We will be releasing a new control panel software for Linux-based servers in probably Q1 or Q2 of 2002, which will include:

Main Features:
- Completely Web-Based Administration
- Full Reseller System (multiple levels of resellers)
- Server Manager (admin panel)
- Single Domain Manager (client panel)
- Integrated Instant Signup Script
- Integrated Billing System
- Integrated Support System

There will be close to 200% as many end-user features as CPanel or Plesk currently offers, including some innovative features which won't be revealed yet ;) If there are any features which you've never seen in a control panel software, please let me know. You can also send it to marc@mchost.com if you don't wish to publicly post it here.

There will be a stable release once testing is completed, so there will be no daily upgrades which may break other features, but patches which can be downloaded in order to upgrade the system - if there is something to be upgraded.

Pricing information is not available yet, but i'd like to know how many of you prefer a one time fee vs. monthly fee.

Oh yes, and its called virtualCP (http://www.virtualcp.com/).

I don't mind a monthly fee as long as it's reasonable, but it really depends on the overall price. Best of luck with the CP, it will be interesting to see the full list of features once it's completed.

Cool :D
I never knew this was in the works.

I wouldn't mind to see a better alternative to CPanel.

As long as it will be secure, have all neat features, and won't be super buggy -> you have got a customer. :D

Be sure to let us know when it's completed. ;)

Good luck with the project, Marc.

I forgot to mention a few important features.

More Features:
- CPanel Converter
- Plesk Converter
- Runs on Standard Ports (ie. not :8443, :2082, etc.)

:)

Personally, I prefer the USER or CPU license schemes. Either one or the other almost always fits nicely into budget planning.

If you were to charge (rhetorically of course) $1000.00 per CPU or $5.00 per USER (transferrable) then you allow smaller reseller types and new hosters to get in, while giving the bigger guys a slightly better deal for their commitment. If on top of that you sell a support / maintenance contract for 10-20% per annum, nobody gets hurt.

Good luck! Can't wait to see it.

Scott

Sounds very good Marc. Can I ask what language it will be written in and if it uses any database (i.e. MySQL)?

I really like CPanel so does my clients but if this is better then CPanel I wouldn't mind to check it out :P.

Originally posted by Kiwi
We will be releasing a new control panel software for Linux-based servers in probably Q1 or Q2 of 2002, which will include:

[b]Main Features:
- Completely Web-Based Administration
- Full Reseller System (multiple levels of resellers)
- Server Manager (admin panel)
- Single Domain Manager (client panel)
- Integrated Instant Signup Script
- Integrated Billing System
- Integrated Support System

Pricing information is not available yet, but i'd like to know how many of you prefer a one time fee vs. monthly fee.


A CPanel with integrated Billing and Support... is it what the hosting industry has been awaiting for?

In regards payment - you could establish more companies using the CP if on a one-time charge

But individiuals or colo customers on a monthly basis who may be looking and have the flexibility to upgrade their servers to the new CP.

Chad

Damn, we'll be spoilt for choice with HostGUI and virtualCP being released :)

With regards the the price, why not offer both one-time and monthly fees, giving users the option to pay either way? You'd probably reach a larger market doing this...

Good luck,

Matt

Originally posted by voxtreme-matt
Damn, we'll be spoilt for choice with HostGUI and virtualCP being released :)

With regards the the price, why not offer both one-time and monthly fees, giving users the option to pay either way? You'd probably reach a larger market doing this...

Good luck,

Matt

So many options, not enough time to evaluate...

HostGUI is a new Control Panel that JaguarPC is working on.

The link is http://www.hostgui.com/

Michael

so what lanauge is virtualCP coded on?

hmm, and does anyone know what language HostGui is based on?

Originally posted by alpha
so what lanauge is virtualCP coded on?

hmm, and does anyone know what language HostGui is based on?

PHP and C :)

ooooooh PHP ;) well, all i can say is that im encouraged since marc has a successful hosting company and i would expect him to know what every hosts really needs and wants

good luck to ya, hopefully, you'll shock us all with a feature-rich control panel

We don't have an exact license price set yet, but licenses for both current and new MCHost clients will be free. :)

Uhh...what's with that guy? :D

Anyway...I think it would be better as a one-time fee..OR open source? :D

Originally posted by mkaufman
...OR open source? :D
I'm sorry but i think it will be closed source. :D But hey, probably an open source installer. ;) :D

Maybe make it $99 monthly or something then let people resell it if you wanted or so. Not a bad idea :)

That sounds very interesting and looks promosing Kiwi! Keep up the good work.

could you tell us more about the billing support?

and also, will existing users of mchost be upgraded automatically, or can they stay with whm combo if they prefer?

