Embarrassed and Frustrated.

[dswp]

I have been using this live since last summer, and i'm getting increasingly frustrated by the lack of documentation or is it my understanding, or are there bugs/ limitations of the software?

 

I have to apologize weekly to several clients for screw ups that I didn't know about, didn't realize the program would do for me, etc. I have read the documentation and a several hundred threads in the forums over the months, and frustratingly am unable to find a real solution to many of the problems that I have. And they are so tiny that I just leave it alone most of the time.

 

For example, tonight, I completed half the order for a domain transfer - entered the EPP code, and then sent the url I was at to the client to finish paying. It didn't work. She got no error message, but no buttons worked except for "start again". I suggested she start from the beginning and voila. So the URL - where do I find out what I can do with the url. that is in the address bar? Is this something that most ppl using this software already know (the I'm an idiot reason for this error).

 

Also, I try to send quotes, they don't work. I try to click on "control panel" inside of a clients active order panel, and I get a blank screen.

 

There are so many limitations on the email templates that they don't do what I'd like. And I'm not sure why text, pdf, and templates are all configured in different directories - and the shopping cart too. Sigh.

 

I can't figure out how to edit an account's accounting. I can't add transactions and assign them to the account without an invoice number, and invoices don't automatically merge. And the upgrades to hosting accounts are not very self-explanatory, adn I end up having to explain the math to the clients each and every time (after I figured it out myself).

 

I can't figure out how to get a deposit on a service.

 

Should design services be an addon to a hosting accoutn (and therefore attached to a domain name??) or should they be a billable item. And why can't I add a service to a client's account, and then edit the cost of the service on the invoice before it sends? And when I add a billable item (a per-hour charge) why can't I specify a NUMBER of items to charge for? Or is that wrong? Should I be using some other thing entirely.

 

I'm nervous as heck to use the quoting system, because I ended up looking like a fool before, but I need it to work, and I can't find any documentation that will explain the ins and outs of it. Why does it take in x items here and why does a quote have a slot for # of items, and invoices don't?

 

I think I must be missing something BIG. This software seems to have great success been around a while, and yet, I'm confused all over the place.

 

I've had WHMCS do the upgrades for me, if there were major problems - you'd have notified me, right?

 

And 9 times out of 10, I don't have time to search the forums for answers to these piddly little questions that should be intuitive. Any pointers, advice, BOOKS, suggestions, anything - very much appreciated. I've spent so much time getting this up and running, I don't want to just walk away from this investment. And yet, apologizing and looking ocmpletely inept to customers is less than ideal.

[Matt]

Hi,

 

Hopefully I can resolve some of these misunderstandings for you right now:

 

When you are placing an order, the items you add to the cart are stored in your local session and so when you send a link to somebody else they would get their own session and an empty cart. To achieve what you wanted, you should have either completed the order process for the client and just sent them a link to the invoice to make payment, or walked them through the signup process themselves.

 

For the blank screens, if you are still on an URL that's part of WHMCS when that occurs, see http://forum.whmcs.com/showthread.php?t=21317 for troubleshooting steps but if by that time you've left and are on a page of the control panel would need to check on that side what is wrong.

 

All templates are located in the /templates/ subfolders and all language files in the /lang/ directory. Email templates use Smarty like with the client area allowing you to use merge fields, if statements, foreach loops and even custom PHP code so they are really flexible. You should be able to achieve anything you want in those.

 

Adding of transactions can be done without an invoice number, and if you do that you have the option of specifying that it should be added to the clients account balance which creates the appropriate credit log entries and allows the payment to be applied to invoices when they become due. See http://wiki.whmcs.com/Transactions#Adding_a_Manual_Transaction for a guide on this.

 

An explanation of how the upgrades/downgrades pricing is calculated can be found @ http://wiki.whmcs.com/Automated_Upgrades_and_Downgrades Put simply, it refunds the time that is unused of the current package and charges the same period at the new package's price so should be pretty straightforward.

