Elxis CMS Forum
Extensions => Components => Topic started by: de-active on March 15, 2009, 02:14:31
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Hello everyone,
It's me again ;D I have so many questions about Elexis IOS Reservation System before I make the big decision to purchase the product, the only way I
can ascertain if it is OK for me is to ask you people here on this forum who have used it or are using it as well as reading the manual, since there is no full demo version of the product for people to try out (this really would be a good idea if you want people to buy it!)
So here goes my first of many questions:
[7.1] Offline Status: So will this allow the system to be used on a stand-alone basis, where lets say it's only in one hotel who does not have Internet access they can use it as their in-house booking system?
Credit Card: "If you enable this option then the users will have to enter their credit card information in order to complete a reservation."
From the above statement, we can stop spam or fake bookings, where a booking will only be accepted if credit card details are completed.Is this true?
More questions to come....
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Credit Card: "If you enable this option then the users will have to enter their credit card information in order to complete a reservation."
If the cretid number is not valid then the reservation cant complete .. in that case the spams comes to almost 0% but the hotel owner have to check always the credit of the credit card and then to confirm. ;)
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Thanks for your reply,
If PP has already verified that the CC is valid and payment has already been made, then what else can the hotel owner do to see if the card is valid?
QUESTION 3:
[7.2] Front-page
What is the front page? Is it literally the front page, the index or home page of the site? I don't want this front page? I want a flash front page so must I use this front page? What if I want to use the front page as the second page?
So what if I don't want this front page? Ideally I would like a nice flash movie on the front page with a simple basic search. Can I do this?
Question 1 is still unanswered.
Thanks
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Question 3 .. This is on your hands to use what ever you want .
If PP has already verified that the CC is valid and payment has already been made, then what else can the hotel owner do to see if the card is valid?
Usally take approve from the bank by the phone or by the credit machine
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[7.1] Offline Status: So will this allow the system to be used on a stand-alone basis, where lets say it's only in one hotel who does not have Internet access they can use it as their in-house booking system?
no..
system goes Offline for all fronted users and is accessible only it's control panel from adinistrator...
for maintenance, updates, reconfigure etc....
ios reservation can be setup from administrator area to work in two modes
multi hotels
single hotel
ios reservation main purpose is to sevice online reservations especially for hotel portals .. multi-hotels mode!
where all it's benefits are enabled!
creditcard option is not for pay but works as a guarantee and a way to check customers(bank services) information!
so to be sure that is not fake and we have info to ask our money if someting goes wrong....
in greece for example many hotels ask and write down information from drive licenses etc.
credit card option works exactly the same way!
to check if credit card information is correct , use any way that bank offer ... ask your bank if and how can access that info!
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no..
system goes Offline for all fronted users and is accessible only it's control panel from adinistrator...
for maintenance, updates, reconfigure etc....
....
ios reservation main purpose is to sevice online reservations especially for hotel portals .. multi-hotels mode!
.
creditcard option is not for pay but works as a guarantee and a way to check customers(bank services) information!
so to be sure that is not fake and we have info to ask our money if someting goes wrong....
in greece for example many hotels ask and write down information from drive licenses etc.
credit card option works exactly the same way!
Yes, BUT I want to use PayPal CC to actually accept payments of the hotels.
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QUESTION 4:
[7.3] Comments:
I want only guests who have paid and stayed in a hotel to be able to make a comment and no one else, so if I didn't stay in a hotel then I shouldn't be able allowed to leave a comment.
Is this true? If not, again it can lead to spamming and other mis-use where and Tom, Dick and Harry can leave a comment.
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Yes, BUT I want to use PayPal CC to actually accept payments of the hotels.
use it ! who stops you?
paypal is other option ... and credit card option is another option too!
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what about comment question?
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well... if you find a way to give elxis the ability to recognize your costumer( face , voice ?) that would be great!
thing a little about this question !
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Right, so can we limit who is allowed to leave a comment?
Since IOS R claims to be like booking.com or based on booking.com then maybe you can check out the comment section of booking.com or expedia.
Maybe a more expressive commenting module can be done for the new version?
You know what, I'm thinking of making a new thread: Features Users Would Like In The New Version of IOS R!
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Change Status: What if it says approved because of successful payment, but not approved from the hotel manager because there's no room.
Is the hotel manager's page accessible from the front end? As in can all visitors see this log in screen?
The hotel manager's access page, should not be visible to users who browse the site or users who book a hotel, this is a function that shuold be back-end? No?
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QUESTION 6
[7.7 Google map]
I want to use a map for each hotel but the country I will do the hotels for does not have good google maps. So how can I include maps? I will draw my own maps. Is it possible to use this feature, or shall include it as an image? Is there anyway of using this module to bring up maps, but my own ones? Don't think so, I now it can be via a php script.
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8. Locations: This seems like a brilliant feature that I would like to use. It says on the manual:
The upload icon will pop-up a new window with an image upload form to upload a characteristic image to use as a location image.
I'm hoping to be able to use a map created in Adobe Flash for each area, will this be possible or is it just images (jpeg, bmp etc?)
I still have lots of questions
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Hotels: What if I want to add, apartments and other types of accommodation, which may not be star based? Is this possible?
This really is a feature to consider for the next version of IOS R.
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Can you make a more complex pricing schedule, say, if a hotel or room hasn't been rented out in a while, you dynamically change price or give discount? Is this possible? Will this be considered for the new version? This will give hoteliers more flexibility.
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Other amenities or services to be added: What if hotels provide breakfast or other facilities at a charge, can IOS cater for this? Example, per night it cost $100 but breakfast can be added for $10 or to have a hotel with balcony use will cost another $5?
Again, another features to be considered?
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Reservation Form: Can I change the reservation form layout and style?
I want to put my logo on it as well as the logo of the hotel the reservation is for?
Would this be possible?
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Can you make a more complex pricing schedule, say, if a hotel or room hasn't been rented out in a while, you dynamically change price or give discount? Is this possible? Will this be considered for the new version? This will give hoteliers more flexibility.
machine intelligent? you will trust it? me never!
Other amenities or services to be added: What if hotels provide breakfast or other facilities at a charge, can IOS cater for this? Example, per night it cost $100 but breakfast can be added for $10 or to have a hotel with balcony use will cost another $5?
Again, another features to be considered?
exist on new version
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de-active can i ask you something?
Why r u asking sooooooooooo many questions!!! This component costs ONLY 75 euros and it is really really very good.
You don't buy a house, or a car it is a component man! :o
It is not the end of the world if there is something that not fits your needs. Take it, work it, and as all of us, propose what is missing!!
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1. Maps: you have to modify the component or create a custom module. I thought google maps covers the whole world...
2: Just images
3. You can change layout and style everywhere.
4. Complex prices: Already developed for Reservations 2.5
I like this one: :D
de-active can i ask you something?
Why r u asking sooooooooooo many questions!!! This component costs ONLY 75 euros and it is really really very good.
You don't buy a house, or a car it is a component man! :o
It is not the end of the world if there is something that not fits your needs. Take it, work it, and as all of us, propose what is missing!!
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This might be a silly question but how do the big guys such as expedia, lastminute and booking.com know or check the availability of hotels (rooms) across the globe or those on their system? Are you telling me all these hotels are connected to the their system? Is there a system such as the airline ticketing system of Saber etc for hotels?
Interesting....because my idea will not work unless I can have live, real-time availability of rooms for multiple hotels.
To manually confirm each booking by calling the hotel up is not an option, as this will clearly not make the customers happy, since we are all use to booking online and once paid, that is a confirmation of the booking - i.e no one waits around for the a confirmation of booking. We are in the information age?!!! ???
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Above topic merged here!
de-active
please do not post all over the forum new topics about the same subject!
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de-active IOS Reservations is a booking system for mass usage. It was not built to cover mine or yours special needs. To do things like those you said you need custom solutions and special applications built just for you. I can built anything and I can bridge the online and the hotel system but such work needs a lot of time and the custom solutions are too expensive. Who can pay such money? booking.com provides bookings for thousands of hotels all around the world. Don't compare your site with booking.com. I would be stupid if I compared my company with Microsoft or Apple. You can get IOS Reservations with just 75 euro. The same software if was built just for you, it would cost you about 5000 euro. Don't you see the difference? This is the goods of the mass software development and of the open source platform. The bad things is that you loose customizations (except if you know how to do them).
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Thanks guys, got the answer to my question GDS, Sabre etc. I understand what you are saying...thanks for all your help ;D
A very important question: Can if I buy the software do I get full access to the source code, isn't it open source, or is that only IOS? Can I change it or customize it for my needs? Even if customization can't be done by Elexis or is not supported by Elexis, can I do my own?
Thanks
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A suggestion for the new version of IOS:
Maybe send SMS/Fax to the hotelier of a confirmation of booking because not all hotels use emails.
