Posts Tagged: v4.40

Invoices are now searchable

The “Search” toolbar icon in MIDAS can be used to quickly locate clients and bookings, or search the included help documentation.

For MIDAS v4.40 we’ve further extended the search function to now also allow searching for invoices in your booking system.

Search in invoices
Search in invoices

When searching for invoices, MIDAS will match your entered search term against invoice numbers, clients, organizations, and invoice items. Invoice items include both your rooms (venues / bookable spaces) and resources.

So if you need to quickly an invoice containing a specific item, or all invoices for a particular client – you now can!

The addition of a powerful new invoice search function compliments the existing features will allow you to quickly locate individual invoices….

Quickly locate an invoice

Quickly jump to recent invoices
Quickly jump to recent invoices

The main invoicing screen is accessed via the Invoicing toolbar icon.

This screen displays the most recently created invoices, finalized invoices, overdue invoices, and credit notes in your booking system. Clicking any of these will display the corresponding invoice or credit note.

Additionally, if you know the invoice number you wish to view, you can enter it in the “Jump to invoice” field and hit go, and MIDAS will instantly display the full invoice.

But that’s not all you can do from the toolbar at the top of the invoicing screen…

Filtering invoices

MIDAS allows you to filter the list of invoices by both their status and the client they are for.

Invoicing Toolbar

For instance, you can quickly see all invoices which have been paid in the past week, or all those where payment is still outstanding after a month.

The combination of the ability to “filter” invoices, quickly “jump” to invoices, and now also “search” invoices means that it’s now easier than ever to rapidly locate invoices in your MIDAS booking system.


SAML 2.0 integration comes to MIDAS

SAML 2.0, or Security Assertion Markup Language 2.0, is an open standard that enables cross-domain single sign-on (SSO). It’s a process which allows one system (the “Service Provider”) to trust the authentication performed by another system (the “Identity Provider”). Essentially, it lets users authenticate once and then access multiple services without needing to re-enter their credentials every time.

Here’s how it works..

SAML 2.0 Authentication Process
SAML 2.0 Authentication Process

MIDAS has long supported SSO via Active Directory (LDAP) integration. From v4.40 however, our booking systems now also support seamless Single Sign-On (SSO) through SAML 2.0 Identity Providers. This allows users to be automatically logged in whenever they access MIDAS.

Unlike Active Directory integration – which was only available to those running self-hosted MIDAS booking systems, SAML 2.0 integration is available to both self-hosted and cloud-hosted systems.

What you’ll need

All you’ll need is a MIDAS system licensed for “unlimited” users. If you need to upgrade your license, you can do so at mid.as/upgrade.

You’ll then be able to configure your MIDAS system with your chosen SAML 2.0 Identity Provider.

Popular SAML 2.0 identity providers include (but are not limited to):

Testing SAML 2.0 Integration

We’ve produced a handy “SAML Test Tool” that you can use to test integration between your MIDAS booking system and your chosen SAML 2.0 Identity Provider.

To use this tool, you’ll need to enter some data provided by your Identity Provider, and generate some data for your MIDAS system to encrypt and authenticate data between MIDAS and your Identity Provider. The SAML Test Tool will then verify that it can successfully communicate with your Identity Provider.

Configuration

After successfully verifying authentication with your SAML 2.0 Identity Provider using our aforementioned SAML Test Tool, you’re then ready to configure your MIDAS booking system for single sign-on.

SAML 2.0 settings in MIDAS
SAML 2.0 settings in MIDAS

These settings may be found via MIDAS Admin Options → Manage Users & Permissions → Single Sign-On (SSO). Here you’ll be able to use modified Identity Provider settings from the SAML Test Tool, as well as Service Provider settings from the tool too. Finally, you choose which group of permissions user’s authenticating via your SAML 2.0 Identity Provider should inherit.

Find out more…

Complete documentation for SAML 2.0 integration with MIDAS is available at mid.as/saml-integration.

Please Note: SAML 2.0 integration is currently in “beta”, and so we want your feedback if you encounter any issues.


Send Watch Notifications to your Discord server

We have a couple of new and exciting addons available for MIDAS v4.40+.

Our optional “Discord” addon joins our existing range of addons which allow events occurring in your MIDAS booking system to be posted to your organization’s communication channels.

We already have addons that support popular communication platforms Slack and Microsoft Teams. Now we’re adding Discord to this list.

Discord is a popular free communication platform that allows users to interact through text, voice, and video. Users can join or create servers, which are essentially chat rooms organized around a specific topic.

A MIDAS "Watch" notification appearing in a Discord server
A MIDAS “Watch” notification appearing in a Discord server

Setting up this new MIDAS addon is as simple as obtaining a Discord WebHook URL, and selecting which MIDAS user’s Watch notifications should be sent to your Discord server.

MIDAS Discord addon settings
MIDAS Discord addon settings

To learn more about Watch notifications in MIDAS, watch our short “How to setup watch notifications” tutorial.

To find out more about the new Discord addon, head over to mid.as/discord.


Schedule Zoom Meetings from bookings

We have a couple of exciting brand new addons available for MIDAS v4.40+.

Our optional “Zoom Meetings” addon adds a “Create Zoom Meeting” option to the Booking Availability screen.

Create a Zoom meeting along with the booking
Option to create a Zoom Meeting for the booking

If this option is selected when a booking is added, a corresponding Zoom meeting will also be automatically scheduled for the same time (an active Zoom account is required).

You can also configure the addon to automatically send a link to the Zoom meeting to the client via email, and for that link to be stored in a custom field for the booking, allowing users easy access to it.

A number of other settings are available too, which can be used to customize the Zoom meetings that this addon can automatically schedule…

Zoom Meetings addon settings in MIDAS
Zoom Meetings addon settings in MIDAS

..and there’s also an email template you can customize for the Zoom meeting invite links that can be automatically sent to your clients…

New Zoom meeting invite email template
New Zoom meeting invite email template

Expanding possibilities

Not only does the new Zoom Meetings addon make it simple to schedule Zoom meetings which correspond to your bookings, but it also opens up new possibilities!

Until now, MIDAS could primarily be used to book and schedule ‘physical’ spaces and resources.

But with the addition of the Zoom Meetings addon, MIDAS can now be used to schedule “virtual” spaces and meetings with your clients.

This opens up MIDAS to new business sectors who use Zoom as a primary tool for client communications, such as…

  • Online Counselling
  • Consulting and Coaching – Business consultants, life, career, or executive coaches, marketing consultants.
  • Education and Training – Tutors and educators, corporate trainers, language tutors.
  • Financial and Legal Services – Financial planners, accountants, bookkeepers, lawyers and legal consultants.
  • Health and Wellness (non-counseling) – Personal trainers and fitness coaches, dietitians and nutritionists, meditation or yoga instructors.

To learn more about the new Zoom Meetings addon, visit mid.as/zoom-meetings.