Allgemein Archive - SeminarDesk.com

June 23, 2021June 23, 2021

Global search, restructured and extended view of person and company profiles, create mail merge letters and more…

In this article we would like to present you all the new features and improvements of the current SeminarDesk update from June 2021.

Global Search Function

A search field is now available at the top right of every SeminarDesk screen. The entire database can be searched, e.g. for booking numbers, names of attendees and guests in bookings, invoice numbers, profiles or for events and event dates.

Restructured display of person and company profiles

With this update, the view of the person and company profiles has been revised.

Using the various tabs such as “Person”, “Billing address”, “Extra fields”, etc., it is now possible to find and edit person- or company-related information more quickly:

Another new feature is the “Data protection (DSGVO)” tab, which can be used to store the legal basis, the data origin and also the storage period for each contact. If these have been created, the consents can also be found under this:

As usual, the most important steps can be carried out via the tabs at the top. For example, a new booking can be created directly for the corresponding person or a new e-mail can be created and sent. In addition, existing invoices and e-mails already sent to this person can be viewed or all bookings made by this person can be displayed.

CRM module: create mail merge letters

Within the new CRM module there was already the function to export the filtered or predefined lists or to send e-mails to the selected contacts.

From now on, serial letters can also be created and printed in the same way:

By clicking on “Create bulk letter”, a comprehensive mail merge editor opens, with which text, logos, tables and dynamic fields can be freely inserted, similar to what is known from e.g. MS Word and other text programs. Alternatively, an existing letter template can be used and edited.

Afterwards, the entire data set can be saved or printed directly using the mail merge function:

As always, we hope these improvements help you and look forward to your feedback!

Best regards from
Christoph, Simon and Jan.

May 18, 2021May 26, 2021

Save your custom filters for your lists, optional accommodation and meals, better selection templates and much more…

In this article we would like to present you all the new features and improvements of the current SeminarDesk update from May 2021.

Mark room occupancy as "prepared"

From now on there is the status “Marked as prepared” for the room assignments. This status can be set via the info popup:

Room reservations that have been marked as prepared are indicated by a “key symbol”:

Attendance fee templates

Under Administration – Templates – Attendance Fee Templates, templates for attendance fee price lists can be defined from now on.

A new price list can then be created from a template in the “Attendance fees” section of the event. The templates are especially helpful if the attendance fees for different events are repeated and thus do not have to be created each time.

Scheduled tasks for events and bookings

When editing an event, there is now the possibility to create so-called “Planned tasks” under the menu item “Functions”.

A “planned task” can be used to specify at a certain time for an event date which actions are to be performed with the bookings and/or guests of these bookings.

This function can be used, for example, to map the following use cases:

10 days before the appointment, the invoice is to be generated, posted and sent by e-mail for all confirmed bookings
5 days before the appointment, all guests with the status “Confirmed” should be assigned a specific label.
2 days after the appointment all unconfirmed bookings should be cancelled.

Set default for country prefix for phone numbers

Under Administration – Setup – Settings, under the section “Currency and default formatting”, there is now also a selection list with country names. The country selected there sets the default for the country prefix for phone numbers in profiles. The new feature is particularly relevant for our international SeminarDesk users.

Structure report templates via "categories

A variety of different reports can be created with SeminarDesk. In principle, there are almost no limits here.

In order to better keep track of a larger number of report templates, they can now be structured using “categories”. When selecting a report template via the “Reports” action menu, the templates are then displayed in submenus based on the categories.

Mark accommodation and meals as optional

When editing an event date, it is now possible to offer accommodation and catering not only as mandatory, but also as optional.

If this option is selected, participants can choose on the booking page whether they want to add meals and accommodation or not.

Selection templates: Query bookings

Via the “Selection templates” under the menu item CRM, it is now also possible to evaluate the bookings of the profiles. This means that profiles can now be selected that have bookings for events with a certain label, for example.

Provide bookings/guests with an "identifier

From now on, guests and bookings can be tagged with an “identifier” – this can be any kind of text.

These “markers” can be used, for example, to assign a “title” to all bookings in a group so that they can be filtered later in the booking overview.
These identifiers or markers are therefore more suitable in these “one-off” cases than the “labels” that would first have to be created in the administration and which would then also be visible for other bookings.

Save custom filters for list views

List views can be customized in SeminarDesk depending on the respective needs. The selected settings were previously also saved in the user profile. Now you can also save any selected filter combinations to quickly restore a view that you need more often.

