Welcome to Website Preparation

What to prepare? 

It is time to build your show website. 
This section of the SuperShow Help Centre outlines some of the first steps to get your show up and running as a website.

Please download the full list of items (information, files, images, content) that you will need over the building of your system: Introductory Guidelines

Your Event is an ongoing business, changing focus throughout its lifecycle.
These steps are to help you to get your initial website created so that you can move on to the next stage of your website development. 

Your front facing website shows your event brand and information.

Some files and text to have ready:

• Have a domain name chosen (not neccessary, but helps when creating your staging site)
• Prepare a file of your Show Logo (as PDF format, JPG or PNG format)
  • High Resolution is best. Landscape format ideally. Size: 500pixels x 100 pixels long (landscape)
  • Suggestion if your logo is not easily available: check with your Schedule/Catalogue Printer from previous year's as they may have one on file.  
• Choose a selection of 5/6 images - start with images which you can add to a gallery on your web pages - more images can be added later
• Write a catchy paragraph for your homepage about the Show - a tag line that gives your show's main highlights and your visitors favourite things about your show, using good keywords. 
• Gather any marketing material that will be useful on your website (text and/or images) to upload - maintaining your brand guidelines.

Once you have a Staging Site available to update, you can start to add these files and the information to the site. 

COMPLETE YOUR BUSINESS INFORMATION BASICS

1. Fill in your Company Details 
   • Click into Administration > Settings > Billing
   • Fill in all fields here - if you are missing some information, enter X in the field until you have the correct information
      
2. Complete your Email Checks
   • Click into Administration > Settings > Mail
   • Enter the main Site Administration Email to Site Notifications Email - this email account will receive a copy of any emails sent from the system, if the Email Template setting for 'Send Email to Site Admin' is set to Yes.
      
3. Add your Email Signature
   • Click into Administration > Settings > Mail
   • Enter your Email Signature
     • This will show on the bottom of every email being sent through the site
     • Suggestion: Your Show Name, Show Date, Show Website, Social Media, Email, Showgrounds Address - format well as this goes out on every email from the site
     • Suggestion if same email signature on all automatic emails (Competitions, Trade, Accounts created, etc) Include a closing salutation, eg. Regards, City Show Team, www.  , Email, Phone
   • You can insert an image into the signature, using the URL to that image
     • Use the public URL (ie. it does not include /admin in the URL)
   • Your site logo will show in the header of the automatic email sent, by default. 
      
4. Add the Site Name and formats
   • Click CMS > Appearance > Other Settings
   • Add your Site Name - this will display on the website footer, emails and all places where the site name can be referenced. 
     • eg. City Show Society Limitied
   • Set the date format you prefer to use
   • Set the Address labels (ie. the title on the field when asking the user to create a profile)
   • Choose if you should include the Company Reg. Number, and/or tax details. 
   • Add site logos for all responsive formats. 
      
5. Review your default Outgoing Server 
   • The default server uses noreply@ardsoftware.com
   • If you want to set up your own, you must have all details completed - Change your default email
     • You should test and prove to yourself that your own email account is sending mail from the site successfully.
     • If you change outgoing mail from 'Default' - you must ensure it is working - no orders will be able to complete unless your own email account is configured correctly. 
   • Tip: Test this yourself by submitting a Contact Us request / putting through a test order to test if your new settings are working

Please ensure these basic settings are always reviewed and completed before opening your site for applications.

If the basics above are entered incorrectly, effects may include:

• '500' errors 
• Cart not working as intended without correct email server
• Missing enquiries 
• Bounced emails

BUILD YOUR WEBSITE STRUCTURE

1. Create your Pages
   1. It is a good idea to map out your menu structure before setting up on the CMS. This helps you to consider all page options that you want to include, and how to group them. 
2. Arrange your Pages per menu area (Top/Main/Footer)
3. Add Images 
4. Add your logo to the site
5. Set a preview icon from the stock images for your pages
   1. Choose icons from a selection of colour schemes
   2. If your event has it's own icons, there is no requirement to use our supplied icons

Your website is something that will evolve over time, and can be edited at any time.