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How Much Does It Cost To Post An Ad? |
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Posting a Classified Ad on Hawaii Automotive Consumer Guide is absolutely free. |
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How Do I Browse The Classifieds? |
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Ads posted on Hawaii Automotive Consumer Guide are organized into Make and Model categories. The main page of our Classified Ads contains a link for each Make available on our system. When you click on a link, you are provided with a list of Models. Click on the desired Model link to enter that area of the classifieds. You are then provided with a list of current ads which are posted to that Make and Model.
When reviewing ads, you are provided with navigational menus which will lead to various areas of the site. There is also a dropdown menu listing all the categories allowing you to quickly jump to a new Make and Model within the classifieds.
You may click on the "home" link in the top level navigational menus at any time to return to the opening page of the Hawaii Automotive Consumer Guide Classified Ads System. |
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How Do I Search The Classifieds? |
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To locate ads on the system that contain specific keywords, you may enter the terms you are looking for in the Keyword Search text box located at the bottom of most pages throughout the system.
To perform a broad search of all ads posted, enter your search terms and select the option to locate any ad that contains "any of my keywords". This is the simplest of all searches and may return a large number of matches depending upon your keyword entered.
To further narrow your search, you should select the option to find "all my keywords" in an ad. This will only return ads which contain every keyword you have entered into the keyword text box area. For example: Entering the keyword Honda would return all ads which contain the keyword Honda. However by entering the keywords Honda Accord, only ads containing the keywords Honda Accord would be returned. |
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How Do I Perform An Advanced Search? |
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By performing an advanced search, you are able to further narrow the choices of ads you wish to find. You may specify the following criteria.
- Keywords - words which must appear in the ad
- Category - ads must appear in a specific category
- Date Range - choose to select ads posted within the last week, last two weeks, last three weeks or last month.
- Photo Ads - only show ads which have a photo posted with the ad. (not available on all systems)
If your search criteria you set returns no ads, you should refine your ad by allowing ads without photos or by looking for ads which may have been posted prior to the date range you selected. |
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How Do I Post An Ad? |
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To post a new ad on the Hawaii Automotive Consumer Guide Classifieds, you must first be a registered user. User registration is easy and quick. Simply click on the Registration Link provided at the top of any page and enter the requested information in the registration form. All user registration information is not posted to the web. The information which is typically posted is as follows:
- Your User Nick Name
- Your City and State/Province
- Your Phone Number (Optional) You may select to display or not display your phone number
While your email address is required to post an ad, it is never revealed to anyone responding to your ad unless you reply to a reply that someone has sent. Email addresses are not visible in the html code that displays your ad details.
Ad Categories and Subcategories
The Hawaii Automotive Consumer Guide is divided into major categories and then further into subcategories. You may only post an ad to one major category, but may post the same ad to a total of 2 subcategories. When you first begin to post an ad, you will be presented with the option to select which main category your ad will be posted. You are then presented with a list of available subcategories for that category. You should then place a checkmark in each of the subcategories, not exceeding the maximum allowed.
Ad Duration
Each ad will automatically expire after the period of you have selected as the ad duration period. When posting an ad, you will have the option to select from a dropdown menu indicating the period of time you want your ad to remain on our system.
Ad Details
After you have selected the where your ad is to be posted and for how long, you will then begin to enter your ad details. The ad details form will ask you to provide information about the ad you want to place. While it varies by category, you will always be asked to provide a "Headline" for your ad. This is the main topic that is displayed in ad listings and details when you ad is viewed. Different categories will have different required fields. To ad your listing you must complete all the fields which are designated as "required". You will not be able to proceed if these fields are left blank. All other fields may be completed as applicable to your specific ad.
Once you have completed the ad details form, you will then be taken to a form which allows you to add a paragraph explaining the details of the ad you are posting. This may include up to 50 words but may not contain any HTML code. |
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How Do I Submit A Photo With My Ad? |
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Browser Compatability
To include an image with your ad, you must be using a browser which supports file uploading. Not all browsers support file uploading. If your browser does not support file uploading, you will not see a browse button to enable you to select an image from your hard drive. Known browsers that do not support file uploading are Internet Explorer 3.0 or below and some older versions of AOL which used the proprietary AOL browser or were shipped with Internet Explorer 3.0 or earlier.
If your browser does not support file uploading, you will not be able to upload an image unless you first upgrade your browser to a newer version. We recommend you visit Netscape or Microsoft to obtain a free browser upgrade.
