Is this possible with cPanel - am I on the right path?

[chuckcintron]

I asked this question in the developer forum and didn't really get to the point where I am confident I'm even in the right church on this...any help would be appreciated.

I want to design and implement a simple system that allows a user to select from a choice of templates, and then generate their own static HTML website. Think of any of the "big" web site builder services out there...I want to do a very light/minimal version of that for a very specific clientele I have.

I know how to create a secure login/PHP session on the front-end of my site -- is there then a set of cPanel API calls my (client run) code can make that would establish the client's account and assign the domain name, set up email, etc? On the other thread someone mentioned that a reseller account should be able to do this (?)

I literally want them to be able to generate their own website with a couple of clicks, then (assuming DNS pointers are set correctly at their registrar) have a live site up and running.

I'm willing to invest whatever amount of time or money is required to get this done but I'm struggling to figure out what I have to learn -- can this idea be reduced to practice through using cPanel APIs or am I way off?

Thanks...

 

[cPanelTristan]

It isn't possible for a non-reseller or non-root user to create accounts in this manner. Reseller users can create accounts in WHM, so they would have the ability to create accounts via API calls. Wouldn't it be easier to use some type of wildcard DNS system to create subdomains off an existing account and offer subdomain template website creation?

 

[chuckcintron]

Tristan, that's exactly what I am trying to figure out. My first thought was that doing this from a 'normal' account and just creating subdomains would be the answer -- but I got nowhere trying to find out if that assumption was correct.

So, can a non-root user making a call to cPanel APIs through an HTML interface (via PHP) instantiate a new subdomain from an existing account?

If that is the answer I will gladly go down that path. I have a big learning curve so trying to avoid any potential dead-ends.

 

[chuckcintron]

Anyone...help...

Did I ask a stupid question, or is this this too far outside the scope of cPanel?

 

[cPanelTristan]

The question really belongs in the developer area here, because it involves the APIs. I'm not the API expert. People who read that forum typically are.