September 2024 - Version 4.34

Please review the updates below and follow the instructions to upgrade your Events application.

Table of Contents

• Breaking Change
• BT Salesforce Release
• Webapp Release
• Field/Layout Updates
• Mobile Check-in App
• Upgrade Instructions
• Important Definitions

Breaking Change

Potential Change in Default Behavior

If you have an Event that no longer shows expired Tickets/event-ended banners, but the expired Tickets/event-ended banners were previously visible, check the Show Expired Tickets field on the Event Settings record.

Previously, the Show Expired Tickets field’s default behavior was not respected, causing Tickets with a Sales End Date in the past to appear in the list of available Tickets, even though Show Expired Tickets was set to “False” (unchecked).

When the Event Settings Show Expired Tickets setting is set to “False” (unchecked), Event Items with a Sales End Date in the past will not appear in the list of purchasable Tickets. If Show Expired Tickets is set to “True,” and the Event Item’s Sales End Date is in the past, the Ticket will be visible but will have a label stating that it is not for sale. (Known Issue: 000003154)

Google Tag Manager's Default Behavior

The August 2024 release changed the Google Tag Manager’s default behavior. By default, Google Analytics cookies will only be collected when the Cookies Consent Banner is enabled. Previously, analytics were collected when the banner was disabled. (Known Issue: 000003814) 

For customers who have not enabled the cookie consent banner, tracking was mistakenly disabled as of August 27th. 

If you wish to re-enable tracking, please contact Blackthorn Support. We will be happy to assist you by enabling the cookie consent banner. Please include your org ID and desired configuration.  

BT Salesforce Release

Bug Fixes

• Zoom: If a user adds a free Zoom account to the Webinar/Meeting Account field on an Event or a Session, they will see the following error. “Webinar plan is missing. You must subscribe to the webinar plan and enable webinars for this user in order to perform this action.” This is because webinars cannot be created with free Zoom accounts. Previously, users were not alerted to the issue, but the following error message was included in a Blackthorn Log. “{"code":200,"message":"Webinar plan is missing. You must subscribe to the webinar plan and enable webinars for this user in order to perform this action."}” (Known Issue: 000003690)
• Forms: Users can now update or delete a Form related to many Events without causing an error. Previously, trying to edit a Form Element caused a CPU Apex Time Limit error, and deleting a Form Element resulted in the following error. "There's a problem saving this record. You might not have permission to edit it, or it might have been deleted or archived. Contact your administrator for help." (Known Issue: 000003816)
• Accessibility: If a user navigates the BT Event Attendee registration component with a keyboard, they can tab through the different fields and pages without being removed from the component. Previously, the keyboard navigation disrupted registration by removing users from the component (and back to the underlying page) as they moved between screens. (Known Issue: 000003430)
• Session Attendees: The Session Attendee’s Post Session Question URL field will be blank when a Form is not attached to the Session’s Post Session Questions field, preventing users from encountering a 404 error page. Previously, the Post Session Question URL field contained a value even though no Form was attached to the Session. (Known Issue: 000003793)
• Scheduled Jobs: Event Registration Submission (ERS) jobs now run as expected when multiple Attendees register for an Event within a minute of the top of the hour. (ERS jobs run on the hour.) Previously, registering within 60 seconds before the hourly jobs started caused the ERS job and Attendee registration to fail and the user to receive an “Attempt to de-reference null object” error. (Known Issue: 000003784)
• Matching and Duplication: Attendees can now register for multiple Events with identical names. The BT Events Attendee Matching Rule was updated to use an Event_ID instead of the Event Name to distinguish between Events. The registration process will also be successful if the BT Event Attendee Duplicate Rule’s Action on Create is set to “Block.” Previously, when Attendees registered for multiple Events with identical names, duplicate Attendee records were created. And if the BT Event Attendee Duplicate Rule’s Action on Create was set to “Block,” no Attendee records were created. NOTE: To use this new matching rule immediately, please make sure it is selected. (Known Issue: 000003791)
• Seats: The Seat record’s Name (from Attendee) field was updated to pull information from the Attendee’s First Name (First_Name2_c) and Last Name (Last_Name2_c) fields. Previously, deprecated fields (conference360__First_Name__c and conference360__Last_Name__c) on the Attendee object were used. (Known Issue: 000003302)
• Batch Jobs: When a user initiates the Attendee_UpdateAttendanceStatusBatch process, the Attendees' statuses will update successfully. Previously, the user received the "Regex too complicated" error in the system logs.

