B2B Vertical Marketplace Creator v1.0 User & Admin Guides

System Requirements:

Local computer testing needed Microsoft Personal Web Server (PWS, downloadable from Microsoft.com or found in Windows 98 Installer CD) or Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS, pre-built in Windows NT).
ISP’s Web hosting site on NT web server (with ODBC and ASP enabled.) for actual B2B Auction system running.
Disk space of 3MB or above.
Internet Explorer or Netscape 4.0 or above.

Installations:

Double click on the EXE installer to begin the program installation.
Type in Installer Password as provided by the supplier (normally inside email).
This will continue the program installation.
If you have Microsoft Personal Web Server (PWS, downloadable from Microsoft.com or found inside Windows 98 Installer CD) or Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS, pre-built in Windows NT) preinstalled in your computer, you can copy all files and folders, from the installed folder to its web server root directory: InetPub\wwwRoot\
Note that the MS ACCESS database file ‘VerticalB2B.MDB’ is located at the same program folder as the whole system files.

Move your mouse over the Personal Web Server icon as displayed in the right bottom corner of your Windows screen. If PWS has been successfully installed and set to run, it should displayed the hint message as below:

Microsoft Personal Web Server:

The following screen is the Personal Web Manager of PWS. You will be able to change or keep the web server root directory:

To test running it locally, please launch the Internet Explorer or Netscape 4.0 or above and type in web address: http://localhost/VerticalB2B/default.asp

or http://term6/VerticalB2B/default.asp
if your computer system name is, for example, term6 (see the Main Publishing section as shown above).
This will launch the B2B Vertical Marketplace system.
If you have your own NT web hosting site, you can upload the [VerticalB2B] folder and the database file to your website, and then use web browser to go to http://www.yourwebsite.com/VerticalB2B/default.asp

Note to Administrator:

Assuming that the DEFAULT home page name is ‘default.asp’.

Please upload the [VerticalB2B] folder to your website’s root directory.
wwwroot : [VerticalB2B] folder

Putting database file in the root directory will improve the security and avoid the sensitive data from been viewed unauthorized person.

Make sure that remote web server in your Internet Service Provider (ISP) side allows you to execute Active Server Page (ASP) program and allows you to write to MS ACCESS database file from the client side (so that database can be updated directly from the web browser). Normally these features can be set inside ISP’s Internet Information Server (IIS) with the ISP’s assistance.

B2B Vertical Marketplace System

Business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce is characterized by the growth of electronic marketplaces and online auctions. This growth of the dynamic-pricing buying and selling at goods and services other than a list price has coincided with the growth of electronic product catalogs that make it possible for prospective buyers to peer into a supplier's inventory system.

B2B e-commerce produces electronic marketplaces in vertical industries, where businesses can request for bid or bid for what they want from among multiple suppliers. These verticals need not be related to computers and electronics. Even heavy industry is increasingly turning to Internet auctions and online stores to move surplus equipment and commodity merchandise.

Now, you can easily develop and participate in B2B e-commerce directly on your own website. With B2B Vertical Marketplace Creator, you can develop online marketplace for any industry such as Semiconductor, Computer, Medical or Telecommunication, allow related suppliers and corporate purchasers to be linked together, and to conduct business-to-business level trading directly on your website. You will be able to use the easy-to-use web-based tool to design any B2B vertical, based on your own industry and its sub-categories. Your registered suppliers can post their company links, products, and services directly through the web browser. Interested members can browse and search for supplier company sites, as well as services and products offered by them, either through auction or fixed price selling in their respective selling community, such as online auction house or online store.

As System Administrator, he can manage all registered suppliers and purchasers through the web browser, monitor the posting goods and services in the online marketplace, as well as design a vertical marketplace and sub categories of the vertical.

Product & Supplier Search Engine

In the product and company supplier search engine, registered member can search for products and services posted by suppliers, based on the keyword. If ‘Fixed Price’ is selected as product format, only those ‘fixed price’ goods and services will be displayed. ‘Fixed price’ goods and services are sold in suppliers’ online stores at their list prices. “Auction’ goods and services are listed by the suppliers in their respective auction houses and have their ending dates of the offering. ‘Other’ is product format which may include service quotation or wholesale goods which prices are determined by the quantity of the order.

Clicking on the Product Name hyperlink will be connected to the product site as specified by the supplier. The site could be the auction site or online store, which sells the product or service at the fixed price.

Supplier link is the home website of the supplier where interested buyers can visit the site for information of more products and services.

