pre-sale question

[greg007 +]

hi all i have been looking around at some soft ware to buy as i want to set up a classifieds type site for my area,

i whave been looking at your forums for the last few days and looking through problems people encounter
when they are trying to get there site up and running and must say 90% of it seems simple enough to do
how ever i do see that alot of people have trouble trying to add simple advertisen banners.
i am completley new to this type of software and site and would need to know
is there a real simple way to placen ads such as local business from my area who would want to place a small box ad on main page etc.

i see alot of members have trouble with this and they are told to change code here and there or go to adsence and many other external ad programs which cost extra money on top of paying for the soft ware here.

is there a simple step by step guide within these forums on how to add the ads to your site as im not super great on messing around with src codes etc

hope you can answer this question as i am looking to buy this or simalr software today/tomorow

thanks in advance for all and any replys

[Mike-N-Tosh +]

There is not anything built into this software to support display advertising banners/boxes.

However, as with anything there are several different means and methods to do anything. If you are going to own/operate a web site regardless of whether it is a classifieds site or any other type of site, you need to at least have some basic knowledge of HTML (the code used to produce a web page) and CSS (styling that is used and applied to the HTML).

The simplest display ad is a basic straightforward concept in HTML. It is simply two standard elements, an "anchor" (link) and an image. Period.

Of course, you can make it much more complex than that, but you certainly don't need to.

If you need to gain some basic knowledge of HTML and CSS, a good place to start is W3 schools.

One big advantage of 68 Classifieds is the fact that the design (e.g. html pages) are completely separate from the code that runs the back end (all the dynamic & automatic functionality).

Once you have the basic HTML and CSS stuff, you might want to visit my blog for more information, especially the article about modifying the default template which covers exactly how the templates (web pages) work with the php code and site structure.

[seymourjames +]

I believe openX for managing ads is free and you would only have a small sum upfront to pay someone to integrate it for you. In general, Mike is telling you the obvious. In order to run a web site you don't need html skills but to create one you do. You can't expect it to be any other way. In general there are two types of 68C owners. Those that are comfortable with coding even a bit and those which hire someone to code/manage their websites for them. The second group tend to focus on promoting their business and marketing their sites. Several of the development community have many customers in the the second group that do not code at all but in effect outsource it. That is the real world of how websites are created and operated.

[greg007 +]

thanks for replys guys,
basic what i am looking for is a classified site and i have tried the demo thingy here and ye its cool i like it,

i can add the listings and cats etc and i can change the name from 68 classifieds to what ever site name i get and i can even change the footer copy write wording np.
i can fix up the payment packages and allow users premissions. all that is easy for me{thank god}

my problem would be the following,

i dont want google ads and all them pay per click rubbish on my site but what i want is
i know alot of business owners of different sections from shops to motor mechaincs etc etc and i want to be able to talk to them and offer them the chance toadvertise on my home page etc,
example:
i ring a mechainc friend and say hey you wana advertise on the motor section of my site?
he says ye sure.
i google a pic of an engine or take a pic of his premises and put it on my home page with his contact number etc
and if possible have other ads also there that rotate on the home page etc
you get what i mean??

can this be done easy?
is there a step by step guide to it?
is there a plugin for this??

if i need some 1 here to install what im looking for how much would some thing like this cost to do??

sorry for all the questions but i want to be sure before i buy it

[seymourjames +]

Search on openX. It is possible to configure this ad server to work with 68C. Asking for a price is pointless. Well I can say in general, customers spend somewhere between $50-$3000 depending on what they wish to do. Until you specify exactly what you wish to do in a concrete manner, nobody will be able to quote you. You need to put the effort into making a set of requirements having reviewed the base system and then sending them to individual developers so they can quote against that.

[greg007 +]

i taught i already did explain what excatly i wanted in the above posts,

[seymourjames +]

It is now clear following our external chat. It depends on what degree of flexibility you want in terms of placing those ads and the conditions under which they are served.

[greg007 +]

yes and thanks very much for the phone call seymourjames it helped me explain alot easier.

your deadication and help on these forums is extremely helpfull and hope it dont go un noticed.

we will do buisness together very soon.

[greg007 +]

ok i bought the c68 progam ..developers package,hope all go,s well for me,
i will be looking for support no douth