Storefront Reseller Setup Guide

OpenSRS Storefront is a fully hosted, brandable ecommerce site that allows you to start selling domains immediately. Storefront handles all the end-user billing on your behalf, allowing your customers to pay by credit card using the OpenSRS payment gateway service. Customers manage their domains through a user-friendly Domain Manager, allowing them to deploy, manage, and renew the services that are provisioned through your Storefront.

OpenSRS Storefront supports gTLDs, Premium Domains, and the Name Suggestion Tool as well as Managed DNS, WHOIS Privacy, URL and Email Forwarding.

To facilitate risk free learning and testing of the Storefront, OpenSRS maintains a test environment that mirrors the live environment in nearly every way, and is the ‘proving grounds’ where you can gain proficiency before configuring your Storefront in the live environment.

To use the Storefront test environment, you must first create a Storefront account in the RWI Horizon environment. Log in to https://horizon.opensrs.net/resellers/ using your OpenSRS username and password, and then, in the OpenSRS Storefront section of the RWI, click Click here to get started. A Storefront test account is created for you.

Once you’ve created your test Storefront account, you can practice configuring your Storefront. In the OpenSRS Storefront section of the RWI, click Configure your storefront.

To view your Storefront in the test environment, use the following URL:

http://reseller_name.opensrsstorefrontdemo.com/

You can use the following credit card in the Test environment:

Credit Card Type—VISA
Card Number—4111111111111111
Expiry Date—10/2018
CVV Number—123

Note: Registrations submitted in the Test environment are not actually registered.

Before you can start selling domains through your Storefront, there are some setup tasks that you must do:

1. Name your Storefront.
2. Upload a logo.
3. Choose the color scheme and layout.
4. Set your retail pricing.

If you have already created your Storefront account, you can skip to these sections of this guide for information on the essential setup tasks:

• Configuring your Storefront settings
• Setting your retail pricing

To set up your Storefront account

1. If you do not already have an OpenSRS Reseller Account, click on this link: http://opensrs.com/signup and follow the instructions to become an OpenSRS Reseller.
2. Log in to the OpenSRS Reseller Web Interface (RWI) at https://rr-n1-tor.opensrs.net/resellers/ using your OpenSRS username and password.
3. In the Profile Management section of the RWI, click Reseller Contact Information.
4. Verify that the information on the Contact Information page is accurate and complete. Make any required additions or changes, and then click Save Changes.
5. In the OpenSRS Storefront section of the RWI, click Click here to get started. A Storefront account is created for you using the information you entered when you created your OpenSRS Reseller account.

Once you’ve created your Storefront account, you can set up the look and feel of your Storefront interface, define hostnames to access your Storefront, and set up your retail pricing.

To access your Reseller Storefront settings, go to the Settings menu at the top right of the Resellers Control Panel, and select Storefront Reseller Interface.

Now you can set up the basic look and feel of your Storefront interface. You can assign a name to your Storefront, and you can determine the text that appears on the Contact and About pages. All of the store settings are optional; however, if you do not enter your own information, the corresponding sections in the Storefront will be blank or they will contain the defaults.

To customize your store settings

1. On the OpenSRS Storefront Manager page, click Basic Store Settings.
2. Create a memorable name for your storefront, and enter it in the Store Name field.
3. If you want your users to be redirected to your website when they click the Home tab on your Storefront, enter the web site’s URL in the Custom Home button URL field. Be sure to include http://. If you do not complete this field, the Storefront Home tab displays the Storefront FIND field.
   Note: To add a Storefront search to your existing website, you need to add some code to your webpage. For more information, see Using Storefront with your existing website.
4. Set the color scheme to customize the look of your Storefront, by choosing one of the existing skins in the Storefront Theme drop-down list.
5. Add your brand logo to your Storefront. In the Storefront logo section, click Browse, and upload the file that contains your logo.
6. Make sure that Storefront Status is set to Open; otherwise, customers will not be able to access your Storefront.
7. Click Update to save your changes.

You can customize the final step in the checkout process in the following ways:

• You can add bullet points that will appear under Next Steps on the Thank You page after the customer enters their payment information.
• You can add an additional step to the process, so that when the customer clicks Next they are taken to a website that you specify. This feature also posts three additional parameters that can be stored or displayed in a new page:
  tx_id—The transaction id number of the purchase just completed.
  domain—List of domains to which the transaction applies.
  rur—The URL to return to the Storefront page.

To customize the checkout process

1. On the OpenSRS Storefront Manager page, click Basic Store Settings.
2. Under Custom Checkout Destination, click Edit Checkout Destination.
3. Click the radio button beside Enabled to enable this feature.
4. In the Button Name field, enter a label for the button; the default is Next.
5. In the Destination URL, enter the web address for the page to which you want to send your customers. Be sure to include http://
6. Optionally, in the text field at the bottom of the page, you can add additional points that will appear under Next Steps on the Thank You page.
7. Click Save.
   

On the Basic Store Settings page, you can also add promotional text to your Storefront website, and determine the text that appears when your customers click Contact and About.

