The latest briefcase Factory 1.3.0 released on August 1, 2008 brings major features for the administrator and also support for Joomla 1.5.x Legacy Mode. From the new features available in the administrator control panel we are mentioning the following options:

• enable/disable the public tab and the publics uploads
• enable/disable that registered users can only share files with administrators
• enable/disable that when registered users upload a file, that file must be shared automatically with admin users. If it is enabled, they would not need to select anybody; the list of users would not appear and the file would be shared with several administrators. There is also a setting to select the administrator users that are choosen to receive this kind of shares.

The version also includes plenty of improvements and code optimization. Also the available Plugins for the Module where updated to support the legacy mode.

Testing. New customers can test the Briefcase platform on our Demo-Server. There we provide access also from the Front-end as several users, but also from the back-end as an administrator. Feel free to test it anyway you like, since the platform resets itself every hour.

Updates. For updates please read first our Terms & Conditions and Customers FAQ's pages. Also please check the post in our forum regarding upgrades. 

The new version of auction Factory 1.4.1. launched on July 30, 2008 has a couple of new interesting features and also fixed issues. From the new features we gonna mention the new Search Mambot which will allow to perform search directly from Joomla, the new Meta Tags available in the auction details page in order to make the component even more SEO friendlier and also the ability to change the page title with the auction title. With this new feature we are introducing also the possibility of selling using a Reserve Price. 

A reserve price is the lowest price at which you are willing to sell your item. If you don’t want to sell your item below a certain price, you can a set a reserve price. The amount of your reserve price is not disclosed to your bidders, but they will see that your auction has a reserve price and whether or not the reserve has been met. If a bidder does not meet that price, you're not obligated to sell your item. The Reserve price option is only visible for Online Auction format; it is not visible for Fixed Price. You may lower your reserve price after you receive bids on the item. If you don’t want to use a reserve price, leave the field blank.

Why have a reserve price? Many sellers have found that too high a starting price discourages interest in their item, while an attractively low starting price makes them vulnerable to selling at an unsatisfactorily low price. A reserve price helps with this.

Example: Imagine a seller wants to sell an item for at least $100, but he is worried that a starting bid price of $100 will discourage potential bidders from bidding. If the seller uses a reserve price, he can list his item with a starting price of $.99, $5, $10, or any amount below his required reserve amount. The seller can then enter a reserve amount of $100. By listing his item this way, bidding will start at the lower price, but the seller won’t be obligated to sell the item unless the bidding reaches at least $100—the reserve price.

Features involving images are also available in the 1.4.1 version. The administrator can set images as required and specify the number of MB he wans each image to be reduced (image resizing).

Fixed issues with the 1.4.1 version are regarding: search tags, proxy bid (first bid), modul (picture display), BIN < Max. Bid + increase, date format, last day of month bidding, back-up & restore, choosing winner when auction is expired, included all xml paramaters into language file, My ratings on the CB tab, Template in IE and html tags, etc.

Updates. For updates please read first our Terms & Conditions and Customers FAQ's pages. If you are eligible then please send us your request as specified in the Customer FAQ, including name, order number, date of purchase.

Testing. New customers can test the auction platform on our Demo-Server. There we provide access also from the Front-end as several users, but also from the back-end as an administrator. Feel free to test it anyway you like, since the platform resets itself every hour.

The Factory launched a new module, with allot of configurable options for eCommerce people active around the world of eBay. It's called "eBay Factory Module" and it's a native Joomla 1.5.x plugin. eBay Factory Module comes as a help for the targeted sites which are running a specified bussiness. This way the administrator can set up certain search-keywords in order to display in a module only certain eBay.com auctions for his visitors. The search can be limited by entering multiple keywords and if the area of interest is bigger then the administrator can publish another module with a different keyword since multiple instances are supported. The input of multiple keywords can be done with space between the words or just a "+". From the backend the auctions can be ordered by "newly listed" and "endiing soon". Also the number of auctions, title lenght, show/hide images and date format can be configured. The display can be configured through CSS in order to match any existing template and there is also a cache option.

We saved the best part at last: It's FREE . We want to continue our contribution to the Joomla Community started with the "rss Factory" and followed by multiple other modules like the "Exchange Rates Factory", "Top Movie Factory", "RSS Context"  or " VM Tree Factory".

Joomla's Auction Factory - Features List (click here). Ability to create niche Auction Sites, easy adaptable to any kind of auctioneered products. You can use all the power of Joomla CMS System by using a 100% native solution for auctions. No Bridges, no incompatibilty issues.

Read more: Auction Factory Features Chart including version 1.4 and higher