News

In the next major Solidres release, property owner can define a new custom field type for guest profile in backend: File upload, this new field type is very useful if the owner want to require guest digital documents like: passport or government ID to confirm the reservations.

This new feature will require Solidres v2.9.0 (the next major release) and Custom Field plugin v1.1.0.

This new Solidres for Joomla plugin automatically suggest alternative available dates for your guest if their searched dates are unavailable, it provides significant improvements for both owners and guests: owners have a greater opportunity to retain guests instead of losing them while guests can choose another dates to stay at their favorite accommodations instead of having to spend their valuable time to find another one.

The upcoming iCal plugin v1.1.0 will support importing from multiple iCal sources (URLs). Although syncing via iCal is not as robust as using channel manager, it is still preferred by many users because it is a more affordable solution to sync availability across multiple sites.

Solidres has been used only 01 default invoice layout since the beginning, it is becoming more and more boring for all of us. Now it is time to change, we’d like to introduce 03 brand new invoice layouts, the new invoice layouts are applied for both accommodation booking (Joomla & WordPress) as well as experience (tour & activity) booking (Joomla only).

WordPress users can try it right now by upgrading to Solidres for WP v0.9.1 and Invoice for WP plugin v0.5.0. Joomla users please wait for Solidres v2.5.0 release.

Now it’s time to turn your Joomla dashboard with full of default and boring stuffs into something that is useful and tailored for your business. With a combination of our Statistics plugin + Quick Search module + Clocks module, you can configure a professional dashboard like above screenshot. All latest versions of our template quickstart packages are also configured with new dashboard layout and you can start using it without having to configure anything.

Actually, this is not a new feature, we had it for a while. However, the old implementation requires to modify language files which are not very convenient. Since Solidres for Joomla v2.9.0, we improve this feature by allowing managing language override per category right in the Joomla category edit form, please check it in the screenshot below.

As can be seen in the screenshot, we made an override for the language key SR_STEP_ROOM_AND_RATE=”Rooms & Rates” and change it a little bit to suit the category “Apartments” and this override will be applied for all properties under this category.

At this moment, reservation and payment statuses are hard coded and they can not be changed with code modification. In the upcoming release we are working on a new feature which allows admin to manage their reservation and payment statuses. The new status system applies to both asset and experience. As this is a major change, we will need to test it carefully before it can be released to the public.

At first, it sounds like a database setup, but it is not. Master/Slave mode is the new feature for Solidres 2.8.0 (Joomla), this new feature is very useful when you want to rent your apartment as a whole unit or as separated rooms at the same time, that means if your apartment is unavailable then all rooms must not be bookable, and if one of your rooms is unavailable then your apartment must be unavailable too. The apartment is the “Master” room type and other dependent room types are “Slave” in this setup.

Actually, we implemented this feature last year, however it does not allow setting different prices for different rooms with that setup therefore we improved it further by introducing this Master/Slave mode.

Since Complex Tariff v1.1.0, asset owners are now able to specify minimum and maximum length of stay per day in their complex tariff settings.  Setting length of stay requirement per day is more flexible than per tariff, in the current version you can set it for type “Rate per room per day” and mod “Day”.

Since Experience plugin v0.9.0, we added a new modal window that shows a list of available dates of an experience item for user selection. This new UI works best when your available dates are sparse, user will be able to select their desired booking date easier and faster. You can choose your favorite layout in your experience – tab Publishing.

At Solidres, we’ve spent a lot of time to research and improve the overall booking UX, after successfully added 02 new layouts for accommodation booking about 1 year ago, now it is time for a change in Experience plugin. Our research found that users have different ways to interact with the accommodation and experience booking engine, that’s why we came up with different layouts for them right from the start, but of course there is still many rooms for improvement and in the below screenshot you can see the latest layout for experience booking. The new layout is optimized for responsive and removes most unnecessary spaces in your site, it also has a new simple slideshow at the top to show different picture about your experience item to attract your visitors. We also add wish list and social network sharing feature just like our Hub plugin (this feature is available for Hub subscribers).

The new layout will be available in next Experience release v1.0.0, please stay tuned!

Welcome 2023, we’d like to celebrate the new year with a new feature highlight: OpenStreetMap (OSM). It will be the default map provider for Solidres (planned for v2.14.0) in addition to Google Maps. OSM configuration is a lot simpler than Google Maps (no need to enable billing to use it like Google Maps). Our plan is to add OSM into the core version first, then we will continue adding it into commercial Solidres extensions.

In previous versions, we have a simple Origins feature where users can enter an origin for a reservation as plain text. Since v2.9.0 we made a big improvement for Origins system by allowing you to create and manage origins via a dedicated UI. We also have a plan for future releases that support channel manager tax mapping.

In the upcoming Solidres for Joomla v2.7.0, we add a new feature called Payment History, it allows recording all payments made for a reservation so that owner can track them easier and clearer. The owner can also add custom payment manually if they want alongside with online payment.

We’ve just finished a new feature that allow you to change the default ordering of your asset and experience’s payment methods in front end. The UI is very simple to use, just drag and drop to change the order, then save your asset/experience to save the new order and it will be applied in front end.

This new feature was added in Complex Tariff 1.8.0 for rate plan type “Per person per stay”, there is a new setting “Pricing type” with 2 values: Fixed and Percent. When activated, the adult 1’s price will be set as BASE price, and other adults and children’s prices will be the percent of the BASE price. The percent pricing feature could help maintaining rate plan easier and faster for specific businesses.

One of the new features in the upcoming Complex Tariff plugin v1.5.0 is the ability to set Min/Max quantity, as can be seen in the screenshot below:

With this new feature, it is now possible to create a special rate plan for those who book from X to Y rooms. Having a flexible pricing structure is a great way to attract more guests, and our Complex Tariff plugin is your solution.

Adding support for Registration card has been requested multiple times by our users and now we are able to introduce it, please see details in below screenshot. Our Registration card feature allows you to design the card layout by dragging and dropping fields easily and conveniently without touch any lines of code, it can be used by non-technical staffs as well. There are many predefined fields to choose from. When your guest check-in at your accommodation, you can just print the registration card and all the guest’s info will be filled automatically, your guest only need to sign it, it helps to make the check-in process faster than before. This feature will be available in Invoice & PDF plugin v1.2.0 (Joomla).

We’ve added a new feature which allow guests to check for their reservation info using a combination of reservation code and email address. Before having this feature, the only way for guest to check their reservation info is through the front end customer dashboard, however they must have a registered account to access. This feature offers an additional way and it makes the system easier to use for your guests while still being able to maintain the privacy of your guest’s reservation info.

Date picker is one of the most important elements in Solidres. It is being used everywhere from front-end to back-end by end-users and administrators. In the upcoming Solidres for Joomla v2.6.0, we include a revamped date picker with a refreshed look and an ability to show unavailable dates right in the date picker (applied for tariff’s date picker). Combined with Flex Search plugin, Solidres now makes booking process a lot easier and more convenient for guests. Happy guests will lead to more booking for your business!