Holiday Letting System - Release History

Holiday Letting System - Release History.

This document describes the new features and changes that have been implemented in each new release. It sometimes refers to help topics where more information is available. To see these Help topics you must install the program, and then invoke Help in the usual way; once you have done so you can also see the release history in the Help file, under topic What's New.

V3.1. Released on June 28th 2008. This is a major new version offering many improvements, but in particular a series of features designed to make it possible to manage more than four properties. This version is now the only supported version. Download from here.

The following enhancements are implemented in LetSys 3.1. See also the details in the help file once installed.

Multiple Property View: This allows you to view all properties in a single Status Window. This viewing mode is referred to as MultiMode in the documentation. Properties are listed on the left, with weeks across the page. You can see up to about 15 properties on a single page and scroll to see more. This improvement makes it possible to easily manage many more properties and opens up LetSys to many more businesses. For example it is now much easier to see if you have vacancies for a particular week across a large number of properties. The previous viewing mode is still available, and is referred to as Classic Mode.
Multimode operation is set by a check box on the General Tabsheet in the configuration program.
In the Status Window for Multimode you can right click on a property name to see a context menu which allows you to perform property specific functions (eg edit the rates files or proformas for that property).
In general LetSys works as before; you still click on a week to select a booking. You can only edit one booking at a time. Classic mode users should see little difference.
In the previous version, a number of functions (especially reports) could only be run for the single property being viewed in Classic Mode. You can now run reports and other functions for any of the properties from either mode of status window. This is, of course, essential in MultiMode but is also more convenient in Classic Mode.
New licensing structure: Existing licensees can use this new version, but only for a maximum of four properties. Users wishing to support more than four properties must purchase an additional license.
Evaluation version: This supports the new Multimode operation, but only for a maximum of four properties, which is sufficient for evaluation.
Backup Tool: This enables you to quickly backup all your data and configuration settings into a single Zip file in a specified location.
Restore Tool: This complements the Backup Tool by allowing you easily to restore your data and settings from this single file.
It is now possible to rearrange the order of the properties. Previously they were listed in the order in which they were created. This is done on the properties tabsheet of the configuration program.
The cursor keys now cause the Status window to scroll up or down in Classic mode and both directions in MultiMode.
The top level menu item Navigate is renamed to View. (In both Status and Booking Windows). This is the more conventional name.
Changes to the Proforma Window:
- Property Specific proformas are now listed above shared proformas (where found) as these take precedence.
- The last modified date for each proforma is now listed.
- In Multimode you can now only see Shared proformas if you open this Window from the Status Window. You must open the Proforma Window from a booking window (for a specific property) in order to work with Property Specific Proformas for that property. You are recommended always to use Shared Proformas when possible.
In V2.5 we introduced the ability to re-order the letter types (from the Configuration Program) by dragging letter types into the desired order. All the letter proformas were renumbered when this was done, but existing letters were not renamed. This new version now renames all existing letters to agree with the new convention when you re-order letter types.
The Letters Window now shows the date a letter was last modified. When this window is opened the next letter to send is already selected (this will be the letter following the last letter that already exists).
Three new special strings are introduced for Automated letters. Two are useful when creating letters regarding returnable deposits; for example, the amount of the deposit can now be included in a letter. Another, <!Special> enables the "Special" field to be included in an automated letter.
Reports: All reports (for any property) can now be printed from any Status Window. There is now a Reports Window with a consistent format used for creating several reports, from which the properties to be processed and the week range to be handled may be adjusted.
Publish To Web: It is now possible to omit rates from the web availability page when a week is fully let. The rate is inserted (if specified) if the week is either fully or partly available.
Zero Rent: It has always been possible to set the rent for a week to zero when setting up the rates files. However this facility is now more powerful. A zero rent is now deemed to mean the property is not available to let and it shows as reserved. Thus (for example) if you always live in a property at a certain time, then you can configure the rates files so the rent for this period is 0. Insert an appropriate comment eg "Not Available" and this comment is now used in the status window or when publishing to the web without the addition of the word 'LET'.
Global Rates Change: You can now increase or decrease all rates (for a particular property and year) by a specified percentage. This makes it easy to set up next year's rates with a specified increase in charges.
The Export function now (optionally) allows you to export comments.
Cancellation charge. Once set, this can now be changed (this was not possible before). On occasions you may need to change the amount charged, for example if a different charge was negotiated.
Settings (saved by the configuration program) are no longer stored in the Registry but instead in a settings file that is easily saved and restored. This improves behaviour under Vista and makes it easier to backup and restore the configuration.
Quite a few bugs have been fixed and the Help files have been partly rewritten.

