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We use Slack internally and most of our systems tie into it so everyone can stay up to date on the progress of tasks, pull requests, etc. I'd love to get some Slack integration into Blesta.

We are in the process of fully spec'ing out the Domain Manager plugin for 4.1 and would love your feedback. I want to give you a basic overview of what we're considering for the Domain Manager, and get your feedback. We want to resolve the current issues and frustrations with how domains are currently handled. Please understand that the new domain system may not include everything in the first release, but our goal is to build the proper foundation so that it can easily be improved upon in the future. What is the Domain Manager? The Domain Manager is a plugin that will be responsible for all things domain related. Think of the Order System, and the Support Manager which cover all things related to orders, and support, respectively. How will I define pricing? A pricing grid will exist, likely under Domains > TLD Pricing where the price can be set for each TLD for 1 through 10 years for Register, Renew, and Transfer. This will provide a simple pricing grid, with different price options for Register, Renew, and Transfer. Additionally, special pricing can be set on a Client Group level, which will override the default pricing. Additionally, domain extras like ID Protect, Email Forwarding, and DNS Management will be options on a per-TLD basis and pricing can be set for these. The customer would be able to check if they want these options during checkout. Question: Is it sufficient to have a single price of ID Protect, Email Forwarding, and DNS Management for all TLDs, or would you want the ability to set a different price for these extra options on each TLD? Are domains services? This is a question that has resulted in much debate internally. My personal thoughts are that domains are very unique and do not easily fit with services. I am proposing that domains be treated completely separately from services. This means there would be a separate table in the database that stores domains and information unique to domains like: Domain Name, Registrar, Status, Date Registered, Date Expires, Management Features Available, Expiration/Renewal Reminders, Last Sync Date, and whether to Auto Renew or not. If domains are not services, they will not be listed with services. For the Staff area, I propose a new Domains widget on client profile pages. For the client area, I propose a new primary nav link called Domains. The Domain Manager would be responsible for renewing domains, and invoicing for them and services and domains would not appear on the same invoices, even if they are billed on the same day. Question: What are your thoughts on domains not being considered services? What about email templates? The domain manager would create several new email templates, likely to include the following: Domain Registration, Domain Transfer Initiated, Domain Transferred, Domain Renewed, Domain Expired, Domain Renewal Notice (domains listed are going to expire in the next x days). What about automatic things? The Domain Manager would be responsible for the following Automation Tasks: Send expiration emails at the reminder intervals Renew domains that are set to automatically renew Synchronize renew dates with the registrar at a given interval What about Registrar Modules? The Domain Manager would implement its own module system, and existing registrar modules would not be compatible. The new registrar module system would be drop-in similar to the existing, but these would be enabled and configured under Domains > Registrars. New registrar modules would likely be more lightweight than current registrar modules as the plugin would implement the common features across registrars. What management features would be available? This will depend on the specific registrar module, but the following features would be supported: Register, Transfer, Renew Domain (obviously) with Renew Domain being an option for Clients and Staff Manage DNS for Domain (Get, Update DNS zone records if DNS hosted by registrar) Manage Registrar Lock for Domain (Enable, Disable registrar lock) Manage Email Forwarding for Domain Manage ID Protection for domain (Enable, Disable ID Protection) Manage Contacts for Domain Whois (Registrant, Admin, Tech) Update Name Servers for Domain (Get Name Servers, Update Name Servers) Register Name Servers (Unsupported by many registrars or not commonly done by average users, may be optional for first release) What about existing registrar modules? Existing registrar modules would be incompatible with the Domain Manager plugin. However, services using current domain registrar modules will continue to work as they do now. Any bulk features? We plan to have bulk features for both Staff and Clients. For Staff, under Domains > Browse Domains and under the Client Profile, Domains Widget. For Clients, under the Domains page. Bulk editing/tasks would work similar to selecting invoices for delivery with a checkbox on the left and some options to choose from like Renew Domain, Manage ID Protection, Domain Lock, Name Servers. I'm certain I'm missing something, but wanted to give you a rough overview of what we are planning and get your feedback. Please let us know what you think!

Thank you Paul, I appreciate that offer. I may take you up on it at some point. I am interested in seeing v4 beta 1 before I make a final decision, to see if it is any more intuitive from the owner's perspective or better documented (though I dislike beta versions, as reliability is important to me). Depending on the timing, I may want to see v4 before making a final decision, since I have already bought it. However, based on what I know now, I'm leaning toward building my own hosting webware. Since there are less than 20 API functions I'll need, it appears that I can create a more user-intuitive idiot-proof solution for my clients by engineering my own solution. Even if I did completely figure out Blesta, I would not be able to simplify my customers' user experience beyond the limits of the software design. I have absolutely no reason for confidence at this point that a Blesta solution would enable me to create a simple UX for them. Simplicity rules. My clients will subscribe with me because I make it absolutely easy for them to do so. Or they will go elsewhere.

I use mainly Discord and Slack depending on what I'm doing...Discord is actually really nice once you get used to it...and removed the mess of having to host your own stuff. I might have to join that Mumble though if it gets opened up :).

We have a Mumble server we host and use when we play games, that we could potentially open up. Tried Discord, seems interesting, but it never caught on in our circles.

i miss a lot features

It's true that the domain management side is still far behind, but one thing we are all hoping Is When it comes out It will be superb. I believe Blesta knows how Important such features are to any hosting Business.