By clicking on “My Filters” the current view can be saved and named. Previously saved views or filters can be selected or managed (edited or deleted).

As always, we hope these improvements help you and look forward to your feedback!

Best regards from
Christoph, Simon and Jan.

April 23, 2021May 1, 2021

New CRM features, dashboard, booking duplicates, favicon for booking pages, overwrite “price info” on booking page and much more…

In this article we would like to present you all the new features and improvements of the current SeminarDesk updates from March and April 2021.

Configurable dashboard

The April update unlocks a dashboard that is displayed immediately after logging in and can be accessed via the main menu link “Home”.

At a glance, you can see upcoming or overdue tasks, new registrations for events, the balance overview or current waiting lists and room occupancy.

The dashboard can also be customized via the settings, i.e. dashboards that are not needed can simply be hidden or moved.

New CRM features: selection templates, actions, address validation service, profile linking, consents.

With this update, new CRM functions have also been enabled. The main menu now contains the menu item “CRM”, which can be used to create selection templates and actions.

The selection templates can be used to generate profile lists via filters, which can then be exported as an Excel file, for example, using the so-called actions.

Another new feature is the address verification service, which can be booked as an additional service. If this function has been activated, the “Address check” button appears next to the address in all profiles.

Note: Since fees incur per query, this is a chargeable extra service. If you are interested in this function, please contact us via the chat or send us an email to [email protected]

Another new CRM feature involves creating consent types or checkboxes that appear in profiles.

Consent can be given, for example, to contact customrs and attendees by e-mail, phone or mail.

Notification of possible duplicates

Avoiding duplicates is a challenge in the planning and execution of recurring events or event series. SeminarDesk now notifies you directly during a booking if a duplicate has been detected for the booker’s profile.

Clicking on the warning icon will then display a list of possible duplicates.

Additional information for event dates

In the event dates there are now more fields to store additional information:

This additional information can be displayed on the booking page or automatically integrated into e.g. all confirmation emails using the placeholder “[AppointmentAdditionalInformation]”.

Send cancellation invoices by email in batch mode

Within the batch mode for invoices, it was previously possible to cancel or process invoices more efficiently.

From now on, cancellation invoices can also be sent directly by email, which was previously only possible through a further manual work step.

The function can be found under the menu item Invoices and by clicking on “Batch processing”.

Overwrite "Price info" for display on booking page

If the price info text automatically generated by SeminarDesk needs to be customized, this can now simply be overwritten in the Booking page settings section of an event date.

Here you will now find the text field “Price info”.

The booking page will then display the entered text instead of the stored participation fees for the relevant event.

Disable price range for accommodation/meals in the date selection

Under the web settings of an event, there is now the following additional setting for events that include accommodation and meals. If this option is active, the price range and an info popup with further details on the various accommodation options will be displayed during the date selection.

This is only relevant for dates where accommodation and/or meals are activated.

Favicon for the booking page

Finally, another graphical improvement of the booking page went online.

From now on, a favicon file can be uploaded via Administration – Setup – Booking page and Emails – Booking page. The favicon will then appear on all events and booking pages.

As always, we hope these improvements help you and your team and we look forward to your feedback!

Best regards from
Christoph, Simon and Jan.

February 11, 2021February 11, 2021

Flexible attendance and accommodation dates, more features for the booking page, general tasks, HTML snippets and much more…

In this post we would like to introduce you to all the new features and improvements of the latest SeminarDesk update from February 2021.

Flexible attendance

From now on, it is possible to specify for each event date whether guests should be able to attend flexibly, e.g. on the event day(s) of their choice.

When activating this feature, the attendance period can be specified, i.e. a date for the latest start and the earliest end date. In addition, a minimum or maximum duration (in days) can also be defined:

Flexible Accommodation

Similarly, a flexible accommodation period can now be offered for event dates, allowing guests to arrive one day earlier or depart later.

By activating the checkbox “Flexible accommodation” in the event date settings, several options can be selected for arrival on the previous day as well as for departure on the following day of the event, such as “Without meals”, “With breakfast” or “With breakfast and dinner”.

Meal plans on the booking page

In the booking page settings of an event it is now possible to specify which catering types, or meal plans respectively, should be offered for selection on the booking page.

Price levels on the booking page

The price levels that were already available for manual bookings since the last update can now also be selected by attendees on the booking page for an event.

To do this, the respective price levels must first be activated or enabled via the administrative settings for the booking page, after which they can be selected via the booking page settings per event.

