Questions About Setting Up WHMCS

[Steve907]

OK. So, I am new to WHMCS. And have some basic questions that I cannot find answers for.

 

How do I display the order form for a customer? Do they have to be logged in? The link to the order form is totally branded with WHMCS? How do I get rid of this?

 

How do I change the WHMCS menu on the frontend? Is there a way to do this? It currentlylooks like it is not part of my website. How do people integrate this into their sites? I am a designer, not a developer... what is important to me is a seamless website that doesn't bounce people all over the place and looks like another website.

 

I want the products to be for sale on page that looks exactly like my website. I want the login area to look like my website. How do we integrate this?

 

Sorry I am so stupid. I am new to this and this is SOOOOO HUUUGE. And the help docs spend so much time talking about setting up products and automated emails. This is all good stuff. But I can't find anything about creating a seamless user experience for my customers. How to embed order forms, support forums, documents and all that stuff, so it looks like it is actually part of my website.

 

I still can't even figure out if I should have installed this as a subdomain or a folder? Because, I don't know how the customer interacts with WHMCS. My first priority is customer experience. Does the URL make sense? Can the customer ever find their place on the site again? How do I keep a seamless navigation. This is UX design and really want to adhere to it.

 

I am not complaining. This is a great program... but it is overwhelming and the fact I can't figure out how to get rid of the WHMCS logo just stresses me out. (One of hundreds of things that I can't figure out). How can a create a UX experience if I can't even figure out how to change the logo?

 

Just feeling helpless, hopeless and overwhelmed...

[WebsiteIntegrations]

Hi

 

If you search around you will find lots of options to have your WHMCS Integrated into your site design. WHMCS actually offers this service if you check the services page.

 

In the admin settings though you can switch the logo for now to use your own logo.

 

And anyone can access the order form, you just need to provide a link. Individual product links can be found while you are setting up your product. You can just link those to the order buttons on your website.

[Steve907]

Thanks for the feedback.

 

I am just completely overwhelmed. So I will just have to reevaluate the amount of time I thought it would take to get this all set up.

 

But really, I am not even sure if I have it installed in the best directory. Do I want people to connect to it via mydomain.com/whmcs? Or whmcs.mydomain.com?

 

Obviously I won't name the folder whmcs, but I don't even know what to name it. It looks like EVERYONE accesses information via this path. So do I call it clients, account, buynow, portal...

 

Or if I use some integration plugin, then maybe it doesn't matter. But it seems like an important decision and I am finding little guiding information.

[twhiting9275]

Setting up WHMCS for the first time can be rather confusing and frustrating.

The basics of what you're after here are pretty basic, but you've got to take into account products, as you mentioned, integration, what your site needs to be , etc...

 

Much if this is going to be 'taste' related. Do you want your clients to login to whmcs for everything? Just billing? Just support? Just server access? Talk to a professional or two, get some guidance and have them help you out there.

[brian!]

I want the products to be for sale on page that looks exactly like my website. I want the login area to look like my website. How do we integrate this?

ultimately, you might want to consider posting in Marketplace as that's were you can invite offers for paid work - and if you can't integrate WHMCS yourself, then you're going to eventually end up paying someone to do it for you... and keep it updated during future WHMCS upgrades.

 

But I can't find anything about creating a seamless user experience for my customers. How to embed order forms, support forums, documents and all that stuff, so it looks like it is actually part of my website.

once WHMCS is integrated correctly into your site, then the above will fall into place.

 

I still can't even figure out if I should have installed this as a subdomain or a folder? Because, I don't know how the customer interacts with WHMCS. My first priority is customer experience. Does the URL make sense? Can the customer ever find their place on the site again? How do I keep a seamless navigation. This is UX design and really want to adhere to it.

it really depends if your WHMCS site is standalone (but looking like your main site), or is to be just a part of the main site.

 

I am not complaining. This is a great program... but it is overwhelming and the fact I can't figure out how to get rid of the WHMCS logo just stresses me out. (One of hundreds of things that I can't figure out). How can a create a UX experience if I can't even figure out how to change the logo?

if it helps, that one is quite simple to do...

 

in /templates/six/header.tpl, you just need to edit the image filename...

 

<a href="{$WEB_ROOT}/index.php"><img src="{$WEB_ROOT}/templates/{$template}/img/logo.png" alt="{$companyname}" /></a>

or even simpler, upload another logo.png image to replace the default WHMCS logo graphic in /templates/six/img/logo.png

 

Just feeling helpless, hopeless and overwhelmed...

just work through everything at your own pace - there's plenty of help around if you need it... there's always hope... and I too can still remember being overwhelmed when I first installed it all those years ago.

 

a useful tip if you're going to try to make changes yourself, is not to make too many changes at once... make one and check it works... don't make a lot of changes and then test later - because if it doesn't work, you won't know which of the steps screwed it up.

 

Or if I use some integration plugin, then maybe it doesn't matter. But it seems like an important decision and I am finding little guiding information.

is your main site a WordPress or Joomla site - there would be integration options for either.

[Steve907]

Thanks for all the feedback. It is comforting to hear. I am just going to have to take it slow, ask for help when i need it and it will all fall into place. I appreciate the advice.