Chapter 5 - Using Wintix

Chapter 5: Using Wintix
This chapter provides detailed information about the primary functions of
Wintix for the System Administrator. You should first understand the
terminology and methods used for creating shows and adding
performances to them.
After you become comfortable with building individual shows you can
explore the ways to automate season package sales in Wintix.
Areas detailed in this chapter are:

Setting up shows and performances

Editing show and performance information

Creating seating plans and charts

Understanding single shows and season packages

Selling and printing tickets

Recording payment information

Printing labels and receipts
1
Some Useful Terms for this Chapter
Before setting up your show information on your computer system, you
will want to understand the following terms used in Wintix:

Show is the term given to the name of a production for
sale in Wintix. A show may consist of one performance or a
number of performances, collectively called the run. Its
performances may be sold individually or as part of a season
package.

Performance is the term used to identify a specific
presentation of a show. A performance consists of a unique
combination of the performance date and time. If the performance
is sold on a reserved seating basis, it also will include a seating
chart.

Season Package (also Season Ticket or Series) refers to
a series package consisting of a number of shows. Wintix will
allow you to be as flexible as your marketing department is
creative when it comes to setting up all those wonderful
discounted ticket packages. See the detailed discussion on
season packages later in this chapter.
There are three types of season packages:
 Pre-Defined Series, when the performances in the
package are chosen in advance by the producing
organization. One example would be an “Opening Night
Package,” consisting of all the opening Friday nights of a
theatre’s shows during the season.

Custom-Selected Series, when the performances in the
package are a specific combination, but more random
than a pre-defined series. For example, a “THREE PLAY
SATURDAY II” series could consist of the second
Saturday of the run of each selected show. Alternately,
you might have a custom-selected series that includes a
first Thursday, a third Saturday and a second Sunday
Matinee.

A Flexible Series, sometimes called a Flex Pack or
Select-Your-Own Series, in essence, a season gift
certificate. The customer pays in advance for a punch card
or voucher booklet that is valid for making a certain
number of reservations throughout the year. The individual
performances in this type of series package are not
reserved when the season package is sold. Rather, they
are selected when the patron contacts you to redeem the
pre-sold certificate.

Seating Plan refers to a master seating design for a
venue or for a particular seating configuration in a venue. The
plan is created first and is then copied to make seating charts for
each performance. The first plan is usually created by Center
2
Stage Software. Most organizations will have 4 to 6 different
seating plans for the same space.

Seating Chart refers to a copy of the venue’s seating plan
that pertains to a specific performance. Wintix automatically
attaches a copy of the seating plan to each reserved seating
performance that you create. This is then called the seating chart,
and it governs all the seats sold for that one performance.

General Admission (or Festival Seating) refers to tickets
that are sold only for admission to a performance. A general
admission ticket does not guarantee a specific seat location.
Sometimes referred to by patrons as “…where we stand in line
and then fight for our seats when the doors open.” Well, yes;
something like that.

Reserved Seating tickets are printed with specific seat
numbers and locations which are guaranteed as part of the sale.
Patrons and ushers love it, and it’s a cinch with Wintix.

Hard Tickets refers to tickets not sold and printed from a
computer. Anyone who has sold them knows they are aptly
named for the (lack of) ease of handling sales. Aren’t you glad
you are going to have Wintix do all this work for you?

Annie Oakley has nothing to do with this chapter, but we
wanted to be sure that you are still with us. And, it’s such a great
hard ticketing term, we couldn’t resist. An “Annie Oakley" is a hard
ticket that is given out on a complimentary basis. The ticket
manager (or box office treasurer) punches a hole through a comp
ticket to indicate that it was not sold, so that it can not be returned
for an exchange or refund (of a cancelled performance, for
instance.) The ticket looked as if someone had shot a hole
through it, hence the name.
“Anything you can do, I can do better [BANG!]”
Okay, now, “On with the show!”
3
Set Up Shows
Before you set up a show, you must know:

