Parallels Plesk Billing 6.0 Administrator Guide Administrator’s Admin

User Manual: parallels Plesk Billing - 6.0 - Administrator’s Guide Free User Guide for Parallels Plesk Software, Manual

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Parallels® Plesk Billing
Legal and Copyright Notice
ISBN: N/A
Parallels
660 SW 39th Street
Suite 205
Renton, Washington 98057
USA
Phone: +1 (425) 282 6400
Fax: +1 (425) 282 6444
© Copyright 2009,
Parallels, Inc.
All rights reserved
Distribution of this work or derivative of this work in any form is prohibited unless prior
written permission is obtained from the copyright holder.
Product and service names mentioned herein are the trademarks of their respective owners.
Contents
Preface 8
About This Product ........................................................................................................................ 9
Typographical Conventions ......................................................................................................... 10
Feedback ..................................................................................................................................... 11
Parallels Plesk Billing Licensing 12
Upgrading Free Version of Parallels Plesk Billing ....................................................................... 13
Upgrading Current License Key .................................................................................................. 14
Rolling Back to Your Previously Used License Key .................................................................... 15
Getting Started 16
Overview ...................................................................................................................................... 17
Domain Registration .......................................................................................................... 18
Hosting Provisioning .......................................................................................................... 18
Payment Gateways ........................................................................................................... 20
Administrator Interface ...................................................................................................... 21
Client Interface .................................................................................................................. 21
Order Interface .................................................................................................................. 22
Configuration Wizard ................................................................................................................... 23
Domain Registration Settings ............................................................................................ 24
Parallels Plesk Panel IP Settings ...................................................................................... 24
Payment Gateway Settings ............................................................................................... 24
Encryption Settings ........................................................................................................... 25
Tax Settings ....................................................................................................................... 25
Fraud Settings ................................................................................................................... 25
Setting Up Global Account .......................................................................................................... 26
Setting Up Payment Groups ........................................................................................................ 27
Configuring Order Forms ............................................................................................................. 29
Setting Up Control Panels ........................................................................................................... 30
Setting Up Domain Registrar Modules ........................................................................................ 31
Changing Company Settings ....................................................................................................... 32
Setting Up Administrators 33
Viewing Administrators ................................................................................................................ 33
Creating New Administrators ....................................................................................................... 34
Setting Up Administrator Groups ................................................................................................. 34
Editing Administrator Profiles ...................................................................................................... 35
Configuring Administrator Interface ............................................................................................. 36
Using the Dashboard ......................................................................................................... 36
Using Bookmarks .............................................................................................................. 39
Choosing Interface Language ........................................................................................... 40
Choosing Interface Theme ................................................................................................ 40
Viewing System Settings 41
Viewing Module Information ........................................................................................................ 41
Viewing License Information ........................................................................................................ 41
Viewing PHP Information ............................................................................................................. 42
Preface 4
Viewing System Information ........................................................................................................ 42
Viewing Parallels Plesk Billing Version ........................................................................................ 42
Enabling Parallels Plesk Billing Automation 43
Understanding Events ................................................................................................................. 44
ProcessInvoices ................................................................................................................ 45
ProcessPaymentQueue .................................................................................................... 45
ProcessSuspensions ......................................................................................................... 45
ProcessUnsuspensions ..................................................................................................... 45
ProcessUsage ................................................................................................................... 45
ProcessCancellation .......................................................................................................... 45
ProcessExpiredCreditCards .............................................................................................. 45
ProcessDomainSynchronization ....................................................................................... 46
Setting Up System Queue ........................................................................................................... 46
Setting Up the Cron Job .............................................................................................................. 47
Step 1. Copy the Remote Access Hash ............................................................................ 48
Step 2. Check Your Cron User Permissions ..................................................................... 48
Step 3. Set Up Your Crontab to Run runevents.php File .................................................. 49
Managing Cron Job in Linux .............................................................................................. 50
Setting Up IP Queue .................................................................................................................... 51
Setting Up Payment Queue ......................................................................................................... 52
Enabling Auto-Suspend ............................................................................................................... 53
Unsuspend/Auto-Enable ................................................................................................... 53
Configuring Payment Settings 54
Setting Up Encryption .................................................................................................................. 55
Adding Payment Groups ............................................................................................................. 56
Configuring Gateways ................................................................................................................. 56
Setting Up Authorize.net ................................................................................................... 58
Setting Up PayPal ............................................................................................................. 58
Using Virtual Terminals................................................................................................................ 59
Configuring Hosting Settings 61
Adding a Server Group ................................................................................................................ 62
Adding Panels to a Server Group ................................................................................................ 63
Centova Cast ..................................................................................................................... 64
Cortex ................................................................................................................................ 65
cPanel ................................................................................................................................ 66
Cube Panel ........................................................................................................................ 67
DirectAdmin ....................................................................................................................... 68
EMS-Cortex ....................................................................................................................... 69
eNomHost .......................................................................................................................... 69
Parallels Plesk Panel ......................................................................................................... 71
Parallels Pro Control Panel ............................................................................................... 72
Configuring Domain Settings 74
Configuring Registrar Modules .................................................................................................... 74
Adding a TLD ............................................................................................................................... 75
Editing TLDs ................................................................................................................................ 76
Setting Up Domain Sync Count ................................................................................................... 76
Adding ID Protect as an Add-on for Domains ............................................................................. 76
Step 1. Create a Custom Question ID Protect .................................................................. 77
Step 2. Add the ID Protect Option to the Domain Product ................................................ 78
Preface 5
Setting Up Invoices and Billing 79
Understanding Billing Modes ....................................................................................................... 79
Anniversary Billing Mode ................................................................................................... 80
Monthly Billing Mode ......................................................................................................... 81
Setting Up Invoicing ..................................................................................................................... 82
Configuring Taxes ........................................................................................................................ 84
Creating Tax Zones ........................................................................................................... 85
Creating Tax Zone Groups ................................................................................................ 86
Handling VAT Taxation ..................................................................................................... 86
Creating Coupons ........................................................................................................................ 89
Adding Cycle Discounts ............................................................................................................... 90
Setting Up E-mails 92
Understanding E-mail Template Variables .................................................................................. 93
Package Info E-mail .......................................................................................................... 93
Invoice E-mail .................................................................................................................... 94
Credit Card Payment ......................................................................................................... 96
eCheck Payment ............................................................................................................... 97
Bank Draft Payment .......................................................................................................... 98
Secondary Gateway Payment ........................................................................................... 99
Declined Payment ........................................................................................................... 100
Payment Error ................................................................................................................. 101
Domain Renewal Notice .................................................................................................. 102
Domain Transfer - Success E-mail.................................................................................. 103
Domain Transfer - Failure E-mail .................................................................................... 104
Credit Card Expiration Notification E-mail ....................................................................... 105
Package Suspension E-mails .......................................................................................... 106
Package Enable E-mail ................................................................................................... 107
Adding E-mail Template Groups ............................................................................................... 108
Setting Up Your Locales ............................................................................................................ 109
Editing Template Content .......................................................................................................... 110
Reloading E-mail Templates ..................................................................................................... 111
Resending Previously Sent E-mails .......................................................................................... 111
Getting Your System Ready to Send E-mail Messages ............................................................ 112
Converting Version 4 E-mail Templates to Version 5 ................................................................ 113
Customizing E-mail Templates .................................................................................................. 114
Updating the E-mail Header ............................................................................................ 114
Updating the E-mail Layout ............................................................................................. 115
Creating Attributes and Add-ons 116
Setting Up Product Attributes .................................................................................................... 117
Setting Up Order Form Attributes .............................................................................................. 119
Setting Up Generic Attributes .................................................................................................... 121
Creating Control Panel Attributes Add-ons................................................................................ 123
Selling Products 125
Configuring Product Management Settings ............................................................................... 127
Adding Billing Cycles ................................................................................................................. 128
Making a Product Upgradable/Downgradable ........................................................................... 128
Creating General Ledger Entries for a Product ......................................................................... 129
Creating Product Groups ........................................................................................................... 130
Creating Pricing Options ............................................................................................................ 131
Creating Domain Registration Products .................................................................................... 132
Preface 6
Product Details ................................................................................................................ 133
Order Forms .................................................................................................................... 133
Cycles .............................................................................................................................. 134
TLDs ................................................................................................................................ 134
Options ............................................................................................................................ 135
Prices ............................................................................................................................... 135
Miscellaneous Options .................................................................................................... 136
Attributes ......................................................................................................................... 137
Add-ons ........................................................................................................................... 138
Ledger Entries ................................................................................................................. 138
Clone Product .................................................................................................................. 138
Creating Hosting Products ......................................................................................................... 138
Hosting Provisioning in Parallels Plesk Billing ................................................................ 139
Preparing Your System for Creating a Hosting Product ................................................. 140
Setting Up a Hosting Product .......................................................................................... 142
Setting Up SSLFactory .............................................................................................................. 150
Types of SSL Certificates .......................................................................................................... 150
Step 1. Sign Up for an SSLFactory Account ................................................................... 151
Step 2. Submit Your SSLFactory Account Data .............................................................. 151
Step 3. Create Products for Each SSL Certificate Type ................................................. 152
Configuring the products.php Page ........................................................................................... 153
Using Multiple products.php Pages ........................................................................................... 154
Configuring Order Settings 155
Configuring Order Forms ........................................................................................................... 155
Adding a Second or Third Order Form ...................................................................................... 156
Branding Multiple Order Forms ................................................................................................. 157
Customizing Order Forms ......................................................................................................... 158
Setting Up E-mail Banning ........................................................................................................ 159
Using Website Widgets.............................................................................................................. 160
Configuring Website Widgets .......................................................................................... 161
Customizing Website Widgets ......................................................................................... 162
Setting Up FraudGuardian ......................................................................................................... 163
Step 1. Sign Up for a FraudGuardian Account ................................................................ 163
Step 2. Submit Your FraudGuardian Account Data ........................................................ 163
Step 3. Create a Fraud Set ............................................................................................. 164
Step 4. Create a Country Threshold ............................................................................... 165
Step 5. Tie Fraud Sets with Order Forms and Thresholds ............................................. 167
Serving Your Customers 168
Managing Packages .................................................................................................................. 169
Packages Details ............................................................................................................. 170
Changing Package Status ............................................................................................... 170
Suspending/Unsuspending Packages ............................................................................ 172
Adding an Add-on to a Package...................................................................................... 172
Running Package Events ................................................................................................ 173
Canceling Packages ........................................................................................................ 174
Method 1 - Canceling a Package Tied to a Server Group .............................................. 174
Method 2 - Canceling a Package Not Tied to a Server Group ........................................ 174
Activating a Customer Package ...................................................................................... 175
Administering Clients ................................................................................................................. 176
Adding New Clients ......................................................................................................... 177
Managing Existing Clients ............................................................................................... 181
Using Client Groups................................................................................................................... 202
Adding Client Groups ...................................................................................................... 202
Managing Client Group Attributes ................................................................................... 202
Performing Manual Payments ................................................................................................... 203
Preface 7
Generating and Running Payment Queue ...................................................................... 204
Capturing Uncaptured Payments .................................................................................... 205
Issuing Refunds ............................................................................................................... 205
Capturing Authentication-only Payments ........................................................................ 206
Using a Credit Card to Pay an Invoice ............................................................................ 206
Managing Invoices ..................................................................................................................... 206
Generating Invoices Manually ......................................................................................... 208
Viewing Invoices .............................................................................................................. 208
Editing Invoices ............................................................................................................... 210
Removing Invoices .......................................................................................................... 211
Taking Credit Card Payments ......................................................................................... 211
Applying Payments Manually .......................................................................................... 211
Applying Credits .............................................................................................................. 212
Voiding Invoices .............................................................................................................. 212
Printing Invoices .............................................................................................................. 213
Manually Paying an Invoice Using Saved Credit Card Information ................................ 213
Providing Client Support ............................................................................................................ 214
FAQs ............................................................................................................................... 214
News ................................................................................................................................ 215
Internal Helpdesk ............................................................................................................ 217
Setting Up ModModernBill Module ............................................................................................ 218
Migrating Subscriptions from version 4 to version 5 .................................................................. 219
Charging for E-mail Account Usage (SPLA) Ensim Unify ......................................................... 220
Managing Accounting 221
Generating Accounting Reports ................................................................................................ 222
Generating Daily Journals ......................................................................................................... 223
Viewing General Journal ........................................................................................................... 224
Generating General Ledgers ..................................................................................................... 224
Integrating Parallels Plesk Billing with Parallels Plesk Panel 225
Setting Up Global Accounts ....................................................................................................... 226
Setting Up a Single Sign-On Server from Parallels Plesk Billing .................................... 226
Creating a Global Account .............................................................................................. 227
Changing Global Account Password ............................................................................... 227
Disconnecting From Global Account ............................................................................... 227
Repairing SSO Accounts ................................................................................................. 228
Migrating Parallels Plesk Billing from Standalone to Bundled Version ..................................... 228
Appendix A. Parallels Plesk Panel Attributes 230
General Options .............................................................................................................. 230
Limits ............................................................................................................................... 230
Web Limits ....................................................................................................................... 231
E-mail Limits .................................................................................................................... 232
Management and Feature Options.................................................................................. 232
In this chapter:
About This Product ............................................................................................ 9
Typographical Conventions ............................................................................... 10
Feedback .......................................................................................................... 11
CH A P T E R 1
Preface
About This Product
Parallels Plesk Billing is an ordering, billing, and provisioning automation solution aimed at
small-to-mid-level hosting providers. Parallels Plesk Billing comes in two different
distributions: Standalone and Bundle (with Parallels Plesk Panel).
The software package comes bundled with an intuitive order process, complete with
“shopping cart,” allowing your customers to build an order of any size or complexity with a
single checkout (as opposed to the customer having to run through your order form multiple
times if they want multiple items).
Upon checkout, Parallels Plesk Billing supports your customers paying in a variety of ways
including:
credit card (through strong integrations between Parallels Plesk Billing and many
merchant gateways)
third-party gateway (such as PayPal, WorldPay, etc.)
other manual options such as check, bank draft, and simply issuing an invoice.
Each of these payment options can be enabled/disabled and configured according to your
company’s specific business practices.
Parallels Plesk Billing can provision the following:
Any domain name package can be automatically registered through any of the resellers
with which Parallels Plesk Billing integrates (such as eNom, OpenSRS, etc.).
Any hosting package can be automatically provisioned through any of the panels with
which Parallels Plesk Billing integrates (such as Plesk, cPanel etc.).
Any SSL Certificate can be automatically provisioned through the SSLFactory.com API
(provided you have a Parallels SSLFactory reseller account).
Any virtual private server package can be automatically provisioned through Parallels
Virtuozzo Containers.
Customers will receive notification upon completed provisioning, as well as any
passwords, etc. that are related to the customer accessing/using their purchased service.
Each of these provisioning options can be configured in Parallels Plesk Billing administrator
panel according to your company’s specific business practices.
The total time it takes for the customer to be fraud checked, charged, and their services
turned on can be as little as a few minutes. The entire idea here is to save as much time as
possible so that your company’s team can focus on more important things than manually
setting up client accounts.
The automation does not stop once a customer has paid and had their order setup. Parallels
Plesk Billing is fully customizable and can be configured to automatically generate invoices
and collect payment from customers when needed, send out late notices when customers do
not pay on time, and even suspend a customer’s hosting package after they have neglected
to pay long enough.
Parallels Plesk Billing can even renew domains at your registrar as soon as your clients pay
the invoice. Clients can “upgrade” or “downgrade” their services from the client interface and
not only have the changes automatically provisioned out to the panel, but also receive a pro-
rated credit/debit for the difference in monthly price and begin receiving invoices for the
package they upgraded or downgraded to.
Typographical Conventions
Before you start using this guide, it is important to understand the documentation conventions
used in it.
The following kinds of formatting in the text identify special information.
Formatting convention
Type of Information
Example
Special Bold
Items you must select,
such as menu options,
command buttons, or
items in a list.
Go to the System tab.
Titles of chapters,
sections, and
subsections.
Read the Basic
Administration chapter.
Italics
Used to emphasize the
importance of a point, to
introduce a term or to
designate a command
line placeholder, which is
to be replaced with a real
name or value.
The system supports the
so called wildcard
character search.
Monospace
The names of
commands, files,
directories, and domain
names.
The license file is located
in the
http://docs/common/
licenses directory.
Preformatted
On-screen computer
output in your command-
line sessions; source
code in XML, C++, or
other programming
languages.
# ls –al /files
total 14470
Preformatted
Bold
What you type,
contrasted with on-screen
computer output.
# cd /root/rpms/php
CAPITALS
Names of keys on the
keyboard.
SHIFT, CTRL, ALT
KEY+KEY
Key combinations for
which the user must
press and hold down one
key and then press
another.
CTRL+P, ALT+F4
Feedback
If you have found a mistake in this guide, or if you have suggestions or ideas on how to
improve this guide, please send your feedback using the online form at
http://www.parallels.com/en/support/usersdoc/. Please include in your report the guide’s title,
chapter and section titles, and the fragment of text in which you have found an error.
Standalone Parallels Plesk Billing 6.0 introduces licensing through a unified Parallels
key administration system.
You will need a new license key if you are going to:
Purchase or lease Parallels Plesk Billing 6.0
Upgrade the number of accounts. Mind that the number of accounts is restricted to
active and suspended clients, archived and pending accounts are not counted.
To update earlier Parallels Plesk Billing versions to the latest 6.0, contact Parallels
Sales.
Purchasing and Leasing Parallels Plesk Billing
Before installing Parallels Plesk Billing, go to http://www.parallels.com/store/ppb/ to
purchase or lease Parallels Plesk Billing. Parallels Plesk Billing licenses are limited by
number of accounts.
Every new purchase license includes 12 months of Software Update Service (SUS) that
entitles you to version upgrade licenses throughout the life of your SUS. All leased
license keys (monthly) include SUS.
Parallels Plesk Billing keys can be updated to support newer versions of the software
when they are SUS enabled. When the SUS feature of your key is up-to-date, you can
perform the upgrade of the key without extra costs. In case you run out of this service,
please contact our sales representatives in order to renew/reinstate it.
Important: Parallels SUS is a subscription base service that must be renewed in
advance of its expiration date. In case you pay in advance, the cost of the renewal for
purchase keys will be 25% of the retail cost of the key. Otherwise, if you have not
renewed and decide later to upgrade, you will need to pay 65% of the retail cost of the
key to get it reinstated.
In this chapter:
Upgrading Free Version of Parallels Plesk Billing .............................................. 13
Upgrading Current License Key ......................................................................... 14
Rolling Back to Your Previously Used License Key ........................................... 15
CH A P T E R 2
Parallels Plesk Billing Licensing
Parallels Plesk Billing Licensing 13
Upgrading Free Version of Parallels Plesk
Billing
If you installed the Free Version of Parallels Plesk Billing which is limited to 10 client
accounts, you need to purchase a valid license from Parallels to switch to full-featured
Parallels Plesk Billing.
To buy a new license key:
1 Go to Server Settings -> System Info -> License Management and click Order
New Key.
2 The Parallels online store will open in a separate browser window. In
this window, select the items and features you want to include into
your Parallels Plesk Billing license and click Submit. In the next steps,
indicate the currency, number of license keys, provide contact details,
billing address, and payment method, and submit the form. The new
key will be sent to the specified e-mail address.
3 Save the new key to the hard drive on your local machine.
4 Open again the License Management screen in Parallels Plesk Billing and
click Upload Key.
5 Paste the license key as a text. Alternatively, you can enter the path
to the key file that you saved on your local machine or click Browse to
locate it.
6 Click OK to install the new key.
To install your license if you received an activation code from your sales
representative:
1 Go to Server Settings -> System Info -> License Management and click License
Key Activation
2 Input the activation code.
3 Click Submit.
To manually load a license through the file system:
1 Get your license file (xxx.xml or xxx.xml.zip).
2 Put your license file in the root directory of your Parallels Plesk Billing
installation named key.xml or key.xml.zip depending on whether
it is zipped or not.
3 Log in to the administrator area of your Parallels Plesk Billing.
14 Parallels Plesk Billing Licensing
4 After you log in, Parallels Plesk Billing will automatically load the
license and prompt you to delete the license file. After you delete the
file, the license should be loaded properly.
Parallels Plesk Billing license keys have a built-in expiration date, so, to keep your
license active, Parallels Plesk Billing will periodically connect to the licensing server and
retrieve the latest license key. This process is run automatically, and the date the next
upgrade is scheduled for is displayed on the Server Settings -> System Info -> License
Management screen. You can manually prolong your current license by clicking Retrieve
Keys link.
Upgrading Current License Key
If you plan to expand the maximum number of customers allowed by your current
license, you need to upgrade your license key.
To upgrade a license key:
1 Go to the Server Settings -> System Info -> License Management page and
click the Order Key Upgrade button.
2 The Parallels online store will open in a separate browser window.
Select the desired upgrade option and click Submit.
3 In the next step, indicate purchase details and submit the form. You
will be notified by e-mail when your order is processed.
4 After you receive the e-mail notification, return to the License
Management page and click Retrieve Keys to retrieve the ordered license
key. License Manager will retrieve the purchased license key from the
licensing server, automatically upload it to your control panel, and
update your current key.
Parallels Plesk Billing Licensing 15
Rolling Back to Your Previously Used
License Key
When you upload a new license key to Parallels Plesk Billing, the currently installed
license key is saved as a backup. To restore it, use the Roll Back License Key option.
To roll back to your previously used license key:
1 Go to the License Management page and click Roll Back Key.
2 When the page with previously installed license keys appears, choose
the necessary key and click Change Key.
3 The previously installed license key will be restored.
In this chapter:
Overview ........................................................................................................... 17
Configuration Wizard ......................................................................................... 23
Setting Up Global Account ................................................................................ 26
Setting Up Payment Groups .............................................................................. 27
Configuring Order Forms ................................................................................... 29
Setting Up Control Panels ................................................................................. 30
Setting Up Domain Registrar Modules ............................................................... 31
Changing Company Settings ............................................................................. 32
Aliasing Directories ............................................................................................ 32
CH A P T E R 3
Getting Started
Overview
Parallels Plesk Billing is a billing automation system, used primarily in online business, such
as:
Domain registration
Hosting provisioning
Selling SSL certificates
Other non-hosting online stores
Parallels Plesk Billing provides a control panel with different levels of administration (you
have the Administrator interface, Client interface, and the integrated Order form interface) on
top of a solid recurring billing/invoicing engine written in PHP. This engine will take care of
generating and sending out invoices to your customers on whatever cycle that the
good/service your customer has with you renews (monthly, yearly, or even hourly – the
package renewal cycles are configurable down to minutes). Parallels Plesk Billing will
facilitate credit card, PayPal or other payment gateways, appropriately mark invoices as paid
and enforce auto-suspension rules for non-payment.
Parallels Plesk Billing has a modular structure in terms of using third-party resources.
Payment gateways, domain registration services (registrars), hosting control panels are
integrated into Parallels Plesk Billing as modules. To use these resources, you need to
configure them in Parallels Plesk Billing administrator interface.
Later in this guide we will explain the basic Parallels Plesk Billing concepts and give some
insights into the four above-mentioned business models served by Parallels Plesk Billing.
In this section:
Domain Registration .......................................................................................... 18
Hosting Provisioning .......................................................................................... 18
Payment Gateways............................................................................................ 20
Administrator Interface ....................................................................................... 21
Client Interface .................................................................................................. 21
Order Interface .................................................................................................. 22
Domain Registration
Parallels Plesk Billing supports integration with several domain registrars including:
eNom
Register.com
OpenSRS
DistributeIT
Nominet/
Namecheap
EuroDNS
Dotster
ISPProxy
ResellOne
Parallels Plesk Billing supports instant domain availability checking through your order form
regardless of whether you’re using one of the above registrars.
However, if you’re using one of these registrars, your customers can purchase/transfer a
domain name, pay for it, and Parallels Plesk Billing will issue a call automatically to that
registrar’s API to purchase/transfer the domain name and place it under that client’s account
in your Parallels Plesk Billing for management (setting name servers, hosting records, etc.).
You can configure Parallels Plesk Billing to sell one, some, or all of the TLDs available
through a particular registrar and charge your customers whatever price you want for their
domain registration. Your account with your registrar will be charged whatever your standard
reseller rate is for that given domain TLD. One of the clear benefits of this is that you can (for
example) process “.com” sales through a certain registrar and “.ca” sales through another
registrar, allowing you to use multiple registrars to make sure you’re being charged the lowest
possible price per TLD for the domains that you resell.
Hosting Provisioning
Parallels Plesk Billing supports integration with several hosting control panels including:
cPanel
cPanel (Reseller)
DirectAdmin
eNom Exchange
eNom Hosting
EnsimUnify
FreeRadius
Virtuozzo
Hostopia
Interworx
Parallels Helm
Parallels Pro Control Panel (former Ensim Pro)
Parallels H-Sphere
Parallels Plesk Panel for Windows
Parallels Plesk Panel for Linux
Parallels Plesk Expand
and Parallels Plesk Billing itself (for License Reselling)
Note: Parallels Plesk Billing 6 is fully integrated with Parallels Plesk Panel 9.
When you create a product in Parallels Plesk Billing, it can be configured to provision one (or
more, simultaneously) of the above hosting control panels. Customers purchasing a product
of yours that is connected with one of the above panels can have their service online and
login details e-mailed to them within minutes of paying.
In Parallels Plesk Billing, you create pools of servers of the same type, called server groups.
For example, you could have a server group of seven Plesk for Linux machines your
company hosts customers on. Your Plesk hosting product(s) would be associated with this
server group, and anyone purchasing one would be provisioned onto the Plesk machine in
that group which has the fewest accounts on it (for the purposes of pseudo-load-balancing).
After the purchase, most of the above panels support further automation as well. Your
customer could upgrade or downgrade their base package, associate necessary addons, or
cancel their package. Parallels Plesk Billing will collect payment and issue the appropriate
API calls to the machine(s) on which their product is provisioned to take care of all of their
needs without your intervention needed.
Payment Gateways
Parallels Plesk Billing supports integration with several payment gateways including:
Primary Gateways
Authorize.net
BluePay
Echo, Inc.
eWay
InternetSecure
LinkPoint
Moneris
PayFlowPro
ProTX
PSiGate
Quantum
Velocity Pay
Third-Party Gateways
PayPal
WorldPay
Also, some payment gateways are supported but unstable. They are marked as Testing:
Primary Gateways
CyoGate
EchoInc
eProgressingNetwork
MerchantCommerce
MerchantPartners
PagoPorInternet
Planet Payment
QuickCommerce
RTware
SagePayments
SecurePay AU
SecurePay US
Third-Party Gateways
Credit Card - 2CO
Credit Card - 2CO Recurring
Most of the supported payment modules allow for charge, pre-auth, finalize, void, and refund
abilities through Parallels Plesk Billing.
Parallels Plesk Billing’s payment gateway system, like the other two systems described
above, is modular. This allows you to choose one or more payment gateways through which
to process customer payments. Thus, you can (for example) allow your customers to choose
between paying by credit card (and run those charges through your BluePay account) or
paying by PayPal.
Taking this a step further, you can even utilize multiple gateway modules to allow for
collecting payment in multiple currencies. This can be very useful for customers that (for
example) prefer to offer services in both United States and Canadian Dollars to attract a
larger customer base. For this purpose, you can create custom payment groups and choose
one primary one primary payment gateway and several third-party gateways for each
payment group. See Payment Groups (on page 54) for details.
For the default payment group, you can choose and configure payment gateways in
Configuration Wizard (on page 23).
Administrator Interface
Parallels Plesk Billing administrator interface to Parallels Plesk Billing is where you
administrate it. The current guide is dedicated to the functionality of the administrator
interface.
Administrator interface is by default available at http://host.name/path/to/plesk-billing/admin/
for standalone version of Parallels Plesk Billing. For Parallels Plesk Billing bundled with
Parallels Plesk Panel it can be accessed at https://host.name:8443/plesk-
billing/admin/.
Client Interface
The client interface to Parallels Plesk Billing is a complete portal for your clients to perform
such actions as:
Pay invoices
View past invoices
Create a support ticket
Upgrade their package
Downgrade their package
Cancel their package
Manage DNS on their purchased domain name
Login to the hosting panel associated with their package
The client interface is completely customizable and can be templated to integrate seamlessly
into your existing web site look and feel.
Client interface is by default available at http://host.name/path/to/plesk-billing/client/ for
standalone version of Parallels Plesk Billing. For Parallels Plesk Billing bundled with
Parallels Plesk Panel it can be accessed at https://host.name:8443/plesk-
billing/client/.
Order Interface
Parallels Plesk Billing, unlike most host-based billing platforms currently available, includes
support for a “shopping cart” built into your website, making it easier for your clients to
purchase more in a single checkout.
As a result, the concept of an order form is a little bit different in Parallels Plesk Billing. As it is
currently known, an order form in Parallels Plesk Billing is primarily a way to group products
by currency. Generally, you should only have one order form per currency offered. It is not a
page where your products are listed with order now buttons.
There are two awesome methods of adding products to clients shopping cart. Below is a brief
overview of each.
With the first, we’ve changed the paradigm in billing solutions a bit with the introduction of
“web site widgets”. These are little snippets of code you simply drop into your company web
site that feature any subset of products you want in any format you want (listing, drop-down,
etc). As it’s merely a snippet of code, these can be dropped anywhere on your web site
where you want to sell products and they require no special templating as it’s merely included
in your existing web site.
The latter is for the customer that prefers a finer grained control of the way they’d like to sell
products on their web site. By linking anywhere on your web site (from text, image, whatever)
to specially formed URLs, you can allow your customers to add any product or products to
their shopping cart with a single click.
Finally, the shopping cart and checkout processes are completely customizable so you can
template them to match the rest of your web site seamlessly.
Order interface is by default available at http://host.name/path/to/plesk-billing/order/ for
standalone version of Parallels Plesk Billing. For Parallels Plesk Billing bundled with
Parallels Plesk Panel it can be accessed at https://host.name:8443/plesk-
billing/order/.
Configuration Wizard
After the Parallels Plesk Billing is installed as a standalone application, or activated as a
module in Parallels Plesk, you need first to run the Configuration Wizard. When you login to
the Parallels Plesk Billing admin panel for the first time, on the page that appears click Start
Configuration to proceed to the Configuration Wizard. It will guide you through:
Registrar Settings. Choose and configure one or more registration services, such as Enom
or OpenSRS.
Payment Gateway Settings. Choose and configure one primary gateway and, optionally, third
party gateways.
Tax Settings. Configure taxable products from the list.
Encryption Settings. Enable encryption to reach the maximum security in transactions.
Fraud Settings. Here you can enable and configure a FraudGuardian account.
Later, you can revisit the Configuration Wizard by choosing Configuration Wizard in the System
menu.
In this section:
Domain Registration Settings ............................................................................ 24
Parallels Plesk Panel IP Settings ....................................................................... 24
Payment Gateway Settings ................................................................................ 24
Encryption Settings ............................................................................................ 25
Tax Settings ...................................................................................................... 25
Fraud Settings ................................................................................................... 25
Domain Registration Settings
To configure domain registration services in Configuration Wizard:
1 Go to System > Configuration Wizard, click Begin Configuration and proceed to the
Domain Registration Settings form.
2 The list of registrars will appear. Choose the primary registrar by clicking
the box in front of its name.
3 As soon as you checked the box, you will see the configuration form for
this registrar consisting of 4 parts.
Admin Account. Enter the user name and password to the registrar and configure
registrar-specific connection settings.
Admin Contact. Set the contact information (name, address, phone, etc.) for the
registrar.
Aux Billing Contact. Set auxiliary billing contact information.
Domain Name Servers. Specify the registrar’s primary and secondary name servers.
4 Click Continue >> to proceed to the next step of Configuration Wizard.
Later on, you will be able to configure any available domain registration service from
the System > Domain Settings > Registrar Modules menu.
Parallels Plesk Panel IP Settings
(for Parallels Plesk Billing bundled with Parallels Plesk Panel only)
To configure Parallels Plesk Panel IP Settings:
1 Enter the Shared IP Address that will be used for hosting purposes.
2 Click Continue >> to proceed to the next step of Configuration Wizard.
Payment Gateway Settings
On the Payment Gateway Settings page you can choose and configure one primary gateway and
one or several third-party gateways you wish to use.
To select and configure payment gateways:
1 Click a radio button in front of a primary payment gateway you wish to
choose.
2 A form with the options specific to this gateway will appear. Fill out the
options.
3 Click check boxes to select as many third-party gateways as you wish and
fill out gateway-specific options.
4 Click Continue >> to proceed to the next step.
Encryption Settings
Here you can enable encryption for Parallels Plesk Billing transactions and enter the LEK pin
code you generated as a customer on the Parallels Plesk Billing support page.
To enable encryption for Parallels Plesk Billing.
1 Check the box in front of the Encryption Enabled field.
2 In a separate window or tab, open http://www.pleskbilling.com/, log in using
your member’s area user name and password and generate an LEK (Local
Encryption Key) Hash pin code there.
Note: You need to remember your LEK Pin whenever you need to manually decrypt a
customer’s credit card number or manually run a billing process.
3 Under the Choose a Pin field, enter the same pin you generated into the LEK
Pin and Confirm text boxes.
4 Set a secret passphrase in the Passphrase field. It may remain empty if you
wish, and then the system will generate a random passphrase for you.
5 Click Continue>> to go on with Configuration Wizard.
You can later return to the encryption settings in the System > System Settings >
Encryption Settings menu. See Encryption Settings for details.
Tax Settings
Here you can assign a single tax to selected taxable products or add-ons.
1 Enter the Tax Settings page.
Enable Taxes. Check this button to enable the tax to the taxable products selected
below.
Tax Amount. Enter tax value in percents.
Tax Description. Enter the tax name that all the customers will see. For example, VAT.
Taxable Products. Here all available tax products or add-ons are listed. Select the
required variants by checking boxes in front of them.
2 Click Continue >> to apply the tax.
You can provide advanced tax settings in the System > System Configuration > Invoice and
Billing Settings > Tax Settings page. See Taxes for details.
Fraud Settings
To configure fraud settings:
1 On the Fraud Settings page, fill out the following form:
Enable FraudGuardian. Check this box to enable fraud settings
User name, Password. Enter your user name and password once you have registered at
FraudGuardian: http://www.pleskbilling.com/products/fraudguardian/.
2 Click Continue >> to apply FraudGuardian settings and complete
Configuration Wizard.
After that, go to System > System Configuration > Order Settings > Manage Fraud Settings for
advanced fraud configuration. See Setting Up FraudGuardian (on page 163) for details.
Setting Up Global Account
(for Parallels Plesk Billing bundled with Parallels Plesk Panel only)
It is highly recommended to connect your local Parallels Plesk Billing accounts to a global
account for convenient operation in case of bundled installation. This will allow you to switch
between your Parallels Plesk Panel and Parallels Plesk Billing accounts without entering your
credentials every time.
Please see the Setting Up Global Account (on page 226) chapter for details.
Setting Up Payment Groups
Configuring a payment group is a fairly straightforward process. First, you’re going to need to
ask yourself a few questions in regards to how your business wants to accept money.
Do you plan to accept credit cards?
If so, will you be storing credit card details (all encrypted, of course) in your Parallels
Plesk Billing database?
What types of credit cards do you want to accept (Visa/MasterCard/etc.)?
Will you accept forms of payment through a third-party gateway such as PayPal or
WorldPay?
If you plan to accept credit cards, you are going to need a merchant account with an online
payment processing service. Parallels Plesk Billing supports a variety of payment gateways
(on page 20) which you can choose as a primary gateway, and some others as third-party
gateways.
If you plan to accept payment from third-party gateways (either solely, or along with accepting
credit cards) you will need to have an account at one or more of the below supported third-
party gateways:
PayPal
WorldPay
The general idea behind payment groups is for the purpose of multiple currency support. You
should have one payment group for each type of currency that you accept. If you only accept
one currency, you should, thus, only have one payment group.
IMPORANT: You can add and remove payment processor modules within a payment group
as much as you want. But you should never remove a payment group once you have
customers actively using it. Removing a payment group that is in use will cause customers’
billing accounts to no longer be tied to a means of charging them.
To add a payment group:
1 Go to the System > Payment Settings > Payment Groups.
2 At this point, you should see a default payment group already exists. Click
the Edit icon to the right side of the payment group. On the screen that
comes up, you can configure the Payment Group Name to be whatever you
want, this is purely for your reference and no customer will ever see the
Payment Group Name. By default, the initial payment group is setup with USD
(United States Dollars) currency. You may leave this as is, or, if you need
to accept a different currency, change this to the appropriate 3-character
ISO-4217 currency code.