 

Invoice quantites 9 times out of 10 would be 1 so no quantity field on those. You can however do "5 x Item" in the description though field which is how the quotes convert if accepted.

 

Design services can be a product or billable item, that's up to you. You could for example use a billable item if you wanted to take payment in 2 or more installments, deposit and final payment maybe, or you could use a product to have the order and product entry on their account. From the admin side you can add an order and have the system not raise an invoice, adjust the products price, and then create the due invoices from the client summary screen and that way you have edited it before it sends.

 

Hope that helps!

 

Matt

[dswp]

Clients cannot add a 'deposit' on account BEFORE an order is created (learned through many embarrassing trials)- even if they have an 'active' account. They also cannot make partial payments on an invoice. (Again, kinda embarrassing when that is what I instruct them to do.)

 

I also have created an invoice(for a deposit) for the service (so it is attached to their account & domain)- they have paid the deposit.

 

After, I change the price of the invoice, so the order/invoice reflects that actual cost of the service. The invoice is still marked "paid" but there is a balance owing on the account.

 

If I resend the invoice to the client the ENTIRE amount is shown owing(?), without any deduction for the transaction that was already paid. I see transactions on my screen, but they don't when they receive the invoice via email.

 

So it looks like I'm claiming the deposit was unpaid. But the entire invoice is marked PAID(?). Which is just down right confusing.

 

So I assume I'm doing something wrong - this isn't how it was meant to be used. My only COMPLAINT about this is that I need to know this BEFORE HAND. I would be willing to write this documentation too, if I could have brief access to one of the minds behind this software.

 

What I'm after is the BACKGROUND information to HOW the system is supposed to run. That would let me use it to its max, and I'm sure it is supposed to be a bit more intuitive than I find it. (my own lack of experience is the fault, I'm assuming) - so a Beginner's guide to the concepts" would be sooooo helpful. Again - I WILL WRITE IT myself, if only I could get a grasp of it!

 

Thank you very much Matt & the team. I am SURE this is the answer to all/most of my co's billing

[vincent1]

In cases like this, I think a brief video of how to set this up would be easier, and ave a lot of time trying to explain it with a load of text?

Just IMHO

 

- Vincent

[scurrell]

In cases like this, I think a brief video of how to set this up would be easier, and ave a lot of time trying to explain it with a load of text?

Just IMHO

 

- Vincent

 

I'm pretty sure that once an invoice is issued, you shouldn't be changing any values.

[vincent1]

I'm pretty sure that once an invoice is issued, you shouldn't be changing any values.

 

Not sure what you are referring to, maybe meant for a different topic?

 

I must admit that I should have clarified as well

The following reply from Matt is what I meant:

 

Hi,

Design services can be a product or billable item, that's up to you. You could for example use a billable item if you wanted to take payment in 2 or more installments, deposit and final payment maybe, or you could use a product to have the order and product entry on their account. From the admin side you can add an order and have the system not raise an invoice, adjust the products price, and then create the due invoices from the client summary screen and that way you have edited it before it sends.

 

 

- Vincent

[scurrell]

Not sure what you are referring to, maybe meant for a different topic?

 

I must admit that I should have clarified as well

The following reply from Matt is what I meant:

 

- Vincent

 

Sorry - I appear to have quoted completely the wrong post!

[gje]

Hi dswp,

 

Again, kinda embarrassing when that is what I instruct them to do.

I think you should be sure of the possibilities of WHMCS before advising your clients to do things and consequently complain about embarrassment and frustration.

 

Kind Regards,

 

Geert

[WHMCS John]

If I resend the invoice to the client the ENTIRE amount is shown owing(?), without any deduction for the transaction that was already paid. I see transactions on my screen, but they don't when they receive the invoice via email.

You can customise your Invoice Payment Confirmation email template so that it displays the invoice balance remaining. The list of available merge fields are beneath the email template.

 

The best thing to do is create a test client for yourself, then before you advise your clients to do anything, test it yourself.

