http://www.photopost.com/forum Have an idea to make Classifieds even better? en Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:43:09 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.photopost.com/forum/images/misc/rss.jpg http://www.photopost.com/forum http://www.photopost.com/forum/classifieds-suggestions/141158-moderation-suggestions.html Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:46:04 GMT Moderation of ad uploads, comments and feedback is currently a global setting. This provides no flexibility for Admins to setup their classifieds as they might prefer. I suggest the moderation of the three features be individually set. In addition, an Admin choosing to go without moderation is... Moderation of ad uploads, comments and feedback is currently a global setting. This provides no flexibility for Admins to setup their classifieds as they might prefer. I suggest the moderation of the three features be individually set.

In addition, an Admin choosing to go without moderation is provided editing and deleting capability for comments and ads ... but not for feedback unless done by editing the MySql database. Yet malicious feedback is a fact of life and needs to be managed when it happens. I strongly suggest that convenient editing and deletion of feedback be added into the Admin interface. ]]> Classifieds Suggestions allcompu http://www.photopost.com/forum/classifieds-suggestions/141158-moderation-suggestions.html http://www.photopost.com/forum/classifieds-suggestions/141080-suggestions-better-pp-classifieds.html Sun, 08 Nov 2009 03:55:59 GMT Now that I am nearing the completion of my classifieds setup, after an extraordinary amount of extra and unexpected time spent, I offer with all best intentions the following suggestions to improve the application as well as the licensee's experience:

1. Understand that we're not all coders and are looking for efficient and easy to find solutions we can implement by looking in one place for answers. Using search is great if you know what keyword to use but you still won't often find the kind of nuts and bolts explanations to be effective at modifying code, templates and phrases.

2. I downloaded and used the Beyond Compare product you recommended ... and I would recommend you not be so quick to recommend it. While it can, I'm sure, be very useful in the hands of someone used to modifying templates, it also drastically improves one's ability to screw them up in a hurry. The information I needed I ended up figuring out through trial and error. A lot of it should be in a user guide authored by PhotoPost.

3. Reexamine your styles consistency and best choice of words for many of the application's interface. Examples:

• Upload help displays in a font size of 1 while Bids help is in font size 2.
• Custom fields display text in mixed sizes and are inconsistent with other entries.
• Consider that users are placing ads, not uploading products or reviews. In most places if you substitute the appropriate variation of "advertise" or "item" for "product" or "seller" you will be communicating in a much more understandable way with users.
• Consider the meaning of "upload product" vs. "place an ad" or "upload image" in place of upload product. If I am placing a help wanted or an employment wanted ad, I might be confused by terms like product and seller which have no application. As an admin, I don't want to have to field questions from my 2000+ members and visitors each day who become confused because the choice of words makes no sense.

4. Supply more templates for things many licensee's would use if available. To name a few I could have used:

• Event Announcements
• Bid Requests
• Positions Wanted

5. For vBulletin, improve the integration at least to the point where when I click on a user name or avatar I get the same results as when I am in vBulletin. I understand and see some benefits to having your own user information and communications section but my users are going to be confused by it and I expect to be explaining it to them for years to come. I can guarantee you that most of my members will expect replies to their ads to arrive by private message through vBulletin. I can also guarantee you that most members will forget to check for messages in your separate message center. ]]> Classifieds Suggestions allcompu http://www.photopost.com/forum/classifieds-suggestions/141080-suggestions-better-pp-classifieds.html http://www.photopost.com/forum/classifieds-suggestions/140976-record-all-bids-auction-poll.html Thu, 22 Oct 2009 05:18:02 GMT It has come to my attention that the Classifieds DO NOT record all of the bids made in the Bid History table. I believe that they should and here is why: What about an option that admins could turn on (off by default) to record all valid bids and autobids? For example right now my auction is... It has come to my attention that the Classifieds DO NOT record all of the bids made in the Bid History table. I believe that they should and here is why:

What about an option that admins could turn on (off by default) to record
all valid bids and autobids? For example right now my auction is showing 4
bids, but maybe there were really 7 or 10, it isn't like I had 200 or
something. :) I would gladly turn that option on so that any time any
logged-in user made a bid which was higher than the current high bid, it was
recorded, even if it is immediately surpassed by someone else's auto-bid.
It should be as simple as whenever a bid is placed the following happens:

1) system checks to see if the bid being placed is higher than the current
bid price - if not dump out, if it is, then step 2
2) bid being placed is higher than the current high bid (but maybe not as
high as someone else's max) - bid gets recorded in the bid history table.
3) If bid is the new high bid it stands, if not, then the autobid system
bids up another member until they are higher than this bid, when the autobid
becomes the new high bid, it is recorded in the history table.

That's it really. Today the system is doing 1 and 3 I think, but not #2.
Let's take it through an example.

Person A is the high bidder currently at $50, but has a max set to $100.
Person B comes along and bids $55
- System should record the $55 bid (if admin option is turned on), it is a
valid bid at this point, higher than the current high.
- System looks at Person A's max and see's $100 so it autobids a new high
bid of $56 (or whatever the increment is) to make Person A the high bidder
again - system records this bid.

Now Person B sees that they were auto outbid by Person A, they have a
choice, either stop bidding, or enter in a new bid.
If they enter in a new bid, say $60, then that bid should be recorded (again
if admin option I am proposing is turned on).
System again outbids at $61 for Person A - again also recorded.

Person B tries once more at $90, bid is recorded, but system outbids to $91
for Person A.

In a single item auction Person A wins at $91, person B loses at $90
assuming no more bids.
In a multi-item auction Person A wins at $91 but person B might be the
winner of the second item at $90, etc. on down the list.

Recording all bids accomplishes 2 things

1) PROOF to person A why their final price was $91 and not $50 the last
amount they bid. If Person A cannot see that someone else actually bid $55,
then $60 then $90, Person A complains, argues that someone was just driving
up the price or the system made an ERROR and they should get the item for
$50 because as the admin without the list I cannot prove squat!
2) Allows for multiple items in a single auction to be awarded to the
highest bidders.

Please implement this Chuck, it would be a valueable additon to the auction
capability and honestly is nothing more than a single table update whenever
a valid bid is placed. ]]> Classifieds Suggestions KenDude http://www.photopost.com/forum/classifieds-suggestions/140976-record-all-bids-auction-poll.html