Dealer Network
On this page
Dealer Network holds your dealers: their profiles, the applications from your website and their approval, price tier, credit limit and portal sign-in. Invoices, serials, warranty cards and tickets all hang on a dealer record.
Switching it on
Dealer Network is free and ships with the script. It is on after installation, with nothing to buy or activate; you find it on Admin → Addons as Dealer Network Addons.
Leave it on: with it off, the Dealers entry and the Dealer applications card disappear.
Its settings
Admin → Addons → Dealer Network Addons → Settings.
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Approve new dealer applications automatically | An application from the website goes live at once. It only works when New applications must be approved by an admin is off on Admin → Settings → Dealer portal; while that one is on, every application waits for you. |
| Dealer code prefix | The start of every dealer code (default DLR, so codes run DLR-0001, DLR-0002 …). Saving copies it to Admin → Settings → Company & invoice → Dealer code prefix. |
| Ask for a trade licence number on the application form | Makes Trade licence no. a required field on the application form. |
| Default credit limit for a new dealer | The credit limit an application from the website starts with. A dealer you add yourself gets what you type on the form. |
Applications from your website
The front page and the dealer sign-in page both carry Apply for a dealership (dealer/register.php). The applicant gives the shop and owner details, an e-mail (their future sign-in name), phone, a password and an optional message.
On sending, the system creates the dealer and its sign-in, both Pending, puts a New dealership application notification in your bell, and e-mails the applicant We have received your application. A pending dealer cannot sign in yet; they see Your account is waiting for approval.
To pause applications, untick Let new dealers apply from the public site on Admin → Settings → Dealer portal.
The Dealers list
Admin → Dealers. Search by name, code, owner, e-mail or phone, and filter by status (Pending, Active, Suspended, Inactive) and by type. Each row shows the invoices and the total still due; View opens the dealer's profile with totals, recent invoices, serials, warranty cards, portal users and tickets. The number beside Dealers in the sidebar is how many applications are waiting.
The buttons on a row:
- Approve (pending dealers) makes the dealer and all its sign-ins active, puts a Welcome aboard notification in their portal and e-mails Your dealership has been approved with the sign-in link.
- Suspend (active dealers) blocks the dealer and its sign-ins. Activate brings a suspended or inactive dealer back.
- × removes the dealer from the network. Its invoices and history stay; its sign-ins are switched off.
Use these buttons rather than the Status box on the edit form. The buttons change the dealer and its sign-ins; the box changes only the dealer, so a login made while the dealer was pending would stay pending.
The permissions are View dealers, Add / edit / delete dealers and Approve or suspend dealers (Users, roles and sign-in rules).
Adding a dealer yourself
Admin → Dealers → + Add a dealer. The form holds the shop and owner details, Dealer code (left empty, the next number is used), Type and Parent dealer (sub-dealers need the Sub-Dealers addon), Price tier, Credit limit, Opening balance, Status, a logo and Internal notes.
Under Dealer login (optional) type a Login e-mail and a Password of at least 6 characters, and the dealer's portal account is made at the same time. Set Status to Active for a dealer you have already vetted; otherwise the new login waits as pending too. More logins can be added later from the dealer's profile (+ Add a login) or on Admin → Users.
The welcome message
Saving a new dealer greets them three ways:
- E-mail with their dealer code, the portal address and, when a login was made, the e-mail and password. The wording is the template The welcome message with sign-in details on Admin → E-mail Setup → E-mail templates.
- WhatsApp. When How messages are sent on Admin → Settings → WhatsApp is GREEN-API or another HTTP API, it goes out by itself. With the free click-to-chat link, a notice offers Open WhatsApp to send … their welcome: one click opens WhatsApp with the message typed. Its wording is Welcome, when a dealer is added under Message templates on Admin → Settings → WhatsApp.
- A notification waiting in their portal the first time they sign in.
The password travels by e-mail and WhatsApp only, never in the notification; ask the dealer to change it after signing in.
Price tier and credit limit
The price tier (Dealer price, Sub-dealer price or MRP) decides which price column the dealer sees on Price List and Products in the portal, and which price the invoice editor fills in when you pick that dealer. See Price lists.
The credit limit is how much you are willing to have outstanding. It shows on the dealer's profile, as a Credit bar on the dealer's own dashboard (red past 85%, with You are close to your credit limit), and, with Accounts Management, in red on the balances list. It is a warning, not a lock: an invoice can still be raised. The opening balance is what the dealer owed when you started; Accounts Management turns it into the first line of their ledger.
Tips
- Only active dealers appear in the invoice editor. Approve first, then invoice.
- A dealer edits their own contact details and password in Dealer portal → My Profile; the price tier and credit limit stay yours. More in The dealer portal and the front page.