V2.6. This version was released on September 3rd 2007. This version was the first to support Windows Vista.

This release has been tested on Windows Vista; we now have customers running successfully on Windows Vista.
It fixes a problem in Vista when sending letters by email using Windows Mail. The user saw return code=2.
The letter processing icon in the Bookings Window now has a different (cyan) background. This helps a user pick out this icon, especially in relation to the proforma icon.
Labels and envelopes are now printed with the line spacing appropriate to the font selected; this means you can now use larger fonts without text being obscured.
Some HTML Help windows insisted on being "always on top". This has been fixed.
A few bugs are fixed (including one that prevented printing to Adobe Acrobat) and Label template documentation is improved.

More details are in the Help file.

V2.5. This version was released on June 9th 2007.

The following major enhancements are available in this release. More details are in the Help file.

Enhancements to the Automated Letters Function
- You can now have as many automated customer letters as you want; the old limit of three letters is removed.
- You can configure letter descriptions{linkID=710} to anything you wish, and also alter the order of your letters with simple drag and drop.
- Letter processing{linkID=350} is enhanced so you can see at a glance all the letters you've created for a particular booking, and can quickly create (or recreate) letters with much more flexibility than before, from a new Letters Window
- A new Proforma management window allows you to see, at a glance, all the proformas that exist
- From this new window you can also edit proformas and delete, rename and copy proformas
Data recovery is now easier.
- A new function Copy an entire booking to another file makes it easier to recover accidentally deleted booking data. Details of how to recover data is in the Help files.
Special Instructions field expanded
- Two lines of information may now be entered (up to 100 characters). This is printed in the report "Booking List for Local Rep" spread over two lines when necessary.
  Improvements to the Help System
LetSys has been converted to use the Microsoft HTML Help.
- This makes navigating around the help system much easier due to the additional navigation pane, and positions LetSys for easy use on Windows Vista, as well as having a more modern look.
- All of the images in the help system have been updated to use the Windows XP theme instead of Windows Classic Theme, to avoid confusion for new users
- The Help system has been overhauled and improved in a number of other ways.
New topic How to recover lost data: This has been included in this Help file to assist a user recover an accidentally deleted booking.
New Availability Report: This new report is a list, by property, showing the dates that are available in a specified period. This report is produced as a file that can either be printed or alternatively can be "copied and pasted" into an email to tell potential customers what periods are available.
Reports sub-menu: The File menu (in the Status window) has been rationalised as it was starting to become too long. All the reports are now grouped into a reports sub-menu. There is also a new Import/export sub menu.
New "Clean-up function". You can now prune old history data (older than a specified date) from The Archive / Clean Up Window which will reduce the total data stored and speed up processing a little. You are recommended to run this every few months.
Mailshots: Mailshots by email are now batched. If you are sending a mail shot to a large number of email addresses, the emails are now batched so they are sent to a maximum of about 80 people at a time. This addresses a Windows restriction and it may also help if your ISP restricts the number of recipients on a single email. See topic The Mailshot Window in the Help file.
If you export a property's accounts as a CSV file, LetSys will try to open this file in whatever is the default application for CSV files. (often this is Excel).
The status window cannot now be oversized (which only showed unused space). When the width is reduced the scrollbar is now shown, to make it possible to work with a smaller window, and still see the status.
The status shown when the balance is paid is now "Paid, sent instructions". The previous message was confusing.
A number of problems are fixed
Migration When your settings are saved to a file the date is added to the file name

V2.4 Released on 14th August 2006.

This release includes the following enhancements and fixes. More details are in the help file.

