Using multiple Subdomains on your account

In this article we'll explain what a Subdomain is, how it can be used, and the pros and cons of opting for an additional Subdomain vs a second separate Ticketsolve account.

What is a Subdomain? 

Subdomains are a handy feature if your organisation manages ticket selling for multiple unique business entities. The Subdomain function on Ticketsolve lets you sell Shows and Products on a new URL with branding and styling that is different from your existing online Ticketsolve site, whilst keeping everything under the one Ticketsolve account in the back-end / Admin side.

With a second Subdomain you can:

• Sell on a different URL to your main Ticketsolve site (for example, your main URL is ticket-venue.ticketsolve.com but with a new subdomain, you can sell tickets on ticket-festival.ticketsolve.com)
• Sell different Shows and Products on each Subdomain
• Have a different logo and styling on each Subdomain

Before requesting a new Subdomain, it is a good idea to consider whether you need an additional Subdomain or if you would be better to request a completely separate Ticketsolve account. Below we will list the pros and cons so you can make the correct decision. 

New Subdomain

Pros

• Everything is housed within the one account. 
• Users log into one Ticketsolve account (for the most part - see Cons below).
• All customer data will be within the same Ticketsolve account - customers can also use the same online login across subdomains.
• You can separate Shows and Products to appear on one or the other Subdomain online by using Tags.
• You can sell the same Show or Product across multiple Subdomains if you want to.
• Sales and financial data is all in the one account, and you can report on the performance of all Subdomains within one account.
• Gift Vouchers bought from one Subdomain can be used across all Subdomains.

Cons

• When selling at Box Office, users have to be logged into the correct Subdomain URL for the correct branded ticket/email to be sent to the customer.
• You can only integrate with one Mailchimp Audience List for the entire Ticketsolve account.
• Users will have access to customer data from all Subdomains. 
• All card transactions have to go through the same Merchant Bank Account.
• Gift Vouchers bought from one Subdomain can be used across all Subdomains (a con if you wish to restrict the voucher usage to one Subdomain)
• Email Templates are set at Account level, so you can only use one generic email branding design for all subdomains (Some good news! Ticketsolve is currently working on upgrading Email Templates to MJML code so that they can be branded at Subdomain level. More information to be announced soon...)
• Although a lot of settings can be amended at Subdomain level, there are some settings can only be set at Account level and apply to all Subdomains, including whether booking charges and fees are per ticket or per account, whether e-tickets are available automatically or dependent on fulfilment method, and customer required fields for online and box office.

New Ticketsolve Account

Pros

• Your new Ticketsolve Account can be synced to a different Mailchimp Audience List.
• A different Merchant Bank Account can be used to separate monies.
• No restrictions on settings and customisation like there is with Subdomains as you'll have a totally separate account.

Cons

• Users will have to log into separate Ticketsolve accounts to be able to sell at Box Office for both entities.
• Customer data is split across separate Ticketsolve accounts and can't be combined.
• Sales and financial data is in separate accounts, so any reports will need to be run in both accounts.

How Subdomains work (via Tags)

When you have multiple Subdomains, each subdomain has a name (the first part of the Ticketsolve URL, e.g. here tickets003 is for tickets003.ticketsolve.com), and a Tag - here it is also 'tickets003', but the Tag can be shortened to save on typing!

To find the subdomain name and tag, go to Settings > Subdomains and click on the subdomain name in the left hand column.

To determine which Subdomain each Show, Product and Discount can be sold/applied to online, they will need to have at least one Subdomain tag on them.

• If a show, product or discount doesn't have a subdomain tag then they will not appear on that subdomain online. You can add multiple Subdomain tags to Shows, Products and Discounts if you wish to sell them over multiple Subdomains. 
• If you are getting a new Subdomain, you will need to tag existing Shows, Products and Discounts so they appear on your Subdomains.
• Subdomain tags do not limit what users see when they are logged into the account/subdomain. Users will see all Shows and Products that are available for sale, and can sell all of them through the one subdomain they're logged in on.

There may be costs associated with setting up a new Subdomain or new account. Please contact the Support team for further information on costings.

Want to know more?

• How to change the styling of your Ticketsolve website