Using the Stages Programme Layout

Instead of displaying every session in a single list, Stages uses your event locations to create individual columns, with sessions displayed under their relevant stage, theatre or room.

This makes it particularly useful for conferences, exhibitions and other events with several sessions running concurrently, giving attendees a clear way to compare timings and plan which sessions they want to attend.

See It in Action

You can view an example of the Stages Layout here:

View the Stages Layout demo

The demo shows how a multi-day programme can be displayed across several locations.

Setting Up the Stages Layout

To get started:

1. Add a Seminars widget to your chosen page.
2. Within the widget Settings, select Stages from the Programme Layout dropdown.
3. Configure Grouping 1 and Grouping 2.
4. Choose the information you want to display within your session cards.
5. Set your preferred Order By option.
6. Save your changes and preview the page.

Recommended Grouping

For most events, we recommend:

Grouping 1: Date
Grouping 2: Location (Custom order or A-Z)

The Stages Layout has been designed around this structure.

Grouping 1 controls the main tabs displayed across the top of the programme. Using Date allows attendees to switch between different event days.

Grouping 2 controls the columns within the programme. Using Location creates a separate column for each stage, theatre or room.

For example:

Each session is automatically displayed within the column associated with its assigned location.

Ordering Your Sessions

Within the widget Settings, use the Order By option to control the order in which sessions appear.

For most programmes, we recommend selecting Start Time so sessions are displayed chronologically from earliest to latest.

Setting Up Your Locations

As locations create the columns within the Stages Layout, each session should be assigned to the correct location within ShowOff.

To create or manage locations:

1. Go to Modules > Seminars > Locations.
2. Select Add Location.
3. Enter the location name and area, if required.
4. Choose the colour associated with the location.
5. Add an optional description.
6. Save your changes.

The location name is displayed prominently within your programme, so we recommend using short, attendee-friendly names such as:

• Main Stage
• Tech Stage
• Marketing Theatre
• Workshop Room
• Demo Stage

The colour assigned to the location is used within the programme heading. You can enter an exact HEX colour value or use the ShowOff colour picker.

You can also add an optional description, which can be displayed beneath the location name.

If a session is assigned to the wrong location within ShowOff, it will appear under the wrong stage within your programme.

Styling Your Date Tabs

When Date is used as Grouping 1, your event dates are displayed as tabs across the top of the programme.

To customise these:

1. Open your Seminars widget.
2. Go to Advanced Settings.
3. Select Date Tabs.
4. Use the Content tab to choose how your dates are formatted.
5. Use the Styles tab to customise colours, sizes and shapes.

The active and hover states can also be styled separately, making it easy for attendees to identify which day they are currently viewing.

Configuring Your Session Cards

Each session appears as an individual card within its relevant stage column.

Because several stages can be displayed alongside one another, these cards are more compact than those used within a traditional single-column programme.

You have control over both the information displayed and how the cards are styled.

To access these options:

1. Open your Seminars widget.
2. Go to Advanced Settings > List Settings.
3. Open the Content tab.
4. Select the Default tab to configure the standard sessions within your programme.

From here, you can customise backgrounds, borders, corner styles, text colours and the individual pieces of session information displayed.

Session Title

The session title is always displayed and forms the main heading of each card.

Keeping titles reasonably concise can help when displaying several stage columns alongside one another.

Date

You can choose whether to display the session date within each card and customise its text and icon colours.

This is particularly useful if your programme is grouped by something other than Date. If Date is already your first grouping, you may prefer to hide it from individual cards to avoid repeating information.

Start and End Time

Session times allow attendees to quickly compare what is happening across different stages.

Accurate start and end times are particularly important within the Stages Layout as attendees will often use the programme to compare concurrent sessions.

Description

Session descriptions can be shown or hidden and their text colour can be customised.

You can also control how many characters are displayed before a Read More link appears.

For busier programmes, keeping descriptions relatively short will help make each stage easier to scan.

Session Image

Session images can be shown or hidden and are pulled from the Session Image assigned to each session.

You can also control the image width, from 25% to 100% of the available card width.

If no image has been assigned to a session, no image will be displayed.

Because images take up additional space, consider whether they add useful information before enabling them across a particularly busy programme.

Speakers

You can control how speakers appear within each session card, including:

• Showing or hiding speakers.
• Using a list or grid layout.
• Displaying speaker photographs.
• Adjusting speaker image sizes.
• Displaying speaker titles, such as Dr or Prof.
• Displaying speaker group headings.

Speaker and Chairperson are available as standard. If your event uses additional speaker types, such as Moderator or Judge, these can also be displayed once the relevant custom speaker type has been created and assigned to your speakers.

If you're unsure how to add additional speaker types, please contact ASP Support.

Sponsors

Sponsor information can be displayed where it has been assigned to a session.

You can choose whether to show sponsor details and customise the sponsor label and associated colours.

This can be particularly useful for sponsored sessions, presentations or theatres.

Streams

If your programme uses streams or tracks, these can also be displayed within each session card.

Streams can be shown as coloured labels, helping attendees quickly identify the type or theme of a session.

The relevant stream must first be assigned to the session within ShowOff before it can be displayed.

For most Stages programmes, we recommend using Location to control your columns and Streams as an additional way of categorising the sessions within them.

Location

Location information can also be shown or hidden within individual session cards, with options to customise its text and icon colours.

Where Location is already being used as Grouping 2, you may choose to hide it from individual cards to avoid repeating the stage name.

Locations must be correctly configured and assigned to the relevant sessions within ShowOff.

Add to Calendar

You can enable an Add to Calendar button, allowing attendees to save individual sessions to their personal calendar.

Depending on the attendee's device and calendar application, sessions can be added to services such as:

• Google Calendar
• Outlook
• Apple Calendar
• Other compatible calendar applications

The appearance of the button can also be selected from the available button styles within your theme.

Styling Programme Breaks

Breaks can be given a different background colour to help distinguish them from standard programme sessions.

Within your widget, navigate to:

Content > Session Style > Break

The selected break colour is applied to:

• Breakfast
• Break
• Lunch
• Dinner

These session types share the same colour setting, helping breaks stand out clearly within the programme.

How Much Information Should I Display?

Stages can display a large amount of session information, but more content does not always make the programme easier to use.

For most events, we recommend prioritising:

• Session title
• Start and end time
• Key speakers
• Stream or track, where relevant
• Sponsor, where relevant

Images, descriptions and repeated information such as dates or locations can then be added where they provide additional value.

The aim is to make it easy for attendees to scan several stages at once without making individual cards unnecessarily large.

Using Other Groupings

You are not restricted to Date and Location when configuring your programme. Other available programme fields can also be selected for Grouping 1 and Grouping 2.

However, Date → Location is recommended for most Stages programmes because the layout has been designed around event days and physical stages.

Using categories, session types or fields containing a large number of values may create too many columns and make the programme more difficult to navigate.

If your event is organised around physical stages, theatres or rooms, we recommend using Location to control these columns.

Before Publishing Your Programme

Before making your programme live, check that:

• Every session has the correct date.
• Every session has been assigned to the correct location.
• Start and end times are accurate.
• Sessions are ordered by Start Time, where appropriate.
• Location names are clear and consistent.
• Speakers have been linked to the correct sessions.
• Streams and sponsors have been assigned where required.
• Images and descriptions are only displayed where they add value.

We also recommend previewing the programme using realistic event data.

A programme containing only a few test sessions may look very different once several stages and a full day of concurrent sessions have been added.