Whether the show will be sold with as general admission
or reserved seating

The dates and times of all performances in the run

All ticket prices and discounts for each performance
If your show is to be sold with reserved seating, you must first have a
seating plan before entering the show and creating the performances.
How do you design a good seating plan? It’s the same way you get to
Carnegie Hall: “Practice, practice, practice.” Designing seating plans
takes some time and a fair amount of working knowledge. To learn how,
see the section about how to Create Seating Plans later in this chapter.
Note:
Center Stage Software will design your first seating plan for you.
Let us do it the first time. It is included with your purchase of
Wintix and we will get you going quickly and accurately. You will
need to provide us with a readable seating chart and indicate all
section and aisle descriptions as well as seat numbers. After
you have worked with plans and charts awhile, you can study
the information in the manual and begin making your own
additional plans or revisions.
To set up a show:
1. From the Main Wintix Window, select Show | Utilities | Add a new
show. The Entering a new show window appears:
Fig. 5.01: Entering a new show window
2. In the Title field, type the name of the show you are adding. For the
best ticket printing and sale screen appearance, restrict this entry to
26 – 30 characters.
3. In the Abbreviation field, type a shortened name for the show. This
entry will identify the show on reports. The field is restricted to 15
characters and will auto-format the characters entered as uppercase.
4. Copy domain permissions from allows you to skip the trouble of
entering a new set of permissions for a show. Note: This is Wintixpro
and Webtix only. It is used by Webtix and by theatres selling each
other’s tickets.
4
5. In the 3 letter abbreviation field, type a unique three character
abbreviation to identify this show. Again, the field will format the entry
as uppercase. Click on the Add this show button. The Editing a
show window appears:
Fig. 5.02: The Editing a show window
5. Now you are ready to enter the show information and add all its
individual performances.
In the first three fields at the top left of the window, enter:
 The Name/Title of the Show
 The Venue or Theatre Name
 The Location of the Venue
6. Select the three checkbox options as desired:
 Keep track of seats remaining keeps a running tally of the
number of seats available for sale for each performance. This
is handy when you are viewing a list of performances and
want to know which dates have the best availability. If you
ever need to update this figure, just run the seats remaining
report.
 Special ticket format Do you have a special show that just
has to have an unusual ticket? Select this option and you can
have a ticket format just for this show.
 Print labels while selling tix Mailing and/or ticket envelope
labels as a normal part of the Print labels while selling tix
gives you the option to print sales routine.
7. In the Event type field, type a key word to describe the type of
performance. Later, you can run reports by show type. You can
designate your own categories; some common entries for this field
are:
• Drama
• Comedy
5
•
•
•
•
•
•
Concert
Special Event
Musical
Lecture
Opera
Rental
8. In the General Ledger Code field, type a key word to describe the
department. Later, you can run reports by the general ledger entry.
The purpose of this report is to group the shows and their money into
a list for each department.
Tip:
Note the navigation buttons in the lower right-hand corner.
These tools allow you to access other existing shows and
performances. You can select a show from the drop-down list or
use the buttons to view the first, previous, next and last records
in your list of shows.
9. Now enter the performances for the show. Click on the Add
performance button. The Adding a performance window appears:
Fig. 5.03: The Adding a performance window
Enter the Show date as six digits: mmddyy. (For example, the above
entry was typed as 123199. You do not need to type the slash
marks.)
Enter the Show time in any text format you like (8:00 PM; 8 PM, 8:00
pm, etc.).
The time the performance goes off sale is for Wintixpro and Webtix
6
only. Click on the Add this performance button. The performance
now appears in the Performances listbox.
Do you need to add (or remove) a lot of performances? Use the “Perf”
program. Right-click on the “Add date” button. You will be taken
to a different section. You can add the performances by entering
the times of each day of the week. The program will also put in
charts and prices. Of course, you must have at least 1
performance entered first (or a week’s work if the prices change
by day).
You will make a few mistakes using this. The way to remove
these performances is to get out of the Perf section. Then,
select the performances to be removed with shift-click and
control-click (standard Windows keys). Then, click on “Delete
date” the performances will be removed.
Your computer politely makes an offer you should not refuse:
Fig. 5.04: A polite suggestion. Accept it.
10. As suggested, it is a very good idea to enter all your prices and ticket
price text at this time. Wintix will copy all the price and ticket text
information to any performances added later. This saves a great deal
of work and eliminates data entry errors.
Tip:
If your weekday prices are different from your weekend prices,
(or evenings vs. matinees) enter one set of price information and
then define another set of prices for the next. Wintix can then
copy the set of prices to the performances you select. Go to
Show | Utilities | Copy prices.
11. Click on the Yes button. The Performance setup window appears:
7
Fig. 5.05: The Performance setup window
Performance Setup Options
The Performance Setup window contains these options:

Print tickets for this performance When selected,
Wintix will print tickets for this performance. If you are using preprinted hard tickets and are using Wintix only to account for sales,
leave this box empty.

Use a seating chart When selected, Wintix will
automatically create a seating chart for the performance from the
venue’s seating plan. Wintix will also then be able to select seats
from the performance seating chart during a sale. This selection is
used for all your reserved seating events when you are going to
assign seating with Wintix.
If the performance is general admission, leave this box
unchecked and enter the total seating capacity for the
performance in the Seats Remaining field.

Capacity This option is displayed when the seating chart
is turned off. Enter the total seating capacity. When you run a
report, the program subtracts the seats sold from the capacity to
come up with the seats remaining.

Use multiple charts is not recommended for most of our
customers. Normally, there is enough space on the screen for up
to 3,000 seats (change your display resolution to 1024x768).
However, if you do have more than 2,500 or so seats – or an
arena, you will want to break up the chart into a series of smaller
8
charts that are easier to work with. Sports arenas need and use
this option. At this time, our largest customer has 48,000 seats.

Seats remaining This field allows Wintix to report how many
seats are unsold and available for sale to this performance.
If the performance is general admission, enter the venue’s seating
capacity in the field. If the performance is reserved seating, do not
make a manual entry in this field. Wintix will automatically enter
the correct information when it creates a seating chart for you.

Release seats marked with * This is for Webtix users only. What
happens is that when customers are selecting seats with Webtix,
Webtix will hold the seats by marking them with asterisks. If the
customer abandons the sale, the seats are left marked – and
cannot be sold.
Clicking on this button will release these seats only if they are not
connected with a valid sale. If you are using Webtix, you will do
this after the performance goes off sale on Webtix.
9