Campaign Members

• When an Attendee registers for multiple Events in a short period, they will be synced as Campaign Members to each associated Campaign. This issue was previously addressed in the March release, but it was revisited to ensure that Campaign Members are correctly created and synchronized for all Events, regardless of the registration timing. (Known Issue: 000003773)
• Updated logic allows users to click the Add Attendees button on a Campaign record to sync Attendees to the related Event even if the Event Settings’ One Unique Attendee Email Per Event is set to “True” (checked). This will happen even if a duplicate Attendee is identified in the Attendees list. Previously, clicking the Add Attendees button did not sync/add all Campaign Members as Attendees to the related Event. (Known Issue: 000003811)

Experience Cloud

• Experience Cloud users who click the Save & Publish Now button in the Event Builder will no longer get an error. Previously, clicking the Save & Publish Now button (or triggering the publishEvent() function) resulted in an error.
• Previously, the ability to restrict who could use a discount Code wasn’t working, allowing any Contact to use the Code. The functionality has been updated as follows. (Known Issue: 000003695)
  • A user logged into an Experience Cloud site as a Contact related to an Account can successfully apply a discount Code if…
    • The Account is related to a discount Code.
    • The Code’s Restrict To Account field is set to “True.”
  • A user logged into an Experience Cloud site as a Contact related to an Account cannot apply the discount Code if…
    • The Account is NOT connected to a discount Code.
    • The Code’s Restrict To Account field is set to “True.”

Enhancements

• Custom Settings: Two custom settings were added to the Blackthorn | Events Settings custom setting.
  • The Disable Blackthorn Email Job batch job turns off the Email Batch Job, which automatically sends emails to Attendees based on an Event’s configurations.
    • Field Label: Disable Blackthorn Email Job
    • API Name: conference360__Disable_Blackthorn_Email_Job__c
    • Data Type: Checkbox
    • Description: Check this box to disable the automatic emails that are sent to attendees based on the event configuration.
  • The Disable Blackthorn Webinar Job batch job turns off the Webinar Batch Job, which automatically adds Attendees to a webinar.
    • Field Label: Disable Blackthorn Webinar Job
    • API Name: conference360__Disable_Blackthorn_Webinar_Job__c
    • Data Type: Checkbox
    • Description: Check this box to disable the job that adds attendees automatically to the webinar.

Advanced Visibility

Caching 2.0 must be enabled to use Advanced Visibility. Contact Blackthorn Support to activate Advanced Visibility and Caching 2.0.

Advanced Visibility allows Event Organizers to leverage Contact or Person Account data to restrict visibility within the Experience Cloud or an authenticated iframe.

The feature uses rules with specific criteria to determine who can see and register for Events, Event Items, and Sessions. In tandem with Express Registration, Advanced Visibility helps Attendees find and register for relevant Events faster.

Benefits

• Flexible Rule Creation: Creates different rules for each Event, a single rule for multiple Events, or any combination.
• Automated Updates: Updates to Contacts or Person Accounts automatically trigger visibility and access to be re-evaluated.
• Comprehensive Criteria: Reference any Contact or Person Account record field, including formula fields.
• Customizable Eligibility: Tailor your Attendees’ visibility experiences with options like Extend Visibility to Account and Extend Eligibility to Account.
• Compatibility with Visibility Controls: Seamlessly integrate Advanced Visibility with existing Visibility Controls, allowing for flexible configurations.

Experience Cloud users can experience Advanced Visibility in the following ways.

• An authenticated Experience Cloud user has a Contact (or Person Account) record with information that is relevant to that user. The user can only see the Events, Event Items, and Sessions that meet the visibility rules’ criteria set by the Event Organizer.
• An authenticated Experience Cloud user can register a household member for an Event using Express Registration. Visibility rules will restrict a household member’s eligibility based on their Contact record, preventing the Experience Cloud user from registering them for an Event, Event Item, or Session they do not qualify for.
• When Express Registration is enabled, users will see all Events, Event Items, and Sessions that meet the visibility criteria for at least one person in their Account.
• An Event organizer with admin-level technical capabilities can restrict the visibility of Events based on standard and custom Contact record fields on their Experience Cloud site.

Dependencies

• Requires authentication via Experience Cloud or an authenticated iframe.
• Express Registration must be enabled to use the Extend Visibility to Account and Extend Eligibility to Account functionality.

Click here to learn more about Advanced Visibility.

Overlapping Sessions

Event Organizers can now prevent Attendees from registering for overlapping Sessions. This functionality allows for a more organized and manageable event schedule and ensures that Event resources like Session seats and Event spaces are used effectively.

To prevent Attendees from registering for overlapping Sessions, set the Event’s Prevent Session Overlapping checkbox to “True” (checked). When the field is enabled, the following will occur.

• The Add All button will not be visible on the Session Registration page during checkout.
• The Add button next to the Session will be grayed out if an Attendee tries to select a Session that overlaps with a Session already in their cart.

Click here for more information about the Overlapping Sessions feature.

