Rapid Classified: Frequently asked questions

I. Setup
How easy it is to install Rapid Classified? Direct Link to THIS Answer Rapid Classified is very easy to install. First, you need to acquire a web space at Windows hosting and be able to access your site via FTP (for web hosting recommendations see: http://www.4u2ges.com/custom.asp). Windows Web server (IIS) has to be 32 bit. Otherwise talk to your hosting support about switching to 32 bit mode for application pool. Application installation wizard is provided within setup manual, which comes with every version of Rapid Classified. It does not require any knowledge of programming - just general computer skills. The rest of the installation is done automatically by running online setup wizard and entering information in browser. The base installation is $49. Review setup manual, if you are unable to install application at the hosting, make sure to follow guidelines below: Before applying for a setup, make sure your site resides on Windows hosting – NOT Linux, Apache server. Make sure your site could be located on the internet (proper and propagated DNS) . Make a database selection to install application with (MS Access, MSSQL, MySQL) Make sure an application pool is switched to 32 bit. Provide the following information via contact form: * FTP access to your site. * Access to hosting control panel. * Folder name to install the application in (if other than the default - site root). If your hosting control panel does not provide the ability to set permissions, you would need to contact hosting support after we upload application files/folder to your web space. Installation could only continue after appropriate permissions are in place. Installation should be complete in 24 hours. Some delays are possible, should there be unexpected complications with hosting. Please note: we only provide a base installation. Maintenance, configuration, customization and additional scripts or plug-ins installation is not covered. Please refer to: http://www.4u2ges.com/custom.asp How do I upgrade Rapid Classified? Direct Link to THIS Answer This article only relates to physical software upgrades - not the license upgrades. The version number of the installation you are currently running can be gathered in following places (some of the following below does not apply in certain versions): setup_manual.pdf - located in "Manual" folder within the distribution package. copyright information at the bottom of the site (if not removed). online admin help manual header. open the source for any classified page in browser (right mouse click on a page > View Source) and look at the top of the source. Navigate to Admin Tasks page and look below block of admin links (v3.2c, v3.15, v3.3, v4.0 only). If you are running: Version 2.3 or older Direct upgrade to newer versions is not available. Version 3.0 Can be directly upgraded to v3.1 only. Upgrade scripts enclosed within v3.1 software package. Version 3.1 Can be directly upgraded to v3.2 only. Upgrade scripts enclosed within v3.2 software package. Version 3.2 Can be directly upgraded to v3.2c, v3.3 and v4.0. Review upgrade instructions for v3.2c or download upgrade kit for v3.3, v4.0 Version 3.2c Can be directly upgraded to v3.3 and v4.0. Download upgrade kit for v3.3, v4.0 Version 3.3 Can be directly upgraded to v4.0. Download upgrade kit for v4.0 Version 3.15 Can be directly upgraded to v3.2c, v3.3 and 4.0. Review upgrade instructions for v3.2c or download upgrade kit for v3.3, v4.0 What are the Web Server requirements for Rapid Classified Installation Direct Link to THIS Answer Rapid Classified must be installed on Windows web hosting. Following is a general windows IIS server and hosting control panel requirements. Most of the Windows hosting companies offer Windows 2003-2008 web servers, which comply with requirements below. Windows IIS web server v5.0-7.0 (no clustering or load-balancing). In case of 64 bit Windows Operating System, a 32 bit emulation mode must be set for the web site. ASP VBScript Engine v5.5 (or better) and ASP.NET v2.0 (no emulators such as Chilisoft ASP) Web Server Must provide Sessions support "FileSystemObject" (FSO) component support by a web server (support for back-path desirable) Ability to set permissions for individual folders "ActiveX Data Object" (ADO) component Support for at least one Email component from the following: CDONTS, CDOSYS, JMail, ASPMail, ASPEmail MS Access 2000 - 2007 database support or Empty MSSQL database or Empty MySQL database Optional server components (availability of the listed components below does not affect software performance): ASPUpload (from persists software) - for uploading images. If this component is not available, uploads are still possible with built-in pure ASP component. (Only in RC v3.3/v4.0) Helicon ISAPI rewrite or Rewrite module v2.0 for IIS 7.0 - for URL rewriting. If not available, then optional URL rewriting is not possible. (Only in RC v3.3/v4.0) ASPJpeg (from persists software) - for resizing image attachments. If this component is not available, image resizing is still possible with built-in ASP.NET component. What are Rapid Classified management