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TRANSCRIPT
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Update - Spring 2000
http://www.classifiedventures.com/extranet/admin.htm
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1.0 FAQs 3 - 8
2.0 Where Can I Find What I Am Looking For? 9 - 13
3.0 Site Architectures 14 - 21
4.0 CV Exchange HTML and Style Guide Standards 23 - 26
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Introduction:CV Exchange is the Classified Ventures extranet. It is your one-stop repository for materials, reports and tools to help you benchmark your online success. CV Exchange has been developed so that each affiliate has their own "site", complete with co-branding (where logos were available) and affiliate-specific content such as traffic reports, data feed reports (cars), etc. A guest site is available for on-site presentations, but affiliates should NOT use the guest site as their default site. They will not be able to view content correlating to their sites/markets when using the guest site.
Read on to learn more about booting up and logging on to...CV Exchange.
1.0 FAQSHow do I get on to CV Exchange?
For internal users only, it is best to go to the admin page of the extranet. This page allows you to chose the exact affiliate you want to visit and does not cookie you. Please visit:http://www.classifiedventures.com/extranet/admin.htmAffiliates are not to visit this page. They should be sent to:http://www.classifiedventures.com/extranet
What login and password do I use internally?To get your user name and password that will allow you access to all the affiliate extranet sites. Send an email to [email protected]. This login and password should NEVER be shared with affiliates or third-party constituents for obvious security reasons.
What happens when I go to http://www.classifiedventures.com/extranet?You get cookied.
What is a cookie?A cookie is a message given to a Web browser by a Web server. The browser stores the message in a text file called cookie.txt. The message is then sent back to the server each time the browser requests a page from the server.
The main purpose of cookies is to identify users and possibly prepare customized Web pages for them. Information is packaged into a cookie and sent to your Web browser which stores it for later use. The next time you go to the same Web site, your browser will send the cookie to the Web server. The server can use this information to present you with custom Web pages. So, for example, instead of seeing just a generic welcome page you might see a welcome page with your name on it.
The name cookie derives from UNIX objects called magic cookies. These are tokens that are attached to a user or program and change depending on the areas entered by the user or program. Cookies are also sometimes called persistent cookies because they typically stay in the browser for long periods of time.
What does the CV Exchange cookie do?When selecting a newspaper on the pull down, a cookie is saved. It tells the browser that next time you come to http://www.classifiedventures.com/extranet, it should jump you to page made specifically for your newspaper. For example, if you choose Chicago Tribune on the pull down menu and then return to the extranet at a later date, the cookie will actually jump you to the Chicago Tribune page (your URL will read http://www.classifiedventures.com/extranet/chicagotribune.htm).
Thus, if you inadvertently choose a newspaper that is not your own or have selected the GUEST site, you will continue to jump to those specific pages. This is undesirable. Do not use the GUEST site as your default because you will not be able to receive important information such as traffic reports, feed
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reports, etc. Check the URL in your browser window. If it is reading a site that is not your own or reads test.htm at the end, you will need to remove your cookie.
How do I remove a cookie?If you use Netscape: Close all Netscape windows Using Windows Explorer, go to the directory, c:\Program Files\Netscape\Users\[username] (where
[username] is the name of your user profile). Edit the file called cookies.txt Delete the entire line which contains www.classifiedventures.com Save cookies.txt Start Netscape and go to http://www.classifiedventures.com/extranet If you use Internet Explorer: Close all IE Windows Using Windows Explorer, go to the directory, c:\Windows\Temporary Internet Files\ Delete the cookie called extranet Start IE and go to http://www.classifiedventures.com/extranet
How do I register a new user for CV Exchange?Each affiliate user is required to have his/her own login and password to get onto CV Exchange. Login/passwords cannot be shared. Two processes apply to registering users depending on whether the affiliate user is in a pre-launched or launched market. In pre-launched markets, the Program Manager is responsible for registering new users. In launched markets, the customer service is responsible for registering new users. When you
receive an extranet account request from an affiliate in a launched market, either write a request to customer service at support@cars , [email protected] or [email protected] to request registration on the affiliate's behalf. Another alternative is to have the affiliate request an account directly by sending an e-mail to the above address. In the subject header, it is recommended to put ACCOUNT REQUEST.