3 Now, most importantly, you will need to select the primary and third-party
gateways you use from the drop down lists. At this time, you can only
select one of each category. Though, if you accept more than one third-
party gateway (for example, PayPal and WorldPay) you can come back to
this Edit screen later and add it. Please note that you can only configure
one primary gateway per payment group.
4 After you have selected the gateways you use, click the edit button at the
bottom of the screen and it will return you to the Payment Groups overview
screen. You should now see your newly-modified payment group with the
payment processor modules you selected. At this point, you can now click
the Edit icon next to each of those payment processors listed and configure
them appropriately (details for the configuration options available for each
payment processor are later in this document).
5 If you plan to accept multiple currencies, click the Add Payment Group button
and repeat the above detailed procedure.
If you are planning on accepting credit cards and storing them in your Parallels Plesk Billing
database for the purposes of recurring billing, you will need to configure encryption on your
system. Parallels Plesk Billing uses a strong encryption algorithm to keep your data as safe
as possible. Please refer to Setting Up Encryption (on page 55) for details.
Configuring Order Forms
As previously described in this guide, the concept of an order form is a little bit different in
Parallels Plesk Billing. As it is currently known, an order form in Parallels Plesk Billing is
primarily a way to group products by currency. Generally speaking, you should only have one
order form per currency offered. It is not a page where your products are listed with order
now buttons.
To configure your order form(s):
1 Go to System > System Settings > Order Form Settings. You will see that one
default order form already exists in your Parallels Plesk Billing.
2 Click the edit button next to it. On this page, you should select the payment
group, default language, and default country to be used on this order form.
There are also a variety of other options on this page you can choose, but
those three are the most important to getting you up and running right now.
3 For each payment group you have, create a new order form, and assign it
to that payment group.
Your Parallels Plesk Billing is now configured to accept payment from customers.
Warning: Never delete an order form that already has had packages purchased through it.
Please refer to the Setting Up Order Forms (on page 141) chapter.
Setting Up Control Panels
Parallels Plesk Billing supports integration with Parallels Plesk Panel and some other control
panels (on page 18).
This section outlines the steps you need to take to get your Parallels Plesk Billing installation
to successfully store the connection information needed to provision customers’ packages to
your servers.
For each type of control panel that you offer, you should have one Server Group. For example,
if you provide cPanel and Plesk for Linux hosting, you would need two server groups – one
for each control panel. Within each of these server groups, you will add a Server Module for
each physical server of that type. Going on our above example, if you had 7 machines
running cPanel and 5 machines running Plesk for Linux, you would need 7 cPanel server
modules in your cPanel server group and 5 Parallels Plesk Panel for Linux modules in your
Parallels Plesk Panel for Linux server group. Please refer to Managing Server Groups (on
page 61) document for details on how you can add a Server Group.
IMPORTANT: if there are control panel modules within server groups to which you do not
intend on provisioning anymore packages (for example, a server that you are slowly trying to
move clients off of, or a test server for testing settings), then you have to set their status to
Enabled: No. This will cause accounts that have already been provisioned to this module to still
be fully automated (suspend, unsuspend, cancellation, etc), but no new accounts will be
provisioned to that server.
Finally, the most impacting parameter across most all the types of server modules we offer is
Server Weight. You can give each of your products a specific weight (typically, this would refer
to the number of resources this product is going to use once provisioned, in terms of disk
space, bandwidth, etc.). Each control panel module you add can have a Maximum Server
Weight. Configure this setting appropriate to how you plan to specify weights on your products
so you can be confident you will not be overselling your equipment – as each time a package
is provisioned to one of your servers, the weight of that package will be added to the total
weight already provisioned on the server.
You can use this so as to implement a pseudo-load-balancing setup. If you go back to your
Server Groups settings page and click the Edit icon next to your server group, you can specify
whether provisioned packages will be provisioned onto each server you have, filling them
one-by-one, or (more preferably, for most) provisioned onto the server with the least server
weight.
Once you have configured a server group for each type of server you offer, and the
appropriate control panel modules for each physical server you have within each group, your
Parallels Plesk Billing will have been successfully connected to automate package
provisioning.
Setting Up Domain Registrar Modules
Parallels Plesk Billing supports integration with a variety of domain registration services (on
page 18).
There are two steps in getting your system configured with one or more of the domain
registrar through which you resell and to tie to appropriate TLDs to each of those registrars:
1 Configure domain registrar modules (on page 74)
2 Assign TLDs (on page 75).
Changing Company Settings
The company settings page sets many of the variables that the system will use to populate
many values. For example, the e-mail templates will pull your company name and contact
information from this area when creating e-mails. It is important to keep this information up-
to-date. These values are initially filled with information gathered during the installation
process.
To change company settings:
1 Go to System > System Configuration, then click System Settings > Company Settings.
2 Change the following as needed:
Name. Enter the name of your company here, as you would like it to appear to your
clients.
Short Description. Please provide a brief description of what your company does.
Description. You may enter a longer description here.
URL. This is the URL to your company’s web page.
Client URL. If you have made any changes to your Parallels Plesk Billing directory
structure, you will want to edit this entry to reflect these changes. This URL determines
where the system tries to take you when you click Login as Primary Contact on the client
details screen.
Order URL. This is the URL to your main order page. Most clients use a custom order
page, so this may need to be updated.
E-mail. Please enter your company’s main contact e-mail address.
Address 1. Enter the first address line of your company’s physical address.
Address 2. Enter the second address line of your company’s physical address, or a PO
box if you use one.
City. Enter the city of your company’s address.
State. Enter the state of your company’s address.
Country. Enter the country of your company’s address.
Phone 1. Enter a primary phone number, so your clients can contact you if they need
to.
Phone 2. Enter a second phone number if you have one.
Fax. If you have a separate fax number, please enter it here.
Tax ID Number. If you have a Tax ID Number, enter it here.
3 Click Save Changes.
Parallels Plesk Billing provides a flexible system for setting up administrators within the
system. Using administrator groups, you can create custom privileges for various
different kinds of administrators, such as billing administrator and server provisioning
administrator. By default, Parallels Plesk Billing creates four administrators: the root
user, an order form user, an API user, and a cron user. The root user is created using the
information you entered during the installation process, and is the main login you use to
enter Parallels Plesk Billing. The order form, API, and cron users enable these parts of the
system to have the level of access they need to function properly. Do not remove these
administrators.
In this chapter:
Viewing Administrators ...................................................................................... 33
Creating New Administrators ............................................................................. 34
Setting Up Administrator Groups ....................................................................... 34
Editing Administrator Profiles............................................................................. 35
Configuring Administrator Interface ................................................................... 36
Viewing Administrators
To view the list of your administrators:
1 Go to System > System Settings > Admin Settings.
2 Once the page loads, you will see a list of all the administrators you
have created.
CH A P T E R 4
Setting Up Administrators
34 Setting Up Administrators
Creating New Administrators
You can add any number of Parallels Plesk Billing administrators to your system
according to your specific business needs.
To add a Parallels Plesk Billing administrator:
1 Go to System > System Settings > Admin Settings > Add New Admin.
2 Fill in the necessary information:
First Name. The first name of the administrator.
Last Name. The last name of the administrator.
E-mail. The e-mail address of the administrator.
User name. The user name you would like the administrator to have.
New Password. Enter the password the administrator will use.
Enter Password Again. Enter the password a second time for verification.
Theme. If you have a custom theme, you can choose for the administrator to use
it.
Language. Choose the language you would like Parallels Plesk Billing to appear
in for this administrator. Parallels Plesk Billing will use the language and country
choice to determine which locale best fits this administrator.
Country. Enter the country in which this administrator resides. This helps
determine the locale to use for the administrator. For example, if you choose
Portuguese, Parallels Plesk Billing can either use the Portuguese locale or the
Brazilian Portuguese locale, depending on where your administrator lives.
Active. You can activate and deactivate administrator as you need.
Assigned Admin Groups. You must choose a group to assign this administrator to.
You can create additional administrator groups as needed.
3 Click Add Admin Profile.
The newly added administrator will appear on the Manage Admins page.
Setting Up Administrator Groups
Creating administrator groups allows you to grant specific sets of actions to certain
administrators or groups of administrators. For example, if you have an employee who
will be taking care of billing for you, but who does not need to look at any reports, you
can create an administrator group called billing, add actions to this group relating to
generating and paying invoices, and remove any actions relating to reporting.
To view the list of existing administrator groups:
1 Go to System > System Settings > Admin Settings > Manage Admin Groups.
Setting Up Administrators 35
2 Once the page loads, you will see the list of all administrator groups in
the system.
To assign more administrators to a group:
1 Click the Manage Actions control for the group.
2 Add more administrators under Assigned Admins.
3 Here, you can also unassign administrator from a group.
To edit privileges of administrators in a group:
1 Click the Manage Actions control for the group.
2 Configure privileges in the displayed categories as you want.
Note: If you are not sure what each actions represents in the system, you can use
the built-in recording feature.
To use the recording feature:
1. Click Click to record actions.
2. Go through the system as if you were an administrator in this group. Each page
or feature you use will be recorded. If you do not want an administrator to have
access to a particular page or feature in the system, do not view the page or use
the feature. While the recording feature is turned on, a red spiral icon and the
text stop recording appear to the left of the Dashboard.
3. When you are finished recording the actions for this group, click stop recording.
The page will automatically reload. Scroll down the list of actions and you will
see all the actions that you viewed in the system moved from the Deny list to the
Allow list. You can adjust the actions according to your specific needs by double-
clicking the action or using the arrow button.
3 Click Update Action Assignments.
Editing Administrator Profiles
If you need to change any of the settings for one of your administrators, you will follow
a procedure similar to creating an administrator.
To edit an administrator profile:
1 Go to System > System Settings > Admin Settings.
2 When the page loads, click on the magnifying glass icon in the Actions
column for an administrator whose profile you want to edit.
3 Click Edit.
4 Edit the administrator’s profile accordingly. You will note that the
password fields are empty. Do not put anything in these fields unless
you want to change the password.
5 Click Update Profile.
Configuring Administrator Interface
In this section:
Using the Dashboard ......................................................................................... 36
Using Bookmarks .............................................................................................. 39
Choosing Interface Language ............................................................................ 40
Choosing Interface Theme................................................................................. 40
Using the Dashboard
Each time you log in to Parallels Plesk Billing, you will be taken first to the Dashboard. The
Dashboard allows you access to all parts of the system, and displays important information
about new clients and items that need to be addressed.
In this section:
New Customers ................................................................................................. 37
To-Dos............................................................................................................... 37
New Customers
When a new client signs up through the order form, an entry will appear in the New Customers
area. At this point, the new client’s status in the system is set to Pending while Parallels Plesk
Billing waits for you to approve the account. You have the opportunity to review the account,
and choose to approve the account, cancel it, or mark it as fraud.
Whatever status you choose to assign to the client, their account will remain in Parallels
Plesk Billing. Only approved clients will become active and be able to log into the system. If
you suspect than an account is fraud, you can cancel it in a special way, marking it as fraud
for future reference.
To-Dos
Parallels Plesk Billing is designed for automation. Sometimes, however, the system needs
your assistance. A hosting package may not have provisioned correctly, for example. Or
there may be some trouble with a client’s domain registration. When this happens, Parallels
Plesk Billing will send you a note by creating a To-Do and posting it to the dashboard. You
will want to log in regularly to check for To-Dos.
The purpose of the To-Do list is an automated reminder tool. Each task that you create will be
listed until the action item is completed. For example, a To-Do task can be anything from
reminding yourself to run by the accountant’s office on Thursday to being an internal
reminder to create a website on a control panel because the control panel you are using does
not support automation of that action. Tasks can be assigned to any users in the system.
In this section:
Viewing To-Do Items ......................................................................................... 37
Editing To-Do Items ........................................................................................... 38
Adding To-Do Items ........................................................................................... 38
Viewing To-Do Items
To view To-Do items:
1 Go to Events > To-Dos.
2 When the page loads you will see the available To-Do items. The list
shows you what is currently due now, 24 hours from now, and 1 week from
now.
From this page you can manage your To-Dos. There is also another way to view your To-Dos
by going to Events > To-Dos > Show All To-Dos.
Editing To-Do Items
To edit To-Do items:
1 Go to Events > To-Dos > Show All To-Dos.
2 When the page loads, you will see the available To-Do items. Locate the
item you want to edit and click the green pencil icon for it.
3 You can change the title and description, assign it to other administrators
in the system, change the status from Open to Closed, and change the
date due.
Note: If a To-Do item is public, it is seen by all the administrators in the system.
Adding To-Do Items
To add a To-Do item:
1 Go to Events > To-dos > Add New To-do.
2 Set the following:
Title. Enter a title for the To-Do you are creating.
Description. Enter a description for the To-Do you are creating.
Assigned Admins. Select the administrator you want to assign the To-Do in the drop
down menu.
Status. Select Open or Closed from the drop down menu.
Is Public. Is the To-Do available to all administrators? If so, check the box accordingly.
Date Due. Select the date you want the To-Do to be due.
3 Click Add Todo.
Using Bookmarks
Easily create bookmarks of any page inside the Parallels Plesk Billing system. This allows
you to quickly visit those pages you view the most quickly. Follow the instructions below to
learn how to create bookmarks.
In this section:
Adding a Bookmark ........................................................................................... 39
Managing Bookmarks ........................................................................................ 39
Adding a Bookmark
To add a bookmark:
1 Go to the page you want to bookmark within the Parallels Plesk Billing
system.
2 In the upper left-hand corner of the page there is a line with Bookmarks
shown. To the left of Bookmarks there is an add icon. Click on that icon to
add the page you are on as a bookmark.
3 A pop-up text field will appear. Enter the name you want to use as a
reference to the page you are setting as a bookmark. Then click Save.
4 When you reload the page you will see your bookmarks listed next to
Bookmarks on every page. At any time you can click on your bookmark links.
The page you chose will load accordingly.
Managing Bookmarks
If you have previously created bookmarks you can close or remove the bookmarks according
to your own personal preference. Each user in the system can have his/her own set of
bookmarks.
To manage bookmarks:
1 Go to System > System Settings > Admin Settings.
2 Click on the details icon for the user you want to manage bookmarks for in
the Actions column.
3 When the page loads, you have two options:
clone a bookmark to let another administrator use it
delete a bookmark
4 Find the bookmark you want to clone or delete and click on the icons
accordingly.
Choosing Interface Language
To change Parallels Plesk Billing interface language:
1 Enter Your Profile form. You can do it by clicking Profile on the upper bar of
administrator interface, or from the Settings > Admin Settings > Profiles menu.
2 On the profile form select your language from the Language drop-down list.
3 Enter your administrator account’s password in the New Password and Enter
Password Again to confirm the change.
4 Click Update Profile to apply changes.
Choosing Interface Theme
To change Parallels Plesk Billing interface theme (skin):
1 Enter Your Profile form. You can do it by clicking Profile on the upper bar of
administrator interface, or from the Settings > Admin Settings > Profiles menu.
2 On the profile form select a desired skin from the Theme drop-down list.
3 Enter your administrator account’s password in the New Password and Enter
Password Again to confirm the change.
4 Click Update Profile to apply changes.
In this chapter:
Viewing Module Information .............................................................................. 41
Viewing License Information .............................................................................. 41
Viewing PHP Information ................................................................................... 42
Viewing System Information .............................................................................. 42
Viewing Parallels Plesk Billing Version .............................................................. 42
Viewing Module Information
To see a list of all the modules available for use with Plesk, click System > Server Settings
> System Info > ModernBill Module Info. Here you will find the modules organized by type.
You will also see displayed the status of the module (whether stable or testing), the
latest version number, the author, and DRM information. A green button in the DRM list
means that your license allows access to the module listed.
Viewing License Information
To view information relating to the license for your Parallels Plesk Billing software, click
System > Server Settings > System Info > ModernBill License Info. Here you will find the
following:
Parallels Plesk Billing. This will tell you the version number you are running. The build
number is not included here - you can find the build number at the bottom of each
screen.
Admin UI. The version of the user interface you are using.
License. This will tell you what kind of license you have, whether a developer’s
license, perpetual license, or recurring license. Note: Developers and perpetual
licenses are no longer available.
Registered to. This is the company the license is officially registered to.
Max Clients. Each license has a particular client capacity. This will tell you the
maximum number of non-archived clients you can have in your system before you
need to upgrade to a larger capacity license.
Renews on. Each month, your system calls out to our licensing server to verify that
your license is still valid. The date listed here lets you know when the next call is
due to occur.
You can also find the license information at the bottom of each screen.
CH A P T E R 5
Viewing System Settings
42 Viewing System Settings
Viewing PHP Information
To view PHP information, go to System > Server Settings > System Info > PHP Info.
The PHPinfo script displays detailed information about your php settings. We include
access to this script inside Parallels Plesk Billing to enable you to see clearly which php
Parallels Plesk Billing is using, and what the settings are. Having access to the PHPinfo
script can also be extremely useful for Parallels Plesk Billing support technicians, as
system incompatibilities can be easily identified and suggestions for corrections made.
Disabling the phpinfo function in php will disable this view in Parallels Plesk Billing as
well.
Viewing System Information
Clicking System > Server Settings > System Info > Server Info will provide you with a brief
rundown of your server information:
Server Information. Here you should see the type of OS and web server you are
running, including version number.
PHP Information. A brief display of the php version you are running. A full printout of
your phpinfo information can be found here.
Database Information. This is the version of the database you are using.
cURL Information. The version of cURL you are using, including SSL information.
This information is cursory, and is not meant to be exhaustive. It functions mainly to
provide our technicians basic information in the event they need to investigate a
problem in your Parallels Plesk Billing.
Viewing Parallels Plesk Billing Version
To view your Parallels Plesk Billing version, go to System > System Settings > Versions.
Note: The versions feature is specific to Parallels Plesk Billing developers only. This
will be relocated and hidden in a future release.
System queue allows you to process all automated items in your Parallels Plesk Billing
system.
Parallels Plesk Billing was designed not only to be a billing system, but to be a billing
automation system. While it is possible to use Parallels Plesk Billing without
automation, it was built with the assumption that users will set up the system to be run,
by and large, automatically.
Setting up automation requires two main steps:
1 Configuring Parallels Plesk Billing with settings that do not conflict, so
that when various events are run no conflicts occur.
2 Setting up a cron job on your server to run the events themselves.
Note: If you are using a Windows server, you will need to set up an event in your event
manager.
In this chapter:
Understanding Events ....................................................................................... 44
Setting Up System Queue ................................................................................. 46
Setting Up the Cron Job .................................................................................... 47
Setting Up IP Queue ......................................................................................... 51
Setting Up Payment Queue ............................................................................... 52
Enabling Auto-Suspend ..................................................................................... 53
CH A P T E R 6
Enabling Parallels Plesk Billing
Automation
44 Enabling Parallels Plesk Billing Automation
Understanding Events
One of the central parts of Parallels Plesk Billing automation system is Events. By
events here we are not referring to events in a Windows system, but events within
Parallels Plesk Billing itself. When Parallels Plesk Billing is initially installed, there are
eight events created by default. These events run some of the important tasks like
generating invoices, suspending clients who do not pay their bills, and charging credit
cards.
In addition to the eight events explained below, Parallels Plesk Billing will also create
events to carry out other actions. These include domain registration and renewals,
provisioning packages, and, if you choose to do so manually, generating invoices and
processing credit cards. Each event, when created, is given a time stamp that tells the
system when the event should be run.
In this section:
ProcessInvoices ................................................................................................ 45
ProcessPaymentQueue ..................................................................................... 45
ProcessSuspensions ......................................................................................... 45
ProcessUnsuspensions ..................................................................................... 45
ProcessUsage ................................................................................................... 45
ProcessCancellation .......................................................................................... 45
ProcessExpiredCreditCards .............................................................................. 45
ProcessDomainSynchronization ........................................................................ 46
Enabling Parallels Plesk Billing Automation 45
ProcessInvoices
Part of the configuration process involves telling Parallels Plesk Billing how soon before
a package renews you would like the invoice for that package to be generated. Each
day, this event searches through your list of active packages. It finds any that are due
to be invoiced, and generates them. It also sends by e-mail a copy to your clients,
reminding them that another payment is due.
ProcessPaymentQueue
Once Parallels Plesk Billing has generated invoices, it searches the system for invoices
that are both due and set to be paid by a credit card kept on file. It will collect payment
on these invoices, if they meet the criteria you set in your payment queue settings.
ProcessSuspensions
If you are using the auto-suspend rules, this event will run once a day and send notices
to clients with past due bills. It will also create events to suspend accounts that reach
your final threshold.
ProcessUnsuspensions
When a client’s package has been suspended, they still have access to their client
account and can log in and pay their bill. This event runs every 20 minutes, looking for
past due invoices that have been paid. Like ProcessSuspensions, this event will
then create an event to unsuspend the client’s account.
ProcessUsage
If you charge usage fees for some of your products, this event will run daily. It searches
your system for any packages that require usage billing, then contacts the server to pull
this information over to Parallels Plesk Billing for local storage.
ProcessCancellation
When a package is canceled it is marked as such. Packages can either be cancelled
immediately, or at the end of the billing cycle. ProcessCancellation runs once a
day, searching for package that need to be canceled and then carrying out that action.
ProcessExpiredCreditCards
46 Enabling Parallels Plesk Billing Automation
Once a week, this event searches through the database for credit cards that will be
expiring soon. If it finds any, it will e-mail the account holder to which the card is tied,
letting reminding them the card is going to expire soon and asking them to update the
card information to avoid missing a payment.
ProcessDomainSynchronization
This event runs once a week. If you are using the eNom module, it will send a call out
to eNom and update the renewal dates for all domains that are listed in your system as
being registered in eNom.
NOTE: This event does not change the package renewal dates, only the renewal date
listed for the domain in the domain details screen.
Setting Up System Queue
All events, whether they were created by default or by another system process, are
placed into the system queue. Some of the rules that govern how these events carry
out their tasks can be configured in the administrative interface. There are also a small
number of settings in the main configuration file that may affect the way the system
queue is run.
The system queue allows you to:
1 Run any amount of items at a time.
2 Create accounts on any supported control panel.
3 Auto-Suspend/Enable accounts on any supported control panel.
4 Process payments.
5 Process domains.
To configure System Queue settings:
1 Go to System > Automation Settings > System Queue Settings.
2 Choose the desired options for the displayed fields:
Type in the number of items you want the system queue to process at a time.
The default value is set to “3.”
Active clients Run if. To denote when provisioning occurs, choose an option from
the following:
Customer paid this item’s invoice.
Client does not have a balance due.
Even if the invoice has not been paid.
Do not run these items.
System Queue Push Minutes: If an event does not pass these run rules it will be
updated to run this many minutes in the future.
Enabling Parallels Plesk Billing Automation 47
Here is an example of settings that work for majority of customers:
Number of System Queue items to run at a time: 3.
Active clients Run if: Customer paid this item’s invoice.
New Clients Run if: Do not run these items.
New Client Domain orders Run if: Do not run these items.
Domain Active Type: Customer paid this item’s invoice.
Domain Renewals Run if: Customer paid this item’s invoice.
Domain/Hosting calls: Run the panel call first.
System Queue Push Minutes: 15.
3 Click Save Settings.
Setting Up the Cron Job
Note: During Parallels Plesk Billing 6.0 bundle installation or bundle update from
version 5.6 the cron job is set up automatically. Skip this step if you are running the 6.0
bundle version.
The last step in configuring your Parallels Plesk Billing to run with automation is to set
up a cron job on your server (or event, if you’re using Windows). When this job starts, it
will run a script that will sift through the events in your system queue, looking for any
events that are due to be run, and then process them.
The system automatically adds an administrator user called Cron User. This user has a
Remote Access Hash needed to run the System Queue for complete automation.
Follow the steps below to get your cron job setup.
Also, refer to the Cron Job in Linux (on page 50) section for general guidelines on this
matter.
In this section:
Step 1. Copy the Remote Access Hash ............................................................. 48
Step 2. Check Your Cron User Permissions ...................................................... 48
Step 3. Set Up Your Crontab to Run runevents.php File.................................... 49
Managing Cron Job in Linux .............................................................................. 50
48 Enabling Parallels Plesk Billing Automation
Step 1. Copy the Remote Access Hash
To copy the hash for your Cron user:
1 Go to System > System Settings > Admin Settings.
2 Find the Cron User record.
3 Click the magnifying glass icon.
4 Copy the Remote Access Hash.
5 Log in to your server using SSH.
6 Open your /path/to/ppb/lib-
billing/include/config/config.php file and paste the Remote
Access Hash as shown below:
$CONF[”remoteAccessHash”] =
“f2ad7647377beb58808b8ffceff5527d4f9d4c1d”;
7 Save the file.
Step 2. Check Your Cron User Permissions
In order for cron and automation to run properly, your cron admin user must be
assigned the permissions needed to run cron.
To Check Your Cron User Permissions:
1 Go to System > Admin Settings > Admin Settings.
2 Find the Cron User record.
3 Click the pencil icon.
4 In the row Assigned Admin Groups, make sure the cronadmin box is
checked.
5 Click Update Profile to save changes.
Enabling Parallels Plesk Billing Automation 49
Step 3. Set Up Your Crontab to Run runevents.php File
Parallels Plesk Billing requires a single cronjob to start and run the system queue.
To set up your crontab to run runevents.php file:
1 Log in to your server using SSH.
2 Edit your crontab. To do this, type the following command and press
ENTER:
crontab -e
3 Your entry for Parallels Plesk Billing should follow this format:
*/5 * * * * /path/to/php /path/to/ppb/admin/sbin/runevents.php
The timing you see here sets the cronjob to run every five minutes. It can be
adjusted if you like, but this is recommended.
Note: In order to determine the path to your system’s PHP binary, run the following
command:
# which php
4 Save the file.
50 Enabling Parallels Plesk Billing Automation
Managing Cron Job in Linux
A cron job (run from a cron daemon) is a recurring process that executes commands
at specific dates and times. To schedule such a recurring task, you would edit your
crontab, which lists all recurring processes on your server.
To add to or edit your crontab file:
1 Log in to your server using SSH.
2 Run:
crontab -e
To print the contents of your crontab file:
1 Log in to your server using SSH
2 Run:
crontab -l
To remove your crontab file:
1 Log in to your server using SSH
2 Run:
crontab -r
If the user under which Parallels Plesk Billing is installed does not already have a
crontab file, you can use the commands above to create one.
Crontab Syntax
The crontab command creates a crontab file containing commands and how often cron
should execute them. Each entry in a crontab file consists of six fields, specified in the
following order:
minute 0-59 - the exact minute that the command sequence executes.
hour 0-23 - the hour of the day that the command sequence executes.
day 1-31 - the day of the month that the command sequence executes.
month 1-12 - the month of the year that the command sequence executes.
weekday 0-6 - the day of the week that the command sequence executes. Sunday =
0, Monday = 1, Tuesday = 2, and so forth.
command - the complete command sequence variable that is to be executed.
Each of the patterns from the first five fields may either be an asterisk (*) (meaning all
legal values) or a list of elements separated by commas. An element is either a number
or two numbers separated by a minus sign (meaning an inclusive range. Note that the
specification of days may be made by two fields (day of the month and day of the
week). If both are specified as a list of elements, both are followed. For example:
MAILTO=user@domain.com
0 5 * * * /big/dom/xdomain/cgi-bin/scriptname.cgi
Enabling Parallels Plesk Billing Automation 51
The cron daemon would run the program scriptname.cgi in the cgi-bin directory
whenever the hour is “5” and the minute is “0”. In other words, this script would one
once per day at 5:00 AM.
An alternate example is below:
MAILTO=user@domain.com
0 0 * * 1 /big/dom/xdomain/cgi-bin/scriptname.cgi
The program would then only run on Mondays and email the results to
user@domain.com.
Note: If a cron job specified in your crontab entry produces any error messages when it
runs, they will be reported to you via email.
Setting Up IP Queue
You can use the IP Queue settings to sell Parallels Plesk Panel hosting products that
have dedicated IP addresses.
To sell Parallels Plesk Panel hosting products with dedicated IP:
1 Add IPs in Parallels Plesk Panel as described in the section Adding
and Removing IP Addresses of Parallels Plesk Control Panel for
Linux/Unix Administrator’s Guide. Select exclusive for IP type.
2 Add a range of exclusive Parallels Plesk Panel IPs to the IP log in
Parallels Plesk Billing:
1. Go to System > Server Settings > Server Groups.
2. Find Parallels Plesk Panel server group and click its ID.
3. Find the line Plesk > IP Queue: 0 and click 0 to enter the List IP Log page.
4. Click Add IP Log.
5. Enter IP range of dedicated IPs you are going to provide with your Parallels
Plesk Panel hosting product.
6. Click Submit.
Also, make sure Dedicated IP option is enabled for the Parallels Plesk Panel hosting
product.
To check if the Dedicated IP option is enabled:
1 Go to Products > Products > Show Products > Hosting Product.
2 Choose your Parallels Plesk Panel hosting product.
3 Click the Attributes link.
4 Check the box near Dedicated IP in the GENERAL OPTIONS section.
With these IP queue settings each Parallels Plesk Panel hosting package will
use a dedicated IP.
52 Enabling Parallels Plesk Billing Automation
Setting Up Payment Queue
If you are using a top-tier gateway such as authorize.net or bluepay to process
your credit card transactions, the payment queue settings govern how and when
invoices are added to and processed by the event ProcessPaymentQueue.
To set up a payment queue:
1 Go to System > Payment Settings > Payment Queue.
2 Set the following:
Payment Queue Action. This determines whether the items in the payment queue
get sent to the gateway as Charge, also called AUTH_CAPTURE, or Authorization
Only, which will require a payment capture at a later point in time. Generally, this
is set to Charge. If you wish to have the gateway just authorize transactions and
collect payment later, then set this to Authenticate Only. Please be aware that if
you do this, you will need to manually capture the funds for all recurring credit
card transactions.
Process New Invoices. Do you want to process new invoices? If set to No, you will
need to run all new invoices manually.
Process Declined Transactions. Do you want to process invoices with declined
transactions? If set to Yes, the system will process these invoices according to
the failure retry time set in the file lib-
billing/include/config/config.php. If set to No, Parallels Plesk Billing
will never automatically retry declined invoices. You will have to do this
manually.
Process Errored Transactions. Do you want to process invoices with errored
transactions? If set to Yes, the system will process these invoices according to
the failure retry time set in the file lib-
billing/include/config/config.php. If set to No, Parallels Plesk Billing
will never automatically retry errored invoices. You will have to do this manually.
Charge On Due Date Only. Do you want to charge the invoices only on the date
invoices are due? If this is set to Yes, invoices will only be added to the queue on
their due date (the due date for invoices is set in Invoice Settings). If set to No,
invoices will be added to the payment queue after they are created.
Clear The Payment Queue First. This should be set to Yes. If you do not clear the
payment queue before a new one is generated, then invoices may be run
multiple times.
Try Lesser Amounts. The feature planned for this setting has not been
implemented yet. Please set to No.
Enable Advanced Share Editing. This feature allows you to assign several different
billing accounts to pay a single package, and then assign custom “weights” to
each of these. For example, if a client wants to use three credit cards to pay for
one package, and wants to have 75% charged to one card, 20% to another, and
5% to another, you will need to enable this setting to allow this.
Generate Batch Prior To Due Date (Number of Days). How many days before the due
date do you want to generate the payment queue? A normal value for this is 1.
Enabling Parallels Plesk Billing Automation 53
Payment Queue Line Item Threshold. How many line items do you want to be run by
the payment queue before the process ends and spawns another one? Because
php has timeout limits for processes, this value helps tell Parallels Plesk Billing
how many items to run in a single process. This helps to prevent your payment
processes from hitting the timeout in php and dying.
3 Click Save Settings.
Enabling Auto-Suspend
To enable auto-suspend:
1 Go to System > Automation Settings > Auto-Suspend Settings.
2 Set the following:
Enable Auto-Suspend. To enable auto-suspend settings, select Yes.
Auto-Suspend First Notice. Set the number of days after the unpaid invoice is due
to send the first notice e-mail.
Auto-Suspend Second Notice. Set the number of days after the unpaid invoice is
due to send the second notice e-mail.
Auto-Suspend Third Notice. Set the number of days after the unpaid invoice is due
to send the third notice e-mail.
Auto-Suspend Clean Notice. Set the number of days after the unpaid invoice is due
to send the clean notice e-mail. This e-mail indicates the package has been
removed from the server completely.
Enable Auto-Suspend Send Email. Select Yes to enable all e-mails.
3 Click Save settings.
Important: The auto-suspend settings will not be automated until you setup the cron
job. View the Setting Up The Cron Job (on page 47) document to learn more.
Unsuspend/Auto-Enable
If you enable auto-suspend, the Events queue will automatically check suspended
packages every twenty (20) minutes to see if the associated invoice has been paid. If it
has been paid, the system will unsuspend/auto-enable the package.
Gateways are how you accept payment from your clients. Unless you are intending to
take all payment via check, you will want to set up at least one gateway to work with
Parallels Plesk Billing, and to do this, you will need to first set up a payment group.
The payment group page is where you configure the Parallels Plesk Billing integration
with the payment gateway modules you intend to use. You can add several gateway
modules to a single payment group, but each must be for the same currency. Further,
each currency must have its own payment group.
By default, Parallels Plesk Billing creates the first payment group for you. Before you
can have Parallels Plesk Billing automate the process of collecting payment from your
clients, you need to add gateway modules to your payment group, and then configure
these gateway modules.
In this chapter:
Setting Up Encryption ........................................................................................ 55
Adding Payment Groups ................................................................................... 56
Configuring Gateways ....................................................................................... 56
Using Virtual Terminals ..................................................................................... 59
CH A P T E R 7
Configuring Payment Settings
Configuring Payment Settings 55
Setting Up Encryption
If you are intending to use a top-tier gateway and take credit card payments, you must
set up encryption. This is required even if you do not intend to use recurring billing, as
the order process will store the card before it charges it as well. You can use either
passphrase or LEK encryption. If you intend to use automation, you will need to set up
LEK encryption.
To configure encryption settings:
1 Go to the System > System Settings > Encryption Settings page.
2 Enter agree in the Encryption Agree field.
3 In a separate window or tab, open http://www.pleskbilling.com/ and
log in using your member’s area user name and password.
1. Enter an encryption key of your choice in the text box provided. Be sure to write
this value down, as we have no method to recover this information.
2. Select your four-digit PIN from the four drop down menus.
3. Click the Generate LEK Hash button.
4. When the page loads, the Encryption Hash is generated. Copy the Encryption Hash.
4 Paste the hash into the New Hash text ox.
5 Enter the pin you selected when you created your Encryption Hash in
the LEK Pin field, and then again in the LEK Pin Again field.
6 Set a secret passphrase. It may remain empty if you wish. Enter the
same passphrase into the Passphrase and Confirm fields.
7 Click the Submit Changes button.
56 Configuring Payment Settings
Adding Payment Groups
If you are only collecting payment in a single currency (for example, USD or GBP), then
you can use the default payment group. Please skip to the next section.
To add a payment group:
1 Go to System > Payment Settings > Payment Groups.
2 Click Add Payment Group in the top, right-hand corner.
3 On the next page, fill in the necessary information:
Primary Gateway. A primary gateway is your main gateway known as a “real
gateway” such as BluePay, Authorize.net, etc.
Secondary Gateway. A secondary gateway is a 3rd party gateway such as PayPal,
WorldPay, and 2Checkout. You can have as many secondary gateways as you
want per payment group. For example, you have Payment Group 1. Your
Primary Gateway is BluePay. Then you have two secondary gateways, PayPal
and WorldPay set up.
Note: There can be only one Primary Gateway per Payment Group, but you can
have as many secondary gateways as you need (as long as they are supported) per
Payment Group.
4 Click Add this Payment Group. You will be taken back to the payment
group page, and should be able to see your new payment group.
To add additional gateway modules, click on the green pencil icon for the payment
group itself. From this screen you can also remove a gateway module, change the
payment group name, or change the currency the payment group is associated with.
Once you have added all the needed gateway modules to your payment group, you will
want to configure your gateway modules.
Configuring Gateways
Before you can setup your gateway, make sure you have added it a payment group.
To configure a gateway:
1 Go to System > Payment Settings > Payment Groups.
2 Click on the id of the Payment Group you added your gateway to in
the Payment Group ID column. Your gateway will appear in a list.
3 Click on the Edit icon in the Actions column next to the gateway label
you want to configure.
4 Fill in the necessary information.
5 Click Save Settings.
Note: For gateway-specific settings, refer to the topics below.
Configuring Payment Settings 57
In this section:
Setting Up Authorize.net .................................................................................... 58
Setting Up PayPal ............................................................................................. 58
58 Configuring Payment Settings
Setting Up Authorize.net
This page provides clarifications on some fields you need to fill in when configuring
Authorize.net.
