v5.4 has Limitations

[webwitch]

I licensed, installed and customized version 3.1 of Indexu for a client project several years ago and have been looking carefully at version 5.4 for a project for a different client. What I've found surprising about my review of this new release is that in many ways it seems to have changed very little and the lack of change worries me.

First, Version 3.1 had a serious limitation. It only allowed a linked-to site to be listed in 3 categories. If you wanted a link listed in say, 6 or 7 categories, it had to be added to the database several times. Amazingly, it appears this version still has that inherent limitation. Is that true? If the 3-links limitation has been removed can someone explain how links that need tobe listed in many categories are handled now? Also, what limits remain in this area?

Second, as spamming of web site guestbooks, forums and add your own links directories became a more common activity, that original site gradually became the target of spammers who repeatedly submitted links to the directory that had nothing to do with the topics it addressed. Over time reviewing, handling and denying those "spam links" became an administrative nightmare. Yet here we are two releases later and it appears to me very little has been done in the current product (other than the addition of "captcha" images to improve Indexu's ability to automatically detect and delete or sequester submitted spam links. Is that true? Are there automatic spam detection features in this current release that I've managed to overlook? I'm really not eager to manually review and remove a couple of dozen web pharmacy and viagra ads every week.

Third, Version 3.1 gave nodding acknowledgment to the potential to charge for links (it did support extra features on links like featuring and sponsoring) and it had some support for displaying banner ads. However, it provided almost no tools to help the webmaster manage ADS which appeared ONLY in specific locations. As I recall it also had no built-in expiration, renewal or billing logic for either ads or links. Is support for ads improved in this release? If so can you tell me how?

Fourth, in v3.1, calculation of charges for links or ads based on the number of categories they were to appear in or the featuring, sponsoring or BIDS associated with each link was practically non-existent. Also, there was nothing ANYWHERE in that old product that explained or showed the user what they would GET for the extra money they'd spend to sponsor, or feature or "bid" their ad. In short, the old product gave the webmaster almost NO help in selling the either the link enhancement capabilites it provided OR the ads it could display. It also offered no help in leveraging the traffic delivery potential of the directory and no help in billing or collecting payments either. In this newer product I found PayPal mentioned, but found no explanation for how it works. When I added a test link, I found Paypal there along with 3 other credit card payment options; but to my amazement, "Bill me" or Invoice Me" were NOT listed as one of the payment options! Can someone please explain how "invoicing" works? Also, does it only apply to "links" or can ads also be invoiced? Finally, does invoicing support automatic renewal billing on ads, or does it ONLY apply to links?

Fifth, I see this new product includes an invoicing feature; but I was unable to make it work and could find no evidence the product provides explanations or examples for someone posting a new link or a banner ad as to exactly what they're getting for their money or what MORE they'll get by featuring or sponsoring their link (OR their ad) or how the $$ they spend for extra ad features (e.g. sponsoring, featuring and bidding) is likely to improve the results for their listing in the directory. Ad buyers are definitely NOT stupid. They won't PAY for ads unless they can see what they are getting for their money! The same goes for businesses and organizations that are interested in featuring or sponsoring their links in the directory. Can someone please tell me what version 5.4 does do to help the webmaster SELL those features?

Sixth, does the software compute the total cost of the features requested for a link listing? Can it require that the listing fee be paid before a link is submitted for approval and COLLECT the money involved through PayPal or some similar service? Does invoicing also support ADS or does it only support LINKS? Also, does the invoicing capability include the ability to automatically renew ads or links listings after a specified period expires? Can it bill the client for the next advertising period? In the sample link I entered, I was unwilling and unable to pay for it at the time and there seemed to be no way to tell the program to: "Bill me". Although I got an email claiming my link had been added, when I tried to access my new link in the directory, it had vanished.

Seventh, the old product provided no tracking or reporting of statistics for individual ads OR links. It offered no help to the listed site about the number of times their link or ad had been displayed or the number of hits it received either before or after the featuring, sponsoring or "bids" were added. In short it was impossible to analyze the RESULTS for individual ads that appeared in the directory. That made it impossible to establish that advertising in the directory produced RESULTS for an advertiser. Has this changed in version 5.4 and if so, how?

Eighth, the CSS and templating system in the old product was very weak. As a result, changing the look and feel (or even the COLORS) of the old directory required some very tricky work. I've seen no examples in v5.4 that tell me this product is significantly better in that respect. I do see references to "Smarty" templates in the promotional material but I could not evaluate whether (or in what ways) the product is easier to customize than the old product was. Can someone please explain what has changed here?

Other than that, I have no questions... Thanks very much!

[esm]

I'll let others address the specifics of each question but in general your assessment of v5.4 is accurate. v5.4 has a rudimentary invoicing feature but it is a start. inspireme has a banner mod that at least integrates some advertising features. and the additional categories feature is still as bad as it was in v3.x, and it was a joke then. CSS is a little better.

In short, most of the areas you address could use implementing or greatly improving. Since so few folks are active with INDEXU, there has been no great cry for the above changes. But I would agree with you. In my mind the areas you address have always been critical to taking INDEXU to the next level. But programmers tend to work on the techical side of things and have to be prodded to work on those things that add real value.

Maybe this help move INDEXU to add these very useful and valuable features.



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[Bruceper]

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Yes it has this "limitation" as you call it. Why would you want a link site wide? That defeats the purpose of individual categories. If you want a link site wide then add it into a block that contains a number of "site wide" links.

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More than two releases later, but indexu has the ability to detect spam submissions. Plus there are a lot of ways to combat spam, one of the main ones is to require user signup and verifying user email addresses.

[qoute]Third, Version 3.1 gave nodding acknowledgment to the potential to charge for links (it did support extra features on links like featuring and sponsoring) and it had some support for displaying banner ads. However, it provided almost no tools to help the webmaster manage ADS which appeared ONLY in specific locations. As I recall it also had no built-in expiration, renewal or billing logic for either ads or links. Is support for ads improved in this release? If so can you tell me how?[/qoute]

IndexU contains no advertising system other than for the listings. It would take about 5 seconds to add a banner manager of your choosing to the script.

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There is an invoice mod that I created, but most people want to use paypal. The invoice system is not tied to the payment of sponsored or premium links. As for explaining what a user gets for buying a permium or sponsored link one assumes most webmasters can figure this out on their own. But you could always add some text and/or an example on the add form.

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It does whatever you want it to.

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yes

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IndexU doesn't have ads

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The built in payment system does one time billing only. Of course it could be easily modified for subscription billing but then it would be subscription only. Allowing users the option to "bill me" isn't the greatest idea as their link would be active and they may or may not pay on time or at all. You can check the invoice billing addon I made as this is how it works, but links are suspended as soon as they are added with the invoice function. When payment is received you can remove the suspension.

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If the user bought an ad and wants to see results they should check their stats for proper results. Just because someone clicked on a link doesn't mean they did anything. That's what tracking is for. IndexU doesn't provide statistics for users other than the total number of hits to their link.

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Did you not check the demo? Templates can be modified easily and quickly as long as you are somewhat familiar with the script and html. PHP knowledge is also a good thing but is not required.