If you are a Program Manager or customer service employee and need to register new users, go the following URL:http://cvdev1:8080/cgi-bin/cvdev1/NewAffExtranet.html
There you will view the following screen:
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Tips
In the Department - Affiliate section, please look carefully for the newspaper that represents your affiliate. Redundancies appear if you enter in a newspaper that already exists. This is undesirable for tracking purposes, as that the EP (Extranet Producers) often use the newspaper name as a way to look up user accounts, etc.
The E-mail and Requester E-mail fields are important. Upon submitting your request, the EP reviews the request to make sure all fields where entered correctly. The EP then create and approve the account for your affiliate user. Upon approval, both you (Requester E-mail) and your affiliate user (E-mail) will receive and e-mail confirming approval and documenting the login and password so that both you and your affiliate user will have the login/password on file.
An affiliate calls me and says they have lost their login and password for CV Exchange. What do I do?Simply send an e-mail to [email protected] on the behalf of the affiliate or have the affiliate write directly to the address themselves. The extranet producer will contact the affiliate either by phone or by e-mail with their account information that day.
If I know that an affiliate user has left his or her newspaper, what should I do?Contact [email protected] and detail an e-mail that explains that the user account of "Terry Smith" at "XYZ" newspaper should be eliminated for he/she has left the company.
How do I request a new extranet site for a new market (since all affiliates should have their own extranet sites)?First, check http://www.classifiedventures.com/extranet/admin.htm to see if your affiliate is listed. If not or you are still unsure whether or not your market has and extranet site, the best thing to do is to ask. Write to [email protected] to inquire.
If you have ascertained that your market is without an extranet site and requires one, the following steps apply.
Two weeks prior to your affiliate receiving data feeds, contact [email protected]
The new extranet site request e-mail should contain the following information:
In the header of the e-mail, put: [new site request] “Name of Vertical” “Name of Affiliate” For example: [new site request] apartments.com Chicago Tribune
User Name: Here you will put the login of the new affiliate user. You can yourself determine what this will be or ask the proposed user.
Company Name - Media Group: Enter the Parent Company the affiliate user is from.
Department - Affiliate: Enter the Newspaper name of the new affiliate user.
Department: State what roll your new affiliate user plays at his/her newspaper.
Email: Here you put the e-mail of the new affiliate user. You may input only one e-mail address.
Requester Email: Here input your own e-mail address. This field is important.
Password: Here input the new user's password. Again, you or they may dictate what this will be.
http://cvdev1:8080/cgi-bin/cvdev1/NewAffExtranet.html
In the body of the e-mail, detail the following: Vertical: Affiliate: Media Company: Location: Web Site URL: Timing:
How do I get content posted to the extranet?Each vertical has one person available for posting content.
For REAL ESTATE (Apartments.com, NewHomeNetwork.com, HomeHunter, MovingCenter.com):Nathalie [email protected]
For CARS & Auction: Sanjay Mehta [email protected]
If you have new content to post, contact the above personnel to discuss deadlines and turn around times. If your request can not be handled by one resource, the extranet producer will assist in helping the vertical representatives publish content.
The above personnel are not ultimately responsible for developing content for the CV Exchange, thus all content supplied to them must be complete and in its final format. If you have questions about the best way to publish information to CV Exchange, contact either vertical representative or write to [email protected]. Assistance is available to content development based on need and priority.
Turn around times for publishing vary depending on requests.
How do I request technical solutions on the extranet for my vertical/department?As your department grows, so shall your need for automated business solutions. If you need a technical solution implemented on CV Exchange, contact [email protected] A brief needs analysis will be conducted. Upon completion, need and priority will be mutually determined. The EP then implements it or details a tech request to CV Tech. CV Tech reviews the document and then replies with a projected time of completion. If both parties agree to the completion date, production commences. If not, alternate means for completion will be researched. See below for diagram of tech request process.