To customize your website content

1. Click Edit Contact Us Page and enter the text that you want to appear when your customers click Contact in your Storefront. Typically, this information includes an address, phone number, and email contact.
Make sure that Display Contact Us Page is checked so that the Contact button appears in your Storefront, and then click Save

2. Click Edit About Us Page and enter the text that you want to appear when your customers click About in your Storefront. Typically, this information consists of a short description of your company. Make sure that Display About Us Page is checked so that the About button appears in your Storefront, and then click Save.

3. Optionally, click Edit Services Page and enter the text that you want to appear on a Services tab. Make sure that Display Services page is checked so that the Services tab appears at the top of your Storefront.

4. Optionally, click Edit Promotions Page and use the editor to enter the text that you want to use to advertise any special promotions. Click Save.
The link to the Promotions content is the URL for your storefront followed by /promotions. You can embed this link in your own website or add it to your customized Storefront Home page.

5. Optionally, click Edit Home Page and then click Edit to customize the Header, Sub Header and promotional bullet points that appear on your Storefront home page.

• Header—Text that appears at the top of your Storefront home page.

• Sub Header—Appears below the Header; may be text or an image. Images can be up to 50K, 400 x 200 pixels, and must be in PNG format.
Click the HTML radio button and use the editor to enter and format your text; you can also include links.
Click the Use image radio button and upload a graphic. To make the graphic clickable, in the Destination field, enter the URL for the destination and, optionally, in the Image alt text field enter text that will display when the user moves their cursor over the image.

• Bullets—Add promotional bullet points that will appear at the bottom of your Storefront home page to tell customers why your online store is the best place to buy domains.

By default, all of the TLDs that are available for sale through Storefront are enabled. If you don’t want to sell certain TLDs, you can disable them in the Storefront Manager. When customers log in to your Storefront, they will not see search results for these TLDs, and they will not be able to register any domains under those TLDs. Any already registered domains under that TLD will be unaffected. If you change your mind, you can easily enable the TLD.

Important: CNNIC has announced an indefinite suspension of all .CN registrations from overseas Registrars, including our registration provider Neustar. This change is in effect as of January 6, 2010. As a result of this action by CNNIC, we have no choice but to suspend new .CN registrations through OpenSRS. Until further notice, .CN domains that are currently registered through Tucows can be renewed and transferred; however, new orders will not be accepted for .CN domain names.

To disable TLDs

1. On the OpenSRS Storefront Manager page, click Pricing.
2. Beside the TLDs that you don’t want to sell, click the toggle button to display Off.
3. Click Save Changes.

To enable TLDs

1. On the OpenSRS Storefront Manager page, click Pricing.
2. Beside the TLDs that you want to enable, click the toggle button to display On.

The next task is to set the prices that you want to charge for each of the TLDs and related services that you sell through your Storefront. When you first create a Storefront account, it is set up with default prices. You can keep the default pricing or you can change any of the prices for domains and related services. For example, you may want to offer discounted prices when customers register or renew their domains for more than one year so that they are more likely to buy longer terms.

To set your domain and services pricing

1. On the OpenSRS Storefront Manager page, click Pricing.
2. Beside the TLD whose pricing you want to edit, click SHOW.
3. Change any of the displayed prices, and then click Save Changes.

You must enter you name and address in the Commission Settings section in order to receive commission on the domains that you sell through your Storefront.

To enter your Commission Payment information

1. On the OpenSRS Storefront Manager page, click Commission Settings.
2. Enter your name and the address where you want your commission cheques to be sent. All fields except for Company are mandatory. If you are a U.S. resident, you must also enter your Federal Tax ID.
3. Click Save.

Commission cheques are issued for any month in which the commission earned is $100 or more. If the earned amount is less than $100, the amount is carried over to the next month.

Note: Commission distribution is always one month behind, so, for example, if you earn more than $100 in commissions in April, a cheque is sent to you at the beginning of June.

In order to sell domains through your Storefront, the Reseller Technical Contact information must be complete and in the correct format. All Technical Contact fields are mandatory except for Phone Extension, Fax, and Fax Extension.

When you create your Storefront account, the technical contact information that is in OpenSRS is imported into your Storefront account. Before you start selling domains through your Storefront, you should verify that the Reseller Technical Contact information is correct, and edit any fields that are incorrect.

To edit the technical contact information

1. On the OpenSRS Storefront Manager page, click Tech Contact.
2. Edit any of the fields on this page, and then click Save.

By default, your technical contact becomes your customer’s technical contact when they set up their account; however, your customer can overwrite that information if they want to use their own technical contact.

You can enter additional hostnames for your website, designating one of them as the primary hostname. That way, no matter which one your customers go to, they will be redirected to your Storefront.

To add a hostname

1. On the OpenSRS Storefront Manager page, click Hostnames.
2. In the Add hostname field, enter the new hostname and click Add/Update ALL.
3. Click the radio button beside the hostname that you want to designate as primary. The primary hostname is the one that will appear in the URL field.
4. Click Add/Update ALL.

