New website needs some help

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kevbev16
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New website needs some help

Post by kevbev16 »

Hi i am 18 years old and was wondering if anyone could help me on my new fishing auction website: http://www.bid4tackle.com.i bought the auction script from a company called AJ square and up untill this point, they have been trying to solve the numerous problems with the script and in particular the search box which at the moment is searching for entire sentences and not key words. Also, the proxy bidding system is not working properly, along with some major problems to the advanced search system. i have no php knowledge whatsoever but i am trying to teach myself at the moment. i would be much appreciative if anyone would like to help me, solve these problems on the website. i do not have a lot of money at the moment, as i am still at school but i can pay you what i have.

Kind regards,
Kevin
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jaoudestudios
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Re: New website needs some help

Post by jaoudestudios »

Best thing to do is try and narrow down the problems to a certain part of a script, then we can help you each step of the way and it wont cost you anything. I wouldnt advise posting pages of code as developers are less likely to help. But if you posted 10 lines of code and say I have an error on line 6, what is wrong, we will gladly help. :)
kevbev16
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Joined: Tue Dec 23, 2008 10:13 am

Re: New website needs some help

Post by kevbev16 »

thank you for your reply. I am completely new to php and i am not to sure where the problem lies in the script but i suspect the search problem (it searches for exact phrases instead of keywords) lies somewhere here:

if($mode=="keysearch")
{
if(!empty($key_word))
{
$key_word=trim($key_word);
$sql="select * from user_registration where user_name='$key_word' ";
$table=mysql_query($sql);
if($row=mysql_fetch_array($table))
{
$user_id = $row['user_id'];
}
$sql="select * from placing_item_bid where status=\"Active\" and selling_method!=\"want_it_now\" and selling_method!=\"ads\" and (item_title like \"%$key_word%\" or detailed_descrip like \"%$key_word%\" or item_id=\"$key_word\" or user_id=\"$user_id\") and bid_starting_date <= now() and ";
}
else
{
$sql="select * from placing_item_bid where status=\"Active\" and selling_method!=\"want_it_now\" and selling_method!=\"ads\" and bid_starting_date <= now() and expire_date>=now()";
}
if(!empty($show))
{
if($show=="all")
$sql.=" ( selling_method= \"auction\" or selling_method= \"dutch_auction\" or selling_method= \"fix\" ) ";
else if($show=="bid")
$sql.=" ( selling_method= \"auction\" or selling_method= \"dutch_auction\") ";
else if($show=="buy")
$sql.=" selling_method=\"fix\" ";
}
$sql=rtrim($sql," and ");
$save_sql=$sql;

$save_sql=$sql;

}


if you could help i would be very grateful.
kind regards,
Kevin
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califdon
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Location: California, USA

Re: New website needs some help

Post by califdon »

We'll try to help you if we can, Kevin, but honestly, I think your best bet lies with the people to whom you paid money for the script. They presumably already understand how it works and would be able to make any customized changes most efficiently. One of the issues here is that if you modify their script in any way, they're going to refuse to help you in the future, because it's no longer the code they support. At a bare minimum, I would advise you to keep an unmodified version of the script as a backup.
kevbev16
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Posts: 11
Joined: Tue Dec 23, 2008 10:13 am

Re: New website needs some help

Post by kevbev16 »

i have tried for over half a year to work with AJ square developers but they can never seem to solve the problem, so i really have no other option. i have backed up all my files and if you could help i would be very grateful

cheers,
Kevin
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jaoudestudios
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Location: Surrey

Re: New website needs some help

Post by jaoudestudios »

I think I know what the problem is. Before we start, can you give me an example of the search you mean? i.e. today class, searches for "today class" and you want it to find "today" and "class". Would you want it to be AND or OR?

califdon has a point, definitely make sure you have a backup!
kevbev16
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Posts: 11
Joined: Tue Dec 23, 2008 10:13 am

Re: New website needs some help

Post by kevbev16 »

yes at the moment it is searching for exact phrases/words they continue on from each other so if you look on my website at http://www.bid4tackle.com/detail.php?item_id=752 it is called "Fox Evolution 3 Rod Holdall " at the moment you would have to search for the exact continuous words so "fox Evolution 3 Rod Holdall" or "fox evolution 3 rod" or "fox evolution" i.e. any keywords which follow each other e.g. "3 rod holdall". i want it to search for keywords so it would appear if you searched for "fox", "evolution" ... or key words which are not continuous so "fox" + "rod holdall" or "evolution" +"Holdall"etc.

i am sorry if my explaination is not very good.
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jaoudestudios
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Re: New website needs some help

Post by jaoudestudios »

I just had a more detailed look at the code, and it sucks! How much did you pay for this solution? (if you dont mind me asking)

It doesnt make much sense. The first mysql query searches the user_registration table where the user_name matches the searching keyword - I really cant see why it would do that!