Export bookings to .CSV file: Now includes email address in an additional column at the end beyond the phone number.
Font selection is now possible when printing Envelopes or Labels. You can now override the default font (which was 12 pt Times New Roman). Your selected font is saved for use next time the program runs. Just click the new font selection button. You can also set the printer up from menu item File / Printer Setup in the Status Window.
Mousewheel scrolling: Some mouse drivers did not work; the program now handles scrolling itself.
Function " File Bookings for local rep": This function now not only creates a text file that you can subsequently use to copy the data into another application (eg into an email) but the file created is now immediately opened in your default text editor. Cancelled bookings are no longer listed.
Fixed some minor errors with rent calculation for short term lets: (less than a week). One user has commented that the pricing algorithm for short term lets produce some anomolous results when you price weekends at a fixed price and weekdays by the day, and then enter a let that includes both types of day. However the algorithm is already quite complex, and users are expected to override amounts as appropriate; most situations are covered reasonably well.
Added comment to shortcuts Shortcuts created by the program will show a tooltip saying "Holiday Letting System - propertyname
Updated the data for the Demonstration property to cover the current year, rather than previous years.
Fixed a few minor problems, and made some minor improvements to the Help Files

V2.3 Released on 11th August 2005.

This release implemented the following enhancements:

A new Help Topic is provided to assist users who are upgrading their computer to install LetSys and migrate their data onto the new machine. In addition the Configuration Program now has additional functions to assist transfer settings when migrating to a new Computer. See Help Topic Migrating to a new machine. These functions also help if transferring LetSys to a Laptop on a temporary basis.
The three letter proformas distributed with the system have been enhanced with changes designed to assist a new user.
A Clean Up Data Button is added to the Configuration Program to remove unnecessary files from your system. See Help topic "Data cleanup" for more information.
When copying a returning customer's details into a new booking, the Omit from mailshot flag is set on for the old booking. This helps you avoid sending mailshots to customers who have changed either their postal or email addresses.
The Help is improved in a few areas
There are several bugs fixed; in particular if you change the date of a booking any letters are now renamed correctly so they can easily be located.
Note: You need the free utility eFTP if you want to automatically upload the web availability file, more information / download.

V2.2 Released on 7th February 2005.

This release implements improvements for those users that use LetSys to help maintain a web site. It also improves editing to catch some potential errors when data is entered.

The following changes have been made. More details are in the help file.

Users now have complete control over the colours and text attributes of the Availability/Rates table produced for a web site, through the use of style sheets. This means you can ensure the style of the availability tables more closely matches the style of your web site.
Users now have much improved control over the table row format, as a row proforma is now used. This enables you to set the table content to whatever you want - availability start date, end date, comments, heating charge etc can all be included or excluded as you wish. Once installed, read Help topic Overview and Row proforma. Existing users must also modify the name of their Availability file as described in Help topic Upgrading - notes for existing users.
The option to specify a web browser to use when configuring the system is removed. Instead the default web browser that you have chosen is always used to view web pages. This simplifies set up.
The "Publish to web" form behaviour is now more flexible. There are now three distinct stages, allowing you, for example, to look at an updated page prior to uploading to the web.
When entering data into numeric fields in the booking window, only the number keys, backspace and (when appropriate) a decimal point now work. This helps ensure your data is correct.
A few bugs are fixed, one of which allowed a "zero days" booking to be entered. The data is now checked for any bookings of zero days, and the user alterted.
The help file is improved in a number of ways, incuding covering the above enhancements.
Note: You need the free utility eFTP if you want to automatically upload the web availability file, more information / download.

V2.1 Released 1st December 2004. This is a major release, containing many new features based on user requirements.

The following enhancements are implemented in this new version. ( More details are in the help file). These enhancements derive from user requirements.