I'm not sure how difficult this would be and what it would entail? Who would pay for the SMS? Free online services?
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because not all hotels use emails.
If a hotel, needs an online reservation system they MUST use & have email.
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What if it's not the hotels that are using the online reservation tool? ;D Say a travel agent? 8)
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Wait a second, you didn't get it.
We have:
Side A - (hotel or agent) Services, offering Online information & order
Side B - Customer, Online Customer seeking to buy / order a service
and "Side A" doesn't offer to take an online order, or to contact the customer via email ?
Sorry but if I were the customer and I had seen a service online (never mind who put it online, agent or hotel or advertising company) I would expect them to be able to communicate online. Otherwise I would choose another company.
All this is my point of view, as a customer & provider of services for many years.
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There are many gateways out there that can forward an e-mail to a mobile phone, as an SMS message, or to a FAX device. Check for example clickatell (http://www.clickatell.com/).
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Wait a second, you didn't get it.
We have:
Side A - (hotel or agent) Services, offering Online information & order
Side B - Customer, Online Customer seeking to buy / order a service
and "Side A" doesn't offer to take an online order, or to contact the customer via email ?
Sorry but if I were the customer and I had seen a service online (never mind who put it online, agent or hotel or advertising company) I would expect them to be able to communicate online. Otherwise I would choose another company.
All this is my point of view, as a customer & provider of services for many years.
No actually you didn't get it, I think I didn't make it explicit enough for you. I meant, from the travel agent sending a SMS to the hotel that there is a confirmation of a booking (B2B), not from the hotel to the guest (B2C). Off course people who are going to book online expect online communication, normally via email ::)
Ahhh but the same, lets say a hotel in some distance country, on some distant mountain, on some distant peak, cut off from all civilisation and communication, except his trusty old Nokia and he happens to offer hotel to thrill seekers going on an adventure holiday gets a SMS message from the travel agent of a booking - that'd be brilliant for him ;D
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Thanks for the reply Datahell, here's another to think about, most possibly in the next version of IOS: Reporting, extensive reporting tool and statistics. Lets say each hotel owner is able to get detailed statistics on booking, with graph etc
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IOS Reservations development started again. We might jump to version 3.0 instead of v2.5. Why? Because many new features will be added, here are some extra features that there were not to be added on v2.5: hotel/room type, SMS alert (sms message dispatch to the hotel owner mobile phone on reservation), FAX alert (FAX message to the hotel owner fax device on reservation), more payment gateways, more supported currencies, locations description inside the component, SSL mode ON/OFF. I listen to many people ideas and I will try to implement all the good ones on the component. I want to create the best booking software out there.
Note: Upgrade is always available and free for anyone uses my software.
Please don't ask me about release date and things like that. It will be announced on time. The more I delay component's release the better it will be.
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Good to hear you listen to your customers ;D I can think of lots of features to put on, not all of them practical or great, but no harm in mentioning them.
Sorry do you mean these features, SMS/Fax alert ARE to be added? Or not to be added?
Do consider the reporting tools, I say this because numbers/statistics and data collection is very good for data mining and hence marketing and targeting.
If you could for example see how many bookings were made over a period of a month, three month, 6, 12 months, you can work out peak seasonal times. If you could work out from where these tourists come from (example, you may have a field upon registration where it asks for Nationality/country), then it will help better cater for those customers. If these could further be presented in the form of a graphs, pie charts etc
If you could see which hotels perform the best in any given month. These are some basic examples of data collection but data collection is very powerful.
Administrative control panel.
Just me two pence.
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ARE to be added.
I removed the feature to bind a hotel with an autonomous page.
From version 3.0 and so on, locations have multilingual description, so you can add any description you wish (option to enable WYSIWYG editor is also an option). Off course v3.0 has sub-location support too (since v2.5). Something else regarding locations is that you can now have unlimited number of pictures for each location. So, a kind of gallery is available for each location.
The design is much more user friendly and more solid. From the same page you will be able to do more things, faster and easier. The same for the front-end area. The hotel page will be much more informational and the information will be split into tabs (hotel info, location info, comments, more?).
I will see what can be done with statistics.
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>With the picture gallery idea, a slide show might be considered.
>Also a more comprehensive commenting system (See booking.com)
>Maybe user defined fields upon registration of guest, example in some countries, they require ID card/PP number to be recorded or the like
>Back-end Offline registration of guest: Imagine someone calls up the hotel/travel agency via phone, and so doesn't make the booking via online, if you could still register the guest in the system, that'd be good. This way, it would also allow reservation agents to take guests details over the phone, email, fax etc
Doh: It's good idea to remove the autonomous page for location, instead have fixed, static pages for locations as locations do not change like hotels.
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Reservation notifications settings for a hotel (IOS Reservations 3.0)
http://wiki.elxis.org/wiki/IOS_Reservations/Edit_Hotel_notifications (http://wiki.elxis.org/wiki/IOS_Reservations/Edit_Hotel_notifications)
Add/Edit location (IOS Reservations 3.0)
http://wiki.elxis.org/wiki/IOS_Reservations/Edit_location (http://wiki.elxis.org/wiki/IOS_Reservations/Edit_location)
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WOW Amazing ;D IOS Reservation is getting there to become one of the best off the shelf, mass produced reservation system. Keep listening ;D. I think these features are brilliant!
The web address I believe is: http://www.interfax.net/en/index.html and not http://www.interfax.com/ ?
With the locations, you can have one parent location (e.g city) and then many child (towns?). With each child (town) you can have many hotels? Right?
I'm so excited! (like you didn't know) :D
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Just a quick question: Is it possible to set the SMS/Fax on a time basis, an "out the office hour" scenario. What is meant by this is, can you set either SMS/Fax to be sent for booking confirmation let say between 12am - 7am? That would be good so lets say during the night any confirmation can be made automatically? 8)
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Another idea for the purpose of user friendliness and keeping users assured is to have a "process/progress map" of reservation. What do I mean? When someone wants to book a hotel, they first search, then find a hotel, then a room, then enter their data and finally pay with a confirmation. If you could show this graphically or just a simple time line that would be reassuring to the guest. Wouldn't you agree. You can start from the beginning of the search or once someone has gone down to the rooms and rates level.
Process/Progress Map:
Rooms & Rates > Your Selection > Guest Data > Review> Confirmation
This could be graphical or simple text based.
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Good idea, but i think we should all start to donate some money as ISO Reservation is a great component and if we want more futures we should support the developer.
The company is putting so much effort and implementing more futures on the software.
Such components for joomla do cost lots of money and don't have the futures that elxis and iso do offer.
I will donate my share shortly.
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No, it's not free, Elxis is free. So donations shouldn't be given for a paid software, it should only be given for the free stuff like Elxis.
I was thinking the same actually. So what I concluded was IOS R should be sold for a higher price, when the and improved features come out, maybe upto 100 Euros? However to cover my back (& pocket) maybe it should only be the case for those purchasing a new version and not old customers (those who have already purchased it).
Truly, I think it should be more expensive.
As for Joomres, it's nothing compared to IOS R.
One of the reason why I decided to try out IOS R (which I am still testing out) is because of the attitude of the author, very humble and helpful, as for Jomres guy, well I won't say much else.
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You are wrong, why should the price go up for new customers, if you want to have these new futures you should pay.
I am prepared to pay for the new futures.
You just admitted that the software is much better then any other one out there.
So you better dig on your pocket and donate to keep this excellent software up.
If you don't want to donate or pay for the new futures then better keep quiet.
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Guys relax. I develop this stuff because I like it, not just for the money. If I wanted to earn more money I would n't spare 95% of my time developing free software. I have developed in the past much more complex applications but no one knows them because they were for private customers. I don't like to work like that any more. I want to develop mass usage software. Elxis is something I develop because I want, no one forces me. So, I don't want donations and I feel uncomfortable when someone makes a donation at elxis.org.
I 've decided to develop IOS Reservations in a level far above from the competition and its price. If the component price change it wont be more than 90 euro. So, it will stay cheap.
Now, the bad news: Because of the mass changes on IOS Reservations 3.0 there might not be an automatic way to upgrade from v2.0 to 3.0. These versions become even more incompatible day-by-day. Off course old customers will get for free the new version but I can not guarantee that will be able to update easily from v2.0 to v3.0. The biggest incompatibility is that the season rates system is being abolished. A new, more flexible system, takes it's place. So, the whole availability calculation method changes.
I write in a daily basis IOS Reservations help pages at Elxis wiki (http://wiki.elxis.org). You can visit these pages any time you wish to see the status of IOS Reservations 3.0 (http://wiki.elxis.org/wiki/IOS_Reservations) development.
Latest addition: Hotel's add-on services (http://wiki.elxis.org/wiki/IOS_Reservations/Edit_Hotel_addon_services)
If you have features requests continue writing them. I read all posts.