Service charge for this performance If there will always be a
standard service charge per sale for this performance, enter the
dollar amount in this field. Wintix will automatically add this
amount to each sale for this performance when tickets are sold.
When the service charge is waived, or if the service charge needs
to be a different amount for some transactions, it is better to leave
this amount as zero and add the service charge manually during
the sale. You can reset this amount later if you desire.
Performance remark This is a short string of text that can
appear on the tickets if this option is enabled in the Ticket Setup
window from the File menu of the Main Wintix Window. For
best results, limit this remark to about 28 characters. This is an
excellent way to print recognition of a sponsor on your tickets, or
point out special performance attributes such as a “Post
Performance Lecture in the Green Room.”
Edit Chart Click on this button to modify the existing seating
chart for this performance. (For instructions on working with plans
and charts, see the section Creating Seating Plans later in this
chapter.)
New Chart Click on this button to create a seating chart for the
performance from the venue’s seating plan. (For instructions on
creating plans and charts, see the section Creating Seating Plans
later in this chapter.)
Categories and Prices
Click on the Categories and prices tab to enter the ticket prices for this
performance. The Categories and prices window appears.
You will enter price and ticket text information for each of the tickets that
will be sold for the show, as shown below.
Note:
In the following example we have set up a performance that has
one Adult-Regular price (category A) and one discount for
Seniors (category B). The sample also includes price categories
that accommodate one season package that is sold at a 10%
discount from the individual Adult and Senior prices (categories
C & D.)
10
Fig. 5.06: The Categories and prices tab
The following information is entered in the Categories and prices tab
fields:

Price category Enter a text description for the type of
ticket to be sold. This description will appear on your computer
screen during the ticket sale, not on the ticket itself. So, you can
enter any information that will be helpful to the seller during the
sale. In the example above, we included a reminder that persons
must be 62 years of age or older to qualify for the senior
discounts.

Price Enter the amount that you will collect for each
specific type of ticket. In the example above, note that the price
for any season package ticket has been left as zero, and the 10%
season discount amount has been entered as the value. (See
Value, below.) For complete information about setting up season
tickets, see the section Season Packages, later in this chapter.

Print on tix as The text entered in this field will be printed
as the price information on the ticket. You may wish to include the
face value of the ticket, for example: $25.00.

Value The amount entered in this field is used to
calculate sales figures for performance reports. The amount
entered in the value field will depend on whether the ticket
category is for a Single Performance Ticket, or for a Season
Package sale. (For more detailed information on Season
Packages, see the Season Packages section later in this
chapter.)
11

Single Performance Tickets. The amount entered for
value will be the same as the amount entered for price (see
categories A & B in the example above.) This ticket category is
used to sell tickets to an individual performance of the show. Set
up a single performance ticket category for every ticket price and
discount that will be sold for the show.
Season Package sales. The performance setup must also include a
ticket category for each type of season ticket that will be sold to the show.
For a season ticket category, leave the price amount set at zero. In the
value field, enter the value of a season admission for one performance
only.
To calculate the season ticket value field amount:
1. Find the total sale price of the season package.
2. Divide it by the number of performances in the package.
Tip:
With a significant number of regular prices, discounts and
season prices for a show, it is convenient to assign all
regular (single show) prices to uppercase ticket categories
and all season ticket prices to lowercase ticket categories.
On & off sale tab
Click on the On & off sale tab to enter the dates and times the
performance will go on and off sale. It looks like this:
Fig 5.07: The On & off sale tab
The following information is entered in the On & off sale fields:
12

Date and times the performance goes on and off sale.
Times are entered in 24 hour time. If you have worked in the
scientific community, transportation, or even traveled a little, this
will be familiar to you.

Whether the internet sales for this performance have been
stopped. This is for Webtix users only. Checking this tab will bring
internet sales to a halt.
Note: You also check this option with Webtix. Webtix will allow
promoters to set up their own shows, performances, and prices. It
also allows them to turn performances off with this option through
the promoter’s interface.
Perf info 1 and Perf info 2 tabs These are text fields specific to
each performance. They are used with Webtix. Like the ShowInfo
fields, they are used to display the text in the Webtix scripts. You
can put in any information you like – even HTML tags.
Show utilities
After your show is setup, you may need to make changes to the
information that has already been entered. If new prices or packages
need to be added after a show goes on sale, you can easily add the new
information, or edit existing information, by returning to the Show menu
from the Main Wintix Window.
Fig. 5.08: Show menu options
13
From the Show menu || Utilities, you can add or remove shows, add or
delete performances, create new season packages and edit any of the
existing performances and packages by selecting the appropriate option,
as shown above.

To edit existing show information, select Show | Edit a
show from the Main Wintix Window. The Editing a show
window appears (see Fig. 5.02.) Click on a performance to select
it and click on the Edit performance button. The Performance
setup window appears (see Fig. 5.04.) You can now change any
of the existing information for the performance.

To edit a season package, select Show | Edit season
ticket from the Main Wintix Window. The Editing a season
package window appears:
Fig. 5.09: The Editing a season package window
From this window you can change any exiting selections or click the
appropriate button to:

add or delete a performance in a season package

view or edit the season package prices or seating chart
To add or delete a show from the season package, select the show in the
listbox and click on the Add or Delete button.
You can navigate to other existing season package setups with the dropdown list and navigation buttons in the lower right-hand corner of the
window.
14
Working with Seating Plans
Your first seating plan will be provided to you by Center Stage Software.
Be careful to keep one version of your original plan saved at all times. If
you wish to make alterations, save the original plan, copy it and then alter
the copies.
Note:
The seating plans are kept as separate files in your ticket
program directory. Plans are the files with the .pln extensions. A
separate file named Planlist stores the names and dimensions
of your plans.
Seating plans are not difficult to work with, but they can be tedious. A
seating plan is organized like a piece of graph paper, or a spreadsheet.
Each square or cell contains the following information:
Status
Character displayed on the plan
Sale number
Must be zero for unsold seats
Row, Number
Seat designation (C-134, for example)
Section
Section description (Main Floor Left)
Aisle
Aisle description (aisle number, ramp,
portal, parking lot, etc)
Valid
Price codes that can be used to sell the seat
Seating preferences
A numerical ranking for how desirable a
particular seat is
The Status field contains the character that is displayed for that seat on
the seating chart.