FOR EXAMPLE:Vertical: NewHomeNetworkAffiliate: Asheville Citizen-TimesMedia Company: GannettLocation: Asheville, NCWeb Site: http://www.citizen-times.comTiming: by 6/10/99
How to I request changes, additional, and/or deletions from the section side nav of my vertical extranet site?
The side navigation bars were designed to expand as your vertical business expands. If you would like an alteration on a new section side nav, please contact [email protected] for Real Estate and [email protected] for Cars.com and Auction.com. Upon consensus from your team, the change shall be implemented. Please see the complete site architectures to assess where best your alteration would fit in with the present site architecture.
To the left is an example of what a current side navigation column looks like.
2.0 WHERE CAN I FIND WHAT I AM LOOKING FOR?
CV Exchange - Helping to Build Your Business www.classifiedventures.com/extranet
CV Exchange is your one-stop repository for materials, reports and tools to help you benchmark your online success. Think of it as a central place where you can find the tools to assist you with the following: Performance (traffic, sales performance, etc.) Sales & Training (presentations and guides) Fulfillment/Support (forms) Marketing (publicity and ad materials) Product (current features and product related guidelines) Industry (research and competitive info) Search Help
Your input regarding CV Exchange is requested and important. If you have an idea for new content or can't find what you are looking for, contact [email protected]
If you have trouble with your account/password or if you need an account/password please contact us at [email protected].
CARS.COM Home Page Featured Topics and quick links Newsletter - The Network Connection Best Practices - Case studies of some of the best practices CV affiliates are currently
implementing
Performance Reports Sales Performance - Cars.com Affiliate Weekly Sales Performance Scorecard- a breakdown of
affiliate sales success updated weekly. It lists the total number of dealer packages sold by each sales enabled affiliate.
Site Traffic Reports - IPRO traffic reports that give Affiliate’s specific page view trends, National overall page view trends and traffic information to all affiliates pages. Dealer traffic reports are available as well.
Data Feed Reports - issued after each feed is run, the data feed report summarizes how the feed went (how many records were inserted, how many were rejected and what they were, etc.)
Sales & Training Demos
Cars.com Dealer Site Directory - Review a collection of some dealer sites built by cars.com. Cars.com Co-Branded Headers - gallery of live co-branded headers Cars.com Leave Behinds
Sample Presentations - Downloadable cars.com Dealer Presentation Contracts - Review a cars.com sample sales contract.
Fulfillment/Support Intranet Administrator - link up to the DMI intranet administrator to review information on your
dealers Forms - Review and use the new cars.com production fulfillment forms Billing Procedures - Find out how cars.com defines a sale.
Marketing Advertising - the cars.com Ad Materials Book a one-stop shop for branding standards and
guidelines, plus downloadable/co-brandable print ads. The advertising section also includes creative examples of banner, radio, outdoor, trade, magazines ads as well as collateral and downloadable logos.
Strategies Cars.com Branding Strategy RMOP: The cars.com Regional Media Opportunity Program - Cars.com can help you make better
media buys through bulk purchasing power Trade/Consumer Advertising Schedule
Media Placements - a review of cars.com online ad placements Trade Shows/Events - information on NADA Public Relations - all recent cars.com press releases and recent press kit Style Guides - downloadable PDF of the cars.com style guides Case Studies - review the Jingle Bug promotion case study
Product Current Features - Information on the newest features and the newest releases. Product Guidelines - Product Related Guidelines Version 4.5 - review the most current information
on cars.com products and services.
Industry Product Comparisons - Read the Competitor Overview presentation that provides the cars.com
view of the online automotive buying/shopping market. Competitive Analysis - Cars.com 1999 NADA Observations and Competitive Analysis Research - Downloadable research on the following: Online Consumers: Attitudes Toward Online
Car Sites, Advertising Study, Consumer Research Project, Customer Research Presentation, Online Consumer Research, Qualitative Market Research
Industry News - A listing of industry links
Help Software Downloads - a comprehensive library of free software
CV Real EstateThe Real Estate portion of the Extranet currently consists of four separate sites; NewHomeNetwork.com, Apartments.com, HomeHunter and one for MovingCenter.com. These sites contain information that affiliates can use to help grow their business.
