Commonly Required Updates (MODx) to the PHPAuction Enuuk Platform
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The current release of the Enuuk
Auction Platform is v2.0 and although
this continues to suffer from a few bugs we work closely with the team
behind the code to identify and rectify bugs, as well as to highlight
where the system could be made more user friendly. We have also
identified to the team where code can be re-written to reduce the time
taken to calculate pages by over 70% providing a massive speed
improvement. We have found the phpAuction support team
to be responsive and
very helpful and can supplement this with our own services in tracking
down and identifying issues with PHP and SQL as well as optimising code
to ensure that the Enuuk Auction Platform provides an excellent engine
for an auction site. We have also developed our own custom built
modules (also known as modx) and changes, which may be of interest to
other users of Enuuk
and these are set out below. We are happy to help install them on
your server at an extra charge, or provide the full details of all
changes required in order to implement them. These modules appear
on the Sell My
Retro website so that you can see them in action for yourself and
compare them against your own website's performance. Please note that in order to install any of
these updates to the
code yourself, you will need an unobfuscated version of the code (ie.
it is
unprotected), otherwise we can install them for you for an additional
fee. We welcome feedback on our modules and
changes, and how they may be further developed in order to continue to
increase the facilities and user friendliness of the Enuuk platform. Finally, we have now linked up with a
website designer who is able to provide a bespoke website design
service to provide a true professional design for your auction website. Standard chargeable modules we have
produced to date:
A late addition to the Enuuk auction
platform has been the ability to upload auction details in bulk.
The Enuuk auction platform currently only supports a plain text file,
with the auction fields
in a fixed order and separated by either tabs or a double hash (#) sign. We found this too constrictive and following a request from a trader, decided to launch this new module, which allows you to create a CSV file containing all of the auction details. This has two benefits: 1) You can export auctions from the eBay Turbo Lister program and upload the exported file direct to a site running the Enuuk auction platform. 2) As the CSV file utilises column headers
to differentiate the fields, you can now edit the auctions more
comfortably using a spreadsheet program, such as Excel. We
recommend that you use the Enhanced Item Details and the International
Shipping Modules with this.
We have now implemented a new module which allows you to set different fees for each category - these can be any of the currently active fees. You can specify whether the fee is to be inherited (the default) - in which case, the system works its way up the category parent tree until it finds a category with the fee set (or ultimately, the default fee). A useful module, which allows you to have some categories which are cheaper to list in that others.
As supplied, the Enuuk auction platform, allows you to add additional language sets to cover the use of auctions, the website pages and emails, which makes it into a powerful auction platform which can be easily adapted for use in multi-national auctions. Unfortunately, the default language remains steadfastly as English US which means that is the standard language used by users who do not select another default, and by internet search engines, such as Google. We encountered an issue with the dates which are displayed, as we are based in the UK - we did not want to create an entire new language folder just for UK English, and so decided the best way would be to amend the default. Unfortunately, the default is hard coded
and so we have identified all of the changes required throughout the
code
and the SQL database engine.
As supplied, the Enuuk auction platform, shows all currencies as the value, followed by three letters indicating the currency type. However, in many cases, where it is not an unusual currency, users would prefer to see the symbol for the currency. For example, v2.00 would show 2.50 GBP as the current value of an item. Most users would prefer to see £2.50. This currently supports GBP, USD, CAD and
Euros, but other currencies can be added easily.
Current versions of the Enuuk auction
platform,
do not allow you to edit an auction when there are already bids. This module has been devised to allow you
to edit auctions, even when there are bids, although your options are
restricted. You can add to the item description, amend pictures,
and alter the reserve price (provided it has not been reached).
You can also edit the Buy It Now price if it is still active - in both
instances, you cannot reduce them to less than the current price of the
item. All other details can be edited as if there
were no bids on the auction, as we feel that this would not impact on a
user's decision to bid. When the auction is amended, all existing
bidders are then notified by email that the auction has changed.
v1.6 of the Enuuk
auction platform added the ability for users to select favourites
which can then be linked to quickly using the link to My Favourites in
the top right hand menu. You can add webstores, users and auction
listings as your favourites. This module changes this in a couple of
ways. 1. Popular items are now shown on the index
page - we added a small section which
calculates the top 5 (maximum) items which people have marked as
favourites and shows them on the index page, in order of popularity. 2. When you go to My Favourites, Enuuk
lists details of all of the offers which you have marked as
favourite plus all of the offers listed within any webstores which you
have marked as favourite, plus any auctions listed by users that you
have marked as favourite. This leads to an extensive list of
offers - although duplicates are removed, even closed offers are
included in the list. We therefore decided to turn this around
completely. On My Favourites page, you now get three
different headings: Nice and simple.
When listing items for sale on SellmyRetro.com (or any Enuuk auction based site), one of the main features which is missing is the ability to state whether an item is new, used or refurbished. We also wanted to ensure that if an item is
listed within a "Books" category (or sub-category), then details of the
ISBN for the book can be added (with validation of the number). This module adds that ability to the
software and is essential if you intend submitting details of your
auctions to Google Base. If you are selling cars on your auction
website, you may also want to consider the Vehicle
Reports
module.
