Although blogging protocols strongly recommend that you should never apologise for not having written in a long time, I nonetheless believe it’s important that I do since it’s been over a year now. This is completely my fault and I don’t have a good excuse. All I can say is that I’ve been incredibly busy and as a result I’ve had less time to blog. I tried to start up last summer after a hiatus of a year but it ended there as I quickly got too busy again. I don’t plan on making the same mistake again.

Since then a lot has changed, especially in regards to my company LandlordMax. At the time of my last post we had just released version 11.05 of LandlordMax about a year earlier. I’m happy to report that version 11.05 has gone through several updates and is doing very well. Version 11.05 was a massive release! Each of our releases (new major versions) is bigger than the previous one and version 11.05 was once again our biggest release so far.

Since version 11.05 was released I’ve transitioned to the upcoming major new and exciting Edition of LandlordMax called the LandlordMax Cloud Edition. Although it’s not yet available we’re now officially starting to talk about its release. Just to quickly re-iterate for those who aren’t aware, it’s our policy that we do not officially state release dates. We will talk about how we’re progressing in the email newsletter and I will give updates here on my blog but due to the nature of how software works we do not give out official release dates. One of my favorite articles on this topic asks you to estimate the time it would take to walk from San Francisco to Los Angeles. I have no doubt that the answer, and article, will very much surprise you. I have yet to meet someone who comes close to a correct estimate.

But getting back to the topic at hand, the Cloud Edition of LandlordMax, I’m proud to announce that we’re working on this brand new Edition of the software called the LandlordMax Cloud Edition. The Cloud Edition will be web based and will be available as a cloud service only. In other words you won’t have to install any software, worry about backing up your data, etc., everything will be managed for you and be accessible directly through the website from any computer on the internet.

We have been working on this Edition for some time now. And just like all our previous releases this is going to be our biggest release ever in terms of scale and effort! Not only will the Cloud Edition offer the same functionality as the current software but it will also enhance many of the existing features as well as add some new major features!

Now before I begin please note that all the following are being actively worked on and although we’re officially working on a Cloud Edition the features mentioned below are unofficial and therefore may be subject to change. We don’t expect any changes because most of what will be mentioned is either already either completed or well on its way to being completed, but we still nonetheless need to state it just in case something changes between now and the release date.

That being said one of the major new features of the Cloud Edition will be the ability to filter/search on a per column basis. In other words instead of the Data Filters that are currently available you will be able to manually type in the header column what you want that column to be filtered on. So for example if you only want to display the accounting entries for the tenant named John Smith you can type in his name John Smith in the name column header and only accounting entries for John Smith will appear. If you want to further restrict the accounting entries to just the tenant John Smith and say entries where the Description field includes the word “Utilities” then you can additionally enter in “Utilities” in the Description column header and now only entries for John Smith and “Utilities” will appear in the accounting table. In other words all columns are searchable/filterable. You can even select ranges of values where appropriate, etc.

Another major feature we’re working on is a brand new templating engine for almost everything that’s printed. This includes everything from workorders, invoices, receipts, etc. to reports, and so on. We’re working on a built-in word processor which will allow you to edit the templates and generated documents directly within the system. You’ll be able to completely customize them as you wish directly in the software. If you want to include your mailing address in the invoice template then you can do so. If you want to include a specific notice on all your receipts, you can do so. You will have full control of the output printed out in a built-in word processor.

In addition to editing the template you’ll be able to select what data (within some constraints) will appear on the invoices, receipts, workorders, and reports. So for example if you want to include different values in a report than what is currently available you will be able to do so. You will be able to select which columns appear. I won’t get into the specifics now because we’re very much actively working on this and deciding the details, but let’s just say you can decide what data you want presented where in the reports within reason. You won’t yet be able to create a new custom report but you’ll be able to select which data is outputted, how it’s formatted, etc. For example maybe in the rent roll report you want the cell phone number and email, maybe you want the address, maybe the security deposit amount, etc. You can basically decide what data is presented for the available reports.

Keep in mind that in addition to selecting the data you can also select the formatting, which means that if you want the text to wrap you can set it up so that the text wraps rather than being truncated as it is now (with the three periods at the end). You will also be able to select the font type, font size, etc. amongst other goodies.

Now because you can create and edit your own reports, templates, etc., the software will also have the ability to manage these templates. As a result you will be able to save your report templates and select the ones you want to use when it comes time to print the report, which means you can have multiple report templates for a single report. You will also be able to select from the list of invoice templates you’ve customized, and so on. You could have 10 different invoice templates which you select based on the specific tenant, it’s completely up to you. We’re trying to make it as flexible as possible.

We’re even taking it a step further where you will be able to generate documents such as lease agreements based on your templates. In the example of the lease agreement the software will automatically generate and populate it based on your tenant’s information in one step. You will then be able to both store and print the generated lease agreement all directly within the software. The same is true for notices, and so on.

Now what happens if you need to make an edit to the lease agreement after it’s generated? Well you’ll be happy to hear that we’re also working on post-generation editing. In other words you will be able to edit the generated lease agreement after it’s been generated from the template in case you need to make some specific changes to just that single lease.

These are just a few of the things we’ve been working on in addition to creating the Cloud Edition. There is quite a lot coming and this effort has been massive, and hence why it’s taking longer than expected. It’s also why I’ve been so busy and haven’t had the time to focus on my blog or our company email newsletter, for which I apologize. From now on I will be updating you with more details as we progress through the development of the new Cloud Edition. I also plan on releasing some preview videos in the near future.
There is a lot coming down the pipeline and I’m exciting to see what 2017 holds for LandlordMax!!

Discuss (2)