New Control Panel

News and new feature announcements
markkinchin
Site Admin
Posts: 935
Joined: Fri Mar 02, 2012 1:43 pm

I have added booking hover text to the new calendar view.
And because everyone wants to see something different in the text I have made it customisable using the same template variables used for custom emails.
The new setting for this is on the ACCOUNT >> PREFERENCES page.

Supporting touch devices is important to me and If I can find a practical way to add a similar convenience function for touch devices I will.
The new control panel is based around a responsive CSS system that turns it into a mobile friendly version when viewed on small screens.
It's not yet perfect but we are getting there.
amberbb
Posts: 125
Joined: Tue Mar 20, 2012 10:12 pm
Location: Centre of New Zealand - sunny Nelson!
Contact:

markkinchin wrote:I have added booking hover text to the new calendar view.
And because everyone wants to see something different in the text I have made it customisable
Wow, that was quick!

The new hover text seems wider, but not as deep. I assume that, unlike the old hover panel
a) text does not wrap (eg in the comments or notes fields)
b) it's limited to a depth of 4 lines (whereas the old panel typically had 8 lines with us, but often went up to 11 or 12 lines)
markkinchin wrote:using the same template variables used for custom emails.
The new setting for this is on the ACCOUNT >> PREFERENCES page.
That's a terrific new feature.
I know where to find some of the " template variables used for custom emails" with the old control panel, but where are they listed in the new one, please?

markkinchin wrote:Supporting touch devices is important to me and If I can find a practical way to add a similar convenience function for touch devices I will.
The new control panel is based around a responsive CSS system that turns it into a mobile friendly version when viewed on small screens.
It's not yet perfect but we are getting there.
I absolutely agree that our punters will increasingly be using tinier screens and many of them will be touch but I think we need to recognise the distinction between what our punters use and what hosts should be using to manage their properties.

Yes, millions of Chinese moved millions of tons of earth in the "Great Leap Forward" without relying on JCB's and mechanical excavators and yes I can read a novel in 180 character chunks sent to me by SMS messaging. Smartphones are great for when you're out and about, but anyone deliberately choosing to manage their property without the appropriate tools is severely hobbling themselves.
Amber House Limited trading as AMBER HOUSE - at the centre!™
Mobile: +64 21 202 4961
Phone: +64 3 539 0605
Fax: +44 70 05 96 34 37
http://www.AmberHouse.co.nz
Amber House, 46 Weka Street, Nelson 7010, New Zealand
markkinchin
Site Admin
Posts: 935
Joined: Fri Mar 02, 2012 1:43 pm

amberbb wrote:I know where to find some of the " template variables used for custom emails" with the old control panel, but where are they listed in the new one, please?
The setting to control what is displayed as the hover text is in the menu SETTINGS >> ACCOUNT >> PREFERENCES.
The hover box will grow and shrink dynamically to fit whatever goes in it.
amberbb
Posts: 125
Joined: Tue Mar 20, 2012 10:12 pm
Location: Centre of New Zealand - sunny Nelson!
Contact:

markkinchin wrote:
amberbb wrote:I know where to find some of the " template variables used for custom emails" with the old control panel, but where are they listed in the new one, please?
The setting to control what is displayed as the hover text is in the menu SETTINGS >> ACCOUNT >> PREFERENCES.
Yes, I read that earlier, Mark.

What I need to know is where are the "template variables used for custom emails" listed? ie as well as [GUESTNAME} etc, where is the complete list to be found so that hosts can choose which one to use?
markkinchin wrote:The hover box will grow and shrink dynamically to fit whatever goes in it.
That would be great.
So you think that long text (eg in a notes field) should wrap to be readable in more than one line.

What would be the maximum depth of the hovertext block? More than 12 lines deep?
Amber House Limited trading as AMBER HOUSE - at the centre!™
Mobile: +64 21 202 4961
Phone: +64 3 539 0605
Fax: +44 70 05 96 34 37
http://www.AmberHouse.co.nz
Amber House, 46 Weka Street, Nelson 7010, New Zealand
Annette
Posts: 25
Joined: Mon Mar 05, 2012 12:35 pm

You can find a list of the template variables in the wiki http://wiki.beds24.com/index.php?title= ... _Variables . I added a link in the context help for the setting.
amberbb
Posts: 125
Joined: Tue Mar 20, 2012 10:12 pm
Location: Centre of New Zealand - sunny Nelson!
Contact:

Annette wrote:You can find a list of the template variables in the wiki http://wiki.beds24.com/index.php?title= ... _Variables . I added a link in the context help for the setting.
Thanks for that quick and helpful response, Annette.