Authorize.net Login ID. This is the API Login ID that is available from within your
authorize.net account.
Authorize.net Password. This is the API Transaction Key.
Gateway URL. Select Live URL when you want to use your Authorize.net module in a
production environment. Make sure the Gateway Testing mode is set to No in the field
above. If you want to test your Authorize.net module, make sure the Gateway Testing
mode is set to Yes in the field above. Then go to
http://developer.authorize.net/testaccount/ and create a test account. Make sure you
select Test URL for Gateway URL. Use your test account login information.
Setting Up PayPal
This page provides clarifications on some fields you need to fill in when configuring
PayPal.
ID. yourname@yourdomain.com (Enter your primary PayPal e-mail address).
Item Name. Enter a comment or description about your product or service. This will
appear on the customer’s PayPal receipt.
Return URL. Enter your install URL - https://your_install_dir/
Cancel URL. Enter your install URL - https://your_install_dir/
Display Logo. Enter the URL to your display logo. This is the logo that will show up
on the PayPal payment page once they go through the Parallels Plesk Billing
shopping cart. This is a logo you create.
Submit Image. Enter the URL to your submit image.
IPN URL. Enter the URL to your IPN. Parallels Plesk Billing automatically enters the
URL to your IPN in the system.
Subscription Enable. Do you allow PayPal subscriptions (Recurring payments)?
Paypal Accept Addresses. Enter any PayPal addresses at which you would like to
receive payments, separated either by comma or a new line for each address.
Example: billing@yourdomain.com, service@yourdomain.com,
domains@yourdomain.com.
Note: Any address listed here must be an active PayPal account.
After you save your PayPal settings, do the following:
1 Go to System > System Settings > Admin Settings.
2 When the page loads, find the OrderForm row in the First Name column.
3 Click on the details icon in the Actions column.
4 Copy the remote access hash string value in the Remote Access Hash
entry.
Configuring Payment Settings 59
5 Log in to your server via SSH.
6 Open the gateway.php file located in the lib-
billing/include/config directory. Line 5 shows the following:
//$CONF[”IPNAccessHash”] =
“451c6dbb1d801828e7470fcdbe25201dbc2633d9”; // same as the
order form users hash.
7 Uncomment the line by removing the two slashes at the start of the
line and enter the remote access hash you copied above. Placing a
valid remote access hash allows for the IPN’s to register with the
system.
8 Save the file.
Note: After you have tested the connection with PayPal, be sure to change Gateway
Testing to No to accept live payments.
Using Virtual Terminals
If your gateway account supports it, you can use Parallels Plesk Billing’s virtual terminal
to connect directly to your gateway account. This can be useful for two main things:
1 Testing your connection during the configuration process
2 Charging a client’s card without having to use Parallels Plesk Billing’s payment
process.
To use the virtual terminal:
1 Go to System > Payment Settings > Virtual Terminals. The first page asks two
questions:
Create Income Accounting Entries. If you would like this transaction to create
Income Accounting Entries, please check the box. Generally, you will want to
have this checked. If you are testing, however, you may want to uncheck this, as
the transactions you are putting through the terminal are not for accounting, but
to verify connectivity.
Gateway. Please choose the gateway you would like to connect to via the virtual
terminal. You will not normally have more than one choice unless you are selling
products in multiple currencies.
2 Click Next.
3 This page acts as the actual terminal. Enter as much information here
as you have access to.
First Name. Enter the first name of the client to be charged.
Last Name. Enter the last name of the client to be charged.
Customer Email. Enter the email address of the client to be charged.
Customer Address. Enter the client’s billing address.
Suite. Enter the suite, of applicable.
60 Configuring Payment Settings
City. Enter the city of the billing address.
State. Enter the state of the billing address.
Zip. Enter the zip code of the billing address.
Customer Country. Enter the country for the billing account.
Phone. Enter the client’s phone number.
Fax. Enter the client’s fax number, if applicable.
Amount Of Payment. Enter the exact amount of the payment to be charged.
Payment Comments. Enter any comments you want to accompany the payment.
You may want to enter your company name here.
Payment Type. Enter the payment type here. The virtual terminal will only work
with payment types that are enabled in your gateway account.
Charge Action. Choose to either authorize this transaction only, or to charge the
card.
Credit Card. Fill in the credit card information:
Name on Credit Card. Enter the client’s name as it appears on their credit card.
Credit Card Type. Enter the credit card type.
Credit Card Number. Enter the credit card number, with no spaces.
Expiration Date. Enter the credit card expiration date.
CVV2 Code. Enter the client’s CVV2 code, if this is required by your gateway.
Issue Number. If you are using certain debit cards, you must enter this information
(if you do not know what this is, it’s likely you don’t need to use this).
Start Date. Like the Issue Number, if you are using certain debit cards, you must
enter this information.
4 Click Charge.
Server groups enable you to organize sets of panel modules together, and tie that
group to a product or products. For example, if you want to sell Plesk hosting, and you
have five Plesk servers, you would create a single server group and add all five panel
modules to that single server group. Then, while setting up your products, you have to
option to tie each product with a server group - for your Plesk hosting products you
would choose the Plesk server group.
You can reach the server group page by going to System > Server Settings > Server
Groups. Each server group can have only one type of control panel. This includes
differences between Plesk for Linux and Plesk for Windows, for example. These are
different panels, working with different kinds of servers, so they must be in different
server groups.
In this chapter:
Adding a Server Group ...................................................................................... 62
Adding Panels to a Server Group ...................................................................... 63
CH A P T E R 8
Configuring Hosting Settings
62 Configuring Hosting Settings
Adding a Server Group
By default, your system comes with a server group already created. If you only need
one server group, you can simple configure the default group.
To add a server group:
1 Go to System > Server Settings > Server Groups.
2 Clicking Add Server Group in the upper right hand corner of the server
groups page.
3 On the second page, enter the name you would like to use for the
server group. This is not something your clients will see, so it can be
whatever is meaningful to you. Then choose the fill type you would
like:
Add to the Least Full panel. If you choose this fill option, Parallels Plesk Billing will
add the next new account to the panel with the smallest number of accounts.
Fill panels until full, one by one. This option tells Parallels Plesk Billing that you
want it to fill each panel one at a time, adding accounts to first one server, and
then the next, until each is full.
Note: fill type rules only apply if you have more than one panel module configured
in the server group. Otherwise, Parallels Plesk Billing will just add all new accounts
to the one panel module.
4 Click Add Server Group.
Configuring Hosting Settings 63
Adding Panels to a Server Group
Once you have created a server group, you should be taken back to the main server
group page. From here, you should see your new server group, with the words Add a
Panel and a drop down menu visible next to it.
To add a panel to a server group:
1 Choose the panel type you would like to add.
2 Click add.
3 You will be taken to the panel module configuration page.
While many panels are configured similarly, each panel module has at least
slight differences. Please refer to the specific instructions for each panel module
to understand how it must be configured. Here is a list of our panel modules,
linked to each module’s configuration page.
In this section:
Centova Cast .................................................................................................... 64
Cortex ............................................................................................................... 65
cPanel ............................................................................................................... 66
Cube Panel ....................................................................................................... 67
DirectAdmin ....................................................................................................... 68
EMS-Cortex ....................................................................................................... 69
eNomHost ......................................................................................................... 69
Parallels Plesk Panel ......................................................................................... 71
Parallels Pro Control Panel ............................................................................... 72
64 Configuring Hosting Settings
Centova Cast
Once the configuration page loads, you have the following options available to you.
Server Name. This is a name used to identify the Centova Cast server and is for your
own reference purposes only.
Enabled. This option allows you to disable or enable Parallels Plesk Billing’s ability to
auto-provision to the server. Please note that hosting accounts already tied to the
server will continue to function regardless of the “enabled” status of the module.
Administrator Password. This is the administrator account’s password through which you
would like to access your Centova Cast server.
Centova Cast URL. This is the fully qualified domain name and path at which Parallels
Plesk Billing will attempt to access your Centova Cast server’s administrator interface
(i.e. http://www.example.com/centovacast/).
Show Server Load. This allows you to enable or disable the Server Load status on your
Server Group Settings page. Some Centova Cast installations do not support this, in
which case you should disable this option.
Configuring Hosting Settings 65
Cortex
Once the configuration page loads, you have the following options available to you.
Server Name. This is a name used to identify the Cortex server and is for your own
reference purposes only.
Enabled. This option allows you to disable or enable Parallels Plesk Billing’s ability to
auto-provision to the server. Please note that hosting accounts already tied to the
server will continue to function regardless of the “enabled” status of the module.
Cortex Username. This is the administrator account’s user name through which you would
like to access your Cortex server.
Cortex Password. This is the administrator account’s password through which you would
like to access your Cortex server.
Cortex URL. This is the domain/IP and port at which Parallels Plesk Billing will attempt to
access your Cortex server’s administrator interface (example:
https://www.mydomain.com:8365).
Cortex IP. This is the IP Address that is sent to customers in the packageInfo e-mails.
Account Name Rule. This is the rule by which Parallels Plesk Billing will create account
user names for your customers in Cortex. Your customers will receive the resulting user
name in their packageInfo e-mail and may log into the Cortex user interface with it.
Prefix or Suffix. This is added to the beginning or end of the order form input user name
only if you are using Add Suffix or User Name Prefix as the Account Name Rule. Any
alphanumeric character is allowed as a prefix/suffix.
Sequence. This is the sequence that will be added to the end of order form input user
names only if you are using Add Sequence as the Account Name Rule. Only numbers are
allowed in this field; whatever is entered will automatically increment by one each time
a new account is created on the Cortex server.
66 Configuring Hosting Settings
cPanel
Once the configuration page loads, you have the following options available to you.
Server Name. This is a name used to identify the cPanel server and is for your own
reference purposes only.
Enabled. This option allows you to disable or enable Parallels Plesk Billing’s ability to
auto-provision to the server. Please note that hosting accounts already tied to the
server will continue to function regardless of the “enabled” status of the module.
Username. This is the administrator account’s username through which you would like to
access your cPanel server.
Host. This is the domain/IP at which Parallels Plesk Billing will attempt to access your
cPanel server’s admin interface (example: cpanel.mydomain.com).
Access Hash. This is the access hash generated from within cPanel that corresponds to
the user name entered above. If they exist, make sure you remove the “------BEGIN
WHM ACCESS KEY------“ and “-------END WHM ACCESS KEY-------“ lines in
your cPanel Access Hash.
Use SSL. This allows you to connect to your cPanel server in SSL mode on port 2087 (if
your cPanel is configured for this).
Account Name Rule. This is the rule by which Parallels Plesk Billing will create account
user names for your customers’ domain names in cPanel. Your customers will receive
the resulting user name in their packageInfo e-mail and may log into the cPanel user
interface with it.
Display a panel login link on the client side? This allows you to display a “panel login” link in
the Parallels Plesk Billing client interface that, when click, will automatically log your
customers into their cPanel account.
Prefix or Suffix. This is added to the beginning or end of the order form input user name
only if you are using Add Suffix or User Name Prefix as the Account Name Rule. Any
alphanumeric character is allowed as a prefix/suffix.
Sequence. This is the sequence that will be added to the end of order form input user
names only if you are using Add Sequence as the Account Name Rule. Only numbers are
allowed in this field; whatever is entered will automatically increment by one each time
a new account is created on the cPanel server.
Configuring Hosting Settings 67
Cube Panel
Once the configuration page loads, you have the following options available to you.
Server Name. This is a name used to identify the Cube Panel server and is for your own
reference purposes only.
Enabled. This option allows you to disable or enable Parallels Plesk Billing’s ability to
auto-provision to the server. Please note that hosting accounts already tied to the
server will continue to function regardless of the “enabled” status of the module.
Cube Panel Username. This is the administrator account’s user name through which you
would like to access your Cube Panel server.
Cube Panel Password. This is the administrator account’s password through which you
would like to access your Cube Panel server.
IP. This is the IP at which Parallels Plesk Billing will attempt to access your Cube Panel
server’s administrator interface.
Show Server Load. This allows you to enable or disable the Server Load status on your
Server Group Settings page. Some Cube Panel installations do not support this, in which
case you should disable this option.
Account Name Rule. This is the rule by which Parallels Plesk Billing will create account
user names for your customers in Cube Panel. Your customers will receive the
resulting user name in their packageInfo e-mail and may log into the Cube Panel user
interface with it.
68 Configuring Hosting Settings
DirectAdmin
Once the configuration page loads, you have the following options available to you.
Server Name. This is a name used to identify the DirectAdmin server and is for your own
reference purposes only.
Enabled. This option allows you to disable or enable Parallels Plesk Billing’s ability to
auto-provision to the server. Please note that hosting accounts already tied to the
server will continue to function regardless of the “enabled” status of the module.
Username. This is the administrator account’s user name through which you would like
to access your DirectAdmin server.
Password. This is the administrator account’s password through which you would like to
access your DirectAdmin server.
URL. This is the domain/IP and port at which Parallels Plesk Billing will attempt to
access your DirectAdmin server’s administrator interface (i.e.
https://www.mydomain.com:2222).
IP. This is the IP Address that is sent to customers in the packageInfo e-mails. It is also
the IP Address to which DirectAdmin will bind the Apache VirtualHost for each created
hosting account.
Show Server Load. This allows you to enable or disable the Server Load status on your
Server Group Settings page. Some DirectAdmin installations do not support this, in which
case you should disable this option.
Account Name Rule. This is the rule by which Parallels Plesk Billing will create account
usernames for your customers’ domain names in DirectAdmin. Your customers will
receive the resulting username in their packageInfo e-mail and may log into the
DirectAdmin user interface with it.
Prefix or Suffix. This is added to the beginning or end of the order form input username
only if you are using Add Suffix or Username Prefix as the Account Name Rule. Any
alphanumeric character is allowed as a prefix/suffix.
Sequence. This is the sequence that will be added to the end of order form input
usernames only if you are using Add Sequence as the Account Name Rule. Only numbers
are allowed in this field; whatever is entered will automatically increment by one each
time a new account is created on the DirectAdmin server.
Configuring Hosting Settings 69
EMS-Cortex
Once the configuration page loads, you have the following options available to you.
Server Name. This is a name used to identify the EMS-Cortex server and is for your own
reference purposes only.
Enabled. This option allows you to disable or enable Parallels Plesk Billing’s ability to
auto-provision to the server. Please note that hosting accounts already tied to the
server will continue to function regardless of the “enabled” status of the module.
Ems Cortex Username. This is the administrator account’s user name through which you
would like to access your EMS-Cortex server.
Ems Cortex Password. This is the administrator account’s password through which you
would like to access your EMS-Cortex server.
Ems Cortex URL. This is the domain at which Parallels Plesk Billing will attempt to access
your EMS-Cortex server’s administrator interface.
Account Name Rule. This is the rule by which Parallels Plesk Billing will create account
user names for your customers in EMS-Cortex. Your customers will receive the
resulting user name in their packageInfo e-mail and may log into the EMS-Cortex user
interface with it.
Prefix or Suffix. This is added to the beginning or end of the order form input user name
only if you are using Add Suffix or Username Prefix as the Account Name Rule. Any
alphanumeric character is allowed as a prefix/suffix.
Sequence. This is the sequence that will be added to the end of order form input user
names only if you are using Add Sequence as the Account Name Rule. Only numbers are
allowed in this field; whatever is entered will automatically increment by one each time
a new account is created on the EMS-Cortex server.
eNomHost
Once the configuration page loads, you have the following options available to you.
Server Name. This is a name used to identify the DirectAdmin server and is for your own
reference purposes only.
Enabled. This option allows you to disable or enable Parallels Plesk Billing’s ability to
auto-provision the eNom Hosting plan. Please note that hosting accounts already tied
to eNom Hosting will continue to function regardless of the “enabled” status of the
module.
User name. This is the eNom Reseller account’s user name through which you would
like to access your eNom Account.
Password. This is the eNom Reseller account’s password through which you would like
to access your eNom Account.
70 Configuring Hosting Settings
Account Name Rule. This is the rule by which Parallels Plesk Billing will create account
user names for your customers’ domain names in eNom. Your customers will receive
the resulting user name in their packageInfo e-mail and may log into the eNom user
interface with it.
Prefix or Suffix. This is added to the beginning or end of the order form input user name
only if you are using Add Suffix or User Name Prefix as the Account Name Rule. Any
alphanumeric character is allowed as a prefix/suffix.
Sequence. This is the sequence that will be added to the end of order form input user
names only if you are using Add Sequence as the Account Name Rule. Only numbers are
allowed in this field; whatever is entered will automatically increment by one each time
a new eNom hosting account is created.
Configuring Hosting Settings 71
Parallels Plesk Panel
Before you can set up your Plesk module, you must have a Server Group (on page 61)
for Parallels Plesk Panel setup. Once you have successfully created a Server Group,
follow the instructions below.
To set up a Plesk Module:
1 Go to System > Server Settings > Server Groups.
2 Click the + PleskUnix or + PleskWin link.
3 When the page loads, fill in the panel options:
Server Name. Enter the name you want to call this Plesk server.
Enabled. Select Yes.
User name. Enter the user name to the Plesk interface.
Password. Enter the password to the Plesk interface.
URL. Enter the URL to the Plesk server.
IP. Enter the IP to the Plesk server.
Show Server Level. specify if you want to show the server load level for this Plesk
module.
Account Name Rule. Select the type of name rule you want to apply to the
username.
Prefix or Suffix. Enter the prefix/suffix you want to apply to the user name.
Username Sequence. Enter the numeric value you want to use for the user name
sequence.
Try to register Plesk Server in SSO. Specify if you want to register this server in a
Single Sign On system.
Minimum User name Length. Enter the minimum length for the user name.
Maximum User name Length. Enter the maximum length for the user name.
Minimum Password Length. Enter the minimum length for the password.
Maximum Password Length. Enter the maximum length for the password.
Maximum Server Weight. Enter the maximum server weight for this server.
Current Number of Accounts. How many accounts are currently on the server?
Enter the number.
Name server. Specify the name server.
Name server IP. Specify the IP.
4 Click the Save button.
After setting up your Plesk module, you will be able to configure the Plesk
attributes for each of your products. For more information, view the Appendix A.
Parallels Plesk Panel Attributes (on page 230) document.
72 Configuring Hosting Settings
Parallels Pro Control Panel
Once the configuration page loads, you have the following options available to you.
Server Name. This is a name used to identify the Parallels Pro server and is for your own
reference purposes only.
Enabled. This option allows you to disable or enable Parallels Plesk Billing’s ability to
auto-provision to the server. Please note that hosting accounts already tied to the
server will continue to function regardless of the “enabled” status of the module.
Symbolic Link Append String. This is where you enter the symbolic link appending string. It
is already set to -XYZ by default.
Shared IP. This is the IP address to your Parallels Pro Control Panel server. This is also
the IP Address that is sent to customers in the packageInfo e-mails.
Account Name Rule. This is the rule by which Parallels Plesk Billing will create account
user names for your customers’ domain names in Parallels Pro. Your customers will
receive the resulting user name in their packageInfo e-mail and may log into the
Parallels Pro user interface with it.
Prefix or Suffix. This is added to the beginning or end of the order form input user name
only if you are using Add Suffix or User Name Prefix as the Account Name Rule. Any
alphanumeric character is allowed as a prefix/suffix.
Sequence. This is the sequence that will be added to the end of order form input user
names only if you are using Add Sequence as the Account Name Rule. Only numbers are
allowed in this field; whatever is entered will automatically increment by one each time
a new account is created on the Parallels Pro server.
Once you pressed Save, configure also the following:
1 Create symbolic links to the VirtDomain scripts on the local server,
using the Symbolic Link Append String you entered while editing Parallels
Pro options.
Example:
cd /usr/local/bin
ln -s AddVirtDomain AddVirtDomain-XYZ
ln -s DeleteVirtDomain DeleteVirtDomain-XYZ
ln -s EnableVirtDomain EnableVirtDomain-XYZ
ln -s DisableVirtDomain DisableVirtDomain-XYZ
ln -s EditVirtDomain EditVirtDomain-XYZ
ln -s ListAllVirtDomains ListAllVirtDomains-XYZ,
ln -s DomainExists DomainExists-XYZ,
ln -s AddReseller AddReseller-XYZ
2 Edit the file /etc/sudoers. Add the following lines to the end of the
file, substituting your link names as needed:
Cmnd_Alias ENSIM = /usr/local/bin/AddVirtDomain-XYZ, \
/usr/local/bin/DeleteVirtDomain-XYZ, \
/usr/local/bin/EnableVirtDomain-XYZ, \
Configuring Hosting Settings 73
/usr/local/bin/DisableVirtDomain-XYZ, \
/usr/local/bin/EditVirtDomain-XYZ,
/usr/local/bin/ListAllVirtDomains-XYZ, \
/usr/local/bin/DomainExists-XYZ, \
/usr/local/bin/AddReseller-XYZ
apache ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: ENSIM
Make sure that the following, if present, is commented out:
Defaults requiretty
Parallels Plesk Billing supports integration with a variety of domain registration services
(on page 18).
There are two steps in getting your system configured with one or more of the domain
registrar through which you resell and to tie to appropriate TLDs to each of those
registrars:
1 Configure domain registrar modules (on page 74).
2 Assign TLDs (on page 75).
In this chapter:
Configuring Registrar Modules .......................................................................... 74
Adding a TLD .................................................................................................... 75
Editing TLDs ...................................................................................................... 76
Setting Up Domain Sync Count ......................................................................... 76
Adding ID Protect as an Add-on for Domains .................................................... 76
Configuring Registrar Modules
To edit domain registrar options:
1 Go to System > Domain Settings > Registrar Modules. On this page, you can
see all of the available registrar integrations we provide with Parallels
Plesk Billing.
2 Click the Edit button next to any of the registrars you plan to use and
configure them according to the information on their specific interfaces
later in their document. The most important thing to keep in mind is
that only registrars with Enabled: Yes will be used in your Parallels Plesk
Billing.
CH A P T E R 9
Configuring Domain Settings
Configuring Domain Settings 75
Adding a TLD
To add a new TLD:
1 Go to Products > TLDs > Add TLD.
2 Fill out the form:
Name. TLD name. Usually it is the same as Extension, such as eu, com, net, org.
However, if you want domains in the same zone to be charged by another
registrar, you create a new TLD and choose another name for it, for example,
eu2.
Extension. TLD extension such as eu - must be without a dot!
Registrar. Choose a domain registration service through which domain
registration in this TLD will be paid.
Active. Check this box to make this TLD available for domain registration
products.
Whois Server. The whois server is the server used to verify the status of a
domain. Check with the registrar you are using for the TLD to acquire the correct
whois server.
Whois Response. When the whois server returns the status of the domain, it
shows the registered or available status. The whois response is specific to the
whois server.
Auto Search. The auto search feature automatically searches for more than one
type of TLD. For example, if you have .com, .net, .org, .biz and .info set to active
and the Auto Search feature enabled, the system will retrieve any available TLDs
from your active list.
Is Transferable. Check this box if your domain can be transferred.
Transfer Type. Select domain transfer type from the options: Code, Fax, Phone, E-
mail.
Transfer Minimum Term. Set the minimum time for domain transfer
Minimum Term. Choose minimum term for domain registration.
Maximum Term. Choose maximum term for domain registration.
Local Renew Type. Select the domain registration renewal type from the drop-
down menu. Your choices include: Disabled, Auto Renew, ModernBill Renew.
IDN Support. Check this box if IDN (International Domain Name - non-Latin
characters in domain names) is enabled for this TLD.
IDN Type. Choose the IDN provider for this TLD (Punycode).
Remote Lock. Check this box if you want the TLD to be locked (not transferable)
3 Click Add TLD to submit.
76 Configuring Domain Settings
Editing TLDs
To edit a TLD:
1 Proceed to the list of TLDs: Settings > Products > TLDs > Show TLDs. Or,
you can choose Settings > Domain Settings > Domain TLD Settings.
2 Click the Edit icon in front of a TLD to proceed to the TLD settings form
(see the description for the Adding TLD page).
Click Edit TLD to submit.
Setting Up Domain Sync Count
Each time the ProcessDomainSynchronization (on page 46) cron runs, it synchronizes
the information about domains registered by Enom in Parallels Plesk Billing with Enom.
Domain Sync Count option sets the number of domains whose registration information will
be synchronized with Enom at a time.
To set Domain Sync Count:
1 Go to System > Domain Settings > Domain Sync Settings.
2 Set a numeric value to the Domain Sync Count field (for example, to 100).
3 Click Save Settings to apply.
Adding ID Protect as an Add-on for
Domains
ID Protect can be offered as add-on for domains. Please note that provisioning this
add-on will only work if you are using a registrar that supports this feature (for example,
eNom).
Perform the steps below to add the ID Protect option to your order form.
In this section:
Step 1. Create a Custom Question ID Protect ................................................... 77
Step 2. Add the ID Protect Option to the Domain Product ................................. 78
Configuring Domain Settings 77
Step 1. Create a Custom Question ID Protect
To create the custom question:
1 Navigate to System > Order Settings > Custom Attributes.
2 When the page loads, click the button New Generic Attribute.
3 Set the following as given below:
Setup Internal Values:
Generic Attribute Key. idProtect
Generic Question Name. ID Protect
Setup Display Values:
Default Question. Do you want ID Protect?
Default Answer Value. Yes.
Question Description. ID Protect option.
4 Click Save.
78 Configuring Domain Settings
Step 2. Add the ID Protect Option to the Domain
Product
To add the ID Protect option to the domain product:
1 Navigate to Products > Domain Registration Product > Details.
2 In the field labeled Add-on Option, select Optional from the drop-down
box.
3 Click Save.
4 Click the Attributes link from the submenu.
5 Click Save Changes.
6 Click the Add-ons link from the submenu.
7 When the page loads, click Create New Add-on for This Product.
8 Set the following accordingly:
Add-on Step 1:
Panel Attribute to Change. Select Do you want ID Protect?.
Add-on HTML Display Type. Select Check boxes.
Add-on Display Label. Type Domain Options or Domain Features.
9 Click Next.
10 Set the following accordingly:
Add-on Step 2:
Option Display Name. Type ID Protect.
Option Internal Value(s). Type Yes.
Question Description. Type ID Protect option.
11 Click Next.
12 Set prices for the ID Protect option and click Next.
13 Click Finish.
The ID Protect option will now be available on your order form.
In this chapter:
Understanding Billing Modes ............................................................................. 79
Setting Up Invoicing .......................................................................................... 82
Configuring Taxes ............................................................................................. 84
Creating Coupons ............................................................................................. 89
Adding Cycle Discounts ..................................................................................... 90
Understanding Billing Modes
Parallels Plesk Billing is, at heart, a billing system. Because of this, it’s important to
understand how the billing process works, from beginning to end. There are two main
billing modes in Parallels Plesk Billing: Anniversary Billing Mode and Monthly Billing
Mode. We will outline the aspects of each of these separately, as there are some
important differences between these two choices.
In this section:
Anniversary Billing Mode ................................................................................... 80
Monthly Billing Mode ......................................................................................... 81
CH A P T E R 10
Setting Up Invoices and Billing
80 Setting Up Invoices and Billing
Anniversary Billing Mode
As the name implies, anniversary billing mode involves billing clients on the anniversary
of the day they signed up for the package. Broadly speaking, this has two major results:
Having invoice due dates spread throughout the month means that you will have a
steady stream of income. It also means that if there is a problem with billing for any
reason (your server goes down, your gateway is having trouble), only a small
percentage of your clients may be affected. This makes recovering from such
occurrences less painful.
If you generate invoices every day, clients with multiple packages purchased on
different dates will receive multiple invoices for their purchases. For clients who pay
manually, this may be undesirable. It should not be an issue for clients who pay
automatically.
In addition to the above, it is important to consider scalability. Because anniversary
mode results in a monthly billing workload divided between 28-31 days, you are much
less likely to have problems with race conditions and other server-based limitations as
your company grows. If you intend to have any more than 20 clients, we recommend
that you choose anniversary billing mode.
What to Expect in Anniversary Billing
Knowing what to expect from your billing system can help alleviate a lot of potential
concern and confusion. Here we will walk through the life of a hypothetical client,
focusing specifically on how they will be billed.
Say you have a customer, Alice. Alice would like to order hosting and purchase a
domain name from you. She finds your product listings on the web, and goes through
your order process. This process will create a client record in your Parallels Plesk
Billing for Alice, and add two packages to this account. Let’s assume that Alice chose to
pay for her hosting on a monthly billing cycle, and her domain on a yearly billing cycle,
and that she chose a product called Personal Hosting. We will also assume that you
have Parallels Plesk Billing set to generate invoices ten days before the package is set
to renew.
As part of the order process, the first invoice for of Alice’s packages will be created. No
matter how she chooses to pay, the system will automatically enter the date that each
of these packages renews. Say she signs up on June 15th, 2008. Her hosting package,
which is on a monthly billing cycle, will renew again on July 15th, 2008. Her domain,
which is on a yearly cycle, will renew June 15th, 2009. Because she purchased her
packages on the 15th of the month, these packages will always renew on the 15th.
Now let’s say that Alice has decided to open a small business, and she wants a
separate hosting account for this business’ website. She goes through your order
process again, this time on the 20th of August. She buys your Business Hosting
package. An invoice is automatically generated through the order process for this first
month of hosting. Alice would already have paid for her Personal Hosting on August
15th.
Setting Up Invoices and Billing 81
In September, Alice will get two invoices. She will get an invoice for her Personal
Hosting that will renew on September 15th, and a second invoice for her Business
Hosting, which will renew on September 20th. Now let’s fast forward to May 2009.
By default, Parallels Plesk Billing is set to generate domain renewal invoices 30 days in
advance, rather than the 5-10 days that other package invoices are usually set to be
generated. This is to prevent people from losing their domains. Thirty days provides
enough warning that a client should have time to pay their bill on time, and allow the
renewal to take place. Because of this, Alice will receive three invoices. On May 5th,
Alice will get an invoice for her Personal Hosting package, which renews ten days later,
on May 15th. On May 10th, she will get an invoice for her Business Hosting package,
which renews May 20th. On May 15th, Alice will get an invoice for her domain package,
which renews June 15th.
This may sound like a lot of invoices. Keep in mind that if Alice is paying with a credit
card that she keeps on file, or with PayPal subscriptions (the two most common
payment methods), these payments will be made and logged by Parallels Plesk Billing
without either you or Alice having to do any work. If Alice pays manually, she can write
a single check for all three invoices and mail one payment. You can use the Quick
Manual Payment feature to mark each of her invoices paid.
Monthly Billing Mode
Like anniversary mode, monthly billing mode will invoice your clients on a regular cycle,
usually once a month. Unlike anniversary billing, client packages will all renew on the
first day of the month. Billing your clients once a month has a couple of main features:
No matter how many packages a client might have, they will receive a single
invoice listing all packages renewing in any given month.
If you choose to run your billing manually, you can set aside an afternoon to
generate invoices, and a second afternoon to run them through the gateway.
Monthly billing often involves proration. If a client would like to buy a package on the
15th, you can either choose to have that package start on the first of the next month, or
to prorate that first month. Proration adds another level of complexity to your billing,
which can sometimes cause confusion for your potential customers. Because of this,
and the scalability issues mentioned above, we recommend that companies do not use
monthly billing unless they intend to have a small number of clients.
However, it is possible to use monthly billing mode and set your products to not prorate.
This causes these products to behave as if you were in anniversary mode. This is
especially useful for selling items such as SSL certificates and domains. These items
have fixed start and renewal dates determined by outside sources. Proration would
result in package renewal dates that did not match the actual item’s renewal date, and
could cause problems.
What to Expect in Monthly Billing
We have already seen that the typical client’s invoicing will look like in anniversary
mode. Now let us see what this system will look like in monthly mode.
82 Setting Up Invoices and Billing
Meet Alice’s friend Bob. On June 15th, 2008, Bob decides he wants to buy several
packages from you. He buys Personal Hosting on a monthly cycle and a domain on a
yearly cycle. Your Personal Hosting product is set to prorate; your domain product is
not. Let’s assume that you have your proration threshold set to the 15th. This means
anyone who signs up on the 15th or later will pay for the rest of the month they are in,
plus the next month.
As part of the order process, Bob paid the first invoices for these packages. Like
anniversary billing, no matter how Bob pays, his packages will automatically be
updated with their next renewal date. Because Bob’s Personal Hosting package was
set to prorate, his first invoice charged him for the rest of June and the whole month of
July. The domain package was not set to prorate, so he was charged for a full year.
In the end of July, Bob will get another invoice for his Personal Hosting package, due
August 1st. This will cover the whole month of August. Say that Bob decides, after
paying this bill, that he would like to buy a Business Hosting package for his new small
business. On August 5th, Bob goes through your order process again, this time to
purchase Business Hosting. Because the 5th is before your proration threshold of the
15th, Bob will simply pay for the rest of August in this first invoice. In the end of August,
Bob will receive a single invoice. This invoice will carry charges for both the Personal
Hosting and Business Hosting account.
Fast-forward to May of 2009. Bob will again receive an invoice in late April for both the
Personal Hosting and Business Hosting packages. May 15th, Bob will receive a second
invoice, this time for his domain which is set to renew June 15th. Remember, this
package was set not to prorate, so it follows the anniversary billing behavior for
package renewal dates. In the end of May, Bob will again be billed for his two hosting
packages on a single invoice.
Just like in anniversary mode, Bob’s invoices can be set to be paid automatically, with a
credit card kept on file or via third party subscription accounts.
Setting Up Invoicing
You can set up invoicing to support the following:
Invoice active clients
Invoice suspended clients
Invoice active packages
Invoice suspended packages
Invoice active domains
Send invoice e-mail notifications The system also allows you to select how you want
to number your invoices such as:
YEAR-ID, example 2006-1234
YEAR-SEQ, example: 2006-1
VATYEAR-SEQ, example 2006-1
Set the sequence of your invoices. For example, you can start with “1” or “1000” or any
number specific to your business needs.
Setting Up Invoices and Billing 83
Invoicing is one of the many features used by Parallels Plesk Billing to create
accounting entries. The basic accounting entries that get created for an invoice are as
follows:
Income: The amount of money you have coming in from the invoice in reference,
not
including taxes.
Taxes Payable: The amount of money that you are going to pay in taxes for the
invoice in reference.
Accounts Receivable: The amount of money (income + tax) you will receive from
the customer for the invoice in reference.
There are other accounting entries that can be made during invoice creation, but those
are controlled by you. For example, coupon cost. When someone uses a coupon,
Parallels Plesk Billing will keep track of how much the product they purchased WOULD
have cost them had they not used a coupon. The system creates the appropriate
expense entries each time an invoice is created.
In addition to coupon cost, there is product cost. You have the ability to associate
generic accounting entries with each product created. These entries are created each
time a package of that product type is included on an invoice.
To set up invoicing:
1 Go to System > Invoice & Billing Settings > Invoice Settings.
2 Fill in the necessary information:
Billing Mode. Choose the billing mode (on page 79) you would like to use.
Day of month to bill. This is the day of the month that your billing will happen on if
you have the system set to monthly billing mode. Packages will also be prorated
to this day if they are proratable. If not, those packages will be billed for in
anniversary mode only.
Monthly proration threshold. If you chose monthly billing mode, this date
determines whether the client will pay strictly for the partial month they are in, or
whether they will pay for the rest of the current month and the next full month.
Invoice Active Clients. Would you like to invoice active clients? Normally, this is
Yes.
Invoice Suspended Clients. Would you like to invoice suspended clients? Normally,
this is No. Setting it to Yes means that invoices will continue to be generated
indefinitely.
Invoice Active Packages. Would you like to generate invoices for your active
packages? This is normally Yes.
Invoice Suspended Packages. Would you like to invoice suspended packages? This
is normally No. Like clients, setting this to yes will tell Parallels Plesk Billing to
generate invoices for these packages indefinitely.
Send Invoice e-mail notifications. Do you want your clients to get an e-mail letting
them know that their invoice has been generated?
Invoice Number Template. Choose the format you would like Parallels Plesk Billing
to use for the invoice numbers.
84 Setting Up Invoices and Billing
Invoice Sequence. You can choose the invoice number that you would like
Parallels Plesk Billing to start with.
Invoice Generate Days Before Renew Date. This setting tells Parallels Plesk Billing
how many days before a package is set to renew you would like an invoice to be
generated.
Domain Invoice Generate Days Before Renew Date. Domain package renewals can be
treated differently than other renewals. Normally, more time is given to domain
renewals, because non-payment can lead to a client losing their domain.
Invoice Due Days After Generation. How many days after the invoice is generated
would you like it to be due?
Invoice Line Item Threshold. This number sets the maximum number of line items
per invoice. For example, if you have a client with 102 packages, and this value
is set to 50, the client will get three invoices. Fifty is generally a good value.