Rates window improved: This is completely rewritten, and now shows one line for each week, making editing the rates files easier and more intuitive. Edit menu items provide duplication of lines and fields, and copying and pasting lines. The cursor up and down keys allow you to move beween lines quickly. You can now import data from another property.
Rates bands: The number of rates bands is increased from 4 to 6. This gives additional flexibility and granularity when setting charges.
Rates files: A new format is used for the rates files to support these additional functions. The new files have the extension ".hlc" for Holiday Letting Charges. Existing users have their data automatically converted to the new format.
Cancelled Bookings: The system now allows you to cancel a booking and retain a cancellation charge, by clicking a new "Cancel Booking" button on the Booking Form. (Only deletions were possible before.) A cancelled booking is retained in the database. Details of the customer and the cancellation can still be located in the Search Window (useful if they book again). If you make a charge, this is reported in the accounts. Once installed, read the full details in the Help file.
Booking archival. This is substantially improved (before you just deleted old records, one by one.) You can now archive all bookings older than a specified date with a single click.
Rent calculation. This is improved to cover short lets and bookings that are not whole numbers of weeks. For bookings that are one week or more, the rent is now calculated at 1/7th of the appropriate weekly tariff per day. This produces the same result as before for standard bookings (of an integral number of weeks) but also means that the program will now give you a "pro-rata" rent for bookings that are not integral numbers of weeks. Rents for short lets may also now be calculated, allowing you a wide range of options. Once you have installed this new release, read Help Topic Rent Calculation. As before, you can always override the rent if you wish.
Overdue Payments: The user is now alerted if there are any overdue payments when the program starts up. This check is only done once each day. It is also possible to perform this check from the main menu, using Tools / List Overdue Payments.
Fly-by hints These are introduced on the Status Window. When the mouse hovers over the Free? column, and the date is taken, information about the booking is displayed, including states and name of person booking. This particularly helps a user see the status for Part-let weeks.
"Waitlisted" customer bookings: You can now waitlist a booking for a customer a long time in advance, by checking the Reserved Bookings Box and entering customer details, including noting a deposit if you take one. You are then warned a specified time before the let starts (default is 8 months) that the waitlist is over and the deposit is now due.
Property Selection: This release standardises the method used when selecting properties to process. All property selection is now done using List Boxes (previously check boxes were sometimes used - eg by the mailshot application).
Improved the "Publish to Web" behaviour. You can now publish several properties at once, not just the current property.
In addition, an automated way is provided to upload your web availability status, using a free File Transfer Program available from http://erwwen.com/holletsys/eftp.htm. This should work for most web sites.
Date Format Changed: The Status Window is changed to show dates with the month in letters (eg "23 Aug 2004"). User comments have indicated this is easier to work with.
Booking Status Report: Background status colours are changed for overdue bookings to bring it into line with the status window. This means that overdue bookings now show with a light blue background in this printed report.
Viewing the History files: When you view history files (ie copies of Archived, Deleted or Changed records) by double clicking the file in a Windows Explorer window, these files are now always shown in Booking Date order. This makes it much easier to locate a particular record. One benefit is that all the changes you made to a particular booking now show in adjacent records in the changed file.
Export Bookings to CSV file: It is now posible to export data from the booking data base as a CSV file (ie a file you can read in applications such as Excel.) This allows you to process the customer details in other programs, or send the details to booking agencies that request this.
Import Bookings from CSV file: It is now possible to import bookings from a CSV file, so that if you previously used an alternative system you can get your data into this program, providing you use a program like Excel to create a CSV (Comma Separated Values) file in the correct format. Help topic Import Bookings from CSV file will give more details.
Deleted Records saved in new file. Archived bookings are now stored in the file \property\Archive\Archive.hls Previously the way to archive old records was just to delete them, and they were then saved in the Archive file. Deleted records are now saved in a new file, \property\Archive\Deleted.hls Your existing Archive file is automatically renamed to "Deleted.hls" when you install this upgrade.
The "minimise" behaviour is changed so that you can no longer minimise an open booking window. You can still minimise the whole application but when this is restored, then the booking window becomes the active window. This makes the behaviour on minimise and restore more intuitive.
Help in the Bookings Window: You will now see the conventional Windows question mark at the top right of the Bookings Window. If you click this and then click on an edit box (or date field) you will see the Help Panel that describes what the field is intended for. This Help feature is also implemented in a few other places; eg in the Configuration Program.
Undo / Redo: In the Bookings window, the Undo / Redo shortcut key combination is changed to Control+Z, thus adopting the standard used by many other applications. In fact this already worked, but was not documented.
Easier selection of a nil extra charge: In the LetSys Configuration program, you now select (none) when configuring a property against any of the optional extra charges that you don't need to use. This makes the settings clearer compared with the old standard where an unused charge was just cleared.
Other improvements: There are some help file improvements, and a few problems are fixed.