This is one feature that is perhaps most
crucial to maintaining good relations between buyers and sellers. It builds upon the features in the Simple Payments module , the Currency Display Module and the International Shipping Module (all of which are included) and includes the following additional features:
On the search page, you can now select whether you wish to search for a) any of the keywords b) all of the keywords c) the exact phrase The filter for search types is now more sensible, and lists just: - Fixed Price Items - Standard Auctions - Scheduled Auctions - Penny Auctions (if enabled) - Reverse Auctions (if enabled) Fixed price items lets a user search quickly when they want to purchase one item now rather than waiting until an auction finishes to see if they have been the highest bidder. This therefore returns matching searches in either Fixed Price Auctions, Lot Auctions, or where a standard auction has a Buy It Now price available. Scheduled Auctions lets users find out what is coming up on the site and mark them as a favourite auction for future reference.
When you browse categories of auction items in the Enuuk auction platform, it currently lists all items which are listed within webstores and fall within that category at the bottom of the page. This can lead to a long list of items if you are not careful. We have changed the whole focus of this:
If you create an auction with a start date
in the future, in the current versions of the Enuuk Auction Platform,
you can only find them in your profile under Closed Offers. This module creates a new section in your
user profile for Pending Offers, where all auctions with a start date
sometime in the future are found. You can also activate them
early if you so wish without having to edit the auction. This can
also be useful for the Enhanced Search Module. v1.2 also now incorporates enhancements in
the admin backend, so that you can view auctions by reference to
closed, active, inactive and sold. It also details the number of
active (or sold) items when it is a lot auction.
In current versions of the Enuuk
auction platform, although there is a tick box to indicate if you
are willing
to ship items internationally, there is currently no ability to charge
different rates dependent on destination. We have therefore created this module which
allocates each country to one of 4 regions of the World (EEC, Europe,
USA and Canada, Rest of World) and allows you to set a different
postage rate for each international area. The correct postage
rate is then applied when the purchaser completes their purchase of the
item, dependent on the region where the purchaser is located (the
domestic shipping rate is applied if they are in the same country as
the seller). The regions can be edited within the
Administration control panel and we welcome feedback if more regions
are required. We have also implemented a check as part of
this module to prevent someone from overseas purchasing an item when
the international shipping option is not ticked.
This Module improves the way in which a
user can increase their maximum bid against an item. In current versions of the Enuuk auction
platform, the user sees no difference to an items listing, even if they
are the highest bidder. The Maximum Bid module implements various
changes:
We found that sellers tend to browse
categories before listing an item in order to check what items are
already being offered and also to choose which is the best category to
use for their auction listing. We therefore created this mod, which adds a link to "Sell an Item in this Category" below the breadcrumb trail. It takes you straight to the sell item form, with the category already chosen.
This includes some minor improvements to
the Enuuk auction platform in order to provide Search Engine
Optimisation as well as the following new features:
NOTE: Google Base is a new means of searching the internet for items to purchase. With our automated submission module, you can add this feature to the Enuuk auction platform, ensuring that your new items are listed on the Google Base search engine for the time that they are live auctions. If you wish
auction items to be submitted to Google Base, you will need the Item Details module and also the Simple Payments Module for this to be
accepted by
Google Base. You will also need to open your own Google
Base account and to ensure that your auctions meet
with the terms and conditions of Google Base. The same Google
Base feed can also be submitted to Yahoo Site Explorer.
One thing we found confusing with the Enuuk
auction platform is
that having purchased fixed price items, you have to go to My Profile
and Auctions You have Won in order to actually pay for an item. We have created this module which adds an
extra page once you confirm that you wish to purchase a fixed price
item (or part of a lot auction), confirming the item you have purchased
and providing you with PayPal and Google Checkout buttons to enable you
to pay for the item (provided the seller has activated these options). We have expanded on this module to include
many more important features, as part of the Enhanced Payments Module.
When selling vehicles over the internet,
the purchasers want as much information as possible about the history
and condition of a Vehicle. This module adds the ability to create a
vehicle report for each item listed within selected categories. The Vehicle Report includes all elements
required for a Disclosure Declaration Statement (under Canadian law -
MDA 2002), as well as details of the bodywork, internal and external
options, odometer reading, engine type, condition of each section of
the car and mechnical defects and much more.
One of the problems with any auction
website is in attracting sufficient people to the website to ensure
that sellers can find enough people interested in bidding, and
conversely, bidders can find enough items to purchase. We thought the best way of doing this was
to incorporate a wiki, which can be displayed for each category
listing, so that you can provide more information on the types of
auction items which can be found on the website. This
modification to the Enuuk
auction platform provides the ability for the administrator to
create wiki text for each category from the admin backend - the
administrator can then decide whether the Wiki is editable - we decided
to restrict editing to webstore owners, as we felt that they would be
the best ones to provide the content. As with all of Enuuk, the wiki can be
created in each language supported on your website.
And finally.... Don't forget that all of these modules can be seen in action on our retro electronics and computing auction site - SellMyRetro. |