Nominet "Buy one get one free" promotion supported by WHMCS?

[Terra]

Hi WHMCS,

 

Are you planning to support the Nominet "Buy one get one free" campaign in Sep & Oct 2015?

 

Details: http://registrars.nominet.org.uk/marketing-tools-and-events/30anniversary

 

Would be great if you could advise how this can be implemented in WHMCS.

 

Many thanks in advance! Edith

[brian!]

I too would be interested in hearing if WHMCS are going to do a new addon, or modify the .uk addon for this too - though perhaps the 'Claim Your .uk' addon is a really bad example, as it was released almost two months after the .uk launch date... and despite multiple questions on here asking for it many months before launch!

 

given that, i'd not be too confident about what they could do with only 7 weeks notice... quite prepared to be proved wrong though!

 

it's a weird promotion - the domains don't have to be bought at the same time (only within 7 days)... so you could register 'whmcs2015.co.uk' on the Monday, and register 'whmcs2015.org.uk' on the Friday and the .org.uk would be free (or at least free to us - the registrar).

 

i'm using a highly-customised domainchecker, and I see a couple of ways that I could modify it further if these domains were being bought at the same time, but this 7-day window complicates the issue.

 

I could write a solution for the 7-day window if it were a permanent promotion, but for only an 8-week campaign, i'm not sure - i'll need to have a more serious look at this campaign next month, but I suspect that unless WHMCS do something (and it works and I can integrate it), then i'll probably file it as not worth spending any great time on modifying my code.

[Terra]

Agreed that the 7 day window is complicated, but if we could offer the "buy one get one free" if both domains are bought at the same time, that would be useful and should be easier to implement. I need to look into this in more detail, maybe using a Promo code is sufficient to make this work?

[brian!]

I need to look into this in more detail, maybe using a Promo code is sufficient to make this work?

that thought occurred to me too, but I doubt it would work.

 

you could setup a promo code, with either a 100% discount or 0.00 price override and apply it to co.uk and make it require an .org.uk too - that works... but where you come unstuck is that the strings must match.

 

so, if you add terra2015.org.uk to the cart, then add brian2015.co.uk and use the promo code, the promotion in WHMCS will be valid - but the strings don't match and therefore the 0.00 price wouldn't be applied by Nominet... also, the registration periods have to match... and Nominet want the free domains to be displayed with a zero price on the invoice.

 

it can all be done (especially if you ignore the 7-day window) - but there will need to be coded rules to follow the terms of the Nominet campaign, and I doubt it would work without template modification/hooks/addon of some sort.

 

it's all I can do to resist the urge to drop what I should be working on and investigate this further, but I shall restrain myself until next month.

 

one further thought on this - it would be good in WHMCS told us one way or another about there intentions on this, e.g tell us if they are going to do it before September or if they're not at all - I don't mind which, but simply don't leave the question unanswered... that's what led to a lot of frustration/resentment about the .uk addon and the lack of a clear (or for most of the time, any) response.

[WHMCS John]

Hi,

At this moment in time, I am not aware of plans to change the software code to support this temporary promotion.

[Alex - Arvixe]

One way this could be done is offer a free domain at the same time as ordering the main domain.

 

However, if they don't claim it, when they open the main domain in the client area it would say 'You have x days to claim your free domain' - they click this and fill in a form and it will automatically create an order using the WHMCS API so there is no option to change the domain (the strings will match). So the domain field wouldn't be edible but they can select the domain extension.

 

To make this easier, you can either override the price using the API or automatically apply a hidden promo code.

 

You can then set alerts on the client area dashboard 'You're eligible for a free domain - x days remaining' and even send out automated emails to achieve this.

 

After 7 days this message wouldn't show so clients wouldn't be able to claim a free domain which would actually cost you. At the same time, they can't edit the domain name itself so it wouldn't cost you should they not match (as they will match).

 

Either that, or don't offer the 7 day grace period.

 

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I can fully understand why WHMCS wouldn't have plans to implement this though it is rather unfortunate. Hopefully someone will release a module to achieve this though.

Edited July 20, 2015 by Alex - Arvixe

[WHMCS Nate]

Hello,

 

While we would certainly love to be able to allow our Nominet users to take advantage of this upcoming promotion, and indeed other registrars custom promotions as they happen, to implement something like this as some have already pointed out in this thread is not entirely straightforward, and is at best very specific to this particular registrar and promotion. As a result, the time and effort we would have to expend in implementing one-off features such as this would be to the detriment of other planned work, and we have to focus our efforts on functionality that is useful for as many of our customers as possible and that will remain useful for them for the long term.

 

We recognize that some people value Nominet's promotion more than others and still want some way to take advantage of it. Because of the way the promotion works (7 day period) it will be difficult to automate the experience. You'll probably start custom development with a hook; we recommend using the OrderDomainPricingOverride hook point. This will allow you to examine domains as they are added to the cart and set a different price if the domain matches the criteria you code in. If you do that, it will cover the most common scenario of an end client purchasing multiple domains in one order. You can review documentation for that hookpoint here:

 

http://docs.whmcs.com/Hooks:OrderDomainPricingOverride

 

Have a great day,

 

Nate C