One of the most exciting new features in the upcoming Joomla 3.2 is two factor authentication, when enabled this feature, beside the username you will be required to enter your password + a time based secret key (this key is changed every 30 seconds), that is the reason why it is called “two factor”. This feature enhances your website’s security because a single password is considered not security enough nowadays.
So how to get started with this feature?
First, let’s install Joomla 3.2 (at this moment it is in alpha stage), the download link is:
After install Joomla 3.2 alpha, go to Joomla back end log in page and you can see a new secret key field right below username and password fields. At this moment, this new field will not do anything, just leave it empty and log in with your username and password.
After logged in, go straight to menu Users – Users Manager and click on your username to edit, you will see a new tab named “Two Factor Authentication” which is where we configure the secret key, it is disabled by default and we need to select to begin configuring it. This tab contains setup information which is very clear and easy to follow, I used my Android phone (with Google Authenticator installed) to scan the existing barcode and done! The Google Authenticator app will show you a random key which will be changed after 30 seconds. You will need to enter that random key back to verify it (Hints: use the Google Authenticator’s time correction for codes feature to sync your phone time with the server if your random key can not be verified).
Now you can log out and try to log in again to see how it actually works for you.
After worked very hard in the last 3 months, we are happy to release Solidres 0.5.0, it marks an important milestone for our young project. It is the first stable version which contains many new features and bug fixes from 0.4.2.
New features in 0.5.0
One page reservation form: let your guests book their favorite rooms without leaving the current page
Email sending: now you can specify the email format (text vs html) for outgoing email, we also include more information in the outgoing email like reservation’s info and payment method’s details.
Add bank wire payment method, the bank information is configured per reservation asset and will be sent to your guest via email so that they can make payment.
Room occupation: in previous version, when your guest book a room, it will be occupied automatically regardless of the reservation’s status. From 0.5.0, only ‘confirmed’ reservation status is able to occupy a room. You can change the reservation status in the Solidres’s back end.
New options to specify maximum/minimum number of day a booking must be made in advance. Default is no limit.
New option to specify minimum number of nights that is allowed to book.
New option to hide the reservation asset info which is useful when using with some certain templates.
Extra items can be configured as mandatory and charged per booking or per room.
New Statistics plugin.
New Paypal Standard plugin.
New Camera slideshow plugin.
New Complex Tariff plugin which allows you to specify tariff per person per night (as well as tariff based on children’s ages).
Bugs fixes and improvements
Localization is improved for date picker and form validation.
Display country name in reservation edit screen.
Module check availability now show default date for faster booking.
Fix PHP notice of Availability Calendar.
Add check to make sure at least one room type is selected before proceed with the reservation.
Fix broken map.
Translated missing strings in various places.
Fix PHP strict standard issue related to room selection.
Fix room type’s custom fields do not work when no check-in and check-out date entered.
Add sub menus for Solidres component in Joomla backend.
Always show tariff break down.
Make country field mandatory in reservation asset form
To upgrade from 0.4.2, just download 0.5.0 and install it via Joomla Extension Installer, it will automatically overwrite previous version.
Your current room types’s tariffs will be cleared, you will need to re-enter your tariff.
In addition, our old forum has been retired and is now in read-only mode, please use the new forum instead (you will need to re-register an account at the new forum, we are sorry for any inconvenience).
While working with some of our clients for custom service development, we realized the need of having a dedicated template for Solidres, today we are proud to introduce 7Start, it is a template built specifically for the hospitality business and has a tight integration with Solidres. It is fully responsive and has many custom modules. It also offers 7 different colors for you to choose from.
The template is well suited for a hotel, it is built on the well-known Warp Framework. The template will help you build your site in no time to your liking with minimal effort.
Features
3 columns layout (left, center, right)
7 predefined color styles
20 Module positions, all module positions are fully collapsible
Social icons with FontAwesome
All features of Warp framework
Built with HTML5 and CSS3
Bootstrap version: 2.3.0
Built-in CSS and Javascript Compression
Responsive layout
Highlights features of the template:
1. 7 color styles supported by default
There are up to 7 color styles that you can choose from.
2. Module Room Types
Bundled with module room types which automatically retrieves data from Solidres, it also show the lowest price of the room type, display room type’s images in a nice circle slider effect as well as showing room type’s description.
