Introduction

Welcome to another part of our WHMCS tutorial series! This guide will cover how to create products and product groups in WHMCS. Managing products & product groups is an essential aspect of WHMCS, as one of its primary ideas is to enable you to sell web hosting services to customers!

Before we continue forward, let's explain the difference between products and product groups.

Products are any items (digital or physical) you sell to your customers to satisfy their needs. When using WHMCS, all your products will be digital, including various features that allow customers to host their websites and emails or store their files. Of course, тхе product attributes depend on your personal preference, the type of customers you want to attract, and the market's current trend. You should carefully consider your products and which niche you want them to fit.

Product Groups help you arrange your web hosting products on тхе WHMCS order form. Groups each have their unique page, and you can assemble products in categories across multiple pages. A good practice is separating your shared hosting plans from your reseller and VPS plans.

Another great perk of the product groups is their ability to list related or similar products together, allowing customers to compare them and distinctively choose their plan. 

To start creating products, you must add at least one product group inside WHMCS.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: Before even starting the process of creating product groups & individual products, please go through our WHM Package tutorial. You must first add packages in your Web Host Manager to associate them with the plans/products you add in WHMCS. Each package created in the WHM panel should correspond to a product you create in WHMCS.

Getting Started

To begin the process of creating product groups and products in WHMCS, you need to access the admin area. Once you have logged inside, please hover over the wrench icon on the top right side of the screen, and from the revealed drop-down menu, please click on the "System Settings" option.

Doing so will redirect you to the "System Settings", where you will see all the available system settings WHMCS offers. To proceed with the product creation, please click on the "Product/Services" option, which should be the first available option from the content boxes in the middle of the screen. 

If that is not the case, please use the search bar on the top left side of the page and type in “products”. Doing so will cause WHMCS to reveal the “Product/Services” option immediately.

As mentioned earlier in this tutorial, you must create a product group before adding a product. To do so, please click on the "+ Create a New Product Group" button located on the top left side of the page.

Upon doing so, you will be redirected to the "Create Group" page. Let's go over all the configurable options there.

• Product Group Name - Please use this text field to type in the product group name. Please note that this group will have different product types underneath it. For example, if you name the group "Cloud VPS Hosting" and plan on having five separate Cloud VPS plans, all of them will be under this product group.
• URL - When you use the above text field to create a product group name, WHMCS automatically generates a human-readable friendly URL here. Please use the text field at the end of the URL to change the URL name if you do not like what was added by WHMCS.
• Product Group Headline - Please use this text field to add a headline that will trigger a call-to-action from your potential customers. In this example, you can type in "The most optimized Cloud VPS on the market" or something similar.
• Product Group Tagline - Please use this text field to type in a product group tagline. The idea here is to grab prospects' attention and raise their interest in buying your product. WHMCS included a great example here which is as follows: "With Our 30-day Money-Back Guarantee, You Can't Go Wrong!"
• Group Features - To add group features, you must first save the product group. This is something you can do at a later point. The idea of group features is to allow newer order form templates to showcase features that correlate to all your products within the group.
• Order Form Template - Please use the radio button to select the order form template you want users to see for this specific product group. 
• Available Payment Gateways - Please use the checkboxes available here to choose the available payment gateways customers can use for purchase on the order form.
• Hidden - Please use this checkbox to hide or display the product group to customers. This option is very convenient when you have created the group but need more time to finish adding all products. It will prevent customers from buying a product that is still in development.

Once you have entered all the required information, please click the "Save Changes" button beneath the "Edit Group" form. 

Doing so will reload the page and receive a yellow notification bar on top of the "Edit Group" form stating that the changes were saved. On the far right side of the notification bar, you will see the "<< Back to Product List" button. Please click on it to return to the initial "Products/Services" page.

Once you are redirected to the "Products/Services" page, please click on the "+ Create a New Product" button located on the right side of the "Create a New Group" button. 

Upon doing so, you will be redirected to the product creation page. 

Let's go over all the available options there.

• Product Type - Please use these content boxes to select the type of product you will create. The available options are Shared Hosting, Reseller Hosting, Server/VPS, and Other. As we added the “Cloud VPS hosting” group earlier, let's choose the “Server/VPS” option in this example.
• Product Group - Please use this drop-down menu to select the product group under which you want to add this product. As we only created a single group, this will be your only option until you add more product groups.
• Product Name - Please use this text field to type in the name of your product. Here, you can get creative and figure out clever product names that customers can easily distinguish. Don't use general terms such as "VPS Hosting" or "VPS Cloud Server", as this may confuse customers. You should use names that are linked together and scale upwards as the plan's resources grow. A good example would be: Drop, Puddle, River, Sea, Ocean, etc.
• URL - This field will show the product URL. When the above text field is populated, the text field at the end of the URL will also be populated. If you are not pleased with the result, you can manually set the desired name for your product URL.
• Module - Please use this drop-down menu to select the module you want to use for product provisioning. This selection should depend on the type of service you want to offer. If you are offering cPanel-based services, please select the cPanel module.
• Create as Hidden - Please use this toggle switch to conceal or display the product on your product page. This option is great if you are not ready with the product and want it to remain hidden from customers until it is finished.

