Registered User
WHMCS Offline Version
Hi Guys,
Very new to this, just wondering is there an offline version to WHMCS, just I have bought a theme/template from a company and I need to develop/change this with WHMCS Installed to change/edit tpl files. to see the change. is there such a version for this.
Member
Hi Phillip,
If you have already bought a licence from WHMCS you can ask for a dev licence free.
If not, try their 14 days free trail so you can complete this.
If you have already got their free trail and don't have a licence then I can only think you will have to purchase a months licence.
WHMCS Staff
Hi,
There is no totally offline version of WHMCS I'm afraid, it always needs to be installed somewhere with at-least an outgoing connection to the internet so it can contact our licensing server.
@Dominator24: We haven't offered a free trial for some time now
Member
to get a dev licence free you need to have purchased your WHMCS licence direct from WHMCS otherwise it will cost $45Originally Posted by Dominator24
WHMCS no longer give free trials, they now offer a 30 day Money Back Guarantee
EDIT: John you beat me too it.
Member
It should have a normal html template, whats all the tpl files are anyway with the exception of a few smarty tags and conditionals.
After you have made your html template look right you can then move it over to your website.
I still never did understand the need for a seperate license for "dev work" when its just a simple template edit. duplicate the template, use ?systpl=newtemplatename or carttpl=newcarttemplatename depending on where you are woring on templates.
Now, for actual module work etc etc then yes a seperate license and install is a must, you can easily bring down the whole system with a badly created module.
Member
true i use dreamweaver to carry out any changes to the .tpl files and then check before publishing
True, i have had a couple of mods that caused issues and would have caused problems on my production install if i had not tested on as dev install. Also the recent patch the first edition did not work, but as i tested this on my dev install it did not effect main site/orders.
Member
Local dev is a very common workflow, I'm setting up version control for one of my sites running WHMCS now and hoping that we dont run into any trouble with licenses. Particularly, we use Git version control, make changes locally, push to a development server, verify everything works on the dev server and then push to the master live production server.
Gone are the days of firing up FTP and editing live files :yikes!:
I'm sensing trouble but we shall see...
Member
The problem I have with this method is that if I'm making multiple style changes to a template I like to be able to see those changes with little effort so that I can see what else needs to be done. If I'm doing local dev with version control I dont want to have to keep making a commit and pushing to the server just so I can see what something looks like.
Although, if I'm not mistaken, isn't the client area able to be seen with an invalid license? You just cant login to admin.
Member
Yes the admin area gets locked out if your license is invalid, the client area stays active with no disruption, however I am a little hazy on the specifics of this for off server running.
What i mean is, this, if i had a local installation, could i even get the local client area to work with an invalid license, the IP is different to my license, and there would be no domain, so would it work at all.
Its possible that the client area only stays active when you have a local key that matches your server info, at the very least the domain/host name.
An IP can change in about 10 seconds if you so chose to do it so I don't think IP change would completely lock out the whole system, although this is all speculation I don't know for sure how it work I just know if details change, (path to installation) after the license is issues then you need to reissue it.
Member
Totally agree, that's why I use the likes of Filezilla, if you open the file for editing from the local file tree FileZilla then tracks the file for changes, as soon as you hit save on the file then Filezilla asks you if you want it uploading, (I thought it needed to be auto-magic.. but it doesn't, its no great pain just an extra few hundred clicks on a heavy day lol)
The files of a replica template are live yes, but not in the sense that your clients will ever know they are there, for a start i never name the new template anything that could even be guessed at.
I don't know its just the way i have always done templates work. more complex work PHP stuff, I have a box on my local network, this is still a case of ftp, but its so fast at transferring the file i might as well be on the box itself.
Member
A dev licence must be installed on the same domain as your main licence
Member
Or it can be installed on a local server with no external access.
Cheers, Phil
Registered User
Hi Guys,
Thank you for all your replies, I have learnt some useful tips etc.
Again a newbie question here, I use notepad++ to edit the tpl files but how do I see that the changes are made because I no WHMCS is recommended highly which is why I would like to use it. Do I have to pay for the license to see the changes on the internet is there any other program I can use like dreamweaver has the coding / design view but when I choose the design view all I get is the code on the design view.
Just say if It takes months before my website goes live which it will due to the massive development I am doing to this theme, I don't really want to be paying out for a system I wont be using or even having clients setup with this.
Regards,
Phill
Member
Well thats really simple, buy one time licensing, its a gamble, and you could lose your money long term if your new business doesnt work out. but all up-starts face the very same prospect, but in all honesty, i would say for your dev work, get the monthly license. it costs less and assuming your not going to take forever developing it will be an economic start point while you have no income from it.
Now, if you can afford the risk of losing the value of the one time license fee. Then get that right off the bat, that way it doesnt matter how long you take. its paid for and costing you nothing else. once your company is doing well, you just purchase your addons as needed.
Member
you would be in the same boat with CE, Hostbill and all the others as you wont get a FREE licence to develop your site unless you already have a paid licence.
If your site has static pages thern just a backend integrated WHMCS, then you can easily develop your website without adding the final order links etc., then when your site is ready then you can order WHMCS and then just add the order links etc and integrate this into your site.
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