Car Portal version 3 - installation instructions and manual

1. Installing the website

2. Configuring the website
2.1. Configuration options
2.2. Changing the locations
2.3. Setting the website pricing and packages
2.4. Vehicle types and fields
2.5. User sites settings
2.6. Invoices settings

3. Administration panel
3.1. General Overview
3.2. Main pages in the administration panel
3.3. Administration panel users management

4. Website structure and content management
4.1. Structure management
4.2. Modifying the content of the pages
4.3. Custom server side forms
4.4. Languages and language files


5. Front site templates management
5.1. Templates overview
5.2. Adding new templates and modifying the existing ones
5.3. Custom HTML tags

6. Advertisements
6.1. Creating banner areas
6.2. Banners

7. Website users and listings management
7.1. Dealers and private sellers management
7.2. Listings validation and management
7.3. User Messages

8. Users admin space
8.1. Dashboard
8.2. Credits
8.3. Sub accounts
8.4. Profile Management
8.5. Packages, listings and banners
8.6. Dealers website management


1. Installing the website

You may find below information about the Car Portal integrated setup, the description of all the steps, possible errors and troubleshooting information.

Step 1 - Welcome screen and Car Portal End User License Agreement

In this first step you'll be able:
to see the general setup welcome message
to read the Car Portal end user license agreement

In order to continue to the next step, you'll have to agree with the Car Portal end user license agreement by checking the check box (I agree ...).

Troubleshooting

1. I can't find the Continue button and I can't proceed to the next step?
By default the Continue button in this step is hidden and it becomes visible when you click on the check box (I agree ...). If you don't agree with the Car Portal end user license agreement, the Continue button will not show up and you'll not be able to proceed to the next step.

Step 2 MySQL server access information

In this step you'll have to provide the access information for the MySQL server (server name, mysql user and passaowrd) where you would like to setup the main Car Portal database. The setup needs this information in order to connect to your server install the mysql database on it.


In this step, you'll be asked for:

MySQL Server the server where you plan to install the database, usually localhost for most of the hosting packages

MySQL User / MySQL Password a valid user account for the MySQL Server

If you are not sure for these settings, please contact your hosting provider or log in to your hosting package control panel, where usually this information can be found on a page called MySQL or Databases.

After you enter these values and click on the Continue button, the setup will try to connect to the MySQL server with the username and password you entered. If any of values aren't correct (the address of the mysql server or the mysql username and password), then an error message will be displayed and you won't be able to continue until you enter the correct values.

Troubleshooting

1. After you click the Continue button you receive an error message in red saying Server doesn't exist or access is denied.

If this is the case, please check once again the values you have entered. If the problem persists:
- make sure that your MySQL server is running and that this account is valid
- contact your hosting provider and ask him for the MySQL settings for your hosting account

Step 3 - Setup of the main Car Portal database


In this step you'll be asked if you would like to create a new database for Car Portal or use an existing one. We recommend that you create a new database however some hosting packages are limited to only one database or don't allow php code to create a new database (they should obligatory be created first from the hosting package control panel), that's why we provide the second option - to use an existing database. Please note that the tables in the Car Portal database are prefixed, so there should be any problems if you already have another tables in your database.

If you choose the first option, to create a new database, you'll be asked to enter the name of the database. We recommend you to use a name which will be easy to distinguish, like for example real_estate_portal. Be aware that when choosing this option, the MySQL user you have provided in the previous step should have the rights to create new databases on the MySQL server. If this is not the case, the database creation will fail and such error will be displayed on the screen.

If you choose the second option, the Car Portal database tables will be created in the database chosen by you. All the tables which will be created will have a prefix websiteadmin_, no data from the existing database will be deleted.

Troubleshooting
1. I have chosen the option to create a new database but when I click on Continue, I get an error message colored in red and I can't proceed to the next step, why?
- make sure that your MySQL user has CREATE DATABASE permissions on the MySQL server
- make sure that you don't have already a database on your server with the same name as this one you entered for name of the new database

2. I have tried to use the second option, to use an existing database, but I receive an error message saying that the table websiteadmin_admin_users already exists
- this means that you have previously installed the script in this database, so you may either use a new database or delete the old script tables and then continue with the installation


Be aware that in this step the setup creates also the script configuration file. If the process running PHP on your server for your hosting package doesn't have right permissions in the folder where you install Car Portal you'll receive the following message in the interface:

The process running PHP on this computer doesn't have permissions to create and write the configuration file in the main web folder. You need to create it manually the content will show up in the screen. You need to copy / paste it in a file config.php and upload it in the main web folder (the one in which you uploaded the real estate files). So you could either upload it with FTP or use the File Manager in your hosting package control panel to save the config.php file.

If you experience troubles when doing this or have any additional questions, please don't hesitate to contact us.


Step 4 Installation successful screen

If you reached this step, Car Portal has been installed successfully on your server/hosting package.



2. Configuring the website

2.1. Configuration options

The Settings->Configuration options in the administration panel provides functionality to change the different options for the front site.
You may find below a list and description of the different configuration options.

