Are you searching for a complete suite of tools to automate web hosting provisioning?

Do you have to manually intervene to complete your daily billing, server provisioning, or domain registration provisioning tasks? Or are these tasks currently managed by a software solution lacking the features, flexibility, or automation that you need to maximize your profits and reduce your effort?

You have come to the right place, because no other hosting automation software on the market allows you to manage your users, and automate the registration and provisioning of domains with the flexibility and power provided by HostAdmin.

HostAdmin is a hosting automation application that is both simple to use and install, while remaining robust and affordable enough for any startup to medium sized business.

HostAdmin is designed to automate your entire account and order management, recurring billing, domain registration, server provisioning, and reporting needs. From creating the member account, logging the member in, displaying available hosting and domain registration options, providing a shopping cart and ordering mechanism for the available products, and creating the order record, HostAdmin will handle your requirements with speed and ease.

HostAdmin is based on PHP, MySQL, and uses HTML templates and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) which can be modified for site-wide changes by any novice. For clients that need changes to the code or database, we offer customization services.

HostAdmin has experienced 5 major feature releases, as well as numerous minor updates, and is a very stable and secure program.

Click here for a detailed 3rd party review of HostAdmin.

	HostAdmin Features
	General Features
	Client Area Features
	Manager Area Features
	Administrator Area Features
	HostAdmin Requirements
	HostAdmin Supported Server Provisioning Software
	HostAdmin Supported Domain Registrars
	HostAdmin Supported Gateways and Payment Processing Methods
	HostAdmin Live Demos
	Client Area [ start demo ]
	Manager & Administrator Area [ start demo ] Please login using test/test
	HostAdmin Powered Sites
	HostAdmin Reviews and Client Feedback
	HostAdmin Manuals and Documentation
	Purchase HostAdmin now!

General Features [ view menu ] [ view top ]

• EASY INSTALLATION
Quick 5 minute web-based installation even a novice can master with ease - all you need is access to FTP and MySQL on a PHP enabled server!

• EASY HTML CUSTOMIZATION
HostAdmin is completely template-based for quick and easy changes to the members area layout. You can use your own template, or use on of the included 5 templates that can be quickly customized using a text or html editor to modify the CSS and HTML tags. You can quickly change the registration fields that are displayed and required by modifying the setup file, as opposed to making complicated changes to the HTML pages and code.

• SOURCE CODE
Includes 100% of the program source code for easy module addition.

• MULTIPLE CURRENCY
Supports multiple currencies. Examples - '$' '£' '¥' '€'

• EASY CONFIGURATION
Includes a web-based administrator for easy configuration changes.

• INTEGRATED SHOPPING CART
Accept orders online for each of your hosting plans and domains. Each hosting plan can be a recurring or one-time fee, with the option of charging a setup fee. Customers can register for an account if they do not already have one, then place their order and receive approval in real-time. HostAdmin can of course register the selected domain and setup the domain on your server instantly.

Below are the steps a client would follow when ordering with HostAdmin:

1. Add the desired domain(s) and hosting plan(s) to the cart.
2. Look at the shopping cart and view the total fees, or redeem any coupons that they have been issued.
3. Login and/or register for a new account if they have not done so already.
4. Proceed to the checkout page.
5. Fill in any custom attributes you have specified. (Allows you to collect custom information)
6. Choose their desired payment option from the accepted payment list. (You can define these - Credit Card, Checks, and 3rd Party Redirect)
7. Submit the order for processing.

If a supported gateway is being used, HostAdmin will attempt to bill the card, and will return the client to the correct page. (Approved, declined, invalid card) If approved, the order is then stored in the database, and both the client and the manager can view the order and billing details online. Once payment has been verified, HostAdmin will automatically update the order status to 'Complete'. If you are using one of the supported registrars, HostAdmin will automatically register the domain in real-time. If you are using one of the supported provisioning products, HostAdmin will automatically provision the domain on the appropriate server at this time as well, and generate the welcome e-mail with the DNS, FTP, and control panel login detail.

• AUTOMATED BILLING
HostAdmin can perform billing on the following occasions via supported gateways:
- At checkout when the new order is entered.
- When recurring hosting plan fees become due - completely automated.
Also, if payment is made by alternate means, such as a check or wire transfer, manual payment can be entered against outstanding charges.

