Add support for online events / venues

[Heklaterriol]

The request in the forum about how to include an online event link into the ICS file (https://www.joomlaeventmanager.net/forum/jem-4-x-for-joomla-4-joomla-5-community-support/13025-ics-file-replacing-location-text-by-url-to-videoconferencing-room) made me start thinking about better support for online events.

In short: the venue is online and has a link or similar.

I would like to collect the requirements and tend to see how to implement it.

[mckillo]

This issue is interesting. I have other online situations involving registrations, and even events scheduled at different times on the same day (tutoring sessions, medical appointments, classes, meetings).

If the venue is “Online”, you can use the venue’s website field to publish the event’s URL.
If any action is required, the admin can learn how to do it in the description.

Now I believe JEM can offer a solution. Do you have any additional data or an example we can review? This would also help us improve JEM, making it more flexible and offering more configuration options for online events and different use cases.

[mckillo]

New Links tab in event with 4 links about it:

;Links
JEM_EVENT_LINKS="Event Links"
JEM_EVENT_LINKS_DESC="Links associated with the event, displayed after the main event description."
JEM_EVENT_LINK_INFO="Details and Information"
JEM_EVENT_LINK_INFO_DESC="Link to event's landing page or detailed information link."
JEM_EVENT_LINK_ONLINE="Access ONLINE"
JEM_EVENT_LINK_ONLINE_DESC="Link to the main virtual event connection button (Zoom, Teams, Meet, Webex, etc.)."
JEM_EVENT_LINK_REQUEST="Request Registration"
JEM_EVENT_LINK_REQUEST_DESC="Link to the registration or sign-up form link."
JEM_EVENT_LINK_PAY="Pay and Reserve places"
JEM_EVENT_LINK_PAY_DESC="Link to the event's payment gateway link."

JEM_EVENT_LINKS_TXT_TITLE="Choose your next step:"
JEM_EVENT_LINKS_TXT_TITLE_DESC="If this event is insteresting for you, can Select an action."
JEM_EVENT_LINK_TXT_HEADER="ADDITIONAL EVENT LINKS:"
JEM_EVENT_LINK_TXT_HEADER_DESC="Context and purpose of the action links displayed in the ICS file description."
JEM_EVENT_LINK_TXT_INFO="Detailed Information:"
JEM_EVENT_LINK_TXT_ONLINE="Online Connection:"
JEM_EVENT_LINK_TXT_REQUEST="Registration/Sign Up:"
JEM_EVENT_LINK_TXT_PAY="Payment/Spot Reservation:"

This link are shown after description in the event view and ICS.

That's an idea. What's your opinion?

[Heklaterriol]

Hi McKillo, thank you for your examples and suggestions.
It sounds good, but I'm not sure if I got it in details and how you want to implement it.
Are all these options visible in the language strings made for the venue in the case it is an "online venue"?

[mckillo]

These new links appear in a new tab at the event level, as an Attachments tab.

Each event can have its own links; they are not defined at the venue level.

You can have an Online venue with several online events, and each event can have different links.

[Heklaterriol]

OK, is there already a commit to test?

[mckillo]

No, this is my first day working with this feature. Right now, I'm in the design phase, making initial configuration changes (XML, INI files, etc.) to test the UX (backend). I haven't started the development coding yet.

[mckillo]

These new fields (link_info, link_online, link_request, link_pay) could be added directly to the jem_events table. However, a more flexible solution would be to create a new jem_links table (with columns: id, id_event, link, type, description). This structure is more dynamic—it could support other types (like email, phone, etc.) and be easily extended with additional information later. If these fields are empty, they are not shown at the end of the description.
What opinion?