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You are wrong, why should the price go up for new customers, if you want to have these new futures you should pay.
I am prepared to pay for the new futures.
You just admitted that the software is much better then any other one out there.
So you better dig on your pocket and donate to keep this excellent software up.
If you don't want to donate or pay for the new futures then better keep quiet.
Chill out dude! The reason why those who have already purchased it shouldn't pay any extra is because, already purchased clients don't pay for upgrade, so this is an upgrade, but new clients will have no choice but to pay the new price- unless of course Datahell decides otherwise (i.e to charge an "upgrade" fee for existing clients, which he said he won't. Anyway I won't say anymore cos Datahell has responded and that is sufficient to put an end to this.
I would highly urge already paying clients who have used the software to join this thread and give their real-life problems or feedback when using this. I haven't used the software or implemented it (but hope to) so not in the same position as those already using so may not have come across some and if any awkwardness. Every business does work on a different model, like the example I have of a strange hotel on the top of the mountains, so if we can generalize these business needs they may be turned into features. A classic example was my case, where not all hotels are very well connected via internet ect so a SMS or fax would be useful for reservation confirmation.
Season system being abolished! Great, I was afraid of this! :D It seemed so horrible. I'll get back to you on this.
How about, a "specials engine". Last minute discounts etc? Lets say a certain hotel/room hasn't been booked within a time frame (1 week), you can set up special rate for the last ten days of the month or something? Or a certain % discount if more than a certain number of guest or the like?
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Every business does work on a different model.....
This is the biggest problem of the reservations system. If I developed it for a single customer it would be perfect as it would fit 100% his needs. But different people have different needs which in some cases varies a lot. So, I will try to add as many as possible extra options in order to cover most people needs and some of the "strange hotels on the top of the mountains" needs.
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Datahell said in another thread:
I am also checking an option of adding a user uploaded image as a replacement of the google map.
I really think this is a must (as I too suggested in a previous thread but mentioned a map in flash) since google maps are not detailed. If a user uploaded map in jpg, bmp, flash or whatever is uploaded they can give more details of the area such as local shops, sights, museums, taxi stands etc
See the google map here: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/vietnam/hanoi#
Maybe like this where you can "zoom" (not really zoom in the sense of the word) and give users the option to print maps etc
aiden11 said: What about an internal affiliate option? this will boost traffic for the hotel portals !?Care to elaborate? Do you mean something like a non-guest account, where say, other travels agents or the like can come to your website/system and get prices of hotels for a cheaper rate? I think an affliate program like this would be good, so I have a customer rate and also a agent rate.
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This is just an idea:
Scenario: Tourist wants to travel to country X and see cities Y & Z. So that is two hotels, y1 & z1, since he is exploring the country he may want to see more many more cities and thus needs hotel for each city, is it possible to book multiple hotels, in ONE RESERVATION/sessions. You can see, this is more in line with a tour package.
Alternatively, one would have to book each hotel for each city and thus many different reservations for the same person?
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I have also thought the multiple reservations in one session many times. Such a feature will add shopping cart functionality to IOS Reservations which is something that I don't want. I will think again of it. A step to this direction made by adding add-on services.
As for the image map, it has already been implemented. See the attached screen shot.
Note also that you have now the option to allow comments only to hotel customers.
(https://www.isopensource.com/various/reservations_image_map.jpg)
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made by adding add-on services.
this is something needed...
also... hostels(not hotels) uses keys instead of stars in Greece. we are not allowed to use stars(as an alternative)... and we are obligated to announce everywhere we list(especially for reservations) our hostels the number of keys
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Wow this only gets better! ;D I'm thrilled. Once again, all of your IOS Reservation users out there, who are using this software, this is your golden opportunity to tell Datahell, what you guys want in the new version of IOS Reservation 3.0! This is customer feed back at it's best, at the time of development, you will not get this opportunity until, the next upgrade! I don't even use the software (well, not yet anyway) and I'm trying my best to think of features this software could benefit from. There is no software like this in this category!
Are you reluctant on the multiple reservation in one session due to the programming aspect of it or as a functional requirement? I would say the former, but, having extra services such as breakfast, pick-up service etc is also "shopping card" functionality, albeit to a more controlled manner.
Note also that you have now the option to allow comments only to hotel customers.
Just a note or suggestion to improvement, people prefer quick easy to follow instructions etc so with regards to the comment, is there anyway of the guests to "rate" the hotel in addition to comments (one +ve & one _ve). So it could be out of 10 or out of five stars and a short comment. Or 5 stars for each of the following services:
Staff /5
Services /5
Clean /5
Comfort /5
Value for money /5
Total=
Just an idea or simply guests decide how good it was overall, 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 stars. If this is implemented for IOS it would give the software a lot of breadth, quality and really above head and shoulders of any of its competitors.
More suggestions coming
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this is something needed...
also... hostels(not hotels).......
I'll second that "needed."...i think so too
Could you confirm that the version has hostels, apartments, villas and not just hotels?
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I know you said that the new version will have new payments options, could you elaborate a bit more. Do you mean to say other than paypal, one could use other internet merchant accounts etc or do you mean from a user's perspective? If from a user's perspective than I think maybe you should consider this scenario for the "hotel on top on the top of the mountain peak" scenario. This hotel is lagging behind in the information age when it comes to communication and hence, rather than booking and paying for a hotel or automatic confirmation, maybe the system can be setup such that
1. A payment and confirmation
2. A payment and waiting for confirmation
3. An inquiry of prices and availability
This scenario may not be for the mass since you would expect all hotel to be able to connect to the system in the multiple mode but there are some hotels whose owners are over 100 years old (with their hotel on the peak of the mountain) and who cannot give the system a default number of bookings or instant availability of confirmation.
I hope this scenario is understood, just another idea -after all it's free ;D
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I didn't want to create a new reply so as for you guys to think I'm spamming or anything else dubious.
I'm just trying to put this usability feature up, which is to have a reservation process map, to give the guests an assurance of where they are in the complete reservation process. It will be used after selecting the hotels, can be graphic or non-graphic.
(http://www.sanaa-apartments.com/res_map.jpg)
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OK, we can use IOS R in single mode or multiple mode, where the true potential of the software is unleashed. Also looking at actual usage of most members on this forum, it seems that everyone is using the hotel in the multiple mode, and having the website as a platform for all these hotels to be showcased. In this case, this platform or venue where these hotels are showcased, are not owned by the hotel owners, but rather the website owner and it is assumed that the platform owner (as in the case with ebay, booking, expedia) charge a fee to the hotels for showcasing their hotels and hence where the actual revenue arises for these venue-providers. In that case, it is assumed, that these hotels do not control the rates of the hotels, rather the venue provider sets the rates, so the question arises does the system allow, an internal rate and an external rate? Let me clarify this more
We have hotels A, B, C in places X, Y & Z, all of them being displayed on a venue called www.wordbesthotels.com (V)
So A, B, C pay V a certain percentage or a fixed amount, and hence affecting the hotel rates on the venue, so the question is do the hotels, A, B, C control the hotel rates or the venue provider V? In that case, should V not be able to keep a record of how much profit he is making from each hotel, or if V takes payment directly from guests, how much he has to pay the hotels or vice versa, how much the hotels have to pay V, if the payments are taken by the hotels.
It'd be interesting to find out how the users actually use the system for their business model, since it is assumed you guys don't actually own the hotels on your website.
I know, I know, I'm beginning to tread the fine lines of customization and specific needs, but this is a genuine mass need, how people actually use the system for their own business rules.
Final comment for tonight before retiring is:
How are the new basic and advance search in the system? Is it flexible or rigid? Can I just set the place or do I have to specify, check-in and check-out dates (or can i be flexible and leave this open?).
Also, I know there was a weather module, which didn't work very well according to some user feedback, so I was wondering if you were considering using a weather widget for the different regions once again. This is really trivial though.
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Too many questions, I can not reply to all...
The sure thing is that many things will change to the front-end area. The search will change, the reservation procedure will change, the availability system already changed, statistics added ("πληρότητα δωματίου επί τοις εκατό") and more will be added, we have sub-locations support, the hotels offers add-on services, the notifications changed, customers can now select their desired payment method, more currencies are supported, commentary will be much more informational (a rating system like the one you asked), etc. The bad thing is that, most probably, the tasks related to data entry the hotel owner will be able to perform from the front-end area will be reduced (the advanced features can not be implemented in front-end). As the development is in progress I can not give final answers to all the questions but I like hearing your ideas during this procedure because the final result will be better.
The reservation procedure more likely will be in "steps". IOS Reservations will propose rooms to the customer. Here is a sample scenario.
