niyo

Thanks guys 
 
 
Lol, the comment about confusion was in jest, it was a poke at the hosting industry in general lol. there was a section where she talked about our packages but i ripped it out cuz she nailed it in a different take and there were some errors in the take i used despite it being the best overall. I'll be incorporating it into a second video later in the week though =]

Well I can agree with most Austenite said,I used WHMCS for years and still have active licence and one local Site/Company i used it as billing sistem ,well it is free hosting for developers in my country so in theory i don't need billing there just auto provision,ticket sistem..etc but thing is WHMCS has already very good translation and I have licence so it is logic choice..
I like Blesta and I start to use it even i can't maintain all products i can with WHCMS,I had to code for some time to make it usefull for me I'm waiting still for some futures like most others,but at least it is stable and secure..and most important code is open in almost 99.99%.
Yes WHMCS is first choice for everyone simple because they have huge community and developers base...I mean you can find integrations for BudgetVM(I don't even know anyone who resell their products) but it is there or..module for .TK domains even their API never worked...well there is integration and translation for almost evreything on this planet..and that is why people run there first..not because of quality...
So Blesta should learn from this,it has already quality ...now we need more integrations and better start point for developers and more freedom when it comes core.... In my opinion the best way(if hiring more employers is not option) would be working on same campaign to attract more developers....
i must admit when I start to use Blesta I tought it will growth much faster but in my opinion it is very slow process.
Every company that use Blesta or any other script want to offer more and more service/products with time and want to make user interface better to offer something new...Blesta is very frendly when it comes this,they listen what users have to say and what they need I must say this,they accept every suggestion if there is even few users vote for it ,it  just need to be implemented little faster.This... with some changes in core related to extended funcionality would make things much better.I will stay with Blesta of course,I'm in position I can wait or make some changes my self but this also has some disadventage..it is not so easy for me to upgrade any more since I made some changes in core but I hope with 4 things will be much better.
In general I don't like to put on fire any particular service/product/script I used or I'm using,WHCMS help me build business and to be honest I could work with it even now and many things would be much easier but this came at huge price and with much work to just make it secure and stable. But sometimes we are forced to make some comparation to see where we are.
In my opinion
 
Blesta                                  vs                 WHMCS
 
Stable                                                      Huge community/developers base
Secure                                                     Integration for almost everything
Open code                                              Translation for almost all language                                     
Well coded
Less resource intensive
Frendly staff & community
Very good looking
Mobile ready
Very easy customized
Price/No aditional cost

Nice theme/template  well arranged in term of pages/subpages ...
 
 
good luck in the market .

I'd been sitting on the clip of the presenter for the past three months and finally got around to editing it over the last week although it took slightly longer than i would've liked.
 
You can check the video on my homepage here:
https://selfhosted.uk
 
Let me know what you think. And while you're there any feedback on the website is welcome although need to get round to finishing the Blesta integration but it works for the time being.
 
Thanks 

Just update the ETA.
Communication is all customers want. (But eventually, yes, you need to deliver.)
 
I'd like to be kept abreast of new developments myself. It's why I even bother coming to the forum.

Blesta markets itself as "The Billing Software Platform for Hosting Providers" so i don't think improving the experience for shared hosting is too much to ask. It's a super product for VPS and dedicated servers. Actually I think its the best billing system period for literally anything other than shared hosting.
 
Anyway this should hopefully sum up the desired user flow but anyone else can chime in to improve it if I've missed anything.
 

 
The next step would be to figure out how that translates to the UI. The primary problem with current UI is there is no option for admins to add context e.g. with tooltips or field descriptions. this is fine for smart users but shared hosting users aren't always technically inclined.
 
The current problem is if a customer uses paths A or B there is no easy way to get to C if they don't already have a domain. Nor is it clear that they need to get a domain. This is the main cause of confusion that many admins have been hoping to be changed in this forum.
 
Currently landing on a package with pricing gives the configurable options box for domain. one proposal could be to have 3 radio selects below the domain. 1 that allows the customer to use the domain they've already registered and is the equivalent to how just pressing continue currently works, another that allows the customer to transfer a domain (not as important but its a nice extra) and finally one that will search for the domain. Radio selects would allow for more elaborate language but if someone can think of concise ways of getting the point across then buttons may be better.

