• Responding to email notices you receive.
    **************************************************
    In short, DON'T! Email notices are to ONLY alert you of a reply to your private message or your ad on this site. Replying to the email just wastes your time as it goes NOWHERE, and probably pisses off the person you thought you replied to when they think you just ignored them. So instead of complaining to me about your messages not being replied to from this site via email, please READ that email notice that plainly states what you need to do in order to reply to who you are trying to converse with.

  • IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ!! About the Google Adsense ads being displayed

    =====================
    Posted 08/15/2025
    =====================


    Yeah, I know. They are a pain in the butt. But they pay the bills to keep my server running. Just a fact of life, I am afraid.

    Want to get rid of them? Simple. Just become a Contributor level member or above and they will be gone. -> Please click HERE."

    Is that too much for me to ask of you to keep this site running? Well, sorry about that. I too wish I could get everything for free. But alas.....

    =====================
    Addendum: 01/10/2026
    =====================


    Google Adsense ad revenue for December, 2025 was just $30 over the cost of the lease for the server running this site. So, in effect, the money providing the incentive for me to continue running this site is coming SOLELY from the paid memberships and sponsorships here. Which honestly ain't much....

A new classifieds system on this site

WebSlave

WebSlave

It is what it is, but certainly not what it was.
Staff member
Staff
Joined
Feb 3, 2002
Messages
20,505
Reaction score
864
Points
113
Location
Crawfordville, FL
OK, I have tied in a new classifieds subsystem to FaunaClassifieds and need some testing done on it. Not all options are enabled yet as I am still working on some things.

Depending on the results and acceptance from users, this may eventually replace the regular classifieds sections here that are nothing more then just forums.

This system uses the login from FaunaClassifieds, so it is really just an extension of the forums. I believe it has it's own feedback capability, so this might be gettng into overkill with too much of that on this site. Would be nice if I could integrate them all into one single system, but that might be a bigger chore then I would like to tackle right now.

This new system as a rudimentary auction capability, so play with it and see what you think about it. I'm not keen about doing anything auction related, but this might be light weight enough that it won't bring the problems that a full blown auction can bring.

When you get a chance, just give me some feedback, if you don't mind.

http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/pp_classifieds/

When I have this and that other system looking like they are fully functional, they will both be tied into FaunaClassifieds so everyone can use them.

Thanks.
 
That was quick and easy. Very nice system. One thing though, can html code be turned on? It's not working/on at the moment.
 
Hmm, good question. Shame I don't have a quick answer. I double checked in the admin section but don't see a toggle for that option. I posted a query with the support people to see what they say. Seems to me I remember another classifieds system I looked at where this same issue came up. There was some sort of code I could add to enable HTML processing within the screens. But lord only knows where that message is now.

Anyway, when I hear something I will let you know.

Thanks!
 
I tried to place an ad in the Kingsnake section .. a "wanted" ad, and I could only get to step two of three where it says to choose your category, and has a drop down menu, but nothing is IN the drop down menu to actually select, and I can't seem to get beyond that step.
 
That's weird. The drop down menu was populated for me.
 
No, Sasheena is correct. If you select for the Type of ad to be "Wanted" then in the next step there is nothing in the drop down menu.

Hmm... wonder what THAT means......
 
Ah! That's not a bug, that's a feature!

Apparently the way the system is designed is that each category is assigned a particular type of ad via a template. When I create the categories, I assign which template is to be used for that particular category. Sooo, what this means is that I have to create separate categories for items FOR SALE that will be isolated from the WANTEDS categories.

I guess I can't say whether this is a "right" way or a "wrong" way to do this, but that is the way it is.

So I need to rethink the structure of this so that it is logically laid out. That way only half of the people using it won't like it...... :slamit:
 
The system looks and works great. I like the ability to upload more than one picture, and the fact that the ads actually expire. I've used other classifieds sites (non reptile) that use the same/similar software, and have always liked the look/feel of it.

I'm not so sure about the bidding part. I'd probably elect to NOT use it.
 
I'm still working on the HTML thing. I went back and check my old emails and discovered that it was exactly this same software that I had looked at back in July. The developer at that time told me that it was a simple one line code change needed to be made to implement the inline HTML. Of course, he didn't tell me WHAT that line was, back then, so I shot him an email to ask. Fortunately, this is the same guy who installed the software here for me, and he has been pretty quick to get back to me with answers.

