How to Set Up WordPress Hosting Billing Plugin
WordPress offers a host of free tools that can help you along the way to building a successful blog. One of these is the WordPress Hosting Billing Plugin. While you might be tempted to consider this tool as simply a way to collect payment for hosting services, this plugin has a lot more functionality.
Why Should You Care About WordPress Hosting Billing?
WordPress is one of the most popular content management systems (CMS) around, and for good reason. The platform is extremely flexible, empowering you to build pretty much anything you want with it. You don’t need to be limited by templates or themes, allowing you to create something unique that will appeal to your target audience. And all of this without needing to be a programmer!
As you might imagine, there are a lot of different use cases for WordPress. One of the more innovative applications for the platform is the WordPress Hosting Billing plugin. We’ll guide you through step-by-step to set up a WordPress Hosting Billing account so you can start charging clients for your services.
How Does The WordPress Hosting Billing Plugin Work?
The WordPress Hosting Billing plugin is a combination of a free and a premium version, but even the free version offers powerful functionality.
The free version offers all the basic features you would need from a billing tool, enabling you to manage your clients, transactions, and invoices from one place. The premium version adds additional features, including the ability to take credit cards, automated email confirmations, and much more.
As a WordPress user, you likely already have an email account set up with the platform. With the WordPress Hosting Billing plugin, you can use this account to send automated email confirmations to your customers. These confirmations can include details such as the amount charged and the date the invoice was paid, enabling you to keep track of your finances from one place. You can also use the email account to create and send marketing emails to new and existing customers.
How Do I Set Up A WordPress Hosting Billing Account?
There are a few requirements you must meet in order to use the WordPress Hosting Billing plugin. You must be running WordPress 4.7 or higher, and you must have an existing email account set up with the platform. Additionally, you must either be a developer or have access to raw coding knowledge.
Once you’ve met these requirements, you can start by creating a new email account with the WordPress platform to which you will be sending all your billing notifications. To create a new account, click the purple Create Account button at the top right of the WordPress dashboard. Then, enter a username and a password for the account and click the Create button.
From here, you can enter a brief introduction to the purpose of the email account and test out the account’s functionality by trying to send an email to yourself. If all is well, you’re pretty much ready to move on to the next step.
The Next Step: Designing Your Website’s Theme
As we mentioned, the WordPress Hosting Billing plugin is a combination of a free and a premium version. The free version offers all the functionality you need to get started, including the ability to manage your clients, transactions, and invoices. For this tutorial, we will use the free version of the plugin.
Before you start designing your website’s theme, it is essential that you become familiar with the basics of the plugin. Navigate to the Appearance screen in your WordPress admin area and click the Settings tab. Here, you’ll see all the options the plugin has to offer.
Customize The Plugin’s Settings To Your Needs
The first thing you’ll want to do is customize the Settings for the plugin so they match your needs. This way, you can have absolute control over how the plugin presents on your website. For example, you might want to change the currency from USD to GBP. Or, you might want to select a different payment processor (or none at all).
The next step is to decide how you will implement the payment process. Will you use a PayPal account? A Stripe account? A card on file? Or, will you opt out of receiving payments at all and focus on providing the best possible service for your clients?
Whatever you choose, WordPress makes it extremely easy to set up and integrate with your website. And, best of all, it offers a wealth of freely available resources that can help you along the way. Now, it’s up to you to take control of your finances and grow your practice. Good luck out there!