How to Set Up Gleanin Social Banner Links for Exhibitors

If you're using Gleanin to provide exhibitors with personalised social banners, each exhibitor will have their own unique Gleanin URL.

Rather than manually adding these URLs to individual exhibitor records, you can bulk import them into ShowOff and create an E-Zone page that dynamically directs each exhibitor to their own personalised Gleanin content.

This article covers the full setup process.

Step 1: Create a Gleanin custom field

Before importing your Gleanin URLs, you'll need to create a custom field within the Exhibitor module where the URL can be stored against each exhibitor.

1. Go to Modules > Exhibitors within the CMS.
2. Select Custom Fields.
3. Select the option to create a new custom field.
4. Give the field a clear name, such as Gleanin Social Banner URL.
5. Create a suitable slug for the field. This is important as the slug will also be used when creating the merge field later.
6. Select an appropriate text field type that allows the Gleanin URL to be stored.
7. Save the custom field.

Once created, this field will be available when importing your Gleanin data.

Step 2: Prepare your Gleanin CSV file

You'll need a CSV file containing:

• The exhibitor's unique Account Number/ID
• The exhibitor's unique Gleanin social banner URL

The Account Number/ID is used to match the data in your CSV against the correct existing exhibitor record within ShowOff.

Make sure each exhibitor's Gleanin URL is on the same row as their corresponding Account Number/ID before starting the import.

Step 3: Import the Gleanin URLs

You can now use a standard exhibitor import to add the Gleanin URLs to your existing exhibitor records.

1. Go to the Exhibitors module.
2. Start a standard exhibitor CSV import.
3. Upload your CSV file containing the Gleanin URLs.
4. Use the exhibitor Account Number/ID to match the records against your existing exhibitors.
5. Map the column containing the Gleanin URLs to the Gleanin custom field created in Step 1.
6. Review your field mappings to make sure the data is being imported into the correct fields.
7. Complete the import.
8. Once complete, check a selection of exhibitor records to confirm their Gleanin URLs have been populated correctly.

For further guidance on completing an exhibitor import, see Importing Exhibitors via CSV.

Step 4: Create your Gleanin E-Zone page

Once the URLs have been imported, you can create a page within your E-Zone where exhibitors can access their personalised social banner.

1. Go to Modules > Zone > Pages.
2. Create a new page.
3. Give the page a clear title, such as Download your social banner.
4. Add some introductory content explaining what the social banner is and what exhibitors need to do.
5. Add a button that exhibitors can use to access their personalised Gleanin content.
6. Save the page.

The next step is to dynamically populate the button URL so each exhibitor is sent to their own Gleanin page.

Step 5: Find your Gleanin merge field

ShowOff's Global Merge Fields allow you to dynamically pull information stored against the logged-in exhibitor into your E-Zone content.

To find your merge fields:

1. Go to Settings > Site Settings.
2. Scroll to the bottom of the page.
3. Find Global Merge Fields.
4. Locate the merge field associated with the Gleanin custom field you created earlier.

Merge fields use the following format:

{{ MERGE FIELD HERE }}

The merge field will use the slug created when you set up the custom field in Step 1. Look for the merge field that corresponds with your Gleanin Social Banner URL field.

Copy the relevant merge field ready to use within your E-Zone page.

Step 6: Add the merge field to your E-Zone button

You can now use the merge field as the destination for your social banner button.

1. Go to Modules > Zone > Pages.
2. Edit your Download your social banner page.
3. Edit the button you've created.
4. Paste your Gleanin merge field into the button's URL/link field.
5. Add suitable button text, such as Download your social banner.
6. Save your changes.

Rather than using the same fixed URL for everyone, ShowOff will replace the merge field with the Gleanin URL stored against the exhibitor who is currently logged into the E-Zone.

This allows you to create the page and button once while automatically directing each exhibitor to their own personalised Gleanin social banner.

Step 7: Test and set the page live

Before making the page available to all exhibitors, we recommend testing the setup using an exhibitor account that has a Gleanin URL assigned.

Check that:

• The page appears correctly within the E-Zone.
• Your introductory content and button are displayed.
• The button successfully opens Gleanin.
• The Gleanin URL belongs to the exhibitor you're currently logged in as.

Once you're happy with the setup, make the page available to the relevant E-Zone group.

Adding new Gleanin URLs in future

If you receive additional or updated Gleanin URLs later, you don't need to recreate the E-Zone page or button.

Simply repeat the CSV import process using the exhibitors' Account Number/IDs to update the Gleanin custom field.

As the E-Zone button uses a merge field, it will automatically use the URL currently stored against each exhibitor record.