Maybe tonight I will be able to address the For Sale/Wanteds division I need to figure out. Anyone got any preferences or suggestions to what they think would be best?

I am undecided if I should do something like

Code: 
[SIZE=4]-A-[/SIZE]
For Sale
    Snakes
        Ball Pythons
        Boas
        Corn Snakes
        .........
    Lizards
       Bearded Dragons
       Chameleons
       Geckos
       .......

Wanteds
    Snakes
        Ball Pythons
        Boas
        Corn Snakes
        .........
    Lizards
       Bearded Dragons
       Chameleons
       Geckos
       .......

========================

or
[SIZE=4]-B-[/SIZE]
Snakes
    Ball Pythons
        For Sale
        Wanted
    Boas
        For Sale
        Wanted
    Corn Snakes
        For Sale
        Wanted
    .........
Lizards
   Bearded Dragons
        For Sale
        Wanted
   Chameleons
        For Sale
        Wanted
   Geckos
        For Sale
        Wanted
   .......

There are pluses and minuses to both methods.....
 
Well, I actually like it! The layout is way different and will probably take people a little time to get used to it. Now if an ad expires can it be quickly re-listed or do we have to post it as a new ad?

One thing I’m not sure about is the way the ads are listed. I like thumbnail picture but I don’t care for the start of the ad under the ‘title’ and ‘posted by user’. If there are quite a few ads I think it would be hard to shift through them as there’s so much text. The titles would probably be sufficient enough. Maybe instead of having the ‘preview’ in the post do like what’s in the forums, have the users hover of over the title for a preview.
 
Well, for now what you see is what you get. I already had to buy this software, so any modifications will have to come later. This package does have the capability to offer paid options for highlighting, bolding, and italicizing the ads, so if this becomes popular enough that I can put some money in an "enhancements kitty", then I can think about doing some mods to make it more useful. But I have to try to get more bells and whistles here that pay for themselves rather then constantly digging into my own pockets for things.

Unfortunately, I don't have a "staff". So it's just me and the programmers I can hire along the way doing the modifications, add-ons and what not here. Unfortunately, although I really like programming and have the background for it, I just can't spend the time it takes to take on projects like that any longer. Somewhere along the line I had to accept the fact that I will now have to be a project manager instead of a coder for anything I need done around here. That, I believe, is a better use of my time....

Any input on the structure I will need to implement for the For Sale and Wanteds categories? I may start working on that over the next couple of days. I'm trying to get that HTML problem resolved and also looking into an add on package that will allow people to use zip codes to be able to tell how far away a seller is from them. We used to have something like that back on the original FaunaClassifieds site before the fiasco with James Thornton (old history you can check out at your leisure some day), and people seemed to really like it for some reason. So I am trying to get the particulars to implement that in the new classifieds section if I can.

Heck, I have two other software packages I need to implement and integrate somewhere down the road as well. Wonder where I am going to put all of this stuff in here? It's going to take a real road map for people to find everything on this site pretty shortly.
 
I like both layouts for the wanteds.... perhaps until/unless there is a huge need for a LOT of wanted ads... you might just have a smaller "wanted" section that includes boas, colubrids, pythons, legged things... etc? Just not sure how much "wanted" ads there might be and how much effort it would be to create a location for wanted ads in each section.... I think you should choose the layout that will cause you the least amount of stress to create. Once you have it up, I'll put in my "Wanted" advertisement.
 
Well, I got the fix for the HTML problem and applied it to my code. A quick test I did looks like now the ads description text will display HTML code formatting correctly. But check it out for me and see if it is OK.

progeckos said:
One thing I’m not sure about is the way the ads are listed. I like thumbnail picture but I don’t care for the start of the ad under the ‘title’ and ‘posted by user’. If there are quite a few ads I think it would be hard to shift through them as there’s so much text. The titles would probably be sufficient enough. Maybe instead of having the ‘preview’ in the post do like what’s in the forums, have the users hover of over the title for a preview.
Click to expand...