Currency Symbol
By default this setting is set to the US dollar sign $, but you may change it to another one you prefer (like CHF or ). This will change the currency symbol displayed next to the prices on the website.
This applies for all the prices of the listings on the website, pricing for posting listings and banners etc.

Accept PayPal
This setting has two possible values YES or NO. If set to YES, will enable the PayPal payments on the website or with other words, will allow the website owner/administrator to use the PayPal system to charge the users for posting listings or banners on the website.

PayPal Currency Code
The PayPal currency code if the PayPal system is enabled. By default it's set to USD (US dollars), but can be changed to any other valid PayPal currency code like EUR, GBP etc.

PayPal Account
When the PayPal system is enabled, in this field, the administrator/website owner has to enter the PayPal account (registered PayPal email address) he would like to use to charge the users on the website.

Accept 2checkout
This setting has two possible values YES or NO. If set to YES, will enable the 2checkout payments on the website or with other words, will allow the website owner/administrator to use the 2checkout system to charge the users for posting listings or banners on the website.

2checkout Seller ID
When the 2checkout system is enabled, in this field, the administrator/website owner has to enter the 2checkout SID (Seller ID) of the 2checkout account he would like to use to charge the users on the website. The seller id can be obtained from the 2checkout website (during a new registration for the new users) or from the admin panel for the registered ones.

Accept Cheques
If set to YES, then cheques will also be accepted in order to charge the users. The payments by cheques have to be validated manually by the administrator from the administration panel when the cheque is received.

Address for the Cheques
In this field the administrator has to enter the address, which has to be used for the cheques to be sent if the cheques payment options is enabled on the website.

Accept Bank Wire Transfers
If set to YES, then the bank transfer payment option will also be enabled on the website and bank wires will be accepted in order to charge the users. The payments by wire transfer have to be validated manually by the administrator from the administration panel when the wire transfer is received.

Bank Account Information
In this field the administrator has to enter the full information for the bank account to be to be used when the bank transfer payment option is enabled on the website.

Store the User Images in the Database
If set to YES, the images uploaded by the users will be stored in binary format in the database. The default and recommended option is NO (the images to be stored in a local folder), because keeping the images in the database can slow down the database access and also the database size will grow much quicker.

Number of Images per Listing (free website)
If the website is set to be free for the users, then the administrator doesn't have to create packages for the sellers (with different pricing, allowing different number of images etc.), so in this case the administrator can use this setting to set the maximum number of images per listing on the website.

Maximum Allowed Image Size
Using this setting the administrator can set the maximum allowed image size for upload by the vendors. The value has to be set in bytes.

Use GD to generate thumbnails
The PHP graphics library is used by default to generate thumbnails for the uploaded images, so the default value of this setting is YES. If however the server or hosting package on which the website is hosted doesn't have the graphic library GD installed or enabled, it's possible to turn off its usage by changing the value of this setting to NO.

System Email Address
The administrator can set here the system email address, which will appear as sender of the system emails sent by the website (like notifications etc.).

System Email Sender Name
The name of the sender of the system email address, which is used when sending email notifications, welcome emails and others to the users.

Subject for Email Notification for New Message
When the users reply to a message they have received in their message box, there is an option to notify them also by email for this new message. With this setting, the administrator can set the subject of the email notification that will be sent.

Send Welcome Emails
If enabled (set to YES), this option allows welcome emails to be sent to the users when they sign up (for the dealers) or post their first vehicle (for the private sellers).

Private Sellers Welcome Email Subject
The administrator can enable welcome emails for the private sellers, they are sent just once when the private sellers create their account/post their first listing. This setting allows the administrator to change the subject of the welcome emails sent to the users.

Private Sellers Welcome Email Text
The administrator can enable welcome emails for the private sellers, they are sent just once when the private sellers create their account/post their first listing. This setting allows the administrator to change the text of the welcome emails sent to the users.

Dealers Welcome Email Subject
The administrator can enable welcome emails for the dealers, they are sent just once when the dealer creates his account by filling the registration form. This setting allows the administrator to change the subject of the welcome emails sent to the dealers.

Dealers Welcome Email Text
The administrator can enable welcome emails for the dealers, they are sent only once when the dealer creates his account by filling the registration form. This setting allows the administrator to change the text of the welcome emails sent to the dealers.

Default Time Zone
With this setting the administrator can change the default time zone on the website. The time zone coming by default for most of the downloads is Europe/London.
List of the supported time zones can be found on: http://www.php.net/manual/en/timezones.php

Some examples of supported time zones are:

America/Buenos_Aires
America/Chicago
America/Los_Angeles
America/Mexico_City
America/New_York
Asia/Singapore
Asia/Tokyo
Europe/Berlin
Europe/Madrid
Europe/Moscow
Europe/Zurich


Enable ZIP field
Setting this field to YES, will enable the ZIP field on the website when posting listings. For countries in which the ZIP field isn't used, it can be disabled by setting it to NO. Please note that this field can be renamed to Post Code or another name you may prefer in the language file (/include/texts_en.php for the default English language file).

Enable ZIP distance search
The ZIP distance search allows to search the posted vehicles within selected distance from a ZIP field entered by the user. By default this feature is available only for the United States, so for the other countries it can be disabled.

