Archive for May, 2009

IGNITE Upgrade and Rollout Followup

Sunday, May 31st, 2009

Upgrade Complete!

This morning’s IGNITE upgrade went great! The new programming code and database changes are now in place. Please log in at your earliest convenience and continue to provide feedback and suggestions using the “File a Support Request/Ticket” button at the bottom of the IGNITE screens.

Missing some auctions?

We are continuing to re-index auctions in the database to make sure they are displayed properly and improve the performance of our powerful new search engine software. During this re-indexing process, you may find that some auctions disappear from your website. This should not affect company websites, but if it does and you find an auction that is not appearing properly, please file a ticket with the company information and a description of the auction. Also, please try republishing the auction to determine if that fixes the problem.

What changed?

Thank you for your patience while we continue to improve the Ignite platform to better suit your needs. Here is a list of some of the issues that were addressed in this upgrade:

  •  Changed the way auctions transition to current/past/archived. (394)
  • Auctioneers can now manually move auctions back and forth between current/past/archived.
  • Sold and closed are now manual checkboxes that must be checked for the auction to be flagged as such and the words to appear on the auction display. (569)
  • Added three new event types called “overrides”. These override event types can be used to control the placement of an auction on the auction calendar and schedule movement of the auction to your past/archived section. (398)
  • The amount of time you want your auctions to stay on your upcoming or past auctions list before transitioning to the next logical list is now configurable. Use the configuration tab under your company’s “Edit Company Profile” screen. (553)
  • Information from Property Information Package forms is now emailed to the auction company. (254)
  • The “Email this auction to a friend” now includes the auction company name and contact information. (484)
  • Changed the behavior of the “Email this auction to a friend” window so that it doesn’t stay up once the email is sent.
  • Corrected a problem with the catalog terms field cutting off text. (551)
  • Please note that other minor changes may have been made to the IGNITE system but not included in these patch notes.

We crave your feedback!

Please keep in mind that this entire system was built based on what auctioneers told us they wanted and needed, so please continue to keep the feedback coming! Use the “File a Support Request/Ticket” feature at the bottom (you’ll need to log into the ticket system with your IGNITE account) to let us know what you’d like to see next!

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SHARE Button Added to Encourage Social Marketing

Friday, May 29th, 2009

We are really excited to share with you a change which was made to the default auction details template earlier this week. You will now see a SHARE button in the list of tools/links on the sidebar of your auction details page. This SHARE button allows viewers (and you) to easily share your auction with friends on social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, and more. People have already started using it and we haven’t even really annouced it yet. So we’re confident this is going to be a great viral marketing tool for our auctioneers. Try it out!

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*** IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT ***

Thursday, May 28th, 2009

At midnight (00:01:00) Eastern time on Sunday, May 31, we will roll live changes to the Ignite system based on feedback provided by end users. These changes will temporarily affect state association calendars and possibly hosted customer calendars. We anticipate there may be a few fluctuations in the auction displays while the database reindexes during this time. We do not anticipate the reindexing process lasting more than a couple of hours.

We are performing this code rollout during overnight hours to minimize any potential complications or downtime.

Regards,

AuctionServices.com Development Team

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Ignite Auction Suite Product Update

Wednesday, May 27th, 2009

It’s Training Again….

We have 2 live online Ignite trainings set for May 27. These free trainings are conducted using Goto meeting, your computer and your land line phone. You can view the presentation live on your computer, listen and ask questions via your phone.

Thursday May 27th, 2009 – 1:30 pm eastern
Thursday May 27th, 2000 – 5:30 pm eastern

We schedule live online training dates based on demand. You can sign up here for scheduled trainings or request different dates or set up a private training for your company or group …

State Admin Training

If you are the executive director or website administrator of one of the 25 state associations we host, we encourage you to go thru the Ignite training for state admins, as well as the regular Ignite users training. For more information about state admin training, call Brian Pait at (540) 206-3311 or sign up here…

Next scheduled State Admin Trainings:
Tuesday June 2, 2009 – 1:30 pm Eastern
Tuesday June 9th, 2009 – 1:30 pm Eastern

Video Tutorials

We have recorded some of the best information from our live online Ignite webinars and put it in easy to use video tutorials broken down by topics.

Go to Video Tutorials


Company Profile

On your dashboard, if you are the admin user for your company, you will notice a button called “Employee Management.”

This button allows you to add employee users to your account and set their permissions to post auctions.

Each employee user gets their own login, so if you have turnover, you can simply delete them off your account and add someone new.


Integration Partners and Syndication Feeds

We are actively feeding your catalog items from ignite into Google Base on a daily basis. Post it on Base, find it on Google. For more information about Google Base… go here.

Integration is under way with our partner companies:

United Country Auction Services
Proxibid
AuctionZip
seizedluxuryhomes.com
choosetheprice.com
auctionseizedcars.com
seizedandcheap.com
seizedluxurycars.com
seizedassets.org
auctionresources.org
pricelessauction.com
seizedhomefinder.com
And many more!

If you are interested in becoming an integration partner with AuctionServices.com’s Ignite please contact us at inquiries@auctionservices.com

Ignite Product Blog

If you miss one of our product updates, you can always check in on our new Ignite product blog for the latest news about Ignite and other product developments at AuctionServices.com

Go to the Ignite Blog

NEW!