• SUPPORTED PAYMENT OPTIONS
HostAdmin supports the use of multiple payment processors at the same time. For example, you could use this feature to accept credit card payments via Authorize.net, as well as PayPal, E-Gold, and Check payments. Click here for more details on supported payment processors.

• AFFILIATE SUPPORT
Affiliates can sign up for an affiliate account through HostAdmin. They can select to be paid by an Account Credit, PayPal, e-Gold, e-Bullion, or GoldMoney. The payout formula can be a flat rate per referral, or based on a percentage. The affiliate can view their referrals & sales online at any time. Credits for referred orders are not applied to the affiliate's account until the admin changes the order status to 'complete'. Also, payouts can be delayed to prevent payouts on refunded or fraudulent orders.

• NEWSLETTER FEATURE
Unlimited newsletters can be defined that users can manage in their account area. They can choose to subscribe or unsubscribe to these newsletters, and when the admin/manager sends an e-mail to the subscribed users, HostAdmin can personalize each e-mail with the user's name, as well as add a custom 'unsubscribe' link at the bottom of the message.

• RC4 DATA ENCRYPTION
All stored credit card numbers are encrypted with your own private key before writing them to the database. The encryption/decryption used is RC4, and the key file can be stored anywhere on your server, providing another layer of protection against hackers.

• TAX CALCULATION
The administrator can set a tax rate and it will be included in the order total at checkout. (This feature can be disabled)

• SECURITY & FRAUD PREVENTION
IP addresses for each order is logged.
E-mail addresses can be blocked by domain to prevent fraudulent orders. (Example: hotmail.com, yahoo.com)
IP addresses or entire IP blocks can be prevented access to prevent fraudulent orders or wasted bandwidth.
Option to require users to validate their e-mail address before they can place an order.
Blocks users from registering another account with the same e-mail address.
Requires users to validate e-mail or password changes by e-mail before making the changes final.
Generates long session ID's, and users are logged out after 30 minutes of inactivity.

Client Area Features [ view menu ] [ view top ]

• CUSTOMER ACCOUNT ACCESS
HostAdmin enables your customers to login and view/edit the following records:
- Order History and Order Details
- Domains and Hosting Plan Status, and the links to the Control Panel for each domain.
- Cancel Current Hosting Plan(s)
- Billing History and Billing Details
- Credit Cards on File
- Newsletter Subscribe/Unsubscribe Form

• AFFILIATE ACCOUNT ACCESS
HostAdmin enables your affiliates to login and review the following records:
- Orders they have referred, Order amount, ID, and Status
- Credits that have been applied to their account, and the credit status
- Payout history and status

• CREDIT CARDS ON FILE
Customers can place orders using a credit card they have placed on file, add a new card, or update an existing card that has expired or declined for any reason.

• SUPPORT TICKET SYSTEM
Customers can access a built in customer service module to create a sales, billing, or customer service ticket.

• LOST PASSWORD FINDER
Customers can use the lost password finder to be reminded of their account password.

Manager Area Features [ view menu ] [ view top ]

• SECURE PASSWORD PROTECTION
Define username/password for the HostAdmin management area to limit access to only authorized managers.

• CUSTOM HOSTING PLANS
You can set up unlimited hosting plans that can be billed once through infinity, or they can be free. The options also allow you to setup a one-time setup fee that is billed with the initial order. If the hosting plan is a recurring one, you can set how often you would like it to be billed before it expires, if you want it to expire. Also, each hosting plan will have a specified server for provisioning, if you want HostAdmin to automate the provisioning..

• ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT
The account management center, which allows you to search for a specific customer, and then add/search/view/edit all their account details, such as orders, hosting plans ordered, billing history, and credit cards on file.
Account search criteria allowed: Name, Company, E-mail, Phone, City, State, Zip code, Country, and Affiliate. (Referred By)

• AFFILIATE MANAGEMENT
The affiliate management center, which allows you to search for a specific affiliate, and then add/search/view/edit all their account details, such as referrals (hits), orders, payout options, and payout history. Pending payouts can be made and updated to a paid status here.
Affiliate search criteria allowed: Name, Address, City, State, Zip, Country, Payout Type, and Period added.
Affiliate payouts can also be generated for a specified period. (Example: all referrals up to 1 month ago)

• ORDER MANAGEMENT
The order management center allows you to manage your orders. You add/search/view/edit all orders in the database.
Order search criteria allowed: Order status, Account, and Period added.