Free Website
Setting this field to YES, will transform the website in a free website the private sellers won't be asked to make a payment when posting their listings and the credits and payments functionality for the dealers will be also disabled. This mean they won't have to make payments and purchase credits prior to post listings on the website.

Date Format on the Front Site
By entering a valid PHP date format string, the administrator can change the format of the date displayed on the website.
Full information on the supported date format strings can be found on:
http://www.php.net/manual/en/function.date.php

Here are a few examples:
"F j, Y, g:i a" // March 10, 2001, 5:16 pm
"m.d.y" // 03.10.01
"j, n, Y" // 10, 3, 2001
"H:i:s" // 17:16:18

Multi Language Website
The multi language website can support more than one language and it shows the languages menu on the front site (allowing the users to choose the language they prefer).
For website loading speed optimization if you have only one language on the website, it's recommended to keep this setting to NO, otherwise you may switch to YES.
Setting the website to be not multi language will hide also the language selection menu on the front site.

Enable SEO Links
The search engines optimized links look like static html pages and have keywords in the url (which allows better indexing by search engines like Google).
In order to use the SEO links, the system will require the presence of the mod_rewrite module (for Linux / Apche or isapi_rewrite for Windows / IIS). If this module is not present on your server or hosting package, you could deactivate this feature by setting it to NO.

Auto Validate the Listings posted by Dealers
With the two possible values YES or NO, you can control if the listings posted by the dealers will be automatically validated (so they will show up directly on the front site) or they will require validation by the administrator prior of showing up on the website.

Search Results per Page
By changing the value of this setting, you can control how many results will show up on the front site when the users make a search or browse the listings per make etc.
The default value is set to 10.

Featured Listings Expire after (days)
The featured listings appear with different background and always on top of the search results. The users can choose to make their listings featured by paying a fee set by the administrator for that.
With this setting the administrator can control in how many days a featured listing will expire and convert back to a normal listing. The default value of this setting is 30, which means 30 days.

Price Format Thousands Separator
The default thousands separator in the prices on the website is the ,, so the prices will look like for example $12,500 or $29,400 etc.
You may use this setting to change this symbol to a different one you may prefer.

Enable Autorize.NET Payments
This setting has two possible values YES or NO. If set to YES, will enable the authorize.net payments on the website or with other words, will allow the website owner/administrator to use the 2checkout system to charge the users for posting listings or banners on the website.


Authorize.NET Login ID
When the Autorize.NET system is enabled, in this field, the administrator/website owner has to enter the Authorize.NET login ID of the Authorize.NET account he would like to use to charge the users on the website.

Authorize.NET Transaction Key
When the Autorize.NET system is enabled, in this field, the administrator/website owner has to enter the Authorize.NET transaction key of the Authorize.NET account he would like to use to charge the users on the website.

Allow Video Uploads
There is a default feature allowing the users to upload a video file for their listing (which can be a video presentation etc.).
If you would like to deactivate and remove from the website this feature and not accept video files, you can set this setting to NO.

Maximum Allowed Video Size
If the video files upload feature is enabled, this setting allows to control the maximum allowed size of the video files to be uploaded.

Use FFMPEG to generate video thumbnails
Please note, you could set this value to YES and enable this feature only if you have the PHP video library (FFMPEG) installed on your server/hosting package.
When enabled, this feature allows to generate thumbnails from the uploaded videos and show the image as clickable links to play the video.
Please note that if the ffmpeg library isn't present on your server/hosting package and you activate this option, the entire video upload my stop working.

Send Email Reminders for Expired Ads
This setting has two possible values YES and NO when set to YES, will send email notifications/reminders to the users who have previously posted listings, which have expired. The reminders are set only once, when the listings have expired.

Expired Listings Reminder Email Subject
If the feature for sending email reminders for expired ads is enabled, this setting allows the administrator to set the subject of the email messages,which are sent.
The default value is Your listing has expired.

Expired Listings Reminder Email Text
If the feature for sending email reminders for expired ads is enabled, this setting allows the administrator to set the text of the email messages,which are sent.
The default value is The listing you posted has expired.n
To see the vehicle or modify the listing, you may use the link below:n
[MODIFY_LINK] n
If you would like to renew it, please click on the following link:n
[RENEW_LINK].

In this text [MODIFY_LINK] will be replaced by the link to modify the listing from the users admin space, while [RENEW_LINK] will be replaced by a link allowing to renew the listing.


Authorized IPs for the admin panel
If you enter a list of IP addresses in this field (for example 66.21.34.125 or 66.21.34.125,214.34.70.98) this will limit the access to the administration panel only to these IP addresses. This could be a good technique to increase additionally the protection of the administration panel, because even if a person knows the password he won't be able to access the administration panel if his IP address isn't in the authorized list.


Use CAPTCHA images to prevent spamming
A good way to avoid automatic form submissions when creating a web form is to add some kind of verification. One of the best ways is to use an image verification, called also captcha. What it does is to dynamically create an image with a random string displayed on it. Then visitor is asked to type that string in a text field and once the form is submitted it checks if the string on the image matches the one inputted by the user.
The usage of the captcha images is enabled by default, but if you would like to disable it (for example if the PHP graphics library - GD isn't installed on your website), you could change the value of this setting to NO.


