Version 6.48

This is a major release with a many enhancements through-out Theatre Manager. The primary new feature is the introduction of our outlet version capabilities. Changes have also been made to Donations, Web Sales, added support for PC Charge (and internet credit card authorization for some service providers)

Note: Installing this version is fine if you are not using web sales. If you are using the web sales module, you will have to convert most of your pages - be warned.

Note: If you install any version of TM after 6.39 and start the upgrade of the database, you MUST upgrade all prior versions of TM (6.39 or earlier) so that they do not read the database. Serialization has changed and accessing it with older versions will cause you to send the database to us.

We suggest reading the release notes completely - especially for this version.

Version 6.39 • Updates

Released Oct 6, 2004

Key changes:

Complete revamping of Theatre Manager to support the outlet version - where multiple venues can share a common database, yet act as if they had their own database. (see rules below). Note: Enabling the outlet capabilities in Theatre Manager requires purchased of this additional module is you wish to use it.
Web sales now supports the ability to initiate a purchase without logging in
Web sales has added search capabilities for finding events
An bug was fixed in web sales that was causing festival holds to be released inadvertently
Donation entry has been changed slightly to simplify some of the A/R concepts and support prospecting (see below)
Credit cards have been encrypted and are stored in their own data record. (see below for more detail)
Changed the accounts so that the first digit no longer implies asset/liability, etc. This designation is in a separate field. It allows more flexibility in matching with a venues accounting structure in their accounting program.
Default Data has been separated into two components: system preferences (part of default data) and the original default data. The new default data records contains much of the information that is unique to an outlet.

Preparing for the Update

Theatre Manager will

Reorganize the database and upgrade all records to support the outlet version.

The user will need to

Before upgrade

Complete your end of day. Deposit all funds, create all sales entries and post to the GL.

Verify the database using data utilities and ensure that everything is ok.

Make a backup copy of the database.

Ensure there is at least 100 Megs free space in the transaction file and the same in the Main database.

Upgrade to version 5.72 if you are not already at that version. Refer to earlier release notes about the process.

Review release notes starting from the version you are currently using, up to and including this version. Previous upgrades may require you to perform additional steps before upgrading and/or after upgrading. They may also list areas of Theatre Manager you need to update with new data requirements before using the new version.

After upgrade

If you have the web listener installed, you should request a download the latest web help pages. You may have to make changes to most for web sales to continue to work.

you will have to update your TM.cgi file to the latest version

You will need to add two more accounts for 'A/R - other outlet' (even if you don't have the outlet version) and 'Commissions on tickets' (even if you don't have the outlet version) and place those accounts in the default accounts in code tables.

Optional Steps

You may wish to allow people to browse your web site and purchase anonymously (until time of checkout). This is a setting in default data.

The new template web site has examples of a number of optional changes where buttons change depending on the context of the user. If they are browsing anonymously, different buttons can be made to appear on the navigation bar, for example.

Time Required

It will take a long time. For large databases, it could be as much as 4 hours. Upgrading to this version requires a reorganization of all data files and addition of the outlet data for each record. All payments, transactions and patrons are processed to extract past credit card information and encrypt it in a separate credit card table.

Before upgrade	Complete your end of day. Deposit all funds, create all sales entries and post to the GL. Verify the database using data utilities and ensure that everything is ok. Make a backup copy of the database. Ensure there is at least 100 Megs free space in the transaction file and the same in the Main database. Upgrade to version 5.72 if you are not already at that version. Refer to earlier release notes about the process. Review release notes starting from the version you are currently using, up to and including this version. Previous upgrades may require you to perform additional steps before upgrading and/or after upgrading. They may also list areas of Theatre Manager you need to update with new data requirements before using the new version.
After upgrade	If you have the web listener installed, you should request a download the latest web help pages. You may have to make changes to most for web sales to continue to work. you will have to update your TM.cgi file to the latest version You will need to add two more accounts for 'A/R - other outlet' (even if you don't have the outlet version) and 'Commissions on tickets' (even if you don't have the outlet version) and place those accounts in the default accounts in code tables.
Optional Steps	You may wish to allow people to browse your web site and purchase anonymously (until time of checkout). This is a setting in default data. The new template web site has examples of a number of optional changes where buttons change depending on the context of the user. If they are browsing anonymously, different buttons can be made to appear on the navigation bar, for example.
Time Required	It will take a long time. For large databases, it could be as much as 4 hours. Upgrading to this version requires a reorganization of all data files and addition of the outlet data for each record. All payments, transactions and patrons are processed to extract past credit card information and encrypt it in a separate credit card table.

Web Sales

The biggest single addition to web sales is support to allow people to browse anonymously and buy tickets without logging in. This is a preference that you can decide to support, if you wish. Once the patron likes what they have, and they proceed to the checkout page, they will be asked to log in (or create a new account). After they do, the checkout (or other purchases) can continue. The advantage of this approach; people can see tickets first. The disadvantage of this approach; you may have less people in your database to market to because people who do not complete a purchase cannot be tracked.

Choosing between the options is easy. It is a setting in default data called 'Anonymous Log In'. Turning it on or off at any time is ok. Turning it on for the first time; please check your web site - it should work for the most part, unchanged.

The second main change to Web Pages is the ability to support passing around the state of the user in a cookie (instead of passing it via hidden fields in forms). However there are a number of changes that we recommend making to your web pages and updating your TM.CGI, mostly around getting rid of the pi=xxx parameter. A benefit of removing hidden fields from a number of pages means that fewer pages need to be processed by Theatre Manager's web listener. So, they can be put on your web server (at your ISP). It simplifies integrating pages into a web site, or linking from other parts of your web site to the commerce portion. Read about changing your web pages.