Have you read the new topic I created here:
https://www.beds24.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=116

I'd really like to help update the new Wiki with some screenshots and the usual Wikignome editing I do at other Wiki's...
Amber House Limited trading as AMBER HOUSE - at the centre!™
Mobile: +64 21 202 4961
Phone: +64 3 539 0605
Fax: +44 70 05 96 34 37
http://www.AmberHouse.co.nz
Amber House, 46 Weka Street, Nelson 7010, New Zealand
Annette
Posts: 25
Joined: Mon Mar 05, 2012 12:35 pm

sorry, saw it only today. please see my answer. btw. did you get my e-mail?
amberbb
Posts: 125
Joined: Tue Mar 20, 2012 10:12 pm
Location: Centre of New Zealand - sunny Nelson!
Contact:

Happy New Year 2014 to one and all!

As far as I know, we are the accommodation establishment that has been using Beds24.com the longest.
(Our first booking was number 81 entered at 09:21, 28 Nov 2006, more than 7 years ago now!)

markkinchin wrote:The problem is hover text does not work on a touch screen. I will add it but I would really like to find a better alternative that works across all devices.
amberbb wrote:I think you need to recognise that, for a few years at least, the primary device for the majority of hosts and their employees is going to be a desktop machine that will be using a physical keypad and probably a mouse and design for full and efficient functionality for that. (This is a truism that MS is going to learn very quickly with Windoze 8, I think)

By all means have a toggle to have reduced functionality or a different design philosophy for those handicapped by narrow, touch screens but please don't hobble the desktop version.

It's great to be able to do some work on the move but folks just have to recognise there are some serious inherent limitations to their smartphones.

After so many years with Beds24.com working beautifully for us I would be very reluctant to endure less functionality and interface efficiency.
After a few weeks of the colours being buggered in the original version, and very slow load times in the calendar view, the green band showing available dates has returned this morning and load times are now shorter than 10 seconds at long last. Hovertext and the horizontal width of each entry is still buggered though...

I would hate to give up on Beds24.com, so I hope that either the original version can be fixed or, better still, the new version can become more vertically compact and become my new command centre so that we are all singing from the same hymn sheet...

amberbb wrote:Better, but I think I can see a way to still cut the overhead depth in half and for you to have a LARGER logo but I need to talk with you voice about this.
I like the way you have distinguished the weekends of Saturday and Sunday by having them display (when "Show Inventory" is toggled off) as both fixed width and with the 2 letter day abbreviation adjacent to (rather than above) the date.
PS: I no longer get notified when there are new messages in this forum, so I'd be grateful for an email when you''re ready to talk voice about this, Mark...
Amber House Limited trading as AMBER HOUSE - at the centre!™
Mobile: +64 21 202 4961
Phone: +64 3 539 0605
Fax: +44 70 05 96 34 37
http://www.AmberHouse.co.nz
Amber House, 46 Weka Street, Nelson 7010, New Zealand
markkinchin
Site Admin
Posts: 935
Joined: Fri Mar 02, 2012 1:43 pm

Have you tried the new control panel recently? It is really very stable.
All new feature development is occurring in the new control panel and corresponding new booking page.
They have been the default for all new users since the start of 2013

I did recently fix a problem that was making the old control panel unusually slow, I guess that is the change you are referring to.
Other than that the old control panel should be working as it always did.
This is an old thread and I am not really sure (or have forgotten) what "needs to be fixed" in the old control panel, can you refresh my memory.
amberbb
Posts: 125
Joined: Tue Mar 20, 2012 10:12 pm
Location: Centre of New Zealand - sunny Nelson!
Contact:

markkinchin wrote:Have you tried the new control panel recently? It is really very stable.
All new feature development is occurring in the new control panel and corresponding new booking page.
They have been the default for all new users since the start of 2013
Yes, I do understand that - however, when I last looked, the new control panel was unusable for us - which is why we are so disappointed to see our old workhorse becoming increasingly more hobbled and crippled.

We do understand that there won't be any more new features in the old control panel (or even bugs squashed) but while the new control panel remains unusable for us, the choice is between sticking to the old panel or migrating to a new booking engine.

You have been wonderfully responsive and inventive over the years but there are some grievous design faults in the new panel that lead to guest management problems that could kill our business, so unless I can talk with you voice, then it may be the parting of the ways...
markkinchin wrote:I did recently fix a problem that was making the old control panel unusually slow, I guess that is the change you are referring to.
Other than that the old control panel should be working as it always did.
Thanks for that fix, Mark.

Unfortunately Hovertext and the horizontal width of each entry is still buggered
markkinchin wrote:This is an old thread and I am not really sure (or have forgotten) what "needs to be fixed" in the old control panel, can you refresh my memory.
I really like Beds24.com the way it was and I didn't want to start a new (and highly visible) thread that might put off newcomers. I'd be happy to phone you in Berlin in a few days if you e-mail me your number and a good time to talk.

Meanwhile, you seem to have fixed something with the forum software because I just got notified of your reply in this forum.

Have a very prosperous and successful 2014!
Amber House Limited trading as AMBER HOUSE - at the centre!™
Mobile: +64 21 202 4961
Phone: +64 3 539 0605
Fax: +44 70 05 96 34 37
http://www.AmberHouse.co.nz
Amber House, 46 Weka Street, Nelson 7010, New Zealand
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