requiements? Direct Link to THIS Answer Following is a general requirements for running and managing Rapid Classified: New or existed website (at Windows Hosting) with FTP access (where to host) Any FTP client application (free FTP client - FileZilla) Any Basic text files editor (free Editor - Notepad ++) Moderate computer skills and ability to follow instructions General knowledge of web site management (review your website hosting documentation) Any level of HTML/ASP/CSS skills desired but not required Can I run Rapid Classified On a Linux Apache Web Server which supports ASP? Direct Link to THIS Answer To be brief... no. There is no reliable ASP VBScript emulators for Linux which are 100% compatible with the generic VBScript syntax. Where can I find a Host which, is 100% compatible with Rapid Classified? Direct Link to THIS Answer Rapid Classified is an ASP application and must operate on Windows Hosting. An extensive Web Hosting providers list could be found at aspin.com. All of them offer Windows Hosting and most are compatible with Rapid Classified. You may send an inquiry to the hosting company with RC requirements before renting a web space. The list is located at: http://www.codango.com/asp/dir/hosting/ You may also look at the list of Rapid Classified featured developers some of which offer a reliable, fully RC compatible Windows hosting: Look up NOT Recommended: godaddy.com, 1and1.com I cannot run Setup on my home server. The page stays blank or Error 500 displayed. Direct Link to THIS Answer You have anti-virus software installed on your server which has "Enable script blocking" turned on. This feature effectively blocks the File System Object (FSO) on the server, which is necessary for Rapid Classified to run properly. Solution: Disable "Enable Script Blocking" feature within anti-virus software configuration page. While running !setup.asp I received message [Write to db/banners/cl_upload Folders] FAILED. Direct Link to THIS Answer You may also receive "Delete from db/banners/cl_upload Folders" FAILED. In addition, you may also receive Permission denied /libraries.asp, line 55 while maintaining classified at different pages. Since all warnings and errors have the same nature, follow recommendations below for solutions. Following folders within Rapid Classified installation require special permissions for a proper operation: "db" - Access database location, banners rotator statistics "cl_upload" - Uploaded image attachments location "banners" - Banner Images location "content" - Dynamic Content pages (v3.2/3.2c/3.3 or v3.1 Premium) "css" - Style sheets location (v3.2c/v3.3/v4.0) "ads" - Cached ads location (optional but recommended - used if ads caching enabled later on) "img" - Images folder (v3.3/v4.0) "config" - configuration folder (v3.3/v4.0) First - Make sure folders are actually exist within your Rapid Classified installation and properly pointed in "config/config.asp" configuration page. If you did not move any folders away from the root of your installation, then you should not worry about setting a proper path in "config/config.asp". The path is already set and properly pointed. Second - All above folders must have a "Write" and "Delete" security permissions (or "Modify" permission) for the successful board operation. By default (with a rare exception) ALL your website folders and files you create, assigned "Read" only permission automatically. Meaning no new files can be created/deleted on your site from within the ASP script code. However in order to upload/delete image attachment to the ad for instance, the above mentioned permissions must be set on the server so that the script routine is able to perform necessary operation (write a new image file when it is attached to the ad or delete image when ad is deleted from database). In a rare case your web space provider sets necessary permissions (Read/Write/Delete) when created your account (jodohost.com for instance). The approach to setting permissions is different depending on whether you run Classified setup at your home server or at your provider's public server: Home Server (XP, Windows 2000 Server, Windows 2003) You have to manually set security (also knows as NTFS - NT File System) permissions. Note: Do not confuse folder security permissions with permissions set from within IIS console for your web site. Security permissions are set from the folder properties window. While looking at your classified installation from "Windows Explorer" (Flag+E to start) right mouse click on the selected folder ("db" for instance) and select "Properties" from a context menu. Click on the "security" tab. Note: If you do not see "Security" tab, you need to disable "Use Simple File Sharing" from: Control Panel > Folder Options > View. Scroll down and remove check box next to "Use Simple File Sharing". While at the "security" tab select "Everyone" group and check "Allow" next to "Modify" permission. This action will automatically set "Write/Delete" permissions for the selected folder. Repeat the same for all other required folders to have those permissions. Public Web Server Some of the hosts may allow you to set necessary permissions via "Control Panel/Web Site Management Page". This page will most certainly vary from host to host. Therefore you should consult your host or look for the documentation provided by your host for this matter. The goal is to find 8 folders ("db", "cl_upload", "banners", "content", ads", "css", "img", "config") within folders/files list and perform necessary steps to set "Write" and "Delete" permissions for folders (on some hosting servers you may need to set "Modify" permission). Note: The list of folders provided for v3.3/v4.0. See the setup_manual.pdf for the respective list of folders. If your host do not allow you to set security permissions, send a request so that the server administrator sets permissions for your. Note: The routine which evaluates permissions during setup is quite simple and reliable. If you or your host set permissions but you still getting the same error warning be absolutely sure that permissions are not properly set. If you set permissions for 2 folders and missed 1, you will still get the this warning. Example of folders permissions set at godaddy.com control panel. Note: "db" folder was renamed to "db_root" at this particular installation: View Note: It is preferred that you remove "web" permission from the "db" and "content" folders, so that folders content is not revealed when someone navigates to that folders in a browser. "web" permission may or may not be available within site Control Panel but always available in IIS Manager on web server. First Thing to do after the Setup is complete! Direct Link to THIS Answer If you complete setting up your Classified on the public server, remove following pages from your server before opening your board to public: !setup.asp, !access_setup.asp, !mssql_setup.asp, !mysql_setup.asp. Note: For v3.3/v4.0 remove !setup.asp, !setup_datbase.asp Leaving those pages on the server poses a great threat while anyone can reset your Admin password and gain a full control to your board! For more information see the first chapter in an online Admin Help manual. The most Important Setting within Admin Preferences! Direct Link to THIS Answer It is a "Site URL". The Fully Qualified URL path (started with http://) to the classified board location must be manually entered to this field and ended with a slash (/). This setting is used in a variety of aspects of Rapid Classified board. The failure to provide a correct URL will bare in an incorrect URL links sent to your clients within Email notifications. The individual ads Print Friendly page will not be displayed properly, Ads caching will not work at all, the bullet images for ticker would display a red cross and be unavailable. Finally, if you use your board in Pay Mode, the payment processor will not function because the merchant server will not find your site and will not post credit purchased by your clients. To easy identify the incorrect Site URL setting, glance at the scrolling ads ticker (at list one ad has to be posted). If you see a red cross in place of the bullet - the Site URL in Admin preferences is incorrect. Go to Admin Preferences, correct the URL, Save the settings. Important: After you changed Site URL and saved settings, click "Reset Server Cache" button at the bottom of Admin preferences page, navigate to the default (main) page and look at the ads ticker bullets. If bullets still display a red cross, then the Site URL you specify is still incorrect. Make sure to correct it at the Admin Preferences page. Where can I find additional plug-ins and modules for Rapid Classified? Direct Link to THIS Answer If you are running premium edition of Rapid Classified, then view all available modules in "Extras" folder within downloaded RC package. Additional modules can be found HERE. Depending on version you are currently running, some plug-ins might be pre-installed. Can the classified be easily translated into other languages? Where do I change a text on pages? Direct Link to THIS Answer Yes, it can. All static text at the classified pages is converted into constants and concentrated in a few lingual pages in "language" folder. For more information about translation/static text modification see online "Admin Help > Translation/Static Text Modification" at your classified installation or at the classified demo: View Help Note: Default package for any Rapid Classified version comes with lingual pages in English only. Where do I change a Watermark appearing over the images after upload? Direct Link to THIS Answer If you are running RC v3.3/v4.0, then use Miscellaneous Configs admin page to change watermark properties. Otherwise follow guidelines below. Watermark properties may be changed by editing the config/img_config.asp or config/dotnet_img_config.asp page in any text editor. config/img_config.asp - by default in v3.1/v3.2 or in v3.15/v3.2c if ASPJpeg is set in Admin Preferences for [Image Resizing and CAPTCHA] method. config/dotnet_img_config.asp - in v3.1/v3.2 if ASP.NET resizer plug-in is installed or in v3.15/v3.2c if ASP.NET is set in Admin Preferences for [Image Resizing and CAPTCHA] method. Note: Watermark may not be changed for images uploaded prior to the configuration file change.