I like the dude on your site, (http://virtualcp.com)
is that you Kiwi??? :nuts:

Originally posted by 311
I like the dude on your site, (http://virtualcp.com)
is that you Kiwi??? :nuts:

Hehe, at first look it looks as if he has breasts :D

LOL :liplick:
:D :D

Kiwi

As to your question on one time versus monthly, I strongly advise to offer both. Otherwise you will be cutting your customer potential down by those who will only consider one or the other.

Originally posted by 311
I like the dude on your site, (http://virtualcp.com)
is that you Kiwi??? :nuts:

No, thats not me! :D I have more hair (no, not that long either) and i think i look a little nicer. :D Anyways!

Originally posted by thebyp2
could you tell us more about the billing support?

and also, will existing users of mchost be upgraded automatically, or can they stay with whm combo if they prefer?

As for the billing support, it will include payment gateways for the instant set-up script. Everything will be integrated, so that both server owner and resellers may use it. Existing users will be upgraded to virtualCP as it will have the same features as WHM/CPanel, plus many additional features. The code is also a lot cleaner and faster ...there is no reason not to upgrade ;)

just while i got your attention...

"Full Reseller System (multiple levels of resellers) "

What does that mean? could we as resellers have resellers?

Originally posted by thebyp2
just while i got your attention...

"Full Reseller System (multiple levels of resellers) "

What does that mean? could we as resellers have resellers?
Yes :)

very very very cool.

:D

How close are you guys to done? Oh, yeah, and can you add an Alabanza-converter to the list of features?

Regards,

Most administration-level features are completed. Altough i'm not very familiar with the Alabanza system, i will definately look into it ;)

Originally posted by Kiwi
If there are any features which you've never seen in a control panel software, please let me know.
Pricing information is not available yet, but i'd like to know how many of you prefer a one time fee vs. monthly fee.




Open Data Access, e.g XML export and import of data.. for adding bulk accounts.. or getting stats..

One time fee. a little cheaper than Plesk. Maybe even some good price breaks for multiple licensing.

a reseller reselling reseller accounts :eek: can't see the profit in
that.

Marc

Do we have any screenshots of VirtualCP?

Mac

screenshots, screenshots, screenshots.. :)

Would be nice to see we are also looking very hard at HostGUI. Will there be a tool to go from CPanel to this CP? As HostGUI will have this and will be kind of needed as we want to get away from CPanel and the bugs..

We will make available screenshots and an online demo as soon as we have a stable version :) I know that many people want to see screenshots, but believe me ...even though the frontend of a control panel looks great, it doesn't tell you anything about the backend code. We want to focus on completing the backend code first and once it is released you can even create your own themes and completely skin the admin and end-user control panel! As mentioned in an earlier post, there will be a CPanel and Plesk converter as well as a lot more features than CPanel currently offers ;)

We're not trying to win a race with the HostGUI developers and it might take us longer than them to complete it, but we want to build the most complete and stable webhosting solution available which will include server management, account management, billing and support systems.

muah I love mchost :)

I know its not a race.. I am in no hurry.. Just like to check out the cool new CP's. Plus don't want to buy some thing else then the next day some thing really cool comes out.. LOL

I hate when i do that.. ;)

Im sure both will be "cool" :)

Originally posted by Jag
Im sure both will be "cool" :)

Every product has its perks. I look forward to seeing both in action.

Regards,

Jeffrey: Check your email ;)

Originally posted by Kiwi
Jeffrey: Check your email ;)

Didn't see anything... Send to jeffrey.kehe@plusweb.com.

Marc,
Could you at least post a feature list so that I can compare with other CPs?

Any differentiation?

Thanks,

Peter

/me begs for screenshots of the frontend then :P

We will make a list of features as well as a forum, feature request box and more information available on http://www.virtualcp.com/ by tonight ;)

Waiting impatiently… ;)

Waiting impatiently…

i can't stand the pressure!!!!

Kiwi,

What I want to know is where do you buy all of your stock photos from? :liplick:

www.tonystone.com

The only reason I am telling you this is so that Marc doesn't waste time answering your question. This will, hopefully, speed up the development of VirtualCP. :D

Still waiting.

Maybe he will get all of that info up tonight.

Originally posted by avara
www.tonystone.com

The only reason I am telling you this is so that Marc doesn't waste time answering your question. This will, hopefully, speed up the development of VirtualCP. :D

CRAZY! :cool:

how much does www.tonystone.com charge per photo, cause I object to having to my credit card in before I can even see the pricing tarriffs.

