The Capsule Blog

In support of modern browsers: Saying goodbye to Internet Explorer 7 & 8

Tuesday, May 14, 2013 by Dom Briggs

It’s fair to say that older versions of Internet Explorer aren’t well loved by web developers. We spend a lot of time testing and creating workarounds for IE 7 & 8 when working on new updates to Capsule. Even then, the user experience and reliability we can offer in these browsers is compromised because the capabilities of these browsers are far behind what is achievable in a modern browser. Patching the limitations in these browsers also means we end up deploying more code which adds to page load times.

With limited time and resources, it’s important that we focus our efforts in the areas that add most value across our customer base. Discountuining support for IE 7 & 8 will let us move faster and with less constraints. As of July, Capsule will no longer support IE 7 or 8.

We haven’t taken this decision lightly. The vast majority of our users are on Chrome, Firefox or Safari. Internet Explorer users account for 11% and most of these are already on IE 9 or 10. Usage for IE 7 & 8 has been falling over the last 12 months and now accounts for around 1% and 2% respectively.

There is a general trend towards phasing out support for Internet Explorer versions under 9. Many popular web applications such as Google Apps and Facebook have either dropped support or are in the process of doing so. This same trend is hapening in the tools and libraries that we use to build Capsule. For example, the popular javascript library jQuery which we use has started to require IE 9+ for it’s latest and most efficient version which we will be upgrading to.

If you are using Internet Explorer 7 or 8 we suggest that you upgrade to a modern browser such as Google Chrome or Internet Explorer 10. If for whatever reason you’re unable to do so we’ve added support for Google’s chrome frame which is a free plug-in for Internet Explorer that web apps can use to provide you with additional features and better performance. Visiting Capsule using IE 7 or 8 you will see a prompt to install Chrome frame:

User interface refinements

Thursday, May 09, 2013 by Dom Briggs

Not long ago we released an update to the history section of a contact and we brought you a brand new twitter feed. To bring the rest of the app inline we’ve updated the layout of contact details and replaced some of the icons. You’ll also find buttons in place of links to help make where to click next more obvious. Overall you should feel Capsule is a little more spacious and easier to use.

At the same time we’ve improved performance on some user interface elements so you should feel some menus and page loads a little snappier!

Updated Twitter integration

Tuesday, March 05, 2013 by Duncan Stockdill

We've updated our Twitter integration to support Twitter's latest API and display requirements. At the same time we've taken the opportunity to improve our Twitter functionality. Now when you view a contact in Capsule that has a twitter account you can see more tweets and you can reply, retweet or favourite tweets directly from Capsule. You can also view pictures that have been included in a tweet.

As consequence of Twitter's latest requirement we can no longer show tweets for a contact unless you've connected your Twitter account to Capsule. If you are already taking advantage of our awesome social search functionality then you're already set-up and good to go with the new tweets display. If not you can connect your account via the Social Integrations page in your preferences. See our social search configuration guide for more info.

We've also taken the opportunity to tweak the display of history so it fits more neatly alongside the new tweet styling. In particular the edit and delete actions for notes and emails are now activated on hover.

New Capsule App for Zendesk

Monday, January 14, 2013 by Josef Szotten Zendesk launched an updated version of their customer support platform a little while back and with it they introduced a more structured approach to integrations with other services. Our previous widget for Zendesk has been transformed and expanded into a Zendesk App that you can install into the new Zendesk. As with our previous widget for Zendesk it allows you to view or search for the Capsule contact details for a ticket requester. Here's what it looks like:

Now accepting American Express

Monday, December 17, 2012 by Duncan Stockdill

By popular request, we’ve recently added American Express to our existing credit card support for Visa and Mastercard. If you’re currently paying by MasterCard or Visa and would prefer to pay by American Express you can use the change payment card process in Capsule.

Refined pop-over contact cards

Thursday, September 06, 2012 by Duncan Stockdill

We’ve done some work to improve the use of the pop-over contact cards in Capsule. These are quick summary cards that save you clicking through to a contact’s page when you just want their phone number or address. Previously these were activated by hovering over an icon next to the contact’s name. We’ve simplified this so that you now activate the pop-over card by simply hovering over the contact’s name in the link. This keeps the user interface for Capsule clean and increases the target area for activating the pop-over card. We’ve also made the UI more consistent by enabling this pretty much everywhere you see a contact’s name in a link.

In addition we’ve converted the text from/to names that appeared at the start of an email entry into contact links that you can click and we’ve enabled the contact card pop-overs for these. If the contact doesn’t already exist in Capsule (e.g. they were cc’d in the email) you can choose to add them, making it easier to add contacts that weren’t automatically created by Capsule.

Finally, we’ve also tweaked the modal pop-ups that are used for things like task entry. These have been given a light refresh with new button styling to emphasise actions you are about to take.

New in Capsule: find social profiles for your contacts

Tuesday, March 06, 2012 by Duncan Stockdill

We've just launched a new feature in Capsule that makes it easy to find your contacts on social networks like Twitter and LinkedIn.

To get this working, you first need to link your Capsule account with your social network accounts so that Capsule can search those networks on your behalf. You can do this by clicking on your username in the top menu bar > My Preferences > Social Integrations. Once you've done that you'll start seeing a notification icon when you view a contact in Capsule that indicates Capsule has found social profiles for your contact. Click on the icon to see the matches and add the social profiles details to your contact.

As part of this release we've also added Google+, Flickr, YouTube and GitHub to the list of social networks that you can record on a contact in Capsule.

We take privacy seriously and Capsule honours the privacy controls of each network when searching for profiles. As a result you'll only see matches where the contact has made their profile public.

