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On Friday, we released an update that finalizes our integration with Perfect Places. You can now create a calendar sync for Perfect Places and we'll automatically make sure your bookings show up there.
There is a slight delay in the integration so new bookings and blocked-off times may take a few hours to show up in Perfect Places. It shouldn't take more than 24 hours.
Since our support area is still being built, here is some info to get you started.
To add a sync for Perfect Places, navigate to your property and select the Calendar Sync link. On the Calendar Sync page, you'll notice that a new sync appears for Perfect Places.
Click the Set Up Now button and you'll see a new calendar sync page that asks for a Reference Number and has a set of Save/Cancel buttons.
In order to save the new sync, you must supply a reference number which is the number that shows on your Perfect Places listing. Log into the Perfect Places control panel and look at your listings. The reference number is shown in the left-most column.
After you've copied the reference number over, click the Add Sync button and we'll take care of the rest. After you add the sync the first time, a representative from Perfect Places may contact you by email to verify the integration.
You'll never need to manually update your Perfect Places calendar again!
For awhile now, we've disliked putting the technical details of our updates in blog posts and wanted to provide an update history area that contained specific technical information.
If you're wondering what I mean, take a look at our last five posts and you'll see several titles that start with something like "New Update (x.x.x) Released".
To scratch this itch, we just released a minor update. Click that link and you'll see the technical details of the release contained in (wait for it) the new update history area.
The blog will continue to comment on updates, as they occur, but without all the technical flair that goes along with it - version numbers, release date, affected components, etc. If you care about such things, they'll be waiting for you in the update history area.
I considered going back and re-titling previous blog posts and changing the content to address the now-separate update history, but I was told by my co-workers that such a move violated the nature of the Internet. I was told that blog posts should be persistent and reflect the time in which they were written, even if they now seem obsolete. So, as much as it pains me, I'll leave the old stuff alone.
We've also added comment capability to the update history so you can let us know what you think when stuff happens. As with the blog, the comment capability is available via the forums under the newly-added Update History Comments forum.
In the last release, we updated the application login pages to use a newer design which would allow us unify all the user accounts between the website and application. This release finalizes the other half of that.
If you're logged into the application and you navigate back to the website - say to post something on the forums or ask a question - you'll notice that you'll still be logged in with the same name and email address that are associated to your account. To change your name or email address, use the Update Profile area in the application.
There is no longer any "community" login or user pages. For community-only users, which are users that have not yet used our core service but have created a community account for using the forum, your community account has been merged into the application so you can continue using the same login information. If you need to change your forum display name, you can use the Update Profile area of the application to do that. Even though this means that community-only users now have a full owner account, they are under no obligation to use or pay for the system. Future payments will be tied to the number of properties a user has created.
If you're logged into your account (you can tell by the wording that is displayed under the 800 number at the top), a "logout" link will appear in the bottom footer links, in the Privacy & Security area, on every page of the site. By clicking this link, you will be logged out. Again, since the application and website now share a unified login system, this will log you out of both sides.
Other Tweaks
We also included a number of small fixes and enhancements with this release. Here are some of those:
This release, in its entirety, was the result of feedback from our beta users. Please continue to tell us what you like, dislike or don't care about. We really listen to you.
In the past few weeks, we've established an integration partnership with Perfect Places.
Our integration partnership will allow you to keep your Perfect Places calendar seamlessly up-to-date without lifting a finger!
As you create bookings or block-off time, our system will communicate with Perfect Places, sending them the information they need to change the availability that shows on your Perfect Places listing.
At the moment, we're finishing all the necessary pieces to make this work. Our release estimate for this feature is about 4 weeks.
(In the meantime, if you don't have a Perfect Places listing, run over there and get one. They've got great prices.)
Last night, we released an update that changed the login, register and reset-password pages; and fixed several minor bugs.
Changes to the Login, Register, Reset Stuff
Besides tweaking the design on the login pages to match previous updates, the login pages now uses a uniform login process that combines the application and website.
To simplify, after the next release (0.7.3) users will have one login that controls both their owner account and community account. They will no longer be separate entities. For example, if you've already signed in to the forum to leave a comment, you will be able to move right into your owner area without having to go through a second login area.
The previous Forgot Password page has been replaced by a new Reset Password page that emails you a reset link. This is a safer and easier way to reset your password because it means that if someone else triggers a reset on your password, on purpose or by accident, you don't have to go through the bother of having to correct it.
Links Fixed
The Terms of Service, shown on the new user registration page, had some links pointing off to Never Never Land. Those have been fixed.
"Waiting" Image Fixed for Chrome and Safari
When you click to save something in OwnerRez, you may have noticed a blue and white image that displays while the application is processing. Or maybe you didn't notice because you were using Chrome or Safari. There was a bug preventing Chrome and Safari users from seeing the image that has now been fixed.
Happy New Years to all our beta users! (And anyone else passing by.)
Excitement is in the air. Over the past few months, we've been getting OwnerRez into a position where we can work on and release several of the new features that our beta users have asked for. Up until now, we've been working on nuances in the core quote and booking engine, tightening up the workflow and doing loads of testing. Those items have been fully hammered down, and now we're on to the new stuff.
Our list of new features and enhancements is quite large, over 150, and our beta users have provided a few more on top of that.
As the new year emerges, we're working hard on the list. Here are some of the top features in the queue right now:
New features for a new year!
This morning, we released an update that fixed minor bugs and made enhancements to the user interface. None of the updates were critical. Among them were the following:
Spelling Errors
Several pages in the properties area contained misspelled words. For instance, in the email settings tab, the booking confirmation page had a title with the word "Confirmaton" that was corrected to "Confirmation".
Custom Paragraphs Not Showing Up On Email
For some users, the custom paragraphs for the booking confirmation email were not showing up on the actual email sent to the guest. The paragraphs would display properly in the user interface and in the preview mode but not in the actual email that was delivered to the guest.
Failed Payments and Security Deposits Attempted Multiple Times
Scheduled payments and security deposits are only supposed to be collected one time, whether they succeed or fail. Previously, if the collection succeeded, which is what happens most of the time, the collection never tries again. However, if the collection fails, certain internal errors were causing the scheduled payment or security deposit to be attempted again the following day - which, of course, would simply fail again. These errors were found and corrected. Now, if the scheduled payment or security deposit fails to be collected, it will not try again.
Occasional Errors On Date And Charges Tabs
In the bookings area, some users would occasionally see errors if they clicked on the Date or Charges tab for a booking.
All of these errors, and others, have been fully fixed and tested. The version number for this update is 0.7.1.
The OwnerRez Blog is live!
We've just released the new website. With it comes a new blog and forums area so our customers can get more visibility into the features we're working on. Please click around and let us know what you think.
Those of you that have had questions, comments and feedback on the application - it's time to let loose. Register for a forum account, and let us have it. We value every bit of feedback you have. We've already gotten loads of feedback by email so we'll enter that into the forums so others can review it.
The support/docs area is still not finished. We're integrating that directly into the application so it needs a little more work. We want to make sure that that's solid before pushing out a first release.
Use the RSS buttons over on the right (or on the bottom of every page) to stay up on our feeds. And make sure to sign up for newsletters. Those will be going out twice per month.
More soon to come. Thanks again to all our early testers!
