Missing features / what I would like to see

[David]

At initial glance, the support system should have:
1. More differentiation between 'active' (awaiting response from support) and tickets sort of pending a client response.

At initial glance, the 'mass mail' system should support:
1. The ability to selectively mail users who are on specific services
2. The ability to selectively mail users who are on specific servers - e.g. server1, server2, server3 -- primarily for issues that arise.
3. The ability to easily generate new lists that can be mailed to -- that would be then listed in a drop-down. An example is say I want to 'add' a bunch of high profile clients to a 'Monthly checkup' list where I manually e-mail them monthly (though, en masse) to see how they're doing. Creating the list should be simple enough with some basic checkboxes, search system & an 'add user(s) to list' link

Invoices:
I do think WHMCS did a swell job on those -- they're very nice / clean looking. Blesta's on the otherhand is a bit 'unreadable'. The far left 'BILL TO' font is a tad bland & the fact that it's vertical makes it's legibility impossible. My own clients would slap me if I sent them an invoice this ugly, but it's a start

Sporadic use of icons
The first thing I've noticed when using Blesta is there's a large emphasis on using icons. The problem arrives with users with disabilities or people who may not know what a specific icon means. I think to make things more usable there should be a 'list' in the upper right menu.

An example would be on the 'approved' transactions list for a client's view. There are 3 different icons, no legend (anywhere to be seen) of what the icons mean & the 'hover' alt doesn't always show in the right place. This would be better setup as a list of the different options or even a drop-down.

Lack of 'package options'
One of my favourite features of every other billing system is the ability to add 'services' onto an existing package. For example, adding a 'dedicated' IP address onto a hosting account on our service incurs a $24 recurring cost. To use Blesta, we'd need to segment this into it's own package when in all actuality it's an 'addon' to an existing package.

I'll have more criticism later when I use the system a bit more.

[David]

Now what would be a post without some 'kudos'.
I'd say kudos to the way the mail system works overall, e.g. allows you to send e-mail to the technical contacts only -- flawless

[David]

Additional thoughts:

1. When a client 'opens' their support page (that generally lists open tickets) it should automatically open any existing tickets in the frame if there's <1 ticket. I think having clients go through an additional 'click' is unnecessary -- and most would have no more than a single ticket at a time open.

The ones that do.. of course, should be put through the 7th level of hell (or at least an extra click).

[Paul]

Hi David,

Thanks for your comments, as critical as they may be they're honest and constructive and we like that.

Originally Posted by David

At initial glance, the 'mass mail' system should support:
1. The ability to selectively mail users who are on specific services
2. The ability to selectively mail users who are on specific services

This is actually on our dev list and has been for a while, so it'll be coming!

Originally Posted by David

Invoices:
I do think WHMCS did a swell job on those -- they're very nice / clean looking. Blesta's on the otherhand is a bit 'unreadable'. The far left 'BILL TO' font is a tad bland & the fact that it's vertical makes it's legibility impossible. My own clients would slap me if I sent them an invoice this ugly, but it's a start

While I'll have to disagree with you on this one, the benefit to our invoices is that that the look can (and is meant to) be changed. Take a look at templates/default/images/invoice-pdf.png

I think you'll agree there's more flexibility with our invoices over the competition. We are also planning to open it up a bit more in the future to allow customization of where the data is overlayed.

Originally Posted by David

Sporadic use of icons
The first thing I've noticed when using Blesta is there's a large emphasis on using icons. The problem arrives with users with disabilities or people who may not know what a specific icon means. I think to make things more usable there should be a 'list' in the upper right menu.

An example would be on the 'approved' transactions list for a client's view. There are 3 different icons, no legend (anywhere to be seen) of what the icons mean & the 'hover' alt doesn't always show in the right place. This would be better setup as a list of the different options or even a drop-down.

Thanks for the feedback on this, we are always looking at ways to improve the interface and you've made some good points. The icons seem to be less obtrusive, meeting our goal of a less cluttered/overwhelming interface but I do agree that they are as a result less intuitive. I'd like to point out as well that Blesta allows for new templates to be created and the look and feel is completely customizable.

Originally Posted by David

Lack of 'package options'
One of my favourite features of every other billing system is the ability to add 'services' onto an existing package. For example, adding a 'dedicated' IP address onto a hosting account on our service incurs a $24 recurring cost. To use Blesta, we'd need to segment this into it's own package when in all actuality it's an 'addon' to an existing package.

You're right about the extra service to bill for the dedicated IP. We are looking at possible solutions to streamline this by creating relationships between packages. It is very likely we will have a good solution to this in the future but it's still in the idea phase.

Originally Posted by David

I'll have more criticism later when I use the system a bit more.

Looking forward to it!

[Paul]

Originally Posted by David

Additional thoughts:

1. When a client 'opens' their support page (that generally lists open tickets) it should automatically open any existing tickets in the frame if there's <1 ticket. I think having clients go through an additional 'click' is unnecessary -- and most would have no more than a single ticket at a time open.

The ones that do.. of course, should be put through the 7th level of hell (or at least an extra click).

This is an excellent point, and flows well with our idea of productivity and good customer experience. We'll consider adding this in a future version. The less clicks the better.

[David]

Paul,

Thank you for the feedback on the feedback.
Much appreciated, and you've covered all of the points well.