Developer(s) SalesAgility Written in PHP | Development status Active Operating system | |
Initial release October 23, 2013 (2013-10-23) Stable release 7.7.1 / August 11, 2016; 7 months ago (2016-08-11) | ||
SuiteCRM is a software fork of the popular customer relationship management (CRM) system from SugarCRM. It became popular when SugarCRM decided to stop development of its open source version. It is a free and open source alternative application based on the last open-source SugarCRM release, and contains many additional enhancements and new modules. It was released on October 21, 2013 as version 7.0, and provides upgrade paths for existing SugarCRM users.
Contents
- How to Install SuiteCRM
- Download and Prepare SuiteCRM Files
- Initiate SuiteCRM Installation
- SuiteCRM Successfully Installed
- References
SuiteCRM won the BOSSIE Award 2015 and BOSSIE Award 2016 for the world's best Open Source CRM. Inforworld, the curators of the BOSSIE awards stated that "In little more than a year, SuiteCRM has inspired the community and emerged as a new leader in open source CRM." The award had been won by SugarCRM for the previous 8 years.
SuiteCRM has been downloaded more than 500,000 times since the original release. It has been adopted by NHS (National Health Service) England's Code4Health programme which seeks to foster open source in the NHS in England.
SuiteCRM comprises the last release of the SugarCRM Community Edition, plus the following additional modules:
In addition to the new modules, extensive bug fixes and many enhancements to the core functionality have been made. There have been over thirty updates since the original project was released. A three-month release cycle is maintained with bug fix and security releases being made available between major releases.
A Bug Tracker is maintained at Github.
The SuiteCRM project has stated that every line of code released by the project is and will always be open source. SuiteCRM project is intended to be an enterprise-class open source alternative to proprietary alternatives.
A project Roadmap is available that details planned enhancements.
An active public support forum with more than 34,000 members is available for free support and is regularly monitored and updated by the Project team at SalesAgility the official maintainer of SuiteCRM.
A directory of extensions is available where both free and paid-for enhancements are available.
How to Install SuiteCRM
STEP-1
Download and Prepare SuiteCRM Files
The first step is to download the latest stable release of the application. You can do that via the official SuiteCRM website.
Once you get the download package, extract the files on your local computer. This will create a folder that contains all of the installation files you need.
The next step is to upload those files to the server and the exact location, where you would like to install SuiteCRM. If you wish to install the application directly on the primary domain of your account, you will have to upload the SuiteCRM files in the public_html/ directory of your account. However, if you wish to install SuiteCRM in a subfolder or subdomain, this location will be different
STEP-2
Initiate SuiteCRM Installation
Up until this moment, you will have a location on your account, where you have the SuiteCRM installation files ready. It is time to proceed with the actual installation. Simply access the location of your SuiteCRM installation, followed by /install.php. This will initiate the installation script.
The first step will request that you choose the language for the installation process of SuiteCRM. Select the language of your choice and click on the Next button to proceed.
Read the pre-installation information of SuiteCRM, which is the next step of the process. Our servers are fully optimized for the application and you will not have any issues on this step.
The next step is the License Agreement. You need to read the Terms of Use for SuiteCRM and accept them to proceed further
Choose the Installation Type for your SuiteCRM website. Usually, you should check the Typical Install, but if you are an advanced SuiteCRM user, you can use the Custom Install option instead. Click on Nextto proceed
You need to select the MySQL type for the new installation. Click Next to proceed.
The next step is the Database Configuration. You will need to prepare a clean database and a user assigned to it with full privileges for your new installation
Once you get your database ready, you will have to edit the following options:
You can also choose if you wish to import demo content on your website. If you are new to SuiteCRM, this will be a useful feature for your website that will allow you to test it’s features
The next step is the Site Configuration. You will be able to set the administrative user on your website. Keep those details safe as you will need them to manage your new website after the installation.
The last step is a review of all details you have specified for the new installation. Simply review them and make sure that it is configured the way you need. Once you are ready, click on the Install button to initiate the process.
STEP-3
SuiteCRM Successfully Installed
The system will complete the actual installation automatically for you. Upon completion, you will receive a successful message. Click on the Next button and you will get redirected to your new website. Enjoy!