Help and Assistance - Plan My Fringe

Video Help Now Available

Although this is a long (14 minutes) video, watching and understanding this video may save you a lot of time by allowing you to use the full power of Plan My Fringe!

This video is for the iOS version, but it applies equally to the Android and web-site versions. Everything you see on this video can also be found on this web site.

Please turn the sound up and make the window full-screen for the best results.

Introduction

This web-site (and the Plan My Fringe mobile apps) are designed to maximize your Edinburgh Fringe Experience in the time that you are in Edinburgh.

There are now 3 ways to Plan Your Fringe:

Classic Plan My Fringe - see slideshow here

  • Browse Shows, or search for Shows identified from the brochure, flyers or other means
  • Select the Show
  • Add the Show to your WishList
  • Give the Show a Rating (1-100) based on how much you want to see it - this is optional but higher rated shows are scheduled in preference to lower rated shows
  • Repeat for as many shows as you want
  • Select Your Schedule
  • Click Calculate

Plan My Fringe will automatically schedule the shows for you. You can then confirm which ones you book tickets for or definitely want to see, and these will never be moved. If you find any other shows you want to see, you can repeat the process to see if they can be scheduled in.

Fringe Trail - see slideshow here

  • Select the Fringe Trail option
  • Select your starting venue or postcode and date/time (or alternatively another show on your schedule that you want to start after)
  • See what shows are on nearby after that date/time or show has finished
  • Pick one of the shows you want to see and confirm it
  • Select the Nearby After option
  • Repeat until you have scheduled as many shows as you want on that date
  • You can also repeat this whole process for any other dates you want to plan in this way.

Any confirmed shows will not be moved by any other planning process available

Recommendations - see slideshow here

  • Select the Recommendations option
  • Enter any keywords you want to search for (optional if you already have shows on your WishList)
  • Describe the sorts of shows you want to see (optional)
  • If you have shows on your WishList and want to use these to base recommendations on, leave this tick-box ticked. If you only want to base recommendations on your keywords and description, untick this box.
  • Click Show Recommendations. Recommendations will be listed with the most appropriate at the top
  • Tick any recommended shows you want to add to your WishList
  • Click Add Selected Shows to WishList
  • On your Schedule, click Calculate

Plan My Fringe will automatically schedule the recommended shows for you. Any shows you have manually added to your WishList will take priority over recommendations, unless you go into the recommendation and give it a rating.


Your budget, walking speed and other preferences are taken into account during this scheduling, and your schedule can be re-calculated at any time if you discover other shows you would also like to see.

Example Map of Shows Scheduled by Plan My Fringe

Getting Started

If you have not done so already, select Register New User (from this link or the Logon screen). You will only be asked for an e-mail address and password, as well as your name. This also allows your schedule to be remembered and shared between this web-site and the Plan My Fringe mobile apps.

Once you have Registered, ensure details of your visit and preferences are correct. The most important of these are the start and end time of your Edinburgh visit (although if you do not yet know these you can select a range of dates that are likely)

There are other advanced details you can change from the My Details screen. These include allowing for a maximum budget, maximum number of shows in a day, minimum gap between shows, average walking speed, and minimum lunch, evening meal and sleep times.

Adding Shows to Your Wishlist

If you have found a show you may like to see (from viewing it in the brochure, seeing a flyer or review, or browsing this site), simply search for any part of the show name, select it, and tick the Wishlist box to add it. You can then give it a rating score based on how much you would like to see this show (100 = must see if possible, 1 = only see if nothing else higher rated is available).

You can add as many shows as you want to your Wishlist. You can view the shows on your Wishlist from the Main screen by clicking My Wishlist. If you want to remove any show from the Wishlist simply search for it or select it from the Wishlist, and un-tick the Wishlist box.

Already Have Tickets?

If you already have tickets for Fringe shows, you can confirm the booking by searching for the show, selecting it, then clicking the Confirm button against the appropriate performance. The Scheduler will keep these shows in place and try to re-arrange other shows from your Wishlist around them.

