Posts Tagged: notifications

Mark notifications as “Read”

New option to mark notifications as having been "read"
New option to mark notifications as having been “read”

In MIDAS v4.28 we introduced a new “Notification Center“. The Notification Center allows users to view messages from other users, booking and custom reminders, and Watch notifications.

Notifications each have their own expiration time, after which they are automatically removed from a user’s Notification Center. Users could also manually remove a notification at any time.

For MIDAS v4.29 we’re also giving users the option to mark notifications as having been “read”.

Read notifications will still be present in the user’s Notification Center until they expire or are manually removed. However, unread notifications will be highlighted, whereas read notifications won’t be.

Also, if the user has opted to be shown their notifications each time they log in, this popup will now only show them their unread notifications. So the new “mark as read” option will help keep clutter to a minimum. It will only show notifications the user hasn’t yet seen and acknowledged on the notification pop-up after login.

Users will of course still be able to see all their notifications – both read and unread – via the Notification Center icon.


Watch for Venue Availability

In MIDAS v4.28, we’ve introduced a new “Notification Center“. In earlier versions of MIDAS, this functionality could be found within the “My Messages” screen.

As part of the new “Notification Center”, we’ve added a brand new type of “Watch” notification. “Watch” notifications allow you to be automatically notified whenever certain activity occurs within your MIDAS booking system.

For example, you may wish to be notified whenever a new booking is added to a particular venue, or when a particular type of booking is modified. You may also wish to be notified whenever certain “consumable” resources are running low.

From MIDAS v4.28 you can now create Watches for “Venue Availability”.

Receive notifications when a space becomes free and available in MIDAS
New Venue Availability Watch option in MIDAS v4.28

We know it can be frustrating when you go to book a room and find that it’s already been booked.

Well, wouldn’t it be great if MIDAS could automatically notify you should that timeslot become available again?

That’s exactly what Venue Availability watches allow you to do!

Simply select a currently occupied date, room, and time slot, add a new Watch, and MIDAS does the rest!

Should the unavailable time slot become available again (for instance, if the existing booking is moved or deleted), MIDAS will automatically notify you.


New Notification Center

For MIDAS v4.28 we’ve overhauled the “My Messages” screen, and renamed it to the “Notification Center”.

All the previous functionality of “My Messages” has been retained, but we’ve given the screen itself a bit of a “facelift” to de-clutter and simplify things.

We’ve even introduced a new “Watch” option… but more on that later.

For users with the “Can use Notification Center” permission, their Notification Center may be accessed via the new “bell” icon in the MIDAS toolbar.

Here’s how the new Notification Center itself looks:

The new "Notification Center" (formally "My Messages") in MIDAS
The new “Notification Center” (formally “My Messages”) in MIDAS

The Notification Center comprises three components:

  • Messages
  • Reminders
  • Watches

The numbers in the upper right corner of these component’s icons denoted the number of notifications currently in each section. Clicking the corresponding icon toggles the display of notifications for that particular section.

In the lower right corner of each icon, there’s a smaller icon that allows you to add/configure each section.

Messages

The “Messages” section displays internal messages you’ve received from other users in your MIDAS system. The “+” icon allows you to leave a message for another user:

Leave a message for another MIDAS user
Leave a message for another user

For more information on messaging another user, please see the Help Documentation.

Reminders

The “Reminders” section displays both booking and custom reminders you’ve set. To set a new booking reminder, simply select a booking in the Booking Grid, and then “Add Reminder”. To set a custom reminder, click the “+” icon near the bottom right of the “Reminders” icon in your Notification Center:

Set yourself custom reminders in MIDAS
Set yourself a custom reminder

For more information on Reminders, please see the Help Documentation.

Watches

The “Watches” section displays watch notifications. These are generated when certain activity that you specify occurs within your MIDAS system. The “cog” icon adjacent to the “Watches” icon is used to configure your Watch notifications.

Configure Watch notifications in a MIDAS booking system
Configure “Watch” notifications

There are three types of Watch notification available:

  • Bookings
  • Consumables
  • Venue Availability

Bookings” allows you to monitor and be alerted to new activity in certain venues, and/or for certain booking types, and/or for certain resources.

Consumables” allows you to monitor levels of your consumable resources.

Venue Availability” allows you to be alerted if and when a currently unavailable time slot for a given venue becomes available again. This is a brand new feature introduced for v4.28, which you can read more about in this post.

For more information on Watch notifications, please see the Help Documentation.

Notification Center Settings

You can adjust your Notification Center settings from within the Notification Center via the “cog” icon in the upper right corner.

MIDAS software notification center
Notification Center Settings

These settings allow you to control how and when you receive notifications from your Notification Center.


Client Notification Improvements

We believe in giving your clients control over the automated email notifications and reminders they may receive from your MIDAS system. To that end, we’re making some improvements in this area for v4.25.

Improved Client Email Notification Settings

Previously, each client in MIDAS could be set to receive the following email notifications:

  • None – Client isn’t sent any automated reminders.
  • Bookings – Client is sent automated reminders about their upcoming bookings.
  • Invoices – Client is sent automated reminders about their upcoming invoices.
  • Bookings + Invoices – Client is sent automated reminders about their upcoming bookings and upcoming invoices.

Automated client email notification from your MIDAS system included an unsubscribe link. This allowed clients to opt out of receiving further automated notifications from your MIDAS system. Effectively, the client’s “E-Mail Reminders” setting reverts back to “None”.

For v4.25, we’re extending the automated client notification email options. These now include:

Improved Client Email Reminder/Notification Options in v4.25
Improved Client Email Reminder/Notification Options in v4.25
  • Bookings (Upcoming) – Client is sent automated reminders about their upcoming bookings.
  • Bookings (Recently Ended) – Client is sent automated follow-up emails after their bookings.
  • Invoices (Upcoming) – Client is sent automated reminders about their upcoming invoices.
  • Invoices (Overdue) – Client is sent automated reminders about their overdue invoices.

Clients can also unsubscribe from each notification type, rather than blanket unsubscribing from all notifications.

Easier For Clients To Unsubscribe From Notifications

MIDAS v4.25 now includes a “List-Unsubscribe” header in automated email notifications to your clients. This can make it even easier for them to opt-out of receiving further automated notifications from your MIDAS system.

Email software which support the “List-Unsubscribe” header may show a bar/banner at the top of emails, which users can click to opt-out of similar emails.


These are just a few of the new and improved features for MIDAS v4.25. Please see this post for details of other new features you’ll find in v4.25.

Reddit You can also ask questions and discuss the new features of v4.25 over on Reddit.