3 Click Save Settings.
Configuring Taxes
If you are required to charge taxes for your products, you will need to set them up in
Parallels Plesk Billing. Setting up the tax calculations requires three main steps:
creating tax zones, creating tax zone groups, and tying tax zone groups to your
products.
In this section:
Creating Tax Zones ........................................................................................... 85
Creating Tax Zone Groups ................................................................................ 86
Handling VAT Taxation...................................................................................... 86
Setting Up Invoices and Billing 85
Creating Tax Zones
Different countries or even sub-national units where you sell your products may have
different taxes applies. That is why you may need to create several tax zones.
However, if there are no such differences on the territory of your business, one default
tax zone will suffice. Modify the default tax zone according to your needs.
For example, you have a hosting product you are selling to the US and the UK. You will
create a tax zone for each of the different taxes that could apply to your hosting product
depending on the location of your customers.
To create a tax zone:
1 Go to System > Invoice & Billing Settings > Tax Zones.
2 Click Add Tax Zone in the upper right corner.
3 Set the following:
Country. Select the country specific to where you want to apply taxes.
Name. Enter the state or province of where you want this tax to apply. Can be
two character state abbreviation or a combination of a two character state
abbreviation and city.
Note: Enter an asterisk (*) or leave blank to apply to all.
Example: KY or KY-Louisville (When using the city associated with the two
character state abbreviation, the tax zone only applies taxes to the specified
city.)
Type. Select Percentage or Set Amount from the drop down menu.
Tax Amount. If you selected Percentage for the Type, enter the percentage value. If
you selected Set Amount for the Type, enter the amount of the tax.
Note: Percentage values get entered as a whole number, not a decimal
number. Ex. 6, not .06
Description. Enter the description of this tax zone. Your customer will see this
description.
Tax Zone Active. Select Active from the drop down menu.
Ledger Account. Select a Ledger Account.
Tax Zone Groups. Highlight the group(s) that you want this tax zone to be
associated with in the Selectable menu. Double-click or click on the left arrow
button.
4 Click Save.
86 Setting Up Invoices and Billing
Creating Tax Zone Groups
To create a tax zone group:
1 Go to System > Invoice & Billing Settings > Tax Zones Groups.
2 Click Add Tax Zone Group in the upper right corner.
3 Fill in the necessary information and select tax zones.
4 Click Save.
Now you should be able to choose this tax zone group when setting prices for a
product. This is done by clicking Prices in the chain of links below the product’s
details.
Handling VAT Taxation
To get your system ready for collecting VAT taxes, perform the steps described below.
In this section:
Step 1. Create Tax Zones ................................................................................. 87
Step 2. Create VAT Tax Zone Group ................................................................. 87
Step 3. Apply VAT Tax Zone Group to Products................................................ 87
Step 4. Enter Your VAT Number ....................................................................... 87
Step 5. Include VAT Number into Invoice E-mails ............................................. 88
Step 6. Enable VAT Verification ........................................................................ 88
Setting Up Invoices and Billing 87
Step 1. Create Tax Zones
Each of the different countries that you are going to charge VAT requires their own tax
zone.
For instructions, refer to the section Creating Tax Zones (on page 85).
Step 2. Create VAT Tax Zone Group
For instructions, refer to the section Creating Tax Zones Groups (on page 86).
Step 3. Apply VAT Tax Zone Group to Products
To apply VAT tax zone group to products:
1 Click Products.
2 When the page loads, find the product you want to require VAT.
3 Click on the details icon in the Actions column for that product.
4 Click the Prices link.
5 When the page loads you will see the Product Variants. Click on the
pricing icon in the Pricing column.
Note: Non-domain hosting products have a single product variant.
6 Select the VAT tax zone group you want to associate with this product
in the Tax Zone Group drop down menu.
7 Click Save Changes.
Note: For domain products the process is slightly different as you may want to
charge VAT for certain TLD’s (.co.uk) and not others (.com). Each TLD that you
have for the domain product will display as a different variant. Edit the pricing of
each variant that you wish to charge VAT for and associate it with the VAT tax zone
group.
8 For each of your products repeat the preceding steps.
Step 4. Enter Your VAT Number
To enter your VAT number in the system.
1 Go to System > System Settings > Company Settings.
2 When the page loads, enter your VAT number at the bottom in the
Company Tax ID Number text box.
3 Click Save Changes.
88 Setting Up Invoices and Billing
Step 5. Include VAT Number into Invoice E-mails
To make sure that your VAT number shows up in your invoice e-mails:
1 Go to System > E-mail Settings > E-mail Template Groups.
2 Find all your invoice e-mail templates. Click on the edit icon for a
template.
3 When the page loads, click on the edit icon in the Actions column.
4 Enter the following variable in each template accordingly:
{companyTaxIDNumber}
5 Click Save.
Step 6. Enable VAT Verification
You have the option to have your system verify VAT numbers provided by your clients
at the time of order and apply taxes accordingly. If you do not set this setting it will
charge clients tax regardless of whether they supply a valid VAT number or not.
To turn on VAT verification:
1 Go to System > Order Settings > Order Form Settings.
2 Click on the edit icon in the Actions column for the order form you want
to verify VAT tax.
3 When the page loads, check the box next to Verify VAT Numbers.
4 Click Save.
Setting Up Invoices and Billing 89
Creating Coupons
You can create coupons for as many billing cycles as you want and/or period of time
that you need specific to any product in your system.
To create a coupon:
1 Go to Products > Coupons > Add Coupon.
2 Set the following:
Coupon Code. Enter the name of your coupon.
Type. Select the type you want to use for your coupon (Percent or Unit).
Percent. You can set the coupon to be any percentage specific to your needs.
Unit. You can set a flat amount off of a particular product.
Discount. Enter either a percentage value or a flat amount value. (MUST be a
numeric value.)
Comments. Enter any comments you want for this coupon.
Active. Is the coupon active? Select Yes.
Start Date. Enter the date you want the coupon to start by selecting the date
options from each drop down menu or click on the “...” button to view the built-in
calendar.
End Date. By default the End Date is disabled. If the End Date is left disabled, it will
not expire. To enable the End Date setting, click on the check box. Then select
the date options from each drop down menu or click on the “...” button to view
the built-in calendar.
Number of cycles. Enter the number value for the amount of billing cycles you
want the coupon to be applied.
Max Count. Enter the maximum number of times the coupon can be used.
New Signups. Is the coupon specific to new signups only? Check the box if Yes.
Apply Once Per Order. Click on the check box if you want this coupon to be applied
once per order.
Order Forms. Select the order forms you want the coupon to be used on from the
available list. Move the order form(s) values from the Selectable list on the right to
the Selected list on the left. You can double-click each order form value or you
can use the arrows at the bottom of each list.
Products. Select the products you want the coupon to be used on from the
available list. Move the product(s) from the Selectable list on the right to the
Selected list on the left. You can double-click each product or you can use the
arrows at the bottom of each list.
3 Click Add Coupon.
90 Setting Up Invoices and Billing
To view the newly added coupon, visit the Product Details page of a product for
which this coupon is active. Click Miscellaneous Options and find the Product
Coupon Settings section. By default, all coupons are manual. If you want a coupon
to automatically apply to all new orders, enable the Automatic Coupon option by
choosing the coupon in the drop-down box opposite to this option.
Adding Cycle Discounts
In addition to coupons, you can add cycle discounts. The difference between the
coupons and the cycle discounts is that the coupon creates setup price discount for a
fixed number of billing cycles. The cycle discount, on the contrary, is life-long. Besides,
manual coupons can be applied selectively whereas cycle discounts are set for all new
orders.
To add a discount, you first need to add a discount group. A discount group is assigned
to a product and may include discounts for several cycles. When assigning a discount
group to a product, make sure that cycles in the group coincide with those in the
product.
Once this is done, you can add cycle discounts to the group. Then you need to assign
the group to a product.
To add cycle discounts:
1 Go to Products > Advanced > Cycle Discounts > Add Discount Group.
2 Set the following:
Discount Group Name. Enter the name of the discount group you are creating.
Active. Check the box if you want the discount group to be active.
3 Click Add.
Note: To view discount groups in the system, go to Products > Advanced > Cycle
Discounts > Show All.
4 Go to Products > Advanced > Cycle Discounts > Add Discount.
5 Set the following:
Discount Group. Select the discount group you want to use for this discount from
the drop down menu.
Active. Check the box if you want this discount to be active.
Cycle. Select the cycle you want to use for this discount from the drop down
menu.
Discount Percentage. Enter the percentage you want to use for this discount.
6 Click Add.
7 Now you need to apply the discount group to your products. You can
associate the discount group with as many products as you need. To
apply the discount group to your products, go to the Details page of the
product you want to associate the discount group.
8 Click Prices.
Setting Up Invoices and Billing 91
9 When the page loads, select the discount group from the Cycle Discount
Group drop down menu.
10 Click Save Changes.
E-mails are an integral part of the Parallels Plesk Billing system. They are a large part
of what makes it possible to automate: when a client needs information, the system will
generate and send an e-mail automatically, letting clients know if there is something
they need to do or know. Without e-mails, managers would need to do a lot more work
to keep their system up and running.
Parallels Plesk Billing provides an extensive e-mail system that allows you to send e-
mails based on locale. There is a set of e-mail actions which are specific to each type
of e-mail group you will use in your system.
Note: E-mail actions are predefined and cannot be modified.
In this chapter:
Understanding E-mail Template Variables......................................................... 93
Adding E-mail Template Groups ........................................................................ 108
Setting Up Your Locales .................................................................................... 109
Editing Template Content .................................................................................. 110
Reloading E-mail Templates.............................................................................. 111
Resending Previously Sent E-mails ................................................................... 111
Getting Your System Ready to Send E-mail Messages ..................................... 112
Converting Version 4 E-mail Templates to Version 5 ......................................... 113
Customizing E-mail Templates .......................................................................... 114
CH A P T E R 11
Setting Up E-mails
Setting Up E-mails 93
Understanding E-mail Template Variables
Below is a list of e-mail variables organized by the templates in which you can use
them. Please note that these variables are hard coded in the system, and cannot be
changed.
In this section:
Package Info E-mail .......................................................................................... 93
Invoice E-mail .................................................................................................... 94
Credit Card Payment ......................................................................................... 96
eCheck Payment ............................................................................................... 97
Bank Draft Payment .......................................................................................... 98
Secondary Gateway Payment ........................................................................... 99
Declined Payment ............................................................................................. 100
Payment Error ................................................................................................... 101
Domain Renewal Notice .................................................................................... 102
Domain Transfer - Success E-mail .................................................................... 103
Domain Transfer - Failure E-mail ....................................................................... 104
Credit Card Expiration Notification E-mail .......................................................... 105
Package Suspension E-mails ............................................................................ 106
Package Enable E-mail ..................................................................................... 107
Package Info E-mail
Name
Variable
Your Company Name
{$companyName}
Your Company URL
{$companyURL}
Your Company Address
1
{$companyAddress1}
Your Company Address
2
{$companyAddress2}
Your Company City
{$companyCity}
Your Company State
{$companyState}
Your Company Zip
{$companyZip}
Contact First Name
{$contactFirstName
}
Contact Last Name
{$contactLastName}
Contact Name
{$clientCompany}
94 Setting Up E-mails
Contact Address 1
{$contactAddress1}
Contact Address 2
{$contactAddress2}
Contact City
{$contactCity}
Contact State
{$contactState}
Contact Zip
{$contactZip}
Package Name
{$packageName}
Package Price
{$packagePrice}
Package IP
{$packageIP}
Package User Name
{$packageUsername}
Package Password
{$packagePassword}
Domain Name
{$domainSLD}
Domain TLD
{$domainTLD}
Nameserver 1
{$nameserver1}
Nameserver 1 IP
{$nameserver1IP}
Nameserver 2
{$nameserver2}
Nameserver 2 IP
{$nameserver2IP}
Nameserver 3
{$nameserver3}
Nameserver 3 IP
{$nameserver3IP}
Nameserver 4
{$nameserver4}
Nameserver 4 IP
{$nameserver4IP}
Contact Client URL
{$companyClientURL
}
Contact User Name
{$contactUsername}
Date
{$currentDateTime}
Invoice E-mail
Name
Variable
Your Company Name
{$companyName}
Your Company URL
{$companyURL}
Setting Up E-mails 95
Your Company Address
1
{$companyAddress1}
Your Company Address
2
{$companyAddress2}
Your Company City
{$companyCity}
Your Company State
{$companyState}
Your Company Zip
{$companyZip}
Contact First Name
{$contactFirstName}
Contact Last Name
{$contactLastName}
Contact Name
{$clientCompany}
Contact Address 1
{$contactAddress1}
Contact Address 2
{$contactAddress2}
Contact City
{$contactCity}
Contact State
{$contactState}
Contact Zip
{$contactZip}
Invoice Number
{$invoiceNumber}
Invoice Date Entered
{$invoiceDateEntered}
Loop Line Items
BEGINNING
{loop=lineItems}
Line Item Comments
{$lineItem.packageCommen
ts}
Line Item Quantity
{$lineItemQuantity}
Line Item Description
{$lineItemDescription}
Line Item Price Amount
{$lineItemPriceAmount}
Line Item Discount
Amount
{$lineItemDiscountAmount
}
Line Item Tax Amount
{$lineItemTaxAmount}
Line Item Total Amount
{$lineItemTotalAmount}
Loop Line Items END
{/loop}
Invoice Amount
{$invoiceAmount}
Invoice Date Due
{$invoiceDateDue}
Invoice Comments
{$invoiceComments}
Date
{$currentDateTime}
96 Setting Up E-mails
Credit Card Payment
Name
Variable
Your Company Name
{$companyName}
Your Company URL
{$companyURL}
Your Company Address
1
{$companyAddress1}
Your Company Address
2
{$companyAddress2}
Your Company City
{$companyCity}
Your Company State
{$companyState}
Your Company Zip
{$companyZip}
Contact First Name
{$contactFirstName}
Contact Last Name
{$contactLastName}
Contact Name
{$clientCompany}
Contact Address 1
{$contactAddress1}
Contact Address 2
{$contactAddress2}
Contact City
{$contactCity}
Contact State
{$contactState}
Contact Zip
{$contactZip}
Invoice Number
{$invoiceNumber}
Invoice Amount
{$invoiceAmount}
Credit Card Type
{$billingCardType}
Credit Card Number
{$billingAccountNumLastFo
ur}
Transaction Date/Time
{$transactionDateCreated}
Transaction ID
{$transactionCode}
Auth Return
{$authReturn}
Auth Code
{$authCode}
Setting Up E-mails 97
AVS Code
{$avsCode}
Transaction Amount
{$transactionAmount}
Notes
{$transactionNotes}
Date
{$currentDateTime}
eCheck Payment
Name
Variable
Your Company Name
{$companyName}
Your Company URL
{$companyURL}
Your Company Address
1
{$companyAddress1}
Your Company Address
2
{$companyAddress2}
Your Company City
{$companyCity}
Your Company State
{$companyState}
Your Company Zip
{$companyZip}
Contact First Name
{$contactFirstName}
Contact Last Name
{$contactLastName}
Contact Name
{$clientCompany}
Contact Address 1
{$contactAddress1}
Contact Address 2
{$contactAddress2}
Contact City
{$contactCity}
Contact State
{$contactState}
Contact Zip
{$contactZip}
Invoice Number
{$invoiceNumber}
Invoice Amount
{$invoiceAmount}
Bank Name
{$billingBankName}
Bank ABA Code
{$billingBankAbaCode}
98 Setting Up E-mails
Bank Account Number
{$billingAccountNumLastFo
ur}
Transaction Date/Time
{$transactionDateCreated}
Transaction ID
{$transactionCode}
Auth Return
{$authReturn}
Auth Code
{$authCode}
AVS Code
{$avsCode}
Transaction Amount
{$transactionAmount}
Notes
{$transactionNotes}
Date
{$currentDateTime}
Bank Draft Payment
Name
Variable
Your Company Name
{$companyName}
Your Company URL
{$companyURL}
Your Company Address
1
{$companyAddress1}
Your Company Address
2
{$companyAddress2}
Your Company City
{$companyCity}
Your Company State
{$companyState}
Your Company Zip
{$companyZip}
Contact First Name
{$contactFirstName}
Contact Last Name
{$contactLastName}
Contact Name
{$clientCompany}
Contact Address 1
{$contactAddress1}
Contact Address 2
{$contactAddress2}
Contact City
{$contactCity}
Contact State
{$contactState}
Contact Zip
{$contactZip}
Setting Up E-mails 99
Invoice Number
{$invoiceNumber}
Invoice Amount
{$invoiceAmount}
Bank Name
{$billingBankName}
Bank ABA Code
{$billingBankAbaCode}
Bank Account Number
{$billingAccountNumLastFo
ur}
Transaction Date/Time
{$transactionDateCreated}
Transaction ID
{$transactionCode}
Auth Return
{$authReturn}
Auth Code
{$authCode}
AVS Code
{$avsCode}
Transaction Amount
{$transactionAmount}
Notes
{$transactionNotes}
Date
{$currentDateTime}
Secondary Gateway Payment
Name
Variable
Your Company Name
{$companyName}
Your Company URL
{$companyURL}
Your Company Address
1
{$companyAddress1}
Your Company Address
2
{$companyAddress2}
Your Company City
{$companyCity}
Your Company State
{$companyState}
Your Company Zip
{$companyZip}
Contact First Name
{$contactFirstName}
Contact Last Name
{$contactLastName}
Contact Name
{$clientCompany}
Contact Address 1
{$contactAddress1}
100 Setting Up E-mails
Contact Address 2
{$contactAddress2}
Contact City
{$contactCity}
Contact State
{$contactState}
Contact Zip
{$contactZip}
Gateway Name
{$gatewayName}
Transaction Date/Time
{$transactionDateCreated}
Transaction ID
{$transactionCode}
Auth Return
{$authReturn}
Auth Code
{$authCode}
AVS Code
{$avsCode}
Transaction Amount
{$transactionAmount}
Notes
{$transactionNotes}
Date
{$currentDateTime}
Declined Payment
Name
Variable
Your Company Name
{$companyName}
Your Company URL
{$companyURL}
Your Company Address
1
$companyAddress1}
Your Company Address
2
{$companyAddress2}
Your Company City
{$companyCity}
Your Company State
{$companyState}
Your Company Zip
{$companyZip}
Contact First Name
{$contactFirstName}
Contact Last Name
{$contactLastName}
Contact Name
{$clientCompany}
Contact Address 1
{$contactAddress1}
Setting Up E-mails 101
Contact Address 2
{$contactAddress2}
Contact City
{$contactCity}
Contact State
{$contactState}
Contact Zip
{$contactZip}
Invoice Number
{$invoiceNumber}
Invoice Amount
{$invoiceAmount}
Credit Card Type
{$billingCardType}
Credit Card Number
{$billingAccountNumLastFo
ur}
Transaction Date/Time
{$transactionDateCreated}
Transaction ID
{$transactionCode}
Auth Return
{$authReturn}
Auth Code
{$authCode}
AVS Code
{$avsCode}
Transaction Amount
{$transactionAmount}
Notes
{$transactionNotes}
Date
{$currentDateTime}
Payment Error
Name
Variable
Your Company Name
{$companyName}
Your Company URL
{$companyURL}
Your Company Address
1
{$companyAddress1}
Your Company Address
2
{$companyAddress2}
Your Company City
{$companyCity}
Your Company State
{$companyState}
Your Company Zip
{$companyZip}
Contact First Name
{$contactFirstName}
102 Setting Up E-mails
Contact Last Name
{$contactLastName}
Contact Name
{$clientCompany}
Contact Address 1
{$contactAddress1}
Contact Address 2
{$contactAddress2}
Contact City
{$contactCity}
Contact State
{$contactState}
Contact Zip
{$contactZip}
Invoice Number
{$invoiceNumber}
Invoice Amount
{$invoiceAmount}
Credit Card Type
{$billingCardType}
Credit Card Number
{$billingAccountNumLastFo
ur}
Transaction Date/Time
{$transactionDateCreated}
Transaction ID
{$transactionCode}
Auth Return
{$authReturn}
Auth Code
{$authCode}
AVS Code
{$avsCode}
Transaction Amount
{$transactionAmount}
Notes
{$transactionNotes}
Date
{$currentDateTime}
Domain Renewal Notice
Name
Variable
Your Company Name
{$companyName}
Your Company URL
{$companyURL}
Your Company Address
1
{$companyAddress1}
Your Company Address
2
{$companyAddress2}
Your Company City
{$companyCity}
Setting Up E-mails 103
Your Company State
{$companyState}
Your Company Zip
{$companyZip}
Contact First Name
{$contactFirstName}
Contact Last Name
{$contactLastName}
Contact Name
{$clientCompany}
Contact Address 1
{$contactAddress1}
Contact Address 2
{$contactAddress2}
Contact City
{$contactCity}
Contact State
{$contactState}
Contact Zip
{$contactZip}
Domain Name
{$domainSLD}
Domain TLD
{$domainTLD}
Invoice Number
{$invoiceNumber}
Invoice Amount
{$invoiceAmount}
Invoice Date Entered
{$invoiceDateEntered}
Domain Expiry Date
{$domainDateExpires}
Date
{$currentDateTime}
Domain Transfer - Success E-mail
Name
Variable
Your Company Name
{$companyName}
Your Company URL
{$companyURL}
Your Company Address
1
{$companyAddress1}
Your Company Address
2
{$companyAddress2}
Your Company City
{$companyCity}
Your Company State
{$companyState}
104 Setting Up E-mails
Your Company Zip
{$companyZip}
Contact First Name
{$contactFirstName}
Contact Last Name
{$contactLastName}
Contact Name
{$clientCompany}
Contact Address 1
{$contactAddress1}
Contact Address 2
{$contactAddress2}
Contact City
{$contactCity}
Contact State
{$contactState}
Contact Zip
{$contactZip}
Domain Name
{$domainSLD}
Domain TLD
{$domainTLD}
Date
{$currentDateTime}
Domain Transfer - Failure E-mail
Name
Variable
Your Company Name
{$companyName}
Your Company URL
{$companyURL}
Your Company Address
1
{$companyAddress1}
Your Company Address
2
{$companyAddress2}
Your Company City
{$companyCity}
Your Company State
{$companyState}
Your Company Zip
{$companyZip}
Contact First Name
{$contactFirstName}
Contact Last Name
{$contactLastName}
Contact Name
{$clientCompany}
Contact Address 1
{$contactAddress1}
Setting Up E-mails 105
Contact Address 2
{$contactAddress2}
Contact City
{$contactCity}
Contact State
{$contactState}
Contact Zip
{$contactZip}
Domain Name
{$domainSLD}
Domain TLD
{$domainTLD}
Date
{$currentDateTime}
Credit Card Expiration Notification E-mail
Name
Variable
Your Company Name
{$companyName}
Your Company URL
{$companyURL}
Your Company Address
1
{$companyAddress1}
Your Company Address
2
{$companyAddress2}
Your Company City
{$companyCity}
Your Company State
{$companyState}
Your Company Zip
{$companyZip}
Contact First Name
{$contactFirstName}
Contact Last Name
{$contactLastName}
Contact Name
{$clientCompany}
Contact Address 1
{$contactAddress1}
Contact Address 2
{$contactAddress2}
Contact City
{$contactCity}
Contact State
{$contactState}
Contact Zip
{$contactZip}
Credit Card Type
{$billingCardType}
106 Setting Up E-mails
Credit Card Number
{$billingAccountNumLastFo
ur}
Expire Month
{$billingCardExpMonth}
Expire Year
{$billingCardExpYear}
Date
{$currentDateTime}
Package Suspension E-mails
Name
Variable
Your Company Name
{$companyName}
Your Company URL
{$companyURL}
Your Company Address
1
{$companyAddress1}
Your Company Address
2
{$companyAddress2}
Your Company City
{$companyCity}
Your Company State
{$companyState}
Your Company Zip
{$companyZip}
Contact First Name
{$contactFirstName}
Contact Last Name
{$contactLastName}
Contact Name
{$clientCompany}
Contact Address 1
{$contactAddress1}
Contact Address 2
{$contactAddress2}
Contact City
{$contactCity}
Contact State
{$contactState}
Contact Zip
{$contactZip}
Invoice Number
{$invoiceNumber}
Contact Client URL
{$companyClientURL}
Contact User Name
{$contactUsername}
Date
{$currentDateTime}
Setting Up E-mails 107
Package Enable E-mail
Name
Variable
Your Company Name
{$companyName}
Your Company URL
{$companyURL}
Your Company Address
1
{$companyAddress1}
Your Company Address
2
{$companyAddress2}
Your Company City
{$companyCity}
Your Company State
{$companyState}
Your Company Zip
{$companyZip}
Contact First Name
{$contactFirstName}
Contact Last Name
{$contactLastName}
Contact Name
{$clientCompany}
Contact Address 1
{$contactAddress1}
Contact Address 2
{$contactAddress2}
Contact City
{$contactCity}
Contact State
{$contactState}
Contact Zip
{$contactZip}
Invoice Number
{$invoiceNumber}
Invoice Amount Paid
{$invoiceAmountPaid}
Invoice Date Paid
{$invoiceDatePaid}
Package Name
{$packageName}
Date
{$currentDateTime}
108 Setting Up E-mails
Adding E-mail Template Groups
To add an e-mail template group:
1 Go to E-mails > E-mail Template Groups.
2 Find the e-mail action you want to add an e-mail template to and click
Add.
3 Fill in the necessary information.
4 Click Save.
5 Click Add Locale button in the middle of the page. Set up the following:
Choose the language to associate with the template.
Choose how broadly you would like the template to apply. If you are making a
Spanish template, for example, do you want it to be used by Spanish speaking
people world-wide? Or just in Spain?
If this is going to be the default locale, check the box. The default locale will be
applied if no other locale can be found that applies to the client.
Enter a subject for the email template. This is the subject line that each e-mail
will use.
E-mail Template HTML Body. Enter the body of your e-mail template in html format.
E-mail Template Text Body. Enter the body of your e-mail template in text format.
Note: All contacts are set to receive HTML by default when they come through the
order form. If you do not want a specific client to receive HTML e-mails, go to the
client’s account details page and click on the edit primary button. When the page
loads, uncheck HTML for the E-mail Format. Click edit contact.
6 Reload Options: If you need to reload the original email templates,
perform the following steps:
1. Select the template you want to reload.
2. Reload HTML. Select Yes.
3. Reload Text. Select Yes.
Caution: This will replace this existing template. Please make a backup of your
existing template if you do not wish to lose it.
7 Scroll to the bottom of the page, and click Save.
Setting Up E-mails 109
Setting Up Your Locales
Parallels Plesk Billing has the ability to send e-mails in various different languages.
Each of these locales must be set up during the configuration process. By default, the
system sets up templates of a single locale (usually English).
To set up additional locales:
1 Go to Events > E-mails > E-mail Template Groups.
2 Choose the template you would like to add a locale to. Click on the
green pencil icon to view the edit screen for this template.
3 Click Add Locale button in the middle of the page. Fill in the following:
Choose the language to associate with the template.
Choose how broadly you would like the template to apply. If you are making a
Spanish template, for example, do you want it to be used by Spanish speaking
people world-wide? Or just in Spain?
If this is going to be the default locale, check the box. The default locale will be
applied if no other locale can be found that applies to the client.
Enter a subject for the e-mail template. This is the subject line that each e-mail
will use.
E-mail Template HTML Body. Enter the body of your e-mail template in html format.
E-mail Template Text Body. Enter the body of your e-mail template in text format.
Note: All contacts are set to receive HTML by default when they come through the
order form. If you do not want a specific client to receive HTML e-mails, go to the
client’s account details page and click on the edit primary button. When the page
loads, uncheck HTML for the E-mail Format. Click edit contact.
4 Reload Options: If you need to reload the original e-mail templates,
perform the following steps:
1. Select the template you want to reload.
2. Reload HTML. Select Yes.
3. Reload Text. Select Yes.
Caution: This will replace this existing template. Please make a backup of your
existing template if you do not wish to lose it.
5 Scroll to the bottom of the page, and click Save.
110 Setting Up E-mails
Editing Template Content
Whether you have just created a new locale or want to edit the defaults, you will follow
the same general instructions. In addition to basic html and text content, you can use a
number of predefined variables to populate the e-mails with information from the
database.
To edit content of a template:
1 Go to Events > E-mails > E-mail Template Groups.
2 Choose the template you would like to edit. Click on the green pencil
icon to view the edit screen for this template.
3 Click the green pencil icon for an existing locale or edit the content
while adding a new locale.
4 Here you have a couple of options: you can develop the content on
your own, or load our default template and then edit it. If you are
looking at using our default templates, we recommend that you reload
them before editing to be sure you have the latest version.
If you choose to use your own content, you would enter it in the fields E-mail
Template HTML Body and E-mail Template Text Body. As you edit, you can click
preview on most templates and it will allow you to see how your work will be
parsed by the system.
If you prefer to save time by editing our template, you can scroll to the bottom of
the page, choose the template you would like to use, click Test for both the
HTML and text e-mail, and then click reload. You can now edit the template as
above.
Note: All contacts are set to receive HTML by default when they come through the
order form. If you do not want a specific client to receive HTML e-mails, go to the
client’s account details page and click edit primary. When the page loads, uncheck
HTML for the E-mail Format. Click edit contact.
5 Reload Options (New in version 5.1.3): If you need to reload the original
e-mail templates, perform the following steps:
1. Select the template you want to reload.
2. Reload HTML: Select Yes.
3. Reload Text: Select Yes.
Caution: This will replace this existing template. Please make a backup of your
existing template if you do not wish to lose it.
6 Click Save.
7 When the page loads, you will see your new template added with the
locale you want to use for the e-mail template group you selected. You
can add as many e-mail templates to this group or any other group as
you need based on your specific needs.
Setting Up E-mails 111
Reloading E-mail Templates
To reload e-mail templates:
1 Go to System > E-mail Settings > E-mail Template Groups.
2 Click the pencil icon next to each email template you want to reload.
3 When the page loads, email templates for each locale you have setup
will display at the bottom of the page. Click the pencil icon in the
Actions column.
4 At the bottom of the Edit E-mail Template page are the Reload Options.
Select the template you want to reload from the drop-down box.
5 Select Yes for both Reload HTML and Reload Text.
6 Click reload. The template has now been reloaded.
7 Repeat steps 2-6 for each email template you wish to reload.
TIP: If you are reloading all 25 email templates, save time by opening each email
template in step 2 in a new window or tab, and go through the remaining steps one
screen at a time.
Resending Previously Sent E-mails
To resend e-mails:
1 Go to Events > E-mails > Manage E-mails.
2 When the page loads, find the e-mail you want to resend.
3 Click the blue arrow icon in the Actions column.
4 Click Resend.
112 Setting Up E-mails
Getting Your System Ready to Send E-
mail Messages
Some users have reported instances where the e-mail templates, particularly the lost
password e-mails, are being sent with the content missing. Below are some points to
look over to ensure that your system is setup properly to send e-mail messages.
Are e-mail templates set?
First, check to make sure you have an email template set for each template group and
locale.
To do so, perform the following steps:
1 Go to Events > E-mails > E-mail Template Groups.
2 When the page loads, click the pencil icon next to each e-mail
template you want to view.
3 An e-mail templates for each locale you have setup will display at the
bottom of the page. Click the pencil icon in the Actions column.
4 When the page loads, you will see an HTML e-mail template and plain
text email template. If these fields are blank, you will need to reload
your e-mail templates as described in the Reloading E-mail Templates
(on page 111) document.
5 Test to see if the e-mail was sent out successfully. If it is still blank,
see below.
Is the temp directory set properly in your smarty.php file?
To check, perform the following steps:
1 Open up the file lib-billing/include/config/smarty.php.
2 Find the line $CONF[”smarty”][”compileDirectory”] =
3 Make sure the path to your temp directory is set correctly after the =
sign. Examples are provided below:
On Linux, this is typically $CONF[”smarty”][”compileDirectory”] =
“/tmp”;
On Windows, this is typically $CONF[”smarty”][”compileDirectory”] =
“C:\Temp”;
4 Find the line $CONF[”smarty”][”cacheDirectory”] =
5 Make sure the path to your temp directory is set correctly after the =
sign. Examples are provided below:
Setting Up E-mails 113
On Linux, this is typically $CONF[”smarty”][”cacheDirectory”] =
“/tmp”;
On Windows, this is typically $CONF[”smarty”][”cacheDirectory”] =
“C:\Temp”;
6 Save the file and test to see if your e-mails are being sent out
successfully.
Converting Version 4 E-mail Templates to
Version 5
Parallels Plesk Billing 5.1 and up includes newly rewritten and redesigned e-mail
templates. If you would like to update your system to use the new e-mail templates,
please refer to the Reloading E-mail Templates (on page 111) document. Alternatively,
you can convert your version 4 specific e-mail templates to version 5 using the version
4 to version 5 E-mail Template Converter described below. This tool replaces the
variables in your version 4 templates to version 5 variables.
To convert version 4 e-mail templates to version 5:
1 Login to the members’ area at http://www.pleskbilling.com/.
2 Once you are logged in, find templatefixer.
3 Copy the e-mail template you wish to update from version 4 and paste
it in the Insert Your Old Template Here box.
4 Click Submit Query. Your version 4 e-mail template has now been
modified to include version 5 variables.
5 Copy the output from the second box.
6 Log into your version 5 administrator interface and go to System > E-mail
Settings > E-mail Template Groups.
7 Click the pencil icon next to each e-mail template you want to reload.
8 When the page loads, e-mail templates for each locale you have setup
will display at the bottom of the page. Click the pencil icon in the
Actions column.
9 Paste your updated e-mail template into the boxes labeled E-mail
Template HTML Body and E-mail Template Text Body, respectively.
10 Click Save. The template has now been updated.
11 Repeat for each version 4 template you wish to copy to version 5.
114 Setting Up E-mails
Customizing E-mail Templates
All email templates in the system have special variables that are parsed at run-time.
This means that the variables are replaced with the data they represent PRIOR to
being sent to the client. Some general client variables may be shared and available in
all templates, however many specific variables are unique to a particular template set
(invoice data, package data, etc). It is important to understand that not all variables can
be used in all templates. To view a list of variables, see the E-mail Template Variables
(on page 93) document.
The new e-mail template system in 5.1.3 and up allows you to update all your HTML e-
mail templates by making adjustments to a few template files in the lib-
themes/default/lib-billing/templates/emails/widgets/ directory.
In this section:
Updating the E-mail Header .............................................................................. 114
Updating the E-mail Layout ............................................................................... 115
Updating the E-mail Header
To update the e-mail header:
1 Login to your server via SSH.
2 Open the following file in your Parallels Plesk Billing fileset: lib-
themes/default/lib-
billing/templates/emails/widgets/header.tpl
3 The code below controls the header of the email. Modify it to fit your
needs:
{$smarty.const[$headerTitle]|default:$headerTitle}
4 Save the file.
Setting Up E-mails 115
Updating the E-mail Layout
The e-mail templates are made up of several template files which control the display
and layout of all 25 default email templates. To see which template files are used by
each e-mail template, either navigate to the Email Template Groups page in the
administrator interface and click the pencil icon to edit an individual e-mail template and
view the source of the Email Template HTML Body, or find the corresponding file in the
lib-themes/default/lib-billing/templates/emails/ directory.
Each component of the HTML email templates has its own header and footer file to
make it easy to update each instance of that component throughout the email template
set. For example, if you would like to edit the display of the information boxes that
appear in any Package Info e-mail template, simply edit the boxHeader.tpl and
boxFooter.tpl files and the change will take effect across the entire e-mail template
system. Likewise, tables that use the IF statement to display or hide information, such
as in the New Order email templates, can be customized by editing the
codeBoxHeader.tpl and codeBoxFooter.tpl files, and so on. The default e-mail
templates we provide are designed to serve as examples that can be used by any
business. You are encouraged to edit the colors, font styles, and layout to match your
specific needs.
Parallels Plesk Billing supports three distinct types of custom attributes:
1 Product Attributes
2 Order Form Attributes (Client Attributes)
3 Generic Attributes
Depending upon your business rules, you may need to setup one or more of these
attributes.
Add-ons are basically what their name suggests - items that can be added on to a
client’s package. Add-ons can be created from two types of things: attributes and
other products.
Custom package add-ons are typically presented with a question/answer setup. You
can create any type of add-on such as web design, bandwidth, database support,
extended support, hardware, software, or anything that meets your specific
business needs. Creating add-ons from attributes is described in the Setting Up
Generic Attributes (on page 121) section.
If you create an add-on for a hosting product tied to a server group, you can create
control panel attributes add-ons (on page 123).