Customer A want to visit Rome during August 1 and August 15. IOS Reservations will propose to him available rooms for this period from hotels in Rome. Customer will be able to filter the results or order them by price, etc. Customer selects his desired hotel/room. If the hotel has add-on services IOS R. will also ask him if he wants any of them. The customer signs in or registers (internal registration as IOS eshop - note: registration is required), confirms the reservation and goes to payment (if enabled). If the SMS notifications are enabled the customer will receive an SMS message when his reservation is confirmed (either after successful payment or manually by the hotelier). A new very useful addition for the hotel owners is that the hotel owners will be able to move a reservation to an other date. This will be added as a solution to the "dead" (empty) dates problem.
Example:
August 1 reserved by customer A
August 2 reserved by customer A
August 3 reserved by customer A
August 4 not reserved
August 5 reserved by customer B
August 6 reserved by customer B
August 7 not reserved
The hotel owner will be able to move the reservation made by customer B in order for the August 4 not to be a "dead date". So after this move the room availability will be like this:
August 1 reserved by customer A
August 2 reserved by customer A
August 3 reserved by customer A
August 4 reserved by customer B
August 5 reserved by customer B
August 6 not reserved
August 7 not reserved
Additionally the hotel owner will be able to reserve a room by him self in order to synchronize the system with reservations made offline.
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Too many questions, I can not reply to all...
The sure thing is that many things will change to the front-end area. The search will change, the reservation procedure will change, the availability system already changed, statistics added ("πληρότητα δωματίου επί τοις εκατό") and more will be added, we have sub-locations support, the hotels offers add-on services, the notifications changed, customers can now select their desired payment method, more currencies are supported, commentary will be much more informational (a rating system like the one you asked), etc. The bad thing is that, most probably, the tasks related to data entry the hotel owner will be able to perform from the front-end area will be reduced (the advanced features can not be implemented in front-end). As the development is in progress I can not give final answers to all the questions but I like hearing your ideas during this procedure because the final result will be better.
It would be nice to know the statistics details, but if not I'd like to mention the following. With the statistics you may want to consider the following;
Statistics for guests, each hotel and complete statistics for the whole IOS R back-end administration system. So for each hotels we can have the following
Guests/Customers (guests is the proper terminology when referring to customers of hotels) we can collect the following details:
1. Country or County if internal customers (or Nationality for international guests or city of internal/national guests)
2. Payment method
3. etc
This will give the ability to serve the guests better, say you know that many more guests from Italy come and stay in London, than Greek guests, we can target our marketing towards Italy and maybe restructure the marketing towards Greece?
For the hotels:
Number of bookings by day, week and month
Number of nights booked, day, week, month
Type of rooms (single, double, diplomatic etc)
Cost/profit per day, week, month
Hotel can set a target for a day, week or month that they would like to achieve X number of guests or X amount of money?
This can be in the form of a graph as it is easier to digest and see the trends
Back-end Venue Administrator
With the venue or website owner or back-end administrator, you may want to include the above but for ALL the hotels data to be presented that are on the system with the opportunity to look into details of any specific hotels. So nights sold, profit, visitor numbers, transactions, conversions and commissions. Detailed statistics regarding cities booked, language of visitor, country of visitor and many more other tracking tools can be thought of. Once again displayed graphically.
Data is power! There is so much you can do once you have collected data all with the goal of providing a better service for guests, hotel and V.
The reservation procedure more likely will be in "steps". IOS Reservations will propose rooms to the customer. The customer signs in or registers (internal registration as IOS eshop - note: registration is required), confirms the reservation and goes to payment (if enabled). If the SMS notifications are enabled the customer will receive an SMS message when his reservation is confirmed (either after successful payment or manually by the hotelier). A new very useful addition for the hotel owners is that the hotel owners will be able to move a reservation to an other date. This will be added as a solution to the "dead" (empty) dates problem.
Good idea, but are you proposing rooms or hotels? I think it should be hotels, rather than rooms, this gives the flexibility. Rigidity is not good, so leave advance search options. Oh I see, you have used the SMS feature for the guests/customer? Can this not be used for the hotels, i.e from IOS R a SMS/Fax goes to the hotel, rather than the guest/customer, because the customer's confirmation is normally via email.
Additionally the hotel owner will be able to reserve a room by him self in order to synchronize the system with reservations made offline.
This is very neat indeed, but can the hotel put the offline reservation details (i.e customer details, rooms etc) on the system? Or is it just the reservations of rooms or dates ?
Even if you can't respond to my questions, queries and comment's I'll leave 'em here for you to read.
Excellent stuff Datahell! ;D[/list][/list][/list][/list][/list]
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Once again this question or suggestion is related to how actual users of IOS R implement the software in practise and that is not determined by whether it's a single hotel or multiple hotel usage. If single hotel, it's fine no problem, but the issue arises when it is multiple hotels, which is the case I believe with most of the example (actual) implementation. In the latter it is not one hotel but many and therefore the venue provider model is in action (could someone disagree otherwise?), where the hotels don't "own" the venue/website but the website administrator owns the website. Most of the users use this model of revenue, hence I would like to know how IOS R is either an enabler or a hindrance to this model. Is anyone following me? :-\ As mentioned before, do you take a percentage of each sale or do you determine a pre-fixed amount of each hotel room rate?
Datahell, I really believe you should consider this evolving model, where it is not a case of using the software in a single or multiple mode (this is only relevant from a front end deployment issue), but how the actual software caters to the fundamental aspect of the business model. These can be either any one of the following:
1. A single hotel:No problem, use IOS "straight out the box" nothing else required
2. Multiple hotels: If a chain of hotels owned by the same individual or group, again can be used above, with slight "preparation" but not a big difference
3. Multiple hotels: Many hotels in a country or region, which are all independent AND it is NOT the hotels managing IOS Reservation, rather the Venue provider, travel agent or any third party who is providing this service of allowing hotels to be advertised on their website and either also payment being taken directly by the host or a fee being taken after the sales.
Scenario # 3 is what most people actually implement (if I'm wrong please point it out) and this is where IOS R has the potential to also shine above the rest of the competition, if it caters for this evolving model and by doing sol, it does not mean it will discard or neglect scenario 1 & 2, these come by default, it only enhances and gives flexibility to IOS R and it's users.
What do I mean it should cater for this evolving model? Well, first what is this model in use (just look at the thread where I ask of any live sites running IOS R and the examples I get are sites with multiple hotels in a country, where the venue/host model is used. You may ask these users or alternatively I urge all these users to come out of their shell and voice their opinion and ideas). This model is the same as expedia, booking and any other major hotel reservation system, where either a % of the sale is given to the Venue provider or a fixed, but variable, amount is taken from each sale by the Venue provider. In anycase, the Venue provider or the reservation system needs to keep a detailed "record" of these sales or transaction in a systematic way so that either the hotels or the Venue provider can be billed correctly and further offline administration processes can be facilitated for example, the Venue provider can send a fax to the hotel that $X is owned for this transaction with this reservation number or details....
I know currently IOS R has a hotel manager's reservation book method via the "manage reservation", but this very simple to say the least and only takes into account of accept or reject with reservation details, again only suitable for a single hotel or many hotels owned by the same company and not our evolved many independent hotels. I feel it should consider the above evolving model and the problems this brings about, such as % or fixed amount given/taken by the venue/hotel, if payment is outstanding to hotel/venue and many more things I can give details of it considered. But you will realize that this is not a B2C but a B2B operation, back-end administration.
Example, the hotel venue provider should have the following information to give to the hotel:
Reservation No: | Hotel ID | Date of Trans | Total Due |
123232 Lon-5-Ritz 12-12-08 £500
This receipt or bill can be sent to the hotel via email or fax in pdf format or somthing else and it may be billed on a monthly basis, rather than per transaction, so a the Venue provider may bill the hotel for all transaction of a given month, rather than per transaction. (This could work either way, whether the Venue provider accept the payment or the hotel provider accepts the payment and maybe this should be an option)
Further, the venue provider would want to keep a record or whether a payment has been settled from a client/hotel, so he may want information like the following as an example:
Reservation No: Hotel ID: Date: Total: Payment method (from guest) | Profit| Settled| Custom fields
As I analyse this software more and more and come to see actual use of it, I see it has so much potential. I really believe if users use IOS R in the multiple evolving-venue model, this is a MUST have feature, otherwise, how do you guys keep a record of such transaction? An external module, program, paper and pen?
Also, it would seem that IOS R is evolving too, I mean just look at the way the system is implemented or restricted in use, especially the new version to come out soon, it is NOT the hotels, that control the system (all the configuration including hotel configurations and now limited use from front end), rather it is the Venue provider, the IOS R system administrator, and therefore IOS R is naturally evolving for the multiple-hotel venue provider, which in travel technical jargon is called Destination Management System. Therefore, an advice, rather than call IOS Reservation, maybe you could give it the another name, because it does not only reserve hotels, but it also advertises destinations and therefore, should rightly be called IOS Destination Management Systems or IOS DMS if you like or something else.
