Archive for the 'Auction Software' Category
July 9th, 2010 by Nima
In the field “Display address”, always enter the following tags:
</div></div>
<div id=”main-wrapper”>
<!– Any header-related content, divs, tags can go here now –>
<div id=”content-wrapper”>
<div name=”balancer1″>
<div name=”balancer2″>
And in the footer just enter content like this:
<div id=”custom-footer”>
<!– Any footer-related content, divs, tags can go here now –>
</div>
You may still need to make customizations to some of the CSS styles used, which you have, as always, full control over.
June 22nd, 2010 by Nima
These two pages from the Auctionflex support manual are well worth a look when you are trying to generate a SAM import CSV file from Auctionflex.
Exporting Auction Data:
The Export button 
allows you to export your auction data in a variety of different formats, the most common being an Excel spreadsheet. Users can then take the exported file and pass it on to online auction-simulcast hosts, such as Proxibid and Bidspotter, or send it to a publisher.
The numbering fields just to the left of the field description, 
, define the column that this information will appear in (i.e. 1 = 1st column, 2 = 2nd, and so forth).
If you have images you wish to export, make sure you choose your image options accordingly. Choose the file format that will best suit your needs. The images will then be exported into the folder with the spreadsheet and renamed accordingly.
Inventory Import:
The Inventory Import form allows you to easily import items from a spreadsheet to multiple consignors.
1. Create and save your Excel spreadsheet.(Tip: Include lot numbers if you want items imported into an auction. If there are no lot numbers, items will be imported into inventory for use in a future auction. In this situation, you must include inventory numbers on your spreadsheet. )(Tip: You must include a column for consignor codes and pre-enter those consignors in Auction Flex.)
2. Open Auction Lots & Preview from the Easy Navigator 
.
3. Click the 
button and then click 
If you are in Auction lots & Preview. Click the import button if you are in Consignment Order Maintenance.
4. Assuming you have already created your Excel spreadsheet with your inventory, click the ellipses button 
to locate your file.
5. Click the 
button. Double-click each field in the order that it occurs on your spreadsheet.
7. Click the button. Verify that your fields are correctly matched. If your spreadsheet has headings, check the “Skip First Row When Importing” checkbox.
8. Click the button. Since we included lot numbers, we will choose the auction that the items will be imported to. If you did not include lot numbers, the items will be imported into inventory for future allocation to a future auction.
9. Click the button. From this section, you can choose to import images. Make sure the images are in the same folder as the spreadsheet, and named the same as the lot/inventory number.
10. Click the button. Click the “Import Inventory” button 
.
May 19th, 2010 by Nima
SAM is now running with eAccelerator for maximum script performance. Here’s how to install it in case you are in dire need to speed up your web application:
eAccelerator is a free open-source PHP accelerator, optimizer, and dynamic content cache. It typically reduces server load and increases the speed of your PHP code by 1-10 times.
Through SSH.
yum install php-devel
yum groupinstall 'Development Tools'
Change directory.
cd /tmp
Get the file.
wget http://bart.eaccelerator.net/source/0.9.5.2/eaccelerator-0.9.5.2.tar.bz2
tar xvfj eaccelerator-0.9.5.2.tar.bz2
Change directory.
cd eaccelerator-0.9.5.2
Phpize.
phpize
./configure
Install it.
make
make install
Create the file /etc/php.d/eaccelerator.ini
vi /etc/php.d/eaccelerator.ini
Enter.
extension="eaccelerator.so"
eaccelerator.shm_size="0"
eaccelerator.cache_dir="/var/cache/eaccelerator"
eaccelerator.enable="1"
eaccelerator.optimizer="1"
eaccelerator.check_mtime="1"
eaccelerator.debug="0"
eaccelerator.filter=""
eaccelerator.shm_max="0"
eaccelerator.shm_ttl="0"
eaccelerator.shm_prune_period="0"
eaccelerator.shm_only="0"
eaccelerator.compress="1"
eaccelerator.compress_level="9"
Create /var/cache/eaccelerator ditrectory
mkdir -p /var/cache/eaccelerator
Change permission.
chmod 0777 /var/cache/eaccelerator
Restart Apache.
