Staging site, SmartVault beta, Intuit Account OpenID and a touch of style

• New "Staging" site - starting today, the latest version of Method is always "opt-in".  We now have two production versions of Method for you to use.  In additional to the usual "live" site, we now have a "staging" site.  Next time you log into Method, check out the bottom of the login page.  It now says "This is the December version | Switch to the January version". 
  • "Live" – currently named the "December version" - this version has gone through our testing, and through at least a week of real world use on the staging site.  Benefit: more stable.  Drawback: you don't get the latest features, and bug fixes.
  • "Staging" - currently named the "January version" - this has just come out of quality assurance testing from our team. It is stable, but it has gone through only limited real-world use.  Benefit: allows power users, administrators, consultants, and eager Methoders to run through business processes in Method before it gets released to the rest of the company.  Drawback: you might find a new bug that nobody else has found.
• Multi-tenancy / franchise beta – franchises who are trying out the multi-tenancy beta (where multiple QuickBooks files sync to the same Method account), will be happy to see that the TenantID is now a dropdown list.  This allows you to pick a franchisee by name, rather than by ID from a dropdown, as well as add linked fields to show the franchisee name in a grid.
• SmartVault beta - Method has partnered with SmartVault to provide an alternative to the standard "native" document management that comes built into Method.  We’re using SmartVault’s new RestAPI for web apps – and it allowed us to make a really slick integration with them.  SmartVault provides an intuitive, Web-based solution for users to store, view and share files securely any time and from anywhere. It also offers a unique plug-in for QuickBooks, creating a seamless user experience for scanning, attaching, and finding documents within a familiar application. To learn more, click here.
• Style – new buttons and tabs - You'll see some style changes when you sign into Method on the January version:
  • All buttons are now using a new, more modern look. By default, buttons have a grey gradient, with a slight rounding to the edges.  But under Customize > Display, you can change your default button style to be round, boxy, blue, green, whatever you want.  Adjust it to make it fit your own color scheme.
  • When customizing screens, you can now set different colors for each button on a screen.  So maybe you want all your buttons grey by default, but the delete button should be bright red.  Go for it!
  • You'll see the tab links and tabs have been given a stylish, more modern look.  We haven't changed the style of tabs and tab links since our prototype version years ago.....gulp - embarrassing to admit!  And there's even more to come on the next release in a couple weeks.
• OpenID - sign into Method with your Intuit Account - The January version has something very exciting - we now let you use your Intuit Account to sign into Method! It's one less password that you have to remember - and since your Intuit user name is your email address, it’s a lot easier to remember one password than your Method Company Account, User Name and Password. Plus, if you have multiple Method accounts, the same Intuit Account can be used to log into all of them. To learn more, click here.

Enjoy,

Paul