Well, I looked at that issue as well. Apparently space is allocated for the height if the thumbnail in all fields on an ad line, and text is truncated to only fill that vertical height limit, and no more. So even if I removed the text, there would still be a block of empty space where that truncated ad text would have been. Personally I think all that empty space might look worse then the way it is now with text in place. The only thing I can see as an issue might be if with the HTML code now enabled, if there might be some real problems with what gets displayed in that area. It is possible that the tradeoff with allowing HTML there will be to remove that text on the displayed ads. But I'll just have to monitor it and see how it goes for a while, I guess.

No more input on this stuff? Sheesh, do I have to throw everything out on the floor on the BOI to get most people's attention around here? :>poke2<:

Thanks.
 
Yeah, the HTML code seems to be working now.

WebSlave said:
The only thing I can see as an issue might be if with the HTML code now enabled, if there might be some real problems with what gets displayed in that area. It is possible that the tradeoff with allowing HTML there will be to remove that text on the displayed ads. But I'll just have to monitor it and see how it goes for a while, I guess.

No more input on this stuff? Sheesh, do I have to throw everything out on the floor on the BOI to get most people's attention around here? :>poke2<:

Thanks.
Click to expand...
That’s very true. I’m sure people will try and manipulate their ads in that area so they can get better advertising. Actually something like that might be a good perk for contributing members. :) Be a contributor and have the HTML enabled in the ads so if they wanted they could do something like that. Just a though…

This forum seems to be real dead Rich. I don’t know if you can but you should set it up to where it will send an email notification of a new post to all the contributors. The majority of them may be more inclined to join in.
 
Well, actually maybe it is just my methods at fault. Perhaps I should just plug in the new bells and whistles and let 'er rip. Much of the time when I ask for feedback, the response is like trying to wake the dead. So perhaps the greater majority of the people here really don't care one way or the other what I do. Some will use the new toys and some will not.

So I will probably just open the two new programs up to the general membership here and see what happens. Trial by fire, so to speak.

But anyway, thanks for helping out.
 
Well I would've posted an advertisement, but the only kind of advertisement I need to post at this point in time is a "wanted" advertisement for an Apalachicola King.... don't really need to buy any snakes, and just sold the last of my hatchlings from '04, so I have really been waiting. From what I can see it seems great, I like that advertisements will expire, I especially like how nicely it ties into Fauna... but don't really have much to say on the issue. :) Wish I could be more helpful.
 
Heck, you don't really need to make REAL ads. This is beta testing. I guess I should have been more clear on this point. I can always delete the test ads before I open the doors to the public....

But I still do have to set up those "wanted" sections. I do wish they would be altogether in the same section, though. I have found that anyone "wanting" an animal is normally going to check the "For Sale" section anyway, and people wanting to sell something are going to check for "wanteds" as well. So it makes sense to put them all together in the same area.

Oh well.

I'm going to have to look more closely at those ad type templates. I'm wondering if I should change the designations for "Excellent, great, good, fair, poor" to something more suitable to live animals. Maybe "Captive hatched, wild caught, LTC (long term captive), etc" would be more appropriate.

But I might be biting off more then I want to chew on with something like that right now. Maybe it would be best to see if members request something like that first.

Hmm, I just had a thought. I might be able to simply combine both "Wanteds" and "For Sale" ads simply by editing the template to SAY "For Sale/Wanteds". That might be the easiest thing for me to do. Duh..... :>poke2<:
 
Welll okie dokie... I'm off to create some advertisements for all the wondrous snakes I hope to maybe own someday... :)
 
It's very easy to post ads... I'll bid on your "auction" one Rich so long as you promise not to take me seriously... ;)

Some thoughts as I was posting the advertisements. It would be nice (but not essential) if when I'm in a specific area, say "Kingsnakes for sale" and I click the "post an ad" or whatever the button says, if it would KNOW I wanted to post an ad in that area, but this is a mild thing, and doesn't really need to be implemented.

I like the idea of converting everything over to "for sale/wanted" ... that could take care of any need for separate categories. I also like the idea of changing the "condition" as you suggested. CB, CBB, CH, LTC, WC.... those are some of the most important things when purchasing a snake.... in any case it is fantabulous. :)

Now I just hope nobody tries to buy my "het for multiple toes" kitty. :)
 
I LIKE IT! I posted all my kids for sale.

I especially enjoy being able to post more than one picture, and to choose the duration of the ad. Nice stuff.
 
Back
Top