58 replies to this topic

[-ASO- Doug]

On Saturday, July 10, 2010, from approximately midnight to 2 AM Eastern time, we'll be migrating away from our current billing system (ModernBill) to a new system (WHMCS). With the move to WHMCS, we'll be able to better automate billing and similar administrative tasks. The move will also give our customers additional control over their accounts and billing and give A Small Orange a lot more flexibility when it comes to integrating our billing system with other systems and adding our own features and functionality.

The main change that customers will notice immediately is a new look and feel of the ASO customer center, as well as some additional features within WHMCS. Customers will also notice the temporary disabling of ASOrefer. Existing coupons will be migrated over and continue to work, but to get credit for future orders, users of ASOrefer should use the affiliate links that will be accessible from within WHMCS. The links will track referrals via tracking cookies (more like a traditional affiliate system) instead of coupon codes. We have already begun working on a new affiliate system that will integrate with WHMCS and allow customers and affiliates to create and manage custom coupon codes. With the launch of this new system, we'll also announce an overhauled affiliate program that should make it more rewarding (financially) to refer others to A Small Orange.

During the migration window, new account signups will be temporarily disabled, as will access to ModernBill. The URL to access the billing system should remain https://customers.asmallorange.com/. You'll also be able to use the same login information to access your billing account.

If you have any questions or concerns about this migration, feel free to contact our billing department at billing@asmallorange.com. We also welcome any suggestions you might have for what we can do with our new affiliate program.

[NyteOwl]

Lacking any referrals my opinion is of necessity, minimal scope, but most people I know prefer "coupon" and discount codes for offers as opposed to yet one more affiliate cookie to be blocked. And if the affiliate links all go to an ASO url such as they do now, someone who blocks cookies on one site will block them for everyone else as well. Just a thought.

Edited by NyteOwl, 07 July 2010 - 06:41 PM.

[NyteOwl]

Cool! Look forward to seeing what you come up with. Certainly WHMCS interface is a bit prettier than ModernBill's

[v0id]

Not going with the mysterious ASOBill then, or has that little project been scrapped

[Randy Walker]

Poo! I was just going to do a demonstration at my computer club next week and give out coupon codes

[IBBoard]

I get almost all of my referral money (enough to support a VPS account, without me putting effort in to promote my codes) from the coupons and hardly ever see a link. It seems a shame if we're going to lose out on that, even temporarily.

[NyteOwl]

@IBBoard: tell me your secret!

I've logged numerous hits to my referral link but no "conversions" :/

[MacManX]

Love the new system!  It doesn't have the cramped and claustrophobic feel that Modern Bill had, and it's actually much easier to find things with.  I also like how everything is basically under one roof now.

My only "complaints," if you could call them that, are that the "Server Status" page currently lists no servers and the "Announcements" page leads to "ERROR: You do not have enough permissions to access this page. Please login by entering your Email and Password."

My old password (which I used yesterday before the migration) wasn't accepted by the new system for some crazy reason, so I just clicked the reset link and followed through with the standard email-based reset procedure.  No big deal, only took about a minute.

Thanks again for the new system!

[NyteOwl]

How does one log-in to sections of the new Portal. I tried both client area and affiliate area and it tells me my login details are incorrect.

[v0id]

NyteOwl, on 11 July 2010 - 04:14 PM, said:

How does one log-in to sections of the new Portal. I tried both client area and affiliate area and it tells me my login details are incorrect.

Resetting the password was the only way it would let me in.  
Quite an inconvenience as I had to reset the pass when I was migrated into modernbill too, but it was due to be changed anyway

[NyteOwl]

Hmm, one possible cause is the use of a different hash algorithm. I'm not familiar with what either uses so that's just a guess. Reset is no problem, I can always restore it if needs be. Thanks for the quick reply here.

[Nepherim]

So what discounts do the new affiliate links provide?

[Derek Ohanesian]

In the past, ASO didn't offer domain registration as a service beyond one per hosting account. Is this changing with the new control panel, or would you still discourage transferring my domains to ASO?

[MacManX]

Nepherim, on 11 July 2010 - 09:16 PM, said:

So what discounts do the new affiliate links provide?

No discounts this time, just standard affiliate links.

Derek Ohanesian, on 11 July 2010 - 11:09 PM, said:

In the past, ASO didn't offer domain registration as a service beyond one per hosting account. Is this changing with the new control panel, or would you still discourage transferring my domains to ASO?

You could always register additional domains by submitting a billing ticket, and it looks like you can now do it via the new control panel. According to a recent forum post, ASO can now accept domain transfers.

Edited by MacManX, 11 July 2010 - 11:22 PM.