• DOMAIN MANAGEMENT
The domain management center allows you to manage your customers domains. You can add/search/view/edit all domains in the database.
Domain search criteria allowed: Domain Name, Hosting Plan, Account, Period added, & Next Recurring Charges Due Period.
Domains can be canceled to halt further billing and revoke user access at the end of the current billing period.

• CREDIT MANAGEMENT
The credit management center allows you to manage your credits. You can add/search/view/edit all credits in the database.
Credit search criteria allowed: Account, Type, Status, Amount, Creation Date, Applied Date, and Note Keywords.

• BILLING HISTORY MANAGEMENT
View a customer's billing history, and the details of the transaction.
Billing History search criteria allowed: Account and Subscription.

• PAYMENTS AND AUTO BILLING MANAGEMENT
View a list of due/overdue subscriptions, make manual payments, send a payment notice, or bill all due accounts. (Via a supported gateway)

• HOSTING PLANS
View a list of available hosting plans, add new hosting plans, or edit/delete/make unavailable existing hosting plans. Also, you can associate each hosting plan with a specific server if you want HostAdmin to automate the provisioning.

• CUSTOM CHECKOUT ATTRIBUTES
You can define custom attributes that will be displayed on the checkout page. These attributes will consist of whatever information you want to collect from your customers at checkout, and save it to their order. You can display a text box, (for the user to type info into) a checkbox, (for the customer's response to a Yes/No question) or a custom drop-down menu with up to 10 custom options. For each of the options, you can define a default answer to make things easier for your customer.

• PAYMENTS AND AUTO BILLING MANAGEMENT
View a list of due/overdue domains, make manual payments, send a payment notice, or bill all due accounts (via a supported gateway).

• QUICK STATISTICS
Your statistics area will allow you to view the following quick reports:
All Orders-to-Date, All Orders Today, All Pending Orders, All Completed Orders, Total Domains, Total Accounts, Total Due/Overdue Domains, Total Current Logins, Total Current Cart Sessions.

• INCOME REPORTING
Income reporting options allow you to track subscription levels by period, customer, and subscription(s) ordered. The following reports can now be run to determine income by:
a) Value of all transactions.
b) Value of all transactions during a specific period.
c) Value of all transactions from a specific customer.
d) Value of all transactions for a specific hosting plan.

• MASS E-MAIL
HostAdmin can generate e-mail lists for mass mail by specific account and subscription type and status details. HostAdmin will customize the e-mail with the customers name. You will be able to specify the message, subject, from name and e-mail address, and priority level.

• NEWSLETTER OPTIONS
The manger can add/view/edit newsletter lists, as well as view the sign-up statistics for each newsletter. The manager can generate mailings to any of the newsletters, and personalize the message with the users name and an 'unsubscribe' link.

• EXPORT ACCOUNT DATA
HostAdmin can generate account data exports by specific criteria, such as name, location, affiliate, hosting plan(s) ordered and domain status. This feature allows you to quickly export key client account data to another program, such as a spreadsheet. You can specify the field delimiter, the fields you wish to export, and how to order the exported fields.

• NOTES
You can create administration notes for each account and order record. These notes can only be reviewed by the administrator, and not by the customer.

• ENTER MANUAL PAYMENTS
The manual payment feature allows you to enter manual payments for customers who made a payment via check or over the phone. The customer's account will automatically be updated as billed and current.

• MISC.
Admin can clean up the session database to remove all outdated sessions and cart items.

Administrator Area Features [ view menu ] [ view top ]

• SECURE PASSWORD PROTECTION
Define username/password for the HostAdmin administrative area to limit access to one authorized administrator.

• E-MAIL OPTIONS
Define e-mail for alerts and notices.

• TAX OPTIONS
Define tax options.

• AFFILIATE OPTIONS
Define affiliate options, payout options and frequency.

• PAYMENT PROCESSOR MODIFICATION
You can easily configure your merchant account right through the admin control panel - no messy config files! This will save you a great deal of headache when you setup HostAdmin, or if you change payment processors later.

• HTML LAYOUT ADMIN
Ability to control the HTML headers, footers, font and background colors through the admin section.
The administration area now enables you to upload headers and footers. No files to edit, just paste your HTML into the admin area. You can also create custom Company Information, FAQ, Contact Info, Policy, and Privacy Statement Pages via this section.