NewHomeNetwork.com
Home Page Featured Topics and quick links Newsletter - HomeFront Best Practices - Read case studies of some of the best practices CV affiliates are currently
implementing
Performance Reports Site Traffic Reports - all traffic reports are based on numbers from IPRO
National Overall Traffic Trends Affiliate Network Traffic Comparison Affiliate Site Page View Trends
Sales & Training Demos - Static Demo Path Training Guides
Pre-Training Materials - materials for review prior to sales training Fulfillment Procedures Event Tool Kit - contains the necessary materials to host your own builder event
Overcoming Objections - NHN's answers to sales objections and how to overcome them. Sample Presentations
Builder, Introduction, Competition, and Product Presentation Internet Presentation - reviews the explosive growth of the Internet and Internet advertising. "Going Live" Talk Track
Contracts - Standard Sales Contract - the most current NHN general contract …Coming Soon… Affiliate Rate Card
Fulfillment/Support Forms - Review and use the new newhomenetwork.com production fulfillment forms
Marketing Advertising - creative examples of online banners, collateral (sales brochures) and downloadable
logos Trade Shows/Events - information on upcoming industry events Public Relations-all recent NHN releases Marketing Trade Alert Premium Catalog NHN Ad Serving Tags
Product Current Features Affiliate Alerts - updates of NHN product and site changes Site features - short presentation that hits the highlights of NHN Products - a run down of all the products NHN has available to sell Product Guidelines - Product Related Guidelines, CV Web and Print Integration guides, as well as
criterion on trademarking and public relations.
Industry Product Comparisons Competitive Analysis Competitive Comparison Analysis, Competitive Analysis for Phoenix, Analysis of Top Builder Web
Sites, Housing and Circulation Analysis Research Background research information on Marketing/Advertising, Internet Business, Government Lists,
and General Resources Industry News - list of industry links
Help Software Downloads - a comprehensive library of free software
Apartments.comHome Page Featured Topics and quick links Best Practices - Read case studies of some of the best practices CV affiliates are currently
implementing Clients' Testimonials link
Performance Reports Site Traffic Reports - all traffic reports are based on numbers from IPRO or Marketwave Network Visits, Network Page Views, Apartments.com Traffic Trends, Affiliate Traffic Trends Performance Reports Activity Reports - details the online activity being delivered to the property’s leasing office every
month. Sales Performance - Sales Performance Scorecard and National Accounts
Sales & Training Demos - Demo Script Training Guides - Renewal Tips Overcoming Objections - Budget Objections - potential objections and the best solutions from
affiliates and our national sales team. Sample Presentations - Product, Group and Sales Presentations Talk Sheets - Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze talk sheets for download Testimonials From CV's clients
Fulfillment/Support Forms - Review and use the new apartments.com production fulfillment forms
Marketing Advertising - creative examples of online banners, TV commercials and downloadable logos Strategies - Apartments.com branding strategy Media Placements - a review of apartments.com online ad placements Trade Shows/Events - information on the four major national multifamily trade events Public Relations - PR Guidelines, Press Releases, National Press Kit, Publicity Resources and In
the News Style Guide (Corporate Identification) - a complete guide to logo usage and placement Affiliate Trade Alert Affiliate Trade Marketing Premium Catalog Apts- Ad Serving Tags
Product Current Features - Highlights consumer key features of the apartments.com product Product Guidelines - Product Related Guidelines Version 1.0 - review the most current information
on apartments.com products and services.
Industry Industry News - Review the apartments.com industry overview and list of industry links
Help Software Downloads - a comprehensive library of free software
MovingCenter.com
Home Page Featured Topics and quick links
Performance Reports Site Traffic Reports - National Overall Traffic Trends based on numbers from IPRO or Marketwave Affiliate Traffic Reports - COMING SOON !
Marketing Advertising - creative examples of online banners, and downloadable logos Public Relations - Press Releases
Product Current Features - Affiliate Alert - Highlights consumer key features of the MovingCenter.com
product Slide presentation of MovingCenter Product Guidelines - COMING SOON!
