3.1.059 Release Notes

The latest major update contained quite a few new additions and changes. We thought we'd give you a quick overview of some of the most important updates below.

• Line Item Discounts
• StudioCloud's invoices now support line item discounts. This means that you can apply a discount directly to a product, service, or package.
• Read how to use line item discounts at http://app1.studiocloud.com/support/index.php?/article/AA-00675/0/
• New Security Roles Interface
• The Security Roles section used by EmployeeBoost users has been redesigned to be much more powerful. Now you can setup StudioCloud to only let your employees create invoices and not allow them to edit or delete them. In addition, you can setup StudioCloud to only let your employees view the invoices that they created and not any other employees' invoices. That is just a small sample of what you can do.
• Dymo Label Writers
• StudioCloud now supports printing out labels from a Dymo Label Writer. This allows you to print labels for client information and appointment information.
• Read how to setup and use a Dymo Label Writer at http://app1.studiocloud.com/support/index.php?/article/AA-00855/0/
• LogBook Tracking
• StudioCloud now supports historical tracking of information over time. Using the LogBook you can view what changes were made in StudioCloud, when they were made, and by whom. In addition, you can also view when emails were sent to a client from either StudioCloud or from the CloudAlert email system.
• Read how to use the LogBook at http://app1.studiocloud.com/support/index.php?/article/AA-00850/0/
• Disable Auto Sync
• StudioCloud now allows you to disable the auto sync process. This is valuable if you are using an internet connection which charges you per mb.
• Read how to disable the auto sync at http://app1.studiocloud.com/support/index.php?/article/AA-00852
• Track Canceled Appointments
• StudioCloud now allows you to cancel an appointment rather then deleting it. This allows you to maintain a history of clients that cancel over time. To view the canceled appointments go to the events section in the clients history and click the "View Cancellations" checkbox
• Print Calendar Filter Agendas
• StudioCloud now allows you to print agendas for a specific employee or calendar filter.
• Share CloudStorage File
• StudioCloud now provides the public link so that you can share your CloudStorage files with others. To access the link go to Manage Cloud Storage and click the Share button.
• New Internet Diagnostic Icons
• StudioCloud has added a new internet icon to provide additional information. Previously we only offered a blue icon which meant that you had internet and a red icon which meant that you didn't have an internet connection. We have introduced a new yellow icon which indicates that you have an internet connection but StudioCloud has detected some internet issues with it. If you click on the yellow icon it will provide additional information regarding those issues.
• New Service Health Dashboard
• The new Service Health Dashboard will be updated by StudioCloud if there are ever any issues in our data centers that might affect StudioCloud's syncing process.
• Real Time Scheduling Wizard
• StudioCloud added a real time scheduler to StudioCloud to assist in getting the most accurate schedule as possible. Please note that there are some limitations to the scheduler so make sure you click the "Real Time Scheduling Limitations" button to learn more about those.
• New Cloud Services Item
• To simplify the user interface all of StudioCloud's paid for add-on's have been moved to the Cloud Services section of StudioCloud.

As always the features above were available in our minor releases long before they were released in a major release. You can always get a minor release by going to the following link. http://labs.studiocloud.com/studiocloud-beta

Updates to StudioCloud Desktop and Browser

There have been some recent updates to StudioCloud Desktop and StudioCloud Browser.

1. The development team has begun integrating with internet payment gateways. The first gateway we have integrated with is Authorize.net. If you currently use a merchant account that process credit cards through Authorize.net then you can setup your merchant account information in StudioCloud Desktop in the Settings section so that when you have a payment that is being made on a credit card you can process it right then and there. *
2. Orders made from the StudioCloud Online Proofing have always been automatically added to your list of workflow orders. However, with the recent updates you will even be able to view the thumbnails of the images that were ordered in StudioCloud Online Proofing. This should make it easier for you to process your orders. *
3. The graphical view of the calendar that allows you to quickly view when your appointments are was recently updated to include additional information both in the appointment and the tooltip. (This update only affects Professional Suite users.) You will now see the photographers, assistants, equipment, and locations that are scheduled for a session both on the calendar and in the tooltip.
4. The button that used to be in the reports section of StudioCloud Desktop and StudioCloud Browser that allowed you to print a list of your clients has been removed. Instead there is now a button on both the clients section and the prospective clients section that allows you to print this report. This should make it easier for your to find this information when you need it.
5. The development team recently implemented a new feedback system. For the most part, you will not see any huge changes. The difference is that this new system allows you to respond to our support team from within the StudioCloud programs. In addition, you can see the conversation history of a particular item of feedback. That way you don't have to go searching through your emails to find out what a member of the support team said in their last email. We believe that this will make it easier for you to communicate with us and vice versa.

