Welcome Text & News Text on the Main Page

Introduction

Webserver

Security

Welcome Text & News Text on the main page

Franchisee/Broker Interface

Posting an Ad

Uploading of images

Ad Preview

Manage Ads

Open Ads

Resume Abandoned Ads

Payments

How leads are distributed

Administrator Interface Features

System

Search Results

Edit

Categories

Cat Sets.

How to assign postcodes to different franchisees/brokers

Mailing lists and sending emails to all subscribers

Introduction

The AIB website (AIB (Business) Online) is an application that was developed from a template called XcClassified from Xcent.com. This application has been extensively modified to suit AIB’s requirements.

This website was developed using Microsoft’s ASP and Access database. An upgrade to an SQL version is possible however we had a limited time of 4 weeks to develop this thus have not used SQL database at this stage.

AIB (Business) Online is a full-featured online classified ads application. It has been configured so that AIB HQ, Franchises and Brokers can post advertisements for business for sale/wanted on the website in just minutes.

Registering a franchisee/broker

First AIB HQ must register a franchise or broker online at

Please do not give this url to your franchise/brokers.

Once you have registered a franchise/broker, an automatic email will be sent to the registrant’s email with the password. Now the franchise/broker can login using this password at or click on MEMBER SERVICES on the botto of the page.

Once the franchise/broker has logged in they are able to click on the options available to create/edit/delete ads and view new leads and prospects.

Webserver

The entire AIB website is hosted by WebAxis on DNS ns1.webaxis.com.au and ns2.webaxis.com.au. The server is running Windows Microsoft IIS server 2003. It is also using an ASPsmartImage component for uploading/resizing of images.

Backup of this data on the server is done daily.

Security

All payments accepted are secured through a 128 bit SSL. This is a bank standard security feature.This feature costs $150 each year.

Welcome Text & News Text on the main page

To update the welcome and news text on the AIB Business Online page ( you need to email us at . (charges apply) Alternatively you can update this page your self using Macromedia Contribute. The 2 files you need to update are and

Franchisee/Broker Interface

The url you need to give out to your franchises/brokers for logging into the site and posting ads is

Posting an Ad

One of the primary functions that a franchisee/broker will perform is posting an ad. This is the key process around which much of the site revolves.

Franchisees/brokers will need to be registered by AIB HQ before posting any ads. Once they have registered and logged in, they will be able to post ads. By selecting the Place an Ad link on the front page of your site, the user will be taken to the first page of the Posting an Ad process.

Standard listing – ads are displayed the category selected (price not determined yet) at this stage we have set it to be $440

Apart from the standard listing, 2 additional options are available.

Featured listing – adds are displayed on TOP of the other adds in the category selected (price not determined yet)at this stage we have set it to be $330

Premium listing – adds are displayed in the category selected AND on the front page (price not determined yet) at this stage we have set it to be $550

We have disabled the billing feature so when you post ad add it will be free at this stage

Uploading of images

Images are uploaded when an advert is posted by a franchise/broker. Please note that the web site will resize the images appropriately however photos uploaded must be in a JPG format. This is the standard format produced by ALL digital cameras. Up to 4 photos can be uploaded for any one add.

Ad Preview

After the user has selected all of the options and data they want to display with their ad, the user is now taken to the preview page where they will verify the choices they have made. If any changes or additions need to be made, now is the time to do it. By selecting the “Back” button, the user can return to the beginning of the Post an Ad process and make changes to the data he or she has already entered.

Towards the bottom of the preview page, the user will be given a Total Listing Fees prompt (when the billing system has been enabled). This prompt will display the total charge for the base fee of the ad and any additional options selected that have a charge configured for them.

When the user is satisfied that the information displayed in the preview page is what they want, they click the “Finish” button and a receipt will be displayed to the screen as well as sent to their email address. At this point the Posting an Ad process is finished and their ad is posted to the system. They can click on the link provided in the receipt to view their ad live on the site.

Manage Ads

The Manage Ads section allows a franchise/broker to view the ads that are currently running.

The Tab bar at the top of this page controls the navigation of the Manage Ads section. By clicking on any of the tabs a user can select which listing of ads they want to work with.

Open Ads

The Open Ads section of the Manage Ads page displays all of the currently running ads on the site for that particular user. The user has the option to Edit or Close the ads listed in this section.

