Archive for June, 2016

Invoicing Improvements in MIDAS v4.13

With development on the next update to our room booking and resource scheduling software, MIDAS nearing completion, we’re shedding a little light here on some of the new and improved features coming in v4.13.

v4.13 includes a sprinkling of small improvements to the already extensive invoicing capabilities of MIDAS. These include…

Option to automatically mark invoices totaling zero as paid

MIDAS already provides options to only generate invoices if the invoice total is non-zero, or generate invoices regardless of the invoice total.

In v4.13 we’re adding an additional setting to control what happens in the event that a zero total invoice is generated. When enabled, any invoice generated that has a total of zero will automatically be marked as “Paid in full”.

You’ll find this new setting via MIDAS Admin Options → Manage MIDAS → Invoicing.

Option to generate an invoice when directly approving booking request

Previously, if you wanted to generate an invoice from a booking request you were about to approve, you would either need to firstly approve it and then separately generate an invoice, or modify the booking request and tick the “Create Invoice” box when approving.

We’re making it even easier in v4.13 to generate an invoice at the same time as approving a booking request. At the bottom of your “Pending Booking Requests” screen, there’s now an “Generate Invoices when approving requests” tick box. Selecting this option before you approve booking requests will automatically generate invoices accordingly.

Note: This option will not be available if your user permissions don’t allow access to the invoicing capabilities of MIDAS.

%PAIDON% Receipt template placeholder variable to denote date invoice was paid in full

We’re also introducing a new placeholder variable for the “Invoice: Receipt” template.

The new %PAIDON% variable will be automatically substituted for the date the corresponding invoice was paid in full on.

Templates (including the “Invoice: Receipt” template) can be viewed and modified via MIDAS Admin Options → Manage MIDAS → Templates.


Brexit: It’s business as usual!

BrexitAs you’ll probably be aware, the UK voted on Thursday to leave the European Union. This process is expected to take a number of years to complete. As we are a UK-based business we wanted to take this opportunity to reassure our customers about our position and the impact on MIDAS during this transition.

The first thing to note is that all our administrative operations are based here in the UK. (For reference, our primary server infrastructure residing in the United States, with backup systems in the UK). We have no staffing or offices in other EU countries, and therefore the UK’s decision to leave the EU will have no effect on the day-to-day running of our operations.

Over 90% of our customers will reside in non-EU countries once the UK leaves the EU. As such, any subsequent financial volatility from other EU member states will have a negligible impact on our own financial position.

We continue to acquire customers from across the globe. This includes from other EU member states. Our EU customers are no less valued or important than any of our other global customers.

Will there be any impact on the price of MIDAS?

Our base pricing for MIDAS remains the same. We’ve not raised our prices as a result of the UK’s decision to leave the EU.

However, we do offer payment for MIDAS in a number of currencies, including Euros. Our prices automatically update daily based on the latest global exchange rates. As such, there may be some fluctuation in the price of MIDAS in the short term.

But that’s not necessarily a bad thing! In fact at time of writing, if you’re a non-UK customer, you may be able to grab a bargain if you’re quick!

Right now, the price of MIDAS today is approximately 10% lower than it was on Thursday for non-Sterling customers! We expect this initial volatility in global exchange rates to only be a short term “blip”.

So, the message is; we’re hopeful and excited about our country’s future, and it’s business as usual at MIDAS HQ!


With development nearing completion on the next update to our room booking and resource scheduling software, MIDAS, we’re shedding a little light here on our blog on some of the new and improved features to look forward to in v4.13…

When a new booking request or message is received or a new “watch notification” triggered, MIDAS alerts the user by subtly changing the relevant toolbar icon to denote the number of new booking requests or messages requiring your attention. Users can also optionally choose to see a list of these requests/messages each time they login in.

Furthermore, a user can optionally choose to be sent email notifications upon each new booking request, message, or watch notification.

With the upcoming new addition of Desktop Notifications in v4.13, which enables more prominent on-screen alerts to logged in users upon new booking requests, messages,or watch notifications, we’ve added a useful new option to v4.13..

Suppress New Booking Request Email NotificationsSuppress New Message/Watch Notification Emails
Suppress new Booking Request email notifications whilst logged inSuppress new Message/Watch notification emails whilst logged in

The new settings will allow a user to suppress receiving such notifications in their email inbox whilst they are currently logged in to MIDAS, so they’ll only be sent during those times they’re away from their computer, laptop, tablet or mobile device, and logged out.

We believe these new per-user setting will help to reduce the number of redundant email notifications from your MIDAS system, but of course, because this setting can easily be toggled on/off by users at any time – if you do still want to receive an email notification on every new request/message, even when you’re logged in you’ll still be able to do so!


New Desktop Notifications

MIDAS Desktop NotificationsDevelopment is nearing completion on the next exciting update to our room booking and resource scheduling software, MIDAS, and over the next few weeks, we’ll be sharing a “first look” at some of the new and improved features coming in v4.13.

One of the new features in MIDAS v4.13 is “Desktop Notifications” on web browsers which support such notifications (At time of writing, this includes current versions of Firefox, Chrome, Safari, Opera, with Edge support coming soon!).

Desktop Notifications are small pop-up messages (sometimes called “toasts” due to the way they animate – like toast popping up out of a toaster!) generated by an application. You’ve probably seen similar notifications before – for example in your email client or messenger apps when a new message arrives.

In MIDAS, Desktop Notifications will alert you to new booking requests requiring your approval, as well as new messages from other users, reminders, and watch notifications. Notifications will usually display in the lower left corner of your screen, even if your web browser window is minimized or hiding behind another application – so you’ll never miss another notification!

The notifications will also automatically close after a few seconds, or can be closed manually.

Enable MIDAS Desktop NotificationsIn order to take advantage of Desktop Notifications in MIDAS v4.13, the first time a notification is to be shown, your web browser will prompt you to allow desktop notifications for your MIDAS system. Simply click “Allow” to grant permission to MIDAS to show you notifications (you’ll only need to grant this permission once):

If you decide at a later stage that you wish to turn off your MIDAS Desktop Notifications, you’ll be able to disable them in your browser’s settings.

MIDAS v4.13 is expected to be made available to Beta Testers in the next few weeks, with a general release shortly after. We’re always looking for additional testers to help test and provide feedback/bug reports on pre-release versions of our software, like v4.13. Becoming a tester is free and no experience is required, and what’s more we’ll reward you for your participation! Find out more about becoming a MIDAS Beta Tester here.

If you would like to be notified when v4.13 is fully released, then why not join our Mailing List?