Webapp Release

Bug Fixes

• Forms: If an Event has a Form with Form Element Type = “Big List Group,” users can scroll smoothly through the picklist options. Previously, the picklist values loaded too slowly, causing issues when scrolling. (Known Issue: 000003343)
• Payment Method: If an Attendee enters an invalid Payment Method using a Stripe or Authorize.net gateway, they will see a descriptive error message such as "Card is declined" or "Incorrect payment method; please use a valid card." Previously, the error message was generic (ex. “checkout failed”), which made it difficult to complete the checkout process. (Known Issue: 000003810)
• Accessibility: Attendees using screen readers can now listen to the screen reader read the FAQ section on an Event’s webpage. If a category isn’t added to the FAQ question, the question will be added to the “Expand Uncategorized Questions” section. Previously, screen readers read “Button” without additional information for the FAQ section if an Event with UI Experience = “Dynamic UI” had an Event FAQ with a blank Category field.
• Featured Sessions: When viewed on an Event with UI Experience = “Dynamic,” users will see Featured Sessions listed chronologically. Previously, Featured Sessions were listed based on their date and time of creation. (Known Issue: 000003391)
• Event Groups: The Event Group’s Description and Event Group Name will translate correctly when a user selects a different language using the Language Selector on the Event. Previously, the Description and Event Group Name were not translated when a user selected a different language. (Known Issue: 000003222)
• Experience Cloud: When an authenticated Experience Cloud user registers for an Event using information from their Contact record, all their information correctly populates the Event registration page fields. Previously, all fields were populated except the Phone field. (Known Issue: 000003118)

Checkout Process

• If an Attendee with Registration Status = “Invited” tries to register for an unpublished or past Event via their AttendeeLink, they will see a 2004 Error, preventing them from registering. Previously, invited Attendees could complete the registration process until the end, when it failed. Also, the Register button on published Event webpages for past Events will be disabled. (Known Issue: 000003087)
• An Event’s webpage will load correctly when the Event Settings’ Show Expired Tickets field is not enabled (unchecked), and the related Event Item has a Form Element. Previously, Attendees got an “Error (404) – F.split is not a function” error when they tried to load the Event webpage.
• When an Event has Sessions with a capacity limit and a user clicks the Add All button during registration, the Spots Remaining value will decrease by one, and the button label will update to Remove All. If the user clicks the Remove All button, the Session will be removed from their cart. Previously, the user could repeatedly click the Add All button, causing the Spots Remaining number to keep decreasing. (Known Issue: 000002711)
• EU Attendees who use third-party cookie consent banners can now successfully register for an Event from their AttendeeLink. Previously, EU Attendees who registered for an Event from their AttendeeLink intermittently saw the following error message. “Cannot read properties of undefined (reading 'contexId')." (Known Issue: 000003967)
• If an Attendee adds a donation Event Item to their cart, they will see the following on the Event checkout page: Title: “Donation” and Subtitle: “Event Item Public Item Name.” Previously, Attendees saw the Public Item Name twice on the Event checkout page. (Known Issue: 000003322)

Data Dictionary

• A Data Dictionary Key with a long text Value will now wrap correctly and stay within a page's boundary during checkout. Previously, using the Data Dictionary with Key = “LBL_PAY_WITH_CARD" or "ACT_PAY_LATER" and long text values caused overflow issues and prevented Attendees from reading the text. (Known Issue: 000003577)
• The Data Dictionary’s Key fields " LBL_SECTION_ALL_SESSIONS and ACT_VIEW_ALL_SESSIONS" are now capitalized in debug mode. Previously, they were in lowercase, which is not supported and was confusing. (Known Issue: 000003519)

Enhancements

• AttendeeLink: A Venue’s Venue Name and full address will be visible when an Attendee clicks their AttendeeLink. Previously, only the Venue Name was visible. (Known Issue: 000003624)
• Accessibility: All "input" and "textarea" elements in the Dynamic UI now have matching "label" elements with attributes that correspond to the id of the Form fields, enhancing accessibility. This ensures screen readers can correctly associate labels with their respective form controls.
• Iframes: Users are no longer required to contact Blackthorn Support to share their domain when allowlisting a domain.

Field/Layout Updates

New

• Object: Event Settings
  • Field Label: Allow Form Responses for Attendee Group
  • API Name: conference360__Allow_Form_Responses_for_Attendee_Group__c
  • Data Type: Picklist
  • Help text: “When a registration includes multiple Attendees, the user can expedite registration by copying the first Attendee’s responses to form questions to all other attendees. Does not copy contact info.”

Upgrade Instructions

Go to the Blackthorn Candy Shop to upgrade Events to the newest version.

Blackthorn has adopted Salesforce’s managed package installer to simplify the installation process. The installer will confirm that the correct Base Package and Payments versions are installed before upgrading Events.

For step-by-step instructions, click here.

Important Definitions

Breaking Change

A breaking change is a significant change that requires a package upgrade to see the update.

Off-Cycle or Hotfix Release

A hotfix is a release that corrects a problem that impacted extensive functionality.

BT Salesforce Release

The following applies to a Salesforce release.

• Salesforce fixes REQUIRE a package upgrade to see and utilize the fixes/enhancements.
• Only users with a System Administrator profile or the ModifyAllData system permission can install packages.

Webapp Release

The following applies to a Webapp Release (previously referred to as a platform release).

• Webapp fixes/changes usually do not require updates to the Salesforce package.
• These updates automatically apply to all customers; you cannot opt-out.

If you have any questions or need help with testing, please contact Blackthorn Support.