2.2. Changing the locations

The locations can be updated from the Settings->Locations page in the admin panel.

The new locations have to be entered as a list, one per line, with a leading number (it's not required that these are successive numbers).

Currently the system supports up to 4 levels of locations, the levels can be defined with the starting numbers, here is an example:

1. Main location
1.1. Sub location of the main location
1.2. Another sub location
1.2.1. Sub sub location
1.2.1.1. Level 4 location
2. Another main location


The sub locations can be list of countries / states / counties / towns or another hierarchical structure preferred by the administrator. For example:

1. Country 1
2. Country 2
3. Country 3
3.1. State of country 3
3.2.1. County in the state
3.2.1.1. Town in the county
3.2. State of country 3



2.3. Setting the website pricing and packages

Currently in Car Portal, a Credits system is used to charge the car dealers. For the private sellers, no credits are used, they can just pay the listing price at the final step when posting a new listing.
The credits represent a way to simplify the dealers payments and instead of making multiple small payments (when posting vehicles or make them featured or post banners) to allow them to purchase a number of credits corresponding to their budget and then use them to pay for the different services offered on the website.
The credits pricing can be set by the administrator from the Settings->Pricing page in the main administration panel.
When setting the credits and the pricing the administrator can set:

the price for 1 credit, so for example if the price for 1 credit is $0.50 then purchasing 60 credits will cost 60 * $0.50 = $30
the minimum and maximum number of credits that can be purchased (if the user tries to purchase a number of credits, which is lower or higher than these limits set, the system will automatically adjust the amount of credits to the minimum or maximum allowed number)
the price of credits to make a normal listing featured (the featured listings show up always on top of the search results and with a different background)

The price in credits for posting banners can be set when creating the banner areas and they can differ depending on the selected banner area and the types of banners supported in it (which can be different in size, number of banners in the banner area and its position on the front site template).

If the administrator/website owner would like to run a completely free website, he may turn off the payments and credits system from Settings->Configuration Options, by setting the value of FREE WEBSITE to YES.

Creating the user listing packages

From the Settings->Packages page in the admin panel, the administrator can create the different listing packages for the dealers and private sellers.

The packages for the private sellers can differ on:

the number of pictures the private seller will be allowed to upload
number of days in which the listings will expire
if the video upload is enabled (one video per listing)
price (in the main currency set on the website)


The ones for the dealers by:
the number of listings included in the package
number of days in which the listings will expire
the price of the whole package in credits
if the video upload is enabled (one video per listing)



2.4. Vehicle types and fields

The Car Portal comes by default with the Cars, Motorcycles and Trucks vehicle types defined and with a feature allowing the administrator to define additional ones from the Settings->Vehicle Types page.

The name of the new vehicle type could be written for example like Cars or {CARS} - the second option can be used when the website is multi language, it tells the system to search the word CARS in the language file (so it will different when the language changes), while when using the first, it will be Cars for all the languages.



For every vehicle type, the administrator can define the makes and models, the additional fields and features.
The features can be set as a list, one per line, for example for the Cars vehicle type the default ones are:

Air Conditioning
ABS
Alarm
AM/FM Radio
Alloy Wheels
Auxiliary heating
Bucket Seating
Cassette Radio
Central locking
CD Player
Cruise Control
Driver-Side Airbag
Electric heated seats
Electric windows
ESP
Extra Cab
Four wheel drive
Full Service History
Immobilizer
Leather Interior
Memory Seats
Moon Roof
Navigation system
Passenger-Side Airbag
Parking sensors
Power Lock
Power Seats
Power Steering
Power Windows
Rear Air Conditioning
Remote Alarm Control
Rear Window Defroster
Rear Window Wiper
Side-Impact Airbags
Sun Roof
Taxi
Tinted Glass
Tow Package
Xenon headlights

Clicking on the MAKES AND MODELS icon for a selected vehicle type, will open the page for editing them.


If leaving the Models field empty, then no drop down menu with the models will show up for this vehicle type but a simple text field allowing to enter the model (when posting a new listing) or search in the posted listings.


2.5. User sites settings

For the dealers sites (available to all the registered dealers on the website), the administrator can set the default template and the default menu template from the Settings->User Sites page in the admin panel. Currently the only option for the administrator to set or modify the template is by modifying its HTML code.

The users can modify after this default template and customize the template in the way they prefer from their admin space and the My Site->Design page in it.


2.6. Invoices settings

The invoices can be generated by the dealers when they purchase credits from the Credits purchase history page in the users admin space.
The invoices are in .pdf format, the administrator can set for them the starting number, the company name, address and city, which will be shown on the website as well as the footer information.


3. Administration Panel


3.1. General Overview

The administration panel is the main tool available to the Car Portal administrator to manage the website, change its settings, templates and design, pages content etc.

The features in the admin panel are divided in categories. The main administrator and the members of the Administrators group have access to all the categories and pages in them.