Did VirtualCP just fade away?

why would you make assumptions so early?:eek:

If it was like a year later and no new info had been posted then I would start to worry... But for now just wait, and wait, and wait, and wait, and wait and wait... You get the picture:D

If it was like a year later and no new info had been posted then I would start to worry... But for now just wait, and wait, and wait, and wait, and wait and wait... You get the picture

fair enough if there are problems getting the stuff up, but he could have let us known. rather than say they would be there at one point.

Promised on the night of the 21st....so, it must still be the night of the 21st....the night of 168 hours.

Hate to say, I have experienced some that felt that long before.

most of my time at work feels like that!:bawling:

Sorry guys, i had the notifications for this thread turned off. We will get the information up as soon as it is ready ...this is why we usually never say we'll have all the features up by tomorrow, screenshots by next week, etc. because if there are delays, its always our fault. We have a large company to manage and several projects going on, so i appreciate your understanding in any delays. :)

Don't mind waiting. Just like to be kept informed. Sorry

Michael

Originally posted by voxtreme-matt
Damn, we'll be spoilt for choice with HostGUI and virtualCP being released :)

With regards the the price, why not offer both one-time and monthly fees, giving users the option to pay either way? You'd probably reach a larger market doing this...

Good luck,

Matt

The choice can be a great think - however, without any information on virutalCP where HostGUI at least has some information, screenshots, etc avaialble for "us" to see... HostGUI may be closing in on the market share for a new control panel with new integrated functionality.

News:
The official website ( http://www.virtualcp.com ) and forums (http://forums.virtualcp.com ) are now up and running. We will be adding more details every day as well as some screenshots and live demo's as soon as possible :)

Woah, beautiful site there Kiwi. Love simplicity.

Oh... CP looks nice too. :D

hey, where did that bald dude go??:D

Hi Marc,
Is Virtual CP skinnable?
if yes how skinnable is it?

Yes, its 100% skinnable and allows you to create your own templates :)

ah marc why did ya give me your site now i have to choose between you and hostgui :stickout

Looking Good!

Regards
Ben

Marc,

Your forum is VERY slow. Why? You may want to get that changed. Also please get us more information on your CP ASAP. HostGUI is heading the way right now. You don't need any sleep! :)

How are you planing on storing user accounts/password? I hope you plan on using LDAP to manage this!!

The forum is slow for you? Slow as in number of posts or slow as in server speed? Its hosted on a dedicated machine at NAC.net :) In time, we will get all the information up. As mentioned earlier, we don't plan on doing a race with HostGUI or another control panel developer, but we're developing a stable hosting, billing and support platform.

Marc,

Yes the forum is slow in loading. It's also slow in opening the posts etc. The main site virtualcp.com is fine though. And this is the only site that is slow for me so it's not my connection. I've done it in two different places. I just wanted to give you a heads up.

What about my LDAP question.

Update
A little preview is now available at:

http://forums.virtualcp.com/showthread.php?threadid=3395

;)

Looking nice... hows the release or even the beta time frame looking?

EXIM for email? I don't like exim. It is problematic. Why did you guys choose exim?

The server we are running it on for beta testing right now is running EXIM, but we will release different versions for clients that prefer EXIM or qmail. We will also have more information as on the website by tonight :)

Originally posted by Kiwi
We will also have more information as on the website by tonight :)

sweet:D

Update:
As we get closer to finishing the VirtualCP beta version, we have uploaded a new design at http://www.virtualcp.com/ . Note that the estimated release date has been moved to Q2 2002 (most probably beginning), since we will be going through intensive beta testing before releasing it.

We have also made available some licensing information. More screenshots as well as more detailed information will be available soon. :)

so basically its still vaporware is what your saying

Its not vaporware, you could pretty much call it software by now. Overall, it is about 65% done and we're working full-time on it 7 days a week. A static demo of the SAC is available at http://www.virtualcp.com/preview/ (administration level). Live demo's with most features activated will be available soon. If you wish, i'll add you to the beta testers :)

What is vaporware?
Does it means non-working prototype?

Originally posted by AlaskanWolf
so basically its still vaporware is what your saying

Based on m-w.com -
vaporware:
a new computer-related product that has been widely advertised but is not yet available

Vaporware is very important. Without it no would have known about HostGUI. Its the same for VirtualCP and many others.

I like vaporware ;) .

Originally posted by Kiwi
Its not vaporware, you could pretty much call it software by now. Overall, it is about 65% done and we're working full-time on it 7 days a week. A static demo of the SAC is available at http://www.virtualcp.com/preview/ (administration level). Live demo's with most features activated will be available soon. If you wish, i'll add you to the beta testers :)

Amazing It's now 4 months after this post, and nothing new on development. Gotta love it ..

