Just for the fun of it, I got myself a test license for ModernBill a couple of days ago. Uploaded and installed it, and I couldn't quite get happy using it. After a good hour of trying I still didn't manage to get it to show a hosting package available for ordering on the order page, even with the manual, and the eternal searching for the button/link to activate function x was a nightmare.
Combine this with a number of other reasons have made me decide to write a shiny new billing system. In contrast to ModernBill it should be easy to install, configure and use (a bit like DirectAdmin itself) and should do most of the tasks a DA admin would otherwise need to do manually without much hassle. That includes invoicing, allowing customers to upgrade their packages themself, account creation, domain registration, and so on.
As I tend to be somewhat good at coming up with ideas, the plan quickly expanded to potential extra modules for other control panels (cPanel, Plesk, - anything that has a decent API, however I don't have experience with this in other control panels besides DA so that'll remain something for the future), allocating dedicated servers to users (dedicated server plans - they will have to be set up manually for some reason tho
), and a nice little system to monitor the status of servers and automatically notify customers and administrators when something goes down (potentially including SMS notifications).
Domain registration will initially most likely be limited to eNom reseller plans, and hosting will probably also be limited to DirectAdmin in the beginning (but with the ability to run on both a full administrator account as well as just a reseller - of course that is more limited, but that makes the product also interesting for people who don't have more than a reseller account at that moment!). Payment modules will include most popular gateways such as PayPal, 2CheckOut, Authorize.net - you name it.
A built-in support system is also planned, both as replacement for DA's built-in messaging system and to provide a central support system. That may be extended to some sort of built-in FAQ/KnowledgeBase later on. Also there's a seperate type of account for staff who should be able to provide support and help customers with common issues, but without the power to do anything immediatly.
Of course own skins and languages will be (are) supported.
A good amount of work has already been done, as soon as there's a more or less usable demonstration that will go online, of course.
As general side note, the system is intended to run on PHP 4 or 5 (development happens on a shiny PHP 5.1.6 server, although it will be compatible with PHP4 as well) and will use a MySQL database. Apart from some cronjobs and mod_rewrite enabled in Apache it won't take much more than that to run.
Then, I'd also like to ask the users around here if they have any questions, requests, ideas, or general feedback. Good ideas will definatly be considered to be included, of course!
Combine this with a number of other reasons have made me decide to write a shiny new billing system. In contrast to ModernBill it should be easy to install, configure and use (a bit like DirectAdmin itself) and should do most of the tasks a DA admin would otherwise need to do manually without much hassle. That includes invoicing, allowing customers to upgrade their packages themself, account creation, domain registration, and so on.
As I tend to be somewhat good at coming up with ideas, the plan quickly expanded to potential extra modules for other control panels (cPanel, Plesk, - anything that has a decent API, however I don't have experience with this in other control panels besides DA so that'll remain something for the future), allocating dedicated servers to users (dedicated server plans - they will have to be set up manually for some reason tho
), and a nice little system to monitor the status of servers and automatically notify customers and administrators when something goes down (potentially including SMS notifications).Domain registration will initially most likely be limited to eNom reseller plans, and hosting will probably also be limited to DirectAdmin in the beginning (but with the ability to run on both a full administrator account as well as just a reseller - of course that is more limited, but that makes the product also interesting for people who don't have more than a reseller account at that moment!). Payment modules will include most popular gateways such as PayPal, 2CheckOut, Authorize.net - you name it.
A built-in support system is also planned, both as replacement for DA's built-in messaging system and to provide a central support system. That may be extended to some sort of built-in FAQ/KnowledgeBase later on. Also there's a seperate type of account for staff who should be able to provide support and help customers with common issues, but without the power to do anything immediatly.
Of course own skins and languages will be (are) supported.
A good amount of work has already been done, as soon as there's a more or less usable demonstration that will go online, of course.
As general side note, the system is intended to run on PHP 4 or 5 (development happens on a shiny PHP 5.1.6 server, although it will be compatible with PHP4 as well) and will use a MySQL database. Apart from some cronjobs and mod_rewrite enabled in Apache it won't take much more than that to run.
Then, I'd also like to ask the users around here if they have any questions, requests, ideas, or general feedback. Good ideas will definatly be considered to be included, of course!