An available seat is displayed as a dot – but can appear
as other characters.

A sold seat is displayed as the letter for the category of
ticket that was sold.

Special price seats appear as dollar signs ($).

Complimentary tickets appear as zeros (0).
Note:
Be aware of how your computer screen displays a zero (0) and
the uppercase letter, O. The letter O, both uppercase and
lowercase, will represent sold ticket categories, while comp
tickets are always indicated by zero.
Some Status field conventions are useful in plan design. We recommend
using an underscore (_) to indicate aisles and blank spaces or a “pipe”
character ( | ) to indicate walls.
For aisles, walls and other physical characteristics of your house, you
may enter any character that your screen will display. But, be aware that
15
Wintix will automatically recognize only certain characters in calculating
the number of sold and available seats on a chart or plan.
When you modify seats on a plan, simply double-click (or right-click) the
seat you wish to edit. The following screen appears:
Fig. 5.10: The Data for this seat window

In the Status field, it is best to use only the characters
available in the drop-down list for actual seats on a plan. Other
characters may be entered by selecting the field with your mouse
and typing the desired character. (Note that the characters, which
are entered in this way, will not be counted as available seats in
your chart and plan reports.)

The Sale Number field tracks the sale information relating
to each individual seat. Any unsold seat on a chart must have a
value of zero in this field; otherwise, Wintix assumes that the seat
is not available for sale. When a seat is sold, the number of the
sale transaction will appear in this field on the seating chart.

Row, Number are the fields that indicate the
corresponding row (can be letters or numbers) and seat numbers
for every reserved seat on your plan. You may use up to three
characters in each field. For instance, your plan will accommodate
row descriptions from A to ZZZ, and seats may be numbered from
001 through 999. When you create a new plan, Wintix can
automatically assign row letters (the letter “I” is omitted in keeping
with standard seating conventions.)

Section is the field that describes –in human terms- the
area of the room where the particular row and seat will be found.
You may choose to leave this field blank, especially if yours is a
small theatre with only one seating section.

Aisle is an optional field that will print on your tickets to
help customers find the best entrances to the theatre. You can
indicate which entrance is most convenient for every seat on your
plan, for example: East, West, 1-W, 2-E, etc.
16

Valid is the field that indicates which price category codes
can be sold for each particular seat on the plan. If some price
codes should not be sold for certain locations, you should delete
those particular codes from the Valid field for the corresponding
seats. For example, if you have a “scaled” house with more than
one price zone or if discounted/comp tickets are not to be sold in
particular areas, delete the unwanted price codes from the seat’s
Valid field. This will prevent anyone from being able to sell that
seat at an incorrect price code

Preference ranking is a measurement of when the seat
will be selected if the automatic seat selecting is turned on.
In other words, it is a measurement of how desirable the seat is.
This is done through a mechanism called a “sort order.” What this
does is to take the seats and put them in the order that you want
them selected. Sort orders are a way of having the computer
account for personal seat preferences. For example, one
customer will prefer the balcony seating, another customer will
prefer the left side, and another will prefer the right side. When
you set up your plans, you will discover that each seat has a
number indicating what order it is selected (when the automatic
seat selection is turned on).
Seats are selected until there is a break in the seats or the
seating preference changes. You can use this behavior 2 ways:
1. If you want people to be grouped in a center section, put
breaks between the seats. Then, when the center section of 1 row
becomes filled, the next seats selected will be in the next row.
2. If you have cabaret seating with tables and you want the
people to be grouped into tables, make sure that all the seats for
a table have the same preference ranking. And, make sure that all
the other spaces have a preference ranking of zero.
You can turn the automatic seat selection on when you edit a
performance (in standard Wintix). Or, in the Wintixpro version,
click on edit a chart and then click on ‘Edit the entries'. Sort orders
are also what customers using Webtix see when they select what
seats they want.
Definition: a “break” between the seats is a space, on the plan, that has a
preference ranking, but is not for sale. Either the status is blank
or the seat has no valid price codes. One example of a break is
the space that is put in for an aisle.
17
Editing a Plan
To change any of the above information about a seat, go to the Main
Wintix Window and select Tools | Seating plans. The Select the plan
window appears. Select the plan you want to edit, and click on the
Modify this plan button. The seating plan will be displayed in its own edit
window.

To change the information for one seat, right click on the
seat you want to edit and type the new information into the correct
field.

To change information for multiple seats, click on the
Reassign seats button at the bottom of the edit screen. This
option is also available when you right click on a seat. The
Reassigning seats window appears:
Fig. 5.11: The Reassigning seats window
By selecting the appropriate choice from this window, you can copy the
information for any single field (Status, Row, Seat Number, Section,
Aisle or Valid Price Codes) from either the first row or left column to all
seats on the plan. You may select one choice from the window at a time,
then click on the OK button. To perform another operation from the list,
18
open the Reassigning seats window again and repeat the procedure for
each selection that you need.
Fig 5.12: The Data for this seat window
Changing a block of seats: To change the status, valid codes or the
section of an entire block of seats, use the mouse and perform a right
click on one seat of the block. Then, place the cursor on another seat of
the block and perform another right click. The program will then prompt
you to “apply the changes” for status, row, number (seat number),
section, aisle, or valid. The program will make those changes to all the
seats in between.
Creating a New Plan
Creating a new plan is easy once you become familiar with the
Reassigning seats choices above.
First, you need to know the width and length of your new plan. The Width
of your plan is derived by adding:

the number of seats in the widest row of each section,

plus one space for each aisle between sections of seats.
The Length of your plan will be:

the total number of rows from all sections and areas,

plus at least one line for each cross aisle or change in
areas (e.g., from Main Floor to Balcony). You may also want to
add a few extra lines at the top or bottom of your plan for extra
descriptions.
The maximum width for any plan is 150 spaces. The maximum length is
99 lines. If your width calculation exceeds 150 spaces, you will need to
expand the length of your plan, separate the seating areas and display
the first part at the top of your plan and the second part below it. You will
then scroll down the screen to use the bottom part of the plan or chart.
To create your new Wintix seating plan, go to the Main Wintix Window
and select Tools | Seating plans. When the Select the plan window
appears, click the Create new plan button. The Creating a new seating
plan window appears.
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Fig 5.13: The Creating a new seating plan window
Give the new plan a name (up to 8 characters) and a brief description in
the fields as indicated. Enter the width and length of the plan. If you want
Wintix to automatically enter row letters for you (beginning with A), leave
the checkbox selected (see above). If you use a different configuration for
your row designations, leave the checkbox blank. You can make the row
designations yourself later.
When all the information is correct in the Creating a new seating plan
window, click OK.
When creating seating plans, some of our customers use the seating
chart utilities in the DOS Tixsales program that comes in your
Wintix software. From your Windows Start button, select the
Tixsales icon from your Ticketing applications group. At the
Tixsales Main Menu, choose 6. Utilities | 5. Seating Chart to
access the DOS seating chart utilities. Refer to the Tixsales
DOS instructions for further information. If you do not have the
DOS documentation, call us if you wish to order it. (See the
section How to Contact Us in Chapter 1. You can also download
the files, for free from our ftp site.)
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Displaying seating charts in colors
Depending on the characters you put in the plan, the background color
will change. This is very handy for giving everyone a visual alert that
certain sections of the plan are for particular price codes only. The list is
as follows:
Color
Character
Shows as
Red
character 254
■ (block)
Green
character 248
°
(degree symbol)
Blue
character 249
∙ (high
dot)
Purple
character 232
Φ
(Greek letter phi)
Grey
a blank
blank
White
everything else
the
character
Everyone will be pleased and excited when a seating chart shows up with
colors.
Tip
Depending on how big your house is, you may want to display it
bigger or smaller. Go to the File | Initialization | Chart options.
You can select different font, column, and row sizes.
If you have a really big chart, you can change the screen
resolution on the Windows desktop. Right click on your desktop,
click on Properties | Settings. Change the resolution to 1280 x
1024 pixels. You will be able to display 2,500 seats easily
(although you might need a magnifying glass).
Taking seats off sale
Is there a way for Wintix to mark seats as unavailable for sale – on "hold"
for no particular person -- but not recorded as sold or comps? The
answer is 'yes.' The question is how permanently you want to take them
off sale?
1. The quickest method is to mark a section of your plan with a special
character - usually "H." The seats are still on sale; they just look sold.
This is usually used for house seats. If you have an alert, dependable
staff, this us usually sufficient for most needs.
2. The more secure method is to take the seats off sale by doing a sale.
This does add a record (which you said you did not want), but it will
let you know who took the seats off sale, when they did it, how many
seats were taken off sale, and, the clerk can leave a note in the
remarks field. This method is used when you want to do a producer's
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hold or assign a block of seats to another organization. The tickets
can be printed individually. They can be put back on sale individually.
And, everything is controlled by password access. Because it gives
the box office manager the most control, it is the most common
method. If you have a staff of part-time workers of questionable
motivation, this is the method to use. Don’t even think of method #1.
3. The last way is to edit the plan and remove the valid price codes for a
block of seats. This does not leave any record at all. Everything is still
controlled by password access, but there is no record. This method is
used for removing broken and obstructed seats. It is also used for
seating changes due to things like a new light board.
Tip: You can make copies of seating plans. If you like, you can have a
different plan for each performance (This can be a little
confusing later, so take care in naming the copies of the plans.
In order to assign a different plan to a performance, you need to
use a hidden hot key. Click on Show | Edit a show | <select the
show>. Double click on the performance that needs to have a
different plan. You will be editing the performance. Press shiftF7. Change the seating plan to whatever you want. Do not
change anything else.
This trick only works if the plans are the same size. If the plans
are a different size, you will need to use the button “New chart.”
This will create a new chart and assign a different plan to it.
Since any sales will be overwritten, you will need to back up first
and print a report by Show | Single performance with the option
checked: “Include the seat listing.” Then, you will be able to reassign the people to their seats in the new chart.
Cabarets and dinner theatre - available seats
Prosceniums and arena layouts are simple. Everything is in a single
block. Cabarets and dinner theatres have their seats and tables scattered
all over the room. In both cases, the rules are like this:
The capacity is calculated by counting the seats that have valid
price codes.
The number of seats sold is the sum of the seats where the sale
number is not zero.
This is what the reports use.
With cabaret seating, the rules are normally bent a little bit. The way this
is done is by adding phantom seats. These are seats where the spot is
salable (it has a number, section, and price codes). However it does not
have anything in the status field. Thus, the seat can be sold, but does not
look like it.
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This is normally used because the waitresses will drag chairs to the
various tables, as needed, 30 minutes before the audience comes in.
A variation is to put a different character in the status field (say, character
232). This would be defined as "a seat not to be sold until the table is
filled."
Another variation on this is to but a block of seats at the back of the chart
and label them "Overflow seating" or something like that. The advantage
is that this way, you have a display of the seats as a block.
Cabarets are complicated. The trick is to have the computers do what
they do best (keep the records). Then, the humans can do what they do
best: drag chairs around to make their customers happy. The fire marshal
will also be happy because the total capacity of the room is not
exceeded.
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Season Packages
Overview
Season tickets are an integral part of most organization's audience
development plan. Wintix supports three types of season tickets:

Pre-defined season package

Custom-selected season package

Flexible season package
1. The "Pre-defined" season. These have names like "First Friday
Season Ticket" or "Opening Night Season Ticket." The definition is that
they cover a fixed set of performances (but subscribers can exchange
and add tickets as they need). Subscribers will have the same seats all
season. These are the least work and best loved by subscribers and box
office people. Therefore, they are the most popular. If the season is in
different venues, the program will sense it and ask the clerk to assign
seats in the new venue.
2. The "Custom-selected" season. These have names like 'Mini 4
season.' The patron is given a pre-set list of performances and they
choose the performances when they pay for the ticket. These packages
are used mainly to encourage single ticket buyers to purchase a full
season.
3. The "Flex pass" season. In this season ticket, the patrons mix their
performances as they want. The box office clerk assigns performances
based on the customer's request and what is available. Subscribers get
seats where ever they are available. The demands for accuracy are high
and this is very labor intensive. According, this method is the least
popular and is used only by the smaller, amateur organizations.
To create all the season packages that you need to sell during the year,
you may need to use all three types of packages listed above. Depending
on the extent of your marketing offers, just one or two of the packaging
methods may suffice.
Refer to the definition of each type of season package in the list of terms
at the beginning of this chapter.
All season packages are created by going to the Main Wintix Window
and choosing Show | Utilities | Add a new season package. You will
first identify the package by giving it a full name, abbreviation and 3letter abbreviation.
Setting up your season
To build a season package, you must first create all the individual shows
that will comprise the season. Each show should be entered in your
Wintix system, with all performance dates, times and individual show
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prices and season package price codes. Once this information is correct
and complete, you will then combine the appropriate shows and
performances into your season packages.
Enter each show
Fig 5.14: The Entering a new show window
Enter each performance, date, time, prices, etc. Attach the seating chart
to each performance if you are using it.
Fig 5.15: The Editing a show window
When entering the prices for each performance, give yourself a price
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code “S” (the default) for season subscribers.
Fig 5.15: The Categories and prices window
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When you have entered the shows, performances, and prices, you are
ready to enter each season package. Click on the “Add date” and “Delete
date” buttons to add the performances.
Fig 5.16: The Editing a season package window
Print out a schedule to check your work. (In Wintix, choose show | utilities
| show schedule). Show it to everyone.
Do a test sale.
Get some reports and see how they look. In particular, print a receipt.
(See “Receipts” chapter 5, page 37.) You will see the season package
followed by each of the performances.
Pre-Defined Season Package
Fig. 5.17: Sample Pre-Defined Season Package
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With a pre-defined season package, you will know in advance exactly
which shows and performances are to be included in the package. You
will sell the package by selecting seats from a season chart, which will
assign the same seats for all performances in the package.
To create the pre-defined package, give the package a name,
abbreviation and 3-letter abbreviation in the window labeled A new
season ticket. When you accept the entries you have made in this
window, the Editing a season package window appears.
Fig. 5.18: Editing a Pre-Defined Season Package
To create a Pre-Defined Season Package, first make the selections
shown above. If you are selling reserved seats, this type of package must
be set up to use a seating chart and keep track of seats remaining. If you
do not sell reserved seats, leave both of these options blank (not
selected). You may also define an Event type by typing a brief
description in its field.
Second, add the appropriate performances to the package by clicking the
Add performance button. A window appears asking you to select a
show and performance. Click on a show from the list on the left. The
show’s performances appear on the right. Select the performance you
want to add to this package and click on the Add the performance
button. Repeat this procedure to add all the appropriate performances to
your package.
Third, create the seating chart for the package by clicking on the Chart
button. Confirm that you want to create a seating chart by clicking on the
Yes button. Select the plan you want to assign and click OK. Confirm the
chart name that is created by clicking OK. The season chart will appear
on your screen. You may now edit the chart if you wish. When you have
finished editing the season chart, click OK to save the chart. Click OK
again to save your pre-defined season package and return to the Main
Wintix Window.
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To sell the pre-defined package, you will select Sales | Season package
sale from the Main Wintix Window. A list of all season packages
appears. Select the package you wish to sell and complete the sale as
prompted.
When you select seats on the season chart during the package sale,
Wintix will look at those same seats on the seating charts for all the
performances in the package. If the seats are not available for a
performance in the package, Wintix will prompt you to select alternate
seating as necessary.
Custom-Selected Season Package
With a custom-selected season package, you will not know in advance
exactly which shows and performances are to be included in the
package. You will select the performances and seats “on the fly” during
the sale. Therefore, you will not set up a season seating chart for this
type of package.
To create the custom-selected season package, give the package a
name, abbreviation and 3-letter abbreviation in the window labeled A
new season ticket. When you accept the entries you have made in this
window, the editing window appears.
Fig. 5.19: Editing a Custom-Selected Season Package
To create a Custom-Selected Season Package, first leave the selections
for Use a seating chart and Keep track of seats remaining blank, as
shown above. If you are selling reserved seats, this type of package will
prompt you to select seats during the sale from each individual seating
chart that belongs to the package. You may now define an Event type by
typing a brief description in its field.
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Second, define all the season prices for this package by clicking on the
Season prices button. The following window appears in which you will
define the season prices.
Fig. 5.20: Defining season package prices
Enter the description, price and ticket printing text for each season
package that you will need to sell.
To sell the custom-selected season package, you will select Sales |
Season package sale from the Main Wintix Window. A list of all
