Oldskool Belgium is a Belgian events brand that sells tickets through the Tiqs platform. We built a custom event system for their WordPress website so fans can discover events and buy tickets directly from their own branded site instead of a third-party page.
The system pulls live ticketed events automatically from the Tiqs API and also lets the team add their own events through a custom admin dashboard in WordPress. Both sources are combined into one up-to-date event list, sorted by date, and shown on the site through an interactive calendar, an event listing, and detail pages with 'Buy Tickets' buttons.
The Issue At Hand
Oldskool Belgium's ticketed events were only visible on the third-party Tiqs platform, meaning fans had to leave the brand's own site to discover what was coming up, while staff had to re-enter ticketed events by hand to feature them anywhere else.
There was also no way to add non-Tiqs events, no control over which events appeared publicly, and no affiliate or campaign tracking on outbound ticket links, all of which pointed toward a custom, self-service event system built directly into their existing WordPress site.
Event discovery lived entirely on a third-party platform, disconnected from the brand's own design and domain
Ticketed events had to be manually re-entered to appear anywhere outside Tiqs, creating double data entry
There was no way to add events that weren't sold through Tiqs
Two separate event sources (API and manual) had no unified, date-sorted presentation
No control existed over hiding individual events without deleting them
Outbound ticket links carried no affiliate or campaign tracking for sales attribution
Our Collaboration
Phase 1
Discover
Phase 2
Build
Phase 3
Launch
Before building, we mapped how live Tiqs events and manually-added events would need to coexist under one model, and uncovered several constraints the Tiqs API placed on the system's design.
Key Activities
Dual Event Source Modeling
Discovered that live Tiqs events and manually-added events needed a single unified model, with a way to tell them apart and route them correctly.
Custom Data Storage Needs
Realized the Tiqs API only provides ticketed events, so the system would need its own database table for manual events and for any extra data, like tags and block status, the API couldn't hold.
Visibility & Tagging Constraints
Determined that block/visibility and tagging state had to be stored on our side and matched back to API events by their event ID, since the API has no concept of 'hidden' or 'tagged' events.
Multi-Vendor Account Discovery
Found that the brand operates under more than one Tiqs vendor account, so the system had to fetch and combine events across several vendor IDs.
Data Normalization Requirements
Identified that API and manual events use different field formats for dates, times, and image paths, so data had to be normalized into one consistent structure before display.
Affiliate Tracking Requirements
Learned that affiliate (AMB) and campaign tags had to be appended to outbound ticket URLs for sales attribution, requiring a tagging mechanism built into the admin.
Elementor Compatibility Research
Researched how to inject custom markup and styling that blends with the existing Elementor theme rather than clashing with it.
Self-Service Admin Strategy
Concluded the back office had to be simple and self-service, built into the familiar WordPress admin, since non-technical staff would manage events.
Shared Detail Page Architecture
Discovered the design needed one shared detail page driven by a URL parameter (event ID) rather than a separate page per event.
Stable Event ID Scheme
Decided on an ID scheme distinguishing manual events from API events, so any event could be linked to directly and reliably.
Delivered
Tiqs API Integration
Automatically pulls live ticketed events across multiple vendor IDs, eliminating manual double data entry.
Custom Admin Dashboard
A code-free WordPress dashboard for staff to add, edit, hide, and tag events themselves.
Unified Event Calendar & Listing
Merges API and manual events into one date-sorted calendar, listing, and homepage highlight.
Shared Event Detail Pages
A single, URL-driven detail page with a stable ID scheme for reliable, shareable event links.
Affiliate & Campaign Tracking
Automatic tagging on every outbound ticket link for accurate sales attribution.
Elementor-Matched Design
Front-end shortcodes blending seamlessly with the brand's existing Elementor theme.
Gallery
Build with:
“
Exactly what we needed for our events. They built a plugin that pulls our Tiqs listings automatically and lets us add our own events too, all from one simple dashboard. No more juggling two systems or relying on a third-party page. Our team manages everything ourselves now, and the affiliate tracking on ticket links has made a real difference for us. Great communication from start to finish.
— Jonas V.
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