• TEMPLATE BASED E-MAIL SYSTEM
Now you can edit the e-mail templates via the admin section. This feature allows you to turn on/off certain e-mails that are sent out on specific occasions. (New order, domain provisioned, registration, receipts, declines, etc.) You can specify exactly what information you want sent to yourself, the customer, affiliates, and registrars, and when to send it. There are a total of 20 e-mail templates you can define in the admin section now.

HostAdmin Requirements [ view menu ] [ view top ]

PHP
PHP has quickly become the most popular scripting language, and is arguably the most powerful and secure as well. Most Linux/Unix/Cobalt Web Hosts provide PHP support by default, and it is becoming more and more popular on Windows and NT web servers as well.

MySQL
MySQL is a free database program and is required by HostAdmin. Most Linux/Unix/Cobalt Web Hosts offer MySQL databases by default, and it is readily available for Windows and NT web servers as well.

Curl
Curl is a free program required by HostAdmin for integration with the following gateways: Authorize.net, Ibill, Planet Payment, ECX, RTWare, Echo, Netbilling, BluePay, eProcessing Network. Most Web Hosts already have Curl installed, and if not, will install it for free since it is only a 10 minute procedure. Curl can be installed either as a module, or can be interfaced from the command line. Curl is not required for PayPal, WorldPay, LinkPoint Basic, or any of the Gold currencies.

HostAdmin Supported Server Provisioning Software [ view menu ] [ view top ]

HostAdmin supports the following provisioning software packages for full account automation. If you do not have one of the following, HostAdmin can create the domain on your server manually.

HostAdmin is capable of remotely controlling an unlimited number of remote servers, so can start with one or more servers, and grow to 1000! And all this with only one installation of HostAdmin and one client database.

You can define each of your (unlimited) servers in HostAdmin, then associate each of your (unlimited) hosting plans to a specific server. From that point forward, HostAdmin can automatically manage the new account creations, suspensions, unsuspensions, and deletions, all on the correct server. If a server runs out of resources, you can simply make the hosting plans for that server private, so no new accounts will be sent to that server.

HostAdmin also enables to to switch a specific domain to a higher or lower service plan. So if Mr. Doe wishes to upgrade from his 1GB plan to a 5GB plan, you can do so with only a few clicks in HostAdmin. And when the next bill arrives, Mr. Doe will be charged for the 5GB plan.

Please note that the integration modules for Plesk, Ensim, and Cpanel/WHM are sold separately, and a module license is required for each server you control with HostAdmin. However, if you need more than two, we will discount heavily.

Ensim WEBppliance for Windows
HostAdmin automates IP and Name Based domain creation, domain deletion, and hosting plan updates.
Supports WEBppliance versions 3.0 through 3.5 Pro.

Ensim WEBppliance for Linux
HostAdmin automates IP and Name Based domain creation, domain suspend/unsuspend, domain deletion, and hosting plan updates.
Supports WEBppliance versions 3.0 through 3.2 Pro.

Plesk PSA Provisioning
HostAdmin automates account creation, domain addition, domain suspend/unsuspend, and hosting plan updates.
Supports PSA versions 2.5 and up.

Cpanel/WHM Provisioning
HostAdmin automates IP and Name Based domain creation, domain suspend/unsuspend, and domain deletion.
Supports cPanel/WHM versions 5 and up, and cPanel/WHM reseller accounts.

Manual Entry
HostAdmin creates a queue record to notify you of needed domain creation, domain suspend/unsuspend, and domain deletion.

We plan to add support for the following in a future release:
Raq/Cobalt Provisioning
Hostopia Provisioniong

If you have a reseller plan and use one of the supported solutions listed above, or have a proprietary solution, and would like to discuss co-branding HostAdmin for your resellers, please contact us.

HostAdmin Supported Domain Registrars [ view menu ] [ view top ]

HostAdmin supports the following registrars for full domain registration automation. You will have the ability to define your own pricing structure for each TLD (Top Level Domain), such as .com, .net, .org, co.uk, etc. You can define two price sets for each TLD, one for the domain only, and another price for the domain with hosting. This gives you the power to discount your domain registration pricing if the customer purchases hosting with a domain, instead of purchasing just the domain. You can also define a setup price for the registration of each TLD.

You can also define which TLDs your customers should be able to search for and order via the HostAdmin shopping cart, so your customers cannot purchase any domains that you do not wish to accept. Keep in mind that if you do not want to sell domains at all, you can remove these features from the software and sell hosting services only. Or visa-versa for that matter.

