Classify PRO - User Manual


  • Chapter 1
    • Overview
    • Acceptable Use Policy
    • Classify PRO versions
    • Registering Classify PRO
    • Upgrades
    • Support
  • Chapter 2 - Submitting an Ad
    • Starting a new project
    • Entering your Ad details
    • Selecting an Ad category
    • Selecting Classified Sites
    • Submitting your Ad
    • Submission Status Screen
    • Reports
  • Chapter 3
    • Saving a Project
    • Deleting Projects
    • Resetting a Project
  • Chapter 4 - Site Selector
    • Site Status
    • Selection Filtering
    • Default Selection Buttons
    • Selecting All engines
  • Chapter 5
    • Keyword Manager
    • Submission Status Screen
    • Project History
    • Customising Classify PRO - The preferences Window
  • Chapter 6 - Classify PRO Enterprise
    • Overview
    • Batch Submissions
    • Submission Summary Reports
    • Customizing Reports
    • Importing Project Files
    • Importing Projects from the Clipboard
  • Appendix A - Menu Options







    The information in this manual is specific to Classify PRO Version 1.0

    Author: Rene' Warmuz (Ren)

    Copyright (c) 1997,1998 TRELLIAN



      
For licensing and other information, Contact Trellian at:

WWW:            http://www.trellian.com/classify/

Mail:           Trellian Pty. Ltd.
                8 East Concourse
                Beaumaris, Victoria 3193,
                Australia

Fax:            +613-9589-7951
Email:          suppport@trellian.com


Classify PRO is a trademark of TRELLIAN.



    CHAPTER 1

     Overview

    Classify PRO is an automated submission wizard for classified ads on the internet. It will submit your ad to hundreds of classified sites in a matter of minutes - a task which would take days if not weeks to do manually.

    It automatically submits your ad to the most appropriate category on each site, and creates a detailed report for your reference.


    Acceptable Use Policy

    The use of Classify PRO is governed by an Acceptable use policy as outlined below:

      1. You may not use this program to SPAM indexes by submitting the same or similar Ads multiple times.
      2. You may not submit Ads that advertise the same item or service within 30 days of your initial submission.
      3. You may not use Classify PRO to submit Ads of Adult nature.
      4. You may not modify the submission rules to force the listing of inappropriate Ads to a given site.
      5. You may not submit your Ad to inappropriate categories.
      6. The standard version is licensed for personal use only and may not be used to submit Ads for third parties or used as the basis of a submission service.

    Note: We reserve the right to terminate the Classify PRO license without notice and refund, if the program is used contrary to the above.

    The acceptable use policies are subject to change and may do so without prior notice. An up to date list can be found at http://www.trellian.com/classify/policy.htm


    Classified Sites

     Classify PRO supports Automated submissions to Several hundred classified sites. New sites will be added all the time, and the program will inform you when an upgrade is available for download.


     Classify PRO Versions

    There are three basic versions of Classify PRO, a Demo version, Standard and an Enterprise Edition.


    Classify PRO Demo

      In the demo version, most Classified sites are disabled and ads can be posted to only a select few sites. It is designed to give you a feel for what the product can do.


    Classify PRO - Standard

      The Standard version is designed for the average user. There are no restrictions as to the number sites your ad will be submitted to. This version is intended for a single user to submit their own classified ads.


    Classify PRO - Enterprise
      The Enterprise edition is designed for users who wish to submit their own Ads but also for third parties.



    Upgrades

    New submission scripts will be added frequently. Classify PRO will automatically inform you when such an upgrade becomes available.

    By selecting the Online Version Check option from the file menu, you will be able to automatically upgrade the program to the most recent version.



     Registering Classify PRO

    To register Classify PRO, you need to obtain a registration key from our web site     http://www.trellian.com/hqorder.htm or from a Classify PRO reseller.

    Once you have the details, click on the [ Register ] button, or select the Register option from the Help menu to bring up the registration dialog.




    Enter you Registration Name and Serial number in the corresponding fields and click the OK button. Make sure you type in the key exactly as supplied.



    Support

    A free email support is offered to all registered users of Classify PRO. If you have a problem, or a technical question, please contact     support@classify98.com.

    Before emailing support, please check the FAQ list first, as 90% of all questions we receive are already answered on these pages.