I genuinely think I just fell in love with you :*
The bottom option behaves how entering your domain under configurable option currently does.
As for advantages/disadvantages I think Paolo pretty much covered most of them. I haven't used whmcs for a couple years so my input there is limited as I've recently noticed some nice changes in ui while researching other small hosting companies. With that said I think the key advantage of whmcs is its built in marketing tools. Whmcs is designed to help users make money. Key features include affiliate marketing, sophisticated coupon system that also ties into the affiliate system, the ability to create bundled products, as well as the option to offer free domains when you order x etc.
Where blesta shines though is intuitive billing. Ie partial payments, pay invoice link etc although I would like to see partial refunds as well. Also multi company is a godsend, and very well designed. Judging by the well thought through database there is scope to have clients details shared between companies down the line ie through global client groups or something of that ilk. That way it can also be used in a multi-brand vein. Ie someone may have a company/brand exclusively for SSL that's separate from their hosting business. The way it's set up currently setup a user would have to sign up again for the second company although I haven't dug deeper since I started using blesta.
The way I see it is as a marketing tool whmcs is king but as a billing tool blesta is king. Once blesta has had the time to get its marketing and domain game up then it will surely reign.

stay tunned, i'm almost done the new hosting/domain order template . i hope i can resolve a 30% or 50% of this lock .
 
a mockup simple .
 

This is what we are planning to do regarding this:
 
New options under Settings > Company > Look & Feel
Show / hide / sort dashboard widgets Opt to move individual dashboard widgets to their own page. For example, transactions widget could be moved to a new nav element called "Transactions". This will allow staff to customize the look of the client area.
 
Thoughts or questions?

I left blesta because I couldn't handle domain management, at all, and the current state it is now it's almost ilegal to manage domains through blesta since it wont comply with ICANN,  so... how is this feature that all the major billing systems already has, something like: 
 
"They can't make it any faster as 4.0 isn't out and they have over 30+ tasks to do on that before they can waste a whole version on modifying and changing the way domains work. "
 
I stopped reading that phrase..  and I will re-phrase it.  The developers CAN'T waste any more time on other features that are not as important as this one.
The sole fact that your clients are asking for this feature and you take it so lightly saying it's a WASTE doing such a task speaks volumes on what you'll get with the hosting market.
 
You definely made a billing system that is NOT hosting friendly at all and you don't recognize this.. no, it's even worse, you wont accept what your clients are asking for.
 
This attitude is not good.  Clients ask for important stuff and developers should follow through and this is not an non-important feature... this is something all the other major billing systems already have and this is a feature that,  as it is now it's not ICANN approved, turning all your hosting clients into an almost ilegal sellers of domains...  
 
Developers should VERY concerned about this situation.   When I left blesta, the only new feature I had was "Mass Cancelation" but I didn't have (and still isn't available)  MASS EMAIL,  a featured that is soo much more important than Mass Cancelation.
 
If I have downtime expected on the datacenter I won't be able to let my customers know about this, but, I would be able to Mass Cancel all of them if they complain !!
 
This is not the way you build a billing system.   If I come here and seems to be complaining is because I felt I was not taking into consideration when I had my tons of problems with Blesta and developers were always doing more important stuff than the things I was asking, hence.. I left for WHMCS,  when I customer goes, it should make you take notice of why it was,   this is a good way of improving your attitude and your product.
 
Nobody asked me why I left, they lost my opinions about it the same way you'll loose the next customer that complains by replying "they can't waste time...".

Blesta markets itself as "The Billing Software Platform for Hosting Providers" so i don't think improving the experience for shared hosting is too much to ask. It's a super product for VPS and dedicated servers. Actually I think its the best billing system period for literally anything other than shared hosting.
 
Anyway this should hopefully sum up the desired user flow but anyone else can chime in to improve it if I've missed anything.
 

 
The next step would be to figure out how that translates to the UI. The primary problem with current UI is there is no option for admins to add context e.g. with tooltips or field descriptions. this is fine for smart users but shared hosting users aren't always technically inclined.
 
The current problem is if a customer uses paths A or B there is no easy way to get to C if they don't already have a domain. Nor is it clear that they need to get a domain. This is the main cause of confusion that many admins have been hoping to be changed in this forum.
 
Currently landing on a package with pricing gives the configurable options box for domain. one proposal could be to have 3 radio selects below the domain. 1 that allows the customer to use the domain they've already registered and is the equivalent to how just pressing continue currently works, another that allows the customer to transfer a domain (not as important but its a nice extra) and finally one that will search for the domain. Radio selects would allow for more elaborate language but if someone can think of concise ways of getting the point across then buttons may be better.

