Latest updates from Tribalogic HQ

Mobile interfaces for client websites: worth it?

Written by Robin Morris Wednesday, 24 October 2012 10:23

Having implemented a number of mobile specific interfaces for client websites, I wondered if they had actually been successful.

Mobile version of Caravan Sitefinder

So what would constitute success?

Basically, the main question would be:

Have mobile users been more engaged with a mobile version of the website?

Which analytics year-on-year statistics to use to see if the mobile version has been successful?

As a quick assessment visitor numbers can't really be a valid gauge as mobile traffic is rising so dramatically.

Mobile version of The Edinburgh Address

Average visit duration is probably out too, as a good mobile site will more quickly get users around your site and mobile visitors tend to be on a site for a shorter period.

Page views / visit

The one that seems to fit the bill is page views / visit.  If you are achieving a higher number of page views / visit you are broadly allowing users to navigate more easily through your content.

So, looking only at visitors using a mobile device, I took a recent month when the mobile site existed and the same period in a previous year when it did not exist and compared the two.

Here were the results:

Not really a surprising result, but it looks like users will be far more engaged with a specifically designed mobile interface than a traditional desktop one.

independentschoolparent.com goes live

Written by Robin Morris Tuesday, 23 October 2012 11:42

Tribalogic are really excited to see the launch of Chelsea Magazine's independentschoolparent.com website.

The site is going to be a fabulous resource for parents researching independent schools in the UK.

independentschoolparent.com fully utilises the Tribalogic Platform and contains:

• feature articles on independent schools
• a blog
• education sector news
• advice for parents
• a searchable directory of schools

See also:

• www.chelseamagazines.com
• www.independentschoolparent.com

Management Toolkit update

Written by Robin Morris Monday, 22 October 2012 12:27

We have released a couple of neat little updates to the Management Toolkit.

Add items to bookings

If you have the Management Toolkit bolt-on, you can now add an extra or discount to existing bookings.

This is a great step forward, allowing managers to alter booking value after they have been placed online or via the Admin Console.

Balance payments

Balance payments automate the process of collecting payments for your holiday rental.

Management Toolkit subscribers can now disable balance payment emails for any given booking.

If for any reason you would like to stop the emails that are sent requesting additional payments from your guest, you can now toggle this on or off in the Admin Console.

Really helpful if, for example, someone pays over the phone and you want to immediately ensure they are not asked for more money.

More details on other updates to the Platform in v2.117.

Platform Update (v2.117)

Written by Robin Morris Thursday, 18 October 2012 15:00

New look for our support area

Written by Robin Morris Wednesday, 10 October 2012 18:10

We have updated the look of our support area to integrate it more neatly into the rest of our website.

Want to ask us a question or look at our support forums?   Visit support.tribalogic.net.

Joomla: image manager enhanced

Written by Robin Morris Wednesday, 10 October 2012 17:20

We have upgraded the image manager in Joomla and also added the ability to add captions to images.

The image and captions buttons in the JCE interface

Image Manager Extended

• Resize and thumbnail images on upload
• Create thumbnail of any part of an image with the Thumbnail Editor
• Insert multiple images
• View images as a file list or thumbnail list
• Resize, crop, rotate and apply effects to images in the Image Editor
• Create image popups in a few clicks

Captions

• Create captions on images
• Style caption text with options for colour, background, alignment, margin and padding
• Style the caption container with options for background colour, alignment, margin and padding

Tribalogic provide JCE as standard in all their Joomla! websites

Bootswatch themes for Property Portfolio

Written by Robin Morris Wednesday, 03 October 2012 16:43

We ship the holiday property website service the "Property Portfolio" with our standard Bootstrap Template.

The great news is that becuase we have built the template with Bootstrap, we can easily change the look and feel using off-the-peg Bootstrap themes and give you an instant template.

Check it out for yourself!

Simply click on the "Theme Switcher" to see the website change before your very eyes!

Coming soon... new look for our Admin Console

Written by Robin Morris Wednesday, 03 October 2012 16:04

Soon we will be changing the look and feel of our secure Admin Console.

Why are we doing this?

• usability: clearer and simpler to use
• an improved basis for moving forward technically
• faster
• full width responsive design for use in different screen sizes

New Admin Console: booking actions

Why are we telling you?

It is always nice to know about things in advance, and this might affect your clients if they are logging into our secure Admin Console.  You will be able to respond to their questions about the new look with more confidence.

New Admin Console: Tags editor

When will this happen?

We are working hard to get the new console up to scratch and are hoping to get it live in the next few weeks.... watch this space - we will let you know!

Platform Update (v2.115 & v2.116)

Written by Robin Morris Wednesday, 26 September 2012 14:58

Joomla: update to editor

Written by Robin Morris Tuesday, 25 September 2012 10:52

Tribalogic deploy and manage Joomla content management installations - keeping them up to date with the latest security patches and adding new functionality where appropriate.

We have just updated the article editor (JCE) in Joomla! content management system for all our clients.

Tribalogic clients using Joomla! will now have access to JCE 2.2.7.2.

Some of the areas to be improved are:

• look and feel
• image uploading
• source code editor
• HTML5 improvements