Anyway, just an idea, like always no harm in suggesting
Thanks again ;)
PS: Datahell, I know I've mentioned this feature to you in private but I do really belive it is something you should at least consider and see that it is not a specific need rather a very much needed feature for the mass, but ask your users.
I'll rephrase this thread when I get sometime as it is not very well written and may not be clear, but in a nut-shell...I'm saying we have three types of users or views:
1. Single hotel use
2. Multiple hotels use
3. Travel Agent's use
Each of them having a slightly different functions....
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I managed to read your whole post... :P
IOS Reservations built after many people requests as a booking tool. After versions 1.0, 1.1 and 2.0 I released that there are 2 kind of people using the software. a) Those that own a hotel (single hotel), b) Those want to make business with IOS R. (multiple hotel). The most successful usage till now is from the first category as the success of the multiple hotels model is mostly based on the IOS R. administrator (as a business man) and less on the software it self. I also released that most people in the 2nd category try to create a tourist portal, so they need their site to provide more services than a reservation. IOS Reservations v3.0 with the add-on services and with much more informational fields is on that direction.
The venue provider/travel agent model requires a big part of the component (almost a second component) to act as a logistics software. IOS R. will never do that in full scale. It will provide much more information on the reservations, statistics, and options to filter reservations by date and/or by hotel but nothing more. The contact and the payments between the venue provider and the hotel owners is something outside the scope of the component.
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That is a very fair point and understood clearly, that IOS R is mostly used by single owner hotels (I didn't know this or think this was the case, my information was purely an assumption based on the examples I was shown) and you are right, this maybe an external logistics module, nonetheless it's an excellent idea and I think more and more people will soon vote for this in the future if they go by my proposed model.
Waiting eagerly for the new version to come out and to see the new features ;D
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A screen shot from the front-end area of the new review/comments system of IOS Reservations 3.0.
Notice that this page is under construction and some features are still missing.
(https://www.isopensource.com/various/reservations_review.png)
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A screen shot from the front-end area of the new review/comments system of IOS Reservations 3.0.
Notice that this page is under construction and some features are still missing.
Excellent stuff ;D ! BUT I really believe this is a bad idea: "The reviews are submitted by this site registered users. Some of them may have stayed at HotelX, some others not"
This was a major problem in the previous version, to allow any registered user to the site, who MAY NOT have stayed in the hotel to make a judgement, criticism, comment and a verdict on the hotel? How can that be?
It's like asking me to make a comment or give my verdict on IOS R, without having used it (actually that's an ironical example, I haven't used IOS R as such by the definition of use oops ;D )
So I would like to ask, is this still the case, where any registered users can make a comment on a hotel, even if they have not stayed in it.
I just can't understand the logic of allowing, people who have not stayed at a hotel to give their verdict on the staff, service, quality etc?!
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I managed to read your whole post... :P
IOS Reservations built after many people requests as a booking tool. After versions 1.0, 1.1 and 2.0 I released that there are 2 kind of people using the software. a) Those that own a hotel (single hotel), b) Those want to make business with IOS R. (multiple hotel). The most successful usage till now is from the first category as the success of the multiple hotels model is mostly based on the IOS R. administrator (as a business man) and less on the software it self. I also released that most people in the 2nd category try to create a tourist portal, so they need their site to provide more services than a reservation. IOS Reservations v3.0 with the add-on services and with much more informational fields is on that direction.
The venue provider/travel agent model requires a big part of the component (almost a second component) to act as a logistics software. IOS R. will never do that in full scale. It will provide much more information on the reservations, statistics, and options to filter reservations by date and/or by hotel but nothing more. The contact and the payments between the venue provider and the hotel owners is something outside the scope of the component.
Sorry Datahell, to bring this point up again, I don't mean to be forceful in any manner or form and if I sound so, please accept my apologies in advance, but this point is related to the travel-portal request (not the payment or logistics module). I mention it to highlight the problems of anyone using the tertiary model, the travel portal model.
So lets say, the hotel portal buys a room for $50 and sells it for $60, profit of $10, the portal may not want to show the hotel how much it is making profit because this may put the hotel off from using the hotel portal but this information (how much the reservation is in total) is recorded in the hotel reservation section, which means the hotel has access to it.
What I am saying is, it can be viewed from another angle, it's about access control at the least. The hotels should not be able to see, the total price of the booking (otherwise they see the portal's profit), but only the total price, minus any profit by the portal. So when the reservation detail is emailed, faxed or SMSed to the hotel, they only get reservation detail along with the total to be paid by the portal.
The most successful usage till now is from the first category as the success of the multiple hotels model is mostly based on the IOS R. administrator (as a business man) and less on the software it self. I also released that most people in the 2nd category try to create a tourist portal, so they need their site to provide more services than a reservation. IOS Reservations v3.0 with the add-on services and with much more informational fields is on that direction.
Yes, it is dependant on the person or his business acumen but the software is an enabler, a supporter, a tool to help him in his business. And thus, why the software should be able to support his operations. Could you shed more light on these add-on services or do you merely mean breakfast, pick-up service etc?
With these new glimpses you keep us on the tip of our toes, keep them coming ;D
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Don't rush. In the screen shot's sample hotel I have set that registered customers can post comments for testing purposes. You can change that for each hotel separately and set that only customers can post comments. Not-logged in users are not allowed any more to post comments. Also some important parts are missing from the screen shot, it is not finished.
As for the prices: you can not hide something that it is visible even by the non-registered users. Hotel owners can make a similar reservation, just to see the final reservation cost. The model you talk about can not work unless you have hidden fees, which is, I believe, not nice at all.
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that makes more sense, thanks for the clarification.
As for the prices: you can not hide something that it is visible even by the non-registered users. Hotel owners can make a similar reservation, just to see the final reservation cost. The model you talk about can not work unless you have hidden fees, which is, I believe, not nice at all.
No, I'm not saying you hide anything, you are not deceiving anyone or cheating anyone, it's called business secret. You buy for $X amount, you sell it for $Y price and your profit is $Z amount - it's just you are not showing how much your profit is. If I buy for $X amount and show the total reservation cost to the hotel, when sending the reservation details (including customer details and total cost of reservation), the hotel will be able to see $Z amount of profit for me. The $Z amount of profit, is the resell or the costs of hosting the hotel on the website. So what you need to show the hotel is $X amount * number of nights reserved and not $Y * number of nights reserved. But the guest needs to be shown $Y * number of nights booked.
Anyway, it's OK, this might not apply to others, or even those running a travel portal mode.
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Hi, me again ;D
I'm going through the wiki notes of IOS R and have some questions, if you don't mind ;)
1. How many pictures can we have of each room? I know there is unlimited number of pictures of the hotel, but is it only one picture of each room? If so, maybe it should be a minimum of 3 pictures at least for each room - so that you get different views of the room.
2. Caption: Maybe each hotel/room picture, can have a caption i.e. a few words describing the picture, like the main reception, room view of the garden etc
Neat?
================================= ;)
new reply:
This quick question is related to the use of google maps and IOS Reservation's new feature of google maps. Since I last checked out google maps, I think it has given more flexibility to users/developers. If you look at an example of how booking.com uses google maps it's quiet useful, especially if the user can add their own locations, annotation and legends to the map. Can they? Also how is google map or maps generally used for IOS R. Is it one map for the location or a map each can be placed for the hotels?
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another idea related to comments, maybe you can users of site, not add comments but add comments to comments: let me explain, they just read a comment and can vote whether they found the comment useful or not.
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in the rush of excitement, I'd like to ask what is the IOSR Tripadvisor review? I know what tripadvisor is but how or why would IOSR be related? Doesn't IOSR have it's own review system, similar to booking.com?
Excuse me for jumping the guns.
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Yes, IOS Reservations has its own review system but if you wish you can display in the same page guest reviews from tripadvisor.com. These reviews as they are from a third party site they considered closer to reality by the site visitors. IOSR gets XML feeds from tripadvisor that are loaded using AJAX.
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Here is a good short read as to why tripadvisor on your hotel website is not a good idea.
Tripadvisor has had a lot of problems recently with fake reviews and reviews by competition etc
You can read the rest of it here: http://www.hotelmarketing.com/index.php/content/article/tripadvisor_on_your_hotel_website_good_or_bad/
But I suppose it can be optional for those who want it.
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I personally might not displayed these reviews on my site not for their accuracy but because my visitors might leave the site to visit tripadvisor. But as I have been asked for this feature by many people I added it as optional. If you wish you enable the feature, it is optional. I think this is the best solution for those want to use tripadvisor and for others that they don't.
An other feature that I work on lately is the option people to be able to change currency to what ever they like. IOS Reservations will automatically show prices in their desired currency.