If anyone come and then claim about the same aspect of the product so there are something that should be discussed and asked , why all claim/ request this ??? So the simple response there are things that shouldbe clarified or corrected or changed .Actually we are working in a new order template that is sweeted for hosting market , we have some challange :
We didn't want to change the core or the order plugin files.
The order plugin has a limited space to play with it , limited to internal function .
But we have arrived to 60% of work done . The complexe is coming , and always we will bring the work to the community .
Who will pay us for the time spent in this ?! I'm just joking

Mate you couldn't be more wrong. nobody in here is saying we want it a particular way because of our experience with another product we're saying we want it a different way because the way it currently works is significantly deficient. If it was because of the other product we'd be using that product and not engaging in conversation to improve blesta. Naja is literally the most loyal blesta user there is and has contributed so much to the community do you really think he's making the same complaint because of his experience with whmcs? Like i said previously this domain/hosting process currently works on an assumed knowledge basis. yes it works fine for me and you because we're technically inclined we understand how hosting works and therefore can see that although this is a bit dumb we have the know how to jump the hurdles in order to complete an order.
 
Look at it this way. Customer lands on hosts website, sees package they like and clicks it. logic says from an admin stand point link to the package, so this is what most admins will do. so now that the customer has clicked on said package they see the config options box that says domain. No context whatsoever! Most of my customers (and by the sounds of it many customers of other blesta users) assume that means they are ordering that domain name with the hosting. You and i know they're not but they genuinely know no better. As i said there is no context or hints. At this stage what should happen is the customer should be confronted with the option - like in whims vertical steps - to use their own domain if they've already got one registered, transfer the domain to us or if they don't have one then order one. This gives context unlike the way it currently is whereby that domain box could literally mean anything.
 
So the alternative is to just link to the domain preconfig section for every package but then you're adding steps to the user experience and increasing the chance of abandonment.
 
Always think UX and minimising steps. as well as this every step in the ordering process needs to clearly communicate what is required to the customer.
 
For servers and other such products/services blesta works just fine as your customer base is savvy enough and there usually isn't this extra step of domains to worry about. eg...
https://my.knownhost.com/order/config/index/managed-dedicated-servers/?group_id=7&pricing_id=190
customer configures the package in one step and is good to go.
 
contrast that great experience with that of shared hosting when linking to the package
https://my.selfhosted.uk/order/config/index/hosting/?group_id=7&pricing_id=11
even I'm like what the hell am i supposed to put in that box. the 2 major problems here:
1. "am i ordering a domain?" well my customers seem to believe they are. and then when they complete the order and realise they actually weren't they usually need to order a totally different domain from what they originally did.
2. "erm i don't get it." customer abandons order there and then.
 
now contrast that to a brilliantly logical shared hosting experience
https://www.bluehost.com/shared
select the package and the next step is do you have a domain or do you need one. thats all we're asking for. would you therefore consider one of the biggest hosting companies in the world to only do it this way because they saw it in whmcs or is it genuinely the logical and user friendly way to do it? go to any big host and clicking on the package then gives you the option to register a new domain or input your existing domain and its crystal clear what is required of you as a customer.
 
the hosting/domain order form needs to have a logical user flow whether linking to a package group, pricing id or registering a domain. in blesta's defence the current process of ordering a domain followed by hosting isn't too far off the mark although there could be slight refinements, however ordering a hosting package is currently a nightmare from a UX stand point.

Mate you couldn't be more wrong. nobody in here is saying we want it a particular way because of our experience with another product we're saying we want it a different way because the way it currently works is significantly deficient. If it was because of the other product we'd be using that product and not engaging in conversation to improve blesta. Naja is literally the most loyal blesta user there is and has contributed so much to the community do you really think he's making the same complaint because of his experience with whmcs? Like i said previously this domain/hosting process currently works on an assumed knowledge basis. yes it works fine for me and you because we're technically inclined we understand how hosting works and therefore can see that although this is a bit dumb we have the know how to jump the hurdles in order to complete an order.
 
Look at it this way. Customer lands on hosts website, sees package they like and clicks it. logic says from an admin stand point link to the package, so this is what most admins will do. so now that the customer has clicked on said package they see the config options box that says domain. No context whatsoever! Most of my customers (and by the sounds of it many customers of other blesta users) assume that means they are ordering that domain name with the hosting. You and i know they're not but they genuinely know no better. As i said there is no context or hints. At this stage what should happen is the customer should be confronted with the option - like in whims vertical steps - to use their own domain if they've already got one registered, transfer the domain to us or if they don't have one then order one. This gives context unlike the way it currently is whereby that domain box could literally mean anything.
 
So the alternative is to just link to the domain preconfig section for every package but then you're adding steps to the user experience and increasing the chance of abandonment.
 
Always think UX and minimising steps. as well as this every step in the ordering process needs to clearly communicate what is required to the customer.
 
