vtiger CRM 4
March 29, 2005

We are pleased to announce the latest version of vtiger CRM. This release includes several new features and numerous bug fixes!

-------------
New Features
-------------

A. General

1. Database layer is redesigned for a better data integrity

2. Multiple database support for MySQL, Oracle, MSSQL, and Postgres through ADOdb (We have tested in MySQL and Oracle only)   
3. Microsoft Office Plug-in to create mail merge templates in Microsoft Word and create on-the-fly documents with customer specific data in vtiger CRM

4. Mozilla Thunderbird Plug-in to add E-mail messages and addresses from Thunderbird to vtiger CRM

5. E-mail notifications to vtiger CRM users as well as customers instantly as well as periodically

6. Search enabled for all the fields (including custom fields) in various modules

7. Database migration from version 3.2 to version 4

8. Accessories, such as World Clock and Calculator

B. Lead Management

1. Filter leads list in Leads home page based on lead status

2. Change leads owner in bulk

3. Export Leads into Spreadsheet programs

C. Account Management

1. Filter accounts list in Accounts home page based on type of the account

2. Delete accounts in bulk

3. Change accounts owner in bulk

D. Contact Management

1. Delete contacts in bulk

2. Change contacts owner in bulk

3. Create mail merge documents for contacts   

E. Opportunity Management

1. Notification of Big deals to the specific users/non users

2. Filter opportunities list in Opportunities home page based on the sales stage

3. Delete opportunities in bulk

F. Help desk

1. Automatically generate ticket ID while creating trouble tickets

2. Filter trouble tickets list in Help desk home page based on the priority of the ticket

3. Add/Modify custom fields in Help desk

G. Products

1. Enhanced the standard fields based on users feedback

2. Add/Modify custom fields in Products

H. Activity Management

1. All the activities (Tasks, Calls, and Meetings) can be managed in a Activities module 

2. Calendar user interface is enhanced, with a small calendar in Home page

3. Synchronize calendar records with Microsoft Outlook  

I. Studio:

1. Add custom fields in Helpdesk and Products modules

2. Modify the custom pick list values in all the modules

3. Custom objects for URL and boolean types

4. Enhanced user interface for product customization 
	
J. Communication Templates:

1. Mail Merge Templates to create on-the-fly Microsoft Word documents based on customer data

2. Canned E-mail Notifications through Linux Cron Job/Window Scheduler:

K. Security Management

1. Manage Profiles and associate to the roles

2. Module level access control list for profiles

3. Field level access control list for profiles

4. Organization level record sharing model

5. User management from Settings module

L. System Administration

1. Outgoing Email server configuration

2. Database backup server configuration

We have also provided the following features requested in Sourceforge.net and vtiger Discussions:

SourceForge

1. 1157343: Custom fields for tickets

2. 1108850:  Mozilla Thunderbird (Non-MS Outlook) Plugin

3. 1069886: PostgreSQL Support

4. 1050500: HelpDesk or Trouble ticketing


vtiger Discussions

1. RC1 - Leads : Sorting Lead List - by eberled

2. Database management (database backup) - by eberled and ITPM

3. Enable/Disable Import/Export features according to the user's profile - by bwoo and fredy

4. Small Calendar in Home page

5. Department instead of Account in Contact list - by joduba

6. Delete contacts in bulk - by david and Bez

7. Delete users - by Jim

8. ACL on data - Stefano

9. Groups and user level security - by Jay McDonald

----------------
Important Notes
----------------

* We have tested vtiger CRM 4 in MySQL and Oracle database software. Though we didn't tested in other database software, we feel it should work.

