Q4 Press is our newest product, it’s primary value proposition is to “Easily Collaborate on Regulated Documents”. Given that proposition we wanted to make sure that we made the software live by that rule. The welcome page is one of the things we implemented that we thought would bring that proposition to life.

Previous to introducing the welcome screen to Q4 Press, users that had just logged on would be presented with a list of all the press release that they were currently working on. It looked like this:

While this scenario worked fine while we were building the product, we soon realized that in real world scenarios this page would more often then not be blank for most of our users. This goes directly against our primary value proposition and we quickly began looking for ways to make this experience a much more inviting and informative one for our users.

This is where the Welcome screen came into play, it looks like this:

The welcome page’s primary goal is to drive new users to the most logical actions they should perform. In the case of Q4 Press, those actions are to invite other users to collaborate on a press release and to create a new press release.

Again we realized that this welcome screen is targeted at people that are new to using Q4 Press, and more advanced users would quickly tire of the fact that they have to land on this screen and then navigate away to work on the things that were important to them. This prompted us to include the ability for more advanced users to skip past the welcome screen (this is done via a check box on the welcome screen that the user ticks off, all subsequent logins will land them on the dashboard).

We think this feature is a great one and we hope you do to. If you would like to find out more about Q4 Press please email catherinec@q4websystems.com or call 416-789-7829 ext 225 and we will be more than happy to give you a demo of the product.

What is Google Maps?
Google Maps is a Google service offering powerful, user-friendly mapping technology and local business information—including business locations, contact information, and driving directions. You can find out more about Google maps here

Ok, great. So what can I do with Google maps
Googles maps are quickly becoming a standard method for displaying various types of map related information on company websites. Some examples of how Google maps can be useful on your site are:

• Display a map to your corporate offices
• Show a map of your operations (see a great example on the Baffinland Iron Mines website)

In addition to the basic mapping data, administrators can also tag locations with additional information regarding the location that is tagged on the map. Website users can view satellite images of your mine areas as well as topographical images providing them more insight into your companies operations.

How can I get Google maps functionality on my site?
We think this is a great new feature and we hope you do to! If you would like more information on how you can integrate Google maps functionality in your site send us an email to support@q4websystems.com or give us a call at 416-626-7829 (press 2 for support) and we’ll be happy to help you integrate this new feature.

What is RSS?
RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is a method for distributing content over the web in what is commonly referred to as an “RSS feed”. RSS feeds typically contain a summary of the content item or the entire content item itself from the originating website. End users subscribe to and read these feeds in a feed reader. Some examples of popular feed readers are Google Reader, Bloglines and My Yahoo. Spotting a website that supports RSS is pretty easy just look for the orange icon in the far right hand side of your browsers address bar.

Why does RSS matter to me?
In the ever evolving world of corporate disclosure, RSS provides a way to keep your investors and analysts up to date on your company in a user friendly and efficient manner. Giving your website users the ability to subscribe to a feed of your press releases allows them to be notified of when you update the content on your site and gives them the opportunity to read the press release in there feed reader or to visit your site directly and read the press release there.

How do I get RSS on my site?
If you are interested in adding this module to your installation of Q4 Web send us an email to support@q4websystems.com or call us at 416-626-7829 (press 2 for support) and we’ll be happy to help you implement this new feature.

G&S Minerals will be launching on our platform in Q2 2008.

Author “What’s Changed?”
Now Authors can quickly see what changes they have made and are able to compare their current version against all previous major versions.  

Minor Document Versions and Reverting
Authors are now able to track their own minor versions in the quick report. The Author can also now revert to any previous version of a press release quickly. 

Supervisor Role
Users can now be given Supervisor privileges which allow them to oversee all activity on all documents. This gives auditors and/or managers unrestricted to the Quick Report and sends notifications each time a press release is created. 

Secure and un-secure email alerts
Email alerts can now include messages in either a secure or unsecure format. If the message requires more security you can secure the alert so the message can only be viewed once inside Q4 Press. All email alerts also now include the senders name to help you prioritize alerts based on who they are coming from.  

Welcome Page
The new welcome page provides a friendly introduction for new users. It also includes a handy way for it to be dismissed (so you only see it once or twice). 

Easily Invite Users
Any existing user can now invite other people to collaborate on documents and create an account of their own.  When inviting a new user you can also add a custom message to make it more personable.

Joining Multiple Instances
You can now be a part of multiple instances in Press. This is very useful if you work with more than one company on their press releases and other regulatory documents.

Floating Comment Window
Adding comments is now easier thanks to a floating comment window. You can now move the comment input box around and the background is not obstructed by the grey screen.

Exporting to HTML
All documents can now be exported in HTML along with Microsoft Word. 

Cancel and un-cancel Press Release from the Archives
This means that even though the press release is finished you can put the press release in the cancelled bucket so that it should never be published.  You can also now un-cancel the press release put it back into workflow.

Have any suggestions for what you think the next feature of Q4 Press should be? Contact Us or leave a comment. Thanks!  

This is our 6th client to launch on Q4 WEB this year and along with our successful launch of Q4 PRESS it’s no surprise that we’ve been named to Branham Group and Backbone magazine’s Top 25 up and coming software development companies.

You can download the full list here: http://www.backbonemag.com/files/PDF/Top_300_2008/top25-up_and_comers.pdf