By clicking the “Edit” button next to an ad, a user can edit various parts of a running ad. Most fields in the ad are editable from this page. Basically the only fields that are not editable are the number of days that the ad will run and the additional options like Special Icons, Bold, Featured, etc.

A powerful feature contained in the Edit page is the ability to edit the images that were uploaded during the posting of an ad. The user has the ability to add new images to the ad by uploading them, deleting current images and also selecting the default thumbnail to be associated with the ad.

Close Ads

The “Close” button gives users the option to close open ads when the business has been sold or taken off the market. Closed adds can be opened again at a future date. Closed adds will not be displayed on the AIB site.

Relist Ads

Users have the option to relist closed ads while in this section. For each closed s there is a button to the right called “Relist”.

Delete Ads

listing of closed ads can become cluttered after awhile and some users may find the need to clear out old ads. By placing a check in the box next to the ads they want to delete and clicking the “Delete Selected” button at the bottom of the ad list, users can delete multiple ads at one time.

Tip: Two additional buttons available at the bottom of the ad listings in this section of the Manage Ads page are the “Select All” and “Clear Selected” buttons. These buttons provide an easy way for users to check all of the check boxes or remove the checks from those ads selected. These buttons have no more functionality than what happens to the checkboxes next to each ad.

Resume Abandoned Ads

A feature that intelligently tracks any ads that are being posted into the system. This feature allows the application to resume posts if the user posting the ad leaves the page for some reason; perhaps to visit another page, update registration information, or even if an internet connection is interrupted.

If a user does not complete an ad posting, the next time they click on a link to add a new classified ad, they will be presented with the option to resume an unfinished post or post a new item.

Payments

Once a franchisee/broker creates an ad, it must be paid for before the ad will be online. Aninvoice will be created after each ad, it can be printed or saved on a computer. After the invoice Is printed, the user can pay online by credit cards. If the payment is successful, the ad is activatedand a receipt is displayed for printing. If the payment is rejected, it prompts for an alternativecredit card. If payment still fails, the ad is saved for later future payment.

How leads are distributed

Leads are generated via this page and once the form has been submitted the results are automatically displayed as a user (franchisee/broker) login into the system. This is displayed on the first page after the login.

Administrator Interface Features

This section will describe the functionality in the Administrator Interface by going down the left hand navigation bar on the admin page.

This page should only be accessed by AIB HQ. The link is

System

There are 2 different systems for the administrator to access.

? Classifieds Admin – Takes you to the adds Administrator interface.

? Membership System – Takes you to the franchisees/brokers Administrator interface.

The Maintain Ads utility is one with which you will want to become the most familiar. This page is the launching point for searching all of the ad activity on the site. From these pages, you will have the ability to withdraw, close, delete, edit, and view ads using various search methods.

The initial Maintain Ads page is a powerful tool for searching the ads in the system. You have the ability to search for ads by any combination of the following criteria: Keywords in the Title or Description, UserName who posted the ad, Full Name of the user who posted the ad, Category, Ad Start Date Range, Ad Close Date Range, Ad Type and Lot Number. You can further customize the results by choosing to restrict the results to any combination of the following: Open Ads, Closed Ads, and Staged Ads.

You can enter as few or as many criteria as you want. The more criteria you enter, the more narrow your results will be. You can also search on an open ended date range by only specifying either a minimum or a maximum value. For example, if you want to see all ads that have closed on June 1 2004 or later, you would enter that information as the minimum value for the Ad Close Date Range and you would leave the 2nd date value for Ad Close Date Range blank.

Tip: If you hit the Submit button without entering any criteria, you will see a list of all ads.

At the bottom of this page is an option to Delete Previous to Date. By clicking on the “Delete” button, you can permanently delete all ads that are older than the date you specify.

Search Results

If you submit a search and there are any ads that match your criteria, you will now see a list of those ads. You can click on column headers if you want to change the way the list is sorted. This will make it easier to find the exact ad you may be looking for.

In addition to seeing useful information about the ads, there are many options that are available to you from this page. These options will be described below.

Edit

One of the options available when viewing the results of an ad search is the ability to Edit the ad. As the administrator, you have the ability to edit any part of the ad including the images that may have been uploaded with the ad. You have the ability to remove images that have been uploaded by simply selecting the image you want to remove by placing a check in the checkbox next to the image and clicking the “Save Changes” button at the bottom of the page. You do not, however; have the ability to add new images to the ad as the user does.