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Sub-resellers: Behind the Scenes

By OpenSRS Team
Posted on August 7th, 2009
Read 6 comments


We’re pretty excited about the launch of our new Sub-resellers functionality, which has been in development for a while. I sat down with Adam Eisner, Director of Domain Services, to talk a little bit about what went into creating this new feature and why we think it’s worth a look.

James McNally (JM): Can you explain briefly what the Sub-resellers feature is all about?

Adam Eisner (AE): Sub-resellers lets a reseller operate their own reseller network beneath them. Our existing customers and new customers have been asking for this feature. Many hosting companies already have an established affiliate network and it’s important for them to be able to integrate that within their OpenSRS account.

JM: Can you talk a little bit about the way we went about implementing this feature?

AE: We took the time to gather as much information as possible about what resellers were looking for, and looked at what else was out there. We then set out to develop a solution that best fits our customers’ needs.

JM: After that consulting process, I’m sure our developers have come up with something pretty unique. Can you tell us about some of the features you think set the OpenSRS version of this feature apart?

AE: There are actually several things we’ve implemented in response to our resellers’ feedback that I’m pretty excited about.

  1. There are multiple ways to integrate sub-resellers. Resellers can continue to use the RWI or their own API integration to administer their sub-resellers.
  2. Management of pricing plans is much easier than what’s available elsewhere. Pricing is completely customizable for each sub-reseller, or the reseller can bulk-assign plans to groups of sub-resellers.
  3. Branding is much more flexible. The parent reseller can brand their own control panels, making us completely invisible if they choose.

JM: Sounds pretty “Reseller-Friendly” to me. :)

Full details on the new Sub-resellers feature, including some helpful screencasts

Category: OpenSRS Services | Tagged:

6 comments so far →

  • It’s looking really good. This is great news and something I can push from the outset.

    I can’t tell you how pleased I was to discover this when I came back to work. (I’d taken a week off).

    Two small points.

    1. Will a sign up page be provided say custom.r.opensrs.com/signup/ ? If so will this be tied into the store front?

    2. The customised logon page I see still says “OpenSRS Member Login” which I’m sure is something you are working on even as I write this.
    url: https://lordmatt.resellerco.com/resellers/

    In short I’m loving it!

    Comment by Lord Matt on August 12, 2009 at 9:18 pm

  • Hi Matt,

    Glad to hear you like it. :)

    Right now the only way to create new sub-reseller accounts is via RWI or API. A hosted signup is something we have identified we would like to do for a second round of work on the feature.

    Let me check into that second point for you, that overt OpenSRS messaging shouldn’t be there.

    Cheers,

    adam

    Comment by Adam Eisner on August 13, 2009 at 10:07 am

  • Update — we will be fixing shortly.

    Cheers,

    adam

    Comment by Adam Eisner on August 13, 2009 at 11:09 am

  • A serious issue for our use of the storefront and now the reseller is the apparent fact that any signup defaults to opensrs dns servers. As a hosting company, we have always used our own dns servers. I phoned tech support and they said there is no way to have a default for each signup that would point to our own dns. Without this it is too confusing to a customer/reseller. Please advise.

    Thanks,

    Craig

    Comment by craig ginsberg on August 14, 2009 at 8:52 am

  • Hi Craig,

    You can set default nameservers for a sub-reseller in two ways:

    - When you edit them in the “View/edit sub-resellers” area in the Reseller Web Interface;
    - Via API.

    Hope this helps.

    Cheers,

    adam

    Comment by Adam Eisner on August 14, 2009 at 4:30 pm

  • Congrats on the new offering. It was one of the things you really needed :)

    Comment by Michele on August 15, 2009 at 6:54 pm

Sorry, comments are now closed.

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