Mark event dates as an "online event"

To better display online or virtual events, it is now possible to mark event dates as “online event”.

In the status email templates there is also the possibility to query with the expression {IfEmpty(IstOnlineEvent)} whether it is an online event and, depending on this, show or hide certain text blocks.

New editing view for event dates

With this update we have revised the editing view of the event dates.

The menu item “Event details (function room rental, invoices, etc.)” has been completely removed. All additional information about an event can now be accessed via the menu item “Edit event date”.

Move bookings when appointment is postponed

If there are already bookings for an event date, the event date can now no longer simply be changed. For this purpose, the “Move event date period” function must now be used.

When moving an event, you can then choose whether bookings – in addition to other data such as room or equipment bookings and timetable entries – should also be moved automatically.

Improvement of the payment import: recognition of "booking numbers"

When importing payments, the automatic recognition of the booking number has been improved to speed up the process of assigning payments to bookings.

HTML building blocks and snippets

Under Administration – Templates – General snippets, entire HTML blocks can now be stored as blocks – similar to what is already possible for email templates.
These can then be used in the HTML editors of the booking page settings for events, so that recurring blocks do not have to be entered again and again.

Notes and tasks without reference to a booking, etc.

Until now, tasks and notes could only be created if they were assigned to bookings, event dates or other objects.

With this update, general notes and tasks can now be created without object reference.

By clicking on “Notes” in the upper right corner, you will now find the menu item “Create general task”. Here you can differentiate between notes and tasks as usual and also select the area, such as “General”, “Meals”, “Accommodation” and “Event”.

Notification by email when task is assigned

SeminarDesk can now send an email whenever a new task is assigned to a user. By default, this function is activated for all users.
This can be changed individually by each user at any time via the personal settings by clicking on the own user name in the top right corner and on “My settings”:

Preventing the registration of more adult guests

Via the booking page settings it is now possible to define whether additional adult persons can be added during the online booking or not.

The new setting can be found in the “Booking” section of the web settings:

As always, we hope these improvements help you and look forward to your feedback!

All the best from
Christoph, Simon and Jan.

January 11, 2021January 18, 2021

Guest types on booking page, credit notes, improved payment import, easy label management for profiles and much more…

In this article we would like to introduce you to all the new features and improvements of the latest SeminarDesk update from January 2021.

Selection of guest types on the booking page

From now on, the guest types stored in SeminarDesk, such as companion, participant, speaker, or assistant, can be selected by guests on the booking page.

To do this, the relevant guest type must be marked as “public” and the guest types must be activated for the event. The “External description” field can be used to enter an explanatory text that is displayed when the guest type is selected.

Restore default layout of lists

To restore the default view or layout of lists, you can now simply click the “Reset Layout Settings” button above the list view.

This function removes all filters, returns columns to their original position, and shows data fields or columns that were previously hidden.

Create and post invoice in one step

For a confirmed booking, the invoice can now be created and posted at the same time in one step. For this purpose, there is now the checkbox “Post invoice” when creating an invoice.

Different email accounts for different events

From now on, multiple e-mail accounts can be stored in SeminarDesk and assigned when sending e-mails.

Within the e-mail settings – both in the standard settings and those of an event – you will find the new “Send via” selection. If several e-mail accounts have been created via the administration settings, the preferred account for sending this e-mail can be selected here.

Credit note as "Add item"

If we want to add more items or services to a booking, this can be done as usual under “Edit Booking” and “Actions – Add item”.

We will now see this new selection:

By clicking on “Default item such as accommodation or individual service” there is now the option to also post credits.

"Reply-To" address when sending e-mails

It is now possible to define a different reply address for each e-mail account. The corresponding input field can be found under Administration – Setup – Booking page and e-mails – E-mail accounts and “Edit”.

Improved payment import

With this update, the payment import has also improved.

It is now possible after the upload to ignore or skip rows above the records and to assign the columns manually:

Batch edit labels simultaneously for multiple profiles

From now on, it is very easy to add one or more labels to persons or profiles. Labels can also be removed in the same way.
For this purpose, there is now a new button called “batch edit labels” above the “people lists”.

After selecting one or more people, we can now select a label and replace, add or remove it.

Note: the labels must be created first via Administration – Labels.

As always, we hope these improvements help you and look forward to your feedback!

All the best from
Christoph, Simon and Jan.

December 15, 2020January 18, 2021

Online accounts, flexible guest types, extra fields in list views, external booking page and much more…

In this article we would like to introduce you to all the new features and improvements of the latest SeminarDesk update from December 2020.