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hi, i have add some field... you can add this field in new relase?
the field are:
- typology:
- B&B
- Hotel
- Appartament
- Camping
- etc
And some question for my client
- Your property is near to the sea? (Y/N)
- Your property is in or near the mountains? (Y/N)
- Your property is near the lake?(Y/N)
- Your property is in the countryside?(Y/N)
- Your property is near museums and areas of historical interest?(Y/N)
If the answers are yes, in the description of the property there is an icon whit alt description (The icon are under the name)...
the site is www.progettandovacanze.com
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I personally might not displayed these reviews on my site not for their accuracy but because my visitors might leave the site to visit tripadvisor. But as I have been asked for this feature by many people I added it as optional. If you wish you enable the feature, it is optional. I think this is the best solution for those want to use tripadvisor and for others that they don't.
An other feature that I work on lately is the option people to be able to change currency to what ever they like. IOS Reservations will automatically show prices in their desired currency.
I think you have a very valid point on the tripadvior feature - most people may end up going to tripadvisor site instead.
The new currency feature is also good....but can we add other currencies that may not be listed in 34 default currencies?
........and I'm dying here waiting......all these features are brilliant but the golden question is how many more features are left or more blatantly what % of the software is complete or left? You do not have to answer this question but no harm in me asking ( & I know it's always me asking!)
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IOS Reservations supports unlimited number of currencies but only the 34 of them support automatic exchange rates conversion. The exchange rates are taken from the European Central Bank daily (ECB supports 34 currencies). If you pick a currency out of these 34 then you wont be able to use the currency conversion feature.
Current v3.0 development status
- Back-end area: 85% complete.
- Front-end public area: 95% complete.
- Front-end hotelier administration area: 0% complete
- Front-end guest private area: 0% complete
- Payment methods completed: 2 (5-6 more will be added)
- Front-end templates completed: 1
- Sub-systems managers: 90% complete
- Front-end modules: 0% complete
- Installer built: No
- System check/clean up: No
- Demo installation: No
- Languages: English/Greek
Some of the IOS Reservations v3.0 integrated sub-systems
- UPL (User preferable language)
- ECB (European Central Bank automatic exchange rates conversion)
- SMS manager
- FAX manager
- Advanced mailer system
- Tabs system (uses yetii tabs)
- Flickr API
- Image handler (crop + resize, perfect quality)
- Google maps generator
- Custom XML handler
- SEO PRO
- Custom AJAX handler (mootools is also used for some features in front-page)
- Modular payment system
- System Update/Activate manager
- Automatic SSL mode switch
- Dialects system to provide multilingualism (IOSR technology)
- Templates system
- Elxis wiki integration
- Credit Card handler
- Encryption
- Static cache
- Hotel's user rating/reviews system
- Tripadvisor API (requires Elxis 2009.0 or newer)
- Image gallery
- User login and registration managers (to book a room on IOSRES v3.0 you have to be a registered member)
- Custom user access system
and more....
In the next days I will work on the front-end private areas for the hoteliers and guests. IOS Reservations v3.0 is a huge and complex system. It has many features that you will find in numerous other extensions, bind under one interface. Each feature has to be developed and tested separately. All of them must work smoothly, silent and automatically. The administration of the component is extremely easy but the inner code is too complex. This is why it takes so long for this version to be completed.
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Current v3.0 development status
.....
- Front-end hotelier administration area: 0% complete
What's this? I thought you in the new version, hoteliers will no longer be able to administer from the front end because of the complexity of the new version ?
- Front-end guest private area: 0% complete
What's this? Is this each registered users booking details?
- Payment methods completed: 2 (5-6 more will be added)
Are you talking about PayPal, WorldPay etc?
...
Some of the IOS Reservations v3.0 integrated sub-systems
- UPL (User preferable language)
is this based upon geo-IP i.e to automatically select the users language based upon location and browser settings?
- Modular payment system
?
- Credit Card handler
very interesting, are you talking about a payment gateway that will handle credit card payments? Isn't PayPal suppose to do that or other inetegrated payment systems?
The administration of the component is extremely easy but the inner code is too complex. This is why it takes so long for this version to be completed.
Understood and appreciated as to the complexity of the code and ease of use.
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- Front-end hotelier administration area: Add/edit hotels/rooms and manage reservations from front-end.
- Front-end guest private area: Track/cancel/list reservations for hotel guests.
- IOS Reservations v2.0 supported only Paypal (and offline credit card). Version 3.0 supports unlimited number of payment methods as the system become modular.
- Front-end modules. Modules for IOS Reservations front-end area (elxis modules).
- Credit Card handler: This is included in payment methods. More on this when the component is complete.
- UPL: One of Elxis' unique features is that it can change language on-the-fly unlimited number of times. I guess that it is the only cms that can do that.
Real example:
A Russian speaking user makes a reservation at your site, but you (the administrator) speak only Greek and the hotelier's native language is Spanish. IOS Reservations will send the same notification to each one of them but in their own languages. IOS Reservations takes the preferable user language as set on their Elxis profile. Elxis does this since version 2008.0. All others CMSs/systems will send the message in Russian to all the above users.
Take a look at the existing joomla's reservations systems and make a price and features comparisson with the IOS Reservations. It is interesting I think...
I will use your e-mail in my DEV system to make a sample reservation. You will receive an e-mail (as hotel guest) soon to see how IOS Reservations 3.0 formats the e-mails.
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brilliant! I got the email and booking confirmation. Amazing! Just one minor question/suggestion - is the user able to modify the "look & feel" or formatting of that email, such as adding a logo or picture?
The automatic language is brilliant but do errors not occur when you leave translations to a BOT? I guess it's simple translation.
Excellent stuff! Just waiting for it to be released....
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I got the hotelier's version of the same e-mail in Greek (see screenshot at the bottom - the dates are in english as I run the dev version under windows). You got it in English. This feature works in IOS Reservations since v1.0. It is not something new and it is not a translation. IOS Reservations/Elxis uses special language files (those with the "pref" on their names).
As for the format of the e-mail: It is formatted automatically based on the reservation data and component/hotel settings. It is not a wise idea to modify the inner source (you will mess-up the code). Images also are not a good idea as they usually get blocked. I have also paid special attention for the proper format of the UTF-8 encoded e-mails. Note also that the hotelier gets a quite similar copy via FAX and a short notification via SMS.
(https://www.isopensource.com/files/iosres_hotelier_email_sample.jpg)
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As I create now the front-end access for IOS Reservations 3.0 for the hoteliers if anyone wishes to be able to assign special privileges to the hoteliers post a reply and write them down in order to add it to the component. Up to now the following privileges/settings can be set for the hoteliers. Note that for v3.0 the front-end control panel can be used under both Single and Multiple hotels mode.
- Can use the front-end control panel? YES/NO
- How many hotels he can add? (1 ... 1000)
- Can manage hotels (add/edit)? YES/NO
- Can manage hotel rooms (add/edit/delete)? YES/NO
- Can manage reservations? (view/accept/reject) YES/NO
- Can use the FAX service? YES/NO
- Can use the SMS service? YES/NO
- Can use tripadvisor reviews? YES/NO
- Expiration date (the date till which he can login in the control panel) Default: For ever
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- Can use the front-end control panel? YES
- How many hotels he can add? No more than 10 (administrator more than 1000)
- Can manage hotels (add/edit)? YES
- Can manage hotel rooms (add/edit/delete)? YES
- Can manage reservations? (view/accept/reject) YES
- Can use the FAX service? YES
- Can use the SMS service? YES
- Can use tripadvisor reviews? YES
- Expiration date (the date till which he can login in the control panel) Default: For ever : NO only for the administrator
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No, no, no. All of the above are already implemented.
I ask if you need anything else. What other settings do you think you will need regarding front-end access?
For example someone might need to have the ability to set special permissions for the hoteliers to publish/unpublish their hotels.
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if I was to use the software (which I hope I will one day) then I wouldn't allow hoteliers to have any sort of access, so the front-end hotelier's access is quiet redundant to me.
I wanted to suggest a feature, if not too late to put in your to do list: Allow registered users (not hoteliers or admins) to plan a trip, even if they don't make a booking, it's like a scrap pad, where you can make notes etc See the expedia version.
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What shows up as "Information" on the hotel page could be more flexible, for example if you leave out anything
it will not save the page. You may need to change "Owner name" to "General Manager", or leave it out completely.
You may also want not to display stuff like hits count or join date.
This could also be a good place to be able add more stuff like "Daily parking rate:", "Banquet coordinator:"...
Is 3.0 going to have the "com_reservations" in the url or will there be the easy way to change it?
Notepad ++ or Dreamweaver find and replace function can probably handle this job rather quickly, but it is not user friendly.
Should we buy more licences before the price goes up? ;D
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for each Hotel/B&B
Can show phone number? YES/NO
Can show email address? YES/NO
Can show personal website ? YES/no
contact email only with form (no show email client or phone number for owner hotel - only administrator).
Administrator have always a copy of email.