    When emailing support, please include your registration key, and some basic information about your computer and operating system you are running.





    CHAPTER 2 - Submitting an Ad

         Starting a New Project

     Each Ad is treated as a separate project and the first step is to create a new submission project file.

    Select New Project from the File menu. You will see the following dialog, which will prompt you to enter a name for the new project to be created.



    Enter a brief name for the project to be created, and click the OK button.


     Entering your ad Details

     The next step is to enter as much information as possible about the product and or service you want to advertise, and your contact details.

    Click on the Add details tab, and fill in the form:



      Headline A very brief description for the Ad. This will be a one line title for the ad.
      ItemThe name of the Item or service being offered.
      Page URLIf there is an associated web page with the item or service, enter the full URL of the page including the http:// part, otherwise leave this field blank.
      Photo URL Some sites will link to a Photo of the advertised item. If you have such a photo on the web, enter the full URL of the image file, otherwise leave it blank.
      Price The sale price of the item and/or service being offered.
      Username/PasswordSome sites require you to enter your own username and password which will be needed should you wish to modify your ad details in the future. Select any arbitrary name and password you like.

      Note: Do not use your internet logon username/password, nor the Classify PRO registration details in these fields.
      keywordsA list of keywords relevant to your ad. These will be used by some sites to index your ad, and help other people find it. You can enter up to 15 keywords.
      AdvertA worded description of the Ad. This is your main sales pitch. The description should be brief and to the point. it can be no more than 255 characters in length.




     Selecting an Ad category

    Once you have entered your ad details, you need to select the category in which your ad should be listed. Click on the Category tab.



    First select the main category by clicking the most appropriate category button on the left. A sub-category list will then appear in the category list window. Either double click, or use the right arrow button [ -> ] to add it to the Submit to: list on the right.

    You may list your ad in more than one category (Classify PRO will do this only sites which allow such listings), by selecting all the appropriate categories, however the most relevant category MUST always be the first on the list.

    Note: Submitting ads to categories that not appropriate for a given ad, is contrary to the acceptable use policy, and may result in the cancellation of your software license.


    Entering contact details

    Before you can proceed with your submission, you need to enter your contact details. Click the contact tab and fill in all the appropriate fields.





    Contact information is mandatory on most classifieds sites, and Classify PRO will not proceed with a submission unless this information is provided. If you are concerned about privacy, we recommend you use a Post Office Box address.



     Selecting Classified Sites

    Once you have entered all the details and selected your Ad category, click on the Classifieds tab to bring up the engine selector screen.





    You will be presented with a list of sites that will accept your ad, based on the details you have entered.

    Select all the sites you wish to have your ad submitted to, by placing a tick next top each site name. You can select/deselect all sites at once by right clicking on the engine name and using the popup menu options.

    The classified sites are divided into a number of sections. These are accessible by the Tabs on the right hand side.

      Classifieds tab

       Has a list of all free sites which Classify PRO can submit your ad to. This is the main list you should be working with.

      Pay Sites

       This is a list of sites that charge a fee to list your ad. Classify PRO will not submit to these sites. You will need to decide whether you wish to advertise on one or more of these sites by visiting the site and submitting your ad manually. Classify PRO has direct links to the submission page of each of these sites. These are accessible by right clicking on the site name.

      Manual Sites

       These are free ad sites for which Classify PRO does not have an automated submission script. This is either because it is too difficult to create such a script, the site is too specialised, or a script has not yet been written and may be available in the next upgrade. As with the Pay sites, if you wish to submit your add to one or more of these, you will need to go to the submission page of each site and submit your ad manually.

      Custom Sites

       The custom list is currently not used and will be empty. It is reserved for future use.

      RIP sites

       From time to time some classified sites will go offline. To keep the list current, we review all sites regularly and remove any such site from the main list. Any site that we find no longer works at the time of review, is placed in the RIP list. The RIP list is retained as the problem may have been only temporary. You can select RIP sites and Classify PRO will attempt to submit your ad to each one, however you should expect that at least 95% of these will fail.



     Submitting you Ad

    You should now be ready to submit your add by clicking the [SUBMIT] button. Classify PRO will display a confirmation screen with a summary of your ad.



    This is your last chance to modify any details before submission. If you are happy with everything click the [SUBMIT] button.