Online account for the booking site

Users of the booking page can now optionally create an online account, e.g. when registering for an event. And the next time they register, the registration form will be filled out automatically with their personal data after they have logged in.

Flexible guest types

The guest types such as “speaker”, “participant” or “accompanying person” can now be freely defined and individually set.

For example, it is possible to specify that speakers are required to attend the event – in order to appear on the catering and kitchen list, for example – but that no participation fee is to be booked.

For the guest type “Participant”, on the other hand, the participation fee is booked and, like “Accompanying person”, it is marked as “Public”, which means that this guest type will also be offered for selection on the booking page in the future.

Web settings and email templates that differ from the standard

It is now clearly visible if settings or e-mail templates deviate from the stored default.

The green symbol indicates that the setting matches the standard. The yellow symbol, on the other hand, indicates a deviation from the standard. If you move the mouse over this symbol, the default value is displayed – which you can then apply to the settings of the current event by clicking on “Change to default” if desired.

Show extra fields in list views

Extra fields for persons, events and appointments can now also be displayed in the corresponding lists. For this purpose, the option “Show in lists” must be activated for the respective extra field.

Reports by period: relative dates

In addition to a fixed start and end date, reports by time period can now also select relative time periods such as “Current week” or “Current month”.

For example, you can save a link to the kitchen list of the current week or to the financial report of the previous month and do not have to select the period manually each time.

Link to external booking page with online booking disabled

If you utilize the booking page including the event overview but the actual online registration for the event is not made via SeminarDesk, you can now link to an external booking page.

To do this, the option Show detail page but no booking available must be selected in the web settings under “Detail page”. An external URL can now be entered, which will then be linked to right on the booking page.

New extra field type "Formatted text

In the extra fields for profiles or events and appointments, there is now a new type “Formatted text”, which can be used to enter HTML-formatted text.

Integration ESP (e-mail service provider) or newsletter tool

Until now, it was only possible to store the information whether the person wanted to receive a newsletter or not.

With the latest update, SeminarDesk can now be connected to an external newsletter tool, so that, for example, when registering for an event, the double opt-in process controlled by the newsletter tool can be started automatically or certain attributes of the person profile can be synchronized.

Currently, there is an integration option with the German provider CleverReach.

Please contact us if you are interested in connecting your newsletter tool with SeminarDesk.

As always, we hope these improvements help you and look forward to your feedback!

All the best from
Christoph, Simon and Jan.

September 22, 2020September 22, 2020

Statistics in the calendar view, e-mail notifications for new bookings, flexible price levels, and much more…

We would like to showcase you all new features and improvements of the SeminarDesk update from 16th September 2020!

Room Type Order On the Booking Page

The order of the room types can now be adjusted via Administration – Setup – Guest Rooms and Room Types.

In the registration form on the booking page, the display changes accordingly:

Statistics in the booking calendar view

In the booking calendar view, statistics are now displayed for each calendar day. This includes the number of families, adults and children as well as the number of rooms assigned.

Note: For a detailed display, simply hover the mouse pointer over the statistics field for a second and an info panel will appear.

E-mail notifications for incoming bookings

One or more e-mail recipients can now be specified for notifications via the booking page settings of an event.

With every online booking, an e-mail notification is sent to the address(es) stored there.

Note: To speed up the setup of future events, the recipient email addresses can be set as default for all events under Administration – Setup – Default Booking Page Settings.

Additional Fields For Events

Similar to the fields you can create for contact persons, you can now create extra fields for events under Administration – Setup – Additional fields.

There are different field types to choose from available, such as text fields, date fields, numbers, Yes-No check boxes and drop-down menus.

Assign Contact Persons To Events

When creating an event, you can now assign one or more contact persons. SeminarDesk users can be picked via a dropdown if they are marked as contact person in the user administration section.

This feature can be useful to specify an (internal) contact person for event guests and who is responsible for event content and general questions.

Finally, in the booking page settings of an event, you can use the “Show contact persons” option to specify whether the contact persons should be displayed on the booking page – similar to the speakers.

Select Time of Arrival/Departure For Manual Bookings

When creating a new booking manually, the arrival and departure time of the guest can now be changed or overwritten.

This does not have to be done afterwards anymore if this information is already known during the booking.

Language, Theme and Table Settings for Users

By clicking on your own user name in the top right-hand corner you will find the new menu item My Settings. Here you can, for example, save the settings for the guest rooms and booking calendars.

