[not a bug] WHMCS email expiry notices mix up renewal (due) date and expiry

[Terra]

Hi WHMCS,

 

The domain email log shows email sent as "30 days before expiry" BUT in reality the email is sent 30 days before DUE date. For those of us who have the domain sync set to a different renewal date before expiry, the 2 dates are not the same.

 

So in my case, I've got a 7 day difference, the email log shows as sent as 30 days in advance of expiry, but in reality the email was sent 37 day in advance of expiry (and 30 days in advance of due date).

 

I'd recommend to clarify the wording to make it clearer that it's the DUE date that's used as reference point for all settings, not the expiry date.

[WHMCS Nate]

Terra,

 

Can you say a bit about why you are making this change? We discussed this some internally but were not able to think of good examples for why someone would want to do this. I would like to understand why you are doing this so we can keep that in mind during future product discussions.

 

We have a task to review the UI / UX of the domain reminder fields for future versions and I will bring up this discussion during that time. I have also opened case: DOCS-6220 to have our documentation expanded to make this clear for users going forward.

 

Have a great day,

 

Nate C

[Terra]

Hi Nate,

 

I have set the DUE date a few days before EXPIRY date to give my clients a bit more time to pay without their domain going offline. In particular I have clients paying by cheque and bank transfer which requires manual invoice updating in the office.

 

My main concern is to avoid a situation where a client transfers the money on expiry date; but the domain has already gone offline during the night.

 

I don't think there are any changes as such need for WHMCS, but the email log in the domain page should either show "email sent X days before DUE date" or calculate the days using the actual expiry date. At the moment the text refers to "expiry date" but the days are calculated by "due date" so the text & the days don't match up.

 

Best wishes, Edith

[brian!]

Edith,

 

I don't think there are any changes as such need for WHMCS, but the email log in the domain page should either show "email sent X days before DUE date" or calculate the days using the actual expiry date. At the moment the text refers to "expiry date" but the days are calculated by "due date" so the text & the days don't match up.

that text is specified in the admin language files...

 

$_ADMINLANG['domains']['beforeExpiry'] = "%d days before expiry";
$_ADMINLANG['domains']['afterExpiry'] = "%d days after expiry";

... so what you could do is change these for your own needs using Language Overrides - http://docs.whmcs.com/Language_Overrides - that page only mentions client language files, but the same principle applies to the admin language files too.

 

using overrides, you could change them to..

 

$_ADMINLANG['domains']['beforeExpiry'] = "%d days before due date";
$_ADMINLANG['domains']['afterExpiry'] = "%d days after due date";

this will automatically change the entries shown on the Domain Reminder Email report too.

 

hopefully, this might solve your issue for now, while WHMCS decide if they want to make any changes to these settings for a future release.

[WHMCS Nate]

Edith,

 

Thanks for the reply and the details. Your example is something I will bring up as we discuss things going forward. Brian suggests a really great work around. We make those strings editable & provide email templates so that people can adjust the system to fit their business. In this case we have to pick how we think most customers will use the product and then hope to have things flexible going forward.

 

Have a great day.

 

Nate C