Getting Started

Program Overview

WebAD Wizard™ (WAW) is a Wizard Internet Software™ program that enables you to run your own automatic online ad mall website offering free or fee based full-page photo Web ADs. Since WAW is an easy-to-use Internet-based program that's run from a Web Browser, you can administer it from anywhere, regardless of experience!

Your WAW software consists of two different areas:

1. The actual Mallplex Website where visitors view and place ads.
2. The Admin Center where you customize and manage your mallplex.

Actual Mallplex

• Can be used as your main homepage and website, or as an addition to a current website that is linked from your current homepage.
• Professionally designed database driven website where visitors can view ads by category or by search term.
• Without any effort from you, people can instantly place ads and upload photos.
• Without any effort from you, advertisers can edit and renew their ads 24 hours a day.
• Advertisers automatically receive "confirmation" and "invoice" screens, as well as "thank you" emails after placing ads.
• Display up to seven banners on every pagel.
• Display your own Sample Ads for visitors and advertisers to view.
• Display an optional WAW affiliate banner on all ad pages.
• Display your own logos, copyright and company info, home navigational link, as well as customized text and email content.
• Web pages and ads are dynamically generated from the database, which means your mall content is always current.

Admin Center

• Password protected access and each session is logged.
• Customize the mall, emails and ad styles.
• Set ad pricing and duration.
• View and manage all ads.
• Create, edit and delete ad categories.
• Add and delete Sample Ads.
• Broadcast emails and perform other administrative functions.

WebAD Wizard™ can help generate traffic, add credibility and interactivity to a website:

• People assume that professional automated malls like this are owned by large companies.
• Visitors will come back often to browse your mall.
• Advertisers will promote their ads using the Web address they receive.

WebAD Wizard™ can help increase sales of other products and services:

• You can advertise your own products and services via regular ads, sample ads and banners.
• You can give away free Web page ads in your mall as a incentive for people to purchase other products that you offer. Your cost per ad is basically nothing, it has a high perceived value, and customers create it themselves.

General Information

• After WAW is installed you will receive an email that includes the default Password and Web addresses to access both your mallplex main page and Admin Center.

• There is a link to this User Manual at the top of each Admin page for easy reference.

• Make sure that you use a Java enabled Web Browser, as several Admin functions require this (all major Browsers are set like this by default). We recommend that you use either Netscape Navigator 4.0+ or Internet Explorer 4.0+.

• Of course, you will also need to be connected to the Internet.

• WAW is easy an easy to use program. Once you've customized it to your liking, there is little that needs to be done as it practically runs itself.

   

The default password given to you should be changed right away. You can change your password by selecting the "Change Admin Login Password" button on the Main Admin Panel. See the Change Password section of this manual for more information.

Be sure to write your password down in a safe place, as you cannot access or use WAW without it, nor can we automatically reset your password once it is installed. Additional charges may apply if a new password needs to be created.

How To Access

Accessing The Actual Mall: There are two ways to view your mallplex.

1. By calling the actual program as shown in the URL below:
   http://www.yourdomain.xxx/cgi-bin/waw/viewads.pl
   
   The above URL is best used with text links, buttons, or banners because the long URL is not visible to the user. Since it links directly to your mallplex, it accesses it the quickest.
   
   
2. By using a re-direct index.html page that calls the program as shown in the URLs below:
   www.yourdomain.xxx/waw   or   www.yourdomain.xxx *
   
   This shorter, more attractive URL is best used when giving out your mallplex Web address and when typing it into a browser.
   
   * By default, we include the redirect index.html page in the /waw/ directory as shown here -> www.yourdomain.xxx/waw, but in some cases we also place it as your home page as shown here -> www.yourdomain.xxx. If you do not have a home page and want to make WAW your home page, then all you have to do is copy the index.html page located here -> www.yourdomain.xxx/waw and put it here -> www.yourdomain.xxx. Contact us for assistance.
   

   Accessing The Admin Center:

   1. www.yourdomain.xxx/cgi-bin/waw/admin_panel.pl

** All of the above access instructions and URLs are for default installations. If you requested that WAW be installed in a different location, then view the "New Installation" email that you received for your exact URLs.

Create a Desktop Shortcut

To make it easy to access your WAW Admin Center or Mallplex, you can add a shortcut to your Desktop. This way you won’t have to enter the URL into your Browser every time, you can just double-click the shortcut to access the Password screen.

To create a shortcut:

1. View the page that you want to make a shortcut to. In this case, your Admin Password Screen, or the actual Mallplex itself.
2. Right click your pointing device and from the pop-up menu select Create Shortcut. Then select OK.

(You can also bookmark the page, or save it in your favorites for easy access.)

 

How the Ad Process Works

When a customer places a FREE ad, it is viewable in your mall right away. When a customer places a PAID ad, it is not viewable in the mall until you receive payment and then access the Advertising Management are of the Admin Panel and "mark the ad as paid".

A person placing an ad receives both an invoice "screen" and "email". Both contain the payment instructions that you've entered in the Invoice Info Text field on the Admin Settings screen. You must receive payment for the ad and "mark it as paid" before it is auto-deleted from the system in [ X days]. If you are only accepting online orders, then you should make it 1-2 days. If you accept mailed payments, then you will want to make it longer.

So, once the customer places an ad, they will be notified to remit payment within [set days]. When you receive payment, access the Admin Manage screen and "mark it as paid". If you do not receive payment, you need to do nothing as the ad will be deleted automatically. If you are offering FREE ADS, they work a little differently. When a customer places a FREE ad, the ad is automatically "marked as paid" so you don't have to do anything. It will not be deleted until expired.

Renewing / expiring:

From your Admin Settings screen you set the amount of days before an ad expires the Renewal Email should be sent. The Renewal Email tells the advertiser that their ad is about to expire and they can visit the Update Center to renew it. Once the ad is renewed, the advertiser will receive the same message as when they placed the ad telling them how to make payment. It must be received within the [ X days] or the ad will be deleted. Once you receive payment, "mark it as paid" just as you did when they placed it. If an ad is not renewed, it will be deleted once it has expired.

How free and paid ads are handled:

After placing a free ad, the advertiser automatically receives an ad confirmation and instructions, a password to the Update Ads control panel, as well as their own Web address. Their ad is instantly viewable in your mallplex with no interaction needed from you.

After placing a paid ad, the advertiser automatically receives an ad confirmation and instructions, a password to the Update Ads control panel, as well as their own Web address. Their ad is NOT viewable in your mallplex until you have received payment and "marked the ad as paid". This is easily done from your Admin Center with a push of a button. If a person places an ad and you never receive payment, you need to do nothing as it can be automatically deleted within a set number of days.

How payment for ads are handled

WAW is not an order payment system, but it is designed so that you can easily set it up to work with any payment methods or order system you use. This is done by customizing the Invoice Info Text field in the Admin Settings to include your own payment methods and instructions. It can be as simple as text stating "print this page and mail it with a check or money order". You can also include a link to a secure order form, a link to another order page on your site, or to a link with a third party payment system. It is simple and flexible and works the way you need it to.

If you do not have a secure order form to link to, contact us and we can provide a secure OrderForm Wizard™ for you to use. If you purchased WAW, then it is free for six months. If you subscribe to our WAW service, then it is free for as long as you subscribe.

For more information on ad payments, view the section titled Setting Up Your Payment System / Order Form. Each of the above topics will be discussed in more detail later in this manual.