 

We do have some basic getting started video tutorials at http://whmcs.com/tutorials.php

 

As far as making the documentation "newbie" friendly is concerned, that's something we're actively trying to do, so any feedback you can provide please feel free to PM me.

[rvaughn]

I am having the same problem with the deposit functionality.

I'm selling website design on my website and have a question about setting up pricing on WHMCS.

 

When I client buys from me they pay a 50% deposit and then the remaining 50% when we complete their website. So how do I set this up in WHMCS? I want WHMCS to show the full price when the client orders but only charge them half, then allow me invoice the other half when I complete their website.

I cant do this bc the client gets an error about cant add funds without an active order.

[tsiedsma]

I am having the same problem with the deposit functionality.

I'm selling website design on my website and have a question about setting up pricing on WHMCS.

 

When I client buys from me they pay a 50% deposit and then the remaining 50% when we complete their website. So how do I set this up in WHMCS? I want WHMCS to show the full price when the client orders but only charge them half, then allow me invoice the other half when I complete their website.

I cant do this bc the client gets an error about cant add funds without an active order.

What you need to do is create an invoice for for the 50% and another for the other 50%. You can create an invoice for the full amount and let them pay the 50%, but you'll have to set the due date really far in the future or disable late fee penalties for that customer. WHMCS isn't designed for web designers, it is designed to work with Web Hosting control panels. It is full featured enough to support other uses though.

[dswp]

Hi dswp,

 

 

I think you should be sure of the possibilities of WHMCS before advising your clients to do things and consequently complain about embarrassment and frustration.

 

Kind Regards,

 

Geert

 

Good point, Geert. Since I am familiar with accounting software, accounting terms, and web hosting terms, I had assumed that it was unnecessary. that is what I am requesting, I suppose - better docs.

 

Point taken.

[dswp]

What you need to do is create an invoice for for the 50% and another for the other 50%. You can create an invoice for the full amount and let them pay the 50%, but you'll have to set the due date really far in the future or disable late fee penalties for that customer. WHMCS isn't designed for web designers, it is designed to work with Web Hosting control panels. It is full featured enough to support other uses though.

 

I have tried this - some clients (not all!!) reply that they cannot pay a smaller amount than the full invoice. That was also, embarrassing.

[dswp]

I am having the same problem with the deposit functionality.

I'm selling website design on my website and have a question about setting up pricing on WHMCS.

 

When I client buys from me they pay a 50% deposit and then the remaining 50% when we complete their website. So how do I set this up in WHMCS? I want WHMCS to show the full price when the client orders but only charge them half, then allow me invoice the other half when I complete their website.

I cant do this bc the client gets an error about cant add funds without an active order.

 

I have run into the same problem. I now have a service in the order form/cart that is for a flat fee deposit. Which is using the autorelease function so that I can accept/send welcome letter. THEN, along the service time line, i use 'addons' to that order. This way all the pieces of the service are tied together, and if I enter them all at once before the cron runs, they are all invoiced together.

 

I have run into a wall with attaching an affiliate to a billable item though.

[dswp]

You can customise your Invoice Payment Confirmation email template so that it displays the invoice balance remaining. The list of available merge fields are beneath the email template.

 

The best thing to do is create a test client for yourself, then before you advise your clients to do anything, test it yourself.

 

We do have some basic getting started video tutorials at http://whmcs.com/tutorials.php

 

As far as making the documentation "newbie" friendly is concerned, that's something we're actively trying to do, so any feedback you can provide please feel free to PM me.

 

Thank you John, I will definitely reply privately. I do have some ideas that would have helped <em>me</em>. Can't say about others though.

[Blueberry3.14]

I am having the same problem with the deposit functionality.

I'm selling website design on my website and have a question about setting up pricing on WHMCS.

 

When I client buys from me they pay a 50% deposit and then the remaining 50% when we complete their website. So how do I set this up in WHMCS? I want WHMCS to show the full price when the client orders but only charge them half, then allow me invoice the other half when I complete their website.