The Car Portal administration panel functionality is divided in the following ten main groups:

- Home (welcome page, modification of password, connections and others)

- Ads (vehicle listings validation and management, set up of the banner areas, banners management)

- Users (management of the dealers and private sellers and monitoring of the exchanged messages between the users)

- Settings (management of the categories, regions, banner areas and others)

- Website (front site structure and content management, navigation menu settings)

- Templates (front site templates management)

- Extensions (websiteadmin extensions and extension files)

- Tools (image manager, news, links manager, faq manager, newsletter)

- Statistics (reports, google, referrals)

- Security (management of the back office users, groups and permissions, security logs)


3.2. Main pages in the administration panel

You may find below the list of the main pages in the administration panel with their screen shot and a brief description of the functions of the page.


Home -> Welcome


Home page of the admin panel. On this page, the administrator could find links to the internal pages of the back office application allowing him to handle the website powered by Car Portal.





Home -> Connections

The administrator could see on this page a report about the login attempts for admin panel. The unsuccessful log in attempts are displayed in a separate table, for each record the administrator can see the IP address and the date and time of the log in attempt.


Home -> Change Password

From this page the administrator can change the password he uses to access the administration panel.
After the password is modified, the administrator will have to log in again with his new username and password.


Ads -> Validate Ads

Car Portal requires that all the auto ads to be validated in order to appear on the website. The reason for this is to allow the administrator to filter the ads and do not allow images not related to the car ad to be shown on the front site. There are 2 modes for reviewing the ads - Frame and Expand. While in Frame mode it's enough for the administrator to pass with the mouse over the ad title and he will be able to view the basic car and user information and the images posted by the users. In Expand mode, the administrator has to click on the ad title in order to see the detailed ad information.
By default the listings posted by the registered dealers are validated automatically (this setting can however be modified from the Settings->Configuration Options page in the administration panel).




Ads -> Current Ads

From this page the administrator can see the current listings posted on the website, delete them or make them featured.
The featured listings show up on this page with a yellow background. To make a listing featured or switch it back to normal listing, the administrator can use the 2 links showing up for every listing MAKE FEATURED and CANCEL FEATURED.

Ads -> Banner Areas

The page provides functionality to the administrator to manage the banner areas on the front site.
When creating a new banner area, the administrator is required to fill the following fields:
Name - the name of the banner area
Description - the description of the banner area, this description is visible for the users
Rows - the number of rows of banners in this area
Columns - the number of columns of banners in this area, for example if you enter 3 rows X 4 columns, the banners will appear in a table having 4 rows and 4 columns
Banner Width - the width in pixels of a banner placed in this area
Banner Height - the height in pixels of a banner placed in this area
Banner Price - the price paid by the dealers for placing a banner in this area
Days Valid - the number of days for which the banner will appear on the website
More information on the banner areas and banner management can be found in the chapters below referring them.


Ads -> Banners


The administrator can see and manage the banners uploaded by the car dealers on this page as well as upload himself a new banner in a selected banner area.


Users -> Dealers

This page provides possibility to review the registered dealers, their name, email address etc. as well as the car ads by a selected dealers. In order to see the car ads, the administrator needs to click on the Cars icon on every line of the dealers table.
The administrator can also modify the information for a selected dealer clicking on the Modify icon.
Using the same Modify form allows the administrator also to give free credits to the selected dealer.


Users -> Private Sellers

The administrator can manage the registered private sellers from this page. When the administrator opens the page, he will see a list with the current private sellers and a Cars icon near the name of each of them. One should click on the Cars icon in order to view the car ads posted by the selected private seller.


Users -> User Messages

d
The page can be used by the administrator to monitor the messages exchanged by the users.



Website -> Management

The Website->Management page in the administration panel allows the administrator to edit the website structure (add or remove pages) and content (using the WYSIWYG editor or directly modifying the page html).
In order to edit the settings of a page (such as its title, meta tags etc.) one should select the page appearing in the site structure tree with a left mouse click. After that a context menu will appear with the different options allowing the administrator to edit the content of the settings of the page, delete or set a custom extension to be executed for it.


Website -> Navigation Menu

The page allows the administrator to make changes in the main navigation menu displayed on the front site. There are 2 main types of navigation menus supported:
- Customized (it's possible with them to enter a template which will be used for every link or enter arbitrary html code or image which will be shown for the page's link)
-Standard (these menus are generated automatically according to the website structure defined by the administrator - they are multilevel and the administrator can fully customize their colors and appearance from the Settings link on this page)



Website-> Posted Data


This page can be used to view the posted data by the users from the custom server side forms published on the website. Please note that if the administrator has defined also an email to which the posted data should be sent, it will be sent to the email and it will appear on this page.



Website -> Manage the Forms

This page provides functionality to manage the existing custom server side forms. One can assign a form on a page as well as modify the form settings - such as message that will be displayed to the user when he submits the form as well as the email to which the data will be sent and a few others.


Website -> New Form

The custom server side forms functionality is a feature allowing the administrator to create and publish on the front site forms (such as contact forms) with custom fields defined by the administrator. Adding a new custom server side form can be done on 2 steps - the first one is to enter the form name and a brief description and the second one is to add the form fields. For every field the administrator should specify its name, type, the text displayed near it, its size and if it's an obligatory field (available only for some of the fields) and the message which will show up if the user leaves empty an obligatory field.