    Depending on the speed of your connection, and the number of sites selected, the submission process should take between 2 to 10 minutes.

    Note: All fields that are highlighted in grey are mandatory. Classify PRO will display an error message if one or more of these fields have not been filled in.

    The [SKIP] button is used only in the Enterprise version, and can be used to ignore certain projects in batch submissions.



     Submission Reports

    A comprehensive report is generated at the end of each submission. The report is in HTML and must be viewed using your WWW Browser. To view the report, select the report option from the view menu.

    Two other summary reports are also available. The Project Data Sheet has a summary of what has been submitted, and the Submission summary also has a list of sites where a successful submission has been made. Both of these are also available from the View menu.


    The Main Report

    The main report has the most detailed information on each submission, and includes the actual responce returned by each site.


      Site Name:                     Status:      Last Submitted:   Times: Submit Page: Category:

      1 Free Classified              Pending                            0 submit 
      1 Stop Free Classifieds Timeout                            0 submit 
      1999 Nu                        Pending                            0 submit 
      1st Place Classifieds Submitted                          0 submit 
      A World of Classifieds Submitted                          0 submit 
      A-One Classifieds              Pending                            0 submit 
      AAA Free Classifieds           Pending                            0 submit 
      Ability's Free Classifieds Submitted                          0 submit

      ......

    Submit Status

    The most important part of the report is the status column. This gives you information on each submission. It can be one of the following:

      Submitted - The URL was submitted correctly. By clicking on the submitted link, you can see the status (as generated by the engine) of the submission. This can be used to verify the submission, and check for possible problems.

      Pending - A submission has not been at this time. Either the engine is not selected, is yet to be submitted to, or validates a submission rule, in which case it will not be submitted to.

      Confirm - A submission has been made, but a manual confirmation is required. You should click on this link whenever it is encountered, and follow the instructions given. If not done, the submission may not be complete.

      Unsupported Indicates that Classify PRO has no automated submission script for the engine. This can either mean that the submission process is too complicated to be automated; or it is a low priority engine and a submission script has not yet been written. You have one of two options. Either you can proceed to the engine's submit page and add your site manually, or write your own submission script.

      Failed - Submission has Failed. If you click on the link, the reason for the failure will be given.

      Error - URL has been submitted, however the engine has rejected the submission. This is usually due to bad data. By clicking on the Error link, you can examine the reason, and make the appropriate changes.

      Skipped - A submission to this engine would violate a pre-defined rule and has been skipped. This generally means that your site is not appropriate for this engine.

      Register - You are running an unregistered version of Classify PRO, and the engine is available only in the Registered or Professional version.





    CHAPTER 3

     Saving a Project

    Classify PRO saves changes to your project automatically. This is done before each submission, during a submission, when you exit or load a new project.

    You can force Classify PRO to save your changes by using the Save option from the File menu. Projects can also be saved under a different name using the Save As option.



     Deleting Projects

    To delete a project, right click on a project icon of the project to be deleted, and select the Delete option from the popup menu. Multiple projects can be deleted by selecting more than one project icon. This is done using the mouse while holding down the CTRL key.


    All deletions a permanent, and once deleted, a project can not be restored.



     Resetting a Project

    The Reset option in the Options menu can be used to reset the status of the project. This will restore it to a vanilla state clearing all previous submission status flags.

    This option should be used if you wish to re-submit your ad in a few months time and submit to all sites a second time.

    Note: That there are strict policy guidelines for re-submissions, so please read the Acceptable Use Policy. Frequent re-submissions are considered as a SPAM.




    CHAPTER 4 - Engine Selector

    This chapter covers the engine selector Tab screen in more detail.


     Site Status

    A small icon next to each Classified site name indicates the submission status of that site. The following key explains the meaning of each icon:

    Icon:Meaning: Description:
    Submitted The Ad has been successfully submitted to the site
    Pending A submission has not been made to this site.
    Failed A submission to the site failed or returned an error. The exact cause for the failure is given in the report
    Moved The responce page of this site has moved and Classify PRO has not been able to determine whether the submission has failed or succeeded
    Timeout * An attempt has been made to submit to the site, but the connection timed out before the submission was complete.


    * Note: if you get too many timeout errors, you should either check your proxy settings in preferences, and/or increase the timeout delay value.



