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With its ease of use, xcClassified may look deceptively simple at first glance. However, closer
examination will reveal that it is a feature rich and flexible classified ads system. In order to
make xcClassified second to none, we have spent countless hours testing, developing and refining various
layouts and features. The end result is a product that has powerful functionality behind the cover of
an interface that is as user-friendly as possible.
How your web site operates will leave a lasting impression on your site's users. The user interface side
of xcClassified has been developed so that new users can easily navigate through the process of posting
or viewing ads. However, we've also kept the experienced user in mind in with features such as bulk uploading
and management of multiple active ads. Users of all levels will find that it is smooth and easy to conduct
transactions using xcClassified.
Ad Watch 
The ad watch feature allows users to register an interest for any items they want. When a seller
lists an item with a description meeting their criteria, they will be notified via email.
Additionally, users have the option to make their ad watch public. This is a way your users
can influence the type of items offered for sale because sellers can use public ad watches to
decide to list a matching item that they may have.
Ad Types
Ad types make it easy to segment items or services available, from items or services wanted,
or from other miscellaneous notifications. Users can search just items wanted to see if
they have anything of interest. Another feature that makes your classified listings
easy to use by making it easy for users to locate items and services of interest.
Memorized Ads
Users can click on a button when viewing any ad in order to add this to their custom list of
Memorized Ads. This allows users to have one central place to keep track of all the items
in which they are interested. Users memorized ads are stored in their account, so they can
view their memorized ads from any location rather than simply saving bookmarks on a local
browser. This way they can memorize listings at night and then view them at work the next
day when they are ready to purchase from your ad listings.
Bulk Uploader
The Bulk Uploader feature is a powerful tool that allows advanced users to manage and list a
number of ads at one time.
All that is needed is a way to edit or create a CSV (comma separated values) file where each row
represents the properties for each ad. This common format allows the bulk upload file to
be edited or created by a variety of applications like Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Access.
Based on your own configuration options, xcClassified will generate a sample file that users
can download. This file will contain the necessary headings and samples of what kind of data should be
in each field. Users can take their time creating a CSV file when they are offline, and just come
to the site to upload all of their ads at once without having to go through the step-by-step process
each time.
Purchase Now
Sellers can decide to set a price which they are willing to accept
for an item and the quantity that is available of that item. Users will be able to
order the item directly when viewing it on your site.
AutoRelist
The autorelist feature allows user ads to be automatically relisted for a specified
number of times if the item has not sold.
Once a user manually closes an ad, it will no longer autorelist.
Bulk Relist
The bulk relisting feature allows users to manually relist multiple ads with the ease
of one click of a button. Another feature that makes it easy for your most active
users manage their ad listings.
Highlight Option
Highlighting is one of several options users can choose to make their listings stand out. Users
can choose any of the highlight colors that you can define for your
site to highlight their listings.
Special Views
xcClassified provides a number of views, or ways that your site users can look
through all the items that have been posted. By having a variety of views, even the
busiest sites can make it easy for site visitors to find items of
interest to them.
| New |
This view shows the items that have been posted
recently. The site administrator can define the time period that is
considered recent.
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| Hot |
The Hot view allows the site users to quickly
find the most popular ads. Ads are defined as Hot
by virtue of the number of times they have been viewed.
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Gallery View
The Gallery view allows users to find only ads that
have images associated with them. The administrator can choose to set a
premium price for allowing an ad to appear in the gallery.
Multiple Views Within Categories
Within a category, users can choose to filter the results displayed according to any of
the following options: New, Current, Featured and Premiere.
Yet another way that xcClassified
makes it easy for a user to find the items that most interest him or her.
Searching the Classifieds Database
Since many people might not have time to sit and browse through lists of ads, xcClassified
provides comprehensive search functionality. Searching in xcClassified is more powerful
than ever. Users can search with multiple keywords either within a category that interests them
or throughout the entire xcClassified database. Users can search for items by many fields and
they can specify as many or as few of these fields as they want. xcClassified makes it easy
for your site's visitors to find the items that will be of interest to them.
Special and Additional Icons
Icons displayed with ad listings can make these items stand out to your site's users.
There is a HOT icon for ads that have the most views. There is a
PICTURE icon for ads that have an image attached to them. Additionally, the classified site
administrator can define
other Special Icons to allow users to bring extra attention to their items in lists.
The Special Icons are especially useful on niche sites since you can configure them to have
any meaning you wish.
Ease of Use
Since you need to encourage activity in a classifieds site to make it
successful, the ease of use in posting an ad is extremely important.
xcClassified really shines in the way it guides users through the process of
posting an item. Even completely inexperienced
users find it simple to post an ad and upload images using xcClassified.
Comprehensive Help
We have strived to make xcClassified as intuitively easy as possible to use. However,
since certain options or terminiology might not be clear to new users, pop-up help windows
are used extensively throughout xcClassified's user interface for added guidance. By
clicking on one of the help links conveniently located next to a user option,
the user will see a pop up window with an explanation.
These help files are simple HTML files that you can
customize to suit your site. Space is provided for a Buyer's Guide and a Seller's Guide
to help your site users familiarize themselves with how
your online classifieds
work. Since these are provided as simple HTML files, you can easily
customize the text to suit your specific target audience. Having separate help files
in this manner is also beneficial to the experienced user as it streamlines the content
of the pages used for posting and replying to ads.
User Account Management
xcClassified users can manage their own account details. As the site
administrator, you do not need to personally handle changes like new phone
numbers, email addresses, etc. Your site users can keep this information up to
date themselves. For sites that use xcClassified's billing features, users can
also update and change their billing information (new card expiration dates,
change accounts, etc). The user account management and billing system that is built into
xcClassified is called XUD. This is a shared user management system that will
allow xcClassified to integrate with other XCENT web server applications and allows
for a common membership database. XUD also allows you to protect other pages on your web site and
only allow access by registered users.
Optional Image Uploading
If users want to include an image in their ads, some online ad sites require that they find their
own place to store and host these image files. This is a process that is not easy for new users to
quickly grasp or master very easily. So xcClassified allows your users to upload and host their images for their
ad directly to your server. This option is seamlessly integrated into the ad posting
interface. To use this optional feature, it does require an upload component
from another vendor to be installed on your web server.
xcClassified supports a number of different upload components
(see requirements for complete details). If your site is hosted with
an ISP or web host that provides ASP
hosting services, most likely they already have this component
installed and available for you to use, so it is a simple matter of turning the upload option on.
xcClassified makes it easy for all your users to include images right within their ads without
having to master image hosting, learn HTML or deal with other technical issues.
Optional Thumbnail Creation
When users upload images, thumbnails can automatically
be generated to make them stand out in different listing views.
To use this optional feature, it requires an imaging component
from another vendor to be
installed on your web server. xcClassified supports a number of different
imaging components (see requirements for complete
details).
Automatic Activity Email
xcClassified is designed to help you keep your site users informed of
ad activity on items they have posted. xcClassified will automatically notify users
when their ads have expired so that they know to renew them. xcClassified works to help
keep people coming back to your site by keeping them engaged!
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