Design Changes - 68 Hosted

[oteenc +]

I have the 68 Hosted version, using 69Auto-Red template and am trying to create a "used car lot" instead of "classified ads".
I don't need:
Seller:Address:City:State:Countryate Added: etc;etc;.....
I do need:
Make:Model:Price:Body Style:Exterior Color:Interior Color:Engine:Transmission:
Drive Type: etc; etc;.....
I know that I can display some of this by using the three +1 additional extra fields and that I can eliminated some of the current field views in viewslisting, but if I purchased the complete software package, will I have all the php code and be able to modify the fields myself?

[Lhotch +]

I think you are looking at things a bit wrong.

68C has many levels of data that tie together to bring the ad to the site visitor.

Everything starts with categories.

Next you have extra fields, which are created and can belong to some or all categories. The "extra fields" are defined within the 68C administration.

Next you have ad packages and you can specify what category an ad package applis to. This gives you control of pricing and category placement.

Then you have the users themselves. When a user registers youcan collect all of the usually user data such as name address, city, state zip etc as well as the 3 extra fields you mentioned.

Lastly you have the ad data itself. The ad is tied directly to a user and in turn the users data. Extra fields are also tied to the ad based on the category the ad is placed in.

Assuming you are still having users sign up to "place cars on your used car lot" (ie place an ad) and all of your categories are going to have all the same fields then you dont need to or really want to trouble yourself with the extra registration fields at all.

Simply administer user groups and set the various fields you want to be visible to the various user groups. Then creat all of your extra fields (ie make, model, mileage etc) and apply them to all of your categories.

Another option is to create categories based on the make and subcats based on model then you dont need extra fields for those.

[Mike-N-Tosh +]

Indirect response to your question:
You can have essentially unlimited extra fields. The extra fields are created and assigned to a given category or categories. You can create as many of these as you would like to.

As far as showing the seller information, you can block these from being seen within the admin. Settings and user group settings.

Quite frankly, it sounds like you are creating a store and not a classifieds site. This script may not serve your needs.

-Mike

[oteenc +]

You might be right about this resembling a store more that classifieds, because I'm only going to have one registered user (used car lot owner), but if I could manipulate the output the way I want, I would still like to use 68classified because I've used it in the past and am very impressed with not only the ease of use and price, but with the support as well --- Thanks for your reply. I'm going to try some of the suggestions that Lhotch made.

[Lhotch +]

Originally Posted by oteenc

You might be right about this resembling a store more that classifieds, because I'm only going to have one registered user (used car lot owner), but if I could manipulate the output the way I want, I would still like to use 68classified because I've used it in the past and am very impressed with not only the ease of use and price, but with the support as well --- Thanks for your reply. I'm going to try some of the suggestions that Lhotch made.

If your going to have just a single user listing their stuff on the site then it makes no sense at all to try and use the extra registration fields because ALL ads will be tied to that one registered user the data in those registered fields will apply to ALL ads.

Personally I would create at least a category for each car make. Then decide if you want to do the same for the various car models. This will help people find makes and models that are of interest to them without searching and it will give you control over makes and models in terms of how they are spelled.

If you give someone a blank text field there is the possibility that they mispell chevrolete and even if the data is entered consistently if you make someone fill in the name to search for it they could misspell it. Having categories for makes and subcats for models is the way to go.

Then use extra fields for all the specific stuff like mileage, color etc etc.