[+] We have members only interactive content blogs in place for Virginia, Indiana and Wisconsin. Members of these states will now  see 2 choices when they hit the “members only” login links on their state sites.

Choice number 1 will take them to Ignite where they can login to administer auctions and catalogs.

Choice number 2 will take them to the Members Only blog area where they can view notices, documents and other information posted by their state admins or executive directors.

BOTH areas use the same Ignite login and password.

[+] Assets for Sale and Site Management (Site News, MOTD, Testimonials) are now in development for incorporation into Ignite. Look for more details soon…

[+] This isn’t new… but the question comes up enough that we wanted to make sure everyone knows… THERE IS NO ADDITIONAL CHARGE for posting images, galleries and documents to your auction listings…

Webinars

[+] We are starting training for state association directors/admins specific to Ignite functionality and how it benefits you. We still have slots available.  Sign up Here.

[+] Free online Ignite webinars: These webinars are conducted online using GotoMeeting and your phone line, so you can see, hear and ask questions. If you haven’t already “attended” one, Sign up Here.

[+] We recorded the best stuff from the webinars and published it in topic-by-topic video. View it Here.

Need Help?



We have heard from so many of you that you really appreciate the new Live Chat Support feature we built into Ignite.

You will find this button located at the top of every page of the Ignite interface. If you need help, we encourage you to jump on Live Chat Support and one of our team members will assist you.

With your permission, we can also do a Live Remote Support session with you using this system, allowing us to view your computer screen and assist you faster.

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Ignite Auction Suite Product Update

Wednesday, May 6th, 2009

What’s In A Name?

No matter if you think everyone in town knew Mr. Smith, it’s a good bet they are not going to Google typing in “Mr. Smith’s Estate” to find the auction you are conducting.

You have to think of the search engines more like a phone book. People type in what they are looking for by categories or “key phrases.”

The auction Title and Subtitle fields are opportune places to key phrases descriptors that will help people find your auction listing on Google and other search engines.


Examples of Auctioneers Using Titles and subtitles to great SEO advantage:

Certified Real Estate Auctions

Anderson Auctions USA

Use the Title field to define the general category of your auction. For example: Roanoke Virginia Land Auction. Then use the Subtitle field to further refine the category. For example: 500 Acres of Roanoke County Farm Land.

You can also use the Short Description as further opportunity to slip in some key search phrases someone might use to find what you have to sell in your auction.

For example, if your auction is full of personal property items, be sure to list them in the Short Description: Tiffany Lamps, Estate Jewelry, Lionel Trains, John Deere tractor, etc.

Company Profile

On your dashboard, you will notice an button called “Edit Company Profile.” If you take a look in here you will see the General Information Tab where you can list your company name, company website, primary company email, and address.

The second tab is Phone Numbers, where you can list multiple ways for folks to contact your company.


The Company Profile Information is used to power the “Contact Us” link on your auction listings, as well as identifying information when your listings syndicate to other auction portals and associations websites.

So take a few moments to be sure the Company Profile information is up-to-date.

State Associations

[+] Zipcode searches in the member directories was fixed.

[+] State admins can now download membership rosters in CSV (Excel) spreadsheets.

User Feedback

[+] Document size: We have reworked the document handling so that docs 5MB and under show in the IPaper viewer as well as being available for direct download. Anything from 5MB up to 50MB is linked for direct download from the auction’s detail page links menu.

[+] We added several new date/time event labels. The choices now include:

Live On-Site Auction
Live On-Site A… w/ Online Bidding
Bidder Seminar
Broker Seminar
Inspection
Live Auction
Live Off-Site Auction
Online Bidding Only
Online Pre-Bidding
Item Pick-Up
Sealed Bid Auction

[+] Auction Listing Links: We changed the auction list template so that clicking on the Photo Gallery link in the auction list page, takes you straight to the Photo Gallery on the details page. No multiple clicking involved anymore. Virtual Tour linkin auction list now opens up a new window straight to the virtual tour. Clicking the Video link on the auction list now takes your straight to the Video on the detail page.

[+] There were some issues with videos hosted on www.nabnetwork.com not playing inside the Ignite details template when using Internet Explorer. This issue has been resolved.

[+] We rolled out some fixes on sort dates in the current server, with more to come.

Webinars

[+] We are starting training for state association directors/admins specific to Ignite functionality and how it benefits you. We still have slots available.  Sign up Here.

[+] Nearly 100 people have attended our free online Ignite webinars. These webinars are conducted online using GotoMeeting and your phone line, so you can see, hear and ask questions. If you haven’t already “attended” one,Sign up Here.

[+] We recorded the best stuff from the webinars and published it in topic-by-topic video. View it Here.

Need Help?



We have heard from so many of you that you really appreciate the newLive Chat Support feature we built into Ignite. We logged 675 Live Chat Support sessions and over 300 Live Remote support sessions in April.

You will find this button located at the top of every page of the Ignite interface. If you need help, we encourage you to jump on Live Chat Support and one of our team members will assist you.

With your permission, we can also do a Live Remote Support session with you using this system, allowing us to view your computer screen and assist you faster.

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