phpAuction: web based auction systems

Pre-purchase questions

• 
  GPL Basic, EP Professional and XL Premiium are standard auction packages:
  An increasing-price format for a single lot of merchandise. There is only one winner, the highest bidder at the close time. You can check features comparison table here.

  
  Reverse is for reverse auctions, the direct opposite of a standard auction. In reverse auctions the buyers post the auction and the sellers bid to provide the requested item at lowest possible price.

  
  Classifieds is a classified ads package.

  
  Trading is a trading software. It works very much like a standard auctions package but bidders offer other products in exchange for the items for sale, and eventually a certain amount of money.

  
  Sets are our different solutions combined in one content.

  Which are the differences between your packages?

• No, phpAuction GPL Basic doesn't include any feature to charge fees. EP and XL yes. They do offer this possibility. EP Professional offers Pay and Prepay systems. XL Premium, Classifieds, Trading and Reverse offer Invoicing functionality, as well as Pay and Prepay systems.

  Can I charge fees or a payment process in all the solutions?

• Yes. phpAuction was born and is designed to be customized in your own way. If your plan is to customize the behavior of the software acquire the source code version. If you are satisfied with the standard behavior and just want to change the look & feel, you may acquire after a different template. Please visit our templates section and take a look within our tailor made graphical designs.

  Can phpAuction be customized in my own way?

• 
  Use our phpAuction test compatibility script available at www.phpauction.net. Download it, unzip it, and then upload it somewhere to your server and point your browser to it.

  
  If you are not sure about your server we invite you to check our Hosting service.
  

  Is my server compatible with phpAuction?

• 
  We provide specialized and professional tech support through the Help Desk available at each clients account page. The response time is 24 hours from Monday to Friday and 48 hours on Saturday and Sunday.

  
  Please note that Support is provided for our standards packages. Customizations and tailor made changes should be requested at questions@phpauction.net

  How does phpAuction provide support?

• 
  phpAuction comes in three different versions.

  • GPL Basic: released under GPL license is the simplest basic product inside the phpAuction software family.
  • EP Professional: The entry point if you are planning to start a profitable auction site. It gives you the opportunity to charge your users a certain fees. Includes auction standard features as in advanced packages
  • XL Premiium: is the most complete edition in the phpAuction software family. The recommended package for a profitable auction site, charging for the services provide using different payment methods including paying ?on the fly? or a complete invoicing system.

  
  You may find a comparison table of these products at http://phpauction.net/software-comparison/

  Which phpAuction standard auction package is right for me?

• Yes, you can, but it's not recommended and we do not deliver support Windows operating system. All phpAuction solutions have been successfully tested under different Unix/Linux environments. If you want to use phpAuction software under Windows use Apache Web Server and consider that we will not be able to support the installation.

  Can I run phpAuction products on Windows?

• 
  The key-file checks that the web address under which you are running your phpAuction site. This must be the one you registered when you purchased the software. If it does not match, phpAuction will not run.

  Why do I need a key-file to run phpAuction software? (Except GPL)

• In reverse auctions the buyer (or a contractor) is the user who list the auctions, detailing what he/she wants to buy or a service that needs.
  
  Bidders are the potential sellers. They post the lower possible bid and try this way to win the auction to sell the product or to deliver the service requested by the buyer or contractor.
  

  What are Reverse auctions?

• No we don't. We provide Support through the Help Desk available at each client account page. This is the most efficient and fastest process to help you.

  Does phpAuction provide telephonically support?

• Yes. The terms of the GPL license allow you to make any change to the code, distribute and even sell the software. The original license terms must remain untouched and must be included if you distribute your modified package. The additional code you add must be released under the same license terms (GPL).

  Can I modify - distribute -sell GPL Basic?

• Yes. From your account page you can purchase up to three additional key-files.

  Are additional key-files available for phpAuction packages?

• Yes you can edit it. In the standard encrypted version the core PHP files are encoded except for those necessary to customize the look and feel or the contents of the site. The unencrypted files are: index.php, header.php, footer.php, templates and the files in includes/ containing the email body texts and all the user interface messages.

