=========================================================== THIS DEMONSTRATION VERSION IS A FULL WORKING VERSION OF THE CLASSIFIED MANAGER THAT IS ONLY ACCESSIBLE FROM THE CONSOLE =========================================================== THE CLASSIFIED MANAGER V2.0 Copyright 1995 BBS Consultants, Inc. 1-919-403-9473 All Rights Reserved DOCUMENTATION ------------- PLEASE - PLEASE - PUHLEEZE Read ALL of the documentation BEFORE you post your first ad. SOFTWARE LICENSE AGREEMENT The enclosed software program is licensed by BBS Consultants, Inc. to customers for their use only on the terms set forth below. Using the enclosed program indicates your acceptance of these terms. BBS Consultants, Inc. hereby grants you a non-exclusive license to use the enclosed software subject to the terms and restrictions set forth in this Software License Agreement. This software is copyrighted, with all rights reserved. You may not copy or otherwise reproduce any part of the software, except that you may load the software into a computer as an essential step in executing the software on the computer. The original and any back-up copies of the software are to be used only in connection with a single computer. Only one copy of the program may be used at any one time. You may physically transfer the software from one computer to another, provided that the software is used in connection with only one computer at a time and that only one copy of the software is in use at any one time. You may not transfer the software electronically from one computer to another over a network. You may not distribute copies of the software to others. YOU MAY NOT USE, COPY, MODIFY, TRANSFER, SUBLICENSE, RENT, LEASE, CONVEY, TRANSLATE, CONVERT TO ANY PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE OR FORMAT OR DECOMPILE OR DISASSEMBLE THE SOFTWARE OR ANY COPY, MODIFICATION OR MERGED PORTION, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, EXCEPT AS EXPRESSLY PROVIDED FOR IN THIS LICENSE. LICENSE: You are hereby authorized to use The Classified Manager on a single TBBS/TDBS installation. You may use multiple copies on this single installation but MAY NOT use TCM on more than one TBBS/TDBS installation. DISCLAIMER: The Classified Manager 2.0 has been beta tested at only one active beta site and may still contain significant defects or bugs. You use this program at YOUR OWN RISK. The author and/or copyright owner and/or reseller assume absolutely no responsibility for damages either direct or indirect that result from the purchaser either using or failing to use this software in any manner. In no case shall the liability of BBS Consultants, Inc. exceed the license fee paid for the right to use this software or one hundred dollars ($100.00), whichever is greater. Definitions as used in the following documentation: TCM - will mean The Classified Manager Category - means an individual classified ad category. ****************************************************************** Getting Started from scratch ****************************************************************** You should first create a separate subdirectory (C:\TBBS\TCM for example) for your TCM files and unarchive all of the files in your release archive into this subdirectory. You should have the following files in your original archive: ùCLASS.TPG - This is the main executable TDBS file. This file can be called from any TBBS menu. ùCLAS_CON.TPG - This is the executable TDBS file for configuring and maintaining TCM. This file should be called from a menu accessed ONLY by the SysOp. ùCREDITS.TPG - Post pre-paid credits to a user's account. Mainly this would be used in conjunction with a user registration and maintenance program like FAMOUS. In FAMOUS you can define a service as a Type=200 command which would call CREDITS with the amount of credit to post as part of the Opt Data. For instance: Opt Data=c:\tcm\credits /q && 17.50 would post $17.50 worth of credit to the user's account in the PAYMENTS.DBF table. The aging of the payments table is controlled by the same parameter that controls the user aging. If you set the parameter to age users from the database who have not called in xx days, pack_ads will delete any entry in the payments table that has not been used for the same xx days. That, of course, means that there is a possibility that you could delete an account that still has credits. Best to tell your users in the INFO_M.TXT file not to purchase more credits than they plan to use in the amount of time you select. ùNOTIFY.TXT - Sample notification file for when a PAYMENTS.LOG file is created so that you will know to process any credit card transactions. ùCLASS.SDL - Simple TBBS SDL file showing how CLASS.TPG and CLAS_CON.TPG can be called from a TBBS menu. ùTC20.TXT - The file you are reading. NOT AVAILABLE IN DEMONSTRATION VERSION ùPACK_ADS.EXE - This