Settings -> Configuration Options


The different configuration options are described in chapter 2 of this manual. The Configuration Options page in the admin panel allows the administrator to set the values he prefer and configure the website in the way he wishes.


Settings -> Locations


The page allows the administrator to modify the default locations set on the website (you may find more information about setting them in 2.2. Changing the locations).


Settings -> Pricing



This is the page to be used by the administrator when changing the website pricing. He can set on it the price of 1 credit, the value to make a normal listing a featured one and others.

Settings -> Credits Purchase History


On this page the administrator can see the history of the purchased credits, as well as to generate the an invoice for every credits payment.


Settings -> Packages


On this page the administrator can manage the car ad packages that have to be used by the dealers to post car ads on the website. For every new package, the administrator should enter the number of ads, the price of the ads packages and if this package should be active or not (the not active packages will not appear on the dealers admin area).
Please see the Credits and Pricing chapters below for more information and on the packages management.

Settings -> Vehicle Types

The Car Portal comes by default with the Cars, Motorcycles and Trucks vehicle types defined and with a feature allowing the administrator to define additional ones from the Settings->Vehicle Types page.



Settings -> Vehicle Fields


The page can be used by the administrator to add additional fields for the selected vehicle types. The additional fields will be availbale then on the front site when posting new listing and in the advanced search form, allowing to search by them.


Settings -> User Sites


The User Sites page can be used to define the default template and default menu design of the car dealers websites (which are created by default for every registered car dealer user).


Settings -> Invoices

For every credits purchase, the dealer has the possibility to generate an invoice for his payment. This page allows the administrator to manage some general settings related to the invoices like the invoice start number, the address and name of the company written on the invoice and others.

Templates -> Modify

On this page the administrator can see the available templates and modify a selected template. In order to select a template for modification, the administrator should click on the Modify icon and then a new text area having the full template code will appear.

Templates -> Select a Template


The page offers the possibility to the administrator to select a template which will be used for the front site between the currently available templates. Please note that in order to be able to select a template for a given website, you need to add first the template (if it doesn't still exist).


Templates -> Add a New Template

This page can be used to add new templates to the website. The administrator can add a new template by directly pasting the template html code.


Templates -> Custom Tags

The page allows the administrator to manage the existing custom tags defined and also add new ones.
The difference between a custom tag and an extension is that a custom tag can be plugged in the template's code and then set some extension file to be executed for it. In such way, every time the system finds such a custom tag in the template's html, it will execute the extension file and replace the associated tag with html rendered by the extension file.


Tools -> Image Manager

The image manager could be useful for quick review of the available images on the website or upload new ones (which can be added later on the front site pages etc.)

Statistics -> Reports

The administrator can see statistics information on the pages from the Statistics category in the admin panel. He could also find pages allowing to check the Google registration status of the pages of the website as well as submit them in Google and a few other popular search engines.

Security -> User Groups

The admin panel offers the possibility to create different back office user groups and users in them and assign different permissions to access the pages in the back office. This can be useful in some cases, when the administrator would like to deny the access to some of the pages for the additional back office users he may create.


Website Main Settings ? Language Versions

By default, the car portal solution is multi language and can support multiple languages. On this page the administrator can add a new language version or deactivate some of the current ones. Please note that when adding a new language version, one needs also to translate and add the corresponding language file for it.


Website Main Settings ? Languages Menu

If the website is multi language and a languages menu has to be displayed on the front site, this page can be used to customize this menu. The standard menu is composed by flags - one needs to click on the corresponding flag to switch between the different language versions. The customized menu offers the possibility to enter arbitrary code for every language menu item. So the administrator has in this way the possibility to enter other images or whatever html code (it can be for example the name of the language version etc.)


Website Main Settings ? Website Style

From this page the administrator can change some general website style settings such as the default font color, the default links color etc. If the first field on this page "Disable these styles" is set to YES, the styles set on this page won't apply for the website.



3.3. Administration panel users management

The administrator has the possibility to create additional user groups for the main administration panel, add users in them and assign their permissions.
This functionality can be used if for example there are multiple persons working on the website (for example person A validating the listings posted by the users, person B responsible for the design of the website and templates management, person C adding news on the website etc.)


The User Groups page in the administration panel should be used by the main administrator to create new user groups or delete any of the existing ones.


The sub accounts can be used by the dealers to create additional accounts associated to their main accounts. The dealers can limit the access of the sub accounts to just some selected pages, for example only to the pages for posting vehicles on the website (but for example the ones related to payments, credits etc.)
The page Manage your sub accounts in the dealers admin space can be used by the dealers to add new sub accounts.
When creating new sub accounts, the dealer has to enter the Username, Password, Name, Email and Phone of the new sub account user.
Only the Username and Password fields are requried, they also have a minimum length required of 6 symbols.