Flexible Price Levels

Under Administration – Setup – Price Levels it is now very easy to create price levels for different participant groups. In our example we have added the levels “Sponsors”, “Standard” and “Reduced”:

We can also define here which level should be the default (i.e. preselected) and whether the respective level should be available on the booking pages.

The price levels can then be used in the administration of the price lists as a further distinguishing feature in addition to guest age and room types. This way, different prices for e.g. “members” and “non-members” can be displayed with only one price list.

Note: The selection of a price level via the booking page is currently not yet possible, this will follow with one of the next updates. When booking manually, the price levels are already available for selection. And even when editing a booking guest, the price level can be changed afterwards.

Additional Meals

Under the new menu item Administration – Setup – Additional Meals, it is now possible to manually add meals for guests who are to be catered for without having a booking. These could be day guests or volunteers. Groups can be defined for this use case, in our case “day guests” and “volunteers”:

Above the groups it is also possible to select which of the five standard meals should be available for the additional guests.

Under “Bookings > Additional Meals” you now have the possibility to enter the number of additional meals per day, meal and group.

The additional meals are then included in the kitchen list or other reports.

Additional Text for Accommodation Type on Booking Pages

Under Administration – Setup – Guest Rooms and Room Types an external description for individual room types can now be added.

This description appears on the booking page under the respective room type.

As always, we hope that these improvements will help you and we look forward to your feedback!

All the best,
Christoph, Simon und Jan.

June 7, 2020September 22, 2020

Booking calendar, moving of single bookings and guests, improved room calendar display, … and more

We would like to share with you the latest features and improvements from the last SeminarDesk update of June 2020.

Platform-wide Update: "Seminar" becomes "Event"

With this update, we are moving away from the term “seminar” and are using the more neutral term “event” from now on.

This has particular effects on the main menu and other names within SeminarDesk. The functionality remains unchanged despite this name change.

New: booking calendar

Bookings can now also be displayed in a calendar view by clicking on the bookings menu.

As with all other calendar views, you can first select the period, followed by a a weekly, monthly or chronological display.

Tip: With a right click on an entry the booking details can be called up and a room can also be assigned directly.

New function: move single bookings or individual guests into another booking

Since many events had to be postponed in the last months, SeminarDesk now offers the possibility to easily move single bookings into another booking.

You reach the function under Edit booking – Actions – Move to other booking.

We can now select a target booking:

Note: To postpone a booking, it must not be in the past.

In the same way, individual guests of a booking can now be moved to another booking.

New feature: move booking into new event date

In case some attendees cannot attend an event that has already been booked, a booking can now easily be moved to another future date of the same event. To do this, click on Edit booking and on Actions – Move to another date.

We can now choose a new date. Please note: Bookings can only be postponed to dates of the same event. The event must therefore already have several future dates.

Create timetable templates and assign timetable to event dates

With this update you can now create timetable templates.
First choose Administration – Timetable Templates to create or add a new timetable.

Afterwards, new entries for one or more days can be created by right-clicking on the timetable.

Each entry can be marked as either break, lesson or exam and the corresponding lesson units can be defined.

We can now assign this timetable template to an event date.
Click on the Actions drop-down of an event date and select date details (funtion room rent, invoices etc.)

In the Timetable section the created templates can now be selected and dragged into the timetable of the event date.

Optimized room calendar display

There are now additional basic settings for the room calendar. Under Administration – Settings and the section Room Calendar you will now find the following additional options:

By removing the checkbox Show dates, the first line in the room calendar is completely removed.

The new grouped view also allows us to group the calendar by booking and by booking and gender.

Finally, the dynamic row height can now be deactivated. That means rooms with several beds do not have a larger row height than e.g. single rooms.

Additional features and improvements

Total price display for the booking page

In the web settings of an event you can now deactivate or activate the display of the total price. When activated, the total price per person for accommodation and meals is displayed instead of the general price per night, depending on the selected date.
Note: This option has no effect for multi-part seminars or if the booking of several dates is active.

Improved report generation speed

The user interface and display of reports and reports has been slightly changed and optimized. In addition, the speed has been improved, especially for larger data volumes.

SeminarDesk becomes international

Due to new English and French speaking SeminarDesk customers, the SeminarDesk user interface is now multilingual. The language can be changed at any time by clicking on the appropriate country flag in the top right corner.

As always, we are looking forward to your feedback!

Best wishes from
Christoph, Simon and Jan.