* Cases Module is phased out (Help desk module take care of all the customer support related features)

* Opportunities module is renamed as Potentials

* Tasks, Calls and, Meetings modules are phased out (Activities module take care of all the tasks and events related features)
----------
Bug Fixes
----------

We have fixed the following issues reported in Sourceforge.net and vtiger Discussions:

SourceForge.net
----------------

1. 1087474: suggestion

2. 1169597: Tab Order in data entry is inconvenient

3. 1158945: Cancel button behavior 2

4. 1158943: Cancel button behavior

5. 1161346: RC1 - Custom field Date not working

6. 1157577: Account View -- Contact Name

7. 1158932: RC1- Need "Select Product" on Potentials

8. 1158934: RC1 - Need select multiple products on Activities

9. 1158934:  RC1 - Need select multiple products on Activities - Richie Please check it is promised in sf.net

10. 1160628: Deleted tickets are still visible in the account overview

11. 1160522: minor issues in RC 1

12. 1157581: BusinessCard.php

13. 1158473: double $contact_id definition in modules/Calendar/UserCalend

14. 1157587: website character needs to be longer

15. 1157583: redirection limit for url exceeded
16. 1156560: Single quotation mark not handled when creating new note

17. 1069310: Time out during contact import

18. 1156463: Outlook Plug-in Error: wrong encryption string

19. 1111432: Meetings get duplicated views after editing

20. 1152457: V3.2 Log-In Recognition

21. 1151958: Leads "Change Status" button doesn't work

22. 1151793: Editing lead errors

23. 1145907: exporting xls to leads -

24. 1087484: user deleted problem

25. 1122448: export of opportunities

26. 1122446: upload file size hardwired

27. 1119621: PHP Error when cancelling editing of a ticket

28. 1116923: Custom contacts import fails if no last name specified

29. 1116919: CVS Import bombs when data contain single quote

30. 1032651: New Attachment - Error message


vtiger Discussions
------------------
 
1. Displaying the corresponding lead in Meeting/Call/Task modules

2. Activity - missing confirmation on deleting activities - by fredy

3. RC1 - Potentials "Only my items" not working - by eberled

4. RC1 - Potentials sorting tables returns an error - by eberled

5. RC1 Helpdesk - 'Assigned to' vs. 'Group' - by eberled

6. RC1 - Helpdesk: Changing a ticket doesn't work - by eberled

7. RC1- Homepage / Helpdesk : all tickets are listed - by eberled

8. RC1 - Helpdesk : Account and Contact Name - by eberled

9. RC1- Settings: Communication Templates - by eberled

10. Unable to tab - by 829

11. Email to Contacts and Mass Mail - by Jay

12. blank.gif doesnt display - by timb

13. RC1 - Product commission rate needs decimal field -by dchaffee

14. RC1 - Potentials sorting tables returns an error - by eberled 

15. Bugs in table insert statements during a new installation - by pab63

16. RC1 - Selecting a contact shows only name and no firstname - by eberled

17. Problem installing on subdomain - by cyberox

18. help desk trouble ticket - by 829

19. RC1 - Admin-Page: Empty Link in top right corner - by eberled

20. RC1 - Admin Page: Wrong mail server password shown - by eberled

21. RC1 - Admin : Creating User ( input field tab order) -by eberled 
 
22. Accentuated characters - by bigtime

23. Can't create new leads, contacts, accounts - by Peter - 

24. RC1 - Admin : Show users related to a group not working - by eberled

25. RC1 - Account : Description Information - by eberled

26. RC1- Accounts : Searching for - by eberled

27. RC1 - Leads : Input field tab order - by eberled

28. RC1 - Leads : Input field for postalcode to large - by eberled

29. vtiger DIscussions: RC1 - Accounts : Please show first name under contacts - by eberled