I cant do this bc the client gets an error about cant add funds without an active order.

 

I'm not discounting the experience you're having, but I have clients "add funds" all the time with no problem. Even the ones who are "less than skilled at using web-based applications."

 

For design services I set up a basic deposit as a product, then manually create subsequent invoices. There's a lot of different ways the same result could be accomplished. You could also manually create the initial deposit invoice, it only takes a couple of minutes.

 

As for WHMCS showing full price but only initially charging them a 50% deposit...I found for me it was best to have my rates/prices listed on the website, then have a deposit as a product that can be ordered. In some cases I create the deposit invoice manually.

 

I think something to remember is that no matter how flexible WHMCS is, it was still originally designed as a hosting billing system.

[Blueberry3.14]

I have tried this - some clients (not all!!) reply that they cannot pay a smaller amount than the full invoice. That was also, embarrassing.

 

Like I replied to someone else in this thread, I don't mean to discount the trouble you're having at all, but I have clients "add funds" all the time without any problems. Now if they're trying to pay on an existing invoice for less than the amount due, yeah...that's a problem (as well it should be).

 

I send a quote with the full price of the website (and the terms), then either direct them to "purchase" a flat fee deposit (product) or write a customized invoice for them. Works beautifully.

[dswp]

Like I replied to someone else in this thread, I don't mean to discount the trouble you're having at all, but I have clients "add funds" all the time without any problems. Now if they're trying to pay on an existing invoice for less than the amount due, yeah...that's a problem (as well it should be).

 

I send a quote with the full price of the website (and the terms), then either direct them to "purchase" a flat fee deposit (product) or write a customized invoice for them. Works beautifully.

 

THAT is a great idea. Esp. about the terms part. That is why I hate creating orders myself - the terms are such an afterthought, and not really 'checked' personally by the client.

 

Thanks!

[dswp]

Like I replied to someone else in this thread, I don't mean to discount the trouble you're having at all, but I have clients "add funds" all the time without any problems. Now if they're trying to pay on an existing invoice for less than the amount due, yeah...that's a problem (as well it should be).

 

As a sidenote, I see what you're saying about paying less than full amt on an invoice, but since we set the due date however far in advance we like, it makes sense that clients can pay in how ever many 'chunks' they like (until the due date).

 

And you're totally right - there are a number of ways to accomplish the same thing. I think that if I knew what the original intent of the software was - even in regards to web hosting - then I could intelligently decide the best way to enter information. Kind of like understanding the relationships in an access database - from there, you can 'intuit' a lot of queries. Just my 2 cents.

[dswp]

It actually shows the balance owing on the client center but not on the pdf invoice that is sent along. I suppose I have to breath deeply and edit that!

[Blueberry3.14]

As a sidenote, I see what you're saying about paying less than full amt on an invoice, but since we set the due date however far in advance we like, it makes sense that clients can pay in how ever many 'chunks' they like (until the due date).

 

And you're totally right - there are a number of ways to accomplish the same thing. I think that if I knew what the original intent of the software was - even in regards to web hosting - then I could intelligently decide the best way to enter information. Kind of like understanding the relationships in an access database - from there, you can 'intuit' a lot of queries. Just my 2 cents.

 

Mind you, it totally depends on what will work for *you* and your business, but I can tell you how I handle the design invoices/payments and maybe at least part of it would work for you.

 

I hear ya, that clients tend to skim over the terms (from another reply of yours). I've tried a couple different ways (having an online agreement they need to read before I accept the project, etc), and what seems to work best is I have the terms as part of my FAQs (the knowledgebase).

 

I created a basic welcome email for the design services, which I send manually (created it in the "General" section of the email templates) by going to the client's summary and click "send new message." Again, this is for me, but for hosting products, sending the welcome emails automatically is fine, but for design services I like to send the welcome email manually, so if I need to add something in that's particular to that client I can. It's just a case of going into that email template and customizing before sending to that client (and then remembering to edit it again before the next!).

