vB Easy Auction v1.1

vB Easy Auction v1.1
by yoyoyoyo

Don't let the length of this post fool you... this is actually very simple to setup... I just tend to get long-winded at times...

WHAT YOU NEED:

* vBulletin Software (for vBulletin integration - the perl files will work fine without vBulletin)
* Web server account that has CGI capabilities, and will allow you to run executable cgi files.
* Perl 5.6 or better installed on that web server. Contact your server administrator if you are unsure (most servers are running version 5.8.X, so this should not be a problem). If you do not have perl installed then read a little further below about perlsp.
* Access to either Sendmail, BLAT, or Sockets mail. No mail can be sent without at least ONE of the above. If you are using either BLAT or Sockets mail (NT users usually), you will also need access to an SMTP mail server. Contact your server administrator to find out if you do. Note: the SMTP mail server needs to allow the user to send mail without requiring them to log into the server.

OVERVIEW

This will add auctions to your site quickly and easily. Simply edit the auction.pl file and admin.pl files to reflect your server's filepaths, etc., and then upload the files to your server. Create a template and make a couple edits to your vbulletin files to allow navigation to your auctions and that is it! The core of the auction is based on a HEAVILY modified version of EveryAuction Release Version 1.53, and can be further edited or modified to suit your needs, as long as you follow the GNU public license.

SEE POST #1 OF THIS THREAD FOR INSTALL INFO, ETC.

If members of your site are interested in participating in the auctions then they need to register for them also, since this is not integrated with the vBulletin database for security reasons (since people put actual contact info, etc. in their auction registrations).

FEATURES

• a comprehensive, professional user interface that makes navigation simple
• auction classifieds or traditional auction settings
• configuration takes only a few minutes if perl is installed on your system
• colors and tables can be easily changed to match the look and feel of your system
• supports HTML front-ends
• unlimited categories and items
• category listing lists number of open items per category
• item listings list items, closing time, and current bid
• automated e-mail validation registration system keeps non-legitimate users out of your database
• system generated easy-to-remember (and user changeable) passwords sent to users via e-mail
• users must "sign" an agreement upon registration.
• optional non-registration mode allows fast posting or bidding by anyone
• users may update their contact information, password or Registration E-Mail.
• any registered user can post an item using the easy-to-use submission system
• images can be posted along with an item description and starting bid
• supports reserve prices which allow a seller to set a minimum sell price above the minimum bid
• seller determines minimum bid increment and length of the auction
• item preview before an item is actually posted
• each item is given a unique ID number and URL, so sellers can advertise their auctions in newsgroups or via a link
• item display lists bidding history and product information
• displays Closed items in a table with Radio Buttons for Selection
• bidding is easy with the minimum bid price displayed on the item page along with a quick bid form
• sellers can choose the ending time of an auction
• amount of time left in each auction is displayed in the listing
• outbid e-mails automatically sent by the system with a link back to the auction item
• sniper protection: auctions can close a configurable time after the last bid and the designated closing time, or the admin can choose to disable the sniper protection
• integrated search engine allows search by username or keyword
• users can view closed auction history and contact information depending on whether he/she is the buyer, seller, or losing bidder
• auction items may be deleted or updated by the system administrator using a password
• e-mail sent to both high-bidder and seller on auction close
• fast re-posting of items that were not sold
• data file construction allows experienced administrators to add, remove, or edit items or users by simply editing a plain text file
• everything is compressed into a single lightning-fast perl script
• advanced file locking system eliminates the risk of data corruption even during heavy bidding
• separate secure Admin Console
• pagebreaks in listings
• automatically updates the bids on the item display page
• seller can edit an auction if there are no bids.
• auto-prune of old inactive user data (admin specified length of time)
• prevents email registration from the same address more then once
• users must enter valid e-mail addresses when signing up for the auctions.
• enter e-mail addresses twice
• "e-mail auction to friend" option
• view all auctions option

LEGAL NOTICE

Version: vB Easy Auction 1.0
Last update: 07/20/2005

This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License
as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2
of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
See the GNU General Public License for more details.

modifications and integration with vbulletin
released at vbulletin.org by yoyoyoyo
No additional rights reserved by the author

Matt Hahnfeld DBA EverySoft expressly emphasizes that
this program is *NOT* an official release version of
EveryAuction, and that this program is *NOT* sanctioned
or distributed by Matt Hahnfeld DBA EverySoft.

Dieter Werner expressly emphasizes that
this program is *NOT* an official release version of
eAuction, and that this program is *NOT* sanctioned
or distributed by Dieter Werner.

vB Easy Auction for vBulletin is not affiliated with eBay or jelsoft or any affiliated companies.

The author of this release agrees to these statements absolutely.

VERSION 1.1: Added the optional ability to allow users to create their own auction sites using the easy-auction ezauctgn.zip script.

PLEASE CLICK INSTALL IF YOU FIND THIS USEFUL!

[enginethatcan't]

I havn't installed -- but from what I have read....would be cool if there could be "auction feedback" for each user.

[PixelFx]

Originally Posted by RichieBoy67

I wish I could say that it was an idea I had and take credit but it was purely accidental.....lol It does take some serious editing though to do it this way but it's pretty easy.....

Great Hack.. One of the best I think..

how hard would it be to make an addon so this uses the ucash/ushop addon, or points rather than real money?

[icecube0045]

Hmm, While I was reading the installation instructions I got very lost because it says make the chnages necessary in each php file but how do I know the changes that needs to be changed? I am somewhat of a newb to this.

