Support Desktop Application

[paulb]

Hi Matt

Would it be possible to create support desktop application such as the kayako one that allows you to answer support tickets from the desktop? & maybe to process orders etc etc.

Just a thought :?:

[MACscr]

yes it is possible. good luck on that. =P

All you need is access to the database, which you do, so it really is possible to get one made.

I talked to matt about his already and he said its on his todo list, but its not coming any time soon. Maybe 6-12 months down the road i think.

[Matt]

Yep, definately possible and something I'm very interested in doing. I'm hoping to get a basic application out in the next few months.

Matt

[Steve]

What's wrong with just using the WHMCS web interface? A desktop application won't be that much quicker, and it will just add an extra program that Matt will have to spend time updating and supporting.

[MACscr]

ROFL, stop getting so dang defensive of Matt people, its getting rediculous. Just because you dont want it, doesnt mean its not a good idea. Not all of us are running little web hosts with one or two servers. A desktop app is definately useful.

[Steve]

Not all of us are running little web hosts with one or two servers.
Neither am I. The only way this would work is if it was coded in Java, so that it will compile under both Windows, Linux and FreeBSD. I and other people don't always have access to Windows, infact I am infront of a linux desktop 95% of the time. I don't see how it will be more efficient to use a desktop application, once your web browser has downloaded all of the images it should cache them. It will at most be a second faster.

[MACscr]

because a desktop client you wouldnt have to refresh everytime you wanted to see an update.

Java clients suck. They are memory hogs and unstable.

[xxkylexx]

I don't see what's so hard about refreshing every now and then?

[MACscr]

I don't see what's so hard about refreshing every now and then?

because its not instant or automated. Im not going to argue this with you all. Its a standard wanted feature of billing/support scripts. Its even part of the reason why MB has its API now.

Kayako is the #1 support script because they dont know what products the market wants.

[Steve]

You don't even need to refresh? If you use an email client that automatically downloads emails and notifies you when they are downloaded (eg, Thunderbird) then you will get emails on new support tickets, support ticket replies, orders, etc so you don't even need to keep refreshing. This is what I do and it works very well. There is no need for a desktop application at all.

:wink:

[paulb]

I work at the datacenter most days + our other techs, having 1000 colo clients + shared/reseller is hard to manage having to keep logging into WHMCS. Having a desktop app would save us allot of time. As we mainly work from the desktop it would be faster, easier to manage. Smaller host may not use it but for larger hosts it would help allot, even if its a paid addon it would surely get my vote.

[active8]

Could you make this a JAVA App?? so then its cross platform for windows/mac/linux users :)

Thanks

[mstorman]

A poll should have been added to this thread, as should all of the other posts that lack one.

[trine]

I think this is a great idea too, since we have many customers,
but I'd rather see the following happen, first:

1. Allowing multiple domains in the cart
2. Allow bulk registrations and transfers
3. Allow the client to set domain renewal preferences
4. Allow the client to auto-upgrade themselves
5. Allow the system to use unlimited address and contact information which could be used for billing, account records, and domain contacts etc.
6. Add group pricing to the system, so users assigned to user groups could benefit from special pricing
7. Add an API which is flexible and allows the system to use any other API to trigger account creation, suspension, deletion, modification, and upon creation and modification allow it to capture admin-defined details, and just store them in some serialized array which could be used as needed.

I am going to cross-post this, since this is a bit off-topic, but it's what I'd personally rather see happen before any winapps.

vote here: http://www.whmcs.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=3758

[s1rk3ls]

What I've done is made a simple frames page that loads WHMCS in the majority of the screen, with a small bar across the bottom displaying a separate page that draws out certain things from the database (such as active tickets, pending orders, etc.) and if they exist, it turns red and plays a short sound file to get my attention. This page auto-refreshes so I can go off in other windows to do whatever I want and come back to it when I hear the alert sound play.. it's simple but effective for me. If anyone want it I can make it available.

Since it's web-based it should be usable on all platforms :)

[JohnLB]

Hi
Could you please make this available. I would be interested in using it as part of WHMCs support team. Thanks
If you need to then you can PM me! :-)

[s1rk3ls]

I removed some of my more personal modifications and made it as simple as possible - you can easily modify it to change or add to it... the file can be downloaded at:

http://www.ssahost.com/whmcsapp.tar.gz

Install instructions:

Put the included "app" folder under your whmcs/admin directory, password protect it via .htaccess and go to yourdomain.com/whmcs/admin/app to access your WHMCS admin page with the status bar.

Modifications:

change status.inc.php to pull additional data or change refresh rate
change appbottom.php to display any additional data

This is just something I threw together to quickly fulfill a desire I had so feel free to correct my code, clean it up, make it better, or whatever and make it available for others. :)

It will reload automatically, but if it gets any errors such as the server is unreachable it will display an error page and stop refreshing.

[JohnLB]

Hi
Can you please rezip this package! When i download using IE7 or FF I am getting an error message when I unzip it.
Also, could you let us know what you zipped it with
Thanks
John

[s1rk3ls]

This is a tar.gz file - I used the linux gzip program to compress it.

I tested uncompressing it and all the files are intact. I downloaded it to my PC with FF and opened with winzip, it uncompressed the tar file and opened it and I was able to extract the files just fine. Perhaps you have an older version of winzip, or you are using the built-in "compressed folders" utility in Windows which I don't think can handle tar files.

I re-compressed it using windows, so you should be able to open it correctly now:

http://www.ssahost.com/whmcsapp.zip

Thanks,

[ppc]

It says the file cannot be found.

[s1rk3ls]

Sorry, I had it in the wrong directory - try again :)

[ppc]

Great Thanks

Maybe you should post this in the user contributions forum so people can find it.

[stealthdevil]

An APP would be useful!

I'm planning on writing one in Java in the summer for our own WHMCS installation. It isn't difficult to make at all and would only take a couple of days to make..