FAQs - phpAuction.net: web based auction software

Administration Backend

• Yes.
  The license key file will only work in the registered domain.
  After you purchased Phpauction XL you'll have to login into your account and generate the key-file that will let you run the package under the domain you provided.
  

  Can Phpauction XL run only under the domain name I provided when I purchased it?

• If the upgrade of the scripts available through our patches database does not work, check that the admin/backup directory has write permissions for PHP scripts on your server.
  
  Also, the files you are going to upgrade must be writable. You should give those files write permissions before running the upgrade script and set permissions back to a safer permissions configuration after the upgrade.
  
  Some files are new files that actually do not exist in your installation. In that case, the background color of the row should be in green color. In such case, you would need to set permissions not to the file (because it actually does not exists) but to the directory where it will be written. It could be our "installation_directory" or the "admin" or perhaps the "includes" directory and after the upgrade set permissions back to safer permissions to the recently modified directory

  I cannot run the Upgrades and Updates tool from my administration backend

• Upload the new key-file in the includes/ directory and replace the old one.

  Where should I upload the key file?

• One of the most interesting and exciting features of Phpauction XL is the ability to create custom fields for your site on a category basis for niche auctions sites.
  
  This means you, as the site's administrator, will be able to add up to ten additional text fields and ten additional numeric fields for auctions that will be listed under specific categories.
  
  Different fields can be added for different categories.
  The custom fields will be available for sellers when listing an auction - depending on the category under which the auction will go - and will also available in the advanced search form.
  
  An example: Automotive Auctions Site
  Say you are a car dealer and want to set up an auction site to sell your stocks.
  
  After the package is installed the first step is to define the categories for you site: this can easily be done from the administration backend. Details on creating a custom categories tree are provided in the administration backend and in the administration manual but we will give a simple example here building a 1 level categories structure (with no subcategories).
  
  Create a text file and save it in the admin/ directory of your installation as categories.txt
  
  Once your categories are defined you can proceed to add the custom fields for the auctions listed under each of them. In this example we will assume you are going to add the same custom fields for all the categories you previously defined, but note that different fields can be added for each category or groups of categories.
  
  Access your site's administration backend: click on the AUCTIONS option in the left side bar. Once the AUCTIONS menu displays click on the Variant Labels Table option.
  In the Variant Labels Table select all your categories in the select box. Add your custom text fields in the txt0 to txt9 fields. Then add your numeric custom fields in the num0 to num9 fields. Click on the Process changes button. Your custom fields are now added to all your categories.
  If you now access the site's front-end, register one user and after logging in access the Sell an item page, you'll see the custom fields are available besides the standard auction fields. The advanced search will also reflect your custom fields. Click on the Advanced Search link besides the simple search fields in the header of your site. Then select one of your categories from the Search in categories field. The page will reload also showing the possibility to search by any one of your custom fields.
  Of course accessing the auction's page, the custom fields will be shown among the other standard fields.
  

  Building Niche sites with Phpauction XL

• The Updates & Upgrades Tool is within your Admin Backend > Tools > Updates & Upgrades Tool
  
  This tool is useful when you get problems or bugs in your auction site.
  
  As soon as a bug is found is immediately fixed and placed in this tool. Please download the patches here to have your software updated to the most recent versions and patches.
  

  How do I get patches from bugs or problems? Updates & Upgrades Tool

• Well, the bids works with proxy bid like eBay does.
  
  If any user bids an amount larger than the current minimum bid to win, it will be "hidden" as proxy bid in the table PHPAUCTIONXL_proxybid and the "visible" bid will be the minimum to win.
  
  And the proxybid will remain until any other auction is higher than the hidden proxy bid.
  
  

  Proxy bidding (aparent bids error)

• Yes, the invoice is really basic. There 3 files to enhace with HTML your invoices, and they are:
  
  includes/invoice_footer_text.EN.inc.txt
  includes/invoice_header_text.EN.inc.txt
  includes/invoice.EN.inc.txt
  

  I want to have a more professional email when sending a invoice. It now is a simple text file. Looks like plain.