V2.0 September 2004: Never formally released, this was given to some users for testing. If you were one of those, you should upgrade now to V2.1.

V1.8 6 February 2004 This is a major new release. The improvements with this release were mostly suggested by users.

This is a full list of the improvements:

The maximum no of properties the system can handle is now increased to 4. However, if you want 4 properties, you have to delete or rename the Demo Property - you now can't have this property co-existing alongside your 4 properties.
Better information is provided to enable users to identify Overdue payments, and to know when deposits and balances are due.
(a) In the Booking Window, due dates for deposits and balances are now shown in the 3rd panel of the statusbar when appropriate. If overdue, this is noted.
(b) In the Status Window, bookings with overdue payments are highlighted. A light blue background now shows in the -Free?- box and the status box.
Statistics are significantly improved:
a) You can now analyse your booking statistics for all properties, just one property, or any number of selected properties (previously just one property at a time was analysed.)
b) You can now see where your bookings came from. Provided you completed the Source field for each booking, then you are told how many bookings came from each source. The booking form is enhanced so there is a drop-down box to allow you to select from your preferred list of Source fields. With the addition of this facility the booking source is no longer included in the Spreadsheet bookings list (available from File/Export accounts data.)
c) For income, amounts are no longer rounded but are displayed exactly.
d) There is a new Prepayment column, showing advance payments received for the next tax year.
e) The output is now displayed in a memo, so the data can be copied into other documents.
Processing of letters has been improved in several respects:
a) Owners with several properties can now use a set of common letter proformas (held in the root folder) for some or all properties, significantly reducing the work of editing proformas. Property specific proformas are still allowed; if present they are used rather than the common proformas.
b) Users now have the ability for the letter "Salutation" field to be the first names only. This means you can address customers you are on good terms with
appropriately, without editing. (There is also a new Special String <!Salutation> and a new checkbox on the booking form).
c) New special strings (mail merge fields) are provided for Property Name (<!PropName>), Total payable (<!Total>), Booking start date (<!StartDate>), booking end date (<!EndDate>) as well as the salutation field. Full details are in the help files in the topic "About Letter Proformas".
The Discount Calculator has been improved:
(1) You can now specify whether the discount should be rounded or not.
(2) There is now a Special field. This enables you to specify and then select your own special discount, which shows as one of the lines on the discount listbox.
(3) Both the Rounding preference and the value in the Special field are stored between runs.
(4) When a discount is given, a comment is inserted. This comment is now dated. In addition this comment is preserved if you subsequently use the search facility to copy an existing customers details into the booking form.
Added a third (optional) letter, "Letter C", as requested by several users. Examples of where you might want a 3rd letter are: Acknowledging a booking and requesting the deposit; Sending back a returnable deposit.
Search Window Improvements:
- If you have more than one property, you can now (optionally) search the bookings data base {linkID=300} for all properties and copy the appropriate data from any previous booking into a new booking. Just check the Search All Properties box.
- If you call the search window from the status window you can't copy data into a new booking - there isn't one open. However, you can now select a previous booking from the current property, and edit it.
- It is now possible to sort the search results in reverse order - just click the appropriate column header a second time.
When you enter or change a booking, and save it from the Bookings Window, the file is now immediately saved to disk. This change was made to give better data protection from a system crash, although you can't now back out a change to a booking by selecting "Quit - don't save" from the Status Window. On balance this was felt to be the best approach. Deletions don't cause the file to be saved - so you have a chance to change your mind, if you deleted the wrong record.
UK Data Protection Act: This is not a problem for owner managers, but has caused some questions. We have therefore added a clause to the conditions in the sample Booking Form (which comes with the demonstration system) and added an item to the Q&A section of the Web Site, to assist owners comply with this act. See the FAQ page.
The background colour in the cost column is now a different shade of yellow depending on the rate. This is to help distinguish between different rates. (Applies both to the Status window and the printed Status Report.)
Improved the handling of Rich Text letters - to give a better chance that photos and logos can be included in the letters. Users who tested this new code have reported that it has allowed them to include logos and photos in letter proformas produced by Microsoft Word.
Mailshots: Changes have been made to make running mailshots more intuitive:
a. The name rather than the email address now appears in the first column
b. New columns are added to show the booking start date and the property number.
c. Improved logic to eliminate duplicates
d. Spooled labels are now printed when the Mailshot Window closes.
A new option is now available, when entering or modifying booking data, so that the system will calculate a percentage deposit based on rent alone rather than the total payable. See topic Calculate Deposit on Rent only.
Changed colour and orientation of the Next/Previous booking icons on the Booking Window to avoid confusion with the next/previous year icons on the status window.
Fixed a couple of minor problems, and updated and improved the Help files.