is a stand alone program which is run when TBBS is NOT active, normally during an external event. It uses the parameters set in CLAS_CON.TPG to delete and purge old ads. In addition, it will reindex all active indexes. This will increase the speed of TCM somewhat but the main reason, of course, is simply to keep the file sizes from becoming unmanageable. If no ads have been deleted, all indexes will still be reindexed. Normally PACK_ADS.EXE will be run from a batch file as part of an external event. PACK_ADS.EXE will accept one command line argument which is "NOTEXT" (without the quotes). This parameter tells PACK_ADS.EXE NOT to create the text file: DN_TXT.ADS which is the file that can be downloaded (or an archived version) if you are using the text file download option. PACK_ADS.EXE will also delete any file enclosures that are attached to deleted ads. (File attachments are NOT deleted when ads are deleted on-line). PACK_ADS.EXE should be run EVERYTIME you have an external event. ùPROMPTx.TXT are text files which contain the text of certain prompts used in TCM. These may be modified by the SysOp. ùINFO_x.TXT are text files which are displayed when callers ask for information by pressing [H]elp on the main menu. These may be modified by the SysOp. ùTMPxx.DBF and TMPxx.NDX are the database and index files used to store text from each line while writing/editing an ad, i.e. before it is saved. There are 16 sets of these files, one for each line. You can delete those not needed or if you have more than 16 lines you can create an additional set for each line by copying the exiting files to new names such as "COPY TMP16.* TMP17.*". ùAD_USER.DBF and AD_USER.NDX are the database and index files used to store the date for the [N]ew ads function. ùAD_SAVE.DBF is a dummy database file which is locked when a caller is saving or editing an ad, or an entry is being written to the log file. This assures that only one caller will be saving an ad at any one time so that AD_TEXT.DBF will not be corrupted. ùAD_HEAD.DBF, AD_CAT.NDX and AD_DATE.NDX are the database and index files containing the ad header. ùAD_TEXT.DBF is the database used to store all text. ùAD_CNFG.DBF and AD_DISP.NDX are the database and index files containing the configuration information for each category and global configuration information for color, etc. This database comes configured with several categories already specified. You can delete or modify these categories as needed. *** When you have put all the files in a subdirectory you will need to create TBBS menu entries for CLAS_CON.TPG (in the SysOp menu) and CLASS.TPG, for example: Entry: lassified Ads Priv=100 A1=-------- A2=-------- A3=-------- A4=-------- ANS=- IBM=- KEY=C TYPE=200 Opt Data=c:\tbbs\tcm\class/q Entry: lassified Ad Sysop Configuration Priv=255 A1=-------- A2=-------- A3=-------- A4=-------- ANS=- IBM=- KEY=C TYPE=200 Opt Data=c:\tbbs\tcm\clas_con/q **************************** Using CLAS_CON.TPG You will use CLAS_CON.TPG to create and maintain your ad system. When you enter CLAS_CON.TPG you will see the following menu: The Classified Manager 2.0 SysOp Configure/Edit Module Copyright 1995 BBS Consultants, Inc. [A] Edit Category [I] Set Global Autodelete Parameters [B] Add New Category [J] Protect Ads from Deletion/Editing [C] Delete Category [K] Edit Main Menu Header [D] Edit Category/Divider Display Order [L] Move Ads Category<>Category [E] Configure Msg Reply Option [M] Configure Activity Logging [F] Configure Text File Download Option [N] Configure File Enclosure Option [G] Set Colors [O] Configure Costs [H] Un-delete Ads [P] Receive Payments Command (Enter=Quit): A detailed explanation of each option follows: [A] Edit Category - This entry allows you to modify configuration information of an existing ad category (see "Add New Category" below). *** [B] Add New Category - Choosing the Add New category entry will present the following menu along with several default answers: Category ------------------------------- Minimum Priv to Post Ads ? 0 Delete Param-Number of days ? 0 Display Order Index Number ? 100 Allow enclosed files ? F Min PRIV to enclose files ? 