How to Create an Event App with AppPresser

Event apps are very popular, and they are easy to make with AppPresser.

Some event apps just show information about a single event, while others need a list of multiple events (a church for example). We will go over both of those here.

Whether you just need to list upcoming events, or you need a more complex app with registration and other features, AppPresser can handle it.

Here are the features we will have in our app:

• Event List and Details
• Event Registration (free or paid)
• Speaker/Sponsor List
• Event Location with map
• Event check-in with geolocation
• Push Notifications

Here are the plugins/themes I will be using:

• AppPresser core plugin
• AppTheme 2.0
• Custom Child Theme
• AppSwiper
• AppPush
• AppGeolocation
• Event Espresso (free version)

All of the extensions listed are in the Agency Bundle. (The only paid product that is required for this app is the AppTheme, everything else is optional or free) You can download the child theme I used here:

Download AppTheme Child (Events)

*Note: this child theme only works with AppTheme 2.0+

Add Event Information to WordPress

In any event app, the first thing we need is an event. For your app, it doesn’t really matter how this is created. You can create a normal WordPress post, or use a plugin or custom post type. No matter how it is created, it will display in the app just fine.

For this app, I’m using the Event Espresso plugin. I created a couple of events in Event Espresso, and added a little custom CSS to help with the display. I did this by going to Event Espresso->Events->Add New Event, and filling out the details. If you need help with this step, I’d recommend checking out the Event Espresso documentation.

I can see my events by adding a page to my app using a custom link to mysite.com/events. The AppTheme automatically makes it into this nice looking app style list.

Clicking through to view more details about the event shows the details, location, registration link, and more.

Event Espresso handles the registration, ticketing, and display of the event details. You can allow people to register for your event free, or charge, all through your app.

AppPresser has built-in login functionality so that customers can view their event details by logging in to their account.

Speaker and Sponsor Lists

Many event apps have lists of speakers and sponsors.

The AppTheme will display any WordPress posts in a nice app-style list, so all we have to do is add the speakers and sponsors as posts.

I added posts in WordPress with the category of ‘speaker’ and ‘sponsor’, but this would just as easily work as a custom post type. To show these in the app, I just added a custom menu link to mysite.com/category/speaker and mysite.com/category/sponsor.

Here are our events, speaker, and sponsor pages so far:

You can easily add other list pages, such as attendees or schedule this same way.

Location Page with Check in

Our location page will be a normal WordPress page with a Google Map embedded.

The main difference will be that app users can check-in to your event using our Geolocation extension. On my Location page, I have an iframe tag with a Google Map (got the code from Google Maps), and information about the location. My check-in button looks like this:

[checkin class="btn-block" button_text="Check in" address="1610 Lake Las Vegas Pkwy Henderson, NV 89011"]

You can change the address to your event location. These check-ins will appear in your WordPress admin under “Checkins.”

You can also allow people to post their location and display a map using the [app-geolocation] shortcode.

Other Features

There are many other features you could add to your event app, let’s look at a few of them here.

Push Notifications

Push notifications can be handled with the AppPush extension. Configuring notifications for an event is the same as any other app, we have lots of information in our documentation.

Attendee Photo Gallery

A great feature would be to allow attendees to upload photos of the event, and display them in a gallery in the app.

This can be done using our AppCamera extension, and the WordPress [gallery] shortcode. We wrote a post a while back about making a custom photo gallery, it’s also in our PressChat app.

Surveys

Many events like to use surveys to get feedback from attendees. We can do that using a forms plugin like Gravity Forms or Ninja Forms.

To embed a survey, create a form following the instructions for your plugin. Add that form to a page in your app, and make sure that page is in your app menu.

Final Notes

Many plugins work with AppPresser, so if you are using a different events plugin, it should work with a little customization. Usually it just takes a little CSS to make sure everything looks good.

AppPresser won’t work well for event apps that need offline access, such as using it inside a convention center with no internet of cellular data network. As long as you have a decent internet connection and a good web host, the app should work great.

It’s possible to add lots more features, what type of features do you want in your event app? Let us know in the comments.