030926 V1.7 Major new release. The improvements are:

Support for mailshots to previous tenants, either by post or email.
A "Discount Calculator" to automate giving rent discounts. Invoked by a new "calculate discount" button on the Booking Window.
A new "Bookings Status Report" lists the bookings for one or more properties in the same format as the status window. It is designed to sit by the phone in case customers call. It can replace the printed copy of the status window - and is especially useful if you have several properties.
A new feature enables you to launch views of all your properties from a single shortcut - helpful if you manage several properties. (From the configuration program, select the "special" tab. Just click a button and the shortcut is created on your desktop.)
You can now set a switch when configuring LetSys to cause the status window size and position to be saved, and hence you can organise your desktop so it looks the way you want. The switch is set on the General Tab.
The ability to sort the lists of customers in the Search windows.
The system now calculates the due date for payment of balances, and this date can be inserted into letters - you need to specify how many weeks ahead of the start of the holiday balances are due when you configure the system (the default is 6).
The sample deposit acknowledgement letter now includes a "tear-off" slip to help when returning the balance, including the date due.
A new field has been added to the booking records to hold special information relating to lets (eg - "put high chair out"). A new switch is associated with this field to enable you to flag lets with special information on the status window (a small yellow circle will show).
This special field is now printed in the report for local representatives rather than the first line of the comments (the previous option).
There are now two additional acknowledgement checkboxes shown on the bookings window. These are to enable you to record you have sent payment acknowledgements in addition to having received the payments.
All amounts (not just the deposit and balance) can be specified in pence/cents - not just as integers as before.
The database format has changed to support the new functions. Due to new string compression code the data size has been halved. Existing users will have their data converted automatically at installation time to the new format.
The tax year end date can now be changed from the default of 5th April, hence the product can now be used (for example) to produce reports for the US tax year.
Letter processing (for both hardcopy and email) has been improved.
- You can now directly edit the letter proformas from the program.
- Separate "text file" proformas are now provided for email letters, as the content is often quite different.
- You can more easily recreate a letter if a change is needed.
- There is better support for the use of Microsoft Word as the editor, and some graphics can now be successfully included in letters, although users must find what works by trial and error.
- Letter proformas no longer have a "dash" in the name. This is to fix a problem in Lotus WordPro. Existing proformas must be renamed.
eg Proforma C:\LetSys\Demo Cottage\Data\Proforma-AckDep.rtf should be renamed to ProformaAckDep.rtf.
More intuitive editing of numeric values (rent etc), error messages are now written only when the user exits the field.
The rates window now contains a prompt area for the week lines, to make it easier to understand the range of dates that the line specifies.
Help file improvements
A few minor bug fixes.

030523 V1.6 Improvements to printing (now adds date printed to all reports and improves the look and readability of some reports.)
Improved colour coding of the availability box so the colour indicates whether the deposit and balance have been paid. This is especially useful where there are two lets in the same week. You can now tell which has a payment outstanding.
The status window display code has been completely rewritten to improve performance and code maintainability.
The help files have been improved, and a few bugs fixed.
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030429 V1.5 Added ability to have a configurable returnable deposit, the return of which is recorded.
Introduced new Database structure to handle the extra functions.
Added the ability to make the normal deposit a fixed amount.
Simplified the editing of the rates files to make this easier for a new user.
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030326 V1.4 Improved the ability to support multiple users on one computer.
Two or 3 people can all use the system from their own user IDs.
Registered users can now switch off the initial "splash screen".
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030315 V1.3 Added the ability to directly send letters by email from the default email client.
Also fixed some bugs and made some performance improvements.
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030304 V1.2 First evaluation release. Now uses Inno Setup as the installation tool.

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Updated 10 October 2007