0 Allow ads to be Updated ? T Category Name - may be 30 chars or less. Minimum Priv to Write ads ? - This option allows you to designate a minimum PRIV level required to write an ad in this category. Delete Param-Number of days ? - This option allows you to set a parameter which will be used by PACK_ADS.EXE to maintain this category. If any ads are older than the number of days specified in this option they will be deleted. When a caller posts an ad he is advised of the maximum life of his ad in this category and he can specify that the ad should be deleted even sooner. Display Order Index Number ? - This option allows you to change the order in which the categories are presented. For example, if you wanted to group certain categories together, use the display order to change the position of the category on the display page. Also, see "[D] Edit Category/Divider Display Order." *** [C] Delete category - This option will delete a category entirely. All ads in the category will be deleted and the category name will no longer appear. *** [D] Edit Category/Divider Display Order - This option allows you to fully customize the way that categories are displayed. "Dividers" are lines that may be inserted anywhere in the 18 line display page. Dividers can be blank or they may contain text. By adding dividers you can group categories together and add titles and subtitles to the display. When a caller presses [P]ost an Ad or [S]elect Category on the main menu, the categories are displayed. Each category display page is 18 lines long. Dividers should be arranged so that the display logically divides into 18 line pages. Note: When you add or edit dividers you may need to exit this menu item and return for the results to be seen correctly. *** [E] Configure Msg Reply Option - This option allows you to enable the [R]eply option so that callers who want to correspond with a seller may write a message via the TBBS message base. I HIGHLY recommend enabling this feature unless you have some extraordinary reason for not doing so. This option operates via a DOTBBS command and automatically addresses the message to the person who wrote the ad. This option is configured with the following options: Enable Message Reply Option : _ T = Enable F = Disable TBBS Message Base name. Case and spelling MUST be correct: ______________________ The TBBS message base you specify should be a PRIVATE E-Mail type message base and the spelling and case must be correct. *** [F] Configure Text File Download Option - This option allows you to enable the text download feature so that callers can download a text file of all ads to read offline. PACK_ADS.EXE will create a new text file each time it is run (unless you use the NOTEXT command line option) called DN_TXT.ADS. This file can be used in its uncompressed form or you can rename it and/or ZIP it during the external event right after it is created by PACK_ADS.EXE. In any case, the file you enter should be in the TCM subdirectory. Enable Textfile Dnload Option : _ T = Enable F = Disable Filename (AD_TEXT.ZIP for example): _______________ *** [G] Set Colors - This option allows you to set colors for the following items. Primary Foreground Color:___ Primary Background Color:___ Command Key Color :___ Ad Header Color :___ ÉÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ» º TDBS Colors º º W - White N - Black º º B - Blue G - Green º º R - Red RB - Magenta º º GR - Brown BG - Cyan º º GR+ - Yellow º º º º + - Bright * - Blink º ÈÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ The command key color is the color for the menu keys and the category number and command line keys that follow the text of each ad. The Ad Header color is for the category that appears in the header when you read the text of an ad. *** [H] Un-delete ads - This option allows you to un-delete (RECALL in dBase parlance) ads that have been deleted. This option is provided mainly to un-delete ads that were mistakenly deleted. You can review all ads in a category and selectively toggle the delete on or off for each ad. If an ad has a file enclosure the file will still exist when you undelete the ad. File attachments are not actually deleted until you run PACK_ADS.EXE. *** [I] Set Global Autodelete Parameters - This option allows you to set two parameters that are used by PACK_ADS.EXE. Both parameters are specified in number of days. The first is the Global delete parameter for categories that have no parameter set (see "[B] Add New category" above). The second parameter is the User delete parameter which is used to purge old callers from the AD_USER.DBF file. This will normally be set to the same number of days that you use to purge callers from userlog.bbs. It is VERY important to set both of these parameters so your file sizes will stay manageable. *** [J] Protect ads from Deletion & editing - Here you can review ads in a specified category and selectively toggle a permanent protect for individual ads that you don't want to be deleted or edited. *** [K] Edit Main Menu Header - This item allows you to edit the 40 character header that appears at the top of the main menu and also at the top of the text file DN_TXT.ADS. *** [L] Move Ads Category<>Category - This option allows you to move ads from one category to another, for example, when an ad is placed in the wrong category or when you are splitting a large category into subcategories. Please note: when you moving ads and you are asked for a category number be sure to enter the actual record number of the category and not the display order that