An Example Setup for Building a WaaS with Dollie

Introduction

Are you looking for a complete solution to build a WordPress as a Service (WaaS) platform for your customers? Look no further! Dollie is the perfect alternative to traditional multisite installations like WP Ultimo + WP Frontend Admin. In this support article, we will provide a friendly and easy-to-read guide on how to set up Dollie to meet your specific use case.

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1 - Understanding the Dollie Platform

Dollie is designed with three main components, offering flexibility, control, and scalability to meet your needs:

Your Private Cloud: This is where your customer sites are hosted. Each site has its dedicated environment, optimized for WordPress with dedicated resources and a firewall.
Your Hub: This is the central location where your customers can log in, manage their sites, view invoices, and access support resources.
Control HQ: As the name suggests, this is the control center for everything related to your platform. You can view all customer sites, create Blueprints for sale, and manage various other settings.

2 - Setting Up Dollie for Your WaaS

Now, let's walk through how to set up Dollie to fit your specific requirements:

Create Blueprints: Build one or more Blueprints that you want to sell for your WaaS. In Dollie, these are dedicated WordPress sites but if you're familiar with building a WaaS inside Multisite you can compare them to a "subsite" in your network that is then used as the starting point for a customer site.
Once you're done with your Blueprint publish it to make it available in your Blueprint Library.
Set Default Role: Establish a default role (e.g., Editor) for your customers when they launch their site.
Build Your Customer Hub: Design and customize your Customer Hub to fit your brand and desired features.
Set Up WooCommerce Products: Tie your WooCommerce products to a Blueprint (e.g., "Product A" is connected to "Blueprint A" and costs $29 a month).

3: The Customer Experience

Here's how the customer journey unfolds with Dollie:

Your customer purchases a product and is redirected to the "Launch Site" page after signing up.
The customer fills out the form with their site details and launches their site.
After launching, the customer has access to a dashboard where they can view site details, connect their domain, create backups, and more. You can control which features are enabled through the Dollie Hub settings.

Section 4: Managing Your Platform with Control HQ

Control HQ offers a comprehensive overview of your platform:

View all sites, their statuses, resources, backups, and domains.
Use the Plugin/Theme Manager to update plugins in bulk across your platform.
Enjoy additional features like uptime monitoring, automated backups, and support tools such as dev tools, one-click login, and much more.

Conclusion

Dollie provides a complete solution for building a WaaS platform, offering more flexibility and control compared to traditional multisite installations. By following this guide, you can easily set up Dollie to meet your specific use case and deliver a seamless experience for your customers. Happy building!

Updated on: 27/02/2024