Installation and Configuration Guide

Step-by-step instructions for installing and configuring the Support by Time WHMCS module: WHMCS deployment, product creation, hour package and per-currency hourly rate setup.

WHMCS setup (install/update)
Product Configuration

WHMCS setup (install/update)

Support by Time module WHMCS

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System requirements & compatibility

The module supports PHP 7.4, 8.1 and 8.2+ and is published as a separate ionCube build per PHP version. Download the build that matches the PHP version your WHMCS server actually runs on.

WHMCS version	PHP version	Module build to download
WHMCS 8.x	PHP 7.4	`php74`
WHMCS 8.x	PHP 8.1	`php81`
WHMCS 8.x	PHP 8.2	`php82`
WHMCS 9.x	PHP 8.2	`php82`

WHMCS 8 runs on PHP 7.4 / 8.1 / 8.2 — pick the build matching your PHP (php74, php81 or php82).
WHMCS 9 runs on PHP 8.2 — use the php82 build.
PHP 8.2 and any newer PHP (8.3, 8.4, …): always use the php82 build.
ionCube Loader v13 or newer (v14, v15) must be installed and active.

Note: The module uses ionCube encoding. Make sure the ionCube Loader for your PHP version is installed and active on your server.

Download

The module can be ordered and downloaded from PUQ Cloud:

Order / Download: https://puqcloud.com/whmcs-module-support-by-time.php
All versions and builds (browse everything): https://download.puqcloud.com/WHMCS/servers/PUQ_WHMCS-Support-by-time/ — contains the php74 / php81 / php82 directories, each with the latest archive and all previous versions.
Community: https://community.puqcloud.com/
Direct download — choose the build that matches your PHP version:

# PHP 7.4 (WHMCS 8 on PHP 7.4)
wget https://download.puqcloud.com/WHMCS/servers/PUQ_WHMCS-Support-by-time/php74/PUQ_WHMCS-Support-by-time-latest.zip

# PHP 8.1 (WHMCS 8 on PHP 8.1)
wget https://download.puqcloud.com/WHMCS/servers/PUQ_WHMCS-Support-by-time/php81/PUQ_WHMCS-Support-by-time-latest.zip

# PHP 8.2 and newer (WHMCS 8 on PHP 8.2, or WHMCS 9) — use php82
wget https://download.puqcloud.com/WHMCS/servers/PUQ_WHMCS-Support-by-time/php82/PUQ_WHMCS-Support-by-time-latest.zip

Which build? Match the build to your server's PHP version, not to WHMCS: PHP 7.4 → php74, PHP 8.1 → php81, PHP 8.2 or newer → php82.

After downloading, extract the archive:

unzip PUQ_WHMCS-Support-by-time-latest.zip

Installation

Step 1: Upload files

Extract the module archive and copy the puqSupportByTime directory to the WHMCS servers module directory:

WHMCS_WEB_DIR/modules/servers/puqSupportByTime

Step 2: Create product

Navigate to System Settings → Products/Services → Create a New Product:

Select the PUQ Support by Time module in the Module settings section
Configure the product parameters (see Product Configuration)

The Support by Time module is a server module without a server: no server entry is required in WHMCS System Settings → Servers — the module does not connect to any external system.

Update

Step 1: Backup

Before updating, it is recommended to back up:

WHMCS database
Module files in modules/servers/puqSupportByTime/

Step 2: Upload new files

Download and extract the new version, then overwrite all files in:

WHMCS_WEB_DIR/modules/servers/puqSupportByTime/

Step 3: Verification

Log in to the WHMCS admin panel
Verify the home screen has no license warnings for your products
Open one of your support products and verify all configuration values are still set

Important (v3.0): The product configuration form was redesigned. After updating to v3.0, open every Support by Time product and re-save its settings to migrate existing values into the new structured storage format.

Product Configuration

Support by Time module WHMCS

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Add a new product to WHMCS

Navigate to System Settings → Products/Services → Create a New Product.