For servers and other such products/services blesta works just fine as your customer base is savvy enough and there usually isn't this extra step of domains to worry about. eg...
https://my.knownhost.com/order/config/index/managed-dedicated-servers/?group_id=7&pricing_id=190
customer configures the package in one step and is good to go.
 
contrast that great experience with that of shared hosting when linking to the package
https://my.selfhosted.uk/order/config/index/hosting/?group_id=7&pricing_id=11
even I'm like what the hell am i supposed to put in that box. the 2 major problems here:
1. "am i ordering a domain?" well my customers seem to believe they are. and then when they complete the order and realise they actually weren't they usually need to order a totally different domain from what they originally did.
2. "erm i don't get it." customer abandons order there and then.
 
now contrast that to a brilliantly logical shared hosting experience
https://www.bluehost.com/shared
select the package and the next step is do you have a domain or do you need one. thats all we're asking for. would you therefore consider one of the biggest hosting companies in the world to only do it this way because they saw it in whmcs or is it genuinely the logical and user friendly way to do it? go to any big host and clicking on the package then gives you the option to register a new domain or input your existing domain and its crystal clear what is required of you as a customer.
 
the hosting/domain order form needs to have a logical user flow whether linking to a package group, pricing id or registering a domain. in blesta's defence the current process of ordering a domain followed by hosting isn't too far off the mark although there could be slight refinements, however ordering a hosting package is currently a nightmare from a UX stand point.

We need to accept that blesta have big issues in this part, we are not making any negative comment about the system instead of that we are providing personal user experience in order to make it better because if not blesta will stay behind scene as it is right now. We have to be honest and know that users that use blesta are a small group and is because of the lack of basic features other systems provide.
 
We are not comparing blesta with WHMCS, there are a lot of different system out there and  also there are a lot of web hosting companies like Godaddy, BlueHost, Siteground, Hostmonster and all of them use the same logical process to order these services; what you are trying to say is that these big companies are doing it wrong and blesta is doing it right. For my personal point of view I don´t see any valid argument for that.
 
I made some test with several friends of mine to go and order a hosting and domain from my system and they get stuck because they don´t understand it, they need to ask my help to complete the process successfully. User like things simple and maybe in your case works straightforward but the real truth is that  if the final user can´t get the service in a simple way they will go away from our site.
 
All of us that we are part of the blesta community for sure we love the the system but that doesn't mean is perfect and that  is what we are trying to do, make blesta a better system to catch  more user and be some day on of the top  Billing and support system around internet. 

But there's no reason a 5-minute task that causes so much grief can't get into 4.0.  I don't understand the point of delaying something so simple as an image replacement that would curb so many complaints.

Looking at the code, it appears that the nameservers are not included as email tags by the module.
 
You can make them available by updating /components/modules/cpanelextended/cpanelextended.php.
Find these lines:
'module' => array( 'host_name' ), update them to:
'module' => array( 'host_name', 'name_servers' ), Once you make that change, the name servers should appear in emails that are sent.

Hi
 
Yes we need a real solution to sell hosting and domains like all the providers out there. We need urgently a new way of how blesta handle this because in the way is design right now is very complicate for clients. Imagine a client want to buy something and they can´t do it because the process is not clear they will leave our website immediately and we will lose  that potential client.  Right now the way blesta handled  the orders system is forcing the client to make one order and then another one to accomplish this process. We know we have add-on options but honestly the order system for selling hosting and domains is not good and as a community we need to push blesta to improved this because is very complicate to provide a good services without this basic tools that other competitor have. 
 
Hopefully someone hear us and do something to make this this work in the way it suppose to work.

Working in a new version . that will include
 
+ Tax support .
+ Redesign the client interface .
+ Send Quote on creation .
+ attach Quote to invoice .
 
any new idea i'm open to listen .

another thread !!!!!!
 
i hope this enougn for the staff to begin working in a sooner solution for hosting/domain order form .

We will take your ideas in consideration for the next update.

or set it to N/A ?

we have discussed this subject several times, not just the navigation bar for step but the whole order form for hosting industry is highly required . the actual one is not adequate to the hosting market

If you are like us, the only supported protocol for accessing Blesta is via https. To that end, all links sent in emails should have https based links instead of the default http
 
Here is a quick SQL call to make that happen without having to go into the interface and change each email template manually:
 
UPDATE `emails` SET `text`=REPLACE(`text`, 'http:', 'https:'), `html`=REPLACE(`html`, 'http:', 'https:')
 

Any update to the sad state of Blesta domain management? It would be a good idea to have this mess sorted out in early 2016 otherwise I will be forced to bail out of this solution.