In this chapter:
Setting Up Product Attributes ............................................................................ 117
Setting Up Order Form Attributes ...................................................................... 119
Setting Up Generic Attributes ............................................................................ 121
Creating Control Panel Attributes Add-ons ........................................................ 123
CH A P T E R 12
Creating Attributes and Add-ons
Creating Attributes and Add-ons 117
Setting Up Product Attributes
Product attributes do not affect pricing. They create questions that will appear during
the order process. Answers to these questions will create package attributes. If the
package attribute modifies an already existing attribute, Parallels Plesk Billing should
be able to pass this value to the panel module to be automatically provisioned. Product
attributes that create new attributes will not be provisioned.
Custom questions are displayed in the shopping cart in a section called Additional
Product Information on the page where the customer enters their contact and payment
information.
Note: Custom questions do not use pricing. Typically questions are general and are not
associated with a particular product.
To set up a product attribute:
1 Go to System > Order Settings > Custom Attributes. From here you will see
three buttons:
New Generic Attributes. This field is used internally only, clients will not see these
questions and the values need to be entered by the administrator.
Manage Questions. This is similar to the above
New Product or Order Form Attribute. This is used to collect information through the
order form from a client to be tied to either the client or the client’s package
2 Click New Product or Order Form Attribute. A pop-up window will appear.
Enter a descriptive name for the attribute you are going to enter. This
is something that only the administrator will see. Then click Edit.
3 You should now see a new line item, containing the name you just
assigned. Click the green pencil next to Null. Choose Product Attribute.
Click Edit.
4 Next is the Association field. This will decide which product this attribute
is tied to. If you want to have the same attribute tied to several
different products, you will need to create an attribute for each of
them. You can use the same custom question over and over (this will
be created in the next step), but each product must have its own
attribute.
5 Create the question to be tied to this attribute. Click Manage Questions.
From this new screen, click Add Custom Question. There are several
fields here:
Name. Choose a descriptive title for this question. This is an internal value, and
your client’s will not see it.
Display Order. This can be set at whatever the default value is.
Question. This is the question you will ask your clients.
Important: Do not put a question mark at the end, as this will not parse correctly!
118 Creating Attributes and Add-ons
Description. Write a brief description to clarify the question. It will be displayed
with the question.
Type. Set the format the answer will take. Choices include Hidden, Text, Password,
Text Area, Select, and Radio.
Input Restrictions. Anything to restrict the input a client will send you. In this case,
the only restriction your client probably needs is Required, which will require them
to choose a control panel when purchasing the product. When you are done
filling these out, click Next.
6 Answers. Some question types require that you set predetermined
answers. If these are required, you must enter the values in a list, one
item per line, with no commas or other separators. Click Next.
7 Here you will set the display values the client sees for all of the
possible answers you set in the previous step.
Values. Set a display value for each of the answers.
Selected. Choose the value to display first in the drop down menu. Click next.
8 This stage lets you review the answers you have entered. If they are
correct, click add wizard question to finalize your choices. This should
take you back to the questions screen, where you will see the
question you created, as it will appear on the order form.
9 Now we need to tie this question to your attribute. Go to System > Order
Settings > Custom Attributes again. Find the attribute you were working on
before. Click on the green pencil in the column Custom Question. From
the drop down menu, select the question you just created, and click
edit.
10 To view your work, go through the order process. Choose the product
you have tied the attribute to, and proceed to the cart. You should see
this question as part of the section Additional Product Information.
Creating Attributes and Add-ons 119
Setting Up Order Form Attributes
Order Form Attributes also do not affect pricing. They create questions that will appear
during the order process. Answers to these questions will be stored as client attributes.
To set up a product attribute:
1 Go to System > Order Settings > Custom Attributes. From here you will see
three buttons:
New Generic Attributes. This field is used internally only, clients will not see these
questions and the values need to be entered by the administrator
Manage Questions. This is similar to the above
New Product or Order Form Attribute. This is used to collect information through the
order form from a client to be tied to either the client or the client’s package
2 Click New Product or Order Form Attribute. A pop-up window will appear.
Enter a descriptive name for the attribute you are going to enter. This
is something that only the administrator will see. Then click Edit.
3 You should now see a new line item, containing the name you just
assigned. Click the green pencil next to Null. Choose Order Form Attribute.
Click Edit.
4 Next is the Association field. This will decide which product this attribute
is tied to. If you want to have the same attribute tied to several
different products, you will need to create an attribute for each of
them. You can use the same custom question over and over (this will
be created in the next step), but each product must have its own
attribute.
5 Create the question to be tied to this attribute. Click Manage Questions.
From this new screen, click Add Custom Question. There are several
fields here:
Name. Choose a descriptive title for this question. This is an internal value, and
your client’s will not see it.
Display Order. This can be set at whatever the default value is.
Question. This is the question you will ask your clients.
Important: Do not put a question mark at the end, as this will not parse correctly!
Description. Write a brief description to clarify the question. It will be displayed
with the question.
Type. Set the format the answer will take. Choices include Hidden, Text, Password,
Text Area, Select, and Radio.
Input Restrictions. Anything to restrict the input a client will send you. In this case,
the only restriction your client probably needs is Required, which will require them
to choose a control panel when purchasing the product. When you are done
filling these out, click next.
120 Creating Attributes and Add-ons
6 Answers. Some question types require that you set predetermined
answers. If these are required, you must enter the values in a list, one
item per line, with no commas or other separators. Click next.
7 Here you will set the display values the client sees for all of the
possible answers you set in the previous step.
Values. Set a display value for each of the answers.
Selected. Choose the value to display first in the drop down menu. Click next.
8 This stage lets you review the answers you have entered. If they are
correct, click add wizard question to finalize your choices. This should
take you back to the questions screen, where you will see the
question you created, as it will appear on the order form.
9 Now we need to tie this question to your attribute. Go to System >
System Configuration, then click Order Settings > Custom Attributes again. Find
the attribute you were working on before. Click on the green pencil in
the column Custom Question. From the drop down menu, select the
question you just created, and click edit.
10 To view your work, go through the order process. Choose the order
you have tied the attribute to, and proceed to the cart. You should see
this question as part of the section Additional Customer Information.
Creating Attributes and Add-ons 121
Setting Up Generic Attributes
Generic Attributes can affect pricing. They create questions that will appear during the
order process. Answers to these questions will create package attributes. If the
package attribute modifies an already existing attribute, Parallels Plesk Billing should
be able to pass this value to the panel module to be automatically provisioned. Product
attributes that create new attributes will not be provisioned.
Generic Attributes are custom attributes that are be used for creating add-ons. Add-ons
were designed to replace panel attributes associated with a product. However, if you
have a product that IS NOT associated with a panel, but want to create add-ons for it
anyway, you need to setup the Generic Attribute(s) FIRST.
Notes:
1 Generic attributes by themselves DO NOT affect pricing.
2 Generic attributes used for creating add-ons CAN affect pricing!
To set up generic attributes:
1 Go to System > Order Settings > Custom Attributes.
2 Click New Generic Attribute. There are several fields here that must be
filled in:
Generic Attribute Key. This is the internal attribute name, something only you will
see. Choose a descriptive name.
Generic Question Name. This is an internal value for the question. Enter something
meaningful, like a brief version of the question.
Default Question. This value will appear in the product’s attribute screen.
Default Answer Value. This is the default answer you would like for the Default
Question. You may leave this blank.
Question Description. This is a description that will appear with the question on the
product attribute screen.
3 Click save.
4 Go to the product you want to create an add-on for. Click Attributes.
You should see the attribute that you just created displayed here.
Next, you will want to create an addon, which is what will create the
options and process for this attribute.
5 Click Add-ons. Then click Create New Add-ons For This Product. This will take
you through the add-on wizard:
1. Set the basic format for the add-on:
Panel Attribute to Change. set this to the generic attribute you just created.
New or Update Existing Add-on. You are creating a new add-on.
Add-on HTML Display Type. Choose how you would like this add-on to display.
122 Creating Attributes and Add-ons
Add-on Display Label. This is the question that will be displayed for your client’s to
see on the order form.
How Many Options Do You Need? Choose the number of options here. For example,
if you offer 4 choices, choose 4. Click Next.
1. Set the choices your client will see. Option Display Name is what will be displayed
on the order form, and Option Internal Value(s) is what will be passed to the
attributes section of the package details page when the order is complete. Click
Next.
2. Set the prices for each of the options you have chosen. You can have a
separate recurring and setup fee. Click Next.
3. Here you can decide which other products to create this add-on for. Only
products with a similar structure will be available here (you may not see any
options). Click Finish.
6 You should now see the add-on you have created, along with each of
the options you created for it. To view the result of your work, go
through the order process, choosing the product you tied the add-on
to. When you get to the cart, you should see the add-on options you
created.
Creating Attributes and Add-ons 123
Creating Control Panel Attributes Add-ons
Control panel attributes add-ons MUST be supported by the control panel you are
using. For example, if you are using cPanel as your control panel, the system will
automatically pull in information regarding your cPanel control panel attributes.
To create add-ons from control panel attributes:
1 Go to the Product Details page of the product you want to add control
panel attributes add-ons.
2 Click the Server Groups link. When the page loads, make sure you have
moved the server group(s) from the Selectable list to the Selected list
by double-clicking each server group entry or use the arrow buttons.
Then click Save Changes.
3 Click the Add-ons link.
4 When the page loads, click the Create New Add-ons for This Product button.
The next screen shows the following:
Panel Attribute to Change. Select the attribute/custom question you want to use for
this add-on from the drop down menu.
New or Update Existing Add-on. Leave it as default.
Add-on HTML Display Type. Select one from Radio Buttons, Select Menu or Check
boxes in the drop down menu.
Add-on Display Label. Enter the display you want to use for the add-on label.
How Many Options Do You Need? Select how many options you want to give the
customer for this particular add-on from the drop down menu. For our example
we chose 2 as the number of options.
Note: You can only add five (5) options at a time when configuring an add-on. If you
need more than five (5) options, follow the instructions below (This assumes you
have already created an add-on, otherwise you will not be able to add more
options).
1. Go to Products.
2. Find the product you want to use to modify the add-on and click the Details link.
3. When the page loads, click the Add-ons link.
4. Click the Create new option button at the bottom of the options list.
5. You can then select the number of options you need to add in the How Many
Options Do You Need? drop down menu. Notice the Panel Attribute to Change and
the New or Update Existing Add-on settings are prepopulated.
6. Continue through the wizard until you have added your additional options. If you
need to add another group of five (5), or less depending on the total needed,
repeat steps 1 through 5 above.
5 Click the Next button.
124 Creating Attributes and Add-ons
6 When the page loads you will see two sections: Option Display Name and
Option Internal Value(s). Set the following accordingly:
Option Display Name:
Replace Name 1 with the display name you want to use for option one.
Replace Name 2 with the display name you want to use for option two.
Optional Internal Value(s):
Enter the values you want to be used internally based on the Option Display
Name 1.
Enter the values you want to be used internally based on the Option Display
Name 2.
7 Click the Next button.
8 Enter prices for your options in the General and Setup text boxes for
each cycle.
9 Click the Next button.
10 If there are matching products that you would like to associate this
add-on, make your selection and click the Finish button.
11 When the page loads, you should see your new add-on listed.
12 Click Details link.
13 Select one of the following options from the Add-on Option drop down
menu: Optional, Required or Suppressed.
Note: Your add-on will appear in the order form if you select Optional or Required. By
default option NONE appears. Your customers will select an add-on and click the
save add-ons button.
14 Click Save.
A product is what you sell to your customers. Parallels Plesk Billing offers several
kinds of predefined products to suit your needs. You can modify them as needed or
create new products. These are:
Undefined Product
Hosting Product
Non-hosting Product
Domain Registration Product
SSL Certificate Product
License Product
Software Product
Usage Product
Contract Product
Fee Product
Non-Recurring Product
Creating products is organized in the form of a wizard. After an initial step when details
of a product are filled in, you need to edit several sets of parameters. These sets
appear under Product Details as clickable links. Proceed by clicking these links from right
to left. The system is designed to take you step-by-step through creating a product by
making specific options available once the mandatory options have been completed.
Once you have created your product and associated an Order Form and Website Widget
with it, it will be available for purchase from your order page.
In this chapter we will consider how you can create Domain Registration and Hosting
products, as they are the most widely used types of products. Below you will find a
short general instruction on how you create any type of products.
To create a product:
1 Go to Products > Create New Product.
2 Select the product type.
Note: You can easily create products that require a one-time charge. For example,
if you sell DVDs or IP Addresses, you can setup your Parallels Plesk Billing system
to charge the customer one time only. To create a one-time billing product, select
None-recurring Product.
3 Fill in the necessary parameters that will vary depending on the
product type. Please refer to the respective subsections for further
details.
Note: A product becomes a package after it is ordered.
CH A P T E R 13
Selling Products
126 Selling Products
In this chapter:
Configuring Product Management Settings ....................................................... 127
Adding Billing Cycles ......................................................................................... 128
Making a Product Upgradable/Downgradable ................................................... 128
Creating General Ledger Entries for a Product .................................................. 129
Creating Product Groups ................................................................................... 130
Creating Pricing Options .................................................................................... 131
Creating Domain Registration Products ............................................................. 132
Creating Hosting Products ................................................................................. 138
Setting Up SSLFactory ...................................................................................... 150
Configuring the products.php Page ................................................................... 153
Using Multiple products.php Pages ................................................................... 154
Selling Products 127
Configuring Product Management
Settings
The Product Management Settings page allows you to set behavior of the system
regarding certain aspects of products, such as upgrades, downgrades, and add-ons.
To view/edit product management settings:
1 Go to System > Product Settings > Product Management Settings.
2 Change the following as needed:
Allow Client Initiated Upgrades. Do you want clients to be able to upgrade packages
themselves through the client interface? Or do you want them to call upgrades in
to your sales staff?
When should client initiated upgrades occur? Do you want upgrades initiated by the
client to go into effect immediately, or at the end of the billing cycle?
Apply credits for immediate upgrades. If the client is upgrading in the middle of a
billing cycle, do you want their next billing cycle to be given a partial credit? For
example, if the client normally pays on the 1st, and is upgrading on the 15th, do
you want to give them a credit for half the month on the invoice for the package
they’re upgrading to?
Provision upgrades. Assuming the panel you’re using supports it, do you want
Parallels Plesk Billing to automatically provision upgrades?
Generate invoice for immediate upgrades. If the upgrade is to go through
immediately, do you want the invoice generated immediately as well?
Allow Client Initiated Downgrades. Do you want clients to be able to downgrade
packages through the client interface? Would you prefer that they need to call
this in?
When should client initiated downgrades occur? If you do allow clients to downgrade,
do you want this change effective immediately, or at the end of the billing cycle.
Apply credits for immediate downgrades. If the client is downgrading in the middle of
a billing cycle, do you want their next billing cycle to be given a partial credit?
For example, if the client normally pays on the 1st, and is downgrading on the
15th, do you want to give them a credit for half the month on the invoice for the
package they’re downgrading to?
Provision downgrades. Assuming the panel you’re using supports it, do you want
Parallels Plesk Billing to automatically provision downgrades?
Generate invoice for immediate downgrades. If the invoice is to go through
immediately, do you want the invoice generated immediately as well?
Allow Clients to Manage Their Add-ons. Do you want to allow clients to add or
remove add-ons from packages in their client interface?
3 Click Save Settings when you’re done making changes.
128 Selling Products
Adding Billing Cycles
Parallels Plesk Billing has a number of predefined billing cycles. When creating a
product, you can select one or several of them depending on how frequent you want to
charge client for that product. There is also a possibility to create your own custom
billing cycle.
To add a billing cycle:
1 Go to Products > Advanced > Time Cycles > Add Cycle.
2 Set the name for it and its duration by filling in the appropriate field
(e.g. Months: 4).
3 Click Add.
Now you should be able to choose this billing cycle when setting cycles for a
product. This is done by clicking Cycles in the chain of links below the product’s
details.
Note: To delete a cycle, click on the icon with the red X in the actions column for the
cycle you want to remove. You will be asked to verify that you would like to proceed, as
removing a cycle can have repercussions for other parts of the system. You will want to
make sure that no products are using the cycle you remove. Click “yes, really remove”
to confirm the action.
Making a Product
Upgradable/Downgradable
To make a product upgradable/downgradable:
1 Go to Products > Products > Show Products.
2 Find the product you want make upgradable/downgradable and click
Details in the Actions column.
3 When the page loads, click Miscellaneous Options.
4 Set the following in the section Product Upgrade > Downgrade Settings:
May Upgrade To. Move the products(s) from the Selectable list on the right to the
Selected list on the left. You can double-click each product or you can use the
arrows at the bottom of each list.
May Downgrade To. Move the product(s) from the Selectable list on the right to the
Selected list on the left. You can double-click each product or you can use the
arrows at the bottom of each list.
5 Click Save Changes.
Selling Products 129
Creating General Ledger Entries for a
Product
Setting up ledger entries at the product level creates a template the system can use
when a client orders a package. Remember, a product is what you sell and a package
is the client’s association to the product. When an invoice is generated and paid, the
product ledger creates “debits” and “credits” entries in the database.
For example, let’s say you want to track the cost of a domain (what you pay to the
registrar). Your product ledger entries would look similar to the following:
To create the ledger entries:
1 Go to Products > Products.
2 In the Actions column click Details for the product to which you want to
add a ledger.
3 When the page loads, click Ledger Entries.
4 Click the button Add Ledger Entry Group.
5 Set the following:
Ledger Group Name. Enter the name of the ledger group you are creating for this
product. For example, if this group covers the cost of this product, you may want
to name it Domain Registration Cost or whatever makes sense to your business.
Filter Currencies. The ledger entries get created when the product is ordered
through your order form. If you have multiple currencies setup such as USD and
GBP, move the currencies from the Selectable list to the Selected list by double-
clicking on each one or using the arrow buttons. Ledger entries will be created
ONLY if the currency is in the Selected list.
Filter Cycles. Similar to Filter Currencies, you can select what cycles you want to
have created when a particular cycle is used. Move the cycles from the
Selectable list to the Selected list by double-clicking on each one or using the
arrow buttons. Ledger entries will be created ONLY if the currency is in the
Selected list.
Currency of Ledger Entries. The currency you select will most likely be your native
currency or the currency you use to setup your products. You can still create
ledger entries for any currency, but you will see the entries such as cost of
domain in the currency you select from the drop down menu.
Ledger Entries:
1. Create two ledger entries for the GL Account (General Ledger) account by
clicking the + Add Ledger Entry button.
2. Select a ledger account to use such as 10000 - Cash 1 from the GL Account
drop down menu.
3. Enter a description.
4. Enter the cost of the product in the Credits text box.
5. Next, click the + Add Ledger Entry button again.
130 Selling Products
6. Select a ledger account to use such as 50000 - Cost of Goods from the GL
Account drop down menu.
7. Enter a description.
8. Enter the cost of the product in the Debits text box. Make sure you tab over or
click to another box after entering the amount.
6 Click Save.
Creating Product Groups
Product Groups allow you to organize your products into different categories. You can
create, modify, and delete as many product groups as you need to accommodate your
needs.
To create a product group:
1 1. Go to Products > Advanced > Product Groups > Add Product Group.
2 Set the following:
API Name. Enter a name or value in the API Name that you can reference when
using the MBAPI. This value will not change even if you modify the display name
below.
Note: The API Name above is for advanced users only. This is strictly in reference
to developers using the MBAPI.
Name. Enter the name of your Product Group. Example: Servers, Shared
Hosting, Reseller Hosting, Web Design, SEO, etc. It can be anything you want.
3 Click Add.
Selling Products 131
Creating Pricing Options
The Pricing Option feature in your system was designed primarily for domain
registration products. In such products you may provide several domain types within
one product and set different prices for each of them. In such cases each domain
becomes a product variant. Another example of using pricing options is when you sell t-
shirts available in S, M, L, and XL and want to have different prices for each size.
The procedure of adding pricing options consists of two steps. The first step is to add
the options. The second step is to add pricing values.
To add a pricing option:
1 Go to Products > Advanced > Pricing > Add Pricing Option.
2 When the page loads, enter the name of your pricing option. For
example, if you sell t-shirts, enter Size as the pricing option name.
3 Click Add. Now you need to add pricing option values.
To add a pricing option value:
1 Go to Products > Advanced > Pricing > Add Pricing Option Value.
2 Select the pricing option name you created in Step 2 above from the
drop down menu.
3 Next, enter a value for the pricing option. For example, if you are
selling different sizes of t-shirts, start with S for Small and enter the
value in the pricing option value text box. This value will be seen by
your customers.
4 Click on the Add button.
5 Repeat the above steps until you have added all the sizes or your
specific pricing option values. For example, if you are selling t-shirts,
you would continue by entering M, L, XL, etc.
6 Now you need to go back to your product details page that you want
to set pricing options.
7 Once you are on the product details page, go to the section BILLING
OPTIONS AND SETTINGS. Select your new pricing option from the Pricing
drop down menu. For our example we selected Size.
8 Click Save.
9 Click the Options link.
10 Move the pricing option value(s) from the Selectable list on the right to
the Selected list on the left. You can double-click each pricing option
value or you can use the arrows at the bottom of each list.
11 Click Prices and set prices for your product variants.
132 Selling Products
Creating Domain Registration Products
Prior to creating domain registration products, make sure you have passed
Configuration Wizard (on page 23) and properly configured Payment Gateways and
Domain Registrars there.
Also, before or during the creation of a domain registration product you may require
going through the following steps:
Set up a custom order form. If you are going to offer services in multiple
currencies, you have to create custom Order Forms. Otherwise, use the default
Order Form OF1. Refer to the Adding a Second or Third Order Form (on page 156)
document for the instructions.
Configure website widgets. By default your system is preconfigured with a
website widget. You can change this default WW1 website widget according to your
needs or create a new one. Refer to Website Widgets document for details.
Create a custom time cycle. Parallels Plesk Billing contains a number of
predefined Time Cycles you can use for recurring billing. Besides, you can add your
own Time Cycle(s). Please refer to the Adding Billing Cycles (on page 128) for more
details.
Add a tax zone group. To set Taxes for a product, you must first add Tax Zone
Groups into Parallels Plesk Billing. See Taxes (on page 84) chapter for detailed
instructions.
Add a cycle discount group. To apply a discount to a product, you have to create
a Cycle Discount and assign it to a Cycle Discount Group first. Make sure that
cycles of your product and a discount match each other. Refer to Creating
Discounts document for details
Create coupons. Parallels Plesk Billing allows providing your customers with
coupons that offer discounts for the products. First you have to create a Coupon
before you can assign it to a specific product. Please refer to the Coupons
document for instructions on how to add and configure Coupons.
To create a domain registration product:
1 Open the Products menu and click Products > Create New Product. Choose
Domain Registration Product from the list.
2 You will proceed to the Product Details page where you set product
name and some basic product options. On the upper bar you will see
the bar of icons dedicated to specific product settings:
Details. this is the first step of your product creation wizard. Later you may return
to this page by clicking this icon and modify the settings.
Order Forms. Select one or more preconfigured order forms for a product.
Cycles. Choose the periods clients pay for domain registration.
TLDs. Choose TLDs (like .eu, .com, .net) to be available in this product.
Prices. Set prices for each product TLD and each selected cycle.
Miscellaneous Options. Choose available website widgets, coupons, c
Selling Products 133
Attributes. Set product-specific attributes. Required for setting up add-ons.
Add-ons. Associate add-ons with the product.
Clone Product. Create another product with identical features.
3 Click these icons one by one to create your domain registration
product step by step.
In this section:
Product Details ................................................................................................. 133
Order Forms ..................................................................................................... 133
Cycles ............................................................................................................... 134
TLDs ................................................................................................................. 134
Options ............................................................................................................. 135
Prices................................................................................................................ 135
Miscellaneous Options ...................................................................................... 136
Attributes .......................................................................................................... 137
Add-ons ............................................................................................................ 138
Ledger Entries .................................................................................................. 138
Clone Product ................................................................................................... 138
Product Details
Display Name. Name of the product to be displayed in the order form.
Display Description. A brief description of the product.
Add-on Option. Add-ons in the product are required, optional or not needed (hidden).
Domain Option. Must be Required.
Is Active. To activate the product, set to Yes.
Product Type. Domain Registration Product (unchangeable).
Date Created. Product creation date (unchangeable).
Duration to be Billed. Choose Forever for regular billing with indefinite time, One Time
Only for the products to be sold once, Fixed Duration to limit the product provisioning.
Order Forms
To associate a product with an order form:
1 Click the Order forms link.
2 Move the necessary Order form from the Selectable list to the Selected. By
default, OF 1 (Order Form 1) is in the Selectable list.
3 Save the changes.
134 Selling Products
Cycles
Selecting a cycle allows people to order this product for the selected cycle as long as
there is a price set for the order’s cycle and currency. The price editor will ask for prices
for all combinations of cycles and currencies. Therefore, the cycles should be set
before editing pricing.
To set a cycle:
1 Click the Cycles link which will appear after you completed the Order
Forms link.
2 Move the cycles(s) from the Selectable list on the right to the Selected list
on the left. You can double-click each cycle or you can use the arrows
at the bottom of each list.
Note: Parallels Plesk Billing allows adding custom Cycles if you are not satisfied
with the default ones. Refer to the Add Cycles article for detailed instructions.
3 Save changes.
TLDs
Click the TLDs link on the product wizard toolbar to select TLDs (.com, .eu, and so on)
for the product:
1 Select TLDs in the Selectable list. To select multiple TLDs hold SHIFT
(select the list) or CTRL (select items) while selecting TLDs by the
mouse or keyboard.
2 Click < to move the selected TLDs, or << to move all TLDs, to the
Selected list. The same way you can exclude TLDs from being selected.
3 Click Save Changes.
Selling Products 135
Options
If you would like to offer the product in several different configurations and prices, you
have to create pricing options for it. See Pricing Options for details.
This menu is hidden in the Simple form of the product creation wizard toolbar. Click
Advanced on the toolbar and then click Options.
To select the pricing option values for the hosting product:
1 Click the Options link. This link is hidden in the Simple form of the
product creation wizard toolbar. Click Advanced on the toolbar to make
the Options link appear.
2 Move the pricing option value(s) from the Selectable list on the right to
the Selected list on the left. You can double-click each pricing option
value or you can use the arrows at the bottom of each list.
3 Save the changes.
Note: if there are no pricing options available in the Selectable list, make sure you have
set your custom Pricing Option in the Pricing field of the Details page.
Prices
After you select TLDs and registration renewal cycles for the product, click Prices on the
product creation toolbar.
This page allows you to set the pricing for each cycle, as well as advanced variations in
products which may affect pricing, known in the system as product variables. For this:
1 Click on the Prices link.
2 You will see the list of selected TLDs with a possibility to set prices for
each pricing cycle for each TLD.
3 Click on the Edit icon in the Pricing column.
Set the following:
Tax Zone Group. Select the group for the taxes to be applied to the price. If you leave
none, no taxes will be applied.
Cycle Discount Group. Set the group to automatically apply a discount to a product.
Prices. Enter General, Setup, Upgrade, Downgrade, and Transfer fees for each cycle
accordingly.
Update Packages. Select between:
Update no packages (just update the product)
Update unlocked packages
Update all packages
136 Selling Products
Miscellaneous Options
Click the Miscellaneous Options link on the product wizard toolbar to proceed to the
following form:
Website Widgets. Parallels Plesk Billing offers WW 1 Website Widget by default. If you
are going to provide multi-currency support, you will have to brand several Order
Pages and create different Website Widgets for each of them. To assign a product
to a Website Widget, move the appropriate Website Widget from the Selectable list to
the Selected. For more info, refer to Website Widgets documentation.
Product Coupon Settings. You can offer two types of Coupons to your customers:
automatic and manual. Automatic coupons will apply and show a discount for the
product on the order page even before the client adds a product to a shopping cart.
Manual coupons offer a discount applied during the order process when the client
inputs the key provided by Parallels Plesk Billing Administrator. To apply an
automatic coupon to the product, select the coupon from the drop-down list. If you do
not intend offering automatic discounts, leave the box empty. To associate the
manual coupons with the product, double-click the coupons in the Selectable list or use
the arrow buttons. Read the Add Coupons document to learn how to create and add
new coupons to the system.
Product Upgrade/Downgrade Settings. Parallels Plesk Billing offers a possibility for you
clients to upgrade/downgrade their package to a matching package with more/less
resources for a set fee. For this, you have to specify the products with matching
cycles/order forms/server groups as upgrade and downgrade options.
May Upgrade To. Move the products(s) from the Selectable list on the right to the
Selected list on the left. You can double-click each product or you can use the
arrows at the bottom of each list.
May Downgrade To. Move the product(s) from the Selectable list on the right to the
Selected list on the left. You can double-click each product or you can use the
arrows at the bottom of each list.
Product Email Settings. Select packageInfo - Domain Registration Product welcome e-
mail from the predefined list of templates in the drop-down menu.
Product Notification Settings. Select group to notify on event: cronadmin, root, none. This
is the group who is notified when an invoice is generated for the product purchase.
Product Usage Pricing. Enter the price that you are charging per usage unit. If you
charge X amount per Gigabyte used over Y limit, then your price would be what you
would charge for each Gigabyte over that specific limit. You may leave this option
as it is, as it has no real sense for a domain registration product.
Selling Products 137
Attributes
Prior to associating add-ons with the product, you need to set the required attributes.
To add new generic attributes and modify the existing ones, click the Attributes link on
the product wizard toolbar. It is hidden in the Simple toolbar view, therefore, in order to
show it, click Advanced on the toolbar.
For more information on attributes, refer to the Attributes (on page 116) documentation.
Please also view the Appendix A. Parallels Plesk Panel Attributes (on page 230) for the
details on Plesk attributes.
138 Selling Products
Add-ons
Here you can either create a new Add-on based on generic attributes’ values
configured on the previous step, or you can associate already existing add-ons with the
product. The add-ons with their pricing options will be then available on the second step
of the ordering process.
See Add-ons (on page 116) document for details.
See also ID Protect configuration (on page 76) to add the ID Protect service add-on to
the product.
Ledger Entries
On this step of configuring Hosting Product you can set up Ledger Entries to keep track
of your accounting. The credit and debit entries will appear in a database when a client
pays an invoice. See the Generating General Ledgers (on page 224) document for
more details.
Clone Product
When you click the Clone Product link on the toolbar, the system automatically creates
an exact duplicate of the product you are currently creating/modifying. When the new
page loads, rename the product to your new product’s name, otherwise you will have
two copies of the same product.
Creating Hosting Products
This chapter guides you through the steps you have to perform to offer your customers
hosting services.
In this section:
Hosting Provisioning in Parallels Plesk Billing ................................................... 139
Preparing Your System for Creating a Hosting Product ..................................... 140
Setting Up a Hosting Product ............................................................................ 142
Selling Products 139
Hosting Provisioning in Parallels Plesk Billing
Parallels Plesk Billing supports integration with several hosting control panels including:
cPanel
cPanel (Reseller)
DirectAdmin
eNom Exchange
eNom Hosting
EnsimUnify
FreeRadius
Virtuozzo
Hostopia
Interworx
Parallels Helm
Parallels Pro
Parallels H-Sphere
Parallels Plesk Panel (Windows)
Parallels Plesk Panel (Linux)
Parallels Plesk Expand
and Parallels Plesk Billing itself (for License Reselling)
When you create a product in Parallels Plesk Billing, it can be configured to provision
one (or more, simultaneously) of the above hosting control panels. Customers
purchasing a product of yours that is connected with one of the above panels can have
their service online and login details sent by e-mail to them within minutes of paying.
In Parallels Plesk Billing, you create pools of servers of the same type, called server
groups. For example, you could have a server group of seven Plesk for Linux machines
your company hosts customers on. Your Plesk hosting product(s) would be associated
with this server group, and anyone purchasing one would be provisioned onto the Plesk
machine in that group which has the fewest accounts on it (for the purposes of pseudo-
load-balancing).
After the purchase, most of the above panels support further automation as well. Your
customer could upgrade or downgrade their base package, associate necessary add-
ons, or cancel their package. Parallels Plesk Billing will collect payment and issue the
appropriate API calls to the machine(s) on which their product is provisioned to take
care of all of their needs without your intervention needed.
Preparing Your System for Creating a Hosting Product
To provide Hosting Provisioning, you have to create Hosting Product for a certain Server
Group with Panel Module added. This chapter will guide you through the steps you have to
perform before you create a Hosting Product. Some of the steps are obligatory, while some
are optional and depend on the services you would like to offer.
In this section:
Creating a Server Group .................................................................................... 141
Adding a Control Panel ...................................................................................... 141
Adding a Product Group .................................................................................... 141
Setting Up an Order Form .................................................................................. 141
Configuring Website Widgets ............................................................................. 141
Creating a Custom Time Cycle .......................................................................... 142
Creating Pricing Options .................................................................................... 142
Adding a Tax Zone Group.................................................................................. 142
Adding a Cycle Discount Group ......................................................................... 142
Creating Coupons .............................................................................................. 142
Creating a Server Group
The first obligatory step is to create a Server Group. For each type of control panel that you
offer, you should have one Server Group. For example, if you provide cPanel and Plesk for
Linux hosting, you would need two server groups – one for each control panel. Within each of
these server groups, you will add a Control Panel Module for each physical server of that
type. Going on our above example, if you had 7 machines running cPanel and 5 machines
running Plesk for Linux, you would need 7 cPanel Control Panel Modules in your cPanel
server group and 5 Plesk for Linux modules in your Plesk for Linux server group.
Please refer to the Adding a Server Group (on page 62) documentation for detailed
instructions.
Adding a Control Panel
Once you have created a server group, you will have to associate this server group with a
control panel you would like to offer for you clients. See Adding Panels to a Server Group (on
page 63) document for detailed instruction.
Adding a Product Group
(skip this step if you are not going to use custom Product Groups)
Parallels Plesk Billing allows organizing products into custom Product Groups.
To create a custom Product Group:
1 Go to Products > Advanced > Product Groups > Add Product Group.
2 Set the following:
API Name: Enter a name or value in the API Name that you can reference when using
the MBAPI. This value will not change even if you modify the display name below.
Note: The API Name above is for advanced users only. This is strictly in reference to
developers using the MBAPI.
Name: Enter the name of your Product Group. Example: Servers, Shared Hosting,
Reseller Hosting, Web Design, SEO, and so on. It can be anything you want.
3 Add a Product Group.
Now you will be able to assign your Hosting Product with a Product Group.
Setting Up an Order Form
(skip this step if you are not going to provide multi-currency support)
If you are going to offer services in multiple currencies, you have to create custom Order
Forms. Otherwise, use the default Order Form OF1. Refer to the Adding a Second or Third
Order Form (on page 156) document for the instructions.
Configuring Website Widgets
By default your system is preconfigured with a website widget. You can change this default
WW1 website widget according to your needs or create a new one. Refer to Website Widgets
document for details.
Creating a Custom Time Cycle
(skip this step if you are not going to use Custom Cycles)
Parallels Plesk Billing contains a number of predefined Time Cycles you can use for recurring
billing. Besides, you can add your own Time Cycle(s). Please refer to the Adding Billing
Cycles (on page 128) for more details.
Creating Pricing Options
(skip this step if you are going to sell your product at a single price)
You can sell your product at different prices. For this, you have to create pricing options.
Please refer to Adding Pricing Options (on page 142) documentation for details.
Adding a Tax Zone Group
(skip this step if you are not charged taxes for your products)
To set Taxes for a product, you must first add Tax Zone Groups into Parallels Plesk Billing. See
Taxes (on page 84) chapter for detailed instructions.
Adding a Cycle Discount Group
(skip this step if you are not going to provide discounts)
To apply a discount to a product, you have to create a Cycle Discount and assign it to a Cycle
Discount Group first. Make sure that cycles of your product and a discount match each other.
Refer to Creating Discounts (on page 90) document for details.
Creating Coupons
(skip this step if you are not going to provide coupons for discount)
Parallels Plesk Billing allows providing your customers with coupons that offer discounts for
the products. First you have to create a Coupon before you can assign it to a specific product.
Please refer to the Coupons document for instructions on how to add and configure Coupons.
Setting Up a Hosting Product
Once you have added a Server Group, associated a control panel with it, and performed all
other steps you find necessary to prepare your system, you are ready to create a Hosting
product.
To create a Hosting Product, go to Products > Create New Product > Hosting Product. Once the
page loads, you will notice most of the links such as cycles, options, prices, etc are not
clickable. The system is designed to take you step-by-step through creating a product by
making specific options available once the mandatory options have been completed. Fill in
the forms in the links one by one.
