Hosting (FQ reseller) management software?

[DogAndPony]

Originally Posted by squillo

Heh, one of my favorite reseller tools is Thought Nozzle's FQ Package Planner.

Ah! Thanks... Didn't know if anyone still udes it. I suppose I should slap some Google Analytics code on it.

And crunchy Cheetos they were! Thanks!

[DogAndPony]

Originally Posted by Matt

I think this thread should be moved to Resellers/ Affiliates section. -Matt

I think you may be right...

[Evoir]

I use the package planner, too!

[DogAndPony]

Aaaaaalllllll-rightythen!

Thanks again for all the responses (and thanks to those of you using the long-neglected but apparently still-operational Package Planner!).

I have been looking at all of this off and on for the last few months and have decided to take an interim step, semi-automating some of the billing and account-creation and configuration for my clients who do not have full access.

Matt-- Looks like I'm probably going to go with FreshBooks, although I'm still considering Harvest. They both have decent APIs and the recurring billing thing would be a godsend. Thanks for the recommendation... you may have helped seal the deal.

As for the rest of the automation, unless FQ has decided to finally roll out that CNC API for Christmas of 2009, I guess I'm going to have to roll a few of my own kludgey solutions. As a programmer, I'm a great designer,--so if anyone has any code they're willing to part with--whether releasing it as open-source or putting a price tag on it--let me know.

Originally Posted by Jeff

I think this is a good idea.

Sorry I didn't respond directly before... I must have been napping!

This [automatic account disabling] would have to be configurable by the reseller. I know with seasonal businesses here I give them the better part of the year on a case by case basis.

Yeah, I know what you mean. I have a few clients who have needed that flexibility, and I offer it gladly. It's only come back to bite me once, so maybe I've been lucky, or I just have good instincts when it comes to new clients.

The other issue is branding. As a designer, branding and the look of the interface is extremely important to me, and the unbranded CNC--unless it's been made skinnable since last I looked--just isn't right for me. To have to do some sort of gut-and-glam with the info in the CNC sounds hellishly complex, tricky and unreliable--especially if there are changes in the CNC pages that aren't announced well in advance.

If no one can provide code, I might be willing to wade into it for myself, but I could see it taking a time commitment I can't give it within the timeframe I'm looking at. I'd like to complete something of a hosting-related site with client login, billing dashboard, and at least an order form for add-ons, by January 1st.

So what do you say, Arthur? Have something like an API in your red bag for us?

If you do, I might hold off on my hacks until after the holiday goodies are passed out.

[Arthur]

Originally Posted by DogAndPony

So what do you say, Arthur? Have something like an API in your red bag for us?

If you do, I might hold off on my hacks until after the holiday goodies are passed out.

Can't say too much about it yet, but yes, there will be holiday goodies...

-Arthur

[DogAndPony]

Originally Posted by Arthur

Can't say too much about it yet, but yes, there will be holiday goodies...

Ooh! I just got goose bumps!

Thanks for the tease!

[Matt]

Bob, I have a fairly extensive codebase, some of which is running publicly at www.webspacecreations.com (integration with FreshBooks is something else we're working on behind the scenes). I also have a significant amount of legacy FQ CNC code. We are not investing further resources in building FQ-specific code, so I'm not sure how useful this would be to you. Feel free to PM me if you're truly interested. I'm not holding my breath, but I am interested to see what FQ has in store for the holiday season.

[hobbes]

I'm not holding my breath, but I am interested to see what FQ has in store for the holiday season.

From what I have been able to gather, there is a new TweetBob^TM service. You submit your request to the TweetBob API, and within a random but short amount of time your request is fulfilled. So, say you need a new email alias setup, you would

% tweetBob email alias create jackolantern@example.com forward [to] ghoul@example.com

Occasionally, fulfillment of the TweetBob service will take place on the Canadian servers, in which case, you must follow all requests with an eh:

% tweetBob mysql create [db] xexample-trickortreat eh

Responses will take the form of:

200 OK
201 NOT OK
202 Bob OUT TO LUNCH
203 NO HABLO INGLES
404 ICK, A SPIDER

[DogAndPony]

Matt-- You're a mensch! I may PM you soon.

Hobbes-- You're a madman!

[squillo]

% tweetBob sendmoney $20 xsquillo eh

(worth a try)