Other Activities

Edinburgh has many other non-Fringe attractions. If you want to block out time for any of these, or just want to keep parts of any particular day free for Fringe or non-Fringe activities, from the My Schedule screen click on Add Calendar Item to block out time for any non-show activities during your stay. Plan My Fringe will not schedule any shows for you during time you have blocked out.

Getting Recommendations

To get recommendations, click the Recommendations option. If you have already put shows on your WishList you can simply base it on these shows, and just click Show Recommendations. If you do not have shows on your WishList, or wish to also add additional keywords or describe what sort of shows you like to see, enter the details in the appropriate boxes.

If you have shows on your WishList, but don't want these included in making recommendations, untick the appropriate box.

When you click Show Recommendations, a list of recommended shows will appear. The algorithm may include some other shows that are not relevant, but will pick up several shows that are perfect for you.

Simply tick which shows you want, and select Add To WishList. You can then go to your Schedule, click Calculate, and see let the system Plan Your Fringe including these recommendations. Shows that you have added manually take priority unless you give a recommended show a rating.

Creating a Schedule

To Create a Schedule, first go to the My Schedule screen. There will nothing on your schedule initially except for any shows you have Confirmed tickets for, and any Calendar Items you have added manually. Simply click Re-Calculate and wait a few seconds.

The Schedule will then be refreshed with as many of the shows as possible from your Wishlist (that keep to the criteria in the My Details screen) slotted in. Any shows on your Wishlist that could not be scheduled will be shown below the schedule display.

If you choose to purchase tickets based on any calculated scheduled time, you can choose to Confirm booking (from the Schedule screen), which will ensure it won't be rescheduled.

If you find a performance is sold out, or prefer not to see a show at a particular time for any reason, you can choose Ignore Performance. When you next Re-Calculate, the show may still be scheduled if possible, but that particular performance will not be scheduled.

During your visit, you can keep adding to your Wishlist in response to Flyers, Reviews or Previews, and regularly Re-Calculate after you have added shows to your Wishlist. Although once you have confirmed you have booked tickets for a performance, that performance will not be rescheduled (unless you remove this confirmation)

At any time, you can view any of the shows for a day from your Calendar on Google Maps, so you can get a visual idea of how far it is between each venue.

Fringe Trail - giving you more control of your Fringe Day

Plan My Fringe now offers a Fringe Trail facility. This was introduced following discussion with several visitors during the 2017 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

You can choose to use the Fringe Trail on any days you want during your visit. Click on Fringe Trail, and select a start venue or postcode and date/time. Shows nearby will be displayed. You can then confirm these on your Schedule. From your Schedule you can then view what is Nearby After (allowing for the minimum gap between shows entered in the My Details screen).

You can then add the next show from the nearby list, and continue, giving you several shows in quick succession and not too much walking time.

Once you have run out of shows for that day, you can go to your Schedule and Calculate, so that any Provisional, WishList or Recommendations are scheduled around the shows on your Fringe Trail.

You can also use the Nearby After feature from your Schedule any time you have a gap where you think you can squeeze another show in.

Coming Soon!

More features are being added to Plan My Fringe all the time. We are constantly refining the scheduling algorithm and user experience. Other exciting features will follow.

And if you have any ideas for features that would help improve Plan My Fringe, please let us know!

Contact Us

If you have any queries not covered by this help screen, would like to make any comments or suggestions, or just want to give us some feedback, please e-mail us at enquiries@planmyfringe.co.uk

Credits

This is an unofficial Edinburgh Fringe application, created by Henson IT Solutions. It uses data provided courtesy of the Edinburgh Festivals Listings API. Although we do our utmost to ensure everything is up-to-date and works smoothly, we cannot accept any liability for any problems caused by use of our services.

Henson IT Solutions provide web-site design, bespoke internet and mobile phone applications, and various other IT services. If you are interested in Henson IT Solutions providing IT Solutions for your business, see our web page for more details.

Have a Good Fringe!