In this section:
Details ............................................................................................................... 144
Order Forms ...................................................................................................... 145
Cycles................................................................................................................ 145
Options .............................................................................................................. 146
Prices ................................................................................................................ 147
Miscellaneous options ....................................................................................... 147
Server Groups ................................................................................................... 148
Attributes ........................................................................................................... 148
Add-ons ............................................................................................................. 150
Ledger Entries ................................................................................................... 150
Clone Product .................................................................................................... 150
Advanced .......................................................................................................... 150
Details
First, fill in the Details tab. Details are grouped into three sections: Product Display Information,
Internal Settings, and Billing Options And Settings. Complete each of the settings shown:
Product Display Information contains fields that will show up on your order form or website
widgets.
where:
Add-on Option. If this is not an add-on product and you would like to give customers the
ability to associate add-ons with this product, select from the drop down menu. Your
choices are:
Optional. Add-on can be added, but is not required.
Required. Customer must select an add-on before proceeding.
Hide. Add-on field is suppressed or hidden from view.
Domain Option. Select how you want domains to be associated with this product from
the drop down menu. Your choices are:
Optional. Domain can be added, but is not required.
Required. Customer must select a domain before proceeding.
Hide. Domain field is suppressed or hidden from view.
Internal Settings contains settings that affect the product’s status within your system.
Is Active. Do you want the product to be active? Select Yes.
Product Type. By default you have selected Hosting Product as the type for this product.
Date created. This is preset by the system and cannot be modified.
Billing Options And Settings contains fields that affect the way this product will be billed.
Pricing (Advanced). By default the Regular pricing is selected. If you require pricing
options, choose your custom Pricing Option from the drop-down list.
Duration To Be Billed. Select the type of billing cycle you want to use for this product.
Your choices are:
Forever. Product will automatically renew at the end of each billing cycle.
One Time Only. Product will only be charged once.
Fixed Duration. Product will be renewed a specified number of times.
Prorate Product? Do you want the product to be proratable? Select Yes.
Allow Discount To Be Applied? Do you want the product to be discountable? Select Yes.
Cancellation Permissions. Assign permissions to cancel this product.
Note: enabling clients to cancel will give clients the option to cancel their packages from
the client dashboard. Select from the following:
• Admins can cancel (suspend)
• Admins and clients can cancel (suspend)
• Admins can cancel (DELETE!)
• Admins and clients can cancel (DELETE!)
Product Groups. Move the product group from the Selectable list on the right to the
Selected list on the left. You can double-click each product group or you can use the
arrows at the bottom of each list.
Once you have completed the above, click Save.
Order Forms
On this step you have to associate the product with the order form. Parallels Plesk Billing
allows adjusting the order form according to your needs: set different currency, change
locale, select another look and feel, and other settings. The hosting product will show up in
the website widgets that you configure. Products can be associated with as many website
widgets and order forms specific to your business. There is no limitation on the number you
can setup. Read the Setting Up Website Widget document to learn more about website
widgets. If you are not going to provide services in multiple currencies, please use the default
Order Form (OF1). Otherwise, please add a second or third order form. Refer to the Adding a
Second or Third Order Form (on page 156) document for the instructions.
To associate a product with the Order Form:
1 Click the Order forms link.
2 Move the necessary Order form from the Selectable list to the Selected. By
default, “OF 1” (Order Form 1) is in the Selectable list.
3 Save the changes.
Cycles
Selecting a cycle allows people to order this product for the selected cycle as long as there is
a price set for the order’s cycle and currency. The price editor will ask for prices for all
combinations of cycles and currencies. Therefore, the cycles should be set before editing
pricing.
To set a cycle:
1 Click the Cycles link which will appear after you completed the Order Forms
link.
2 Move the cycles(s) from the Selectable list on the right to the Selected list on
the left. You can double-click each cycle or you can use the arrows at the
bottom of each list.
Note: Parallels Plesk Billing allows adding custom Cycles if you are not satisfied with the
default ones. Refer to the Add Cycles article for detailed instructions.
3 Save changes.
Options
If you would like to offer the product in several different configurations and prices, you have to
create pricing options for it.
To select the pricing option values for the hosting product:
1 Click the Options link.
2 Move the pricing option value(s) from the Selectable list on the right to the
Selected list on the left. You can double-click each pricing option value or
you can use the arrows at the bottom of each list.
3 Save the changes.
Note: if there are no pricing options available in the Selectable list, make sure you have set
your custom Pricing Option in the Pricing field of the Details page.
Prices
This page allows you to set the pricing for each cycle, as well as advanced variations in
products which may affect pricing, known in the system as product variables. For this:
1 Click on the Prices link.
2 When the page loads, you will see the list of prices for your product and/or
pricing options.
3 Click on the Edit icon in the Pricing column.
Set the following (optional):
1 Tax Zone Group. Select the group for the taxes to be applied to the price
during the Order process. If you leave none, no taxes will be applied.
2 Cycle Discount Group. Set the group to automatically apply a discount to a
product.
3 Prices. Enter General, Setup, Upgrade, and Downgrade prices for each cycle
accordingly.
4 Update Packages. Select between:
Update no packages (just update the product)
Update unlocked packages
Update all packages
Repeat this step for any other billing cycle and currency that shows on this page.
Miscellaneous options
Website Widgets
Parallels Plesk Billing offers WW 1 Website Widget by default. If you are going to provide multi-
currency support, you will have to brand several Order Pages and create different Website
Widgets for each of them. To assign a product to a Website Widget, move the appropriate
Website Widget from the Selectable list to the Selected. For more info, refer to Website Widgets
documentation.
Product Coupon Settings
You can offer two types of Coupons to your customers: automatic and manual. Automatic coupons
will apply and show a discount for the product on the order page even before the client adds
a product to a shopping cart. Manual coupons offer a discount applied during the order process
when the client inputs the key provided by Parallels Plesk Billing Administrator. To apply an
automatic coupon to the product, select the coupon from the drop-down list. If you do not intend
offering automatic discounts, leave the box empty. To associate the manual coupons with the
product, double-click the coupons in the Selectable list or use the arrow buttons. Read the Add
Coupons document to learn how to create and add new coupons to the system.
Product Upgrade/Downgrade Settings
Parallels Plesk Billing offers a possibility for you clients to upgrade/downgrade their package
to a matching package with more/less resources for a set fee. For this, you have to specify
the products with matching cycles/order forms/server groups as upgrade and downgrade
options.
May Upgrade To: Move the products(s) from the Selectable list on the right to the Selected list on
the left. You can double-click each product or you can use the arrows at the bottom of each
list.
May Downgrade To: Move the product(s) from the Selectable list on the right to the Selected list on
the left. You can double-click each product or you can use the arrows at the bottom of each
list.
Product Email Settings
Select packageInfo - Hosting Product welcome e-mail from the predefined list of templates in
the drop-down menu.
Product Notification Settings
Select group to notify on event: cronadmin, root, none. This is the group who is notified when
an invoice is generated for the product purchase.
Product Usage Pricing
Enter the price that you are charging per usage unit. If you charge X amount per Gigabyte
used over Y limit, then your price would be what you would charge for each Gigabyte over
that specific limit.
Server Groups
On this step of creating a hosting product, you have to associate a server group or several
server groups to a product. The system is designed specifically to associate a product with as
many services that are provisioned as you want. If you associate a product with different
server groups, when you go to the Attributes page it will ask you for all of the values for all of
the attributes for each of those server groups. Then when the product is purchased, it will
provision all of the server groups.
To set a server group:
1 Click the Server Groups link.
2 Move the server groups from the Selectable list to the Selected list by double-
clicking or using the arrows.
3 Click Save.
Note: we do not recommend associating both PleskUnix and PleskWin groups for the
product at a time.
Attributes
Please configure the values for Panel and Generic attributes (if you created any) for the
product. The attributes displayed on this step depend on the Server Group and the API
provided by the Control Panel. For more info on Attributes, refer to the Attributes (on page
116) documentation.
See Appendix A (on page 230) for detailed information on Parallels Plesk Panel attributes in
Parallels Plesk Billing.
Add-ons
Here you can create new Add-ons based on Generic or Panel Attributes values configured on
the previous step. Besides, you can manage already existing Add-ons. The Add-ons with
their pricing options will be then available on the second step of the ordering process. See
Add-ons (on page 116) document for details.
Ledger Entries
On this step of configuring Hosting Product you can set up Ledger Entries to keep track of your
accounting. The credit and debit entries will appear in a database when a client pays an
invoice. See the Generating General Ledgers (on page 224) document for more details.
Clone Product
When you click the Clone Product link, the system automatically creates an exact duplicate of
the product you are currently creating/modifying. When the new page loads, rename the
product to your new product’s name, otherwise you will have two copies of the same product.
Advanced
The advanced option is specific to the add-ons for your product. If you click the Advanced link
in your product screen, the following new options appear in the Details section: Is this product
an Add-on, Add-on group, Question.
Setting Up SSLFactory
Parallels Plesk Billing in conjunction with SSLFactory allows you to provision SSL Certificates
easily, quickly, and efficiently.
Types of SSL Certificates
RapidSSL - A low-priced 128-bit SSL certificate delivered to you in 10 minutes! Single signed
certificate at the lowest price available.
QuickSSL - A low-priced 128-bit SSL certificate delivered to you in 10 minutes! Real-time
two-factor telephone authentication and Unique Business Identifier included make it a great
value.
QuickSSL Premium - This 128-bit SSL certificate includes a dynamic security seal for your
site and real-time, two-factor telephone authentication plus the Unique Business Identifier
(DUNS number equivalent), and is still delivered in only 10 minutes.
True BusinessID - Provides end-to-end internet security protection for doing business online.
Secure transactions through High Assurance SSL and business validation from True Site - so
you are completely covered!
Below find step-by-step instructions on how to set up SSL Certificates provisioning via
Parallels Plesk Billing.
In this section:
Step 1. Sign Up for an SSLFactory Account ...................................................... 151
Step 2. Submit Your SSLFactory Account Data ................................................. 151
Step 3. Create Products for Each SSL Certificate Type ..................................... 152
Step 1. Sign Up for an SSLFactory Account
You can sign up for an SSLFactory account at
http://www.pleskbilling.com/products/sslfactory.
Step 2. Submit Your SSLFactory Account Data
To submit your account data:
1 Go to System > Other Settings > SSL Modules.
2 When the page loads, click SSLFactory.
3 Submit your SSLFactory account user name and access code.
Step 3. Create Products for Each SSL Certificate Type
Create products for each SSL Certificate type you want to sell to your customers. To learn
how to create Products in Parallels Plesk Billing, view the Products (on page 125) document.
For each SSL Certificate product you create, you will need to do modify a few settings in
order for the system to provision the certificates.
Each SSL Certificate product should have the following set correctly:
Domain Option: Hide
Addon Option: Hide
Note: Billing Cycles can only be set to years, for example 1, 2, 3 and so on.
For each SSL certificate product add an attribute value from the table below:
SSL Product
Product ID
Quick SSL
QuickSSL
Rapid SSL
RapidSSL
True Biz ID
TrueBizID
Quick SSL Premium
QuickSSLPremium
To add an attribute to an SSL product:
1 Go to Products > Show Products > SSL Certificate Product.
2 Click Details for the SSL product to which you want to add an attribute.
3 Click Attributes.
4 Click the green pencil icon under the Value column.
5 Enter certProductType as the Name and click Add.
6 Once the page loads, click on the pencil icon in the Actions column. Enter
the Product ID associated with the SSL Certificate type you are setting up
and click Edit.
Configuring the products.php Page
The products.php page is a default page that uses the default widget that’s installed with your
Parallels Plesk Billing. The default website widget displays default packages, Bronze, Silver,
and Gold.
You can set products.php to any website widget.
To set up the products.php page:
1 Login to your server via SSH
2 Open the products.php file located in /your-ppb-
directory/order/.
3 Locate the following section of code:
$websiteWidgetArgs = array(
„widgetID‟ => 1,
„method‟ => „local‟,
„whoisWidget‟ => 0,
„urlORpath‟ => dirname(__FILE__)
);
4 Find the ID for the website widget you want to use:
1. Click Products > Website Widgets in your Parallels Plesk Billing interface.
2. When the page loads, find the website widget you want to use. Finds its ID in the
corresponding column.
5 Replace ID 1 with the ID you want to use. In our example, we are using
widget column ID 2:
$websiteWidgetArgs = array(
„widgetID‟ => 2,
„method‟ => „local‟,
„whoisWidget‟ => 0,
„urlORpath‟ => dirname(__FILE__)
);
6 Save the file.
Note: Use the products.php page for test purposes only. For production purposes, include
website widgets into your index page or any other on-line page where you offer your products
and services.
Using Multiple products.php Pages
You can use multiple products.php pages to display your various website widgets.
To configure multiple products.php pages:
1 Open the your-ppb-directory/order/ directory. You will see the
default products.php file.
2 Decide how many products.php pages you want to use. If you decide
three (3) pages will fit your organization’s model, create two (2) copies of
the products.php file. You can name the copies anything you want.
Example: products2.php, products3.php. They do not have to contain the word
“products.”
3 Open each of your products.php files and make sure the widgetID
variable is using the website widget you want to display on that particular
products.php page.
4 Now you can display your products.php pages as shown below (example
only):
your-ppb-directory/order/products.php (default file)
your-ppb-directory/order/products2.php (copy)
your-ppb-directory/order/products3.php (copy)
The term order form can be somewhat misleading. An order form is not the form which
you create off which your clients order your products. Instead, it’s more of a structure
that ties together various parts of the system involved in ordering, in a way that enables
you to integrate Parallels Plesk Billing with your site. Order forms tie together payment
groups and products with a currency and locale information. Website widgets are also
tied to order forms, and are how you integrate your product offerings with your website.
Order forms are also an important part of multi-currency support. For each currency
you intend to charge clients, you must have a complete set of payment group, order
form, and website widget or widgets.
FraudGuardian is a tool we developed to help you screen incoming orders to help
reduce the costs of fraud. Contrary to the name, FraudGuardian does not screen for
fraud. Instead, it looks for orders that are probably not fraud and automatically
approves them, helping to automate your business one step further. Without
FraudGuardian, all incoming orders are set to pending so that you can inspect them
yourself before approving them and setting the client status to active.
In this chapter:
Configuring Order Forms ................................................................................... 155
Adding a Second or Third Order Form ............................................................... 156
Branding Multiple Order Forms .......................................................................... 157
Customizing Order Forms ................................................................................. 158
Setting Up E-mail Banning ................................................................................ 159
Using Website Widgets ..................................................................................... 160
Setting Up FraudGuardian ................................................................................. 163
Configuring Order Forms
Assuming that you are working with a single currency, you only need to have one order
form set up. During installation, an order form is created for you. All you need to do is
configure it to fit your needs.
To configure an order form:
1 Go to System > Order Settings > Order Form Settings.
2 Click the green pencil icon to edit the order form.
3 Fill in the necessary information. There are tip right in the interface to
describe each of the fields and what they configure.
4 Click the Submit button so your changes are saved.
CH A P T E R 14
Configuring Order Settings
156 Configuring Order Settings
Adding a Second or Third Order Form
If you are going to be charging your clients in more than one currency, then you need to
have one order form for each currency.
Note: Before adding an order form, make sure you have added a payment group (on
page 56) for the currency in which you’re going to accept payments.
To create a new order form:
1 Go to System > System Settings > Order Form Settings.
2 This page lists your current order forms. From here, click Add New Order
Form in the upper right hand corner.
3 Fill in the necessary information using the tips from the interface.
4 Click Submit.
Configuring Order Settings 157
Branding Multiple Order Forms
Parallels Plesk Billing version 5 allows you to brand multiple order forms to distinguish
between different product lines, areas of your site, or even multiple companies, all
connected to a single Parallels Plesk Billing installation.
To create multiple order forms:
1 Create several order forms via the Parallels Plesk Billing interface
according to your business needs. For instance, you may want to have
one order page for US clients and another one for clients from Europe.
Refer to the Configuring Order Forms (on page 155) section for
instructions.
2 Find out IDs of order forms that you have created. (Go to System >
Order Settings > Order Form Settings. View the Order Form ID column.)
For example, US Order Form ID=1 and Europe Order Form ID=2
3 Create a website widget for each order form as described in the
Configuring Website Widgets (on page 161) section.
4 Copy the lib-themes/default/order/ directory to lib-
themes/default/order<ID>/, where <ID> is Order Form ID. In our
example, you will need to create 2 directories:
lib-themes/default/order1
lib-themes/default/order2
Note: Leave the original order form files in place as they will be used for any other
order form.
5 Modify the following files in both new directories to brand each order
form:
templates/shopping/header.tpl
templates/shopping/footer.tpl
For more information on customizing the header and footer, refer to the
Customizing Order Forms (on page 158) section.
6 The website widget for order form 1 will now go to the order1 order
form, and the website widget for order form 2 will go to the order2
order form.
158 Configuring Order Settings
Customizing Order Forms
You can easily customize the Parallels Plesk Billing order form by editing the smarty
template files and CSS in your theme directory.
To customize an order form:
1 Log in to your server using SSH.
2 Go to your lib-themes/default/order/templates/shopping
directory.
3 There are two files you need to modify:
header.tpl
footer.tpl
4 Open the header.tpl file. You can modify any of the code below the
<body> tag. Save the file after you have completed your
modifications.
5 Open the footer.tpl file. You can modify any of the code above
the </body> tag. Save the file after you have completed your
modifications.
6 You can modify the style sheet by going to the /lib-
themes/default/lib-billing/css/ directory and viewing the
shoppingstyle.css file.
Note: You can change the background color by modifying the following section of
code:
body {
font-family: “Tahoma”, sans-serif;
font-size: 10px;
background-color: #cfcdc7;
}
Configuring Order Settings 159
Setting Up E-mail Banning
In the order form, you can set Parallels Plesk Billing to ban all free e-mails (such as
yahoo and hotmail). If, however, you have specific e-mail addresses you would like to
ban, you can set this up here. For example, say you think yahoo email is ok, but you
don’t want anyone with a gmail account. You can set up a ban for gmail.com, rather
than having to ban all free email addresses. Start by clicking System > Order Settings >
Order Form Settings > Show Bans. Here you will see a list of the e-mails that are already
being banned by your system. You can edit these entries, make them inactive or active,
and remove them if needed.
To add a new ban entry:
1 Go to System > Order Settings > Order Form Settings > Add Ban.
2 Choose to set the ban as active or inactive, then click Add.
3 You will then be taken to the email ban list, where you will see a blank
entry. Click on the green pencil to edit the column and set the ban
string.
160 Configuring Order Settings
Using Website Widgets
A website widget is a piece of code you can place anywhere on your website, locally or
remotely to your Parallels Plesk Billing system, and link any product to your order form.
Widget code may be server-side (written in PHP) or client-side (written in JavaScript).
With Parallels Plesk Billing you do not need to create multiple order forms. The new
logic uses “website widgets” as the starting point for ordering a product off your
website. Each website widget is linked directly to the Parallels Plesk Billing shopping
cart. The shopping cart allows the customer to add as many products and continue
through the order process when ready to make the final transaction. Website widgets
can be placed anywhere on your website and can be customized to the “look and feel”
of your website.
Note the following information:
You can have any number of products attached to a website widget.
You can have multiple widgets per order form.
You can have multiple products per order form.
You can have multiple server groups per order form.
An order form is really the shopping cart system that uses locale, currency, domain
settings, and user name/password settings.
Website widgets can fall into the following categories:
1 Normal Widgets
2 Full whois Widgets
3 Mini whois Widgets
4 Multiple Whois Widgets
A whois widget is meant to display a form to allow people to determine if a domain
is available for purchase (or transfer) and to purchase it on a given cycle/currency.
Once you have setup your order form and you want to view your products, go to
http://yourdomain/ppb-dir/order/products.php. You will see your products
and services on the page as website widgets. If a product is not showing up on the
products.php as a widget, you need to add your products to the website widget list
by following the instructions outlined in this chapter.
In this section:
Configuring Website Widgets ............................................................................ 161
Customizing Website Widgets ........................................................................... 162
Configuring Order Settings 161
Configuring Website Widgets
By default your system is preconfigured with a website widget. To begin, you can
change it according to your needs.
To configure website widgets:
1 Go to Products > Website Widgets.
2 The default widget is called WW 1. You can edit the widget by clicking
on the green pencil icon in the Actions column.
3 Set the following:
Website Widget Name. Modify or enter the name you want to use for this widget.
Widget Template. Select the widget template you want to use from the drop down
menu.
Products. Select the products you want to associate with this website widget from
the Selectable list.
Order Form. Select order form.
4 Click Save.
5 Repeat Steps 1-4 above until you have created all the website widgets
you need for your website.
6 Now you need to get the code for your website. This is done on the
Website Widgets page.
7 Click on any row specific to the website widget you want to place on
your website.
8 The page will expand displaying the code you need to insert in your
website code. The code is preconfigured for you and is available for
the following:
Same Website PHP Code
Remote Website PHP Code
JavaScript Code
9 Copy the code from the section you need and place it anywhere on
your website as long as you are using PHP pages, or use JavaScript.
10 Repeat Steps 7-9 until you have completed inserting website widgets
on your website.
Important: Website widgets are always provided with the utf-8 character set.
Therefore, any page that includes them needs to set the character set to utf-8. In PHP,
this can be done with the following PHP code before headers are sent (before any
output is sent):
header(“Content-Type: text/html; charset=utf-8”);
Note: If you still have multibyte issues on your website widgets, it is possible that the
Parallels Plesk Billing database was not dumped and restored properly.
162 Configuring Order Settings
Customizing Website Widgets
Customizing your website widgets can be done easily with a little html and php
knowledge. Refer to http://www.smarty.net/ for additional information.
To customize a website widget:
1 Go to the your-ppb-dir/lib-
themes/default/order/templates/website_widgets
directory.
2 You will see a list of .tpl files. These are the Smarty templates used
to define the “look and feel” of your website widgets:
ppcSpecialOfferWidget-Grid.tpl
ppcSpecialOfferWidget-List.tpl
README
simpleSingleProductPlusAddons.tpl
simpleWidget-Grid.tpl
simpleWidget-List.tpl
simpleWidget-Pulldown.tpl
stepByStep-Grid.tpl
stepByStep-List.tpl
stepByStep-Pulldown.tpl
Note: The README file should be read as an example.
3 Choose the template that matches up with the website widget you are
using.
Configuring Order Settings 163
Setting Up FraudGuardian
FraudGuardian is a tool we developed to help you screen incoming orders to help
reduce the costs of fraud. Contrary to the name, FraudGuardian does not screen for
fraud. Instead, it looks for orders that are probably not fraud and automatically
approves them, helping to automate your business one step further. Without
FraudGuardian, all incoming orders are set to pending so that you can inspect them
yourself before approving them and setting the client status to active.
Below find step-by-step instructions on how to set up FraudGuardian through Parallels
Plesk Billing.
First you need to sign up for a FraudGuardian account. Once you have done that, you
just need to enable the module, then configure it. There are two main parts to
configuring FraudGuardian: Fraud Sets and Thresholds.
In this section:
Step 1. Sign Up for a FraudGuardian Account ................................................... 163
Step 2. Submit Your FraudGuardian Account Data ........................................... 163
Step 3. Create a Fraud Set ................................................................................ 164
Step 4. Create a Country Threshold .................................................................. 165
Step 5. Tie Fraud Sets with Order Forms and Thresholds ................................. 167
Step 1. Sign Up for a FraudGuardian Account
You can sign up for a FraudGuardian account at
http://www.pleskbilling.com/products/fraudguardian/. Once you have done that, you just
need to enable the module, then configure it.
Step 2. Submit Your FraudGuardian Account Data
To submit your account data:
1 Go to System > Other Settings > Fraud Modules.
2 When the page loads, click FraudGuardian.
3 Submit your FraudGuardian account user name and password.
164 Configuring Order Settings
Step 3. Create a Fraud Set
A fraud set is a group of thresholds. The fraud set allows you to tie various thresholds
with order forms, and specify the e-mail you wish to have notices sent to. If you are
selling in one currency, you will like just need one fraud set, as you will be using a
single order form. If, however, you are using multiple order forms because you are
selling in multiple currencies, you may want to create a unique fraud set for each order
form. It is also possible to have a single threshold apply to several order forms, through
the fraud set.
To create a Fraud Set:
1 On the FraudGuardian page you entered in the previous step, click
Manage.
2 Fill in the required fields:
Fraud Set Name. Enter the name of the new fraud set you want to create.
Fraud Set Email. Enter the e-mail you want to use to e-mail your FraudGuardian
reports.
3 Click Define New Fraud Set.
Note: you can also modify an existing default fraud set according to your needs.
4 Click Manage to tie the fraud set with order forms and/or thresholds.
5 Click Save all.
Configuring Order Settings 165
Step 4. Create a Country Threshold
Thresholds are your way of telling the system what variables you do and do not want,
and how badly you do and do not want them. For example, you may decide that free e-
mail is something you do not mind, and assign it zero points. But it may be that you do
not want anyone coming through a proxy, and so assign these ten points. You also set
how many points a client can have, and what behavior the system will take depending
on the points total assigned to each incoming client.
You can have a single threshold, where all new clients have the same standards
applied to them, or create various different thresholds depending on countries or
regions.
To define a new country threshold:
1 On the Manage Fraud Settings page that you entered in the previous step:
1. Enter Threshold Name.
2. Threshold Type: Select one of the following:
Apply to ALL countries.
Apply to ONE country. This will apply to only one country. Select from the drop
down menu.
Apply to REGION of countries. You select a parent country such as North
America or child countries such as the Caribbean, Central America, or
Northern America.
2 Click Configure for the newly created threshold.
3 Configure Fraud Score Threshold Actions. This section allows you to set the
system behavior based on a client’s final score:
Score 1. Normally, you will want to set an action for approving clients with very
low scores. Low scores indicate that it is unlikely the client is fraudulent. The
action Active With Auth Capture means that as soon as this client has paid their
signup invoice, they will be set to active. Set the highest score you would want
to allow for clients to be approved as long as they pay.
Score 2. Clients who score too high to safely qualify as not fraudulent, but who
are not high enough to necessarily be fraud, can be set to pending so that you
can approve them manually. We recommend setting Score 2 to Pending With Auth
Capture. Then choose the highest score you’re willing to accept into the billing
system.
Score 3. The next level of score is usually set to Soft Reject. Clients meeting the
Soft Reject score will not be able to proceed through to the final checkout page,
and instead will have a message displayed. The message they see is something
that you enter yourself. It usually includes something letting the client know there
is a potential problem with their account information, and asking them to contact
sales or support, depending on how you want to handle this. Set this number to
the maximum score you are willing to even consider for a client.
166 Configuring Order Settings
Score 4. Score 4 is usually set to Hard Reject. Clients with a score that meets or
exceeds the number you enter for this level, if set to Hard Reject, will see your
Hard Reject message. This is usually set to something letting the client know that
you have identified them as fraud and are not interested in their business. Like
the soft reject message, the content of the message can be set to whatever you
would like it to be.
4 Configure Amount Override Threshold Actions.
One of the common tactics employed by fraudsters is to charge as much as
possible once they find a card that is live. It might be possible that the client’s billing
account and address information matches well enough to not stand out as being
fraud, but the amount they are purchasing does. For example, if a fraudster steals a
card from someone in the same town, the system may not be able to tell that this is
not who they say they are. But if the fraudster is trying to charge $500 worth of
hosting, that might tip you off that something is amiss (depending on how much you
charge for hosting). Like the section above, you can set three different sets of
actions based on the amount being charged. For example:
Amount 1. Say you sell hosting for $20 a month, and your average client buys
two packages and a couple of domains. The total sale will then usually be less
than $100. If you set this amount to $100 and the action to Pending with Auth
Capture, then any client who is buying more than $100 of services will be set to
pending in your system. This will give you a chance to look the order over before
approving it.
Amount 2 and Amount 3. Like the Amount 1 setting, you can choose to set
thresholds for these as well. For example, you may decide that anyone trying to
buy $1000 worth of hosting from you is obviously not on the up and up, and
want to set this to hard reject. You may also decide that any order over $200
might be legitimate, but that such a client probably needs special attention. If
you set this to soft reject, these clients will be encourage to contact you directly
for their sale.
5 Adjust Fraud Score Triggers.
Parallels Plesk Billing uses what it calls Fraud Score Triggers to assign points to
incoming client accounts in order to determine whether or not the order is likely to
be legitimate. The system has these triggers set to default values upon installation,
but you are free to adjust them as you like. For example, you may decide that you
don’t care if the client’s IP matches their country for billing purposes. In that case
you can set this value to 0 instead of the default: 2.5.
6 Write rejections messages.
Soft Rejection Message. This is the message that will be displayed to people who
trigger your soft rejection notice for this threshold.
Hard Rejection Message. This is the message that will be displayed to people who
trigger your hard rejection notice for this threshold.
7 Click the button at the foot of the page to save settings.
Configuring Order Settings 167
Step 5. Tie Fraud Sets with Order Forms and
Thresholds
To tie a fraud set with order forms and thresholds:
1 On the Manage Fraud Settings page click Manage for the fraud set you wish
to configure.
2 Assign an order form and a threshold by selecting them and adding to
the boxes.
3 Click Save all.
In this chapter:
Managing Packages .......................................................................................... 169
Administering Clients ......................................................................................... 176
Using Client Groups .......................................................................................... 202
Performing Manual Payments ........................................................................... 203
Managing Invoices ............................................................................................ 206
Providing Client Support .................................................................................... 214
Setting Up ModModernBill Module .................................................................... 218
Migrating Subscriptions from version 4 to version 5 ........................................... 219
Charging for E-mail Account Usage (SPLA) Ensim Unify .................................. 220
CH A P T E R 15
Serving Your Customers
Serving Your Customers 169
Managing Packages
A product is what you sell to your customers. Once your customers purchase a product
from your website, it becomes a package or client package.
Packages are a central component of Parallels Plesk Billing. For each type of thing you
would like to sell your clients (server space, t-shorts, donuts) you will create a kind of
generic version of this item, called a product. When a client would like to purchase one
of your products, you add it to the client as a package. A package is, basically, a
specific occurrence of a product.
Packages also serve as a connection point in Parallels Plesk Billing. Invoices are tied to
packages. So are attributes and add-ons. A client may stay the same, but they may
have different packages, and thus different add-ons and invoices, at various times in
their life cycle. Adding a package to a client is a required prerequisite for billing a client.
You cannot bill a client unless they have at least one package tied to their account.
Parallels Plesk Billing handles packages in two broad categories: domain packages
and all others. Domains packages are created when a client either purchases or
transfers a domain through Parallels Plesk Billing.
By default, new customers’ packages that are not tied to a server group will become
Active immediately. New customer’s packages that are tied to a server group will be set
to Pending status until the cron has run (if you have automation setup) or until you
activate the new customer’s packages from the Package Summary on the Client Summary
page.
In this section:
Packages Details ............................................................................................... 170
Changing Package Status ................................................................................. 170
Suspending/Unsuspending Packages ............................................................... 172
Adding an Add-on to a Package ........................................................................ 172
Running Package Events .................................................................................. 173
Canceling Packages .......................................................................................... 174
Activating a Customer Package ......................................................................... 175
170 Serving Your Customers
Packages Details
To view package details:
1 Go to Clients > Packages
2 Click the View link next to the necessary package
3 Click the Details in the Additional Actions bar.
The page that shows will show you Package Details, including general information,
package status, pricing information, cancellation options, renewal dates, and
payment information. Here you can change a Billing Account for this package by
selecting an option from a drop-down list and clicking the Save button.
Here you can also view the Comments for the product, the information on Last
Invoice, and Package Attributes and Add-ons and change the server associated with
the package. Mind that reassigning will tie this package to a different panel. It
will NOT move the actual hosting account.
Changing Package Status
Parallels Plesk Billing allows for a number of different kinds of package status. These
statuses can be divided into groups based on their behavior:
Active. By far the most common status for a package. Active packages are those
that, as the name implies, are being actively used by a client. This might be a
current hosting package, software license, or service subscription. Packages
marked Active will be invoiced.
Pending. When a client first purchases a package, that package has a status of
Pending. Packages marked Pending will not be invoiced beyond the first one.
Canceled. Packages marked Canceled will not be invoiced.
Fraudulent. Packages marked Fraudulent will not be invoiced.
Collections. Packages marked Collections will not be invoiced.
Work In Progress. Packages marked Work In Progress will not be invoiced.
Suspended. Packages marked Suspended will only be invoiced if set to do so in the
invoicing rules (on page 82).
Failed. Packages marked Failed will not be invoiced.
Pending Renewal. Domain packages behave a little differently than other packages
do. When a domain is approaching its renewal date, and invoice is sent to the client
and the package status is set to Pending Renewal. Once the invoice has been paid
and the domain actually renewed with the registrar, the package status will again
change to Active. Packages marked Pending Renewal will not be invoiced.
Expired. Packages marked Expired will not be invoiced.
Stopped. Packages marked Stopped will not be invoiced.
Started. Packages marked Started will not be invoiced.
Submitted. Packages marked Submitted will not be invoiced.
Completed. Packages marked Completed will not be invoiced.
Transferred. If you transfer a package from one client to another, this package will be
marked as Transferred. Packages marked Transferred will not be invoiced.
Serving Your Customers 171
You can create an invoice for a package with status other than active or suspended by
manually generating an invoice through the client details page.
Why have many different kinds of status, when they all behave about the same? For
example, if you are using Parallels Plesk Billing to sell web design in addition to
hosting, you may want to set the web design package as something other than just
Active or Completed. You may want to Start the package, it may be In Progress, you may
have to Stop the project for some reason, and the project may become Inactive, without
ever being Completed. These extra status designations allow you to keep track of
general information about such a project right in Parallels Plesk Billing. You can change
the status of a package at any time.
To change the status of a package:
1 Go to Clients > Packages. The page displays all packages in the system.
2 Find the package you want to edit and click the blue arrow above its
ID.
3 Additional controls for the package appear. Click Edit in the Additional
Actions row.
4 Find the Package Status Options section. Choose the necessary status
against Current Package Status and provide reasons in the Status Change
Reason box.
5 Click Save.
Note: You can also navigate to a package page from Client Summary Page of the client to
whom this package belongs. Click Show All Packages in the Package Summary box and
find the package you wish to edit.
Warning: Setting status to cancel will not run cancellation items. To run cancellation
items for the package, set the package to Cancel On Next Renew in the Package
Cancellation Options section.
172 Serving Your Customers
Suspending/Unsuspending Packages
Note: The client package MUST be tied to a control panel in order to
suspend/unsuspend the package, otherwise the function to perform this action will not
appear in the interface.
To suspend or unsuspend a client package:
1 Go to Clients > Packages.
2 Click the View link next to the package you want to
suspend/unsuspend.
3 Click Edit in the Additional Actions column.
4 A new window will appear. Find the Package Status Options section and
select the Suspend/Unsuspend option from the Current Package Status drop
down menu.
5 Click Save.
6 When the events queue runs, the package will be set to
Suspend/Unsuspend on the server.
Adding an Add-on to a Package
To add an add-on to a package:
1 Go to Clients > Packages.
2 Click the View link next to the package you want to add an add-on.
3 Click Add-on in the Additional Actions column.
4 When the page loads, click Add New Add-on.
5 As the page loads, select the add-on package you want to add to the
client’s account from the products list.
6 Set the following:
Select the add-on option.
Price. Enter a price for the add-on option you chose.
Setup Price. If applicable, enter a setup price.
Coupon Price. If applicable, enter a coupon price.
Coupon Num Cycles. If applicable, set a number of coupon cycles.
7 Click the Add button.
Serving Your Customers 173
Running Package Events
There are two ways you can run package events:
All at once
One by one
To run package events all at once, go to Events > Events > Run Events. All the events will
be running at the same time.
Note: Running all events at the same time will process everything, not just package
events.
To run package events one by one:
1 Go to Events > Events.
2 A submenu will appear from which you can filter package events by
Registrar, Panel, Server Group or Recurring.
3 Make your selection of a registrar, panel or server group. For
example, you can choose to run all events related to your local Plesk
server hosting packages.
4 When the page loads with the filtered records, click the blue arrow
icon for the event you want to run.
5 Click Run link in the Additional Actions section.
174 Serving Your Customers
Canceling Packages
If the package is tied to a server group, meaning the account is created on the server,
follow the instructions in Method 1 below. If the package is not tied to a server group,
skip down to Method 2.
Method 1 - Canceling a Package Tied to a Server Group
1 Go to Clients > Packages.
2 Click the View link next to the package you want to add an add-on.
3 When the Additional Actions items appear, click the Edit link.
4 Find a Servers section that contains the following:
Server Name.
Panel.
Status.
Actions.
5 Click the pencil icon in the Actions column.
6 When a window appears, select Canceled from the drop down menu
and click the Edit button.
