News Archives - MIDAS - Room Booking System

Category: News

MIDAS v4.37 Out Now!

Filed Under: News, Releases by midas — Leave a comment

September 2, 2024

We have a new update available to our MIDAS booking software. This update includes improvements to custom fields, booking requests, printing, privacy, and more.

Here’s what new and improved in v4.37…

Quickly Process Multiple Booking Requests

Selectively process multiple booking requests in MIDAS v4.37

Until now, booking requests could only be approved one by one, or every request could be “bulk” approved at once. For v4.37, we’ve introduced selective approval which saves time by allowing multiple booking requests to be approved in a single one action – Read more…

Custom Field Improvements

Custom “Text Areas” can now have a height set, and be set to be resizable too. Additionally, custom file upload fields can be configured to either view or save/download attached files – Read more…

Invoicing Improvements

Updating an invoice’s internal notes is now recorded in the Recent Activity audit log. Also, manual quotation payments for tentative bookings can now also update the booking’s type – Read more…

Better Support for “Shared” email addresses

If you have individuals using the public booking/request features of your MIDAS system, and they’re making bookings/requests on behalf of multiple organizations but using their personal email address for each, then v4.37 has improved support for such “shared” email addresses – Read more…

Day Notes can now appear on booking printouts

Notes that are attached to specific calendar dates in your booking system can now be set to be included on booking printouts – Read more…

Deprecating some outdated settings

We’ve removed the “SSL Access” setting, and changed the “Allowed IP Range” setting to now only be available in cloud-hosted edition – Read more…

Other Improvements

This latest version of MIDAS also includes stability and performance improvements, theme/UI updates, and fixes for several issues that have been detected or reported since the previous release (v4.36) – View the complete v4.37 changelog….

How To Get MIDAS v4.37…

New to MIDAS?

You can try MIDAS v4.37 for FREE with no obligation to purchase!

There’s both a functional online public demo, and you can also try MIDAS free for 30 days.

We offer a choice of both cloud and self hosted solutions. So if you’re ready to get MIDAS working for your organization, purchase or subscribe today via our secure website.

“Self Hosted” Customers:

Self-Hosted customers with active Support Subscriptions can update to v4.37, and it only takes a couple of clicks.

Simply log in to your MIDAS system and go to MIDAS Admin Options → Manage MIDAS → Update.

We’re currently undertaking a phased roll out of this update rolling out to self-hosted customers. So if there’s no update shown as available to you today, please try again in a few days time.

“Cloud Hosted” Customers:

All our active Cloud-Hosted customers MIDAS systems have already been update to v4.37.

We seamlessly apply software updates for our cloud hosted customers. So you’ll always have access to the latest features, and never need to worry about running outdated software.

Tags: v4.37

MIDAS v4.36 Out Now!

Filed Under: News, Releases by midas — Leave a comment

May 28, 2024

Last month we released a new update to our MIDAS room booking and resource scheduling software.

For this latest update we made a host of improvements to the user interface, including most notably a new “Default” theme.

The New Default Theme

MIDAS includes a number of pre-built visual themes, which an administrator can select for use throughout the software. Additionally, an administrator may optionally allow users to select their preferred theme upon login.

Our recent research showed that around 72% of MIDAS systems are set to use the “Default” theme. Surprisingly though, the second most popular theme is the “HiContrast” theme. Whilst the design intent behind the “HiContrast” theme was to provide greater accessibility to those with additional visual need, we know many customers actually choose this theme as they find the default theme “too blue”!

We’ve listened, and as such, for v4.36 we’ve developed a new toned-down “Default” theme that’s a lot less “intense” blue than before:

We feel this new “Default” theme is easier on the eye and looks more professional. It provides a new alternative to those using the “HiContrast” primarily for a more simple/basic “look” to their MIDAS system.

You can view this new “Default” theme (or any of the other included themes) right now over in our public demo!

If you still like the previous “Default” blue-themed theme better, don’t worry! It’s still available in v4.36, but is now called “MIDAS (Blue)”.

We’ve also made a numerous other improvements to the user interface across all included themes. Some text and headings are now larger than before, dialogs are clearer, there’s increased spacing between certain elements, and some interactive buttons are now larger and more prominent too.

Other notable improvements in v4.36:

Receive Watch notifications on invoice payments

You can now setup a Watch notification to be alerted whenever customers pay their MIDAS generated invoices – Read more…

One-Stop Database Cleanup tool

MIDAS includes a number of “Database Tools” to help you remove obsolete data and keep your database running efficiently.