After entering all the required information, please click on the "Continue >>" button directly underneath the product setup form.

Doing so will redirect you to the advanced product configuration screen. You will notice many tabs there, allowing you to customize your products. Let's review the most significant ones: the "Details" Tab, the "Pricing" tab, and the "Module Settings" tab. The rest will be discussed in separate tutorials.

Details Tab

The “Details” tab will contain settings similar to the previous page, with a few additions that offer you more customization. 

Let's go over these configuration options.

• Product Type - Please use this drop-down menu to select the product type. This option will be auto-filled with the product type you chose on the previous page.
• Product Group - Please use this drop-down menu to select the product group. This option will be auto-filled with the product group you chose on the previous page.
• Product Name - Please use this text field to type in the product name. This option will be auto-filled with the product name you chose on the previous page.
• Product Tagline - Please use this text field to add a product tagline. This tagline can be useful for cross-selling and further increasing the client's appeal towards your product or raising their interest in other products in the same category.
• URL - This option will be auto-filled with the product URL from the previous page. Please use the text field at the end of the URL to edit it if you are not pleased with its name.
• Product Short Description - Please use this content box to describe the product briefly. Similar to the product tagline, this can come in handy for cross-selling and further encourage the customer to purchase your hosting package.
• Product Description - Please use this content box to give a detailed description of your product. This is the time to shine with your copyrighting skills and convince readers that this product is the right fit for them! You may also use HTML tags in this text field to enhance the message to your prospects.
• Product Color - Please use this option to choose a color for your product. You should set the color in accordance with your order page template and your website's colors. 
• Welcome Email - Please use this drop-down menu to select the Welcome Email customers will receive upon purchasing this product. You may use the preset ones by WHMCS or customize them to fit your needs.
• Require Domain - Please use this checkbox to prevent or allow customers from using a valid domain name. Clients may use third-party domains or domain names they purchased from you with this plan. However, if the domain name is not registered or is invalid, ticking this checkbox will prevent customers from using it. We strongly recommend taking advantage of this option, as using fake or unregistered domain names is common practice for fraud.
• Stock Control - Please use this checkbox and the corresponding text field to enable and set up Stock Control. This option could be reasonable if you have portioned the resources on the server so that it can satisfy the needs of a specific product count on the server. Let's say you have a server with 100GB of disk space and offer a product that gives the customer 10GB of disk space. Setting the stock control to 10 will mean that clients may only purchase 10 pieces of this product. After reaching this limit, the product will be shown as “Out of Stock” on the order/product pages.
• Apply Tax - Please use this checkbox to enable taxes, such as VAT, for your products. This setting will highly depend on your business model, the country in which your company is registered, and the audience to whom you are selling web hosting.
• Featured - Please use this checkbox to make this a "Featured" product. Featured products are highlighted on the order page and will attract more attention. Set this for products you wish customers to purchase more often.
• Hidden - Please use this tickbox to hide or show products on your order page. This option may be valid if your product still needs more work and you wish to conceal it until it is finished.
• Retired - Please use this checkbox to "retire" the product. This means that you will no longer offer it on the order form. However, clients who have purchased it before will still receive invoices from WHMCS for renewals, despite it not being available for purchase.

Once you have configured all settings in this tab, please click on the "Save Changes" button underneath the table. 

Pricing Tab

Afterward, please navigate to the "Pricing" tab next. To access it, please click on the "Pricing" tab on the right side of the "Details" tab. 

The "Pricing" tab is essential, so properly configuring these settings can  affect your income positively.

• Payment Type - Please use the radio button to select the payment type. The options are as follows:
  • Free - Please select this using the radio button to make the product free of charge. We only recommend providing free products if they are for charity organizations or part of a promotion you are running.
  • One Time - Please select this using the radio button to allow the customer to purchase the product by paying once. This option could be feasible for addon services. However, in most cases, you should not enable One Time payments and go for recurring ones - especially when it comes to Web Hosting. Once selected, WHMCS will reveal the pricing grid with only a single column. Please tick the "Enable" checkbox and then use the text fields above it to define a product Setup Fee and One-Time Price.
  • Recurring - Please select this using the radio button to make the product obtainable via subscription. The customer will need to pay for it on a monthly, quarterly, annual, biennial, or triennial basis. Once selected, WHMCS will reveal the pricing grid with six columns for each mentioned billing cycle respectively. Depending on the billing period you want the product to have, please check the "Enable" tickbox under the corresponding billing cycle and use the text fields above it to specify the Setup Fee and the price tag per cycle.

