I recently entered the web hosting business. I thought at first I would roll my own order/entry/customer management system, but it is taking a lot longer than I thought it would.

So maybe I will bite the bullet and buy something.....

I took a look at phpmanager and my first impressions were not all that favorable. How easy is it to modify the order entry screen? I would like to make a number of changes (remove the ICQ field for starters and add drop downs for state, country, etc.)

Does ModernBill support real-time domain name availability? Does anyone know if they offer any type of money back guarantee?

--Bruce

Bruce,
I don't know about PHPmanager, but MB is a top notch program, however you will need a merchant account to use it at this time. In version 4 MB is said to have domain registration capability however I would rethink the notion of registering domains on the fly. Let's say that you get a fraud order and the customer order fhdfhdgfdgfdffsdfsd.com domain for 10 years, you are now stuck with it.

It is best to prescreen all orders, and it is well worth it in the long run. Although a completed automated system in real time would be ideal in thought, in practice it is completely different due to fraud.

-Steven

Hi

I run phpmanager at my site and I am pretty happy with it. I had no problems modifying the script for my needs.

I would also agree with what insiderhosting said. Prescreen your orders, it will save you a few headaches down the road.

Stephen - thanks for the advice. I have a merchant account so that is not a problem.

HostDogs - did it take you awhile to work through when and where to made your mods? For example, is it pretty easy to add a custom header and footer to the page, and remove/change some of the fields on the order entry screen.

I noticed there is like zero documentation on phpmanager. ModernBill seems to be quite a bit more developed in this regard.

--Bruce

Hi,

documentation etc is available in the phpManager members area and forums. Obiously, if you are not a license holder, you do not get access to the members area and forums.

If you choose to purchase phpmanager beware:

Refund policy:
All phpManager script purchases come with a 14 day money back guarantee (subject to a $10 handling charge), optional extras excluded. Upon receipt of refund, the scripts must be deleted from your server/system.

For example if you purchase the full boat: 50.00, the WebHost Manager for two ip's 24.00 and pay for installation 20.00. You will have spent 94.00. phpmanager indicated to me that they would only be responsible for a refund of 30.00.

I purchased just that and sadly had nothing but problems. Very frustrating as it looks like it would have been perfect for my needs...but alas it couldn't be installed.

Originally posted by flashhq
If you choose to purchase phpmanager beware:

Refund policy:
All phpManager script purchases come with a 14 day money back guarantee (subject to a $10 handling charge), optional extras excluded. Upon receipt of refund, the scripts must be deleted from your server/system.

For example if you purchase the full boat: 50.00, the WebHost Manager for two ip's 24.00 and pay for installation 20.00. You will have spent 94.00. phpmanager indicated to me that they would only be responsible for a refund of 30.00.

I purchased just that and sadly had nothing but problems. Very frustrating as it looks like it would have been perfect for my needs...but alas it couldn't be installed.

You need PHP::Mcrypt.. which requires you to install mcrypt and a few other utilities. RTFM :)

Also, you'll have to rebuild PHP.

Good luck with it, it's actually quite nice even though it looks like it was tailored for a different country. Have to customize it to fit your needs.

I'm having a fun time with phpmanager, I've redone the templates and coded them directly into my site design.

In fact once I'm done with a custom credit card page I'm adding into it, you won't even know it's phpmanager.

I spent $20 on my copy and considering that most of the work was done already, that $20 saved me a lot of time than if I was to code it from scrach.

When they came out with the version 1.0 about 10 months ago, I purchased it and got a free install and later got a free upgrade to version 1.1 which I did the installation/upgrade myself. I am using the version 1.1 so far without any problems and it serves my needs and my clients very well.

:D
Hehe... Thanks locutus for being very patient with me during my teething problems to upgrade and all those numerous emails questions until it was ready to roll-out the lastest version, and I appreciate it very much. Your support and assistance, in my opinion is one of the best and would not hesitate buying any new products/upgrades from you/Taysoft.com.

Regards