season packages appears. Select the custom-selected package you wish
to sell. Note that there are no performances listed. Click on the Add
performance button and select the first show and performance that you
want to sell as a part of the package. Repeat this procedure for each
performance needed.
Click on the Sell the tickets tab and enter the appropriate quantity of
tickets to be sold. Then, click the Payment tab and complete the sale,
following the prompts as in any other sale. At the end of the sale
sequence, Wintix will ask you to select the seats you want for each
seating chart in the package.
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Flexible Season Package
With a flexible season package, you will not know in advance exactly
which shows the customer will select later on as the season progresses.
You simply need to account for the amount paid for the package and
perhaps print a ticket as a receipt or voucher that the patron can redeem
as they choose shows one-by-one throughout the year.
To create the custom-selected season package, give the package a
name, abbreviation and 3-letter abbreviation in the window labeled A
new season ticket. When you accept the entries you have made in this
window, the editing window appears.
Fig. 5.21: Editing a Flexible Season Package
To create a Flexible Season Package, first leave the selections for Use a
seating chart and Keep track of seats remaining blank, as shown
above. If you want to print a season ticket receipt or voucher, select the
next option, Print the season ticket header. This tells Wintix to print one
ticket (or season header) for each package you sell. You can give this to
the patron as a receipt, or keep it for your own box office records. If you
do not need the header to print each time you sell the package, leave the
check box blank (not selected). Enter an Event type description as
desired.
Second, define all the season prices for this package by clicking the
Season prices button. Enter the description, price and ticket printing text
for each season package that you will need to sell.
To sell the custom-selected season package, you will select Sales |
Season package sale from the Main Wintix Window. A list of all
season packages appears. Select the flexible package you wish to sell.
Note that there are no performances listed.
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Click on the Sell the tickets tab and enter the appropriate quantity of
tickets to be sold. Then, click the Payment tab and complete the sale,
following the prompts as in any other sale. At the end of the sale
sequence, Wintix will ask you to confirm printing of the season header
ticket. You can give this to the patron as a receipt, or keep it for your own
box office records.
Multiple performance spaces
Multiple performance spaces need to be set up a little more carefully.
Make sure each performance has the proper chart. Then, make sure that
the season ticket has the same seating plan. When you do a sample sale,
check each chart. If the program senses that there is a different seating
arrangement, it will stop and ask you to select different seats.
This may or may not be what you want. If one performance of the series
really is in a different space, that’s what you want. If all performances are
in the same space, then you will need to correct that performance.
Common questions
I think we’ve figured out most of the season ticket stuff, but we’re
not able to get the prices to print on the tickets when we sell a
season package. Is there something I’m missing?
Click on Show and select the show you need to print tickets for. Double-click on
one of the dates and click on the 'Categories and prices' tab. Take a look at price
category 'S.' This category is the default category for season ticket sales. You
should have it listed as 'Season ticket' and have the Printed as column to be
'Subscriber.'
Tip: the default season ticket category is “S.” You can change this when
you do a season package sale. You can change it to something
other than S or you can leave it blank. If you leave it blank, each
reservation for the series will have the same price codes that are
on the first sale.
Yes, you will need to put it in for each category of each performance. To make
this easier, click on Show | Utilities | Put in categories and prices. You will be
able to copy one performance and use it for all the other performances. This will
save you a lot of typing.
The University box office would like to use a computer in the remote
box office. Can they:
1. Load the software on the computer. (It's capable)
2. Bring over and load a new backup on this computer on the
evening of a show. They'd like to be able to see the show's up to
date seating chart and customer information.
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If it is possible to load the backup, would it need to be the full
backup each time or just a daily?
A daily backup is sufficient unless you have customer records involved. If you
are also collecting the customers names and addresses at the at the remote site,
you would need to put the line:
Customer.*
in the Daily.txt file. That will make sure the customer file is included in the daily
backup.
The usual way this is done is to put the files on a laptop to take to the remote
site. You plug a laptop into the network and copy the files over. At the end of the
evening, you would copy the files back.
The only catch is that you have to agree when sales at the box office will
be shut down. During the time the files are on the laptop, there can be no
sales, exchanges, or other maintenance. Otherwise, the changes will be
overwritten when the files are copied back.
On the night of the performance, all those subscribers show up as
zeros on the reports. This is because their price codes is “S.” The
producer/promoter wants a more accurate accounting of the
subscribers.
Yes, "S" is the default for the subscribers. However, there are a few things to
remember:
1. You can change it to another code
2. You can leave the field empty. If you do that, the program will pick up the
original price codes from the package sale and put those prices in for the
reservations of the season. You *probably* don't want that.
Here's why. In a season package sale, you have one sales record for the season
package plus the reservation for each performance. Therefore, in a 5
performance series, you will have 6 sales records. The accounting for the money
is done on the first sale (where you are selling the package). For each
performance, you just have reservations where there is no money attached. This
way, your daily sales report reflects an accurate total for the money you have
brought in. For each performance, the season tickets holders are accounted as
no money (because the money is recorded and accounted as season ticket
money).
This is fine as far as you are concerned, but unacceptable for the producers and
promoters. They want to have the subscribers accounted for something other
than zero. Now, we get into the 'values.' This makes things a little more
complicated.
'Values' are defined as a second price for each category of ticket for each
performance. Using values changes Wintix from a double entry system to a triple
entry system. You also need to use different reports. By using reports with the
values, the computer will multiply the number of tickets sold times the *value* of