Lets try something easy first - it might not solve it. (btw can you post the database schema?)
$sql="select * from user_registration where user_name='$key_word' ";
change to...

Code: Select all

$sql="select * from user_registration where user_name LIKE '%".$key_word."%' ";
kevbev16
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Posts: 11
Joined: Tue Dec 23, 2008 10:13 am

Re: New website needs some help

Post by kevbev16 »

i am really sorry. as you can tell i am completely new to this. i am not to sure what the database schema is? i gave that code a try but it did not seem to work

kev
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califdon
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Re: New website needs some help

Post by califdon »

If that's the problem, it looks there are 3 fields that might be searched by key words: item_id, item_title, and detailed_descrip. If you want to find matches on any word of several that might be entered, the process would have to be to split up the $key_word variable into words, using split(), to form an array, then step through the array and apply all the words to all 3 fields, joined by OR syntax. I guess I would try it somewhat like the following:

Code: Select all

...
if(!empty($key_word))
{
$key_word=trim($key_word);
if(!strpos($key_word," ")  // if there are no spaces in the key_word:
    $sql="select * from placing_item_bid where status='Active' and selling_method!='want_it_now' and "; 
    $sql.="selling_method!='ads' and (item_title like '%$key_word%' or detailed_descrip like '%$key_word%' or ";
    $sql.="item_id='$key_word' or user_id='$user_id') and bid_starting_date <= now()";
} else {  // if there's at least one space in the key_word:
    $sql="select * from  placing_item_bid where status='Active' and selling_method!='want_it_now' and "; 
    $sql.="selling_method!='ads' and (";
 
    $keywords=split($key_word," ");
    foreach($keywords as $word) {
        $sql.="item_title like '%word%' or detailed_descrip like '%word%' or item_id like '%word%' or ";
    }
    $sql=substr($sql,0,(strlen($sql)-3));
    $sql.=") and bid_starting_date <= now()";
}
However, without spending hours looking at the full script (if I HAD hours to spend on it, especially during these Holidays), it isn't likely to work "out of the box." See, Kevin, that's the problem. You have a complete software system that someone probably put hundreds of hours into writing. If you had a particular part that failed, maybe someone could spot the problem and provide you a fix. But this requires modifying the way the script was written to work, and who knows what other parts of the script might be affected by changes that we might suggest? I agree with jaoudestudios, it's not very professionally written (which is probably why you haven't gotten any response to your complaints), but unless you can stir them up to help with their own software, you may need to think about finding a better source for your software and just trash this one.
kevbev16
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Joined: Tue Dec 23, 2008 10:13 am

Re: New website needs some help

Post by kevbev16 »

i gave that code a try but it seemed to only display the header and no search box. i have tried for over 6 months to get some help from AJ square but quite frankly their service is appauling. They keep telling me there is nothing they can do. probably the biggest problem i have is the fact that their is no proxy bidding system and they said that didn't know how to install one (what is an action site without an effective bidding system).if you would be prepared to help me on that as well i would be very grateful. I think i have been well and truely ripped off, as they have sold me a script which has lots of flaws. In terms of ditching the script completely, i have saved up for 2 years to buy the script from AJ square and (£250 (initial script -encrypted)+£150 (lifetime license) + $800('open source code' as they called it- decrypted files)) and now i am flat broke and it is sole destroying to think i have saved up for that amount of time and it is basically money down the drain.

Kind regards,
Kevin
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jaoudestudios
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Re: New website needs some help

Post by jaoudestudios »

...it is sole destroying to think i have saved up for that amount of time and it is basically money down the drain.
We do feel for you. It is good that you are mentioning it here, so other people are aware that those guys are jokers and hopefully no one buys from them again.

Could you get a refund? or should I say demand a refund?
kevbev16
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Posts: 11
Joined: Tue Dec 23, 2008 10:13 am

Re: New website needs some help

Post by kevbev16 »

i have tried several times to get a refund but they keep saying that they have done nothing wrong. i have tried contacting their 'head office' in America (aka India) and they have given a fake number and address. i would really like to get the two biggest problems sorted (the search engine and the proxy bidding system) but they do not seem to think that there is anything wrong with having a bidding system that does not work, on an auction site!! i really appreciate your help so far and if you can help me solve these two problems it will make my year.

Kind regards,
Kevin
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jaoudestudios
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Re: New website needs some help

Post by jaoudestudios »

I have heard this happen so many times! And not just with Software.

Maybe we should make a website that list companies with user ratings and comments etc - not sure what the legal implications are though

Any ideas anyone?
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jaoudestudios
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Re: New website needs some help

Post by jaoudestudios »

I know that does not help you kevbev16.

It is a bad time of the year. Be patient and we will have a few more goes, but I cant promise anything.
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