For v4.36, we’ve added a new “One-Stop Cleanup” tool which collectively runs several database tools. Performing a “One-Stop Cleanup” will:

Remove bookings that occurred more 5 years ago
Remove invoices that were paid more than 5 years ago
Remove clients with no bookings in the past 2 years
Remove users who have not logged in for more than 1 year
Optimize the database

Improved Device Detection

For increased security, whenever you login from a new or unfamiliar device, MIDAS can send you an email alert with details of the browser, device, and location (with our optional Geolocation addon) that’s just logged in.

Until now, MIDAS has been unable to distinguish between certain operating system versions. For example, Windows 10 and Windows 11, or MacOS Ventura and Sonoma. This is due to recent privacy changes in browsers, which no longer natively report the specific version of the operating system they’re running on.

We’ve made improvements to device detection for MIDAS v4.36, so unfamiliar login notifications (if enabled) will now provide more accurate information as to the operating system of the new device which has logged into your account.

Improved Filtering

We’ve added additional “does not start/end with” advanced filtering options when printing in v4.36.

You can now also apply apply filters when exporting bookings.

The new version of MIDAS also includes stability and performance improvements, and fixes for several issues that have been detected or reported since the release of v4.35. View the v4.36 changelog.

How To Get MIDAS v4.36…

New to MIDAS?

You can try MIDAS v4.36 for yourself with absolute no obligation to purchase!

We offer both a free functional online public demo, as well as the opportunity for you to try MIDAS free for 30 days.

We offer a choice of both cloud and self hosted solutions, so if you’re ready to get MIDAS working for your organization, you can purchase or subscribe via our secure website.

“Self Hosted” Customers:

Self-Hosted customers with active Support Subscriptions can update to v4.36, and it only takes a couple of clicks.

Simply log in to your MIDAS system and go to MIDAS Admin Options → Manage MIDAS → Update.

“Cloud Hosted” Customers:

All our active Cloud-Hosted customers MIDAS systems have already been update to v4.36.

We seamlessly apply software updates for our cloud hosted customers. So you’ll always have access to the latest features, and never need to worry about running outdated software.

Tags: v4.36

From Blue To Cool: We’ve given the MIDAS UI a makeover

Filed Under: Development, News by midas — Comments Off

April 17, 2024

For v4.36 of our booking software, we’ve made a whole host of updates and improvements to the user interface (UI) and the included visual themes.

For many years now, MIDAS has come bundled with a number of visual theme packs.

A range of visual themes for the MIDAS interface are included

Administrators can select one of these themes to change the appearance of their MIDAS system. Additionally, administrators may optionally allow users to select their preferred theme upon login.

One of the included themes is the imaginatively titled “Default” theme. Unsurprisingly, it’s the visual theme that each MIDAS system uses initially by default.

As the “Default” theme is exactly that, many system administrators simply leave their MIDAS software set to use this theme.

In fact, from a random sample of our cloud-hosted customers, 72% of MIDAS systems are currently set to use the “Default” theme.

It’s black and white!

Interestingly though, the next most popular theme in our random sample of customer’s MIDAS systems is the “HiContrast” theme. Nearly 13% of our customers currently have this set as their default theme.

Now the primary goal when we designed the “HiContrast” theme was accessibility. In other words, we wanted to better cater to users who may have visual impairments.

The “HiContrast” theme is less colorful than our other themes. It primarily utilizes a simple “black on white” concept throughout, ensuring maximum contrast on screen.

Whilst a surprising number of our customers choose this theme, we don’t believe the vast majority opt for this particular theme primarily because of accessibility needs.

It’s all too Blue-tiful(!)

Rather, we believe that many who opt for the “HiContrast” theme do so because they feel that the “Default” theme is a bit “too blue” for their liking.

We get it! That’s one of the reasons why over the years, we’ve introduced additional visual themes where blue isn’t the main color.

We also allow self-hosted customers to create their own custom bespoke themes for our software too!

But going forward, we wanted to see if we develop a new default theme that was “less blue” than the existing default theme, while also at the same time being less “bland” than the basic black and white “HiContrast” theme.

Introducing the new default theme…

The most significant UI update for MIDAS v4.36 comes with a brand new “Default” visual theme:

The Booking Grid under the new default visual theme for MIDAS — The Booking Grid under the new default visual theme

If you prefer the previous default theme, don’t worry – it’s still available, but is now called “MIDAS (Blue)”.

