>Some nice little updates have been made recently:
>With the new subtrip/sublaunch update that got rolled out today, I was inspired to revamp the trip page, which has long needed a better layout. With the change, the information is more efficiently organized allowing the user better access to the commands as well as view of all information without scrolling.
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A new feature being rolled out today allows the creation of subtrips and sublaunches. This allows you to sell multiple packages (possibly with different lengths, costs, openings, etc), that all are linked to the same trip. The benefits of this are you can run reports for the full trip or any of the subtrips, as well as only have one entry on the calendar. In the screenshot to the right (click it for a large view), you can see a sample where a deluxe package is being sold with higher pricing.
This update should appear in all accounts by tonight. You can hide the subtrip editor in the settings page if you do not plan to use it and want to avoid the clutter. Also note that this is a substantial update so there may be a few glitches that need tweaking over the course of the week.
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This is just a general update post about a variety of feature requests (one of which I have made):
Calendar Cleanup: (finally) The calendar has now been simplified, getting it all to be much smaller (by having smaller lines representing trips). This allows it to be on one screen even with many trips, yet you do not need to scroll. Also, now instead of every launch getting its own color, every trip gets its own color. This makes it much clearer to look at. If you really liked it the other way, I can change it easily on a per account basis (eventually, it will appear in the settings editor). Also note that if you have launches with no trip type, they will each receive their own color.
Reports: In response to Zach’s suggestion, I agree completely. With time, we will build up a collection of reports that each company can pick and choose from. Reports will vary for different purposes (accounting, permits, marketing, etc) and different programs (PDF, Excel, QuickBooks, etc). As we receive new requests for trips, they will be added to the library of reports so that other companies can benefit from similar reports. This project will grow slowly at first, but with time their will be a collection of choices available.
Subtrips/sublaunches: Soon (ie, end of this week), you will be able to have subtrips. This means that a trip might have a few different subtrips/sublaunches (for example, only going on part of a trip) that have their own duration, start day and costs. This will help offer a variety of options for one overall trip, yet common reports and information will be tracked for the main launch. Reports can either be run for the main launch, or any of the sublaunches. This is a big change and may take a little cleaning up, but it should be ready by the end of this week.
>So I have a new idea about reports. I’m worried because as more outfitters sign on, you’ll have to creat all kinds of crazy reports for each individual outfitter. It would be great if you had a report template for each river.
An example is the Rogue river where we need to provide some specific reports to the BLM. Every outfitter that runs the Rogue has to produce the exact same reports. If you had a BLM Rogue template that we could choose from that would make reports easy for you to update. If the BLM decides they need some new information next year, you can update that template and everyone’s reports change accordingly.
In Idaho we need flight rosters. Most companies that run the Middle Fork of the Salmon need these as reports for their guides so that we can get our guests on the right flights after the trip. I’m sure that these flight rosters could be the same for all outfitters as well.
>A long requested update now allows you to have customized messages in the bottom left hand corner of the invoice. Use the settings page to setup the default message, as well as preset messages that can be selected. Then, when viewing an invoice, you can click edit next to any of the lines of the custom message. From there, either select a preset message or type in a custom one for special guests. Or, if you want to revert to the default message, there is even a link for that.
Note for existing customers: all custom messages will be blank for now. Use the settings menu to customize the message, and then click “set to default” on invoices that you want to add the message to. Otherwise, it will remain blank.
We went for the ultimate flexibility for this feature, but understand that this can easily make it to confusing. As a result, I encourage you to play around with it a little (nothing can go wrong if that’s all you are changing), and then contact your support representative if you having any further questions.
>We and a few other demographics. Could you add some functionality to the customer search that will allow us to identify the people that did the Middle Fork in 2005 (for example)?
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Lots of big updates tonight:
Faster – New optimization software has been installed that improves the speed of pages many times over. We already noticed the speed improvement as some of the most complex pages dropped from half a second to 0.08 seconds. Just think about that for a moment…. our software can manage all your businesses data in less then a tenth of a second.
More Secure – A new full system backup feature has been added for administrators, which allows customers to prepare and download all reservation data at their leisure. This offers peace of mind as you know that your vital business information is in your hands at all times. To access the new feature, click “Backup” in the admin menu on the left.
Easier – New help links now appear on top of some pages (and will hopefully start popping up on more). To be specific, it is replacing the “User:” text, which is helpful occasionally, but does not need to be on all pages. Right now you can see the little link on the top of the following pages: users, settings, backup and customer search. Look in that area on more pages for easy access to frequently asked questions and added help for the feature you are currently using.
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A new system settings manager allows you to customize the functionality and operation of the Arctic Reservations software suite. Within the system settings manager, you can change company details, invoice templates and other important default settings that previously had to be made by your support team. As the software grows, more and more settings will be available for customization through the settings menu.
Note that only administrators can change system settings (in order for a user to become an administrator, a support team member will have to make the change). It can be accessed from the “Admin” menu on the left side of the software.
>The customer search is freaky powerful, but it wasn’t able to do something that I wanted to do today.
I want to get a list of every email address and first name for customers in the system that didn’t do a trip with us last year. whew!
I’m guessing that you have trip history set up in a weird way and that trip history through Arctic acts different than imported trip history. Is it possible to set up the customer search feature to do this search.
The next thing that I’ll want to do is create an email list of people that did the Middle Fork last year.