appears to the caller on the main menu, they can be different. See option "[D] Edit Category/Divider Display Order" to be sure you are using the correct number. [M] Configure Activity Logging - This option will allow you to turn on or off the logging of activity. This log will be kept in the file CLASS.LOG and will contain an entry each time a new ad is posted or an existing ad is deleted, edited or updated. This log file should be deleted periodically as it will become quite large on an active BBS. [N] Configure File Enclosure Option - This option allows you to configure the file enclosure option. This option MUST be configured before enabling file attachments for individual categories. You must specify a path where file enclosures will be stored. In addition, you can specify whether download bytes will be added to the users total bytes downloaded in userlog.bbs and whether time and byte limits will apply. [O] Configure Costing Options - You have the option of charging by a number of ways: 1) Flat cost to post an ad, 2) Charge by the word, 3) Charge to enclose a file with an ad, 4) Charge per Kilobyte of enclosed file, 5) Re-apply charges if an ad is "updated", 6) Minimum charge for an ad, 7) One time or daily charges. User's are charged either the sum of charges 1, 2, 3 and 4. If you're selected to charge for each day the ad is present, this sum is multiplied by the number of days a user has selected for the ad to remain active. The user is charge the greater of this total or the minimum charge. If the ad is one that never expires and the category is configured for daily charges, the charge is applied for 365 days. Anyone with PRIV=255 is never charged. If you charge for a user to "update" an ad, they will be charged the flat rate specified without regard to any other charges. Users receive no credit for canceling an ad. All of these charges can, of course, be zero which would make the ad free. You may want to have some classifications free, and charge for others. You can control this on an individual basis and may want to explain it in the information file on posting ads. (info_p.txt) You can except payment with VISA, MasterCard, American Express, Discover or Pre-Paid and you can vary these on a category by category basis. If you charge, you must provide a way for users to pay. Otherwise, they will not be able to exit the program. All charges, whether pre-paid or credit card, are written to the log file PAYMENTS.LOG. You can configue TCM to notify you (or anyone you choose) via e-mail when this file is created. You can then process the credit card orders, if any, and delete the file. You will be notified again the next time someone enters a chargeable ad and the payments.log file is recreated. The message board name is configured here, the name of the person to receive the notification is specified in the file NOTIFY.TXT along with the from, subject, and specific text. See the section on charging options. [P] Post Credits/Debits to user accounts - You can post payments to a user's pre-paid account manually through this prompt. The first time you post credits, you will have to enter the user's name. This must be exactly the same as their log-on name. CHARGING OPTIONS The costing options for The Classified Manager permits you to charge users for the privilege of posting ads. TCM permits you to charge a different price in each classification or even to make posting to a classification free. TCM allows you to select any combination of American Express, Visa, MasterCard, Discover, Pre-Paid for payment methods. For American Express, Visa, MasterCard and Discover, TCM will perform a checksum on the card number and reject it if the user enters and invalid number. If a user pays via credit card, they will be asked if they wish to set up a pre-paid account. That encourages them to spend more money now in return for not having to enter credit card information each time they post an ad. There are a variety of ways to charge users for posting an ad. The simplest is to charge a fixed fee for each post. You can; however, charge by the word, either a fixed fee to enclose a file or by the kilobyte, and/or charge to "update" an ad. You can set a minimum charge for an ad. Lastly, you can charge a lump sum for entering the ad, or you can charge for each day the ad is to run. There are no provisions for crediting a user if an ad is canceled so you should make sure your users understand that if they enter an ad for 6 months and cancel it the next day they won't receive a refund unless you elect to do so manually. My feeling is that the simplest method of charging is probably best and I would tend to go with just a flat fee to post the ad. I would also have some categories free to encourage posting. Of course user's would then post ads they should pay for in those areas and you will have to delete those.