Selecting An Image
To upload an image, you must first locate the image located on your local hard drive. You are presented with a text box and two buttons labeled "Browse" and "Upload". To locate an image, begin by clicking the "Browse" button. You will see a dialog box pop up which will allow you to browse your hard drive and locate the image you wish to upload. Some browsers, mainly Netscape, do not display "Files of Type" *.jpg or *.gif files. In this instance, you will not see any image files to select from. To display all available image files on your hard drive, you will need to change the option in the "Files of Type" drop down menu to view "All Files (*.*)". This will display all images available on your hard drive for your to upload.
Once you have selected the image, you will see the path to the image in the text area. An example is as follows:
Once you have selected your image, you will now be able to upload the image by clicking the "Upload" button.
Image Restrictions
Images must meet certain conditions before you will be able to upload them with your ad. These conditions are implemented for both security and user convenience reasons. Before your image will be accepted as a valid upload, it must fall within the following parameters:
- Image File Size - Your image file size may not exceed our maximum limit of 25000 bytes.
- Image Height & Width - Image height and width are determined in pixels. You image height and width my not exceed 400 pixels in height and 400 in width.
- File Types - The only file types which may be uploaded are *.gif and *.jpg files. This is the standard image type for use on the Internet.
If you image does not meet these specifications, you must modify the image before attempting to upload it to our system. You may modify an image using image editing software such as Photoshop. If you do not have an image editing software program, it is recommended you download the trial version of an image editing software package such as Paint Shop Pro. If you attempt to upload an image which does not meet the required specifications, your image will be rejected by our system. |
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How Do I Change My Photo? |
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To change a photo which is currently posted with your ad, you will simply upload a new image to the system following the same procedures listed above in the Adding A Photo section. Your old image will be overwritten and can not be retrieved. |
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Is My Ad Listed Right Away? |
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No . . .your ad will be listed for public viewing after it is reveiwed by the Hawaii Automotive Consumer Guide staff. We find it necessary to do this to prevent people from posting unrelated material. This process usually takes between 2 to 12 hours. A confirmation will be sent to you via email when your ad has been entered into the database and is available for viewing. |
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How Can I Modify My Ad? |
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All ads posted to the Hawaii Automotive Consumer Guide Classifieds are made available to the poster by logging into the Modify My Ad area. You will need to provide the your email address and password which is active in our Database. After you enter your email and password, you will be presented with a list of ads you currently have posted to our Classified Ads System.
Selecting An Ad To Edit
Once you have successfully logged into the system, the list of current ads will provide you with options. To view an ad's detail, simply click on the link which is the Headline of your ad. This will show you all ad details and allow you to verify that this ad is indeed the one you wish to edit.
Once you have determined which ad to edit, you will see a button below the ad to "Edit". Clicking this button will retrieve the existing information we have on file for that particular ad. The information on file is pre-filled into a form. You may edit any or all of the fields to change the ad details posted.
Once you have made all your modifications, you should then press the "Save" button at the bottom of the ad. Your changes will take place immediately. |
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What Are Quick Links? |
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The Quicklinks feature of our system allows you to add specific ads you choose to a "personal page" which may be retrieved in the future. It is useful when you are attempting to "compare" several ads posted to the system. To review ads listed on your quicklinks page, click on the Title of the ad. You will then be able to review the ad details. |
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How Do I Ad A Quick Link? |
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While you are browsing ads posted to the system, you are presented with several options on the left side of the ad. To add a specific listing to your quicklinks page, simply click the link under Options that reads "Add To Quicklinks". You will receive a confirmation message that this ad was added to your quicklinks page. |
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How Do I Send A Friend An Ad? |
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So you are browsing the ads and you run across an ad that you know a friend should know about. Using the Friend Mail feature, you may send a short notice to your friend which will provide them with a brief message about the ad you found and a link that they can click to view the ad.
To send a friend a copy of an ad, simply click the link on the ad detail page titled "Email To A Friend". You will be presented with a page to complete your name and email address as well as your friend's name and email address. Type a short message and an email from you will be sent directly to your friend about the ad you found. |
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How Can I Contact The Seller? |
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When viewing an ad, click on the 'Reply To Ad' link just off to the left of the screen. Fill in the information and click send. Your information will be sent to the seller and he or she will contact you. |