    Selection Filtering

    When the engine selector tab is opened, a list of six status icons is displayed on the right hand side of the screen, with a check box and a counter.

    The number after each icon is the counter, and gives the total number of sites in the current list with that status.

    If the checkbox is ticked, sites with that status are displayed in the selector list. By removing the tick, you also remove all sites with that status from the list and they will not be selectable.

    This feature can be used to list only sites that have failed, timed out etc.



     Default Selection Buttons

    At the bottom of the selector screen are four buttons titled Select ALL, Pending, Submitted and Clear.

      Select AllSelect all available sites displayed in the current list.
      PendingSelect all available sites that have not been submitted to. This includes all sites that have failed or timed out.
      SubmittedSelect all sites that have been successfully submitted to in the past.
      ClearDeselect all sites in the current list.




     Selecting All engines

    There is no mechanism in Classify PRO to select ALL the available sites for submission at once, and each engine list (Classifieds, RIP and Custom) needs to be selected separately.

    To select all engines click on each sites list tab followed by the [ Select Button ] button. The [ Pending ] button should be used if you are re-submitting a project so that you do not get duplicate submissions to the same site.






     CHAPTER 5

     Keyword Manager

    The keyword manager dialog is accessed from the view menu.



    A list of up to 15 keywords can be entered in the fields provided. These will be used by some sites to index your ad.

    Note: The most important/relevant keywords should be listed first.



     Status Screen

    Classify PRO submits concurrently to up to 20 sites at a time. The status of each connection can be monitored via the status screen in real time.



    The counters give you the total number of submitted, pending, skipped, failed and submitted. Any site that has not been selected will be skipped, as will sites that are not appropriate for your ad type and category.



    Project History

    Each project has its own submission history, with the time/date and the number of successful submissions of each. to bring up the history window, right click on the project icon and select View > History from the popup menu:



     Customising Classify PRO - The preferences Window

    Preferences and options can be set via the Preferences window. To bring up this window, select Preferences from the Options menu.



      Browser:

      Defines the file and location of the default browser used to view HTML submission reports.

      Proxy:

       If you need to use a Proxy Server to connect to the internet, you should specify the address of the proxy. If you find that you are getting constant 'Host not Found' messages, you should check and make sure that both the address and the port of your proxy are correct.

      Port:

      Specifies the port to use if using a Proxy.

      Timeout:

      The length of time Classify PRO will wait before attempting to Retry and/or abort a network operation. The default value is 8000 milliseconds. You should specify a larger value if you are experiencing frequent timeout abort errors.

      If you specify a smaller delay, Classify PRO will run faster, but may skip engines that are slow to respond. Please note that unless you have a very fast internet connection, you should not use a delay less than 2000 milliseconds as Classify PRO may not function correctly.

      Note: Classify PRO will attempt to retry each failed operation twenty times before issuing an Abort.

      Number of Concurrent Connections:

      Classify PRO can submit to a number of sites concurrently. This parameter defines how many concurrent connections are to be used. the maximum is 20.

      Sort Options:

       The report can be sorted either by site Name, the date of last successful submission.


      Report:

       Whether report files are to be displayed in an existing or new browser window.


      Date Format:

       Dates can either be displayed in DD/MM/YY or MM/DD/YY (default) format.





     CHAPTER 6 - Classify PRO Enterprise


    Overview

    The Enterprise version of Classify PRO has a number of additional features which are not available in the standard version. Most of these are are designed to make the task of submitting multiple projects easier.

    The Enterprise version features are covered in this chapter.



    Batch Submissions

    The Enterprise version of Classify PRO can be used to submit multiple projects as one batch. To submit a batch, you will first need to create a separate project for each ad to be submitted, and enter the details as described in Chapter 2.

    Once all the projects have been created, select all projects to be submitted. This can be done by holding down the SHIFT key and clicking on the project icons in the projects tab screen. The selected icons will be highlighted in blue. By clicking the [ SUBMIT ] button, all selected projects will be submitted one after another.



     Customer Submission Summary Reports

    The Enterprise version creates a summary report for each project in the project directory. This report uses the same filename as the project with the .htm extenssion. These reports are retained pernamently and are intended for the end customer. Unlike the main summary report, these reports can be customized to include a company name, logo etc.



