Showcase for non-hosting IT service website (WHMCS 7)

[startover909]

This is a showcase of a non-hosting WHMCS custom integration for my small business IT service and consulting company based in Houston, TX.

Main site: https://www.felinepc.com
Client portal: https://secure.felinepc.com

When I started looking into building a client portal to streamline client management, billing and support for my IT service clients, it soon became evident to me that most of the existing products and solutions on the market simply do not meet my standards. The idea of using WHMCS for my project stems from my years of experience as a customer with various hosting providers since the early 2000's. I knew exactly what WHMCS  looked like inside and out. I understood that it would take a lot of work to customize all the templates, hooks and wordings to achieve what I wanted, and that it may inevitably require some wrestling and compromises.

But ultimately I decided to go with WHMCS and I'm overall very satisfied with the final product. It was definitely not a very easy task: it's only when you dig deep into the details that you realize hosting is after all what WHMCS lives and breathes. The references and layouts are everywhere. In the end, about 30 template TPL's were modified (mostly related to the pages after customer logs in), another 20 or so email templates as well. Over 100 lines of language overrides. Lots of hooks to customize the menus/titles etc and lots of CSS  styling overrides (I have to say WHMCS's built-in CSS codes are quite a mess).

If others want to implement WHMCS for non-hosting businesses, please feel free to get in touch with me and I'd be happy to provide some insights.

 

 

 

Edited June 3, 2018 by startover909

[yggdrasil]

Very nice and thank you for sharing. I like to think as hosting as anything that involves hosting a service somewhere regardless of what data it involves. If you think it that way, WHMCS can be used to sell anything that involves a time one product or a recurring product. Of course, its more fit for services, and mostly tech related services but this can be anything from a simple web hosting package to a manage support IT package or a complex cloud metered solution, software or a combination of all. The more flexible and open a product is, the more it can fit a custom business and I think this is what WHMCS should always try to follow as every company, even in the same market is different in the way they sell services or provide products.

From a local IT company, to a global company selling in mass quantities, it can all work with enough customization and integration. I see many companies that don't sell hosting or domains using WHMCS, for example software developers or companies just providing IT support. Most of them are small business and rely on heavy modifications on their installations. This is also why I think WHMCS should increase the time they support versions, as for those customers, it requires far more time and work to integrate everything back on each major upgrade.

Edited August 9, 2018 by yggdrasil

[mfoland]

I wish I could design something like this! Love it!