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Can show Fax number? YES/NO
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Hi Datahell,
Do you recall somewhere in this thread or another, my rambling on about statistics - are you going to include this in the new version?
Also could you clarify a bit more on the "tab system" that you speak of?
Do inform us of any further progress.....I watch this forum several times every single day and also the wiki!!!
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Datahell is on vacations and i hope he cant see the messages on the forum ;D ;D
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Well, enjoy your vacation.
I wanted to further make a comment on the IOSR User review/commenting system: If a hotel guest makes a negative comment (or positive), can the hotelier reply back to this comment and defend themselves (or be proude of themselves). I hope that's clear i.e. can a hotelier reply back to a customer's comment?
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If the comments are open everyone can reply or post to the same hotel !!
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Don't quiet get what you are saying and it wouldn't make sense for anyone to comment on any hotel they like.
There needs to be a criteria to be able to comment on the hotel which are as follows:
1. Only guests who have BOOKED & therefore STAYED at a hotel can make a comment (so what you say of anyone being able to make a comment is eliminated).
2. Only the Hotel Manager of the hotel in question should be able to reply back to the comment. How can and why should anyone else be allowed to make a comment on the comment of the guest - it will become like a forum thread!
See how expedia do it...
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Only guests who have BOOKED & therefore STAYED at a hotel can make a comment (so what you say of anyone being able to make a comment is eliminated).
I dont thing is a good idea if you want to have reviews .. about the 0.05% of the hotel quests make reviews and if the customer have make a phone reservation and after the holidays wants to make review ?
Only the Hotel Manager of the hotel in question should be able to reply back to the comment. How can and why should anyone else be allowed to make a comment on the comment of the guest
I ve see many reviews of hotel quests defence their favorite hotel and this answers are the best !!
it will become like a forum thread!
Why not ? A lot of informations gives satisfy to the next customers and let them know what to expect and to see !!
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I'm not sure we understand each other....maybe we are saying the same thing but I fundamentally disagree with one point, which is:
ONLY guest who have booked (online or off-line) should be able to make a comment. They can write the review any time they like, after staying, at home within 1 month of their stay.
What I strongly disagree is to allow any Joe Public, someone who has never ever been to that hotel or even stayed there a night, but has registered on the site to be able to make a comment. That is fundamentally illogical.
Is this what you are saying?
Are you saying ANYONE, including people who have NOT STAYED at the hotel to make a comment on the hotel? It is like saying, someone talking about IOSR but has never seen it or used it! Would their comment be just?
I do agree that other guest can make a comment to defend their favourite hotel but what is to stop a hotel manager disguising or masquerading as a guest and say good things about a hotel? This is why, it should only be a two-way communication: guest makes a comment and hotelier replies if he needs to.
Also, yes the more information the better, but it is suppose to be a commenting system, not a thread, it can get messy on a hotel website page and we have the problems of rivals making comments.
You need the system to be fair, to prevent false comments by competitors (which is why only hotels guests who have booked a room can make comments) and also to prevent the hoteliers lying about their hotel by making good comments.
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Please check the Tripadvisor review system is the only one who works and i get the experience.
What I strongly disagree is to allow any Joe Public, someone who has never ever been to that hotel or even stayed there a night, but has registered on the site to be able to make a comment. That is fundamentally illogical.
In my site the review is free to all and i like it a lot beacause some of the features customers make prebooking questions .
At your site you can use it only for register users ..
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hey I'm learning a lot from your experience Nikos65 and I think much of what you are saying is good because it's the ground reality....so it's good what u r saying but....
I'm saying how is it possible, that you can make a review of my hotel but you have never stayed or travelled to my hotel? You understand what I am saying and where I'm coming from?
In your system, how can you prevent or stop competitors from making a comment on your hotel, which will not be true and always be negative.
However, if you have a system, which ONLY allows people who have stayed at your hotel then that is fair comments because you can stop false comments from people who don't like you or want you in the business.
As for prebooking questions and queries you can have a email, chat, forum, phone number or anything else.
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I thing is something to ask Datahell to be included !! :)
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Glad you finally agree and see the logic! ;D
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In your system, how can you prevent or stop competitors from making a comment on your hotel, which will not be true and always be negative.
However, if you have a system, which ONLY allows people who have stayed at your hotel then that is fair comments because you can stop false comments from people who don't like you or want you in the business.
IOS Reservations 3.0 does exactly this. You can set only registered users to post comments or users that have already stayed in the hotel to post comments (recommended). Also the commentary system now became a review system. IOS Reservations in order to find out if a user is a past hotel guest it checks his reservations and the checkout dates. If it finds a checkout date older than the current date it considers this user as a hotel guest and allows him to review the hotel.
http://wiki.elxis.org/wiki/IOSR_Hotel_page#Hotel_comments (http://wiki.elxis.org/wiki/IOSR_Hotel_page#Hotel_comments)
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Hi Datahell,
Hope you enjoyed your much deserved break!
Yes, but can the HOTELIER respond back to the comment. This is important especially for a negative comment/experience from a guest. With a review system like this, it becomes more trustworthy than tripadvisor because the latter allows anyone (including those who have not stayed in the hotels - so a competitor can make a comment).
Any other major updates you want to disclose? like... ;D
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How about on this version we can have an option for hoteliers to add a a booking form that is linked to ISO main website.
for example, if a hotel has got 12 rooms and can place the code somewhere in their website, customer can search from there and then redirected to the main website to complete the booking ?
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This can be done quiet easily by a third party PHP developer. I am responsible for the development of the central reservations application, not for external connectors and bridges. If you wish to have a mother site with IOS Reservations and have availability/booking forms on several other web sites then you have to hire a developer to create for you a bridge with IOS Reservations. I have created many free plug-ins for Elxis that work as bridges between, even totally, different applications (Elxis - SMF, Elxis - Wiki, EDC browser, Flickr API, etc). You can take these as examples on how you can connect Elxis with other applications, even if they are not under the same server.
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Do you have a free plugin/bridge for the SMF forum for Elxis or can this be integrated into Elxis out of the box?
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You question is not relative to the post's subject. You will also find the answer if you search the forum.
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This can be done quiet easily by a third party PHP developer. I am responsible for the development of the central reservations application, not for external connectors and bridges. If you wish to have a mother site with IOS Reservations and have availability/booking forms on several other web sites then you have to hire a developer to create for you a bridge with IOS Reservations. I have created many free plug-ins for Elxis that work as bridges between, even totally, different applications (Elxis - SMF, Elxis - Wiki, EDC browser, Flickr API, etc). You can take these as examples on how you can connect Elxis with other applications, even if they are not under the same server.
Thanks for taking your time to answer my post.
Looking forward to the new version :)
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for each Hotel/B&B
Can show phone number? YES/NO
Can show email address? YES/NO
Can show personal website ? YES/no
contact email only with form (no show email client or phone number for owner hotel - only administrator).
Administrator have always a copy of email.
- price for person or for room
- category hotel/b&b/etc..
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These are two features that I find useful:
1) The hotel manager will be able to set a 'stop sales' period. (will not accept reservations for this period)
2) Add pricing options per person and per child
Will these two be included in the new version of IOS Reservations?
Kepp up the good work datahell!
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I was just reading the FAQs on IOSR and found out that, those who have already purchased an older or current version of IOSR will not get a free upgrade (as they normally use to), but a "huge discount" could you, if you are able to, tell us roughly how much version 3 would be as well as percentage discount current clients can expect to get?
Given that X% is left to complete will the "Estimated release date for v3.0 is September 30, 2009" be met? How realistic is this? Will this target be met or .....
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Free updates for all versions of the same generation (i.e. 1.x)
https://www.isopensource.com/software/ios-reservations-system.html (https://www.isopensource.com/software/ios-reservations-system.html)
Versions 2.0/2.1 and 3.0 are of a different generation. Version 3.0 has nothing common to v2.x, as the component re-built from scratch. That's why you can not update, you can only install the new version. Most probably people having already v2.x will be able to buy v3.0 with a great discount. Nothing is certain yet as v3.0 is still under development. Prices and update information will be announced from Is Open Source (https://www.isopensource.com) web site on time.
Current development status
The front-end control panel for the hoteliers was just completed. The component is almost fully functional. All the main features and pages have been completed. What is missing: some informational pages in administration area, more payment methods, the installer, clean up of language files, css and code, online testing, build of a demo site, completion of the user manual, support pages. I believe that it will be ready by the end of September but I don't guarantee that.
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Hi,
I was reading the wiki on IOSR and came across this:
IOS Dialects technology. Each title, description, and everything else can be entered in up to 4 languages.
Can you clarify this for me in more details. So the above information can only be entered and displayed in 4 languages only?
So Elxis supports unlimited number of languages, but IOSR can only display 4 different languages? Could you increase this please as some sites need many many more. If you look at Expedia or Booking.com they have lots of languages.