A system event will be created. The event will be run automatically if you have your
system setup for automation. Otherwise, run the event.
Method 2 - Canceling a Package Not Tied to a Server
Group
1 Go to Clients > Packages.
2 Click the View link next to the package you want to add an add-on.
3 When the Additional Actions items appear, click the Edit link.
4 Select Canceled from the Status drop down menu.
5 Click the Save button.
Serving Your Customers 175
Activating a Customer Package
If the package is tied to a server group meaning the account is created on the server,
follow the instructions in Section 1 below. If the package is not tied to a server group,
skip down to Section 2.
Section 1
1 Go to Clients > Packages.
2 Click the View link next to the package you want to add an add-on.
3 When the Additional Actions items appear, click the Edit link.
4 Find a Servers section that contains the following:
Server Name.
Panel.
Status.
Actions.
5 Click the pencil icon in the Actions column.
6 When a window appears, select Active from the drop down menu and
click the Edit button.
A system event will be created. The event will be run automatically if you have your
system setup for automation. Otherwise, run the event.
Section 2
1 Go to Clients > Packages.
2 Click the View link next to the package you want to add an add-on.
3 When the Additional Actions items appear, click the Edit link.
4 Select Active from the Status drop down menu.
5 Click the Save button.
Administering Clients
Here you will find a one-stop shop for client management. You can approve new clients, view
your live or archived clients, or add new clients. You can also view statistics about your
clients and access client details.
In this section:
Adding New Clients ........................................................................................... 177
Managing Existing Clients.................................................................................. 181
Adding New Clients
There are two main methods for new client records to be added to your Parallels Plesk Billing
system: through the administrator interface and through the order process. The exact
procedure for adding clients through the order process can vary depending on your system’s
configuration and how you have integrated it with your website. The procedure for adding
clients through the administrator interface will be the same on all installations.
Adding clients through the administrator interface is a process available for billing system
administrators, while clients will make use of the order process. Billing system administrators
may also make use of the order process for creating client records, as long as they have a
product ready to assign to the client.
In this section:
Through the Administrator Interface ................................................................... 178
Through the Order Process ............................................................................... 181
Through the Administrator Interface
Adding clients through the administrative interface is a one-step procedure that involves
adding client details, contact details, and billing account. Each client account can have several
contacts tied to it. On this step you will specify the first of these contacts.
To add a client account:
1 Go to Clients > Add New Client.
2 Fill in the Client Details. You will see several fields containing values tied to
the client account. Fill in the following:
Company Name. Enter the name of your client’s company. If they do not have a
company, you can leave this blank.
Default Theme. Parallels Plesk Billing allows for the creation and use of multiple themes.
You can use this, as an example, to sell several different brands. If you are using
multiple themes, you can specify which theme or brand you want this client to be tied
to.
Client Group. Client groups can be used to specify certain kinds of discounts. For
example, if you have clients reselling your product, you can create a reseller group,
assign a particular discount to this group, and then assign your resellers to this group.
They will receive the discount you specific for their products. You can also use client
groups without specifying a discount if you would simply like to organize clients in a
particular way.
Current Status. You can set the status of the client. As the field note states, only active
accounts can be billed. However, you have the option of setting your client to several
different status levels, which can be changed at any time.
Monthly Billing Day. There are a couple of general options for monthly billing day.
Generally, you will want to leave this set to “Obey system-wide settings.” If you would
like to specify a particular day for this clients invoices to be sent, you can choose the
day of the month from the drop-down menu.
Billing Country. The billing country will be used to determine which tax rules to apply.
Is Taxable. You can choose to set the client as taxable or non-taxable.
Tax ID Number. If the client is non-taxable, but living within one of your legal tax zones,
you can enter their Tax ID Number here.
3 Enter Contact Details. Fill in the following:
Company. Enter the company name.
First Name. Enter the primary contact’s first name here.
Last Name. Enter the primary contact’s last name here.
E-mail. Enter the primary contact’s e-mail address here. This is the e-mail address that
Parallels Plesk Billing will use to send automatically generated e-mails to.
Street Address. Enter the primary contact’s street address here.
Address 2. If the address requires a second line, or contains and apartment or suite
number, enter this information here.
City. Enter the city of the primary contact’s address here.
State. Enter the state or province of the primary contact’s address here. If you enter the
two letter code for a US state, a second field will appear asking for the county.
County. This field only appears if you enter the two letter state code for US states. The
drop down-menu allows you to choose the county your primary contact resides in.
Zip. Enter the primary contact’s zip or postal code here.
Country. Enter the primary contact’s country here.
Primary Phone. Enter the primary contact’s phone number here.
Secondary Phone. If your primary contact has a second phone number enter it here.
Fax. Enter your primary contact’s fax number here.
Mobile Phone. Enter your primary contact’s cell phone here.
User name. Enter the user name you would like your client to use when logging in to
Parallels Plesk Billing here.
New Password. Enter the password you would like your primary contact to use when
logging in to Parallels Plesk Billing here.
Confirm Password. Confirm the password by entering it a second time.
Language. Enter the language that you would like the Parallels Plesk Billing interface to
appear in for this client. Although there are many language choices, these will only be
used if there is a translation file present.
Email Format. Choose whether you would like your clients to receive HTML or plain text
e-mails.
Email Actions. Here you can specify which e-mails you would like your clients to
receive. Generally, it’s a good idea to have all e-mails sent, and you can quickly
choose all the e-mails by clicking Toggle All.
4 Set up a Billing Account. Specify the following:
Credit Card Account
If your client would like to use a credit card to pay their invoices, you can enter this
information directly into Parallels Plesk Billing. By saving their credit card data, you
can automatically charge their invoices when they become due, instead of waiting for
the client to remember to pay. This has advantages for both you and the client: you
will receive payment promptly, and your client doesn’t have to worry about downtime
with their site because they forgot to pay their bill.
Fill in the following:
Name On Card. Enter the name of your client, as it appears on their credit card.
Type. Select the type of card from the drop-down menu.
Card Number. Enter the credit card number, with no spaces or dashes.
Expiry Month. Enter the two digit code for the month the card expires. For example,
January must be entered as 01, not 1.
Expiry Year. Enter the four digit code for the year the credit card expires, ex: 2010.
Issue Number. Some cards also require that you enter the Issue Number and Start Date,
which should be printed on the card itself. Enter the Issue Number here. This can be
found on the front of the client’s card.
Start Date. Enter the State Date here.
eCheck Account, Bank Draft Account, or Wire Transfer Account
Bank Name. Enter the name of your client’s bank here.
Bank State/Province. Enter the state or province that your client’s home branch is in.
Type. Choose the type of account from the drop-down menu.
Routing Number. Enter the bank’s routing number here. The routing number is a nine
digit number that can be found on the bottom left-hand corner of a check.
Account Number. Enter the client’s account number here. Account numbers vary in the
number of digits they use.
License/ID Number. Enter your client’s driver’s license or state ID number here.
License/ID State. Enter the two letter code for the state that issued the driver’s license or
ID above.
Date of Birth. Enter your client’s date of birth, using the format 01/01/2000 for
month/day/year.
Manual Payment Account, Third Party Gateway Account
These accounts do not require that you collect any information from your client. Your
client will need to give their payment information to a third party, such as PayPal or
Western Union, and these companies will send payment directly to you. Depending on
how you receive this payment, you may need to manually mark this client’s invoices as
paid.
5 Click Add Client.
You have completed the process of adding a client account. You can now view the
details of this account, and begin to add packages and generate invoices, by clicking
the Client ID.
Through the Order Process
There is a wide variety of ways for setting up your order process. This process may involve a
couple of simple steps (choose a product then check out) to a complicated, multi-step
process (choose several products, select add-ons, select domains, match these up with one
another). No matter what method you employ, your clients will eventually find themselves in
the cart. This is where the real client record creation process begins.
The Cart
Order Contents. The first step in our cart checkout displays the package or packages
that your new client has ordered. Your clients have the option, from here, to continue
shopping for other products of they choose. We will assume that your client is ready to
check out at this point. The next step for them is to click on proceed with purchase.
Order Summary. Here your new client will see the subtotal of their order, less any
coupons or discounts that may apply. Taxes are calculated in a later step, as this value
will depend on your client’s location. In the second section of the page, Primary Contact
Information, our client will enter the same information you entered for the primary contact
through the administrator interface. If they are purchasing a domain name, they will have
the opportunity to either use this same data for their whois contact information or enter
different information. The final section allows the client to choose their payment method
and enter their billing account information, if required. This also works just as it does
through the administrator interface. When they have completed all required fields, they will
need to click continue.
Order Details. This third page prints a final summary of the order including taxes for your
client to review. Before completing the sale, they will need to accept your TOS, and then
click place order to finalize the sale.
Processing Order. Your new client will now see a screen letting them know that their
order is being processed. At this point, Parallels Plesk Billing is creating the client
account, attaching a package to the client, charging the client’s card (if applicable),
generating and sending e-mails, and creating events for automatic provisioning. When
these tasks are complete, the page will automatically reload.
Your Order Has Been Placed. This page serves as a confirmation that the client’s
account was created, payment arranged, and notification that they will receive and e-mail
containing information about their order.
Managing Existing Clients
Parallels Plesk Billing allows managing your clients through the Client’s Summary page which
you can access at Clients > Show Live Clients > Details of the specific client. The Client’s
Summary page lists contact details, various billing information, packages details, and
notifications sent to clients.
To manage the details of a client’s account:
1 Go to Clients. The page will show all your customer account.
2 Find the customer you want to view and click Details in the Actions column.
In this section:
Managing Billing Details .................................................................................... 182
Taking Administrative Actions ............................................................................ 187
Viewing Fraud Results ....................................................................................... 187
Managing Client Packages ................................................................................ 187
Viewing Client Domains ..................................................................................... 195
Managing Invoices ............................................................................................. 195
Adding Notes ..................................................................................................... 195
Resolving Tickets .............................................................................................. 196
Viewing Latest Correspondence ........................................................................ 196
Managing Client Details ..................................................................................... 196
Viewing the Client Quick Stats Page .................................................................. 199
Viewing Live Client Accounts ............................................................................. 199
Viewing Archived Client Accounts ...................................................................... 199
Verifying Orders ................................................................................................. 200
Identifying Pending Customers .......................................................................... 201
Sending Custom E-mails to Clients .................................................................... 201
Managing Billing Details
In this section:
Accounting Totals .............................................................................................. 183
Billing Account Summary ................................................................................... 183
Adding Billing Accounts ..................................................................................... 183
Editing Billing Accounts ..................................................................................... 185
Viewing Client Invoice History ............................................................................ 185
Accounting Totals
This section outlines the following Account and Balance information:
Accounts Receivable - money owed to you by the client. Here you can also view the detailed
Client Payment History if you click the Accounts Receivable link.
Credit. This option allows you to credit your clients.
Accounts payable. It is the money to be paid by you to the client.
Refunds. This field shows you the total refunds.
Expenses. It shows the expenses.
In this section you can also add a credit to the client’s account by clicking the Add Credit link.
To add a credit:
1 Go to Clients > Show Live Clients > Details of the specific client.
2 Click the Add Credit link in the Accounting Totals section.
3 When a new window appears, enter the following:
Credit Amount. Enter the amount to credit.
Currency. Select the currency to use for the credit.
Explanation. Enter a reason or details on the credit. (optional)
Apply to Account. Select an account to apply the credit.
4 Add Credit
The Accounting Totals section also generates an Aging Report, showing what is owed
to you and how long it has been owed. To generate an accounts receivable aging
report, click the Aging Report link.
Billing Account Summary
The Billing Account Summary shows you the number of billing accounts in the system for a
specific client such as the following: Credit Card Account, Manual Payment Account, Third Party
Gateway Account, and Default Billing Method.
In this section you can also Add New to Primary billing account. See the Adding Billing Account
(on page 183) document for more details.
There is also a possibility to see all billing accounts of this client. For this, click the Show All
Billing Accounts link. When the page loads, you will see the list of all billing accounts for this
client account.
You can also view a callback log by clicking the Show callback history link.
Adding Billing Accounts
To add a billing account to a client account:
1 Go to the client’s account details page.
2 Click Show All Billing Accounts in the Billing Account Summary section
3 When the page loads, find the contact you want to add a new billing
account and click Add Billing Account.
Note: By default the primary contact has a billing account created. If you need to add new
contacts and create billing accounts for the new contacts, read the Adding Contacts
document.
4 Select the type of billing account you want to add for this client.
Note: Depending on the type of billing account you choose will make available specific
items in the Credit Card Account details.
5 Fill out the Credit Card Account details section according to the type of billing
account you chose in Step 4 above.
6 Click Save Billing Account.
Editing Billing Accounts
You can edit any billing accounts associated with a client’s account.
To edit a billing account:
1 Go to the client’s account details page.
2 Click Show All Billing Accounts in the Billing Account Summary section.
3 When the page loads, you will see a list of all billing accounts (if available)
and their associated contacts.
4 Find the billing account you want to modify in the list. Then click the More
link or the drop down arrow next to the billing account ID.
5 Click Edit in the Additional Actions list.
6 You can edit the following accordingly:
Billing Account. Select one of the following: Credit Card, eCheck Account, Bank Draft
Account, Manual Payment Account, Third Party Gateway Account, Wire Transfer Account.
Packages This Billing Account Pays For. Move all the packages you want to associate with
this billing account by double-clicking the package name from the Not Billable For list to
the Billable For list. You can also use the arrow keys at the bottom (make sure you click
on the package(s) before you using the arrow keys).
Encryption Passphrase. Enter your encryption passphrase.
7 Click Update Billing Account.
Note: To remove the billing account, click Remove in the Additional Actions list.
Viewing Client Invoice History
The Invoice Summary section shows invoices due and invoices closed. Besides, this section
allows viewing all invoices for this client, generating invoices, taking client payment, and
adding single invoice.
To view all invoices:
1 Go to Clients > Show Live Clients > Details of the specific client.
2 Click the View All Invoices link in the Invoice Summary section.
3 When the page loads you will see a list of invoices (assuming invoices
have been generated). The following details are shown:
Invoice Number. You can click the Invoice Number to view more details for that particular
invoice.
Amount. The amount entered for the invoice.
Paid. The amount paid.
Due. the amount owed.
Entered. The date the invoice was created.
Due. The date payment is due for that invoice.
Status. The status of the invoice.
Actions. Click on the Details link to view details. Click on the Print link to print the
invoice.
To generate an invoice:
1 Go to Clients > Show Live Clients > Details of the specific client.
2 Click the Generate Invoice link in the Invoice Summary section.
3 On the page that appears, the client’s name will show as a link. Click the
client’s name to return to the client details page.
4 Preview Mode. Tick the box, if you only want to view the invoices before
sending an e-mail to the client.
5 Packages to Invoice. By default you should see a list of packages to generate
invoices in the Invoice column. You can move packages between the Invoice
and Do Not Invoice columns by double-clicking the package name or use the
available arrows.
6 Package Options. Select the date to generate invoices up to that date. If a
period of time has lapsed, you can generate invoices for that amount of
time by ticking the Walk packages forward.
7 Domain Options. Select the date to include domains to generate invoices up
to that date.
8 General Invoice Options. Here you can change the due date for the invoice.
9 Click on the continue button.
10 If you are satisfied with the preview of invoices, click the Proceed with invoice
generation button.
To take client payment:
1 Go to Clients > Show Live Clients > Details of the specific client.
2 Click the Take Client Payment link in the Invoice Summary section.
3 Choose the invoice to be charged.
4 Enter your credit card encryption key.
5 Charge account.
Parallels Plesk Billing allows creating and generating a single (one-off) invoice for one-
time charges.
To generate a single invoice:
1 Go to Clients > Show Live Clients > Details of the specific client.
2 Click the Add a single invoice link in the Invoice Summary section.
3 On the form that appears, enter appropriate information:
1. Select a Payment Group from the drop-down list.
2. Enter a short description for the invoice.
3. You can also add a Long Description.
4. Set the Invoice Date.
5. Enter the Invoice Amount.
6. Tick the box, if you would like to send your client an e-mail with invoice.
7. Set the period to defer revenue.
4 Tick the box next to the Apply a payment as well, if you would like to take
manual payment for the service provided. Enter all necessary information.
5 Process Invoice.
Taking Administrative Actions
Administrative Actions are a collection of actions that help you quickly manage a client’s
account. The current administrative actions include:
Suspend Client. Select this option if you would like to suspend a client. Such clients will be
unable to log into the client area.
Cancel Client. You can use this for clients who let you know they would like to cancel their
service. They are also unable to log into the client area.
Archive Client. Archiving a client essentially makes the client non-functional. Archived clients
do not count against your license limit. The records associated with the client will be present,
but you will not be able to perform any functions on the client, such as collecting payment for
outstanding balances.
Viewing Fraud Results
Parallels Plesk Billing allows checking your incoming orders for fraud. The results of this
check you can view per each client per order at the Client’s Summary page.
To view FraudGuardian results:
1 Go to the Client’s Summary page accessed at Clients > Show Live Clients > Details
of the specific client.
2 Click the Display/Hide Additional Data link next to the package you want to edit
in the Fraud Results section.
The page section will show you the total Fraud Score for each order, and the such information
as IP, client bank, e-mail, proxy, and other details.
Managing Client Packages
Parallels Plesk Billing allows managing client packages from two sections at Client’s Summary
page: from Package Summary and Last 5 Packages sections. Package Summary section shows the
number of packages the client owns and provides a possibility for administrator to add a
package to a client. Last 5 Packages section provides details on each particular package and
allows administrator to manage the package. See the following sections for more details.
In this section:
Viewing Package Summary ............................................................................... 188
Adding New/Existing Packages to Client Accounts ............................................ 188
Viewing Last 5 Packages ................................................................................... 190
Viewing Package Summary
The Package Summary shows the number of active, pending, canceled, and total packages for the
given client. You can click the links, to see a list of packages available to this client.
This page also allows you to:
Create New Package. Click the Create New Package link. To learn more, read the Adding
Existing/New Packages to Client Accounts (on page 188) document.
Import Existing Package. Click the Import Existing Package link. To learn more, read the
Adding Existing/New Packages to Client Accounts (on page 188) document.
Show All Packages. Click the Show All Packages link to view all the packages of this client.
Resend Package Info Email. To send the client an e-mail with the information on the package,
click the Resend Package Info Email. Then, select the package and server at the window that
appears.
Adding New/Existing Packages to Client Accounts
Parallels Plesk Billing supports the ability to add new/existing packages to existing client
accounts. You can add as many packages as you need to any of your client accounts.
To add a package:
1 Go to the Client’s Summary page accessed at Clients > Show Live Clients > Details
of the specific client.
2 Click the View link next to the package you want to edit in the Package
Summary section.
You will see three links in the Package Summary section:
Create New Package. This link represents new packages only.
Import Existing Package. This link represents existing packages. For example, if you are
moving from a previous billing system other than Parallels Plesk Billing, you can add
those packages to your client’s account.
Show All Packages. This link displays all existing packages associated with this client’s
account.
Add New Package
1 Click Create New Package.
2 A pop-up window will open. If you have more than one order form
available, it will list your order forms. Choose from the list. If you only have
one (OF1) order form available, it will skip the selection list and go on to
the choose a product list as described in Step 3 below.
3 Choose a product from the product list.
4 Choose a billing cycle.
5 Set the following:
Start Date. Select the month, day, year, hour and minute you want for the start date.
Domain. If applicable, select or enter the domain you want to assign to this package.
Billing Account. Select the billing account you want to use from the drop down menu.
Price. Enter the price you want to use for this package.
Server Groups. If a Server Group list is available, select the server group you want to
assign to this package.
6 Click add new package.
Import Existing Package
1 Click Import Existing Package.
2 A pop-up window will open. If you have more than one order form
available, it will list your order forms. Choose from the list. If you only have
one (OF1) order form available, it will skip the selection list and go on to
the choose a product list as described in Step 3 below.
3 Choose a product from the product list.
4 Choose a billing cycle.
5 Set the following:
New Renewal Date. Select the month, day, year, hour and minute you want for the next
renewal date.
Start Date. Select the month, day, year, hour and minute you want for the start date.
Domain. If applicable, select or enter the domain you want to assign to this package.
Billing Account. Select the billing account you want to use from the drop down menu.
Price. Enter the price you want to use for this package.
Server Groups. If a server group list is available, select the server group you want to
assign to this package.
6 Click import existing package.
Viewing Last 5 Packages
The Last 5 Packages Section allows you to view and manage the last five packages purchased
by this particular client. It lists the basic details of the package like its type, price, cycle, renewal
dates, and status. To view additional details and take some actions on the package, click the
View link or the blue arrow icon next to the package.
In this section:
Editing Package ................................................................................................. 190
Upgrading a Package ........................................................................................ 191
Viewing Details of the Package ......................................................................... 192
Downgrading a Package .................................................................................... 192
Viewing Attributes .............................................................................................. 193
Viewing Add-ons with Their Attributes ............................................................... 194
Transferring a Package ..................................................................................... 194
Editing Package
To edit a package:
1 Go to the Client’s Summary page accessed at Clients > Show Live Clients > Details
of the specific client.
2 Click the View link next to the package you want to edit in the Last 5 packages
section.
3 Click the Edit link in the Additional Actions form that appears.
4 Edit the package settings according to your needs. You can change the
following:
Package Details, such as product type, name, and quantity, and so on.
Package Status Options. Here you change the package status. Refer to the Changing
Package Status (on page 170) document for more details.
Package Cancellation Options. Modify the options set in the product. Set who can
cancel/suspend the package.
Package Price Settings. Set the prices, discounts, and tax zone group. Also specify id the
product is proratable and with a locked price.
Package Coupon Options. Add a coupon to the package.
Usage Renewal Dates. Set the dates.
General Renewal Dates. Set the renewal dates for the package and the date to stop
renewing.
System Rules and Permissions. Set the permissions for this package: specify if the
product can be upgradable, downgradable, if the add-on management is allowed.
5 Save the changes.
Upgrading a Package
Before you can upgrade a client’s package, make sure you have your products configured to
upgrade. Refer to Creating Products instruction for details.
To upgrade a package:
1 Go to the Client’s Summary page accessed at Clients > Show Live Clients > Details
of the specific client.
2 Click the View link next to the package you want to edit in the Last 5 packages
section.
3 Click the Upgrade link in the Additional Actions form that appears.
There are two sections in the upgrade process - Add-ons and Packages.
Add-Ons
If there are add-ons associated with the product, they will be listed and available to upgrade.
To adjust add-ons:
1 Click the Configure button next to the package.
2 On the form that appears, set the parameters according to your needs.
3 Click the Adjust Add-ons button if you are only adjusting add-ons.
Packages
To perform package upgrade:
1 Set basic package details, such as:
1. Product. The product name will be displayed. This is the product you can upgrade the
existing client package to assuming you have configured the product to be
upgradable.
2. Price. Set the price of the upgraded package if different than what is listed when the
page loads.
3. Setup Price. Set the setup price of the upgraded package if different than what is listed
when the page loads.
4. Coupon Price. Enter the coupon price for the package.
5. Coupon Cycles. Enter the number of coupon cycles for the package.
2 Click the Configure button to set the additional parameters.
3 When you are ready to upgrade the client’s package, click the Perform
Upgrade button if you are only upgrading the package.
Viewing Details of the Package
When the Additional Actions form appears, click the Details link. The page that shows will show
you Package Details, including general information, package status, pricing information,
cancellation options, renewal dates, and payment information. Here you can change a Billing
Account for this package by selecting an option from a drop-down list and clicking the Save
button.
Here you can also view the Comments for the product, the information on Last Invoice, and
Package Attributes and Add-ons and change the server associated with the package. Mind that
reassigning will tie this package to a different panel. It will NOT move the actual hosting
account.
Downgrading a Package
Before you can downgrade a client’s package, make sure you have your products configured
to downgrade. Refer to Creating Products instruction for details.
To downgrade a package:
1 Go to the Client’s Summary page accessed at Clients > Show Live Clients > Details
of the specific client.
2 Click the View link next to the package you want to edit in the Last 5 packages
section.
3 Click the Downgrade link in the Additional Actions form that appears.
There are two sections in the downgrade process - Add-ons and Packages.
Add-Ons
If there are add-ons associated with the product, they will be listed and available to
downgrade.
To adjust add-ons:
1 Click the Configure button next to the package.
2 On the form that appears, set the parameters according to your needs.
3 Click the Adjust Add-ons button if you are only adjusting add-ons.
Packages
To perform package upgrade:
1 Set basic package details, such as:
1. Product. The product name will be displayed. This is the product you can downgrade
the existing client package to assuming you have configured the product to be
downgradable.
2. Price. Set the price of the downgraded package if different than what is listed when the
page loads.
3. Setup Price. Set the setup price of the downgraded package if different than what is
listed when the page loads.
4. Coupon Price. Enter the coupon price for the package.
5. Coupon Cycles. Enter the number of coupon cycles for the package.
2 Click the Configure button to set the additional parameters.
3 When you are ready to downgrade the client’s package, click the Perform
Downgrade button if you are only downgrading the package.
Viewing Attributes
To view the package attributes:
1 Go to the Client’s Summary page accessed at Clients > Show Live Clients > Details
of the specific client.
2 Click the View link next to the package you want to edit in the Last 5 packages
section.
3 Click the Attributes link in the Additional Actions form that appears.
4 When the page loads, you can:
view attribute details (ID, server group, server ID, attribute name, date created).
edit attribute value by clicking the Edit icon next to the given attribute value.
edit attribute by clicking the Edit icon next to the attribute. Here you can change Server
Group, Server ID, Attribute Name, Attribute Value, and Date Created.
Viewing Add-ons with Their Attributes
To view the package add-ons:
1 Go to the Client’s Summary page accessed at Clients > Show Live Clients > Details
of the specific client.
2 Click the View link next to the package you want to edit in the Last 5 packages
section.
3 Click the Add-ons link in the Additional Actions form that appears.
On the page that loads, you will see the add-ons for the given package and their
details: add-on ID, name, prices, tax zone group. Here you can also Edit the add-ons a see
the add-on attributes.
To edit the package add-on:
1 Click the Edit icon in the Actions column next to the add-on that you want to
change.
2 On the page that appears set all necessary parameters. Here you can
change the price, the coupon details, and the add-on option.
3 Click Update.
To view the package add-on attributes:
1 Click the Attributes icon in the Actions column next to the necessary add-on.
2 On the page that loads, you will see the add-on attributes with the
information on their ID, Server Group, Server ID, Attribute Name, Attribute Value, and
Date Created.
This page allows changing the Attribute Value by clicking the Edit icon next to the necessary
value.
Here you can also Add a Package Add-on (on page 172).
Transferring a Package
Parallels Plesk Billing allows administrators to transfer a package from one client to another.
To transfer a package:
1 Go to the Client’s Summary page accessed at Clients > Show Live Clients > Details
of the specific client.
2 Click the View link next to the package you want to edit in the Last 5 packages
section.
3 Click the Transfer Package link in the Additional Actions form that appears.
4 In the form that appears, enter the ID of the client you want to transfer a
package to.
5 Specify the billing account to pay for this package and confirm the transfer.
Viewing Client Domains
The Domain Summary section shows the number of Active domains for the given client. Click
the Active link to see a list of all active packages available to this client. Click the Show All
Domains link to view all the domains for this client.
Managing Invoices
The client’s summary page allows viewing the invoices for this particular client. The system
lists the Last 5 Invoices and provides a possibility to show all invoices by clicking a respective
link. From this section you can view basic details on the invoice, such as the Invoice Number,
the Amount of money, the dates Entered and Due, and the Status. The Actions column provides
possibility to manage and print the invoice.
To manage the invoice:
1 Go to the Client’s Summary page accessed at Clients > Show Live Clients > Details
of the specific client.
2 Click the Details link next to the invoice you want to edit in the Last 5 invoices
section.
Note: you will be taken to the Manage Invoices page which can also be accessed from the
Finances > Invoicing > Show All > Details of the particular invoice.
Here you can (see the respective document for more details):
Edit invoice (on page 210)
Take Credit Card Payment (on page 211)
Make Quick Manual Payment (on page 211)
Create an Invoice Reversal (on page 212)
Apply a credit (on page 212)
Print (on page 213)
Resend an invoice to a client
Resend with Comments
Adding Notes
The Last 5 Notes section of the Client’s Summary page shows you the last 5 notes you added for
this particular client. These notes are strictly internal, and provide only administrator with
additional information.
To add a new note:
1 Go to the Client’s Summary page accessed at Clients > Show Live Clients > Details
of the specific client.
2 Click the Read/Add Notes link of the Last 5 notes section.
3 Add any information in the Note Message box.
4 Add Note.
Resolving Tickets
The Client’s Summary page allows you to view the last 5 HelpDesk tickets that the client has
submitted from his Client’s Panel. You can answer each of these tickets on the page that
appears when you click the ticket ID. Here you can also change the Status, Buckets, and
Department of the ticket.
Viewing Latest Correspondence
The Last 5 Email Correspondence section of the Client’s Summary page shows a list of the last five
e-mails sent to the client. Each of the entries shows the following information:
Subject: Click the name and id to view, edit or resend the e-mail.
Timestamp: Includes date and time the e-mail was sent to the client.
The system also allows you to Resend and Edit the e-mails on the page that
appears when you click the e-mail subject.
Managing Client Details
From the Client’s Summary page you can edit client details, manage attributes, add new
primary/alternate contact, or edit existing contacts.
In this section:
Editing Client Details, Status and Billing Account ............................................... 197
Managing Contacts ............................................................................................ 197
Editing Client Attributes ..................................................................................... 198
Editing Client Details, Status and Billing Account
To Edit Client Details:
1 Go to Clients > Show Live Clients > Details of the specific client.
2 Click Edit Details in the Client Details section. Here you can:
Archive a client.
Change Company Name.
Apply a theme.
Assign a client to a Client Group created at Client > Client Groups so that the attributes of
this group apply to this client.
Change Client Status to:
Active. A client who is able to log in to a client area. Such a client can have active
or suspended packages.
Pending. These are clients that are waiting for the approval from you. They cannot
log in until you approve them.
Canceled. You can use this for clients who let you know they would like to cancel
their service. They are also unable to log into the client area.
Fraudulent. Select this option if you suspect a client to be a fraudulent account.
Thus, you will be able to keep their client information. This way you can easily build
a list of people who have tried to create bad accounts. They will not be able to log
into the client area.
Suspended. Select this option if you would like to suspend a client. Such clients will
be unable to log into the client area.
Inactive. A client with a package that has expired. For example, if you are selling
non-recurring services, the client will go inactive once the sale has ended (for
example, you may be selling t-shirts). Such clients will not be able to log into the
client area.
Declined. these are the clients that you are not going to approve.
Set Monthly Billing Date. If you have configured your system to run in monthly billing
mode, select the day you want this client to have invoices generated. This will be the
first day of their billing cycle.
Select the country.
Select the Default Billing Account.
Make the client taxable, if applicable. For the taxes to be imposed, make sure the
Country set for the Tax Zone and the Country of the Client are the same.
Enter the TAX ID Number.
Parallels Plesk Billing also allows merging two clients into one. For this, go to Clients > Show
Live Clients > Details and click the Merge With Other Client Link.
Managing Contacts
One Client in Parallels Plesk Billing can have several contacts assigned to him/her. One of
the contacts will be set as Primary Contact, all the other will be Alternate Contacts. Client’s
Summary page allows adding new contacts, editing existing contacts, logging in as primary
contact, and resetting and resending password.
To add a new contact:
1 Go to Clients > Show Live Clients > Details of the specific client.
2 Click Add new contact in the Primary Contact section.
3 Set this person as Primary Contact, if applicable.
4 Specify if the product is active or not.
5 Enter Contact Information, Login Information, and Email Preferences.
6 Save the changes.
To edit a primary contact:
1 Go to Clients > Show Live Clients > Details of the specific client.
2 Click Edit Primary Contact link.
3 Edit all necessary information.
4 Save the changes.
To edit an alternate contact:
1 Go to Clients > Show Live Clients > Details of the specific client.
2 Click Show All Contacts link.
3 Click the More link next to the product you would like to edit.
4 On the form that appears, click the Edit button.
5 Edit all necessary information. Also you can set this contact as primary here.
Editing Client Attributes
The Client’s Summary page lists the Attributes related to the client. The system allows Parallels
Plesk Billing administrator manually edit client’s attributes.
To edit the attributes:
1 Go to Clients > Show Live Clients > Details of the specific client.
2 Scroll down to the Attributes section.
3 Click the Edit link.
4 Specify if the attribute is active or not.
5 Set the internal attribute value.
6 Click Save All.
Viewing the Client Quick Stats Page
Quick Stats has two main sections: Clients by Status and Trend Reports. The top section lists the
possible status that a client may have, and below each status, the number of clients in each
category. This number is a link; clicking on it will take you to a screen listing all clients of that
type. For example, if you would like to see a list of all your pending clients, you can click on
the number underneath the title Pending. Below the actual count is the percentage each
category comprises of the total number of clients. Trend Reports actually lists just one report.
It will show all new signups over the last year.
To view the client statistics, go to Clients > Quick Stats.
The Quick Stats page shows the number of clients in each of the following status categories:
Active, Pending, Canceled, Fraudulent, Suspended, Inactive, Total.
The page also shows a pie chart and a key representing each of the numbers and their
specific categories.
Viewing Live Client Accounts
There are two types of client accounts in Parallels Plesk Billing - Live and Archived.
Show Live Clients is where you will find information about the vast majority of the clients
entered in your Parallels Plesk Billing system. All live clients count against your license limit.
Initially, the page displays a list of all clients with the status of Pending, Active, Canceled,
Fraudulent, Suspended, Inactive, and Declined, from newest to oldest. Clicking on one of the
column headers will sort your client data by the relevant heading. For example, clicking
Primary Contact, will sort your clients alphabetically from A to Z. Clicking Primary Contact a
second time will sort them from Z to A. You can also click the magnifying glass next to the
header title to search that field by keyword.
To view Live client accounts:
1 Go to the Clients tab.
2 Click the Clients > Show Live Clients link in the left sub menu. The link will
show you a list of accounts that are Live (Active).
You can access the client details screen for each client listed by either clicking the Client ID or
the Details link. If you click the double arrow next to either of these, a pop-up window will
enable you to navigate directly to specific functions within the client details screen.
Clicking the e-mail address in the Live Clients list will enable you to send an e-mail directly to
this client. You can format these e-mails using various rich text tools.
Viewing Archived Client Accounts
An Archived client is a client account that is no longer active in the system.
To view Archived client accounts:
1 Go to the Clients tab.
2 To view Archived accounts, click the Show Archived Clients link in the left sub
menu. The link will show you a list of accounts that are Archived (Inactive).
Archiving a client essentially makes the client non-functional. Archived clients do not count
against your license limit. The records associated with the client will be present, but you will
not be able to perform any functions on the client, such as collecting payment for outstanding
balances.
Verifying Orders
To view and verify all new orders:
1 Click the Clients > Show New Clients.
2 When the page loads, you will see a list of all new orders including the
following information: Order ID, Country, Timestamp of order, Invoice ID, Company
Name (If Applicable), Customer Name, E-mail Address.
3 If you click the down arrow next to the order id, it will expand the screen to
show you more information on the order such as the Primary Contact, Client
Details, and Last Note (If Applicable).
You can also click on the Display/Hide Additional Data link at the top of the new orders list as
it will expand each entry in the list accordingly.
4 Click Review link to see more information about a particular order. Once you
have verified the order, check the Activate or Cancel check box and click
Submit.
Note: If you choose the Cancel option, remember to select the appropriate cancellation
function in the Set Cancel Action drop down menu at the bottom of the list prior to clicking the
Submit button.
Your choices include:
suspend package if provisioned
delete package if provisioned
Identifying Pending Customers
To identify pending clients, go to Clients > Filter By: Pending.
When the page loads, you will see a list of pending clients.
Sending Custom E-mails to Clients
To send a custom e-mail:
1 Go to the client’s details page specific to the client you want to send an e-
mail.
2 Click the e-mail address link next to E-mail in the Primary Contact section of
the client details page.
3 By default, the client’s e-mail address will already be in the Client Contacts To
Send list. If this is not correct, make the necessary changes accordingly.
4 Next, if this e-mail requires a copy e-mail, enter it in the CC field.
5 If this e-mail requires an additional copy e-mail (unseen by the recipient),
enter it in the BCC field.
6 Enter a subject in the Subject field.
7 Enter your e-mail message in the Message Body field.
8 Click Send.
Using Client Groups
Client groups refer to a discount you can apply to all clients associated with the client group.
In this section:
Adding Client Groups ......................................................................................... 202
Managing Client Group Attributes ...................................................................... 202
Adding Client Groups
To add a client group:
1 Go to Clients > Client Groups > Add New Client Group.
2 When the page loads, set the following:
Group Name. Enter the name of the client group you are creating.
