There is a significant release for all venues running version 8 of Theatre Manager. At that same time, two changes were retrofitted back to version 7 because we felt them to be important enough for all venues.

See full notes about Version 8.13 or read on for a summary.

Two changes common to both releases

• We found a small memory leak in Theatre Manager that can cause the Mac (primarily, PC sometimes) to crash intermittently when opening windows. If you are experiencing any crashes, we recommend upgrading
• We needed to change where we put the server that maintains past versions and current upgrades. The 'Check for Update' process in Theatre Manager needs to look in a different place. However, you will need the latest version of Theatre Manager in order for it to be able to check for the latest version - a catch 22

Users of version 7 may download version 7.36.42 from:
http://www2.artsman.com/Software/Version7/TMSetup.exe (PC)
http://www2.artsman.com/Software/Version7/TMSetup.zip (mac)

Key Changes in Version 8.13.00

• Enhanced remote support - we have built a product right into Theatre Manager for remote support called 'TeamViewer'. From our testing, is zero configuration and secure - and it is right on the Theatre Manager menu bar. If you are talking to support and want to show them what you are seeing, you can invite our support staff to view your screen while you are on the phone. This can be used from any computer within your organization. If you elect to use this feature, you have to provide your randomly generated access code for to the support team, otherwise they cannot connect to your machine. We are very excited about including this support tool right into Theatre Manager.
• Future address changes - you can now specify that address and phone information may change at any time in the future. This can be a one-time change, or address flipping between summer and winter addresses, or any number of address changes throughout the year.
• Course Management - you can now set up courses with multiple class days (such as summer camps) and track attendance at each day of the session. There is an attendance report and a report card feature to accompany this new capability.
• Online coupons now support the notion of 'Presales', or early access to tickets for events to select groups of individuals - where those same performances are not available to the general public. It is implemented through coupons - and if the coupon code is entered, then more events will appear in the list that a patron can select from. A further enhancement to coupon codes is that you can now email blast a mail list - and only allow people on the mail list to have early access, or use a discounted coupon. This prevents patrons from handing coupon codes around or posting them on the internet.
• Passes now allow you to specify the number of tickets to redeem from a pass. This allows you to use less admissions from the pass than the number of ticket bought - if that is what the patron wishes.
• Employee's and Patrons are now merged - this is a significant (but subtle) change. In the past, the employee record was separate from the patron record and if employees bought tickets, you would need to enter them as a patron as well. Now, you set up a employee in the patron record. Then you assign the patron 'employee' permissions. You will see, on the patron list, a little 'star' beside those people who are current employees. Existing employees in the database will have a new record created for them in the patron file, so you will have to merge the employee and the patron together that have the same name.
• ... and many other small changes, enhancements and bug fixes that have been reported in the past 4 months. Read the entire release note history at Version 8.13

Venues with version 8 may upgrade by following the process of upgrading Theatre Manager

PS: watch for a significant new module coming soon... Many have asked for it... we are putting the finishing touches on the first iteration of it..