/etc/init.d/httpd restart
May 14th, 2010 by Nima
In order to track visits to your page and (potentially) an embedded SAM page at the same time, you need to follow the following directions to modify your Analytics tracking code (in SAM the location to place the analytics tracking code is at Settings >> Site content >> Footer, but you will need to change the analytics code as outlined below everywhere):
Tracking multiple domains under one Analytics account, this is the relevant piece of it:
If your site uses multiple domains, you can still track your visitors with some small modifications to your tracking code:
1. Add the following lines (in bold ) to your tracking code on all pages of both domains
<script type=”text/javascript”>// <![CDATA[
var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www.");
document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E"));
// ]]></script>
<script type=”text/javascript”>// <![CDATA[
try{
var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-12345-1");
pageTracker._setDomainName("none");
pageTracker._setAllowLinker(true);
pageTracker._trackPageview();
} catch(err) {}
// ]]></script>
Then you need to modify the iFrames you are using, in case you are using the iFrame method to embed SAM:
In a site where the transfer between domains is done by opening a new window or by including content in an iFrame, you will need to to use the _getLinkerUrl() method to transfer visitor and campaign cookies from one domain to another. For example, suppose you a form in an iFrame hosted on www.my-example-iframecontent.com and you want to transfer visitor information from the parent page that hosts the iFrame on www.example-parent.com.
You would use JavaScript to load the iFrame and pass in the cookie information using the _getLinkerURL() method.
Asynchronous syntax
var iframe = document.getElementById('myIFrame');
iframe.src = "_gaq.push(['_getLinkerUrl', 'http://www.my-example-iframecontent.com/']);"
Traditional (ga.js) syntax
var iframe = document.getElementById('myIFrame');
iframe.src = "pageTracker._getLinkerUrl('http://www.my-example-iframecontent.com/');"
Configuring iFrame Tracking for Internet Explorer
iFramed content that is hosted in a separate domain from the parent page is regarded as third-party content. The default privacy setting for Internet Explorer 6 and above does not allow third-party websites to store cookies on the first-party site.
This means that Analytics tracking for iFramed pages requires special configuration in order to work in Internet Explorer. For the web pages that reside in the iFrame, you will need to configure privacy preferences. You can set up privacy preferences on the hosted pages by using one of the following methods:
- include a special “Platform for Privacy Preferences” (P3P) HTTP header for the included site’s pages
- provide a P3P XML manifest for the included site’s pages
For more information, see the following resources:
May 13th, 2010 by Nima
Here is some sample code that shows you how to generate an embedded search form at other sites to link to your SAM search:
See the result of the above code below:
Replace dev with your subdomain and it will work for your site in the same way. If you need to include additional search options from the search form you can embed them in that same manner.
April 30th, 2010 by Nima
The header would go here:
http://yourdomain.auctionserver.net/admin/manage-settings/system-parameters/option/layout_and_site_customization
Field: Display address
Click on the “Source” button to edit the source code
The footer is here:
http://yourdomain.auctionserver.net/admin/manage-settings/site-content
Field: Footer Content
Click on the “Source” button to edit the source code
Here you can see an example of this approach:
http://www.julienslive.com – the site is purely run through sam, with
no changes to the code anywhere.
April 23rd, 2010 by Nima
We frequently get the request to not let the user access sam installations directly via subdomain (e.g. http://clientdemo.auctionserver.net), but instead automatically load the main frame around the requested page (e.g. http://www.auctionserver.net/live-demo/).
Assuming, for example, the page that embeds SAM on your end is http://www.mysite.com/page.php and the subdomain of your SAM installation is http://clientdemo.auctionserver.net – here’s how it’s done:
1. Create an empty js file with a name you like, for example “sam-custom.js”
2. Inside that file you put the following code:
2. Upload the js file to a publicly accessible location, such as http://www.mysite.com/js/
3. Go to your SAM admin section and click through to “Settings >> System parameters >> Layout & site customization”
4. Enter the public URL to access your js file (e.g. “http://www.mysite.com/js/sam-custom.js”) into the field “External Javascript”, scroll down and hit “Save changes”
5. On your page http://www.mysite.com/page.php you need to let the script “page.php” know how to handle the query string it will be receiving now. This would look a little something like this:
6. Try to connect to your subdomain frontend directly and watch the magic unravel before your eyes. You’re Done! 
March 25th, 2010 by phoebe
Floating World Auctions proudly presents its 14th auction of Japanese prints and paintings – a comprehensive collection of 260 18th through 21st century Japanese woodblock prints, lithographs and paintings, by over 70 different artists, including Azechi, Gekko, Hagiwara, Hamaguchi, Harunobu, Hashimoto, Hasui, Hiratsuka, Hiroaki, Hiroshi, Inagaki, Iwami, Kawakami, Kazuma, Kitaoka, Kiyonaga, Kiyoshi, Kogan, Kogyo, Koitsu, Koizumi, Koryusai, Koson, Kotondo, Kuroda, Mabuchi, Maki, Matsubara, Mizufune, Nakao, Nakayama, Obata, Saito, Sasajima, Sekino, Sempan, Shinsui, Shoson, Shunsen, Tajima, Takahashi, Tanaka, Toyonari, Utamaro, Watanabe, Yamaguchi and Yoshida (Chizuko, Hiroshi, Hodaka, Masaji and Toshi), along with selected Western artists, including Bartlett, Binnie, Brown, Kelly, Miller and Williams.
