Resource & Microsite Sections
- caitlin.mueller@touchcast.com
Overview
This document will outline the steps to manage resources and microsites for an event page. We will also go over different use cases to further customize the page experience using these elements.
Terminology
Resource: Additional materials located outside of Agenda cards for attendees to access on the event page. Resources can be videos (.mp4 or .mov), documents (PDFs), external URLs, images (.jpeg or .png), and/or audio files (.mp3).
Sponsored Microsite: Customizable lightboxes, represented on the event page via a clickable graphic, where you can host information about a company, including a header image, description, attachments & handouts, contact information, and more. These can also be used for additional types of information profiles, such as company divisions or specialties, conference exhibitors, vendors, etc.
Company Microsite: Customizable lightboxes, represented on the event page via a clickable graphic, where you can host information about a company, including a header image, description, attachments & handouts, contact information, & more. These can also be used for additional types of information, such as company divisions or specialties, conference exhibitors, etc.
How To
Below, you’ll find steps to create each of these features and custom use cases for each.
Create a Resource
To create a Resource, navigate to the Content Management icon in the CMS. You’ll see two options under the Resources section: Categories and Content.
Categories: Allows the user to create and organize Resources into specific categories. These are great for when you would like to divide resources by subject or if you prefer to have less horizontal scrolling for events that may have more than six resources in a row. You must create at least one category to create an individual Resource.
Content: This is where you’ll create and upload the individual resources for a page, adding in all relevant information and graphics when required.
Create a Resource Category:
Click on the Resources Category section and select “New Category”.
Enter in Resource category name. If you do not indicate a specific category name, our default is to use “Resources”. The Category Description is optional as it does not appear on the page but the CMS does index it to use for the search feature. Select submit once complete, and now you can move on to adding individual resources.
Create Resource Content:
Click on the Resources Category section and select ‘Content’ -> ‘+New Content’
Enter in the relevant information into the resource fields. The minimum you need to add is a Title and resource (in whichever format is given). However, depending on the resource, a Subtitle and Description may be helpful.
Resource Subtitles appear as gray text above the resource title. Common use cases are to include a call-to-action to encourage attendees to click (EXPLORE MORE), as a way to categorize the resource without creating a separate row on the event page (REPORTS) or to add context to when the resource was created (SUMMER 2021).
A Resource Description appears when an attendee hovers their cursor over the Resource Title. Resource Descriptions are useful to provide further detail of the contents. Other use cases can be to provide a password to attendees if the document contains sensitive information.
ℹ NOTE: Resource Descriptions truncate roughly after 35 characters (2 lines) so it is best to keep descriptions short and concise. |
Now that the editorial information has been added to the page, you can add the content in the following formats and the relevant design assets.
To add a resource file, select the type. Once specified, additional fields may appear depending on the resource type. Depending on the information the CMS pulls for that particular type, you may need to add fewer or more details.
Video: If you are adding a video resource, you will see options to enable various features similar to adding VOD to a page. Video formats accepted: .mp4, .mov.
PDF: Depending on your source, you can either upload the PDF through your device files or add it through Touchcast Library.
Podcast: Similarly to the Video resource, you can add a file or link for Podcasts. It is not necessary to add the Duration. Podcast formats accepted: .mp3
Link (URL): Copy + paste the external link to the field. Select ‘Open in New Tab’ to mitigate potential issues if the site does not support iframing.
Image: You can either upload the image through your device files or add it through the Touchcast Library (if previously uploaded). Image files accepted: .jpeg, .png
ℹ NOTE: Once your resource has been uploaded from your device it will automatically add to the Touchcast Library, no need to re-upload in the Library section of the CMS. |
Upload a resource cover image. If no image is uploaded, the CMS will automatically pull a thumbnail from the uploaded file. We recommend adding a resource cover to match the branding and theme of the page.
Select “Open in New Tab” to ensure that the page opens correctly for attendees. This is selected by default to mitigate any risk of links not opening properly if the site does not allow iframing.
OPTIONAL: To increase the accuracy of the search feature, you can add Tags to the resource with references to the subject, type of resource, etc.
Create a Sponsored Microsite
Similar to Resources, Sponsored Microsites must have a category to attach to before being added individually. Follow the same steps above in the Resource category to create your Sponsored Microsite category.
Once a category has been created and assigned, you can begin filling out the information to fill the sponsored microsite lightbox.
Once Sponsor information has been entered, upload the Sponsor logos. There are three types of logo styles: black, white, and color. These can refer to either the color of the background that the logos are uploaded on or in the instance of the "Color" field, the actual color(s) of the logos themselves. In this instance, we’ll be referring to the color of the background that the logos are uploaded on in order to identify them in the following sections of the microsite.
Once the logos have been uploaded, you can assign them to appear in various parts of the page depending on preference request:
NOTE: The minimum logos that need to be added are the Sponsored Card Logo and the Sponsor Top Page (Popup) Logo. All other sponsored logo sections are optional and if not used you can select the “Don’t Show” option in the dropdown menu. |
Sponsored Card Logo Type: This appears on the main event page under the session cards. This background is often white, so the compatible logo to select is “White” which has already been uploaded. We will assign it to the “Sponsor White Logo” that has been uploaded.
Sponsor Top Page (Popup) Logo Type: This refers to the logo that appears in the lightbox corner once the card logo has been selected. Because of the black gradient used for header images, we will assign the black background logo that has been uploaded.
Sponsor Login Rotating Logo Type: When assigned, this appears in the top right of the login page.
Sponsor Agenda Rotating Logo Type: This appears below the text agenda on the page.
Sponsor Description Rotating Logo Type: This appears directly below the event description on the main page
ℹNOTE: If multiple sponsors are assigned to the Login page, Agenda, and Description sponsored sections, the CMS will automatically rotate through each logo. At an individual sponsor level, the CMS allows control over which logos are to appear in any of the rotating areas (Login, Agenda & Description). To hide a logo, you can select “Don’t Show” from the dropdown. If no sponsor logos are assigned to the Login, Agenda or Description areas then “SPONSORED BY” text will not appear. |
Once all logos have been assigned to various CMS locations, you can now enter any sponsor website links, attachments, or company contact information
Sponsor website/social links
Attachments: In the attachments section, you can either upload a file (.pdf, .mp4 etc.) or you can link out externally. There is no technical limit to the amount of attachments you can have in the microsite, but the recommendation for UI considerations is to not exceed 6-10.
Contacts: In the contacts section, you can add a headshot, name, and contact information of the representative. You can add multiple contacts, up to 20 max.
Company Addresses:
Other Sponsor Microsite Use Cases
Other than utilizing Sponsor Microsites for companies that are actual sponsors of an event, a few creative use cases have been creatively executed and have proven successful historically.
Award/Honoree Showcase: Companies or organizations that are being honored or featured during the event.
Categorized Resources: Topics that have resources/attachments housed within them if you prefer the layout of a microsite rather than individual resource cards.
Create a Company Microsite
Company Microsites are built similarly to Sponsor Microsites; however, they appear in a smaller grid format compared to Sponsor Microsites, and the buttons that appear on the main page differ. Both microsite types require the same information to be uploaded and have the same formatting within their respective lightbox popups. To create a Company Microsite, follow the steps above in the Sponsor Microsite section.
Custom Access Compatibilities & Incompatibilities
Sponsor & Company Microsites are not compatible with custom access groups. You cannot assign specific attendee groupings access to specific microsites. All microsites are available to all attendees.
Resources are compatible with custom access groups. When attendees are allowlisted, they can be assigned to Resources User Groups. Each resource can be assigned to one of these groups to be made available to select attendee groupings.