The format column lists auction, fixed price or other format of the specific product, as indicated by the supplier during the product posting.

In the price column, the products could be in dynamic pricing if they are in Auction format, due to the bidding activities on the current active auctions in their respective auction house. If it is in ‘fixed’ format, the product is selling at its list price.

Only the ending date of products in Auction format will be displayed. A normal auction should run from 2 to 14 days.

By searching for specific company based on the company keyword, the search engine will list out all relevant companies or suppliers who have signed up with the marketplace system. Clicking on the hyperlink of the company will be connected to its home website where an interested buyer could find more products or services as provided by this company.

Add Product/Service

Click on Add Product/Service link to add a new product or service.

After you have logged in as a register user (note that log in name and password are CASE SENSITIVE), your user name will be detected by the program and displayed automatically on the supplier name section.

Type in the product or service name in the field provided that you are going to list in the marketplace.

Make sure that the Supplier Website URL is correct so that your interested buyer will be connected to your website for more company, product or service information.

Also type in the product or service URL in the field. The URL could be your online shopping cart link of that product, or auction item hyperlink which will be linked to the current (active) auction site of that specific item.

Select the format of the product or service: fixed price, auction or other format. If you select ‘Fixed Price’ for your item listed in your online store system, you will not be required to type in the ending date. If you select ‘Auction’, you will need to type in the ending date of the auction so that your potential buyer can bid on this item from your auction site, before the auction closing time. Note that the date must be in [MM/DD/YYYY] format, such as 12/25/2000.

Click on ‘Post’ button when you finished, and the program will save all data into the MS Access database in your web server. The next screen will be a new entry form for your next product or service.

Click on ‘Home’ link if you would like to go back to the marketplace home page.

Registration

All new users are required to register as a member before they can become the marketplace suppliers or users.

Type in your unique User ID, valid email address, and password inside the fields provided. Note that the email should be valid for contact purpose.

Fill in your company name and website address (URL), which will be displayed in the search and list result.

Contact person is the person who is in charge of the sales and customer service. Address and phone number are essential for correspondence purpose.

After you have completed the registration form, click on ‘Register’ button to submit the form. The system will automatically approve this registration and allow you to begin using the marketplace system.

Administration

Administrator of the marketplace will be required to log in to the administration section.

Note that all login user ID and password are CASE SENSITIVE. This is applied to the login of all other registered user. Please make sure that you use the proper lower or upper case of your ID and password.

Remove User

To remove existing registered users from the database, please check on the relevant box and click on ‘Remove’ button. This will remove the selected users permanently from the database.

You will be able to monitor the existing user registration information by clicking on the hyperlink of each user ID. Click on the email link will enable administrator to contact the registered user by email.

Remove Product/Service

To remove unwanted current or expired products or services, check on the relevant boxes and click ‘Remove’ button to remove them permanently from the database.

Note that administrator should always come to this section and remove all completed auction item from the database. This will avoid the completed auction items to be searched out by the registered user, through the search engine.

All auctions and fixed-price items will be sorted out in this section. The upper section will be auction listing. The ending date of the expired auction item will be displayed in Red color so that administrator can recognize it and remove it from the database.

Editing Banner

The banner will be displayed in the marketplace home page and category pages.

Type in your company banner URL (such as http://www.mysite.com/banner.gif) and click on ‘Edit Banner’ button will save the data and displayed your own company logo or banner at the top of each marketplace web pages.

Editing Industry

Industry name will be displayed at the top of category list. This is the industry name of the vertical, such as Software, Semiconductor, Transportation, etc.

All the categories will be related to this industry name.

Adding New Category

You can add a new category to your existing categories for your specific vertical.

Type in the new category name and click ‘Add’ button to add to the category list.

Modifying Existing Categories

Below is a sample category list for ‘Software’ industry.

You can edit the category name directly, and click on ‘Change’ button to update the category list. To remove unwanted category, simply erase the existing category name, and click on ‘Change’.

Note that once you erase the unwanted category name, all products or services which are listed under this category will be removed from the database permanently as well.

Changing Administrator Password

Administrator will be given the default login ID and password. However, he can edit and change the ID and password in this section, which is recommended.

Type in the original administrator ID and old password in the fields provided. Then type in your new ID and new password, and confirm the password in the fields as well. Click on ‘Change’ button to update your new ID and password in the database.

‘Exit’ the administrator website, and click on ‘Admin’ link to login with your new administrator ID and password to access the administration section.

Special Note: Administrator ID is not the Registered User ID. Registered user ID cannot be used to log in to administration website.