Visit Primus Auctioneers to bid on the following featured lots and more!
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Hasui, Kawase, 1883-1957,
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Shinsui, Ito, 1898-1972, After the Snow falls
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Yoshida, Hiroshi, 1876-1950, A View of Mt. Fuji from Suzukawa
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Utamaro, Kitagawa, 1750-1806, Folding Fan Seller
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Hagiwara, Hideo, 1913-2007, Constellation No. 2
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Hoshi, Joichi, 1913-1979, Moon (B)
March 19th, 2010 by Nima
We are frequently asked what the best settings are to use our video/audio streaming server via the Adobe Media Live Encoder.
We usually recommend the following settings:
Video:
Format: VP6
Bit Rate 200kbps
Frame Rate as low as 12fps
Audio:
Format mp3
Sample Rate 22kHz
BitRate 32kbps
Our objective is a very short delay audio/ video stream that does not
use up too much bandwidth.
February 19th, 2010 by Nima
SWB offers database replication of all your live auction data to a local server at your location in real time. All that is needed on your end is a server, ideally Linux Red Hat, or a similar system, we will apply the following steps:
1. MASTER CONFIGURATION
- In my.cnf on the master server, add the following under [mysqld]
log-bin=mysql-bin
server-id=1
2. SLAVE CONFIGURATION
On the slave server add the following under [mysqld]
server-id=2
replicate-do-db=db_name
If you want to setup multiple slaves, each needs to have a unique server id
db_name is the name of the database you want to replicate on the master
3. OBTAIN MASTER COORDINATES
a. Start a session on the master by typing mysql -u admin -p and hitting enter. Type in the admin pw and hit enter. Execute the command:
FLUSH TABLES WITH READ LOCK;
Leave the client running so the lock remains in place
b. Open a new session in a different shell. In a different session on the master, use the SHOW MASTER STATUS statement to determine the current binary log file name and offset. Something like this:
mysql> show master status;
+——————+———-+————–+——————+
| File | Position | Binlog_Do_DB | Binlog_Ignore_DB |
+——————+———-+————–+——————+
| mysql-bin.000001 | 655366 | | |
+——————+———-+————–+——————+
Note down File and Position values. You will need them later.
4. CREATE MASTER DUMP
On the master server in the secondary shell create a data dump, example:
[shell] mysqldump -u user-p database >dbdump.db
…where user is the db user and database is the database name
On the client where you posted FLUSH TABLES WITH READ LOCK; it is now time to release the lock:
mysql> UNLOCK TABLES;
exit that shell
5. DATA IMPORT
a. (Stop the slave if it’s running.) Start the slave, using the –skip-slave-start option so that replication does not start.
b. Import the dump file:
shell> mysql -u username -p database < dbdump.db
...where username is the username and database is the database name and dbdump.db is the master dump
6. SUPPLY REPLICATION CONFIGURATION INFO TO SLAVE
On the slave database, execute the following statement, replacing the variables as needed:
mysql> CHANGE MASTER TO
-> MASTER_HOST=’master_host_name’,
-> MASTER_USER=’replication_user_name’,
-> MASTER_PASSWORD=’replication_password’,
-> MASTER_LOG_FILE=’recorded_log_file_name’,
-> MASTER_LOG_POS=recorded_log_position;
7. START REPLICATION
On the live server, make sure that:
a. The user used for replication has the privilege “Repl_slave_priv” set to Y
b. The host for that user in the user and db table is %, not localhost or anything else
c. The live server firewall allows remote access to the mysql port
Start the slave threads:
mysql> START SLAVE;
After you have performed this procedure, the slave should connect to the master and catch up on any updates that have occurred since the snapshot was taken.
check the message in /var/log/mysqld.log. It should be something like this:
100219 17:30:00 [Note] Slave I/O thread: connected to master ‘user@77.777.777.77:3306′, replication started in log ‘mysql-bin.000001′ at position 655366
8. ENJOY
Lean back and watch the data replicate …
