68 classifieds for newspaper?

[newsy]

Hi

We're looking at this product and hoping someone could answer these questions to give us some sense of the products' flexibility.

1) Ability to use in conjunction with Google Ad Manager for banner ad placement (ad slot html insertion at designated spots)
2) Payment reports by date range with totals
3) Ability to upsell free ads to our newspaper print edition by week (1, 2, 3, 4) and to export related ads (format suitable for InDesign import)
4) Ability to place ads without logging in as a user first
5) Maximum amount of control by user on their ad after ad placement (including adding paid features)
6) Ability to charge tax and break it out for client. Ability to change the tax rate when government decides
7) Customize terminology on template to Canadian english and Canadian currency and google.ca maps not google.com
8) Export ads to "well-formed" XML feed file
9) Ability to use Oodle API REST-based web service
10) Import ads from feeds from corporate users (real estate brokers and used car dealers).

[Lhotch]

This is a pretty big laundry list and regardless of the feedback you get here, there is no substitute for spending time reading the manual and playing with the demo. There is simply too much room for inturpretation otherwise.

Originally Posted by newsy

Hi

We're looking at this product and hoping someone could answer these questions to give us some sense of the products' flexibility.

1) Ability to use in conjunction with Google Ad Manager for banner ad placement (ad slot html insertion at designated spots)

You can easily place the google ad manager supplied code into the 68C templates for display.

Originally Posted by newsy

2) Payment reports by date range with totals

You can place orders in the demo and look at the order screen in the demos admin. That will show you the basics of what you see and how you can sort and view orders. You can always create custom scripts to access the database and build reports any way you desire.

Originally Posted by newsy

3) Ability to upsell free ads to our newspaper print edition by week (1, 2, 3, 4) and to export related ads (format suitable for InDesign import)

If you spend some time playing with the demo you will see that 68C uses "Ad Packages" these define certain characteristics of the ad such as how long it will run, its price, how many characters, how many images etc etc. You could just create an ad package that has a fee and then people who chose that ad package can have their ads placed in the paper. You would need to create ustom code or query the DB directly for these ads however.

Originally Posted by newsy

4) Ability to place ads without logging in as a user first

Ads are tied to users so the simple answer is no, not without some serious modifiations. The general internet classified mindset is that allowing people to place ads without registering simply turns you site into a spamfest.

Originally Posted by newsy

5) Maximum amount of control by user on their ad after ad placement (including adding paid features)

Ads are tied to ad packages which define the aspects of the ad itself. Once an ad is placed its tied to and limited by the ad package settings so there is no build in way for someone to upgrade to more images or more text content. About all they can do is upgrade to a highlighted, bold or featured ad.

Originally Posted by newsy

6) Ability to charge tax and break it out for client. Ability to change the tax rate when government decides

You would have to do custom modification for this.

Originally Posted by newsy

7) Customize terminology on template to Canadian english and Canadian currency and google.ca maps not google.com

68C should allow you to alter the langauge and currency symbol. 68C does not have built in google map capabilities, thats provided by a 3rd party vendor.

Originally Posted by newsy

8) Export ads to "well-formed" XML feed file

There is an external.php script which will build an rss feed from your sites ad.

Originally Posted by newsy

9) Ability to use Oodle API REST-based web service

This is not something built in..

Originally Posted by newsy

10) Import ads from feeds from corporate users (real estate brokers and used car dealers).

Importation is not something built in. No 2 classified sites have the same categories and fields so a one size fits all importation method is not practicle and it would require custom coding.

[newsy]

Thanks for the speedy advice! I'll spend more time on the demo and investigate. As for custom mods -- you're a developer - what is a standard rate? Is it hourly or by total project time?