30. RC1 - Contacts: Notes not created using 'Add buisness Card' - by eberled

31. RC1 - Contacts : Advanced search - by eberled

32. RC1 - Potentials: Expected Close Date - by eberled

33. RC1 - Helpdesk : Searching - by eberled

34. RC1 - Helpdesk : Searching II - by eberled

35. RC1 - Accounts Detailview : empty 'Last modified date' - by eberled

36. Problems with Thunderbird plugin - by mike

37. vTiger CRM 4 (RC1) - Save Record Failure -

38. User withread-only access to the contacts. However this user can easily 'mass delete' all contacts.
  
39. Unable to install Outlook plugin 4 RC 1 - by Christian

40. RC1 Thunderbird plugin doesn\'t work

41. Calculator bug - by 829

42. Outlook Plugin Issues (outlook 2003) - by adrian

43. vtiger Outlook Plugin 4.0.1 beta Release - by adrian

44. CRM 4 RC1 problem or not? - 

45. Problem installing RC1 - by stelaix

46. Install Errors in step 5 - by pab

47. Some Contact fields not synching - by Tareef

48. vtiger v4 - How do you add a manufacturer? - 

49. Contacts in vtiger Outlook related - Maarten

50. RC1 - Product search to include Category, Manufacturer - by dchaffee

51. RC1 - Products - No way to update product category field - by dchaffee

52. Product commission rate needs decimal field - by dchaffee

53. RC1 - New Notes for Tickets - by nuguid

54. RC1 - Settings: Picklist - by eberled

55. RC1- Settings : Helpdesk Picklist doesn't work - by eberled

56. RC1 - Setting : Picklist values for Sales Stages - by eberled

57. RC1 - Home : My Group Allocation - by eberled

58. RC1 - Page Admin - by eberled



Known Issues

1. 1111896: Outlook raises a security alert when adding email with vtiger Outlook Plug-in

2. In Windowos OS, System Inoformantion is not displayed

3. While importing leads, accounts, contacts, and potentials the XLS file format can be browsed even though the allowed file format is CSV.
 
----------------------------
vtiger CRM 4 Beta
January 10, 2005

We are pleased to announce the latest version of vtiger CRM.

New Features:

1. Help Desk module to handle trouble tickets, Frequently Asked Questions and Support Statistics

2. Products module to add company wide products related information at a centralized location

3. Mail merge Templates

4. Sending Mass E-mails to contacts

5. Delete attachments

6. Add/Sync Email attachments using vtiger Outlook Plug-in from Microsoft(R) Outlook(R) to vtiger CRM

7. Add/Sync tasks using vtiger Outlook Plug-in from Microsoft(R) Outlook(R) to vtiger CRM

8. Creating Groups and assigning users to groups

9. Assigning leads/tickets to groups/individuals

10. New theme 'Blue' has been added


Issues Fixed:

We have fixed the following issues reported in Sourceforge.net:

1. 1093648 - Attachment contains extra footer

2. 1097245 - Email Field in Leads - 25 chars

3. 1093120 - User name doesn't appear in meetings

4. 1090718 - Meeting User - Unable to remove

5. 1092763 - Meeting attendee list does not list user's Name

6. 1094922 - New Attachment - Error Message

7. 1089207 - problem in emails

8. 1089136 - need attachment

9. 1037521 - Attachment/Import - Error message

10. 1032707 - Unable to view/Save the Attachments

11. 1019074 - handle mysql data

12. 1028989 - Print Problem

13. 1085617 - Wrong focus after deleting cases/contacts/opportunities

14. 1089627 - Problem with vtiger. 25 Character email limit

15. 1090721 - Meeting Contact - Unable to remove

16. 1090279 - Export Custom Fields - Not working

17. 1098475: Contacts: Field TITLE is too short

18. 1093669 - Delete attachments

19. Support for Latest versions of Apache and MySQL in installation wizard (Both Linux and Windows).

----------------------------

vtiger CRM 3.2.1
December 21, 2004

We are pleased to announce the latest version of vtiger CRM.

New Features:

1. Basic Calendar support
2. German and Dutch Languages Support

Issues Fixed:

a) Duration minutes in calls not getting saved when a new call is created is fixed. 
 
b) On deleting any entity, the Leads List View page getting displayed is fixed. 
 
c) Internationalisation support for Custom Fields provided. 
 
d) Internationalistaion support for Pick List Value Customization provided. 
 
e) Quick create form is getting displayed now. 
 
f) Empty Line Space appearing between the heading and List view table in module Lead and MessageBoard is fixed 
 
g) Proper Message display is done when a user with no delete privileges tries to delete the entity.

h) vtiger Outlook Plug-in in server side fixes related to performance improvement.


---------------------------
vtiger CRM 3.2
December 13, 2004

We are pleased to announce the latest version of vtiger CRM.

New Features:

a) Custom Field Support 

b) Security Support 

c) Migration from 3.0 to 3.2 

----------------------------

vtiger CRM 3
November 8, 2004

We are pleased to announce the latest version of vtiger CRM.

New features:

a) Support for accessing vtiger CRM server from Microsoft Outlook behind Proxy settings

b) Synchronize customer specific tasks in between Microsft Outlook and vtiger CRM.

c) Integrated Message Boards with vtiger CRM, which can be used to share customer knowledge among CRM service users.