[icecube0045]

Originally Posted by enginethatcan't

I havn't installed -- but from what I have read....would be cool if there could be "auction feedback" for each user.

Well you can use the trader feedback hack and just have the members enter the url of the auction

[yoyoyoyo]

Originally Posted by enginethatcan't

I havn't installed -- but from what I have read....would be cool if there could be "auction feedback" for each user.

You can add the feedback addon that is available at the addon database if you want, but I left it off due to the fact that I felt that 2 different feedback ratings on my site would be confusing. The mod is there and it looks easy to add in - give it a try I also left off "buy it now features," but you can add those, or use eAuction or another version of this script that is mentioned in the first post, which already has some of those features built in.

[yoyoyoyo]

Originally Posted by icecube0045

Hmm, While I was reading the installation instructions I got very lost because it says make the chnages necessary in each php file but how do I know the changes that needs to be changed? I am somewhat of a newb to this.

There are only 2 files you need to edit: auction.pl, and admin.pl. The php file does not need to be edited. Open the files in a text editor and read the config area - it is well-documented.

Also use the info.cgi script that came with the file to determine things like the file path, as mentioned in previous posts.

After you get the script running you can add the categories you wnat, etc., but for now just try the base script with the default categories, and edit the settings below in the config area of the auction.pl script (the area at the top). These are the main settings you need to worry about in the config area- the rest have been deleted in the example below since they can be left at default to get your script up and running, so be sure to edit those as well. The settings below are only for EXAMPLE, and are not meant to be pasted in to your script, since they are already there!:

# The Base Directory. We need an
# absolute path for the base directory.
# Include the trailing slash. THIS SHOULD
# NOT BE WEB-ACCESSIBLE!
# **CHANGE THIS TO SUIT YOUR SERVER**

$config{'basepath'} = '/home/yoursite/public_html/cgi-bin/auction/';

# This is the password for deleting auction
# items.
# **CHANGE THIS FOR SECURITY REASONS**

$config{'adminpass'} = 'password';

# You need to assign either a mail program or
# a mail host so confirmation e-mails can
# be sent out.
# Leave one commented and one uncommented.
#
# YOU NEED EITHER A MAIL PROGRAM
# $config{'mailprog'} = '/usr/lib/sendmail -t';
#
# OR YOU NEED A MAIL HOST (SMTP)
# **CHANGE THIS TO SUIT YOUR SERVER**

$config{'mailhost'} = 'localhost';

# This line should be your e-mail address
# **CHANGE THIS TO SUIT YOUR SERVER**

$config{'admin_address'} = 'admin@yoursite.com';

# This line should point to the URL of
# your server. It will be used for sending
# "you have been outbid" e-mail. The script
# name and auction will be appended to the
# end automatically, so DO NOT use a trailing
# slash. If you do not want to send outbid
# e-mail, leave this blank.
# **CHANGE THIS TO SUIT YOUR SERVER**

$config{'scripturl'} = 'http://www.yoursite.com';

# URL TO THE "MAIL TO FRIEND" ICON

$config{'mfriendicon'} = '<IMG border=0 alt="envelope" height=9 width=13 src="http://yoursite.com/cgi-bin/auction/images/mail.gif">';

For the admin.pl script you can just simply enter the same settings you entered for the auction.pl script, or you can just cut and paste the entire config area from the auction.pl in to the admin.pl script, replacing the config area in that script (you don't want 2 config areas of any script!).

[enginethatcan't]

what's the average setup time?

[yoyoyoyo]

Originally Posted by enginethatcan't

what's the average setup time?

It should only take a few minutes as long as you edit the config area of the auction.pl script, especially the areas noted in the post above.

After you do that you can test the functionality of the auction.pl script without even editing a vbulletin template by just going to the URL for your auction.pl file and checking it out before you go to the bother of editing your ACP index file, etc., to see if it is something you think would be useful, or will work on your server.

All you need to do to test the functionality of the script is edit the basepath url to match the full filepath on your server to that file, which is the top setting in the auction.pl config area.. the rest can be edited later after you get it running.

1 file edit and a CHMOD shouldn't take too long

[yoyoyoyo]

QUICK & EASY 1-2-3 INSTRUCTIONS FOR INSTALLING & TESTING:

1) upload the contents of the cgi-bin folder in the file to your cgi-bin directory on your server, creating a subdirectory named 'auction,' and CHMOD that new directory to 755 along with the subdirectories, contents etc..

2) Go to your web browser and type in:

http://yoursite.com/cgi-bin/auction/info.cgi

and you should see a screen that lists all of your server variables. Go to the line that says: "SCRIPT_FILENAME" and note what it says. Look at the "SCRIPT_FILENAME" setting display and it will look something like:

/home/yoursite/public_html/cgi-bin/auction/info.cgi

3) just cut off the info.cgi from the end of the "SCRIPT_FILENAME" path you discovered in the previous step and that is your needed filepath. Just paste that info in here:

$config{'basepath'} = '/home/yoursite/public_html/cgi-bin/auction/';

in your auction.pl script and reupload it to your site's cgi-bin directory, making sure that it is CHMOD'ed to 755.

If you follow those steps correctly you should see the auction.pl script display properly at:

http://yoursite.com/cgi-bin/auction/auction.pl

If you get errors then recheck your file path and edits and CHMOD settings. If you still get errors then it is most likely a server issue, as long as you make sure you followed the above steps.

Once you have the script running you should edit the other areas of the config area, such as site name, etc., but that is all you need to worry about to test the auction.pl script on your site.

[MrNase]

Something like this based on PHP and MySQL would be awsome