If you do not have or want to setup an account with one of the following supported registrars, HostAdmin will create a queue record to notify you to register the domain manually.

All the integration modules listed are included in the base distribution of HostAdmin at no extra cost, so all you need to do is configure and go!

Enom ( Recommended by Dreamcost )
HostAdmin automates the registration of new domain sales ordered by your customers.

Tucows openSRS
HostAdmin automates the registration of new domain sales ordered by your customers.

Total Registrations
HostAdmin automates the registration of new domain sales ordered by your customers.

Nominet
HostAdmin automates the registration of new domain sales ordered by your customers.

Melbourne IT
HostAdmin automates the registration of new domain sales ordered by your customers.

Manual Entry
HostAdmin creates a queue record to notify you to register a domain manually.

HostAdmin Supported Gateways and Payment Processing Methods [ view menu ] [ view top ]

Supported Gateways:
If you use one of the following gateways, HostAdmin collects and stores credit card info and sends it to one of the supported gateways for a real-time response at checkout. Your customers will not need to leave your site during this process; the process is entirely transparent and secure. Once the payment is verified in real-time, the domain registrations(s) and domain provisioning commands will be sent to the queue, for automatic processing. A welcome e-mail is also sent, including the pertinent information, such as FTP and Control Panel login, if applicable.

In the event that recurring charges become due, HostAdmin will automatically connect to these gateways and bill the credit card on file. This allows HostAdmin to automatically suspend/unsuspend the user's domain(s) based on their billing status, without any intervention or maintenance on your part. In the event that the card on file expires or is declined, HostAdmin will notify the user to login to their account and update their billing information, and will then attempt the charge again. If they fail to do so prior to the defined grace period, their overdue domain(s) will be suspended until they provide HostAdmin will a valid card, or make alternate payment arrangements with and you reconcile their account using the manual payment feature.

Note: All of the following gateways, with the exception of Verisign, require that Curl be installed on your system. Verisign has their own SDK that must be installed. Read more about Curl under 'HostAdmin Requirements'. If for some reason you do not have and cannot get Curl installed on your server, we do have a few web hosts we can recommend you to.

-> Authorize.net
-> Paysystems IMA
-> Versign Payflow Pro
-> Ibill
-> Planet Payment
-> ECX
-> RTWare
-> Echo
-> Netbilling
-> BluePay
-> eProcessing Network
-> SkipJack
-> Protx VSP Direct
-> PlugnPay
-> DPILink
-> eWay
-> SurePay
-> SecPay

Supported Payment Processors
If you use one of the following payment processors, HostAdmin will generate a payment link after checkout so the user can make payment. Once payment is received, HostAdmin will communicate with the payment processor in the background to confirm payment has been received. Once this is verified, HostAdmin will update the order status, as well as send any domain registrations and domain provisioning commands to the queue for instant processing. If the customer cancels prior to completing the payment, their order and services will remain in 'pending' status, so there is no risk of the customer accessing their account for free.

In the event that recurring charges occur, HostAdmin will e-mail the user a new payment link so the user can make payment. The payment links can also be viewed in the user's account area at any time. If they fail to make payment prior to the defined grace period, their overdue domain(s) will be suspended until they provide HostAdmin will a valid card, or make alternate payment arrangements with and you reconcile their account using the manual payment feature.

In the event that payment is made for recurring charges, HostAdmin will communicate with the payment processor and update the account so the user's domain(s) are not suspended. If payment was made late and the user's domain(s) were already suspended, HostAdmin will automatically unsuspend the domains.

Note: Unlike the gateways listed above, none of the following require Curl. Most of these are also free or very inexpensive to setup, while the above all require a merchant account (to our knowledge) and may to great an investment for a small or startup web hosting company.

-> 2Checkout.com (Full integration & Automation)
-> Paypal.com (IPN supported for both one-time purchases and subscriptions)
-> WorldPay.com (Full integration & Automation)
-> Nochex.com (Full integration & Automation)
-> Netpayments.com (Full integration & Automation)
-> LinkPoint Basic (Postback for full automation currently not supported)
-> E-Gold (Full integration & Automation)
-> E-Bullion (Postback not yet available, will be supported when available)
-> GoldMoney (Full integration & Automation)
-> Crowne Gold (Full integration & Automation)


Supports Pay By Check
HostAdmin will display your check payment instructions to the user after they place their order. When the payment is received, you can enter it manually against their account.