Domain Renewal Notices

This feature requires that you have configured your WHMCS installation for registering and managing domains. For more information, see Domain Management.

You can configure WHMCS to send domain renewal notices before and after a domain’s due date. You can use them to remind and encourage your customers to renew expiring domains with you.

For more information about domain renewals, see Domain Renewals.

Configuring Renewal Notices

You can customize the intervals at which the system sends notices or disable any notices that you do not want to send. To do this, configure the Domain Reminder Settings section at Configuration () > System Settings > Automation Settings.

WHMCS’s default renewal notice settings meet the minimum ICANN requirements for Expiration Reminder Notices. For more information, see ICANN Policies.

In the example configuration below, three notices will send before the next due date at 60, 30 and 7 days, and one will send 3 days after the next due date if renewal has not occurred:

Domain Reminder Settings in Automation Settings

These settings interact with the Domain Sync Task settings at Configuration () > System Settings > Automation Settings. Specifically, make sure to note the Sync Next Due Date value: this value moves the Next Due Date value forward, which determines when to send renewal notices.

Renewal Notice Recipients

Renewal notices go to the registered email address of the account to which a domain belongs in WHMCS. If you use Enom, WHMCS will also send a copy of the renewal notices to the registered name holder in the WHOIS record for a given domain.

Renewal notices can also go to additional addresses using the Contacts system:

  1. Go to the Contacts tab in the client’s profile.
  2. Enter the name and email address of the person who wishes to receive a copy of the domain renewal notice.
  3. Check Domain Emails in the Email Notifications section.
  4. Click Save Changes.

This contact will now receive a copy of all domain renewal emails for the account.

  • Repeat this process for each additional person who wishes to receive the emails.
  • After you configure a contact to receive domain emails, you can disable Domain Emails for the account via the Profile tab.
There must always be at least one recipient of domain emails per account.

Customize Renewal Notices

Domain renewal notices use the following email templates:

  • Upcoming Domain Renewal Notice — Notices that the system sends before the domain’s Next Due Date.
  • Expired Domain Notice — Notices that the system sends after the domain’s Next Due Date if renewal has not occurred.

You can edit these templates at Configuration () > System Settings > Email Templates.

Custom Variables

When you customize these email templates, you can use the following variables:

VariableDescription
$days_until_expiryThe number of days between the domain’s expiration date and the date on which the system sent the reminder.
$expiring_domainsA list of the domains due for renewal within a number of days. This returns an array of information containing domainid, name, nextduedate, expirydate, and days values.
$domainsAn array of domain information, including the domainid, name, nextduedate, and expirydate values.

Review Sent Renewal Notices

WHMCS logs of all of the renewal notices that it sends and retains this log indefinitely. You can review the logs to verify your past ICANN policy compliance in either of the following locations:

  • The Sent Domain Reminders section at the bottom of the client profile Domains tab.
    The Domain Reminder History in the Domains tab of the Client Profile
    If the section does not list any domain reminders, the system has not sent any reminders for this domain.
  • The Domain Renewal Reminder Emails report at Reports > Reports.

You can export the Renewal Notices log as a .csv file by clicking Export and selecting Export to CSV.

domain-renewals email-templates domain-sync

Last modified: October 30, 2024