Friday, November 21, 2014

Processing Contractor Inspection Requests

For those customers using the web site that lets their contractors request inspections online, you can now process those requests directly from your Staff site. If you have requests "Pending" you can see those directly on the Main page and select a request to begin processing it. If not you can go to the Contractor Search page and check the Dashboard menu options for a new Inspection Requests choice. This option takes you to a page that shows all existing requests whether they are Pending, Accepted or Denied. The various options available to you here are the same as from the Windows program. You can process requests, send e-mails back to contractors, view the permits involved, manage the passwords assigned to the contractors, etc. To my mind, the web site is easier to use for reviewing requests because its easier to jump around to view different pages and to send e-mails. Try it out and let me know what you think.

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Dashboard Control in Web Sites

I received feedback that some customers did not like the way the floating dashboard was triggered in the Staff and Public web sites. It was too easy to accidentally hover over the dashboard and have it spring out. So I have added a check box on the Main page that lets you switch the dashboard between it's default hover mode a new click mode. In click mode you have to click on the dashboard to make it open or close. Another user-friendly change is the addition of a street search option right from the Main page. Since this is one of the most frequently used actions in ZonePro, placing it on the Main page should prove handy. Let me know what you think about these changes and any other feedback you have about the web site's useability.

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

New Fields for Other Permits Database

Four fields were added to the Other Permits database so that it is now identical in structure to the Extra Permits database. The four fields are: Final Date, Status, Dimensions, and Description. The Windows interface has already been updated to show the new fields and the web pages will follow. Use the Installed Modules screen in Maintenance to download the updated screens. Note that the new Status field now provides a second way of adding Alert Messages to Other Permit records.