---------------------

vtiger CRM 3.0 Beta
October 7, 2004

We are pleased to announce the latest version of vtiger CRM.

The new features are:

a) Released vtiger Outlook Plug-in, business productivity enhancement utility for Microsoft Outlook users. It is an open source project covered under vtiger Public License 1.0 based on Mozilla Public License 1.1. 

---------------------
vtiger CRM 2.0
September 6, 2004

We are pleased to announce the latest version of vtiger CRM.

The new features are:

a) DRAG and DROP of the tabs!!
This was achieved after working for quite a long time in the labs, not to
mention many sleepless nights!.
By using this feature, you can customize the tabs that you want to work with.
Do let us know what you feel about it.

b) Lead Management

Sales reps can create leads and initiate the CRM cycle.
We have tried to incorporate all the required features during this short period.
Do let us know if you would like to see some more features.

c) Import Leads from External Sources

Sales reps can import leads to vtiger CRM from external sources, such as Microsoft Outlook, 
ACT, GoldMine, and others in *.XLS file format. This feature eliminates the manual
data entry and enhances the Sales rep's productivity.

d) Attach Files

Sales reps can attach sales-related materials, such as marketing collaterals, presentations,
price quotes, and others, so that they can instantly access the related documents while 
dealing with leads/opportunities, accounts, and contacts.

Send your feedback, which is vital for our understanding your needs.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
vtiger CRM 1.0
August 26, 2004

-=Overview=-

After several months of working on our CRM solution, based on Apache, MySQL and other open source components, we came across a SourceForge open source project initiated by SugarCRM, having the same vision, and doing something very similar to what we were doing. They started out with the same premise we did, namely that CRM software is needlessly expensive, and hosted offerings only pretend to be affordable. While we were getting ready with our offering, the open source project had already launched it; the underlying infrastructure of Apache and MySQL was similar to what we were doing, and most importantly, the SugarCRM Public License allowed us to create distributions based on this code (SPL - a copy of Version 1.1.2 is found here, and the URL is at http://www.sugarcrm.com/home/content/view/35/86/) we decided it would be even faster to adopt that as our core and add value on top, an example of open source based collaboration.

We gratefully acknowledge the contribution made by SugarCRM, and we intend to actively participate and lead in bringing this vision of affordable enterprise applications, but we make it clear that vtiger is not affiliated with nor is endorsed by SugarCRM.

The team at vtiger CRM is pleased to announce the v1.0 the first release of vtiger CRM Open Source project.

This first release of vtiger.Sales is best suited for small sales forces.  If
you're looking to manage the basics of sales deals where every user can see
all of the data in the system, then vtiger.Sales v1.0 is right for you.  Over the next few months, we will be building out vtiger.Sales to meet the needs of larger, multi-national sales forces that need features like forecasting, data access permissions and internationalization.

Please feel free to send your valuable comments to contact@vtiger.com so that we can have a better CRM product at free of cost. Check out our website at http://www.vtiger.com for support forums, detailed product information, our future plan and much more.  

-=Features=-
We have incorporated the following features in this release based on SugarCRM. 

Opportunities
vtiger.Sales provides a complete, yet easy-to-use Opportunities module.  From deal size to each contact’s role, from listing the competitors to tracking the lead source, sales reps can easily manage each sales opportunity to completion.  

Accounts & Contacts
With the Accounts & Contacts module, you can easily enter and update key account and contact information. Tracking and staying in touch with your customers is simply a click away. 

Activity & Task Management
Managing your customer interactions is at the heart of a sales automation application. vtiger.Sales provides a simple and clean set of tools for quickly tracking tasks, phone calls, emails and meetings. 

Notes & Attachments
Easily keep notes on every contact, opportunity or account. 

Home Screen 
Focus on the right activities with a quick view of your top opportunities, pipeline, today's appointments and task list.

Dashboard 
A picture is always worth a thousand words.  With the dashboard module, you can graphically view how your opportunities  breakdown by sales stage or industry.

Administration 
Easily manage all the users in the system, their passwords, user interface themes and more. 