• Allow Multiple Quantities - Please use this radio button to enable or prevent customers from adding additional instances of this product on your checkout page. There are three options as follows:
  • No - Please use the radio button to select this option and prevent customers from adding quantities of the chosen product on the checkout page.
  • Yes - Multiple Services: Each unit represents its own individual service instance - Please use the radio button to select this option and allow customers to add quantities of the product as separate individual instances. For example, if the customer adds 5 products, he will have 5 different product and invoice instances with the billing cycle he chose.
  • Yes - Scaling Service: Each service instance allows a quantity to be defined - Please use the radio button to select this option and allow customers to add quantities which WHMCS will bundle in a single billing and product instance. For example, if the customer adds a quantity of 5, WHMCS will create one product with a quantity of 5 with the price multiplied by 5.

• Recurring Cycles Limit - Please use this text field to set this product's recurring billing cycle limit. The default value here is 0, meaning the billing cycle will continue until the customer submits a cancellation request. If, for example, you set this to 5, the customer won't receive an invoice on the sixth month after he ordered.
• Auto Terminate/Fixed Term - Please use this text field to set an auto-terminate date for products after the initial order date. The default value here is 0, which means that this is disabled. If, for example, you set this to 10, the product will auto-terminate on the 10th day after the customer orders it. This option is ideal for trial services if you plan on adding such an option for your clients.
• Termination Email - Please use the drop-down menu to select a Termination Email once the product reaches the auto-terminate date defined in the setting above.
• Prorata Billing - Please use this checkbox to enable pro-rata billing. Enabling this option will charge customers on a specific date on a pro-rata basis. For example - the customer purchased the product on the 10th of the month. However, you set pro-rata billing on the 5th. That means the client will receive an invoice on the 5th but won't have to pay the full amount he paid initially. He will pay a pro-rated price calculated by WHMCS. 
• Pro-rata Date - Please use this text field to enable the pro-rata date for the pro-rata billing option you selected above.
• Charge Next Month - Please use this text field to set the day of the month, after which WHMCS will charge the customer for the next month. Applicable to monthly billing cycles only. If this is enabled along with Pro-rata billing, the clients will pay the pro-rata amount plus next month's price.

Once you set up your product's pricing model, please click on the "Save Changes" button underneath the table. 

Afterward, please navigate to the "Module Settings" tab by clicking on the "Module Settings" tab, located on the left side of the "Pricing" tab.

Module Settings Tab

The "Module Settings" tab will include configuration options related to WHMCS's integration with the hosting control panel you plan to use. In our case, the used module is cPanel, so we will only cover only the settings related to it.

• Module Name - Please use the drop-down menu here to select the module you will use for provisioning the product. As we are covering only cPanel-based servers, please choose cPanel here.
• Server Group - Please use this drop-down menu to select a server group. Note that you need to create a server group before using this option. Server groups let you configure sets of servers, assign products to them, and have each new order rotate around servers within that group until each server reaches the maximum account capacity. 
• WHM Package Name - Please use this drop-down menu to select the product's WHM package name. As we mentioned at the beginning of this tutorial, you need to create WHM packages before you can add products. 
• Install WordPress - Please use the multiple drop-down menus to select if Admins/Clients can install WordPress from the WHMCS admin or client areas. Additionally, you can also set up WHMCS to install WordPress automatically upon creating the cPanel account once the customer purchases the web hosting product.
• Metric Billing - Please use the multiple toggle switches here to set up metric billing for your customers. Metric billing allows you to bill your clients for individual resources or services. For example, you can bill your clients per GB of disk space, email, or FTP account and Bandwidth. This option is good if you want to offer clients the ability to add more resources/services that exceed the current product/plan design without upgrading their web hosting package. For instance, if this specific product is limited to 1 domain, you can open an addon domain slot for an extra cost.
• Automatic Provisioning - Please use the radio button below the Metric Billing table to define WHMCS's behavior towards orders.
  • Automatically setup the product as soon as an order is placed - Please select this using the radio button if you want the product provisioned as soon as the customer submits an order. We do not recommend using this setting, as submitting an order does not always mean that the customer paid for it. If the customer releases they received the product without paying, they may not submit the payment at all.
  • Automatically setup the product as soon as the first payment is received - Please select this using the radio button if you want the product provisioned as soon as the customer pays the invoices associated with the submitted order. We recommend using this option in most cases.
  • Automatically setup the product when you manually accept a pending order - Please select this using the radio button if you want the product provisioned only when the WHMCS agent manually accepts it. It could be a good choice if you are experiencing many fraud orders or have a considerable flow of orders and a dedicated person responsible solely for their activation.
  • Do not automatically setup this product - Please select this using the radio button if you do not want an automatic setup for the product at all. This means that regardless of the order/payment status, WHMCS won't deploy the web hosting account. A niche choice that we do not recommend. It may reduce the product delivery time for your product and may cause customers to request a refund.

Once you have configured all settings in this tab, please click on the "Save Changes" button underneath the "Automatic Provisioning" radio buttons. 

Conclusion

That's it! A straightforward tutorial that explained in a very understandable fashion how you could create products in WHMCS. We hope you found this helpful and that your products bring you great fortunes! Be sure to check the rest of our WHMCS tutorials, where we go over various functionalities and tips on how to make the best out of WHMCS.