Enhancements

• Knowledge Base Beta - We have entered into a beta for a new "Knowledge Base" feature that lets you to link to a public, searchable and index-able knowledge base (or FAQ). It takes the solution articles you write in Method, and creates a public help document. As you make changes to solutions in Method, your knowledge base is updated automatically. We are currently using this to build our own knowledge base for Method. You can check out the work in progress at http://www.methodintegration.com/method/kb.aspx?folder=methodcrm. You can create your knowledge base under Customize > Integration Tools > Knowledge Base. Keep your eyes on our blog as we'll soon be giving you a step-by-step guide on how it works.
• (Geeky) Performance enhancement - methodcdn.com. We finished the project of moving images, style sheets and javascript files to methodcdn.com. This CDN (content delivery network) enables your browser to download these files faster, and therefore your pages load faster. As a side note, this created a number of problems that were live for a few days before getting resolved, this included:
  • Fixed: Changing styles under Customize > Display sometimes took several minutes before taking effect.
  • Fixed: The Method login screen sometimes would show a broken image.
  • Fixed: The customer portal login screen sometimes would show a broken image.
  • Fixed: Changing your company logo would sometimes show a broken image.
• (Geeky) Performance enhancement - Sprites! Instead of have each image in its own file, "Sprites" are an optimization concept where many images are combined in a single file called a Sprite and then when the image is displayed, only a small portion of the Sprite is used. To you it looks the same as before, but it means fewer images get downloaded, which makes pages load faster. With all great new things, there can be side effects. The following issues have been now resolved:
  • Fixed: The Move Up and Move Down arrows were scrunched on the Actions screen and Customize > Tabs > Tab Links screen.
• (Geeky) .NET 4.0 - Method is now running under Microsoft .NET 4.0. This allows us to take advantage of some new server-side performance capabilities, which include better memory management during peak times of the day. And yes.....there were side effects that are now resolved:
  • Fixed: "Invalid ViewState" error message would show occasionally, mainly on the calendar and on the designer screens.
  • Fixed: Designer broken in FireFox and Chrome. Editing actions causes pop-up screen to jump to bottom.
• (Geeky) Database connection pooling - Another major project has completed that was ongoing for many months. The ambition was to minimize the number of database connections Method makes. Connections have been cut in 1/2 during peak times from when the project started, despite a solid growth in Method's total user base. The result is that during peak hours, Method servers can handle more traffic without a noticeable performance hit.

Fixes and other improvements

• Improved: Import / Export, conflicts are given only after an import completes, instead of during the import - giving you the chance to abort if you are seeing too many conflicts.
• Fixed: Able to enter alpha characters into decimal and integer fields for existing fields on grids.
• Fixed: Creating Item Groups in Method does not work if the sync engine is running.
• Fixed: HTML editor cutting off very long text without giving a warning.
• Fixed: Call another action set not working from grid actions after update is clicked.
• Fixed: Lose focus actions not always firing on grid after update is clicked.
• Fixed: Arrowing down on grid not working when going from existing lines to new lines.
• Fixed: Tabbing around grid quickly while actions are firing in the background can sometimes cause updates to occur in wrong row.
• Improved: Grids still show data when filter fields missing. In situations where you built a grid in the past and created filters for the grid based on values from fields on the screen, and those fields were since deleted, we previously ignored the filter and continued. For your added security, we now show no data, and require you to fix your filters.
• Fixed: Down arrow doesn't work in multi-line text field. For large text fields in grids, such as the Description field on an invoice, you can now arrow up and down between rows in the column.
• Improved: Paging in grids on new rows. Previously, when adding new rows to a grid that has multiple pages, you would stay on the same page as before. Now, you'll go to the page that shows the last record added.
• Fixed: Roles on buttons don't work if a button is used in a tab section.
• Fixed: Setting Default Time for DatePicker not working.
• Fixed: The security update that limits what type of HTML can be displayed on the screen needed to accommodate more situations where emails were copied and pasted from Gmail. Previously, copy and pastes from Gmail into an Activity's Comments caused ugly HTML to be displayed on the screen.
• Fixed: QB Online, issue with Bill To info on Invoice reverting to Customer Bill To Info after being saved in Method.
• Fixed: QB Online, non-taxable customers being saved in Method are being switched to taxable.
• Fixed: Issue with constant flickering happening on Chrome when more than 2 HTML editors are placed onto the same screen.