We’ve also made a number of other improvements to the user interface, as well as minor tweaks to other included themes. Some text and headings are now larger than before, dialogs are clearer, there’s increased spacing between certain elements, and some interactive buttons are now larger and more prominent.

You can try the brand new “Default” theme, or any other included theme, right now by heading over to our online demo.

Tags: gui, theme, UI, user interface, v4.36

Network Expansion – Feb/Mar 2023

Filed Under: News, Tech Insight by midas — Leave a comment

February 7, 2023

We’re upgrading and expanding our MIDAS network!

We’re adding additional new client nodes in Europe (in Amsterdam, Netherlands), and on the West Coast of the US (in Seattle, Washington).

We’ll also be upgrading existing client nodes in our East Coast US data center (in Atlanta, Georgia) too.

We're adding new data center locations on the West Coast USA and in Europe — We’re adding new data center locations on the West Coast USA and in Europe

Why are we doing this?

As part of our continued commitment to the service we provide, we’re investing in new additional hardware, upgrading older hardware, and expanding our network infrastructure.

What are the benefits?

Our network expansion is designed to further improve the speed and performance of existing cloud-hosted MIDAS systems.

By relocating cloud-hosted customer’s MIDAS systems to data centers which are geographically closer to them, faster communication speed between an end-user’s device and their MIDAS system can be achieved.

As a result, customers should notice that their MIDAS systems will load and respond quicker than before.

For new cloud-hosted customers, going forward our network expansion will also mean that we can offer a choice of data center for where their hosted MIDAS system will reside.

What’s happening and when?

Our network expansion and upgrades are scheduled to take place during February and March 2023. The work is being done in 5 phases, which are outlined below:

Phase 1: (Expected completion: End of February 2023)

The first phase of our network expansion involves provisioning new client nodes in Amsterdam, Netherlands and in Seattle, Washington.

Phase 2: (Expected completion: End of March 2023)

Once the new client nodes are up and running, the second phase involves migrating existing cloud-hosted customer’s MIDAS systems to the new Amsterdam or Seattle nodes where appropriate.

For example, if a customer is geographically closer to one of these new locations than they are to the current East Coast US node where their MIDAS system resides, we’ll move them to a closer node.

Phase 3: (Expected completion: End of March 2023)

Once applicable existing clients have been relocated onto the Amsterdam or Seattle nodes, phase 3 sees a reorganization of existing client nodes located in our East Coast US data center (in Atlanta, Georgia).

We’ll be retiring some older client nodes in this data center after we’ve moved customers to the new West Coast and EU nodes. The remaining East Coast US client nodes will be consolidated, which will mean that some customers may move nodes within the East Coast US data center.

Phase 4: (Expected completion: End of March 2023)

The forth phase of our expansion plan sees an upgrade to the server hardware which runs our main website, blog, and our public demo and private trial systems.

Phase 5: (Expected completion: End of April 2023)

The final phase of our network expansion sees the upgrading of remaining East Coast US client nodes to bring their hardware up to date and in line with the new nodes in the West Coast US and EU data centers.

Will there be any downtime?

We do not envisage any loss of access to our customer’s cloud hosted MIDAS systems during these network upgrades.

However, when we migrate a customer’s MIDAS system to a new node, we’ll temporarily place their system running on the old node into “Maintenance Mode” whilst the migration to the new node is performed.

“Maintenance Mode” essentially puts a MIDAS system into a special “read only” state. So you’ll retain full access to all your booking information, but won’t be able to make any changes.

Once the migration to the new node is complete, your MIDAS system will come out of “Maintenance Mode”, and you can continue using the software again as normal.

We anticipate that any “Maintenance Mode” period will last less than one hour.

We plan to carry out migrations at a time when a customer’s MIDAS system is typically least active (i.e. in the middle of the night)

We’ll also notify the “Primary Contact” we have on record in advance of any server migration and provide an estimated time when their migration will take place.

Can I choose which data center my MIDAS system will reside?

We’ll be contacting all existing cloud-hosted customers by email in advance if their MIDAS system is proposed to be migrated to a different data center. We’ll provide details of the data center we propose to move their MIDAS system to, and an estimate on when their migration will take place.

Customers will have a chance to respond to these emails to request a different data center, or that their cloud-hosted MIDAS system remains in their current data center.

Where can I get updates on the progress of these network upgrades?

We have a dedicated page over on our Service Status site, that we’ll continually update during these network expansion and upgrade works.

What if I have further questions?

If you have any questions or concerns in relation to our network expansion, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us, and we’ll be happy to help!

Tags: network, service status, upgrade