Jason, who was doing at least part (some say a big part) of the work on virtualCP is no longer with MCHost.

Interestingly, he is now working on another vaporware CP, hostgui, as announced recently in their forums.

Neither of these control panels have shown any indication that they're even close to being ready to release, despite the claims of both companies involved that they're 'almost done'.

I will hate to be one of those "can't even wait for beta release before buying a software" people!!! :) Funny enough they took enough orders to stop taking them and still no software. What a joke.

It is still being developed. We're not trying to do a race with HostGUI or another current control panel project, but build a stable hosting platform. Thats why we are not taking any pre-orders.

You may want to modify this, unless you'll have it ready in another 2 weeks...

Originally posted by Kiwi
estimated release date has been moved to Q2 2002 (most probably beginning)

Originally posted by Kiwi
It is still being developed. We're not trying to do a race with HostGUI or another current control panel project, but build a stable hosting platform. Thats why we are not taking any pre-orders.

But why aren't you keeping potential clients up to date on development better? It's been right at a month since your last post about anything to do with it on http://forums.virtualcp.com

3 Days to go. I don't think it's going to make it out this Quarter after all. ANd I notice the Forums are gone now too. Pitty.

Here it is now, Q3, nothing new on VirtualCP, it's dead..

Estimated VirtualCP Release Date: Q2 2002

Ever missed an estimated date before?

Originally posted by Grizzie


Ever missed an estimated date before?

Yeah, but I also update interested parties when that happens.

Originally posted by Kiwi
We're not trying to do a race with HostGUI or another current control panel project, but build a stable hosting platform.

:)

:eek:

Originally posted by Kiwi


:)

So, what exactly does that have to do with updating your danged web site Marc. You're sounding and acting more and more like a Vorlon every day.

Q4 2002 draws to a close in 2 weeks still nothing new on the VaporwareCP site. Pitty.

There used to be a virtualcp 0.2 build on port 81 of mchost.com which has since been removed. No one could login to it anyways without a username and password.

If you consider that they are at 0.2 after a years time, you could do the math and figure out that there will be 4 more years before we get to that magic 1.0 build.

just like hostgui.... VAPORWARE

The VirtualCP website still says a 2002 release. Should be available in less than two weeks!

Originally posted by parawing742
The VirtualCP website still says a 2002 release. Should be available in less than two weeks!

When you consider Marc has been moving servers out of the burst.net datacenter in his words, "as soon as possible", and "highest priority" since April (8+ months now), you can be sure this will be yet another in a long list of promises that never materialize.

Kind of like the hostgui.com and nocsoft.net ( that is not even up any more.) .. :(

Originally posted by cgrey


When you consider Marc has been moving servers out of the burst.net datacenter in his words, "as soon as possible", and "highest priority" since April (8+ months now), you can be sure this will be yet another in a long list of promises that never materialize.

I am very aware of this because I am an MCHost customer still in the BurstNET datacenter waiting for my rescue. Of course, with all the downtime they have had at DV2 in the last week, I'm not sure I want to be their either! See MCHost Uptime Graph (http://www.mchost.com/uptime/)

Originally posted by Vortech
Kind of like the hostgui.com and nocsoft.net ( that is not even up any more.) .. :(

Actually, Jag is claiming that HostGUI WILL be available before 2003. I'll believe it when I see it.

Originally posted by parawing742
I am very aware of this because I am an MCHost customer still in the BurstNET datacenter waiting for my rescue.

Good Lord, that move is still not done?

The VirtualCP website has finally been taken offline; Marc has removed mention of it from his sig; any new posts about VirtualCP on the MCHost forums are deleted...

Move on folks, this control panel will never be finished...

that sucks

Now if only Marc will come out and admit to it. :)

From another thread:
Originally posted by Kiwi
I received a call from someone at HostCharge over a week ago that tried to explain me that they've had problems with their bank etc. :rolleyes: and that it would be sent out the next Monday. Well, that Monday was a week ago and this Monday there still isn't anything on my bank account.

There is no need on discussing this any further, so i have no choice but to give our lawyers the go ahead.

Hello kettle, this is pot.

I'm surprised you're upset by this, Marc. After all, nobody is more guilty of missed deadlines and empty promises than you are.

Do we need to make a list of all the 'tomorrows', 'next weeks' and 'as soon as possibles' that you never came through with?

You'll have your money soon:)
(sounds pretty empty when it happens to you, doesn't it?)

double-posted..