2022.06.14 - Host Portal: new checklist and invitation share features

Release summary:

• The Host Portal is now split into "tabs" for easy navigation and contains new functionality:
  • An interactive checklist created by you for the Host, and
  • Easy "Share" buttons for sharing the invitation link out with friends
• The Beacon (chat/help center icon on the lower right of your screen) now shows only to logged-in users, which enables us to use more functionality there: namely, we can push messages to you and integrate help articles into it.

Full Notes

Today's new update will mean some great changes for your host! To see things from their perspective, check out this super short video, which you can share with your hosts ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXtWyQPizhs):

What's new:

• The Host Portal is now split into a few "tabs" across the top, and includes some new functionality:
  • The Home tab shows your notes to the Host as well as the Key Dates (date/time and description only). The links for the Key Dates are omitted so that your Host doesn't send those to guests; instead, they focus all guests toward the Invitation Link (more on that in a moment).
  • The Checklist tab shows a checklist you create for the Host! They can interact with it (and you can monitor their progress too).
  • The Set up tab is like before; it's where the Host can add messaging and a selfie for guests to see.
  • The Invite & View Guests tab has two new buttons. You can configure sample invitation wording (in the Sparkhub Event setup page) to recommend to your Host, for use in those personal messages. Then, Sparkhub will add on the invitation link, and provide it straight to your Host here. They can click a button to copy the message to their clipboard, then click the Share button to share it out (just like we're all used to with other share buttons all over the internet; ever shared your Wordle score?). Their phone will bring up various options: text messaging, Facebook messaging, email, Facebook post, etc. Plus, an image of your choice will be shared too!
    • This tab also includes the guest list, as before, with clickable phone numbers and email addresses.

• We corrected a bug that caused your Checklists not to copy over when cloning your own Events.
• The green "Beacon" - that is, the chat icon that appears on the lower right of the screen - now shows only to logged-in users. This means non-users accessing a my.sparkhub.app page (such as party guests viewing an invitation, or Hosts viewing their portal) will not see this icon, which is intended for Sparkhub subscribers. Because of this, we will now be able to use the beacon to make announcements for you. We'll also be able to embed a searchable version of the help articles inside it to offer a self-help option to you, or to share articles inside the Beacon in response to your support requests.
  • There is a different (blue) Beacon for potential Sparkhub subscribers that appears on the public sparkhub.app website and on the Join page. This allows people to reach out with questions, but they won't be able to access help articles or see announcements intended for subscribers.

What this means for you

The changes in the Host Portal of course have corresponding changes in your Event setup. Namely, in your Event, you'll see these new fields:

Host Checklist: this will appear on the Host Portal. Items can be checked or unchecked either by you or by your Host. When cloning an Event, this checklist will copy over and all items will show as unchecked.

Tip: do you want to give your host certain dates to complete specific items? Include that on the item! e.g., "2 days before your show: do this" or "2 days later: do that."

Photo for Invitation Share Button: upload a photo that will be included when the host clicks the "share" button in their Invite & View Guests area of the Portal.

Tip: keep the file size small, preferably under 1MB. This is because, depending on the cell carrier of your Host, there is likely a file size limit on sharing images via text.

Want to use the same image that is displayed on the Invitation page itself? Go for it. But, we wanted to give you the option to have a different one go out in the host's messages to friends.

Message for invitation sharing: type out example language for your Host to use when messaging the Invitation link to friends. Do not include the invitation link, however; Sparkhub will do that for you!

Example: if this field says 

Hi! Check out this invitation:

then the language your host will access in the Portal will be

Hi! Check out this invitation: 

https://my.sparkhub.app/i/eventid

New resources for you

• This video is a great one to share with hosts! Let them see how easy running their event will be, thanks to the Host Portal.
• This help center article has been updated to show the new fields and how they appear in the Portal.
• The worksheet in the "Design your Perfect Party" course has been updated to reflect this change, including example/template language.
• A corresponding Event template will be updated, which will include the sample host checklist from the worksheet.

One final thought

As we continue improving Sparkhub, there is always a tension: we want to add more functionality and flexibility for you...but every time we do, this means more fields and more options inside your Sparkhub setup. As a result, you may notice that the Event setup page is getting a bit busy. We are aware! That's why we will be working to arrange your Events settings and fields into separate tabs for easier categorization. Of course, keep in mind that many, many of the settings and fields will stay the same from one event to the next; you don't have to start from scratch each time! But we want the page layout to reflect the simplicity of creating an Event. We will keep you posted as we work on design changes that impact how you interact with the software behind the scenes.

As always, reach out any time with questions, ideas, or just to say hey, using the Beacon (chat icon) below. We love hearing from you.