The next significant update to our leader web based room booking and resource scheduling software is just around the corner, and throughout this month, we’re outlining some of the new features and improvements you’ll find in the upcoming v4.07 release….
Improved Support for Smaller Screens
We’ve already previously optimized MIDAS for use on tablet devices (including the iPad), and for v4.07, we’ve further optimized the layout of MIDAS for use on even smaller mobile device screens – such as the iPhone.
Below are some screenshots of MIDAS v4.07 accessed using an iPhone 5 (Click for bigger images)
Best of all – there’s nothing additional to install on your phone/mobile device – there’s no separate “app” to download from the app store – you simply access MIDAS through your device’s web browser. If you’ve got an iOS device, such as an iPhone, you can also add a shortcut to MIDAS directly to your home screen for easy one-touch access to your booking system.
These improvements make MIDAS the ideal scheduling solution for seamless access to your bookings across your desktop, laptop, tablet and mobile devices alike, and it’s supported in all major web browsers too!
We’d like to take this opportunity to wish you all a very Happy New Year from all of us here. We hope 2013 will be a great year for you!
We’re also excited to announce the release of MIDAS v4.01.
The primary focus for v4.01 has been to further optimize the speed and performance of MIDAS v4. In our benchmark testing, on average, MIDAS v4.01 is 15% faster than v4.00 !!
Whilst the main focus for this update has been on improving speed and performance, we’ve also included several new features too…
Full Screen Mode
If you’re running MIDAS in a browser that supports the new “Full Screen API”, you’ll now see a “Full Screen” link on both the login screen and within MIDAS itself. At time of writing this includes: Firefox 15+, Chrome 22+, Safari 5.1+, and Opera 12.1+.
Easily Switch To Full Screen Mode
Clicking a “Full Screen” link will make your MIDAS run in “full screen” mode – MIDAS will fill your entire screen! No tabs, address bar, taskbar or other items cluttering up your screen. You’ll be able to see your booking grid at its largest possible size!
You’ll be able to exit full screen mode at any time by clicking the “Exit Full Screen” link, or by pressing “Esc”
Additional Export Options
In v4.01, we’ve improved the Export function within MIDAS. You can now export Resources and Invoice Summaries in either XML, CSV, or TXT formats. This is ideal if you wish to use this data in 3rd party applications (such as Quickbooks, etc)
Export in XML, CSV, or TXT format
Set Operating Hours for all Venues at once
Whilst setting up your venue’s “Hours of Operation” is generally something you’ll do initially and then probably rarely change again, it can still be quite time-consuming clicking lots of green squares for each hour period during the week for each of your venues. That’s why in v4.01 we’ve added an “All Venues” checkbox.
Apply Hours Of Operation To All Venues
If you select this box, when you click “Save Changes”, the Hours of Operation for the currently selected venue will be “copied” to all your venues!
Improved Booking Information “Client” Tab
The Client tab of the Booking Information Panel in v4.01 now also includes a list of the client’s Paid and Outstanding invoices when you “hover” over a booking for any particular client. You can further click any invoice from these lists to jump straight to that invoice!
Improved Client Details in the Booking Information Panel
Better User Experience when making “Booking Requests” on Smartphones/Mobile Devices
If you’re a regular reader of our blog, you’ll know we recently introduced a mobile version of our main website. We’re currently in the process of developing a mobile-specific version of MIDAS too. This should make an appearance sometime next year. In the meantime, however, for MIDAS v4.01 we’ve made the Public Booking Request feature much more “mobile friendly”. It’s now easier for members of the public to check room availability and make bookings requests through their smartphone or mobile device:
How the Public Booking Request form for MIDAS v4.00 renders on a Smartphone
How the Public Booking Request form for MIDAS v4.01 renders on a Smartphone
Keep Your Browser Up-to-date!
We want you to have the best possible user experience when using MIDAS in your favorite Web Browser. We support our scheduling software in all 5 major browsers. These are Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, Safari, and Opera. A list of the minimum and recommended versions for each of these browsers we support can be found at mid.as/browsers.
Keeping your web browser up-to-date is so important! That’s why, starting with v4.01, MIDAS will display a notification if your browser is too old to use MIDAS, prompting you to update:
Additionally, if your browser meets the minimum version we support, but falls short of the version we recommend, MIDAS will also show a notification:
(These notifications are enabled in MIDAS v4.01 by default, but may be turned off if desired)
It’s a very exciting time for web based development. There are lots of new and emerging technologies and standards (such as HTML5 and CSS3). Some of these are already used by MIDAS v4 (such as the new “drag & drop to reschedule bookings” feature). If you’re stuck on an older web browser that doesn’t support these standards/technologies, you won’t be able to take advantage of all the features that MIDAS (and internet in general) has to offer. Plus you’ll be potentially exposed to web-based security threats that emerge all the time if your browser is not kept up-to-date.
To allow us to continue to develop new and exciting features for MIDAS, we have to “phase out” support for older browser versions, as they become too old, and newer versions are available. For instance, we took the decision in 2010 to drop support for Internet Explorer 7. Now that IE10 is available for Windows 8 (and now also available for Windows 7 users too), during the course of 2013 we’ll likely be dropping support for IE8. IE8 is a browser which is now nearly 4 years old – which by today’s fast evolving browser landscape is considered very old!
Don’t worry, MIDAS v4.01, is still supported on IE8. But the introduction of this new notification system with MIDAS v4.01 if your browser is too old will hopefully encourage users to update their browser, and in that way be prepared for when support ends for older browsers, such as IE8.
Existing MIDAS customers with valid Support Subscriptions can update to v4.01 from within the software (MIDAS Admin Options → Manage MIDAS → Update)
Customers who have their MIDAS “cloud hosted” by us – you don’t need to do anything! – We’ve already updated you to MIDAS v4.01!
If you’re not yet using MIDAS, why not start off the New Year by getting your organization’s room scheduling in order once and for all with our intuitive, easy to use, web based software MIDAS!?
As a New Year is an ideal time to make a fresh start with your room bookings, to celebrate 2013 we’re offering 13% off new purchases throughout January! – simply use Promo Code “NEWYEAR13” on our website when making your purchase.
Again, on behalf of everyone at MIDAS, we wish you all the very best for 2013!
Today, we are pleased to announce the launch of the new mobile version of our website!
Now when you visit https://mid.as on your smartphone or similar mobile device, the content will be “tailored” to give you a better viewing experience on a smaller screen.
Less than 4% of visitors to our site in the last three months did so using their smartphones, but this is still a 1% increase on the previous three month period, and we expect this trend to continue to grow as more and more smartphones are released, and the lines between laptops, tablets, and mobile phones become ever more blurred!
For the best viewing experience of our site on your smartphone, make sure you have an up-to-date mobile browser installed on your smartphone – We recommend Opera Mobile or Firefox Mobile which are regularly updated, and both capable of using the latest web technologies/standards.
So, what about our MIDAS room scheduling software itself? Whilst this is supported on all of the 5 major browsers (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, Opera, and Safari), and so you can use it on your smartphone with a compatible browser, we have been – and continue to work – on making our app more “mobile friendly”. For example, when we released MIDAS v4 a couple of months ago, this featured a new visual “theme” with larger icons and buttons, making it easier to use on touch-enabled devices.
Over the coming months we’ll be making further improvements to MIDAS for users of smartphones, tablets, and other touch-enabled devices… so watch this space!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
Today, we are pleased to announce the launch of the new mobile version of our website!