Help/FAQ Software Downloads - a comprehensive library of free software Contact List - Affiliate relations and Product management Affiliate FAQ
HomeHunter
Home Page Featured Topics and quick links Newsletter - HomeFront
Performance Reports Site Traffic Reports - all traffic reports are based on numbers from ZIP2
National Overall Traffic Trends Affiliate Network Traffic Comparison Affiliates need their own name and password to access the report
Sales & Training Demos - Static Demo Path Training Guides
Pre-Training Materials - materials for review prior to sales training Fulfillment Procedures Event Tool Kit - contains the necessary materials to host your own builder event
Overcoming Objections - NHN's answers to sales objections and how to overcome them. Sample Presentations ..Coming Soon FAQs Product Demo Competitive Comparisons
Competitive LandscapeHomeHunter vs. Realtor
Fulfillment/Support Forms - Review and use the newhomenetwork.com production fulfillment forms
Marketing Advertising - creative examples of online banners, collateral (sales brochures) and downloadable
logos Trade Shows/Events - information on upcoming industry events Marketing Trade Alert Premium Catalog NHN Ad Serving Tags
Product Current Features Affiliate Alerts - updates of NHN product and site changes Product Guidelines - Product Related Guidelines, CV Web and Print Integration guides, as well as
criterion on trademarking and public relations. Product & Pricing Metrix
Industry Product Comparisons Competitive Analysis
Help Software Downloads - a comprehensive library of free software
CARS.COM CV EXCHANGE SITE ARCHITECTURE Cars.comBelow is a representation of the items that are currently available on the cars.com portion of CV Exchange as of 6/1/00.
4.0 CV EXCHANGE STYLE GUIDE
Naming Conventions
Guidelines Use ALL lowercase letters when naming files. Hypertext documents should be followed with the .htm extension and not the .html extension. Use three letter file extensions when naming files. For example .jpg is accepted and .jpeg is not. Limit all non-alphanumeric characters to the underscore character (ex: this_report.htm). Avoid
hyphens and NEVER use spaces in file names.
Explanation
The CV Exchange site is served on a UNIX system, and therefore file names are case sensitive (unlike Windows and Mac systems which are case insensitive). Since most hypertext documents and image files will be edited and created on Windows or Mac systems, it is important to keep in mind the issue of case sensitivity. The following files will be treated as the same file on a Windows or Mac system, while they will be treated as different files on a UNIX system:
File.htm, file.htm, file.HTM
So if the file traffic.htm is referred to as traffic.HTM in a hypertext document, it will work on your local Windows or Mac system, but it will then give you a "file not found" [404] error once it is uploaded to the server.
Therefore, to simplify this issue, it is required that all file names be lowercase, including the file extensions.
NOTE: PhotoShop 5 defaults file extensions to uppercase, but does have an option to force the default extension to lowercase and should be set as such.
For convenience and consistency, all files should have a three-character extension. JPEG files should be named with a .jpg not a .jpeg extension, and hypertext documents should be named with the .htm and not the .html extension.
File names should be kept short but understandable. For example, may_traffic_1999.pdf is acceptable, but 0599_traffic.pdf works just as well and is also shorter. UNIX systems have problems with spaces and therefore they should NEVER be used. The underscore character should be used as a spacing character when making filenames understandable. Hyphens should NOT be used as spacing characters.
Aesthetics Guidelines
Page Elements
The format of the index.htm document below provides the basic layout for any CV Exchange hypertext document.Rollover effect (Cascading Style Sheet or CSS) is used to change the colors of a link.
1. The CV Exchange Logo links to the index.htm document of the current vertical.
2. 468 x 60 Banner Ad.3. Cross-vertical navigation links accomplished through a JavaScript.4. Location Bar provides you current location within CV Exchange.5. Top-Level Section Navigation links between each of the seven Top-Level Sections within each
vertical.6. The Content Area contains the main information for each document.7. Side Navigation Bar contains links to the sub-sections within each Top-Level Section (for the
index.htm document for each vertical, the Side Navigation Bar contains links to any new features or updates to the CV Exchange site).
