hp197 Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 Hi there, If have a question. I have a 15 day trail license, and downloaded the files from the control panel. All files are encoded If i go for the leased license, will those files be decoded (except for the license and creditcard processors)? Or will they when i buy a owned license? Regards, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
striddy Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 No they will not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hp197 Posted February 2, 2009 Author Share Posted February 2, 2009 Why? I would like to customize it a little bit. Maybe matt can give a little explanation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thernes Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 You can customize the template files, but you won't be able to do anything with the source code files. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hp197 Posted February 2, 2009 Author Share Posted February 2, 2009 Ok, clear to me. It would definitely help me to choose my control panel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
osCommerce Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 I agree, it makes no sense that all the files are encoded but it does not affect the design you can give to your site as it is the template files that control that aspect. The templates are written in smarty so you also have to work within the limitations of that program. SEO is a very big problems as to customize the individual page titles as they code that controls them is encoded (can not figure that one out either). Having said that the software works out of the box and that is better than the other ones on the market and since all the 'big' ones seem to be encoded WHMCS is the one to go with IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DataHosts Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 makes perfect sense they are encoded. If they were not encoded you could basically change a few things, rename it, and sale it. Get the code and build your own product off of it. You can fully customize the look of WHMCS with the tpl files, so, there is no need to have all files decoded. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VicToMeyeZR Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 makes perfect sense they are encoded. If they were not encoded you could basically change a few things, rename it, and sale it. Get the code and build your own product off of it. You can fully customize the look of WHMCS with the tpl files, so, there is no need to have all files decoded. Incorrect... If the core of how the program works is encoded, then it would be very difficult to copy, but still make it so that modules and plugins could be modified to each companies preference. As it is right now files like paypal.php... no reason to be encoded.. So yes, encode the core, but not the addins. But what can you do? We are at the mercy of these companies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaun Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 You can't copy a movie and sell it to someone else. You can't copy windows and sell it to someone else. Whats the different with a web script / Application ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobrastrike Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 It is different with a script/application because you cannot simply go up, and say "Hey I think you stole me code, let me see yours!" With movies it is blatently obvious, as with an operating system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DataHosts Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 paypal.php is encrypted...yes. However, I needed it modified and paid to have it done. You knew it was encrypted prior to purchase yet you still did. Sorry but I have no complaints it is encrypted as it protects WHMCS. All the other billing apps are as well, PHPBB is as well, and I see you run it VicToMeyeZR. I could be wrong as PHPBB as I do not use it, however, I would venture to say it is. Are you on that forum stated it should not be encrypted so you can modify what you wish and utilize like you want. If you think it should be unencrypted then begin a project yourself for billing software, sale it, and see how fast you stay in business. Thief's and Pirates will take you code, rework it, and sale it cheaper than you in a heartbeat. Sorry to get 'upset' but there is no reason for users to complain it is encoded. It works great, does the job, and if I need anything Matt is right there to assist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VicToMeyeZR Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 (edited) paypal.php is encrypted...yes. However, I needed it modified and paid to have it done. You knew it was encrypted prior to purchase yet you still did. Sorry but I have no complaints it is encrypted as it protects WHMCS. All the other billing apps are as well, PHPBB is as well, and I see you run it VicToMeyeZR. I could be wrong as PHPBB as I do not use it, however, I would venture to say it is. Are you on that forum stated it should not be encrypted so you can modify what you wish and utilize like you want. If you think it should be unencrypted then begin a project yourself for billing software, sale it, and see how fast you stay in business. Thief's and Pirates will take you code, rework it, and sale it cheaper than you in a heartbeat. Sorry to get 'upset' but there is no reason for users to complain it is encoded. It works great, does the job, and if I need anything Matt is right there to assist. ummmm... phpBB is NOT encrypted.. You might check your facts prior to posting. AND NO I DID NOT KNOW EVERY SINGLE FILE WAS ENCRYPTED PRIOR TO PURCHASE..... Also a misstate. I have a right to an opinion. No need to get mad about it. Thats why I said the CORE should be encrypted. I have never disagreed with that. ALL I mentioned was the addins.. The files that are NOT proprietary to how whmcs works. Edited February 3, 2009 by VicToMeyeZR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WHMCS CEO Matt Posted February 3, 2009 WHMCS CEO Share Posted February 3, 2009 The primary reason for all of the PHP files being encoded is to enable us to provide the level of support that we do. It would be impossible to support users who customised files and broke things as we simply don't have the time to go through debugging all of "your" custom code. However, the encryption does not prevent customisation by any means, there are: hooks for running code when events occur in WHMCS modules for adding provisioning automation, gateways, registrars, among other things an api for performing tasks in WHMCS remotely and templates for customising the look And there's our custom development services if you really do want some core functionality changes. Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VicToMeyeZR Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 that's why, if they change the file. no support. I will give you that you have done a lot to allow customizing. That isn't the point... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben-iNetFx Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 The primary reason for all of the PHP files being encoded is to enable us to provide the level of support that we do. It would be impossible to support users who customised files and broke things as we simply don't have the time to go through debugging all of "your" custom code. However, the encryption does not prevent customisation by any means, there are: hooks for running code when events occur in WHMCS modules for adding provisioning automation, gateways, registrars, among other things an api for performing tasks in WHMCS remotely and templates for customising the look And there's our custom development services if you really do want some core functionality changes. Matt I don't know about that - vBulletin isn't encoded, neither is eSupport (if you buy the owned version) and their support runs perfectly fine. I agree with the OP, that whilst core should be encoded, it would be nice if the extras were not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bear Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 vBulletin isn't encoded, neither is eSupport (if you buy the owned version) and their support runs perfectly fine. The very first thing both of those companies tell you when contacting for support is that you should upload the stock version of any edited files and remove or disable any addons, in my experience. Having it all encoded simply removes that additional step. As for eSupport, the core files that govern the guts of it are still encoded. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DataHosts Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 (edited) Encode for security and ownership. Edited February 4, 2009 by DataHosts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben-iNetFx Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 The very first thing both of those companies tell you when contacting for support is that you should upload the stock version of any edited files and remove or disable any addons, in my experience. Having it all encoded simply removes that additional step. As for eSupport, the core files that govern the guts of it are still encoded. But it also restricts us too - it's simple to tell if a file has been edited, at which point support could just tell people to revert - the majority will not have done this though. eSupport has enough unencoded to be able to make lots of changes to add numerous features. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaun Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 The thing I don't get is: Every one has brought it, and are still using it - something must be ok. Nothing is going to change, no matter how much everyone winges. So i call for bear. </thread> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VicToMeyeZR Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 The thing I don't get is:Every one has brought it, and are still using it - something must be ok. Nothing is going to change, no matter how much everyone winges. So i call for bear. </thread> We use it because it is the best, no questions.. Can it be better? yes. Can the features be unlocked a little more for us to make it more customizable for our use? yes.. Thats all I am saying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bear Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 But it also restricts us too Well, of course it does. The thing is, as I see it, Matt has decided that the best course for his product is to encode the lot of it and leave only formatting exposed. There are customer facing things you can do that aren't built in, by using the API and learning a bit about Smarty. Pretty darn flexible, as I'm seeing it. The biggest restriction is that you can't tweak the core functions, yet you can tweak what comes out to a pretty large degree. With no one playing with the core code, it's way easier for WHMCS to determine what's gone wrong. I was hesitant about having it fully encoded when I first bought this, but I'm finding there isn't all that much that isn't built in, and what isn't is not too terribly hard to customize. Just me, perhaps. </thread> Not just yet, there's still discussion going on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
osCommerce Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 Easier customization of the breadcrumb trail and page specific meta tags would be nice. Currently it is a headache to code them into the template (unless I am missing something). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freedombi Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 If it were unencoded, we could all provide patches for tweaks, fixes, and enhancements. What a nightmare that would be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bear Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 What a nightmare that would be. Indeed it would. Your version would differ from mine, and from the next and so on. While open source has it's place, it also has a tendency to branch endlessly, and makes updating the core a huge undertaking to make it work with dozens to hundreds of "patches" released by others. Matt and staff would spend far more time just figuring out what's been "patched" and altered than simply fixing what was broken, IMHO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben-iNetFx Posted February 5, 2009 Share Posted February 5, 2009 If it were unencoded, we could all provide patches for tweaks, fixes, and enhancements. What a nightmare that would be. Well quite, but that's not what I was trying to get at I think it would be quite safe to assume that only people who had an idea of what they were doing would start to fiddle around with code, so it's not going to cause the massive support headache that is being mentioned. As a simple example - if bits were unencoded, we would be able to add in our own hook locations, without needing to wait for a new build, or be able to write in deeper integrations for external products which are currently not possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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