 

In any case, in both the PDF quote email and the design services welcome email, I have a link to the terms.

 

And when I first set up a new client, I create (manually) the invoices for the the length of the project. It sounds like more work than it is, it really only takes a few minutes...and then you're done.

[Blueberry3.14]

It actually shows the balance owing on the client center but not on the pdf invoice that is sent along. I suppose I have to breath deeply and edit that!

 

I meant to add (though I think someone else in this thread already mentioned it), I have a personal test account I use. Whenever I'm sending out anything new, I always send to the test account first, and view the email both in an email client (Thunderbird) and online in Gmail (Gmail strips out CSS, you need to do inline if the formatting is important).

 

It saves a lot of embarrassment to see what they're seeing...before they see it.

 

When the PDF Quoting system first came out, I probably sent myself 20 quotes, tweaking in between, just to make sure it was how I wanted it to look. WHMCS really is a powerful and very configurable system, but some parts take a little trial-and-error to wrap your head around how to customize it and make it do your bidding (pun intended!).

[dswp]

 

In any case, in both the PDF quote email and the design services welcome email, I have a link to the terms.

 

And when I first set up a new client, I create (manually) the invoices for the the length of the project. It sounds like more work than it is, it really only takes a few minutes...and then you're done.

 

Thank you Blueberry! Good ideas.

[othellotech]

>I completed half the order for a domain transfer - entered the EPP code, and then sent the url

>I was at to the client to finish paying

 

You needed to send them the computer you were using not the URL

 

>So the URL - where do I find out what I can do with the url

 

What you can do with URLs is listed in the WIKI under "linking to whmcs"

 

> I try to click on "control panel" inside of a clients active order panel, and I get a blank screen.

 

then you've got something "wrong" in your templates, undo your change and look again at what you did to the .tpl

- what does your server error log say ? have you tries telling WHMCS to display the errors on screen to help you debug your mistake ?

 

>I can't add transactions and assign them to the account without an invoice number

 

yes you can

 

> and invoices don't automatically merge.

 

do they need to ? its not normal accounting practice to *change* an invoice once issued, and in many countries is illegal to do so.

 

>I can't figure out how to get a deposit on a service.

 

ask the client for some money against an invoice ?

 

>I don't have time to search the forums for answers to these piddly little questions

>Any pointers, advice, BOOKS, suggestions, anything

 

searching the forum is going to be a lot quicker, more interactive and up-to-date than reading a book ...

 

>Clients cannot add a 'deposit' on account BEFORE an order is created

 

When you add the client simply "order" a free "allow deposits" product.

 

> They also cannot make partial payments on an invoice

 

tell them to click "add funds"

 

>After, I change the price of the invoice

 

dont alter invoices once sent - problem solved.

[dswp]

>I

 

 

You needed to send them the computer you were using not the URL

>> very funny!

 

>>The ideal solution is the add funds and 'add funds product' that you mentioned, Thats a "d'oh" moment. THEN, I need to add an invoice (whether partial or whole) and receive payment. One question - in this process, where can I manually assign an affiliate - as there are no orders?

 

> and invoices don't automatically merge.

 

do they need to ? its not normal accounting practice to *change* an invoice once issued, and in many countries is illegal to do so.

 

>>This is the kind of info that I need. Thank you. Obviously WHMCS isn't made to do that then. That 'method' is out.

>I can't figure out how to get a deposit on a service.

 

ask the client for some money against an invoice ?

>>Smart Ass.

 

>Clients cannot add a 'deposit' on account BEFORE an order is created When you add the client simply "order" a free "allow deposits" product.

 

> They also cannot make partial payments on an invoice

 

tell them to click "add funds"

 

>> Are funds added automatically applied to due invoices?

 

>After, I change the price of the invoice

dont alter invoices once sent - problem solved.

 

>> Indeed.