To set the permissions for the sub accounts, the dealer has to click on the Click here to manage the sub accounts permissions link written in red, at the top right corner of the Manage your accounts page.
On the page, which will open, the dealer will see a list of all the pages in the dealers admin space and a check box for every box to grant a permission for a selected page, the dealer has to check the box for it and when the list is complete click on the Save button at the bottom of the page.



4. Website structure and content management

4.1. Structure management

Changing the front site pages meta title and description

In order to change the front site pages meta title, keywords or description, the administrator has to log in in the admin panel and go to the Website->Management page.
On this page, he will see the available website pages as a tree. He has to left click with the mouse on a page in order to select it and then choose from the Context menu which will show up Page Settings.


A new page will show up containing various page fields including also the page meta title description. The administrator has to enter the new values and click Save.

Adding new pages to the website

The Car Portal admin panel offers the possibility to freely edit the website structure add, edit or delete the pages of the front site.

Please note that you need to define the website structure separately for the different language versions available (you could switch between the language versions by clicking on the corresponding flags in the back office).
In order to add a new page to the front site you need to use the form located at the bottom of the Website->Management page.

In this form, the administrator has to enter in:
- Link Text , the name of the link, which will show up in the main navigation menu
- Page Type, it can be either a main page or a sub page of an already existing page
- Title, the title of the page, which will show up in the title tag
- Meta Description, the meta description of the page, which will appear in the meta description tag to be used for search engines optimization purposes
- Meta Kewords, the meta keywords of the page, which have to be entered as a list and will appear after that in the meta keywords tag on the page, to be used for search engines optimization purposes


Changing the pages hierarchy

You can modify the front site pages structure using the form at the bottom of the Website->Management page.


The form there allows to make a page of the website either a main page or a sub page of an existing main page.

Changing the position of two pages

By changing the position of 2 pages, you'll change the order of the pages in the main navigation menu (for example replace the positions of the Home and About us pages).

Near every page on the Website->Management page, you could see 2 red arrows indicating the up and bottom directions, you have to click on them in order to change the position of the pages.


Please note that you can change the position of 2 pages only if they are on the same level in the website hierarchy (for example main pages, or sub pages of the Home page etc.)


Changing the front site main navigation menu style

You could choose between 2 main types of menus for the front site navigation menu. In order to switch between these types, you need to go to the Website->Navigation menu page.


The standard menu provides you the possibility to combine texts, styles and images and manage with ease complex multi levels menus.

The settings of the standard menu could be managed from the Standard menu->Settings page in the administration panel.



The Customized menu is designed to be used for more complex menu structures. In order to create a customized menu you could either enter a template code for it:


or set the image or an arbitrary HTML code for every menu item:


Modifying the content of the pages
Custom server side forms

5. Front site templates management

5.1. Templates overview


A template for the front site represents a standard html code mixed with some special WebSiteAdmin tags (in order to ensure compatibility with our other products, Car Portal uses the same type of templates as WebSiteAdmin).

When the page is rendered, these tags are replaced by the corresponding content.

Let's consider the following example:







...

When the page is rendered, for example the tag will be replaced with the page title, so will become:



etc.

Please note that presence of none of these tags is obligatory, so you could combine them as you wish in order to create the website and layout suiting the best your specific needs. Be aware also that WebSiteAdmin allows you to create your own tags (from the Custom tags in the back office) and set php files created by you to be executed and the generated content to be used in real time to replace the tag with it.

You may find below the list with the tags coming standard with the setup and default template:

- Title of the web page
- Meta description of the web page
- Meta keywords of the web page
- Main navigation menu of the website
- The languages menu of the website
- The main content of a page
- The custom server side forms for this page if there are any
- The main login form
- The quick search form on the fton site
- The news (the administrator can manage them from the News page in the ADMIN)
- The block displaying the featured ads
- The bottom menu displayed at the bottom of the site (it contains the same items as the main navigation menu)

You can do changes in the template currently in use, or add another ones from the Templates category in the back office.


5.2. Adding new templates and modifying the existing ones

In the Car Portal administration panel you may find the following pages related to the front site templates management:

Templates -> Select a Template
The page offers the possibility to the administrator to select a template which will be used for the front site between the currently available templates. Please note that in order to be able to select a template for a given website, you need to add first the template (if it doesn't still exist)

Templates -> Add a New Template
This page can be used to add new templates to the website. The administrator have a choice to choose between the option to add the template using the WYSIWYG templates editor (which produces simple template) or to directly paste the template html code.

Templates -> Modify
On this page the administrator can see the available templates and modify a selected template. In order to select a template for modification, the administrator should click on the Modify icon and then a new text area having the full template code will appear.


5.3. Custom HTML tags

The system provides you the possibility to add your own PHP scripts and to extend in this way the available functionality. The mechanism of doing this is simple - the first step is to upload the corresponding PHP files in the ROOT/extensions. You have then the choice to use your files for your custom defined tags or to set them as extension for a selected page. To set a file as extension of an existing page you have to set this from Website->Management. If there is a script set as extension of a page, it will be executed when the page is rendered and its output will be shown in the main content area. Additionally you may set your scripts to be executed for a custom defined tag.
The tag should be defined from Extension-> Custom tags and then inserted in the template or in the page content. When the page is rendered all the custom defined tags will be replaced by the content generated by the script you set.

