Okay, so the people coming to your event are not all sporting the latest iPhone. Some of them are in fact of a generation that still hold Internet Explorer as the browser of choice. You’ve got all of your event schedule and speaker data loaded into The Conference Plugin, but you need a quick and easy way to display all of that info in a way that works in non-Webkit browsers.
The Explorer App is an add-on to The Conference Plugin that builds a jQuery app in a page by simply entering the shortcode [the_explorer_app] into a page or post. The app offers many different views of your event data. By default, it displays:
- By Day / Time
- By Speaker Name
- By Schedule / Day
- By Venue / Day
- In a Table (grid view)
As with other Top Quark plugins, it’s written with plenty of hooks to allow other plugins to add customizations.
This plugin comes with basic print styling so that when a user hits print, the page gets styled in a way that looks good and makes sense on the printed page.
How do I insert the app into a page or post
Very simply. Add the shortcode [the_explorer_app]. 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)
* mode – choices are online and offline. Offline is experimental code. Do not use at this time. Default is online and that should be kept that way.
* noscript – choices are true or false (default). If set to true, the app will render in such a way that it works without JavaScript
So, if you wanted to generate the app for your 2011 event, you would use [the_explorer_app year=2011]
Anything Else?
Admittedly this ReadMe is a little sparse because I wanted to get the plugin up there. I’ll be adding more shortly, but in the meantime, please visit the forums on http://topquark.com and search for or ask your question.
The Day view, showing sessions at 9am on Saturday
Showing the bio and appearances for a speaker
Showing the grid view of the Saturday schedule
1.0.8
- Licensing: Plugin is now licensed under GPLv3
1.0.7
- Fix: more intelligent sponsor display for upcoming Sponsors add-on
1.0.6
- Fix: session details page now shows sponsor
1.0.5
- Fix: minor bug with displaying embedded schedules
1.0.4
- Fix: App now works even if parent page has App
1.0.3
- Fix: Noscript version on page with a parent now works
1.0.2
- Updated Top Quark Settings mechanism
1.0.1
- Fix: problem with static home page reverting to blog page
1.0.0
I’ve written the following add-ons and they’ll soon be 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.