StudioCloud. It’s just that easy

* Affects only StudioCloud Desktop

Update to Calendar Export

Not to long ago we gave you the ability to export your StudioCloud calendar to iCal and Outlook (http://blog.studiocloud.com/2008/05/export-your-calendar-to-ical-and.html). However, many of you found that the times you were seeing in Outlook did not match the times you were seeing in the Basic or Professional Suite. Our developers have been working hard to resolve this issue and they finally tracked it down to a problem with the way Outlook handles the time zones. They worked even harder to figure out a work around for this issue and that was included in last night's update. We recommend that everyone refresh their calendar and see if that resolves the time difference between Outlook and the Basic/Professional Suite calendar. If it is still not resolved you may need to delete the internet calendar and then re-subscribe to it following the steps in the original blog post (http://blog.studiocloud.com/2008/05/export-your-calendar-to-ical-and.html).

If after tonight's update, there is still a discrepancy in the two calendar times then please check that your computer's time zone and daylight savings settings are set correctly. You can always contact us as well and we will see what we can do to resolve the problem.

Export Your Calendar to iCal and Outlook

The latest addition to the Basic/Professional Suite is the ability to export your calendar to Outlook and iCal. To do this go to the Calendar section of the Basic/Professional Suite and select the tab labeled Calendar Settings. On the right side of this section there is a heading labeled "Calendar Export Settings". Click the checkbox underneath this heading that is labeled "Export my studio's calendar to Outlook and iCal" When you do this you will get a popup that tells you that your settings have been saved. After that you can download your calendar using the web address in the box below the checkbox.

To view your calendar in Outlook 2007 follow the proceeding steps:

1. Open Outlook 2007
2. Click on the menu option labeled "Tools"
3. Select the option labeled "Account Settings"
4. In the "Account Settings" window select the tab named "Internet Calendars"
5. On the "Internet Calendars" tab click the button labeled "New"
6. Copy and paste the web address from the Basic/Professional Suite into the "New Internet Calendar Subscription" popup
7. Change the "Folder Name" from ICSFeed to "StudioCloud" or something similar
8. Click the button labeled "OK"
9. Click the "Close" button on the "Account Settings" popup window
10. Go to the Calendars section of Outlook
11. You should see your calendar either under "My Calendars" or "Other Calendars"

To view your Calendar in iCal follow the proceeding steps:

1. Open iCal
2. At the top of the screen select Calendar and Subscribe
   
3. Copy and paste the webaddress from the Basic/Professional Suite into the window that pops up and click the button labeled Subscribe
4. Change the name of the calendar from Untitled to something like StudioCloud or StudioCloud Calendar
5. Change any of the other settings that you desire
6. Click the OK button
7. You should now see your calendar under "Subscriptions"
   

We will post video tutorials on how to export your StudioCloud calendar to Outlook and iCal soon. When we do we will announce it here on the blog.

StudioCloud, It's Just That Easy!

ProSelect and Lightroom Integration

To help reduce your workload the Basic Suite now integrates with both ProSelect and Lightroom. You can now export your catalogs from Lightroom directly into the In-Studio Gallery or publish them online. Go to http://studiocloud.com/support/?View=entry&EntryID=33
to download and install the exporter.

You can also import your invoices from Proselect directly into the Basic Suite. You will find the option under the orders menu, Export Orders. At this time you will need to select one of the other programs until StudioCloud is an option. They all use the same export file.

Tutorials will be coming soon. Let us know if you have any questions. Stay tuned for many new features being released soon!