I'd love to hear how you get on with this. In particular, if you spot matches that are for the wrong person I'd be grateful if you could email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) so that we can take a look at fine tuning our search algorithms.

Bringing Opportunities to Capsule Mobile

Wednesday, February 29, 2012 by Tom Bell

First off I’d like to introduce myself. Hi I’m Tom and I’ve recently joined the team at Capsule as a front-end developer. My background was originally working with .NET, Ruby and Node.js and now I’m working in JavaScript and CoffeeScript to make Capsule’s user interface more interactive. I’ve started looking at the mobile application and the first of these updates are now publicly available.

You can now view your open opportunities by tapping the new Pipeline button on the mobile app’s main menu. Tapping on an individual opportunity will take you through, showing more information about it. Opportunities are now listed under notes and emails for individual contacts. Currently, opportunities are only available when your device has a network connection.

If you don’t see the new Pipeline link you need to update the app so that you’re running the latest version: in the mobile app go to ‘Settings’ and tap the ‘Check for Updates’ button.

 

New API documentation

Tuesday, February 14, 2012 by Josef Szotten

We’ve recently updated the Capsule API pages. The API itself is more or less the same, there’s a few updates and we have improved the design and overall look and feel of the API documentation.

The API closely follows RESTful principles with every resource like person, opportunity or tag having its own URL. Resources can be manipulated using standard REST commands GET (view), POST (create), PUT (update) and DELETE.

We’ll be removing the old documentation shortly so you should update your bookmarks with the new URL. Check it out here: http://developer.capsulecrm.com/

RightSignature now integrates with Capsule

Wednesday, November 16, 2011 by Josef Szotten

At Capsule HQ we like to stay paper free. We keep all our paperwork digital which in addition to enhancing our green credentials means we never have to go through stacks of papers or filing cabinets to find our documents. So when we needed a process for getting legally binding signatures from employees and partners we wanted a solution that could load a document from Google Apps and allow it to be signed easily, without printing or scanning.

There are a few solutions for this in the market, but the one we choose was RightSignature which appealed to us with fair pricing and a simple, elegant approach. The good news for our customers is that RightSignature have integrated with Capsule and so you can now use RightSignature to easily send contracts, NDA’s, and forms to your customers and other contacts for legally binding e-signature online.

You’ll need an account with RightSignature to take advantage of the integration. For detailed instructions on how to link it with Capsule, visit our support page on the RightSignature integration.

Check out this video to see it in action:

Capsulecrm.com refresh

Thursday, October 27, 2011 by Dom Briggs

We're excited to have rolled out a new design for http://capsulecrm.com.

Technically we've made use of web standards such as HTML5 and you'll find some very smooth CSS3 animations dotted around the site. In terms of content you'll still see familiar pages such as the blog and features page, but we're sure you'll find the new design smoother and easier to navigate.

We've also added the ability to login to your Capsule account through the website. This feature is a response to our customer request and something we felt was useful for the new website.

One final thing you'll find is a video showing off Capsules features on the home page, including a look at the mobile app, just click the play button to watch!

We hope you like the new design and don't hesitate to give us some feedback!

Into the finals for CRM Idol

Wednesday, October 26, 2011 by Duncan Stockdill

We're very pleased that Capsule has made it to the finals of the CRM Idol contest. CRM Idol is a new competition that showcases the best in startups in the customer service area. It's been a great opportunity for us to get extra exposure around Capsule and to get feedback from respected influencers in the CRM industry.

The competition kicked off for us in September and our presentation to the judges in the first round got us through to the finals. You can read what the judges thought about us in their review.

Now the competition has been opened up to a wider set of judges and to the public for voting in the final round. We'd love your vote!

Watch the videos and cast your vote

Whatever the outcome of the vote, it's been a great experience (thanks Judges!) and we're very grateful for the chance to introduce Capsule to a wider audience. Good luck to our fellow finalists.

New Capsule Support Portal

Tuesday, September 27, 2011 by Josef Szotten

We have updated the Capsule support portal. It now includes full content search and it can be accessed from the support link on our main site.

For those who haven't used the support portal, it includes a range of help articles and instructions for using Capsule. It's a good place to start if you're ever unsure of anything.

View the support portal

Quote Roller integrates with Capsule

Wednesday, July 20, 2011 by Duncan Stockdill

The team at Quote Roller have integrated with Capsule to make it easy to send great looking proposals to your Capsule contacts. Check out their video to find out more about how Quote Roller can help with your sales process.

Quote Roller - create and send proposals in 15 minutes from Quote Roller on Vimeo.

Navigation refresh

Sunday, July 03, 2011 by Duncan Stockdill

We’ve rolled out an update to the Capsule navigation bar. Along with a fresh look for the icons and styling, the new navigation bar improves the way the navigation elements work.

With ever increasing screen resolutions we wanted a design that took advantage of the available screen space.  Over 90% of our users have a screen resolution that exceeds 1024x768.  In the previous design the number of recently accessed records that showed across the top was fixed to 5 links.  In the new design this section expands and contracts to show as many recently accessed records as you’ve got space for.

In the previous design the search box sat below the navigation bar in the page header.  The new design unifies the search with other navigation links in the navigation bar.

And finally, the “more” menu has been removed and replaced with the name of the logged in user which also acts as a drop down menu to provide links to user preferences, help and logout.

The new design:

As before, the color of the navigation bar is customisable so that you can match Capsule with your brand if you wish.  Here’s an example in blue:

The old design for comparison:

We’ve taken advantage of a number of CSS3 features in the new design such as transitions and the usual rounded corners and shadows. To get the full experience be sure to use a browser that supports the latest web standards such as Chrome, Firefox or Safari rather than Internet Explorer.