    Customizing Reports

    The look and feel of the customer summary report can be changed by modifying two files in the installation directory called 'header.htm' and 'footer.htm' The header file is prepended to the start of the report, the footer is appended at the end. Both files can contain any valid HTML commands, tags and links.

    Please note that you should have some knowledge of HTML before attempting to modify these files, and we recommend you create a backup before making any changes.



    Importing Project Data

    Classify PRO can build projects from data files created by external sources such as online form submissions. An example of a form which can be loaded directly into Classify PRO is at http://www.classify98.com/form.htm. The output of the form must be decoded into a tagged file format with one field per line. This is the default format of many available formmail CGI's. eg: 
       FIELD_NAME1=VALUE
   FIELD_NAME2=VALUE
    The following field name tags are recognized by Classify PRO:

      FIRST= First Name
      SURNAME= Surname
      TITLE= Title
      COMPANY= Company name
      STREET= Street Address
      CITY= City
      STATE= State
      POSTCODE= State Code (eg: DC)
      COUNTRY= Country
      TEL= Telephone
      FAX= Fax
      MOBILE= Mobile
      TOLLFREE= Toll Free Number
      EMAIL= Email Address
      HEADLINE= Headline of Ad
      ITEM= Item name of item/Service
      PRICE= Price
      DESCRIPTION= Ad Description
      URL= Associated Url
      PHOTO= URL of photo
      USERNAME= Username
      PASSWORD= Passwords
      KEYWORDS= Keywords (eg: keyword1,keyword2)
      CATEGORY2= Category Code
      FIRST2= Replaces FIRST if encountered
      SURNAME2= Replaces SURNAME if encountered
      COMPANY2= Replaces COMPANY if encountered
      STREET2= Replaces STREET if encountered
      CITY2= Replaces CITY if encountered
      STATE2= Replaces STATE if encountered
      POSTCODE2= Replaces POSTCODE if encountered
      COUNTRY2= Replaces COUNTRY if encountered
      TEL2= Replaces TEL if encountered
      FAX2= Replaces FAX if encountered
      MOBILE2= Replaces MOBILE if encountered
      TOLLFREE2= Replaces TOLLFREE if encountered
      EMAIL2= Replaces EMAIL if encountered


    Notes:

    Each field name corresponds directly to an input field of Classify PRO. The contact fields have duplicate tags. eg: ADDRESS and ADDRESS2. These can be used to have two addresses on a single submission form. The first, the contact details of the person making the submission, the second the contact details to be posted with the Ad. If ADDRESS2 is omitted, ADDRESS will be used for the submission.

    The data of all fields must be on a single line with the exception of the DESCRIPTION field which can span several lines. eg:

        DESCRIPTON=Line 1
    Line 2
    Line 3
    Line 4


    The CATEGORY field must have a numerical value representing a code of one of the Classify PRO categories. These values can be found in the 'types.dat' file.

    To import a form submission data file, select the Import option from the File menu.

    The same data can also be imported directly from the clipboard.



    Importing Projects from the Clipboard

    Form submissions in the above described format that are received via email for example, can be imported directly from the windows clipboard.

    Copy the project data from your email client, and select Import Clipboard from the File menu.

    Classify PRO will prompt you for the name of a new project to create. Enter a new name and click OK.

    The new project will be created and all available fields populated using the data from the clipboard.





    Appendix A - Menu Options

    File
    New Project Creates a new Submission Project
    Open Opens an Existing Submission Project File
    Save Saves the current Project
    Save As Saves the current project into a different project file.
    Online Version Check Connects to the Classify PRO home server and check for upgrades. This option can also be used to perform automated software and script upgrades.
    Quit Saves the current project and exits
    View
    Status Displays a Submit Status/Progress Window
    Report Launches the default browser to display the submission report for the current project.
    Date Sheet Displays a Submission details summary page
    Submission Summary Displays a Submission Summary
    Options
    Preferences Brings up Classify PRO preferences Window
    Reset Project Resets the current project. Reports and project history are deleted. The submission status is set to a vanilla state.
    Window
    Status Brings up a submission status window.
    Keyword Manager A dialog to help you enter/maintain a list of keywords for your ad.
    HelpAll Help options are self-explanatory.