You can choose whether you want the OpenSRS logo to appear on your Storefront home page.

To enable or disable website toggles

1. On the OpenSRS Storefront Manager page, click Basic Store Settings.
2. At the bottom of the page, under Custom Website Content, click Edit Home Page.
3. In the Available Website Toggles section, ensure that Powered by OpenSRS is selected if you want the OpenSRS logo to appear in your Storefront; if you do not want the logo to appear, simply uncheck the box.
4. Click Save.

Once you have a Storefront account, you can use the OpenSRS Storefront Manager to view all of the domains that are registered and managed via Storefront.

To view all of your domains

1. On the OpenSRS Storefront Manager page, click Domain(s).
2. Click Search to get a list of all of your Storefront domains.
3. Click on the domain name to view details about the domain and the domain owner.

If one of your users forgets their password, they can click Forgot your password? on the Domain Manager Login page, and an email containing their username and password is sent to the email address that is associated with their account. If they have changed their email address, but they haven’t updated the contact information in their account, you can change the email address in Storefront Manager on their behalf.

On the Domain(s) tab of the OpenSRS Storefront Manager, enter the new email address in the Change User Email field, and then click Submit. An email is sent to the old and the new email addresses notifying them of the change.

Renewal reminders are sent for expiring Storefront domains, just as they are for domains registered through OpenSRS, except that the messages will contain a link to your Storefront Domain Manager login page.

You can import domains from OpenSRS (RWI) to Storefront, and you can also export domains from Storefront to OpenSRS. The import or export is done through the Bulk Change Management section of the RWI. Importing domains into Storefront allows you to take advantage of the billing and management features of Storefront.

When you export domains from the OpenSRS RWI to Storefront, your end users will receive email notifications with your branded Storefront Domain Manager URL as well as their Storefront usernames and passwords.

Important: Storefront creates end user accounts based on the Registrant Username (also known as the Profile) that is identified in the OpenSRS Manager Web Interface (MWI). If you manage multiple domains on behalf of your customers, all of the domains are listed under the same profile even though they may have unique Organization Information or Admin Information. When you import the domains into Storefront, they are all imported into a single Storefront account.

To prevent this from happening, you must first use the Change Ownership of Domain feature in the MWI to create new profile accounts and then associate each of the domains with the appropriate profile. Once you have assigned the domains to the correct profiles, you can import them into Storefront and your end users will be able to access and manage their own domains.

You can access the OpenSRS RWI from the Reseller Storefront page.

Click Control Panel to go directly to the OpenSRS Reseller Web Interface.

Since OpenSRS and the Reseller Storefront use the same credentials, once you sign on to one interface, you don’t have to sign on again when you go to the other one.

You can access your Storefront from the OpenSRS RWI.

In the OpenSRS Storefront section of the RWI, click Visit your storefront.

You can view your Storefront commissions by accessing Billing and Payments in the Resellers Control Panel.

To view your Storefront commissions:

1. Go to the Settings menu in the Control Panel (the gear at the top right) and select Billing and Payments.
2. Choose the Statements tab.
3. Select Statement Type Storefront.  Commissions are listed Under Earnings Summary, and detailed obtained by clicking on the amount.

Some OpenSRS programs are administered differently when you use Storefront to sell domains instead of the OpenSRS RWI or API.

• Premium Domain Names—9% of purchase price is withheld to cover payment processing fee; Resellers earn 4% for the sale of Premium Names.
• Name Suggestion—Enabled for all
• Managed DNS—Free service
• Parked Pages Program—Not eligible for revenue sharing
• Expired Domains Program—Not eligible for revenue sharing

For information on the requirements for specific gTLDs and ccTLDs (residency, DNS, renewals, and so on), refer to the gTLD and ccTLD Reference Chart.

If you already have a website that your customers are used to, you don’t have to send them to another web address to find your Storefront. Instead, you can add the following piece of code to your webpage so that when your customers search for a domain name on your website, the results are passed to your Storefront, and the Storefront page is displayed.

If you use this code, be sure to insert the appropriate parameters as indicated. You do not have to use the font type and color shown here; this is an example only.

<form action="http://PRIMARY_HOSTNAME.shopco.com/search" method="post">
<table>
   <td align="center" colspan="2"><font color="#443333" face="arial">
<b>Find your perfect web address! Register a .com name with RESELLER
NAME HERE.</b></font>
   </td>
<tr>
   <td align="left"><font color="#444433" face="arial" size="2"><b>Enter
a domain, keywords, location, or name:</b></font>
   </td>
   <td align="right"><input name="searchstring"><input type="submit"
value="Find">
   </td>
</table>
</form>

Note: When specifying the URL in the form action line, you have two options: the default is to replace “PRIMARY_HOSTNAME” with your Reseller name and include “.shopco.com” as shown in the example. However, if you have changed the primary hostname, then you need to replace “PRIMARY_HOSTNAME.shopco.com” with that hostname; in this case, do not include “shopco.com”.