Automation tasks. He what?

[nibb]

Im not sure about you but there is something very strange on my installation since I ever installed hostbill.

In the tasks lists you are supposed to create your own tasks, or modify some of the ones that exists. Well, clicking edit on most of them does not allow me to modify anything, not even the time they run.

It shows something like Called every:   Every hour

And a save button, a Save button for what? If I cannot change anything.

What is weird is there is a task there also called "Execute custom automation tasks"

Which custom ones? I cannot create anything custom. When I click on "Add new task list" I have only premade choices, 6 exactly, like Send reports to affiliates, and stuff like that.

What im pissed about this features is that I cannot actually create any custom automatation task like its supposed to be advertised, even in the hostbillapp.com frontpage.

To be exactly this image:
http://hostbillapp.com/pages/slides/automation.png

There is allows you to create a new ticket as a task, automatically, and set some settings. It also gives you the impression this just one thing you can do and you can do allot more.

Where is that? Its sure not my hostbill and it never was.

Is this false advertising or how exactly do you create custom automation tasks with hostbill? Or maybe this is one of this feature that actually was in the software and was removed mysteriously.

I updated my installation like 15 times or so since I first started using Hostbill and I never had this features. I also wondered what was the whole purpose of those tasks, all I can do there is execute most of the already predefined ones.

[Patrick]

Since i'm on a roll, i'll confirm that ours still works good.  I actually adjusted the cron schedule last night and it updated perfectly.

[nibb]

Since i'm on a roll, i'll confirm that ours still works good.  I actually adjusted the cron schedule last night and it updated perfectly.

Can you post a screenshot on yours? Can you actually create an automated ticket? What options do you have there when you hit Add new task?

I mean, i watch this version after version and it never changed.

[Patrick]

Not many options for a custom if this is the area you're talking about but here are two screens.


You can see i set the cron to 23:45 just before midnight which is what i set last night

[nibb]

You see the same I have.

There is no way to create a custom support ticket with a task, like its showed right in the hostbill frontpage as features.

Also, click Edit on some of this tasks and you are not able to change the time they run, so most of the edits there are useless for preset tasks.

[Patrick]

I see what you mean.  I never noticed that but yeah lol.. little odd to not provide an option to change it.  Only way i've seen to create a custom support ticket by task is in custom automation under products.

[nibb]

Ah great, so there they are. Under the tasks under products. I see now.

Why would this also not be options under the general tasks? I don´t know, but at least its something that it can be done under a specific product.

[Patrick]

Ah great, so there they are. Under the tasks under products. I see now.

Why would this also not be options under the general tasks? I don´t know, but at least its something that it can be done under a specific product.

Yeah there is some nice automation ability under products and i think it should better detail that on the documents portion of hostbill.  They are so busy with trying to make a buck that they are lacking on the documentation side.

[nibb]

Thanks to you I found something I and others were complaining in the old forums before, just by looking there right now.

How to handle redemption periods, there is a task there under domains that lets you increase the price after XX days the domain expired. That could work.

Remember how everyone complained about this? Customers renewing domains already in redemption for a normal price?

Well there is task there for domains that lets you increase the price, so that could work in a very perfect way. Im starting to somehow like again a little bit hostbill.

I know also know how Kris created that auto reply when you try to open a support ticket without first paying. Something of this in combination with a canned reply must be doing the trick.

[Patrick]

Thanks to you I found something I and others were complaining in the old forums before, just by looking there right now.

How to handle redemption periods, there is a task there under domains that lets you increase the price after XX days the domain expired. That could work.

Remember how everyone complained about this? Customers renewing domains already in redemption for a normal price?

Well there is task there for domains that lets you increase the price, so that could work in a very perfect way. Im starting to somehow like again a little bit hostbill.

I know also know how Kris created that auto reply when you try to open a support ticket without first paying. Something of this in combination with a canned reply must be doing the trick.

I'd put it to practice first.  Setup a dummy domain registration... place it as "active" so it thinks it's registered and then change the date to expire tomorrow and see what happens.  I'm curious if it'll do it or not.

[nibb]

Yes, but this could actually work. Increase the price after XX days if the domain expired. The biggest problem in my case where people that renewed domains which I could not anymore, not at least for the price they paid and I had to refund them. At least now, if they hit renew they would see the higher price which is for the recovery.

Now, of course I would also test this first, not that it ends up changing the price all all your domains, the logic says it should only do this per domain on a per case basis after XX the domain expired like it says there in the automation tasks.

This type of things are the ones that can make hostbill to differentiate over competition. Because it allows you to create or run complex scenarios that fit your services or products. In case they do work of course.

[nibb]

Wait that will not work. The option for DomainExpire is not available if you use "after" XX days, only before, so that would not work.

I guess you can still use the late fees.

[iso99]

There is a tricky part there. I am using this feature to send clients an email that the legacy plans are discontinued and they have an option to choose from the new plans.

Initially, I generate invoices 30 days before expiry date but then since there should be no invoice to be generated, I set it to 0. The custom automation task should send an email 30 days before the account will be suspended (suspend is 1 day after expiry) instead.

However, setting the invoice date to 0 days won't run the automation task which is weird. It shouldn't rely on the invoice date but on the expiry date from the records of the account. I changed it back to 30 days and just modified the package names. A nice work around anyway.