How to Add and Display Judges Using the Speaker Module

Although the CMS does not include a dedicated Judges module, you can easily manage judges by refactoring the Speaker module to represent people associated with your event. This approach allows you to store judges alongside speakers while still separating them where needed on the front end.

This article explains how to:

• Create a category to differentiate speaker types

• Add judges to the Speaker module

• Tag them appropriately

• Display them on a specific page using filters

1. Create a “Speaker Type” Category

To separate speakers and judges, you will first need to create a category that identifies different types of people in the Speaker module.

1. Create a new category set in the CMS.

2. Name the category something like Speaker Type.

3. Add category options such as:

   • Speaker

   • Judge

   • Headline Speaker

   • Keynote Speaker

You can follow the full steps for creating categories in this guide:
https://support.asp.events/hc/en-us/articles/360012623011-How-to-Create-and-Manage-Categories-in-Showoff

Once created, this category will allow you to tag each record with its relevant type.

2. Add Judges to the Speaker Module

Judges should be added to the same Speaker module as your existing speakers so all “people” records are managed in one place.

You can add judges in two ways:

Option A: Add Manually

1. Navigate to Modules > Speakers in the CMS.

2. Click Add New.

3. Enter the judge’s details and save the record.

Option B: Bulk Import

You can also import multiple judges using a spreadsheet template.

Follow the steps in this guide:
https://support.asp.events/hc/en-us/articles/360013209691-Adding-Speakers

The article includes an import template at the bottom to help structure your data correctly.

3. Tag the Record as a Judge

Once the judge record exists in the Speaker module, you can tag it using the category created earlier.

1. Open the speaker (judge) record in the CMS.

2. Navigate to Speaker Option > Advanced.

3. Locate the Speaker Type category.

4. Select Judge.

5. Save the record.

Repeat this process for all judges in your dataset.

4. Display Judges on a Page

After tagging the records, you can filter the Speakers widget so only judges appear on a specific page.

1. Navigate to the page where judges should be displayed.

2. Add or double-click the Speakers widget.

3. Open the Search and Filters section.

4. Apply a filter for the Speaker Type category.

5. Select Judge as the filter value.

6. Save and publish the page.

The widget will now display only records tagged as “Judge”.

Additional Use Cases

This same approach can be used for other speaker types. For example, many event websites create a Headline Speaker or Keynote Speaker category and then display those records in a homepage carousel.

Highlighting key speakers in this way helps guide visitors toward the most important content on your site and improves the overall user experience by surfacing notable individuals involved in the event.

Tip: Treat the Speaker module as a “People” module rather than limiting it to speakers only. This makes it much easier to manage judges, moderators, hosts, or other participants while keeping your data organised and flexible across the website.