Is Active. Click on the check box if you want the client group you are creating to be
active.
3 Click Save.
Now you need to add a client group attribute.
Managing Client Group Attributes
To add a group attribute:
1 Go to Clients > Client Groups > Manage Group Attributes.
2 Fill in the following:
Attribute Group: ID of the client group to which you want to assign the attribute.
Attribute Name: Choose one option from the drop-down box:
Preferred Customer
Reseller
Minimum Discount
Maximum Discount
Exempt From Exemption
Attribute Value: Enter the attribute value discount. For example, if you want to apply a 10%
discount, enter 10 in the text box.
3 Click Add.
The newly added attribute appears on the page Client Groups > Manage Group Attributes
from which you can edit or remove it.
Now you can assign this group to a client by entering the client summary (on page
181) page.
Performing Manual Payments
In this section:
Generating and Running Payment Queue ......................................................... 204
Capturing Uncaptured Payments ....................................................................... 205
Issuing Refunds ................................................................................................. 205
Capturing Authentication-only Payments ........................................................... 206
Using a Credit Card to Pay an Invoice ............................................................... 206
Generating and Running Payment Queue
If you have not set up automation in your system, and the cron job (on page 47) in particular,
or if you want to make sure all charges due are made, you need to generate and run payment
queue by yourself. Generating the payment queue will create a list of invoices that will be
paid via an automated method such as credit card or eCheck. A transaction will be attempted
through the gateway associated with the packages only when the payment queue is run.
To generate and run payment queue:
1 Go to Finances > Manage Billing > Generate Payment Queue.
2 When the page loads, set the following:
Invoice Options:
Clear all items currently in Payment Queue. Check the box to avoid replicating the same
items.
Generate. Select from one of the following: New, Declined, or Errored.
Generate Due Date Only. Select Yes if you want to generate payments based on
invoice due dates only. Select No if you want to generate payments regardless of
invoice due dates.
Due on or before. Select from the drop down menu the date you want to generate
payments on or before or click the ... button to set the date using the built-in
calendar.
Number of invoices to generate payments for. Enter the number or leave it as 0 to
generate payments for all invoices.
Run Options:
Try charging lesser amounts on failed accounts. Check the box if you want the system to
automatically charge less amounts for invoices IF they fail on the initial payment
processing.
Run Payment Queue. Select one of the following: Don’t Run or Run at a later date/time.
Date to run Payment Queue. Set the date to run the payment queue in the drop down
menu or click on the ... button to select the date using the built-in calendar.
Transaction Type. Select one of the following: Charge or Authenticate Only.
Enter your Credit Card Encryption Key. Enter the key you generated when you setup your
encryption settings.
3. Click Continue.
Capturing Uncaptured Payments
To capture uncaptured payments:
1 Go to Finances > Manage Billing > Uncaptured Funds.
2 When the page loads you should see the following:
TID. This is the transactions ID.
Code. This is the authorization code.
Gateway. This is the gateway associated with the transaction.
Created. This is the date the transaction was created.
Amount. This is the amount of the transaction.
Currency. This is the currency used for the transaction.
Client. This is the client name.
Client Status. This is the status of the client’s account.
3 Click each check box next to the record(s) you want to capture funds. The
record will highlight in red if it is checked.
4 Click Capture funds.
Note: There is no confirmation screen after clicking the Capture funds button. The funds will be
captured automatically.
Issuing Refunds
To issue refunds:
1 Go to the client’s invoice (on page 208) you want to issue a refund.
2 Click on the Refund button in the Status column located in the Transactions
section.
3 When the page loads, you will see the following:
Invoice ID.
Transaction ID.
Refund Amount.
Enter your Credit Card Encryption Key.
Note: Verify the above is correct. If you are using the LEK method for encrypting credit
cards, you will not have to enter your Credit Card Encryption Key.
4 Click the yes, process this refund button. Otherwise, click the no, do not process
this refund button.
Capturing Authentication-only Payments
To capture Authentication-only payments:
1 Go to the invoice you want to apply an Authentication-only charge.
2 When the invoice page is displayed, click the Take Credit Card Payment link in
the Quick Links section at the top of the page.
3 When the page loads, you will notice the following:
Invoice Number.
Amount.
Amount Paid.
Client.
Gateway.
4 Select the gateway you want to use for an authenticate-only charge.
5 Enter all the payment information accordingly.
6 Select Authenticate Only in the Charge Action drop down menu.
7 Click the Charge button.
This transaction will just validate the card and will not take the money.
Using a Credit Card to Pay an Invoice
To pay an invoice using a credit card:
1 Go to the invoice you want to pay using a credit card.
2 When the invoice page is displayed, click the Take Credit Card Payment link in
the Quick Links section at the top of the page.
3 When the page loads, select the gateway you want to use to pay this
invoice.
4 Enter all the payment information accordingly.
5 Click Charge.
Note: Payments of this kind are performed using the Virtual Terminals (on page 59) feature.
Managing Invoices
In this section:
Generating Invoices Manually ............................................................................ 208
Viewing Invoices ................................................................................................ 208
Editing Invoices ................................................................................................. 210
Removing Invoices ............................................................................................ 211
Taking Credit Card Payments ............................................................................ 211
Applying Payments Manually ............................................................................. 211
Applying Credits ................................................................................................ 212
Voiding Invoices ................................................................................................ 212
Printing Invoices ................................................................................................ 213
Manually Paying an Invoice Using Saved Credit Card Information..................... 213
Generating Invoices Manually
Prior to generating invoices in your system, you should set up invoicing (on page 82).
To generate invoices manually:
1 Make sure you there are Active or Suspended packages in the system.
2 Go to Finances > Invoices > Generate Invoices.
3 When the page loads, set the following for each section:
Client Options. Include all clients that are Active and/or Suspended.
Package Options:
Include all packages that are Active and/or Suspended.
Include all packages that renew on or before: Select the date in the drop down menus or
click on the ... button to select a date from the built-in calendar.
Walk packages forward: If you have invoices that need to be generated for previous
months for any of your client accounts, select Yes and all those invoices will be
generated up to the current billing cycle.
Domain Options:
Include all domains that are: Check the Active box if you want to generate invoices for
domains that are currently have an active status.
Include all domains that expire on or before: Select the date in the drop down menus or
click on the ... button to select a date from the built-in calendar.
Generate Invoice Options:
Schedule invoices to generate on or after: Select the date in the drop down menus or click
the ... button to select a date from the built-in calendar.
4 Click Continue.
5 Click Events > Events.
6 When the page loads you will see a list of system queue events specific to
the invoices that will be generated.
At this point you have two options:
Process all the events at one time by clicking Events > Run Events.
Run invoice entities one by one from the Events page. Click the “clock” icon in the
Actions column for any of the invoice entries you want to run.
Make your selection and proceed forward with generating your invoice(s).
Viewing Invoices
To view invoices for your client accounts:
1 Go to Finances > Invoicing.
2 When the page loads, you will be presented with a list of all invoices issued
by the system.
3 Click the invoice id in the Invoice No. column for the invoice you wish to
view. (You can also access an invoice by clicking the magnifying glass icon
in the Actions column.) The invoice details will appear on the next page.
4. The invoice screen has several sections:
1. Above the invoice are Quick Links:
Edit. Change the due date, add invoice comments, and change invoice status.
Take Credit Card Payment. Process a single credit card payment through your payment
gateway.
Quick Manual Payment. Apply a manual payment (credit card, check, bank draft, wire
transfer, or third party gateway) to the entire invoice or selected line items.
Create an Invoice Reversal. Create a credit note for this invoice and void it (also cancels
any Auth Only transactions that have not been captured).
Apply Credit > No Credit Available. If credit is available, allows you to apply credit to the
entire invoice or selected line items.
Print. A new window will open with a printable version of the invoice.
Resend. Resends the invoice to the customer (this will not ask for a confirmation before
sending).
Resend with Comments. Allows you to edit and preview the invoice before resending.
1. At the top of the invoice, the To: (client) and From: (your company) addresses are
listed.
2. In the middle of the screen there are invoice and package line items.
3. If tax zones are setup, they will appear below the line items.
4. The bottom of the invoice page lists any transactions that have taken place involving
this invoice. The information displayed includes:
Method. Type of payment transaction.
Status. Status of payment transaction.
Code. Code returned by the gateway.
Notes. Comments associated with the transaction.
Date. Date of the transaction.
Gateway. Payment gateway associated with the transaction.
Amount. Amount used in the transaction
Refunded Amount. Amount refunded, if applicable
Action:
Delete. Permanently remove this transaction from the database and delete all
accounting data for it. The invoice it applies to will also be marked as due again.
Cancel. Cancel this transaction - you will be unable to capture these funds without
running another transaction.
Capture. Capture the funds of this transaction.
Refund. Refund the transaction.
Editing Invoices
There are several ways to get to the edit screen for any invoice in your system. The easiest
way to edit invoices for your client accounts is to follow the instructions below.
To edit an invoice:
1 Go to Finances > Invoicing.
2 When the page loads, you will be presented with a list of all invoices issued
by the system. Click the invoice id in the Invoice No. column for the invoice
you wish to view. (You can also access an invoice by clicking the
magnifying glass icon in the Actions column.)
3 Click Edit.
4 When the page loads, set the following according to your specific needs:
Invoice Due Date. Select the date you want to use for the Due Date in the drop down
menus or click the ... button to set the date using the built-in calendar.
Invoice Comments. Enter any comments you have in the text box provided.
Invoice Status. Select the status of the invoice from the drop down menu.
5 Click Save.
Removing Invoices
We highly recommend you do not delete invoices. Instead, apply a credit note to the invoice
you want to delete in order to keep your system’s accounting data correct.
To get started, follow the Voiding Invoices (on page 212) article.
Taking Credit Card Payments
Parallels Plesk Billing allows administrators to take credit card payments from their clients for
the invoices already generated.
To take a credit card payment:
1 Go to Finances > Invoicing.
2 When the page loads, locate the invoice with Due status to which you want
to apply payment manually and click its ID.
3 The invoice details will appear below the record of the invoice you are
viewing. The other option is to click on the magnifying glass icon in the
Actions column to view the invoice details.
4 Click the Take Credit Card Payment link in the Quick Links section of the page.
5 Choose the Gateway and click Next to proceed.
6 Enter Payment Information, such as client, address, and credit card details.
7 Click the Charge button.
Applying Payments Manually
To apply payments to any invoice manually:
1 Go to Finances > Invoicing.
2 When the page loads, locate the invoice with Due status to which you want
to apply payment manually and click its ID.
3 The invoice details will appear below the record of the invoice you are
viewing. The other option is to click on the magnifying glass icon in the
Actions column to view the invoice details.
4 Click the Quick Manual Payment link in the Quick Links section of the page.
5 Set the following:
Choose Billing Account. Select the billing account you want to use for this payment in the
drop down menu.
Payment Method. Select the payment method you want to use for this payment in the
drop down menu.
Check Number. If payment is being made by check, enter the check number.
Apply Payment To. Select Entire Invoice or Selected Line Items. If you choose the Selected
Line Items option, it will list the line items available for this invoice. Choose accordingly.
Amount of Payment. Enter the payment amount that you are applying to this invoice.
Payment Comments. Enter comments according to your specific needs.
6 Click Apply Payment.
Applying Credits
Note: A credit is not a payment. A credit is used when discounting an invoice price.
To apply credits to any invoice manually:
1 Go to Finances > Invoicing.
2 When the page loads, locate the invoice to which you want to apply credit
and click its ID.
3 The invoice details will appear below the record of the invoice you are
viewing. The other option is to click on the magnifying glass icon in the
Actions column to view the invoice details.
4 Click Apply Credit in the Quick Links section of the page.
5 Set the following:
Apply Credit To. Select Entire Invoice or Selected Line Items. If you choose the
Selected Line Items option, it will list the line items available for this invoice. Choose
accordingly.
Amount of Payment. Enter the payment amount that you are applying to this invoice.
Credit Comments. Enter comments according to your specific needs.
6 Click Apply Credit.
Voiding Invoices
To void any invoice manually:
1 Go to Finances > Invoicing.
2 When the page loads, locate the invoice which you want to void and click
its ID.
3 The invoice details will appear below the record of the invoice you are
viewing. The other option is to click on the magnifying glass icon in the
Actions column to view the invoice details.
4 Click Create an Invoice Reversal in the Quick Links section of the page.
5 Click Yes, create a credit note and void this invoice.
6 Go to Finances > Invoicing again. You will see two entries for each invoice.
One entry is a Void status and the other entry is now a Credit Note status.
Printing Invoices
To print an invoice:
1 Go to the invoice you want to print.
2 When the invoice page is displayed, click Print in the Quick Links section at
the top of the page.
3 A new window will open. You can print the invoice from the new window
using your browser’s print function. This is done the same way you would
print a web page.
Note: To print (export) invoice as a PDF file, click the >> link next to the printer icon.
Manually Paying an Invoice Using Saved Credit Card
Information
Parallels Plesk Billing gives you the flexibility to manually pay an invoice using saved credit
card information. This document explains how to decrypt saved credit card information to
manually charge an invoice.
To decrypt a credit card information:
1 Go to Clients > Clients.
2 When the page loads, locate the client whose invoice you want to pay by
clicking the client ID.
3 When the page loads, click the link Show All Billing Accounts in the Billing
Account Summary panel in the center of the screen.
4 All billing accounts associated with this client will now be displayed. Click
the blue arrow icon for the credit card account you would like to use, which
will expand with several options.
5 Click the magnifying glass icon next to the Account Last Four digits. A box will
pop up prompting you to enter the encryption key you chose when
configuring your Parallels Plesk Billing (for more information on encryption,
view the Encryption Settings section).
6 Enter your encryption key and click the Submit button. The decrypted credit
card number will be displayed.
7 Copy the credit card number.
8 Go back to the client summary page and locate the invoice you wish to
pay.
9 Make a credit card payment according to the instructions in the Using a
Credit Card to Pay an Invoice (on page 206) section.
Providing Client Support
In this section:
FAQs ................................................................................................................. 214
News ................................................................................................................. 215
Internal Helpdesk ............................................................................................... 217
FAQs
You as Parallels Plesk Billing administrator can add FAQs to be read by your clients from
their control panels. There can be also questions for other administrators in the system.
In this section:
Adding FAQs ..................................................................................................... 214
Viewing FAQs .................................................................................................... 215
Adding FAQs
To be able to add an FAQ, you first need to add an FAQ category.
To add FAQ category:
1 Go to Helpdesk > FAQs > Add FAQ.
2 Fill in the following:
Name. Give name to the category.
Type. Select User if this is a client category or Admin if you want other administrators to
read FAQs from this category once they login to their accounts.
Add another FAQ category? Check this box if you want to add another category right
away.
Now that you have added categories, you can proceed with adding FAQs.
To add an FAQ:
1 Go to Helpdesk > FAQs > Add FAQ Category.
2 Choose category to which you want to add a question. Type in the question
and your answer to it. Check the box Add another FAQ? if you want to
continue adding new FAQs.
Viewing FAQs
To view FAQs:
1 Go to Helpdesk > FAQs > Show FAQs.
2 When the page loads, you will see all FAQ categories. To view FAQs, click
the red arrow icon below the needed category.
3 The category will unfold displaying FAQs. Below the category title the
Actions field will show up.
4 To view an FAQ, click its title.
5 You will see the content of the FAQ and the date of its creation. Similarly to
categories, the Action field will show up.
Note: To edit or remove FAQ categories/FAQs, click Edit or Remove in the Action field for the
item you want to edit/remove.
News
Parallels Plesk Billing allows you to post news for your clients directly from the interface.
News will appear in client panels.
In this section:
Adding News ..................................................................................................... 216
Viewing News .................................................................................................... 216
Adding News
To be able to add an news item, you first need to add a news group.
To add a news group:
1 Go to Helpdesk > News > Add News Group.
2 When the page loads, set the following:
Group Name. Enter the name of the news group.
Description. Enter a description of the news group.
If the news group is to be active, click the Active radio button. If the news group is to be
inactive, click the Inactive radio button.
3 Click add news group.
Now that you have added a group, you can proceed with adding news.
To add a news:
1 Go to Helpdesk > News > Add News.
2 When the page loads, set the following:
News Group. Select the news group you want to associate this news item.
Subject. Enter the subject.
Short Body. Enter the short description of the news body.
Body. Enter the body of the news item.
If this news item is to be active, click the Active radio button. If this news item is to be
inactive, click the Inactive radio button.
Priority. Select the priority of this news item from the drop down menu.
3 Click Add.
Viewing News
To view news:
1 Go to Helpdesk > News > Show News.
2 When the page loads, you will see all news groups. To view news, click
anywhere in the field of the needed group.
3 The group will unfold displaying news. To view the content of a news item,
click the edit icon in the Action column for the needed news item.
Note: To edit or remove news groups/news, click Edit or Remove in the Action column for the
item you want to edit/remove.
Internal Helpdesk
Parallels Plesk Billing allows you to respond to client trouble tickets via the internal help desk.
In this section:
Adding Departments .......................................................................................... 217
Adding Departments
By default the Internal HelpDesk is preconfigured with two departments: Sales Department
and Tech Support Department.
To add additional departments to the Internal HelpDesk:
1 Click HelpDesk > HelpDesk Setup > add department.
2 Set the following:
Name. Enter the name of your new department.
Description. Enter a description of your new department.
Associated Admins. Select the administrators (on page 33) you want to have access to
your new department. You can hold CTRL to select multiple administrators.
3 Click add department.
4 Your new department will appear on the left side once added.
Setting Up ModModernBill Module
The ModModernBill module supports REAL-TIME connections from the billing system to the
Parallels Plesk Billing Reseller Program. This will allow your customers to automate the
purchasing process of their resold Parallels Plesk Billing licenses.
To set up ModModernBill Module:
1 Create a ModernBill Reseller Account (not available to demo customers):
1. Browse to the Parallels Plesk Billing Members Area at http://www.pleskbilling.com/
2. Select the Reseller Center and follow the prompts for creating a reseller account.
2 Create a server group.
3 Add a panel. Select ModModernBill from the list of panels and click add.
4 When the page loads, fill out the form as described below:
Display Name. Enter the name you want to call this Module for display purposes.
Enabled. Select Yes.
User name. Enter the user name to the Parallels Plesk Billing support area.
Password. Enter the password to the Parallels Plesk Billing support area.
Reseller ID. Enter your reseller ID.
5 Click Save.
6 Create a hosting product.
7 Click the Products tab and locate the hosting product to which you wish to
add ModModernBill license attributes.
8 Click the ID of the hosting product.
9 Click the Server Groups link below the product’s details and move your
ModModernBill server to the Selected box by highlighting it and clicking the <
button. Click Save Changes.
10 Click Attributes link and fill in the needed values.
Migrating Subscriptions from version 4 to
version 5
Migration is the process of moving from one billing system to another. It involves a kind of
translation of data. Although Parallels Plesk Billing version 4 and version 5 are similar, they
were actually designed and built independently, with different code bases, architectures, and
database structures. That makes moving from one system to the other not an upgrade or an
import, but an actual migration. Upgrading involves making change to an existing system that
does not affect the actual data, but the way that data is used. Importing involves taking one
set of data from one place to another. Migration involves moving an entire system. When you
move from version 4 to version 5, we attempt to bring not just data, but the essence of your
entire system across.
If you have migrated your client data from Parallels Plesk Billing version 4 to version 5 and
would like to follow the PayPal subscriptions, please follow these instructions.
To migrate subscriptions from version 4 to version 5:
1 Login to your system via SSH.
2 Open the file lib-
mbapi/includes/gateway/return/migration/paypal_return.in
c.php in your v5 fileset.
3 Verify the following:
$path_to_curl = “PHP”; - change this to your path to cURL if you do not have
PHP cURL.
$v5IPNURL - http://WWW.EXAMPLE.COM/pleskbilling/lib-
mbapi/include/modules/gateway/return/paypal.php; - change
WWW.EXAMPLE.COM to the domain your Parallels Plesk Billing is installed on.
4 Save the file.
5 Replace your version 4 Parallels Plesk Billing paypal_return.inc.php
file with the one you modified above. This should be located in the directory
/pleskbilling/include/misc/mod_paypal/.
Note: If you have changed the name of the default pleskbilling directory, you will need
to change the directory listing to reflect that as well.
Charging for E-mail Account Usage (SPLA)
Ensim Unify
Make sure the following are setup and configured properly:
1 Setup your Server Group and Ensim Unify module.
2 Setup your base packages in that server group tied to a Unify template.
Example: Silver Hosted Exchange, Gold Hosted Exchange. To learn how to
setup and configure a product, view the Hosting Product document.
3 Setup a usage type product for each e-mail type to be sold tied to that
server group and e-mail type (the e-mail type linkage is setup on the
attributes screen).
4 The price for each of these products should be the per e-mail account
price. Example: Basic Exchange Account, Medium Exchange Account,
Large Exchange Account, Super Duper Exchange Account.
Day-to-Day Operations
New orders for these base packages will automatically get one of each e-mail usage
packages tied to this server group at the time of provisioning to Unify.
The daily Process Usage event will run if the Parallels Plesk Billing cron is setup and pull the
number of each e-mail accounts in use and update the quantity of each e-mail usage
package.
When invoicing runs, the e-mail usage packages will calculate the total amount due for each
email usage package based on the per e-mail account price.
In this chapter:
Generating Accounting Reports ......................................................................... 222
Generating Daily Journals ................................................................................. 223
Viewing General Journal ................................................................................... 224
Generating General Ledgers ............................................................................. 224
CH A P T E R 16
Managing Accounting
Generating Accounting Reports
Parallels Plesk Billing allows you to generate several types of accounting reports.
The Balance Sheet Report is a summary of your assets, liabilities, and equity account
balance.
The Profit and Loss Report is a summary of your revenue, cogs, and expense account
balance.
The Accounts Receivable Aging Report shows what is owed to you and how long it has been
owed.
Ranged Cash Flow Report shows you the change (and gives you small explanations of what
they mean to your business) for a few important accounts.
Ranged Product Revenue Report is amount of revenue generated on a per product basis for
a given date range.
Daily Invoice Sheet is the list of invoices and their respective amounts and clients for a given
day.
Ranged Daily Signup Report is a list of the clients that signed up in a particular date range,
grouped by day, and totaled daily, and for the range. The revenue from their signup invoices
is also included.
To generate a report:
1 Go to Finances > Accounting > Reports.
2 Click the type of report you need.
3 Choose a date range.
4 Click Generate.
Generating Daily Journals
With Parallels Plesk Billing you can keep daily journals of two types:
Sales & Receipts Journal includes all daily sales and payments received.
Purchases Journal includes all daily cash disbursements.
Note: The Purchases Journal is currently not being used.
To generate a daily journal:
1 Go to Finances > Accounting > Daily Journals.
2 Click the type of report you need.
3 Choose a date range.
4 Click Generate.
Viewing General Journal
The General Journal report includes a list of all debits and credits in the system.
To view the general journal, go to Finances > Accounting > General Journal.
Generating General Ledgers
Parallels Plesk Billing support several types of general ledgers.
The General Ledger is a permanent summary of all supporting daily journals. Financial
statements are generated from this ledger.
The Accounts Receivable Ledger is a special general ledger used only for posting accounts
receivable journal entries. Monthly client statements are generated from this ledger.
The Accounts Payable Ledger is a special general ledger used only for posting accounts
payable journal entries. Monthly statements for companies you owe are generated from this
ledger.
The Tax Payable Ledger is a special general ledger used only for posting tax payable journal
entries. Annual statements for the taxes you owe are generated from this ledger.
To generate a ledger:
1 Go to Finances > Accounting > General Ledgers.
2 Click the type of ledger you need.
3 Choose a date range.
4 Click Generate.
In Parallels Plesk Panel 9.0 for Linux/Unix, Parallels Plesk Billing comes fully integrated
as a module in default Parallels Plesk Panel installation. If you chose custom
installation of Parallels Plesk Panel, you can add the plesk-billing module at any
time.
Parallels Plesk Billing integrated into Parallels Plesk Panel is installed to the
/opt/plesk-billing (for Linux) and /usr/local/plesk-billing (for
FreeBSD) directories.
Parallels Plesk Panel 9.0 features interface integration with Parallels Plesk Billing and
provides several ways to access your billing automation system if global account (on
page 226) is created for Parallels Plesk Panel and Parallels Plesk Billing
administrator/client.
Click the Billing button on Parallels Plesk Panel Administrator Panel home page. It
will open Parallels Plesk Billing administrator interface in a new window.
Go to the Clients menu in Parallels Plesk Panel and in the client’s Balance column
click the balance indicator link. It will bring the administrator to Client Invoices page
in Parallels Plesk Billing administrator interface.
Click the Client Accounts button on Parallels Plesk Panel Administrator home page
and click the chosen client name. On the client’s home page click the Balance link to
get to Client’s Details page or click the Billing Details button to get to the Package Details
page.
You can also access Parallels Plesk Billing directly through the following URL:
https://host.name:8443/plesk-billing/admin/, where host.name is the
host name of your Parallels Plesk Panel server.
In this chapter:
Setting Up Global Accounts ............................................................................... 226
Migrating Parallels Plesk Billing from Standalone to Bundled Version ............... 228
CH A P T E R 17
Integrating Parallels Plesk Billing with
Parallels Plesk Panel
226 Integrating Parallels Plesk Billing with Parallels Plesk Panel
Setting Up Global Accounts
Parallels Plesk Billing introduces the Global Account feature, which means a Single Sign-
On (SSO) method of accessing Parallels Plesk Panel and Parallels Plesk Billing. This
feature allows you to log in to Parallels Plesk Panel once without being prompted to log
in again when you would like to access your billing automation solution, and vice versa.
The detailed information on how to set up a Global Account in Client’s Panel can be
found in the Parallels Plesk Billing Client Guide.
In this section:
Setting Up a Single Sign-On Server from Parallels Plesk Billing ........................ 226
Creating a Global Account ................................................................................. 227
Changing Global Account Password ................................................................. 227
Disconnecting From Global Account .................................................................. 227
Repairing SSO Accounts ................................................................................... 228
Setting Up a Single Sign-On Server from Parallels Plesk
Billing
You can now set up a single sign-on (SSO) server in order to enable a single global
account to log in to Parallels Plesk Billing and Parallels Plesk Panel control panels.
Now it works not only for the <Plesk Billing> bundle version, but for the standalone
version as well.
To set up SSO server connection:
1 Go to System > System Settings > SSO Settings.
2 Check the boxes next to the Register in SSO fields under the Admin CP
Settings and Client CP Settings sections and enter the URL to SSO server
there, for example, https://sso.server.name:11443/.
3 To enable SSO for administrator and clients, check the boxes next to
the Enable SSO fields for Admin CP Settings and Client CP Settings.
4 Click Submit Changes.
Integrating Parallels Plesk Billing with Parallels Plesk Panel 227
Creating a Global Account
To create a Global Account:
1 Make sure you switched on the support for single sign-on on your
Parallels Plesk Panel server. (Please refer the Setting Up Global
Account documentation of the <Parallels Plesk Panel> Administrator
Guide for details.)
2 Log in to your Parallels Plesk Billing account.
3 Go to System > Global Account menu and click Connect to Global Account.
4 Select Create New and provide login, password, and e-mail for the
account.
5 Click OK.
Changing Global Account Password
To change a password to your Global Account:
1 Go to System > Global Account menu and click Change Password.
2 Enter your new password and e-mail.
3 Confirm the change.
Disconnecting From Global Account
To disconnect from a Global Account:
1 Go to System > Global Account menu and click Disconnect from Global
Account.
2 Confirm the disconnection.
228 Integrating Parallels Plesk Billing with Parallels Plesk Panel
Repairing SSO Accounts
Generally speaking, you can easily rename your accounts both in Parallels Plesk Panel
and Parallels Plesk Billing without any changes in single sign-on login procedure.
However, if something would go wrong with logging smoothly by means of SSO global
accounts, Parallels Plesk Billing provides a means for SSO repair for both
administrators and clients.
To repair SSO globally for all accounts:
1 Go to System > System Settings > SSO Settings.
2 Click Repair SSO Accounts.
To repair SSO for Parallels Plesk Billing administrative accounts:
1 Go to the Parallels Plesk Billing administrator profile.
2 Click Repair SSO Connection.
To repair SSO for Parallels Plesk Panel server accounts:
1 Go to System > Server Settings.
2 Click a Parallels Plesk Panel server on the list.
3 On the Parallels Plesk Panel server settings page, click Repair SSO
Accounts.
To repair SSO for client accounts:
1. Go to the list of live clients from the Clients menu.
2. Click the >> link next to a client’s name. The drop-down menu with client details
options will show up. Choose Repair SSO Connection and click it. Alternatively,
click the client name to pass to the client details page. There, click the Repair SSO
Connection link under the Primary Account section.
Also, clients can repair SSO from their client control panels by clicking the Repair
SSO Connection button in their profiles.
Note: After clicking the Repair SSO... button in each case, a respective event (on page
44) will be created. It will run automatically or you can run it manually from the Events >
Show Events page.
Migrating Parallels Plesk Billing from
Standalone to Bundled Version
If you have a standalone Parallels Plesk Billing version 5.3, 5.6, or 6.0, you can migrate
your billing solution to a version bundled with Parallels Plesk Panel. For this, you have
to run a migration script that converts old database of a standalone version to a
bundled form and switches bundled Parallels Plesk Billing to use old database. In this
document we provide an example procedure of migration in case of migrating from
standalone Parallels Plesk Billing 5.6 to a bundled Parallels Plesk Billing 6.0.
Integrating Parallels Plesk Billing with Parallels Plesk Panel 229
To migrate from standalone to bundled version:
1 Install Plesk 9 with bundled Parallels Plesk Billing 6.0 component.
2 Make sure that from this moment standalone Parallels Plesk Billing
5.6 has no access to its database to avoid simultaneous access of
Parallels Plesk Billing 5.6 and Parallels Plesk Billing 6.0 to the same
database. To do this, you can disable virtual host which serves
Parallels Plesk Billing 5.6 or change database name in its
configuration file.
From this moment your standalone Parallels Plesk Billing is turned off. You can
access your billing solution at the URL for bundled version, for example
https://host.name:8443/plesk-billing/, where host.name is the host
name of your Parallels Plesk Panel server.
3 Run the migration script in your command line with the name of your
old Parallels Plesk Billing 5.6 database specified. For example:
/usr/share/plesk-billing/ppb-migrator.sh -d <your_standalone_plesk_billing_database>
(for Linux)
/usr/local/share/plesk-billing/ppb-migrator.sh -d
<your_standalone_plesk_billing_database> (for FreeBSD)
Note: ppb-migrator.sh migration script creates database dump in the current
directory.
4 Access bundled Parallels Plesk Billing 6.0 via GUI or API. At this
stage, bundled Parallels Plesk Billing 6.0 operates with the old
database updated to version 6.0.
5 You may now remove your standalone Parallels Plesk Billing 5.6
installation.
This chapter describes Parallels Plesk Panel Attributes.
General Options
Server Weight. Give your product a specific weight, which is a component of simple load
balancing. A server weight is a generic measure of how much of a servers “capacity”
(which is set when you create a Server Group in System > Server Settings > Server
Groups) that product takes up each time it is provisioned. When a server’s capacity is
reached, the hosting package will move to the next server in the group (assuming you
selected Fill panels until full, one by one as a Fill Type for the server group).
Suspend after expiration. Tick the box to automatically suspend the package when it is not
renewed.
Dedicated IP. This option adds a dedicated IP address to the package.
Webstats. Choose the statistical utility to analyze the log files.
Delete Webstats After. Choose when you would like to clear the log
files.
Shell type. Choose between No Login, sh, bash, chrooted sh, or None.
Log Rotation. Tell the system to enable log rotation or not, and whether to compress log
files. Also specify either size or time to rotate the logs.
Usage Type. The parameter for which the automated overlimit billing will be conducted
(Traffic for Plesk Module).
Usage Cycle. Select how you are going to bill for the overlimits: daily, monthly. and so on.
Usage Factor. Specify how you will track the traffic usage: Gigabytes, Megabytes, or
Kilobytes.
Usage Limit. Specify the traffic limit in gigabytes, megabytes, or kilobytes depending on
the Usage Factor you set above.
Invoice for usage on the package cycle. Generate invoices for traffic overlimit for the whole
package cycle.
Limits
Skip Client Creation - tick the box if you do not want the client to be created when the
product is purchased.
CH A P T E R 18
Appendix A. Parallels Plesk Panel
Attributes
Appendix A. Parallels Plesk Panel Attributes 231
Skip Domain Creation - tick the box if you do not want to create domain when the product
is purchased.
Resource Overage Policy - choose between Normal, Notify, and Block policy for the
resources used over limit.
Web Limits
Parallels Plesk Panel attributes allow setting web limits per client and per domain.
Though you can skip client and domain creation.
Maximum Number of Domains. Specify the total number of domain names/web sites your
customer will be able to host on the server. This includes web sites hosted on this
server, and domain forwarders that point to web sites hosted on other servers. Domain
aliases (additional domain names for a site hosted on this server) and subdomains are
counted separately and are not limited by this resource type.
Maximum Number of Domain Aliases. Specify the total number of additional alternative
domain names that the customer will be able to use for his or her web sites. You can
also specify a per domain limit.
Maximum Number of Sub-Domains. Specify the total number of subdomains that the
customer will be able to host. Set the sub-domains limit per domain.
Allowed Disk Space. Specify the total amount of disk space in bytes that is allocated to
the customer. It includes disk space occupied by all files related to user’s domains/web
sites: web site contents, databases, applications, mailboxes, log files and backup files.
Allowed Disk Space Soft Limit. This is the so-called soft quota: when it is exceeded, the
user account and domain names/web sites are not suspended automatically, only the
appropriate notices are sent to your and your customer’s e-mail addresses and the
resource overage is indicated by the icon shown in your and your customer’s control
panels to the left of the user name or domain name. You can also specify a disk space
allocated for each domain.
Maximum Web Traffic. Specify the amount of data in bytes that can be transferred from
the customer’s web sites during a month. Once the limit is reached, the appropriate
notices are sent to you and your customer’s e-mail addresses and the resource
overage is indicated by the corresponding icon shown in the Plesk control panel to the
left of the user name or domain name.
Maximum Web Users. Specify the total number of personal web pages that your customer
can host for other users under his or her domains. This service is mostly used in
educational institutions that host non-commercial personal pages of their students and
staff. These pages usually have web addresses like http://your-
domain.com/~username. You can also set a per domain limit.
Maximum Number of MySQL Databases. Specify the total number of databases that the
customer can host on the server. You can also set a per domain limit.
Maximum Number of Tomcat WebApps. Specify the maximum number of Tomcat web
applications available for the client. You can also set a per domain limit.
232 Appendix A. Parallels Plesk Panel Attributes
E-mail Limits
Maximum Number of Mailboxes. Specify the total number of mailboxes that the customer
can host on the server. Please also set a per domain limit.
Maximum Mailbox Quota. Specify the amount of disk space in bytes that is allocated for
storing e-mail messages and autoresponder attachment files to each mailbox in a
domain.
Maximum Number of Redirecting Mailboxes. Specify the total number of mail forwarders to a
single recipient that the customer can set up. This setting in the Client Limit column
applies to the entire account, so setting 10 here would mean 10 total for the client, not
10 for each domain. You can also set a per domain limit in a respective column.
Maximum Number of Mail Groups. Specify the total number of mail forwarders to multiple
recipients that the customer can set up. Mail Groups are not Mailing Lists. These are e-
mail addresses at the domain that can receive and send e-mails out to multiple
recipients. You can also set the maximum number of mail groups per domain.
Maximum Number of Auto-responders. Specify the total number of automatic responses
that the customer can set up. You can also set a per domain limit of auto-responders.
Maximum Number of Mailing Lists. Specify the total number of mailing lists that you
customer can host on the server. Also you can specify a maximum number of mailing
lists per domain.
Management and Feature Options
Client Manage Options allow clients to create domains and subdomains, manage the
settings for those domains, allow/not allow the limits for the domains (note this is not
changing client limits, only domain limits). Also Manage Options allow clients to use or
not to use Cron jobs, Anonymous FTP, Tomcat WebApps, Mailing Lists, DNS, Logs,
Shell Access, CHROOT Status, Backup Manager, and Remote Access. Tick the Control
Panel Access to specify if your clients will be able to access the control panel for
managing his or her account and sites. Performance Settings option allows you to specify
whether the customer will be able to limit bandwidth usage and number of connections
to his or her Web sites.
Client Feature Options enable or disable Domain, FrontPage, Scripting, and E-mail
Options.

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