6. Advertisements

6.1. Creating banner areas

This functionality provides the possibility for the administrator to define multiple banner areas on his website. Every banner area could have a maximum number of banners specified by the administrator. The administrator can also set the number of columns and rows of banners in this area as well as the banner size, the price for a banner to be listed in this area and how long (in days) it will stay online. From their personal admin space, the dealerscan choose the banner area where they would like to upload their banner (if the maximum number of banners allowed by the administrator for this area is reached, a SOLD OUT message will be displayed for the banner area and the dealerwon't be able to select it). For every banner, the dealer can upload the banner image as well as specify the banner link. There are two types of banner links supported - links leading to the car ads posted by the dealeruploading the banner or links to external websites (such as the dealer website etc.)

Frequently asked questions related to the banner management functionality.

1. As administrator, I would like to know more about the banner areas, what settings are available?

The banner areas can be managed from the back office, the Settings->Banner areas page.



When creating a new banner area, the administrator is required to fill the following fields:
Name - the name of the banner area
Description - the description of the banner area, this description is visible for the users
Rows - the number of rows of banners in this area
Columns - the number of columns of banners in this area, for example if you enter 3 rows X 4 columns, the banners will appear in a table having 4 rows and 4 columns
Banner Width - the width in pixels of a banner placed in this area
Banner Height - the height in pixels of a banner placed in this area
Banner Price - the price paid by the dealers for placing a banner in this area
Days Valid - the number of days for which the banner will appear on the website

The administrator can also modify the settings of a banner area from this page however the new settings (such as how many days the banners from this area will stay online) won't affect the existing banners, just the new ones added by the users.

The number of banner areas isn't limited, this means that the administrator can create as many banner areas as he wishes.

Important! For every banner area there is a correspondent tag which should be inserted in the template html code (from Templates->Modify in the admin panel).

The format of the tag is . For example for the banner area with id #1 , it will be , for id #2 , etc. These tags should be inserted in the templates code (from the Templates->Modify page) at the place where the banners will appear. When the website content is rendered, the tag will be replaced with the html code of the banner area #1 .

6.2. Banners

The dealer can upload new banners from his admin space, the My Listings>Banners page.

When adding a new banner, during the first step the dealer needs to select the banner area where he would like to place his banner (the list of the available banner areas appears at the top of the page). After that, on the new form that will open, the dealer will be required to fill the following fields for the banner:
Name - the name of the banner, this name doesn't appear on the website, it's supposed to help the dealer to easily identify its banner
Image - the banner image
Link Type - the type of the link, the dealer has a choice between "My Listings" and "External Link". If "My Listings" is selected, then when clicking on the banner the users will see the list of listings of this dealer. When "My Listings" link type is selected, there is no need to fill the last "Link" field in this form. The "External Link" should be used when the dealer would like that when clicking on the banner, the users are redirected to an external website such as the dealer website etc. If the dealer selects the "External Link" option, he has to enter the link in the next field "Link"
Link - the link/url of the website (if the "External Field" option is selected). The urls should be in the following format: http://www.website.com

The administrator can also add banners to a selected banner area using the Settings->Banners page. When adding a banner, the administrator will have to specify additionally the username of the dealer for whom he is adding the banner.


7. Website users and listings management

7.1. Dealers and private sellers management


7.2. Listings validation and management



7.3. User Messages

From the Users->User Messages page, the administrator can monitor the messages exchanged between the users. For every message, the administrator can see the sender, receiver, date, subject and text of the message.


8. Users admin space

The users admin space is accessible for the registered users. It provides functionality to manage their profile, manage their listings and account settings, edit the structure and content of their website (for the registered dealers) and others.


8.1. Dashboard

The dashboard is the first page the users see when they log in their admin space with their username and password.
The dashboard provides quick statistics information for the current listings of the user, pricing and others as well a form for posting new listings, see the latest messages and links to the My Site section for the car dealers.


The Dashboard has 5 main sections:

Right Now (or statistics), showing the number of the current active listings, expired listings and banners with links to see them

Recent Listings, with the list of the latest listings posted by the users showing up with a small thumbnail and a quick preview link to the listing on the front site

Credits and Pricing, showing the current number of credits of the logged user, the packages for posting new listings, the pricing for making an ad featured or post a banner

Post a New Vehicle, the user can select the type of the vehicle he would like to list and continue to the next steps

Messages, showing the last received messages

My Site with links to manage the website structure and content and modify the template of the website


Clicking on the QUICK PAGE LINKS at the top right corner will replace the dashboard with a quick links page having links to the main pages of the users admin space.


To switch back to the dashboard, the user has to click on the DASHBOARD link, which will appear at the place of the QUICK PAGES LINK.


8.2. Credits

The credits represent a way to simplify the dealers payments and instead of making multiple small payments (when posting vehicles or make them featured or post banners) to allow them to purchase a number of credits corresponding to their budget and then use them to pay for the different services offered on the website.
The credits pricing can be set by the administrator from the Settings->Pricing page in the main administration panel.

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