Use this plugin to manage the speaker and session information for your conference. You can input the data either in the easy-to-use admin interface or by uploading an CSV (Excel) file with all of the data contained therein. The plugin keeps all of the data from year to year so as you use it, you build a rich archive of your event’s history.
This plugin was born when I was running a small folk festival in Southern Ontario. I needed a way to manage all of the artists and schedules for the festival. It has since grown in into a highly-customizable, scalable and powerful tool for managing any multi-day, multi-talented (i.e. lots of speakers or artists), multi-scheduled (i.e. several venues, lots of scheduling within the event) event. It has been used for conferences and festivals.
Taking into consideration that different events have different vocabularies, you can define your event’s vocabulary right on the settings page. For example, a Festival has Artists and Shows, but a Conference has Speakers and Sessions. No problem.
You can define multiple schedules within your event. Perfect for conferences with different streams or festivals with a daytime schedule and an evening schedule.
For larger events with lots of data, I recommend enabling the cache (also on the settings page). This will greatly speed up the rendering and reduce load on your server (crucial for shared hosting environments).
Adding your event’s lineup to a page is as simple as inserting the shortcode [the_conference_lineup]. This will take the lineup from the current year’s event and output on the page. When you drill-down to a speaker’s page, you see immediately where they’re appearing over the course of your event.
Adding your event’s schedule to a page is as simple as inserting the shortcode [the_conference_schedule]. This will output a grid view of your event’s schedule, with all of the names clickable (takes you to the speaker’s page) and the session titles clickable (takes you to a description of the session).
The plugin is built on the Top Quark Architecture, and includes a wealth of hooks available to allow you to change all sorts of things. By writing an add-on plugin, or hiring me to do it for you 
you can add extra fields for your speakers, change the templates for any of the views and lots more. I’ve used the hooks to add multiple language options, streams within a festival, twitter handles for performers and many other things. The possibilities are limited only by imagination (and, I suppose, budget & time).
How do I insert my event’s lineup into a page or post
Very simply. Add the shortcode [the_conference_lineup] (or if your using different vocabulary, like Festival, you can also use [the_festival_lineup]). There are a few options you can include in this shortcode
* year – the year you want to display (use the year you defined for your event)
* style – choices are list (just a list of names with a link), expanded (includes photo and brief bio) or floated (floated thumbnails)
* order – choices are default (use the order you’ve set for your event), alphabetic or random
So, if you wanted to display the speakers from your 2011 event in alphabetic order, showing floated thumbnails, use the shortcode [the_conference_lineup year=2011 style=expanded order=alphabetic]
How do I insert my event’s schedule into a page or post
Very simply. Add the shortcode [the_conference_schedule] (or if your using different vocabulary, like Festival, you can also use [the_festival_schedule]). There are a few options you can include in this shortcode
* year – the year you want to display (use the year you defined for your event)
* include_times – choices are true (default – show times within the table) or false (don’t show the times)
* schedule – the ID of schedule to show by default (defaults to the first schedule alphabetically)
So, if you wanted to display the schedule from your 2011 event without showing the times and defaulting to Schedule ID #2, use the shortcode [the_conference_schedule year=2011 include_times=false schedule=2]
The shortcodes aren’t working – nothing appears, or my changes don’t appear
In order for the plugin to publish data on the front end, you must publish the data in the back end. Navigate to the Conferences page (under the Top Quark menu in the left-nav of your dashboard), find your event and then click either publish lineup (to publish the speakers or artists at your event) or publish schedules (to publish the schedules).
This is done so that you can publish part of your schedule while still working on other parts.
If you’ve made changes to your schedule, you must click the update published schedules link on the Conferences page.
Note: if you’ve used a different vocabulary for your event, like Festival instead of Conference, then the page you want is called Festivals (still under the Top Quark menu in the left-nav)
Does this plugin handle event registration?
No. There are other plugins for that. This plugin is for showing your event’s information.
All of the links on my schedule page are leading back to my home page
This is a known issue for sites that do not have pretty permalinks turned on. We are working to fix it for a future release, but for now, the problem can be solved by using pretty permalinks.
Can I print Name Badges for my speakers?
Yes. This plugin comes with a powerful Printables module that you can use to design and print name badges, accreditation letters, tech sheets or bio sheets. The module uses the Smarty templating engine and there are many variables available. The plugin can also be setup to hook into other databases, making it possible to print all delegate badges without having to add them to the lineup. This requires some development, but it is possible. Using these hooks, I’ve hooked the plugin up with the contact management plugin [http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/pommo](poMMo for WordPress).
Bonus – using the printables module, you can actually print the speaker’s schedule right on the front or back of their name badge. To do that, simply insert the Smarty code {$Artist.ArtistShows} into the Printable. Heck you can even include a venue legend with the code {$StageNamesLegend}. If you want to put this on the back of the badges, just click the “Collate for reverse-side printing” checkbox.
How do I change the template for one of the views?
All of the views are generated using Smarty templates. To hijack a view and make customizations, you’ll need to add your own plugin. If you’re familiar with writing plugins and have experience with the Smarty templating engine, this is quite simple. If not, it might be best to get a programmer on board to help you out. I’m available for hire.
The first step is figuring out the name of the template that you want to hijack. Look at the files within The Conference Plugin. The templates are located in a directory called smarty. For example, if you wanted to hijack the floated lineup view, you would be looking for the template smarty/festivalapp.floated_lineup.tpl. Once you figure out the name of the template you want to take over, you can begin writing your plugin.
Within your new plugin, simply add the following:
add_filter('Smarty_Instance_resource_name','my_Smarty_resource_name',10,2);
function my_Smarty_resource_name($resource_name,$args){
$smarty = $args[0];
switch($resource_name){
case 'festivalapp.floated_lineup.tpl':
$smarty->template_dir = dirname(__FILE__).'/smarty/';
break;
}
return $resource_name;
}
Then, put a file called festivalapp.floated_lineup.tpl into a subdirectory of your plugin called smarty (i.e. wp-content/plugins/my_plugin/smarty). Start by copying the contents of the original template in The Conference Plugin and then start making your modifications.
Please Note: It is wise to disable caching while you are working on your customizations. Otherwise you may not see your changes as you make them. To disable caching, visit the settings page for The Conference Plugin.
Anything Else?
Please visit the forums on http://topquark.com and search for or ask your question.
I’ve written the following add-ons and they are available for purchase from TopQuark.com
The Conference App
Turns the data for your event into a SmartPhone, touch-driven, native-feeling web app that works on iPhone, Android and Blackberry Torch. Mobile is the way of the future and this plugin will give your event a mobile app at a small fraction of the cost other people want to charge you. The app can be enabled to work offline, meaning once someone has loaded the app onto their phone and saved it to their homescreen, they can access it even if their phone is in Airplane mode.
My Schedule
Allows registered users of your site to create their own schedule by bookmarking speakers or sessions that interest them. They can then view their schedule and even print it.
Sponsors
Add sponsors to your event, upload logos, define sponsorship categories. You can even attach sponsors to particular sessions within your event.
