to gain access to their account.

The patron can edit the contents of the name/address cells and click the Update Account button at the bottom of the window.

To change their password, the patron clicks on the Change Logon Password button next to their email address.

To add a new household member, the patron clicks on the New Patron link on the let side bar, and enters the information for the new patron. This adds a new household member to the patron's account (such as a spouse, partner or child).

For information on "skinning" your web sales site to make it look like your own, click here.

1. Open Terminal.

   Terminal can be found in the Utilities folder of Applications.

2. Type one of the following commands:

   Restarting Apache

   sudo /Library/Apache2/bin/apachectl restart

   Starting Apache

   sudo /Library/Apache2/bin/apachectl start

   Stopping Apache

   sudo /Library/Apache2/bin/apachectl stop

The Web Sales Listener waits in the background while Theatre Manager is running, and allows patrons to connect to the database via the internet. Web Sales needs to be enabled in Theatre Manager, Apache needs to be running and the web pages need to be in place.

1. Click Patron Sales >> Web Listener.

   

   The Web Listener will open.

   

   Providing there are no errors the web listener will start upon opening. If Theatre Manager encounters and error it will list the error in the logs. In addition, if the web listen can not start the button in the upper left corner will remain green with text reading Start Listener. For details on Stopping the listener click here.

 
Apache can be stopped using the Apache2 Preference Pane in System Preferences

1. Click the Apple in the upper left corner of the screen.
    
2. Select System Preferences.
    
3. Select Apache2.
    
4. Click the Stop button.
    

 
Apache can be stopped using the Apache Icon located in the lower right corner of the screen on the Apache machine next to the time.

1. Locate the Apache icon in the lower right corner of the window next to the time.
    
2. Single click on the Apache icon.
    
3. Select Stop.
    

1. Locate the Machine acting as the web listener.
2. In Theatre Manager click the Stop Listener button.

   

   Theatre Manager has not stopped the web sales and the button in the upper left corner will remain green with text reading Start Listener. It is now safe to close the Web Listener window. For details on Starting the listener click here.

Test Drive the Web Module Demo

To take a look at the web module and its features, click here.

When the sample web pages appear, click on the 'Online Sales' button on the side navigation bar to log in. Please keep in mind the following while you are playing with the demo:

• The demo web site is a sample of what a fully integrated web site could look like. You'll see pages for 'board of directors,' 'events,' 'venue history,' 'contacts,' etc. All these are integrated with the web sales and are meant to show you the flexibility of what can be done
• You will need to create an account for yourself. This will include your email address and password so that you can sign on again. Use your real one so that you will see a sample email that can be sent back to confirm you've signed up and your purchase(s) (all these emails are customizable)
• The rest of the information is meant to illustrate the data and process that could be mandatory at any venue. (You can control this at your site - just as you do today)
• Once you have signed in, you start building a shopping cart. Click on the buttons at the top to look at various items that are for sale. In this demo, shopping carts can contain:
  • tickets - we've allowed up to 10 in this demo - you can set this to be anything you want
  • donations - you determine the campaigns/funds you wish to make available
  • passes/gift certificates - you also determine which ones to sell
  • mailing fees
• You can also sign up to belong to specific mail lists
• When you are done buying what you want, you need to check out - just like at the grocery store. It will ask you for a credit card. The demo is configured so that it will accept various types of cards. We do not authorize anything, so you can use what you want. If you want to use a test number, the following Visa # (that we made up) will work: 4500 1234 5678 9012. Pick any expiry date you like
• Some purchase amounts will be accepted. Others may generate a 'decline' or a 'call center,' or a 'hold card'. The result you get depends on the cents portion of the sale (e.g. $xxx.x2 will be 'declined,' $xxx.x3 cents will generate a 'referral,' $xxx.x4 makes an 'error,' $xxx.x5 causes a hold card - all others will be approved)
• You may log in as often as you wish. You can buy whatever you want and try to do anything you like. We may restore the demo database back to its original state periodically (especially if you buy out the events), but do have fun - and do try to get everybody in your organization to buy at the same time (and, do try to break it)

1. Open the Command Prompt on the Web Listener computer
2. Type telnet and press enter
3. Type Open (the IP address of the Apache machine) 5111 and press enter
   This would look something like: Open 192.168.1.10 5111
   If the web listener can connect to the Apache machine the command prompt will return. If it cannot communicate it will return an error.
4. Type get /index.html and press enter
   A response means the Listener has permissions to access the files on the Apache machine.
5. Type Quiet

1. Open the Command prompt on the web listener.
2. Type telnet
   This will open a prompt for testing communication between the web listener and the apache machine.
3. Type open XX.XX.XX.XX:5111
   Replace XX.XX.XX.XX with the IP address of the Apache machine. If the command prompt returns without error port 5111 is open.
4. Type get /index.html
   This will indicate if the web listener has read privileges to the htdocs folder on the Apache machine.
5. Type quit
   This will end the telnet session.