Contents

1. Introduction
2. Installation and Setup
3. Using the application
4. General Notes

1. Introduction (TOP)

The e3 Real Estate is part of an eCommerce solution based on popular Microsoft technologies. It is designed to run on an IIS web server that is ASP and VBScript enabled. In addition, the software is designed to work with SQL 2000 (or later version) and Access 2000 (or later version) databases.

2. Installation and Setup (TOP)

2.1. License

Before installing this product, be sure to read the License Agreement (included with this software) carefully. By using the software, you also accept and agree to the License Agreement. If you don't have a copy of the License Agreement, you can contact us for a copy.

2.2. Unzip the software

Unzip the software to a folder on your computer's hard drive. The unzipped folders and files will have a structure similar to this :

• http://www.mydomain.com/ - root directory of your website
  • /Admin
  • /Database
  • /Images
  • /Includes
  • /Mailing_list
  • /Pictures
  • /Scripts
  • /Testserver
  • default.asp
  • license.txt
  • readme.htm

2.3. Upload files to your web server

Upload, copy or FTP the entire Real EState Application folder to your web server, including ALL the folders and files inside it. Do not change the file and folder structure. You must place the contents of the Real Estate Application folder in your web server's root directory

http://www.mydomain.com/Real Estate Application Files

Depending on which Hosting Provider you use, you may need to set the read/write permissions on the following directories:

• /Database
• /Pictures
• /Mailing_list

2.4. MS Access Only

The database file dbase.mdb is in the DATABASE folder on your web server and should have read and write permissions. Once you implement the application and verify the application is working properly, you should take some extra steps to ensure that the database is protected :

• Rename the dbase.mdb file to something very obscure and hard to guess, for example A54DSXC23.mdb . This will help prevent unauthorized download of your database.
• You may also want to rename the folder in which your MS Access database is stored to something equally obscure.
• If your web hosting company allows for this, you can even move the database to a folder outside the web root.

Note: If you rename your database, you will need to update the loaddb.asp, which is located in the /admin folder. see 2.6 below

2.5. SQL Server Only

You will need to create a blank (empty) database for your application using whatever means you have at your disposal for doing this (you may have to contact your web host). You can use the Access database to import the data into your SQL database.

2.6. Modify Configuration File

The configuration file is called loaddb.asp, which is located in the Admin folder. This file holds some of the most important settings required to run the application. Before proceeding to the next step, it is important that you make the necessary changes to these files. Open the file with a good text based editor (e.g. Notepad). Do not use MS Word or something similar because it may insert a lot of 'junk' characters into the file. The settings below are the most important and must be set properly in order to continue :

• strDbPathAndName - As the name implies, the Database Connection String is used to connect your software to your database so that you can read and update information in it. The connection string mainly identifies the driver you will use to connect to the database, and where the database is located. There are some examples of connection strings inside the loaddb.asp file, just replace the appropriate parts. Run the checkdb.asp located in the root directory (http://www.mydomain.com/checkdb.asp> to find your connection string. If you are still having problems, contact your web hosting company and tell them where your database is located. They should then be able to tell you what your Database Connection String should look like.

Example:
'Initialize the strDbPathAndName variable with the name of the Access Database
strDbPathAndName = "C:\hshome\server\yourdomain.com\database\dbase.mdb"

2.7. Test Your Database

At this point, you should have all the scripts copied to your web server, and the sample Access database should be in a read/write folder (or if you're using SQL Server, you created a blank database). Now we need to ensure that your connection string and database permissions are correct so that you are able to connect to your database, and read and write to it.

• Type in the URL of your Application's Admin folder into your browser's address box.
  
  http://www.mydomain.com/Admin.
  
  The default Username is "admin", the default Password is "letmein".

2.8. Setting Up Application

The Admin login is used to setup and troubleshoot the application only. You should now be able to connect to the database and write to it. Most of the application's settings are held in the database and are updated with an online utility. Therefore, it is important that you can successfully read and write to your database before you continue (see previous paragraph). Click on the Setup link and review each setting carefully. Detailed help is available online for each of the settings. At a minimum, you must change the settings indicated below before you can start using your application.

• Outgoing Mail Server - It must be a working mail server or the script will crash.
  