II. First Run
I CANNOT logon to Admin Page. What is wrong? Direct Link to THIS Answer LOST ADMI ID AND/OR PASSWORD There is no way to recover Admin ID and password if it was lost. The only way to logon to the board as Administrator is to generate a logon state. Create the recover.asp page containing the following lines (page could have any name with .asp extension. This solution is only for v3.2, v3.2c, v3.3, v4.0): <!--#include file="header.asp"--> <% Sess_Array(48) = Session.SessionID Response.Cookies("admin_loggedin" & strSUnique) = Session.SessionID UpdateSessions True Response.Redirect "admin_config.asp" %> <!--#include file="footer.asp"--> Upload this page to classified location. Run it in a browser. Like for instance, if you created a page named recover.asp, then run it as: http://my_domain.com/recover.asp Reset admin ID and password once you redirected to Admin Preferences page. To test, log out and back in with new ID/Password. Delete uploaded recover.asp page from RC installation thereafter. OTHER PROBLEMS Your Browser might not support cookies and/or javascript (try different browsers first). In order to logon as Administrator or create a User account your Browser must support cookies. If you disable cookies for all web sites except those specified as an exception, make sure to include your site into this list within Browser privacy settings. Summary of solution: Try different browsers. Enable cookies/sessions support in your browsers. Include your site into the list of trusted sites within Browser privacy setting. Make sure your firewall/anti-virus software does not block site cookies/sessions. Clear Browser cache and cookies and restart Browser. Make sure your site is not hosted on clustered or load balanced server. If you were able to logon after setting up the site and then all of a sudden you lost that ability, make sure to follow all of the above and then if the problem still persists review the following: If you (or your developer) made ANY amendments to the scripts (ASP/Javascript), then UNDO the changes and try to logon again. There is chance, that some of the new/amended code conflicts with logon routine. If you inserted a Javascript/HTML/ASP code into templates in Content Management, then remove it and try to logon again. Important: make sure you deleted all setup files at the web site started with [!]. If you leave those after installation security might be compromised, someone could logon to admin area and change admin logon ID and password. I CAN logon to Admin Page or as a User but being logged out after browsing just a few pages. Direct Link to THIS Answer Your Web Server Does Not properly handles Sessions. What are sessions? When you open a web site in a browser, the web server begins a communication with your browser. After the connection is established a token of data is written to server's memory which uniquely identifies you among other clients. This token has a unique ID and may hold an additional information supplied by an application. This is called a Session. ASP application is able to read/write data to the session effectively controlling user logon state. When your application is hosted on a Load Balanced or Clustered servers farm, each time you load a new page in a browser, you may be attached to a different server, which is not aware about Session you have established prior. Therefore, you're effectively getting logged out because there is no logon information available to validate you as being logged on. The only way to overcome this behavior is to move your web site/application to a stand-alone shared server and make sure the server is properly handles sessions. While posting ads by clicking [Submit..], users logged out immediately and the ad is not posted. Direct Link to THIS Answer Version v3.1 The session expiration time is set to low value on the web server. The logon state session expires because of inactivity while user fills the last post ad page. To extend session for Rapid Classified Application, open config/config.asp configuration page in any text editor and insert line: Session.Timeout = 25 anywhere on this page. 25 represents the time in minutes before session expired because of inactivity. Do not set this value to an extensive (over 30-40 minutes) period because it will affect server's performance specifically if you have a great number of visitors. Note: Depending on server configuration, this solution might or might not work. Inquire your hosting support in this case. Version v3.2 / v3.2c / v3.15 / v3.3 / v4.0 2 hours is the default session for user logon state. That is user has 2 hours to complete filling ads data by default. I enabled a Full Mode and both side bars display Error 500 - Page cannot be displayed. Direct Link to THIS Answer This only relates to Version v3.1 Your web server configured to reject a "Back-Path" pointers. Solution: Open both, right_long.asp and left_long.asp pages from "Advert" Folder in any HTML editor. Find Line: <!--#include file="../config/unique.asp"--> at the top of the page. Replace it with: <!--#include virtual="/RC_Location/config/unique.asp"--> Where "/RC_Location" is the path to your Classified, relative to the domain root. Example 1: If the classified is located in: http://www.your_domain.com/classified/RC then the path would be: <!--#include virtual="/classified/RC/config/unique.asp"--> Example 2: If classified is located directly at the root like: http://www.your_domain.com then the path would be: <!