How To

Once you sign up for a Tessera account, we will look at and carefully review your application. We will usually then contact you with your account details by email. Simply click the link in the inbox and enter the initial password to set things up.

When you first log in to Tessera, you'll be presented with the screen above. The three steps will walk you through the simple configuration process, which should be all that's needed to create your first event.

1. Firstly, we need to connect a Stripe account so that we can process payments on your behalf. Stripe will hold all funds from online ticket sales via Tessera, and allow you to work with them as you please. By default, funds are transferred to a bank account of your choice on a weekly basis. Simply press the large blue button and fill out the details to create an account (or log in to an existing one, should you have one already). We'll try and auto-fill some of the fields for you, but you'll need to enter some personal information that we don't get access to, like your date of birth, address, bank account number and sort code details.

2. Then, we'll get you to customise the management options. Tessera puts all its global settings on one simple page that we call the Manage tab. When you first start using Tessera, we set these options to their recommended settings, but make sure you have the opportunity to check everything before your events go live.

3. Finally, we'll ask you to create a venue. All events have to be given a physical location, and you can create as many venues as you wish. Venues are private, and so the settings you enter aren't visible outside your Tessera panel. Once again, press the large button and fill out the form, giving the venue's capacity, and any accessibility information you have to hand.

Once you've done that, you'll be able to create your first event!

To keep things simple, we put all the Tessera options on one simple page, called the Manage tab.

On initial setup, you'll be shown this page, with most of the options set to their defaults. However you may wish to change the way Tessera works for your company. You can also customise your Tessera portal to provide a professional look for your members and customers.

General Account Settings

This section contains general information about your society account. By using Tessera, you must agree to the terms and conditions which place obligation on you to keep these details up to date.

• You cannot edit the Tessera link manually. Changing this is complex and time-consuming, as an old link and a new one cannot run simultaneously. There may be circumstances when you would like a new link - please contact us for help if so.

• You can enable Build Mode which hides everything from your homepage. If you are editing lots of events all at once, or if you would like to keep things under wraps, toggling this will keep your homepage clear of development and spoilers.

• You can change the name of your company should you so wish.

• Choose the administrators which are permitted to access the Tessera panel, listed by username. They will have the same permissions as you. There must always be at least one listed administrator, and you cannot remove your own CRSid from the list.

Ticketing and Style

• Select your logo. Spacing restrictions on the tickets mean that this must be exactly 320x140 pixels (which is scaled down to 160x70 for devices without a Retina Display).

• Choose a primary colour - you can use the colour picker, or the link given will help you find the hexadecimal colour code for your logo. This will be used to write text on a white and grey background, so avoid pale hues: the lack of contrast would make the usability of your site very difficult for people with sight difficulties.

• Change the default ticket footer, which is added to every ticket. There's space enough for a couple of lines of text, but not War and Peace. Each venue also has an additional footer displayed above, so you may want to use this space to clarify your refund policy (which is up to you - Tessera will never refund tickets on your behalf).

• Change who is eligible for concession rate discount from the default.

Notification Preferences

• Set the contact email address. People will be invited to contact you on this address, so you are advised to choose an address that is checked regularly.

• Choose whether to receive Tessera emails about new features. They're full of fun.

• Choose whether to receive payment emails which alert you to a customer that's having problems with your checkout. We recommend keeping these on, but if you're getting people that are clearly testing cards you can disable this.

• Choose whether to receive transaction emails - if turned on you will be blind carbon copied into all emails that Tessera sends to customers, including receipts, tickets and reminders. This is ideal if you have a Help Scout support inbox or similar, as you can track the full email chain should a customer reply or otherwise initiate a query.

Credit Card Processing

• Tessera won't ask for your Stripe Secret Key or Stripe Production Key, so don't give them to us. Instead we receive application-specific keys when you connect accounts during setup. These have the benefit of allowing you to terminate Tessera's access to your details at any time. If you block Tessera, or if you would like to change accounts, please contact us for support.

• You can choose whether to pass on the small card processing fees to your customer. We highly recommend taking the decision to absorb the cost to maximise takings online.

Tessera has no subscription fees and no setup charge. It's free to use Tessera for free events. There are also no charges for taking cash or external credit card payments at your box office, and putting this information through Tessera's administration panel.

However, we do take a cut of the ticket price for card payments processed through Tessera.

For the first ticket in the transaction:

• Stripe fee: 1.4% + 20p

• Tessera application fee: 0.6% + 10p

• Total fee: 2% + 30p

For subsequent tickets:

• Stripe fee: 1.4%

• Tessera application fee: 0.6% + 30p

• Total fee: 2% + 30p

Our philosophy

• This charge is low and predictable. We compare very favourably to our competitors for this cost for this feature set.

• Almost all the charge, minus any fees which cannot be reclaimed from the banks, will be refunded to you for cancelled ticket bookings.

• This charge is calculated in your favour where possible. If you have a ticket booking that involves discounts, we'll reduce the processing fee to suit. And if the tickets become free, we'll cancel the processing fee completely.

• You can choose to absorb the cost, or pass it on to the customer in the payment settings.

Good to know

There are two surcharges from Stripe that we should make you aware of, which will not be passed on to the customer:

• There's a 1.5% supplement to process cards from other countries. If you use the Tessera API, this will be represented as a larger Tessera fee than usual.

• Should someone claim that their card has been stolen and that they have been fraudulently charged by you, they may register a dispute with their bank. This will incur a £15 chargeback to your Stripe account, which is only refundable if you respond via Stripe and the customer's bank sides in your favour. Rest assured, however, that this happens very rarely. However, should you wish, you can read more about the process here.