  Can I edit the look and feel in the encrypted version? Which are the non-encrypted files?

• No. There are two encrypted files, which are responsible to check your key-file against the domain name, for security reasons. All the other ones are non-encrypted. The encrypted files are no relevant in order to customize your site.
  

  In the non-encrypted version are all the files non-encrypted?

• Translating phpAuction solutions to another language is as simple as editing the text files and translate the English texts. All the user's interface messages and e-mail body messages are stored in text files and is just necessary any Text Editor to translate the files.

  How complicated will be the translation to another language?

• Yes you can and it's very simple. From the admin back-end you are able to make graphical customization for basic colors, fonts, logo, width, align, etc.
  If you have css / HTML skills you can edit the templates and improve the customization. Additionally, there are fresh, cool, and original template designs to skin your site. You can take a look at the Templates section

  Can I modify the design layout of phpAuction?

• We do not provide support to users who did not get the package at phpauction.net. Many providers make phpAuction available to their users but they do not keep it up to date and even make some modifications to it. Anyway, we try to help this users having FAQs and forum as public sections. If you bought it with an authorized reseller you should contact him first.

  I am using a phpAuction package but I did not buy it from you. Can I receive support?

• No, phpAuction requires a key-file for each different URL.

  Can I use the same phpAuction license for different installations but under the same domain? IE: www.yourdomain.com/ and yourdomain.com/auction2/

• This will depend on your needs. There are the differences between them:

  • In the Standard encrypted version the core files are encrypted and the scripts cannot be modified. The files related to the look and feel and the text are non-encrypted and they can be modified. If you are only interested in modify the design and texts this package will be the right option.
  • The Non-encrypted version only the two files related to check the key-file are encrypted, the rest of the package is not. If you are interested in edit the scripts and functionality of the package this will be the right option.

  How do I know if I need the encrypted or non-encrypted version?

• 
  XL Premium is the most complete edition in the phpAuction software family and the most powerful package in its market segment.

  
  It is the recommended package if you are going to open a robust - professional auction site, charging fees for the services provide using different payment methods including paying on the fly or a complete invoicing system. Additionally, XL also includes Web Store Module, which is not included in the other packages.

  
  Other high advantage, is the Invoicing capabilities (as well as Classifieds, Reverse and Trading). Invoicing is the most preferred way to get paid of users when running a pro auctions website.

  
  Against other competitors all its characteristics and features that make the most complet on its segment. And a professional team with more than 10 years developing the software.

  What is the advantage of XL Premium against the other packages?

• Yes it does with the multilingual feature. To translate them use the same process described in other FAQs and the User Manual.

  Does phpAuction support right to left languages?

• GPL Basic doesn't need a key-file and it can run in more than one domain.

  Does phpAuction GPL Basic need a key-file? Can it run in more than one domain?

• Yes, phpAuction solutions are 100% re-brandable. You can modify the Copyright note, logo and everything following the License Terms.

  Can I modify the text on the site such as the Copyright note?

• Trading solution is a tailor made version based on our customer's suggestions. With Trading, users will be able to post auctions with no minimum amount to bid on. Instead, users list a product that can be exchanged for other products of interest and also optionally a certain amount of money. Users that post items for, do expose in the description the categories of products in which are interested, and this way, bidders could know if they have something to offer that coincides with the seller's preferences. With Trading packages, bidders and sellers exchange and trade items just like "the old fashion", in the old manners.

  What is phpAuction Trading software for?

• We offer a 30 day money-back guarantee period. Please check our Refund policy section for more info.
  

  Which is phpAuction refund policy?

• The license is a one-time fee. Support and updates are free for the first year. If you are interested in continue with support and updates service you should contract them after.

  What does include the license fee?

• 
  We provide support for our STANDARD packages only. Support requests concerning modifications to an auction are not considered support problems. Any problems caused by any modifications that were not performed directly by phpAuction are not considered support issues either.

  
  Support is provided exclusively by the on-line Help Desk. 

  Which is the Support policy?