A Spektrix Approved Partner
Spektrix integration for arts and venue websites
If your venue runs on Spektrix, your website is where most of your tickets are sold. It needs to show what is on, show what is available, and get people through to payment without friction. And it needs to do that without your team entering the same event information twice.
We build Umbraco websites with Spektrix integrated properly: event data, pricing and availability flowing through from Spektrix automatically, a booking journey designed around how your audiences actually buy, and a back office your marketing team can use without calling a developer.
We have worked with theatres and arts venues for many years, including the Everyman Theatre in Cheltenham and the Subscription Rooms in Stroud. We are a Spektrix partner, listed in the Spektrix Partner Directory.
What goes wrong with venue websites
Most of the venue websites we are asked to look at have the same three problems, and none of them is really about design.
Double entry. Show information is entered in Spektrix, then entered again in the website CMS. It takes time, it introduces errors, and on a busy programme the two drift apart, so the website says one thing and the box office says another.
Availability that is not visible. A visitor cannot tell from the listing whether a show is selling fast, nearly sold out, or has plenty of seats. That information exists in Spektrix and is not being used, so the urgency that sells tickets never reaches the person deciding.
A booking journey with too many steps. The route from 'that looks good' to 'tickets bought' is longer than it needs to be, and every additional step loses people.
Events from Spektrix, automatically
Show data, dates, times and pricing come through from Spektrix, so events are entered once and the website stays accurate
Live availability on the listing
Selling fast, limited availability and sold out messaging shown on the event card and in the event page hero, so visitors know whether to act now
A shorter route to booking
Prominent book now actions on cards and a persistent booking bar on event pages, so the decision to book is always one step away
Proper filtering
What's On listings filtered by date, genre, venue space and audience, so a varied programme is easy to browse
Secure checkout
Payment handled through the Spektrix iframe, which is how Spektrix processes payments securely, styled to sit naturally within your site
Accessibility information
Access performances, captioned and relaxed shows, and venue access details structured so people can find them quickly
Membership and donations
Member benefits, priority booking and giving journeys connected to Spektrix rather than handled separately
An editable back office
Umbraco gives your team control over content, campaigns and pages without a developer for routine changes
How Spektrix integration works
Spektrix does not host your website. It provides a set of integration tools, and the developer chooses how to combine them for your venue. In broad terms there are four.
The API
This is the most flexible option and the one we use to bring event data, pricing and availability into the website so it can be displayed exactly as the design requires.
iframes
These are how Spektrix handles payments and parts of the booking process. Every Spektrix integration uses them for checkout.
Web components
These allow specific pieces of Spektrix functionality to be placed directly into pages.
Spektrix Subsites
Are a hosted alternative some venues use instead of a full website integration.
The right combination depends on the venue. A small arts centre with a straightforward programme needs a different approach from a multi-space theatre running hundreds of performances a year. Part of our job is recommending the lightest approach that does what you need, because a more complex integration is more to maintain.
Spektrix does not charge venues or developers for access to its integration tools. The cost of an integration is the development work, not a licence.
Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham
The Everyman is Gloucestershire's theatre, a Grade II listed Frank Matcham building that has been at the heart of Cheltenham's cultural life since 1891. It runs more than 800 performances a year across its main auditorium and the Irving Studio, which makes the website genuine business infrastructure rather than a brochure.
We have been the Everyman's digital partner for many years. A recent phase of work focused on a single commercial objective: shifting a greater share of ticket sales online. The changes were deliberately targeted rather than a rebuild. Event cards were redesigned around a prominent book now action, a persistent booking bar was added to event pages so key details and the booking prompt stay in view, and the event page hero was rebuilt to communicate availability at a glance.
The Subscription Rooms, Stroud
The Sub Rooms is a Grade II listed community arts venue at the centre of Stroud, built in 1833 and now running a varied programme of music, comedy, theatre, dance, workshops and exhibitions across several spaces.
Its previous website was built on WordPress, and the Spektrix integration the venue needed was not something that platform could deliver cleanly. Every new event meant updates in more than one place. We moved the site to Umbraco and built the integration so that event data and availability come through from Spektrix automatically.
We redesigned the What's On catalogue around colour-coded genre tags and clear filtering, and added availability messaging to the event page hero so visitors know immediately whether they need to act quickly.
Why venues work with 16i
We know the sector
Many years working with theatres and arts venues, with the operational realities that come with them: busy seasons, small teams, and opening nights that cannot fail.
Umbraco and .NET specialists
We build the website and the integration ourselves, on a platform suited to high-volume programmes, rather than adding Spektrix to a theme
Your team stays in control
An Umbraco back office your marketing team can use, so campaigns and content do not wait on a developer
We recommend the lightest integration that works
A more complex integration is more to maintain. We would rather build what you need than what is impressive
Long-term relationships
Venue websites evolve season by season, and we are set up to support that over years rather than projects.
B Corp certified
Independently assessed on how we treat our people, our clients and our impact, which matters to many arts organisations.
Frequently asked questions
What is Spektrix?
Spektrix is a ticketing, marketing and fundraising platform used by theatres, arts centres, festivals and venues. It handles box office sales, customer data, memberships and donations in one cloud-based system.
Does Spektrix build our website?
No. Spektrix provides the integration tools, documentation and support, and a web developer builds the website and connects it. There are three parties involved: your venue, your developer and Spektrix.
Can you integrate Spektrix with our existing website?
Often, yes. It depends on the platform the site is built on and how flexible it is. Some platforms make a clean integration straightforward and some make it awkward. We will tell you honestly which applies, including whether it is better to integrate with what you have or to rebuild.
How much does a Spektrix integration cost?
Spektrix does not charge for access to its integration tools, so the cost is the development work. That depends on how much of Spektrix needs to appear on the site and how the booking journey should behave. We scope after a conversation rather than quoting upfront.
Will we need to enter events twice?
Not with a proper integration. Event data comes through from Spektrix to the website, so it is entered once in Spektrix and the website reflects it.
Can you take over a Spektrix site built by another agency?
Yes. We audit the existing integration first so we can be clear about what we are inheriting and what it will take to maintain or improve.
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Read moreTalk to us about your venue's website
Whether you are moving to Spektrix, unhappy with how your current integration works, or planning a new website for your venue, we would welcome a conversation. An initial discussion is free and carries no obligation.
We are based in Cheltenham and work with venues across the UK. Get in touch at hello@16i.co.uk or call +44 (0)1242 654 000.