  For example :

mail.mydomain.com

• Website Name - The name of your Website or Company Name.
  
  For example :

My Website

• Website Address Path - The web address to the script including web site URL.
  
  For example :

http://www.mydomain.com/

http://www.mydomain.com/realapp
Note: Use this example only if you installed the application in a directory (realapp) under you domain name

• Path to Upload Directory - The physical location to the Upload directory, where the property pictures are located.
  
  For example :

C:\hshome\mywebsite\mydomain.com\pictures
Click on the link to find path to upload directory.

• Path to Picture Directory - The web address to the Picture directory including web site URL.
  
  For example :

http://www.mydomain.com/pictures

• Website Email Address - Without a valid e-mail address you wont be able to send e-mails from this script.
  
  For example :

sales@mydomain.com

Click on the "Update Configuration" button the save your changes, then click on the "Manage ALL Listings" link, you should see the existing listings. If your picture directory is setup correctly the image of the property listing will be display. If you do not see the image, verify the path for the picture directory in the application setup.

Click on the "Manage Counties" link, change the name of the current county to your county. Save your changes.

Click on the "Manage Cities" link, change the name of the current city to your city. Save your changes.

Log out as Admin, then Log in as Agency. Then click on the "Agency Profile" link, change the current information to your agency information, upload a new picture. Save your changes.

Clink on the "Manage Users" link, change the information and picture for the Agent. Save your changes.

Log out as Agency, then Log in as Agent. Then click on the "Manage Listings" link, edit the information and pictures to match your listing. Save your changes.

Log out as Agent, and view the Main Website. Verify the website is displaying the property lisitng on all pages. Once you verify the website is working, you can log in as Agency and add more counties and cities.
Note: The Admin login is used to setup and troubleshoot the application only. The Agency login is used to add/edit counties, cities, and users. The Agency login should not be used to add/edit listings. The Agent login is used to add/edit listings.

Next we need to setup the Mailing List Application. Enter the path http://www.mydomain.com/mailing_list/admin.htm in your web browser, enter the username: admin and the password: letmein to login. Click on the "Configure Mailing List Application". Enter the correct information for the Outgoing SMTP Mail Server, Web address path to mailing list script, Your Web Sites E-mail Address. Save your changes.

2.9. Troubleshooting

We have also included a utility, which is located in the root directory of this application (http://www.mydomain.com/testserver.asp).

If you are experiencing difficulty installing and running the software, please visit the FAQ and support section on our web site where a lot of questions are already answered. Some of the most common causes for errors are :

• Invalid permissions - The folder in which the database is stored must have read and write permissions to allow the database to do modifications.
• Property Images not being displayed - The folder (/Pictures), which the images are stored must have read and write permissions to allow the Upload Utility add/edit images.
• Image Resizing - The proper image resizing component must be installed on your server. The application is setup to use the ASPImage or PersitsASPJpeg component. The default setting is for the ASPImage component. To change the default setting you will need to identify which image resizing component is available on your server using the utility above. Then edit the upload_post_vbscript.asp file under the admin directory using a text editor. Below is an example of the variables in the upload_post_vbscript.asp file.
  
  • Use_ASPImage = "True"
  • Use_PersitsASPJpeg = "False"
  Set the flag to TRUE for the component installed on your server and the other flag to FALSE.
• Old or outdated server software - Please ensure that your web server has the latest service packs installed, and that you have the latest scripting engine (v5.5 or later) and MDAC components (v2.5 or later) installed.

3. Using the Application (TOP)

3.1. Users

Admin login:

• Setup and troubleshoot the Application only
• Create and manage the agency profile
• Track number of agents for agency
• Track number listings per agent

Broker (Agency) login:

• Create a login for multiple agents
• Manage agency and agents profile
• Add, edit or delete Categories
• Ability to troubleshoot the listings posted by the agents
• Activate and deactivate listings and featured listings
• Track listings per agents

Agent login:

• Ability to post, edit, or delete listing posted by the agent
• Activate and deactivate listings and featured listings

Note: The agent login is used to add/edit property listings.

User documents are available on our website: http://www.e3apps.com/usermods/e3realappdocs.asp

4. General Notes (TOP)

4.1. Updates

Please check our website http://www.e3apps.com for current updates.

©2007 e3 Applications. All rights reserved.