8. HighLights section contains the Success Stories, Newsletter, and other miscellaneous documents for each vertical (NOTE: this section is located only in the index.htm document for each vertical).
Color Palette
VERTICAL NAME COLOR RGB HEXHomeHunter red 204,0,0 CC0000
Light Blue 153,204,255 99CCFFMovingCenter Blue 51,102,204 3366CC
Gold 255,204,102 FFCC66NewHomeNetwork.com Dark Blue 0, 78, 109 004E6D
Light Blue 203, 232, 238 CBEBEERed 168, 0, 51 A80033
Apartments.com Green 111, 187, 30 6FBB1ELight Green 204, 255, 204 CCFFCCBlack 0, O, O 000000
Cars.com Purple 90, 41, 189 5A29BDLight Purple 204, 204, 255 CCCCFFOrange 25, 153, 0 FF9900
Vertical Specific Element Characteristics:
ELEMENT NHN Cars Apts HH MCLinks DarkRed/Brighter red Purple/Pale Blue DarkGreen/Light Green Blue/red Gold/Orange
Location Bar Dark Blue Purple Green Blue BlueSide Navigation Bar Light Blue Light Purple Light Green Blue BlueHighLights Box Dark Blue Purple Green Red Gold
Universal Element Characteristics
Content Area Font should be “ARIAL, HELVETICA, SANS-SERIF” Body copy text should be of size 2 PTS All headers should be BOLD, even when headers are links If a paragraph provides navigation to another page, the paragraph header should be a link (BOLD)
pointing to that page Links within paragraphs (such as “…Click Here” links) should NOT be bold All links should be underlined or rollover. Users are used to underlined text links and will often
miss non-underlined links Links which are at the end of a paragraph and point to document files (such as Word files or
PDFs) should be 1PT
Side Navigation Bar Will always have a vertical specific logo, as well as (if available) the affiliate’s logo.
ExplanationThe main focus of CV Exchange site is functionality. Users are not coming to the site to be entertained, but rather with the goal of finding important information to better help them to do business. Therefore, CV Exchange is implemented in a simplistic style with an emphasis placed on
straightforward, intuitive navigation and architecture. The above guidelines ensure the emphasis placed on functionality.
Graphics Guidelines
Use HTML instead of graphics whenever possible Use JPEG for large images or photos, and GIF for icons Export graphics with fewer colors/lower resolution to reduce file size Try to convert your document as an HTML file as much as you can. Excel, PowerPoint and Word
enable you to save your doc. as such. If your document looks "different", (big gaps between paragraph, loss of lines or paragraph etc.) don't convert your document and send it to your Extranet Producer.
Explanations
Keeping in mind that the CV Exchange site is designed to be functional, pages should not be overloaded with unnecessary graphics, as this will increase downloading and loading time.
Also, users understand underlined or rollover links and often simply miss text graphic links.
Another important issue to keep in mind is that graphics can become a maintenance hassle on pages that are updated frequently.
Unless a photograph is reproduced at a small size (such as 100 pixels in either dimension), a JPG is usually preferred. JPGs can handle the tonality changes inherent in photos better than GIFs, and they can be substantially smaller in size.
GIFs, on the other hand, are superior for icons, type graphics and small images. If you created something in Illustrator, in will probably render best as a GIF. A PhotoShop image (a complex photo) will probably work best as a JPG.
If the image you create seems too large (file size) to you, you can reduce the file size using one of the following methods: GIFs: Export from PhotoShop with fewer colors. You can often drop the number of colors used
dramatically without affecting image quality. This works best for icons; not well at all for small photos. Use the preview to see how the picture will appear.
GIFs & JPGs: Use an image-compression program, such as Adobe's Image Ready or Debabelizer, to reduce file size. These tools are helpful in that they allow you to play "what if" before saving.
JPGs: When saving in PhotoShop, don't save thumbnails or paths (part of the save dialog). Also, experiment with using lower quality settings — there isn't much difference between, say, a 5 and a 7, and file size can decrease.
While most of these tips will not decrease file size dramatically, taken all together — across all graphics on a page — you can garner a substantial reduction.
