For events, CONGO can print badges either on site as people check in, or pre-print badges for the event ahead of time. Badge printer configuration can be a little tricky, so here are details on setting up a basic configuration.
Prerequisites
- CONGO must be set up and be able to allow an administrator to log in successfully via Coconut.
- A printer must be attached to the computer and configured as the primary 'default' printer
- Test prints are recommended - make sure the badge printer is printing correctly.
Configure CONGO to use the standard print driver.
CONGO has a number of print 'driver' classes that let different printers be driven in different manners. As of August, 2006, we are unifying print drivers down to a 'SystemBadge' class, that allows dynamic badge layout and configuration.
To configure SystemBadge for your event, follow these steps:
- Log into Coconut as an administrator.
- Select 'Set Server Properties' (if this menu pick is not available, you're not logged in as an administrator)
- The fourth option says 'badgeclass'. Type in the value 'system' there (lower case), and save the settings. It's a good idea to check the box that says 'Save changes in cserver.conf', as that will make sure that when the application server is restarted, this badge class will be used.
- Next select Maintain Event Data
- Select Configure Badge Layout
- Enter in the basic badge layout you'd like. Note that a badge is approximately 1100 pixels wide, and about 650 pixels high. Also note that at the moment, this screen will OVERWRITE any configuration changes to the badge layout you may have done elsewhere, and reset them to whatever you put in this form. It does NOT reflect the 'current' state of the badge layout. A future version of Coconut will be smarter about this.\\Make whatever initial layout decisions you'd like here, and save them. There is a way to edit it later, just not via this screen
- Print a test badge!
Go back to the main menu and look up a registrant. Select 'Print' to print their badge, check the 'Print badge' checkbox, and proceed. The badge should come out of the printer. If all looks fine, you're set to run badges for your event. If you need to make changes to your badge layout or content, continue:
- Go back to the main menu
- Select Maintain Event Data
- Select Edit Event Details and Stylesheet
- Under 'Badge Layout', you can make configuration changes to the current settings for the SystemBadge class driver. The fields are primarily self-explanatory, with the 'L1' 'L2' etc prefixes referring to line 1, line 2, etc of the badge. The SystemBadge driver supports up to 4 different print elements. See below for the field names that can go under L1_field, L2_field, etc etc.
- Make any changes to the badge layout necessary, and click Save. The next badge to print will use these new settings immediately.
Fields supported in the L?_field entry
- none
- fname
- lname
- fnamelname
- lnamefname
- regtype
- badgename
- companyname
Alignments
- left
- center
- right (under development)