--#include virtual="/config/unique.asp"--> I got Error: Page: config/config.asp, Error Number: -2147467259, Error Description: Unspecified error Direct Link to THIS Answer This Error is related to an ADO failure on the server (mostly with Access 2003 database). Talk to your hosting support regarding this problem. Email notification is not functioning. Direct Link to THIS Answer Please see the article, which covers all email related problems. I Cannot Upload Images at All Direct Link to THIS Answer First, try uploading images smaller than 200 kb. If image is uploaded without error, but uploading images over 200 produce an error, then view other article – "I Cannot Upload Images over 200 kb”. Here are steps for troubleshooting the case when you cannot upload images at all: Make sure "cl_upload” folder present at your installation. Make sure "cl_upload” folder has "Modify” permission assigned. View this article for more details: http://www.4u2ges.com/faq.asp?id=14 If you just moved your site from one hosting to another, make sure not only assign permissions to "cl_upload” folder but also verify that the CONTENT of this folder (other folders and files inside it) are also assigned "Modify” permission. In other words, assigned permissions propagated inside this folder. If using .NET resizer plug-in in v3.1 or selected ASP.NET resizing method in v3.15/3.2c/3.3/4.0, then the problem with uploading images relate to ASP.NET configuration. Make sure the account, which handles .NET applications (usually "NETWORK" or "NETWORK SERVICE" or "IWAM_...") assigned "Modify” permission to "cl_upload” folder. There is also a chance that ASP.NET is not properly configured and installed at web server. Consult hosting support and online hosting documentation. Note: The ASP.NET must be properly installed and configured at your web site. If you receive the "Server Error in '/' Application", "Service is not Available", "Service is not properly configured", "Configuration Error" after you assigned appropriate permissions to "cl_upload" folder, then you need to apply to your hosting support for resolution. I Cannot Upload Images over 200 kb Direct Link to THIS Answer Windows 2003/2008 servers (IIS6.0/IIS7.0) configured to prevent uploading files over 200kb by default. Contact your host and ask them to increase the default upload limit. Here is a set of instructions: IIS 6.0 on Windows 2003 has a file named metabase.xml which resides in the folder: C:\Windows\system32\inetsrv . By default, this file has this entry: AspMaxRequestEntityAllowed = "204800" This limits upload size to 204,800 bytes. You can change that to a large value (such as 20480000 for 20 MB for instance) to allow your Windows 2003 server to accept large uploads. You would need to stop IIS before you can edit this file. Note: In IIS7.0 this configuration is available in generic IIS manager. I'm getting [Microsoft VBScript runtime error - Permission Denied] error when run certain pages. Direct Link to THIS Answer Regardless what page this error is displayed at classified, it only relates to missing folders permissions at your site. When you installed classified, a write/delete (or modify) permissions supposed to be assigned to some folders (and most importantly to their content - child objects) as per setup instructions. There are many circumstances when permissions might be improperly assigned or simply lost due to changes on web server, account maintenance by hosting service ...etc. To troubleshoot, first look in "Permissions check" admin page to see if some or all folders have "OK" status for permissions. If not, go ahead and reassign permissions via hosting control panel or by applying to hosting support. If permissions are "OK" for all folders on "Permissions check" admin page but you still getting this error, then permissions were not propagated to listed folders content - child objects (child objects simply means sub-folders, and files within given folder). While assigning permissions at hosting control panel, you might wish to look for the "check box" allowing to automatically propagate assigned permissions to child objects inside the folder. If you do not have such a check box/setting within file manage at hosting control panel and still getting error, then contact hosting support and ask them to manually apply permissions for necessary folders and ALL child objects within them. Again, for the folders list see Setup Manual or "Permissions check" admin page.
III. Classified Board Operations
I forgot my logon to Admin Page. How can I restore it? Direct Link to THIS Answer For the Admin Page access restore please see the last chapter of Setup_Manual.pdf, which is located in "Manuals" folder within the Rapid Classified package you have downloaded. I have a question regarding Rapid Classified board operation. Direct Link to THIS Answer There are 2 manuals come with Rapid Classified board package. Setup_Manual.pdf - is a setup guide for the first time installation of the classified board. Most of the answers related to initial (before you run setup) board configurations can be found here. An online Admin Guide - Once you set your board up, logon to Admin page and select "Admin Help". Most of the answers related to the classified board operation and configurations can be found there. Tip: If you are running v3.2 / v3.2c / v3.15 / v3.3 / v4.0, then use search feature of an online admin help. If you did not find the answer in any of the above manuals post your question to the forum or if you're holding a Rapid Classified license use contact form. I would like to add a new feature to my installation or customize application. Can I ask you for help? Direct Link to THIS Answer GA Soft does not support any modifications nor it provides customization service to Rapid Classified unless it is called to rectify a problem, bug or inconsistency in an application behavior. Navigate to Custom Work page for the list of developers who can help you with application customization and hosting.