In the Module Settings tab select the PUQ Support by Time module (leave Server Group as None — this is a server module without a server). Two billing modes are supported, selected by the product's WHMCS billing cycle:

Recurring billing cycle (Monthly, Quarterly, Annually, …) — the included hours reset every month and overage hours are billed automatically by the daily cron at the end of each month.
One Time — the included hours are a fixed bucket that the service consumes ticket by ticket. When all hours are used, the service is automatically terminated by the next cron run.

Module settings — full product configuration

Configuration parameters

All settings live in the Module Settings tab. Saving the product persists them as a single JSON document in tblproducts.configoption24 (the license key stays in configoption1).

Parameter	Description
License key	A pre-purchased license key for the PUQ Support by Time module. The license must be active for correct operation. After saving, the verification status (and the period it is valid until) is displayed below the field.
Hours per month	Number of support hours included in the package. For One Time billing cycles this is the total bucket of hours.
Invoice action	How the billable item for overage hours is generated at month-end: Invoice on Next Cron Run, Add to User's Next Invoice, or Do not invoice.
Invoice item name	Description prefix used for billable items (default: `Support`). The final description is composed as `<name> #<ticket> <YYYY-MM> <hours> Hour(s) (<currency> <rate>/Hour)`.
Show work log to client	When ON, the client sees the operator name and the per-entry note for each ticket in their service-page ticket list. Date and time spent are always shown regardless of this setting.
Price per hour outside the package	Hourly rate charged for time exceeding the package allocation, configured per WHMCS currency.
Notify thresholds (% of package)	Comma-separated percentages (e.g. `80,100`). When a client's monthly usage reaches a threshold, the email template below is sent — once per threshold per month. Empty disables notifications.
Notification email template	WHMCS Product/Service email template used for usage alerts. Available custom variables: `$puq_used_hours`, `$puq_package_hours`, `$puq_used_percentage`, `$puq_threshold`, `$puq_hours_left`, `$puq_used_hours_outside_package`, `$puq_price_per_hour`, `$puq_currency_prefix`, `$puq_currency_suffix`, `$puq_how_much_pay`.

Support package

Support package settings

Price per hour (per currency)

Per-currency pricing

Usage notifications

Usage notification settings

How billing works

Recurring billing cycle

During the month, operators log time on tickets through the Save time / Close ticket and save time form (or the live timer) in the ticket header. Each save is stored as a separate entry, and the parent ticket record snapshots package_hours and price_hour the first time it is touched.
The first daily cron of the next month scans all support services that have unbilled tickets for the previous month. The package-hour pool is allocated across that service's tickets (oldest first); for every ticket whose hours exceed the remaining pool, one billable item per ticket is created for the overage: overage_hours × price_hour. The invoice action chosen in the product configuration determines how the billable item appears.
Tickets fully covered by the package allocation are flagged as processed (billableid = 0) and no billable item is created for them.

One Time billing cycle

Operators log time the same way; each entry deducts hours from the bucket.
After the cron run, services that have used 100 % of their hours are automatically terminated through ModuleTerminate, and their tickets/entries are flagged so no further billing is attempted.

Important notes

Warning: This module is a server module (Products/Services). It cannot be used as an addon. Attempting to use it as an addon will return an error.

License gate: Every entry point (Create / Suspend / Unsuspend / Change Package / Terminate, ticket header, configuration page) verifies the license. If license.puqcloud.com is unreachable and the offline cache has expired, module actions fail until connectivity is restored.

Configuration storage: Starting with v3.0 the entire product configuration (hours, invoice action, item name, work-log visibility, per-currency rates, notification settings) is stored as a JSON document in tblproducts.configoption24. Existing v2.x installations are migrated automatically — legacy values stored in the old configoption3 (package settings) and configoption4 (per-currency price) slots are read transparently when configoption24 is empty, so no manual reconfiguration is needed. Re-saving the product through the v3.0 form is recommended (it consolidates everything into configoption24) but not required.