each ticket. This gives you different totals which will make sense to the
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producers and promoters because the season ticket holders are accounted for
as something other than zeros.
In assigning the values, the single ticket buyers will have their values the same
as the prices. The season ticket holders will have their prices at zero, but the
values will be whatever you assign (usually the season ticket price divided by the
number of performances).
When you get a report for a performance, you will need to select a custom
format with values.
This is probably the most complicated part of the program. Don't be surprised if it
takes you a couple days to have it sink in.
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Performing manual and automatic season ticket renewals
Wintix supports two types of renewal: manual and automatic. Manual
renewal is used by the vast majority of our customers.
Automatic renewals are done through Rollover. What it does is take one
category from a show and put it in another show. The new sales are put
in as unpaid. Then, you would get a report, do a mail merge, and send
the renewal notices. At the cut off date, you get a report on unpaid
reservations and cancel the unpaid sales.
It is used for season ticket renewals, where there is both a high rate of
season ticket renewals and a lot of seats. Automatic renewal can be done
only if you are using a "Fixed season" package. Automatic renewal can
be done by clicking on Tools | RollOver.
Fig 5.22: The Rolling over window
Manual renewal is done when the renewal forms come in. Properly set
up, it takes about 2-3 minutes per subscriber to enter their renewal
(address and phone numbers are saved), assign their seats, print the
tickets, receipt and labels, and stuff it all into an envelope.
The renewal forms are put into three piles:
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1. Renewing subscribers who want to keep their seats (they get
processed right away). As the cutoff date approaches, you would
want to get a report of non-renewing subscribers. They get a
second mailing. This is what the "file subtraction" is for.
2. Renewing subscribers who want to change their seats (they get
put in the next pile to be processed after the cutoff date.) Normally
they are assigned seats according to how large a donation they
give.
3. New subscribers.
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Labels and Receipts
Mailing Labels
Wintix will print mailing labels for your customers as you sell tickets or
later as a batch that you define.
To print batches of labels, go to the Main Wintix Window, select Mailing
list | Customer file. A window of buttons will appear. Click Print labels
for the Printing labels window:
Fig. 5.23: Printing labels window
From this window you can print labels from your customer data file. The
box at the top of the window allows you to print all records in the file for
printing, or just a specific zip code range. When the Zip code range
option is selected, you may enter a lower and upper range of zip codes
for your printout.
Another box below it allows you to choose whether your printout will run
in zipcode order or in alphabetical order, by last name/first name.
In the bottom left box, select the appropriate choice: 1-across label for a
dot-matrix printer, or 3-across laser label for a laser or ink-jet printer.
You can preview the label printout on your screen by choosing to send
the output to Screen in the center option box. When the preview
appears, you may send the labels to your printer from the preview
screen. Alternately, you may print the output directly to printer, or to a text
file, for later use by another program or utility.
37
When you have made the appropriate selection in each box, click on the
Run labels button.
Receipts
Wintix will print a detailed, customized receipt of a customer’s sale. First,
you need to define any text that you want printed on the report. You can
change this text at any time, so that the receipt can be customized as an
invoice, past due reminder, confirmation receipt, or just about anything
else you need.
To define the receipt text, go to the Main Wintix Window and choose
File | Receipt setup. Click on the Agreement tab. The following window
appears:
Fig. 5.24: Receipt setup window
Select the default text as it appears and type in your own message. Click
on the OK button.
To print the receipt, from the Main Wintix Window, choose Sales |
Sales records. Select the sales record you wish to document. You can
search by the choices indicated: last sale record, by sale number, by
name or by account. When you have selected the sale record you want,
choose Print | Receipt. The following window appears:
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Fig. 5.25: Printing a receipt window
Make the appropriate selections from each box of options and click on
the Print the receipt button.
Wintix prints out detailed sale information at the top of the page and your
customized text at the bottom.
39
Passwords
What passwords will do and what they will not do
The purpose of password protection is not to protect you from the evil in
the world. Instead, it is to protect you from the people with good
intentions and insufficient knowledge.
This password section should not be construed to be a substitute for
proper network security. Proper network security starts with a network
setup for security. From there, the computer needs to use an operating
system that has the network security implemented. On this kind of
network, internet access and email is not allowed.
Turning on the passwords
From the Main Wintix Window choose File | Initialization:
Fig. 7.26: The Initialization Window
The initialization window appears. Click on Require passwords and click
on save settings.
40
Fig 5.27: Enter your name and password
To get into this section, click on Tools | Password | Edit the list of users.
Enter your name as ‘Sysadm.’ The default password is ‘sysadm.’
Obviously, you will need to change the default password as soon as you
read this. Otherwise, anyone reading this manual will be able to give
themselves any password or permission they want. Occasionally, this
does happen.
Fig 5.28: The Permissions window
Most of the permissions are self-explanatory. There are 2 things that
catch the unwary:
Sell only today’s events Use this option to restrict your clerks. Do not
give it to your self. Otherwise, you will have the program tell you, ‘Nothing
is for sale.”
41
Turn off passwords This option catches most organizations at least
once.
Warning: Do not turn passwords in the Initialization menu until you give
yourself permission to turn them off.
If this should happen to you during your initial setup, the procedure to fix
it is as follows (we will assume you have not changed the Sysadm
password yet):
1. Get into the program by entering your name as ‘Sysadm’ and the
password as ‘sysadm.’
2. Click on Tools | Password | Edit the list of users. Again, enter your
name as ‘Sysadm’ and the password as ‘sysadm.’
3. Add your self as a new user and give yourself to turn the passwords
off. Exit the password section.
4. Click on Tools | Password | Login as a new user. Login as yourself.
Now, you have permission to turn off the passwords.
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