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As you know Elxis is a multilingual CMS and supports unlimited number of languages.
IOS Reservations is also a multilingual application built for Elxis and also supports unlimited number of languages.
So, IOS Reservations interface can be displayed in unlimited number of languages.
Each database driven item in IOS Reservations can be entered in up to 4 languages.
This means: hotels title and description, locations title and description, rooms title and description, payment methods, add-on services, hotel/rooms facilities, etc. For each of these items there are 4 columns in the database instead of one.
Here is a sample on how you enter multilingual titles for a room:
http://wiki.elxis.org/wiki/IOSR_admin_edit_room (http://wiki.elxis.org/wiki/IOSR_admin_edit_room)
One language is the main language, this is set automatically to the site default published language. You can select 3 more languages to display from the list of your published languages (if you have more than 4). The database driven data for the rest languages will be displayed in the main language. IOS Reservations v2.x works like this. IOS Eshop and other components work also like this.
You might think that 4 languages are not enough, but this is not true. This limitation is not a real problem, the site can still be multilingual. Here is working example to better understand this.
Site "A" has 6 languages published: english (main), greek, italian, spanish, german, french.
The default language is english.
IOS Reservations other 3 languages are: greek, italian and spanish.
For users having selected the english language:
Elxis interface will be in english
IOS Reservations interface will be in english
IOS Reservations data will be in english
For users having selected the greek language:
Elxis interface will be in greek
IOS Reservations interface will be in greek
IOS Reservations data will be in greek
For users having selected the italian language:
Elxis interface will be in italian
IOS Reservations interface will be in italian
IOS Reservations data will be in italian
For users having selected the spanish language:
Elxis interface will be in spanish
IOS Reservations interface will be in spanish
IOS Reservations data will be in spanish
For users having selected the german language:
Elxis interface will be in german
IOS Reservations interface will be in german
IOS Reservations data will be in english
For users having selected the french language:
Elxis interface will be in french
IOS Reservations interface will be in french
IOS Reservations data will be in english
IOS Dialects system is extremely easy to use. I built it for simplicity and easy to use. I could add the option to have unlimited languages for each element but this would make data entry much harder and complex. Believe me that simplicity is a very important factor. Most of the web users, and especially hoteliers, can not understand complex systems. So I am forced to create easy to be used applications. People use this system for more than 1 year in many different applications and no problem has been reported.
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Great! So any languages on top of the three ((4) as English is default) chosen languages published on the site, will have both Elxis and IOSR interface in the CHOSEN language but IORS Data, will be in English.
So what's IOSR Data? Is this the back-end applications, such as the DBs etc? Or does this include front-end aspects such as booking confirmations etc?
Thanks for the clarification in advance.
Yep...makes sense
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I think my answer was clear enough. Interface is in unlimited languages, database data are in 4 languages maximum.
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From the wiki of IOSR Adin Edit Hotelier:
On the hotelier edit page IOS Reservations also displays you some statistical data for the hotelier. These are: number of hotels and rooms managed by him, number of reservations received from all of his hotels (total, confirmed, unconfirmed), reservations amount total and paid fees total.
This is for multiple hotel mode, but what exactly is "paid fees total"? Is this the amount the hotelier pays to the website administrator for hosting the hotel? Or is this the fee for the payment system or something else?
Also will any other statistical data be included? Can other data be collected? Let's say the site administrator wants to know the nationalities of those who booked in the month of January. Please see an earlier post on this topic in this thread.
Thanks
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These are two features that I find useful:
1) The hotel manager will be able to set a 'stop sales' period. (will not accept reservations for this period)
2) Add pricing options per person and per child
Will these two be included in the new version of IOS Reservations?
Kepp up the good work datahell!
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Extra (optional) field on the reservation page for guest to enter their loyalty card, or a special offer discount number.
Also the ability to easily change or remove "VAT ID" on the reservation page from backend (for non European hotels).
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Recent research shows that one of the key factors in driving users to actually make a booking for a hotel is to provide rich media content including videos. So video (Whether posted on youtube or not) maybe a nice feature to add? Just another idea :P
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Video is very easy to be added, even now that the development is almost complete. Note also that you can add anything you wish in the hotel description as you have the Elxis editor to edit the hotel's description.
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In the current version of IOSR: Gallery, one can only upload one picture at a time (or is there another way that i don't know of?). This is very cumbersome and time consuming if there are lots of pictures for each room, and each hotel and each location. So it would be a good idea in the new version if it was possible to upload several pictures at the same time or even a complete folder in one go!
Also why is only one picture limited to each room (current version)? Will the new version have the facility to have more than one picture of each room?
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What might be a really good idea, is for IOSR to come by default with several different css templates so that user can choose which design they want to have their front pages displayed in.
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What might be a really good idea, is for IOSR to come by default with several different css templates so that user can choose which design they want to have their front pages displayed in.
Don't forget that you are able to add more css templates ever after the installation.
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Yeah your right....
I understand that IOSR has it's own special Front Page module, are we able to add other Elixis component to the IOSR Front Page such as 'Poll' or 'SMF show thread' via Elxis?
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Yeah your right....
I understand that IOSR has it's own special Front Page module, are we able to add other Elixis component to the IOSR Front Page such as 'Poll' or 'SMF show thread' via Elxis?
Yeap you can. By using Elxis Module positions u can show other components also. Beyond the Reservation's frontpage.
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when you mean "beyond the reservation page" - do you mean after the reservation page (so not on it) or in addition to the reservation page (i.e on the reservation page)? Thanks for the clarification.
Oh yeah, I remember you can, there was that Wiki showing the different type of box (module, component) positions...sorry for that question...
However, next question, will the new version still come with SEO Pro?
thanks
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However, next question, will the new version still come with SEO Pro?
YES!!!
SEO Pro is something standard for Elxis and it's related components/modules exc.
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I was reading the wiki for IOSR and it says that only one picture can be uploaded for the room, is this? true I think more than one picture should be added. Even if one picture is added, other pictures of the hotel will also be dispalyed along with the room picture?
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I am so pleased to see PaypalPro credit card payment has been added to this version.
Thanks datahell :)
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Yes, and I completed my checks yesterday. It works great.
You can process credit cards without the user leaving the site.
More details here: http://wiki.elxis.org/wiki/IOSR_Process_credit_cards (http://wiki.elxis.org/wiki/IOSR_Process_credit_cards)
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IOS Reservations v3.0 development is complete.
The system will become available for purchase by October 4, 2009.
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IOS Reservations v3.0 development is complete.
The system will become available for purchase until October 4, 2009.
So, V3.0 will become available for purchase until Oct. 4th. 09. What happens after that?
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IOS Reservations v3.0 development is complete.
The system will become available for purchase until October 4, 2009.
great news!
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IOS Reservations v3.0 development is complete.
The system will become available for purchase until October 4, 2009.
So, V3.0 will become available for purchase until Oct. 4th. 09. What happens after that?
Wrong word, I think.
Datahell means:
The system will be available for purchase by October 4, 2009.
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I suppose this is 'typo' as well.
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PERFECT !! :)
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That is indeed the best news I have heard on this board! Shame I'm not ready to deploy it :'( After all that ::)
So it will be ready for purchase from October the 4th.
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Until, by, from, what ever. My English are not perfect ;)
The important thing is that IOS Reservations is ready but I still need to prepare some things (demo site, some modules, support platform, etc). I guess I will be ready until/by/from/at/on/in/down/over/up October 4.
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:) :) :)
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Until, by, from, what ever. My English are not perfect ;)
The important thing is that IOS Reservations is ready but I still need to prepare some things (demo site, some modules, support platform, etc). I guess I will be ready until/by/from/at/on/in/down/over/up October 4.
Don't worry about your English being perfect, as long as IOSR is perfect I'll be happy.
Actually having good documentation in English is important because it makes your product look more professional and not something that was churned out from the bedroom - which it isn't.
Congratulations in advance once again.
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I was cheking the wiki and i have see this ...
IOS Reservations Connector is a set of PHP scripts that allows you to connect to IOS Reservations from remote sites. This way you can request hotel rooms availability and make a book from other web sites. The system has a client and a server part. The client part is uploaded on the sites where you wish the book request form to be displayed (any number of sites). The server part is uploaded on the central elxis site with IOS Reservations installed. Note that the client part can be used in any site, not just elxis powered ones. The only requirement is to be able to run PHP scripts.
This is fantastic !!
Can we use it only for a specific hotel or specific location ?
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The IOSR Connector is built based on your needs. So it works exactly as you want.
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I couldn't see the new version in the Elxis download centre...is there another link to it or something?
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So what is the process to get the new version of software for us who do have the old version?
How do we proceed with payment and is there a discount or do we have to pay the full price?
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Owners of v2.x pay the difference, meaning 55 EUR (130-75).
For now, the component is available only to Beta testers and translators.