classifieds related questions

[VanosLoco]

I have a few questions/ problems regarding the PH classifieds;

1. In the search section there is an option to show all new adverts. You can even select traders and private ads. But it only starts with the new ads and will keep going on, so the problem is that the standard ads are all pushed backwards so you can't reach them. Is there a way to just show all the new standard adverts?

2. I was a little bit disappointed when discovering that calling to a "phone safe" number will cost you a lot more. It might be safer for the seller but for frauds it's an easy way to hide their phonenumber (i always like to see if i am calling a landline)?

3. Why is that some cars can't be found by the search nor by browsing the classifieds, but can still be found by a direct link (without the ad saying it's sold or anything) It's this car, I can't reach the seller maybe the phone safe number isn't letting my calls thru; http://pistonheads.com/sales/795083.htm ?

Thanks in advance!

[Mr Will]

VanosLoco said:

I have a few questions/ problems regarding the PH classifieds;

1. In the search section there is an option to show all new adverts. You can even select traders and private ads. But it only starts with the new ads and will keep going on, so the problem is that the standard ads are all pushed backwards so you can't reach them. Is there a way to just show all the new standard adverts?

If you go into the advanced search ( http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/search.asp ) then you can choose to see just the adverts added in the last 24 hours, 3 days, 7 days or 14 days. This won't bring the standard adverts to the top, but will filter out the cars you have already seen and reduce the total number of pages. Using the filter tool to specify a price range or a location has a similar effect.

VanosLoco said:

2. I was a little bit disappointed when discovering that calling to a "phone safe" number will cost you a lot more. It might be safer for the seller but for frauds it's an easy way to hide their phonenumber (i always like to see if i am calling a landline)?

Phonesafe is an optional service which the seller can choose to turn on or off. The call charges are all set out on this page: http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/phonesafe.asp but if you want a long chat and are worried about the cost then you can always ask the seller for a real phone number and call them back.

Hiding your phonenumber is actually of far more benefit to genuine users than it is to fraudsters. We have the real phone number on record in case the police or trading standards need to get involved, so it provides the con-men with no extra anonymity. On the other hand, if you use your real phone number on your advert then it is likely to be picked up by search engines such as google and can be available in their search results for months.

VanosLoco said:

3. Why is that some cars can't be found by the search nor by browsing the classifieds, but can still be found by a direct link (without the ad saying it's sold or anything) It's this car, I can't reach the seller maybe the phone safe number isn't letting my calls thru; http://pistonheads.com/sales/795083.htm ?

Thanks in advance!

The advert you are referring to has been reported to us as a possible scam and has been automatically hidden (removed from the list) while we investigate further. Once we have determined whether it is genuine or not then it will either appear in the listings again or be replaced with a "This Advert has been removed by PistonHeads" banner.

Hope this helps!

[VanosLoco]

Hi Mr Will,

That certainly did help!
It's all clear now. And that one ad might indeed be a fraud since I can't get in contact with the seller as well. Plus it is a very cheap car.
On other question that popped up; is it possible yet to search for words within the description?

Thanks

[Mr Will]

VanosLoco said:

On other question that popped up; is it possible yet to search for words within the description?

Not yet, but we do have a thorough re-vamp of the search on the cards for the future.

[Straight 6]

I guess the option for browsing ads by words in describtion is not yet possible, but now i would like to look for cars that are for sale on the channel islands (Jersey & Guernsey), is that possible or only when the new search method is running?

[RacingPete]

Unfortunately we don't tag up the accurate location of any car outside of the UK at the moment, but it is something we have highlighted for the future classified search criteria which we are in the process of developing.

Sorry about that. I was trying to think of an alternative method to get round this and the best way at the moment would be to use Googles index but the adverts are out of date for the search I did so not really a reliable option.

[Straight 6]

I found a way to browse for cars in the channel islands on pistonheads on the following site;
http://cars.trovit.co.uk/index.php/cod.search_cars...

[Straight 6]

Is there still no way to perform a search by words in the describtion of an ad?

Thanks

[Mr Will]

Straight 6 said:

Is there still no way to perform a search by words in the describtion of an ad?

Thanks

It will be coming in the next version of the search, but that is still some way off.

[Straight 6]

Hi Mr Will,

I guess there is still no possibility to search within describtion of the car adverts? (yes i know it's coming

But now i want to look for a certain part in the parts section, but isn't it possible to do a search there (just within the title)?

Thanks

[Mr Will]

Straight 6 said:

Hi Mr Will,

I guess there is still no possibility to search within describtion of the car adverts? (yes i know it's coming

But now i want to look for a certain part in the parts section, but isn't it possible to do a search there (just within the title)?

Thanks

To search the descriptions would require a major database change, so whilst it is on the way it is not a small job.

[Straight 6]

Hi Mr will,

It's been a while now since we discussed the search option where you can search not only in the title of the classifieds but in the describtion of a car as well.

Any developments on this subject?

Is there maybe a way to use google to search within the text of an ad as well (not just the title)?

thanks!

[paulrussell]

I think that's possible with the new classifieds. I'm sure someone from Pistonheads will correct me if I'm wrong. Also Mr Will doesn't work for Pistonheads now, his sucsessor is Matt Dell.

[Straight 6]

@Paul

no it's still not possible to search within the describtions.

I know it would be a lot of work to make this happen but maybe it's possible to use google with this.

[paulrussell]

Straight 6 said:

@Paul

no it's still not possible to search within the describtions.

I know it would be a lot of work to make this happen but maybe it's possible to use google with this.

The new classifieds isn't out yet, but I would think it'll come out in a few weeks time.

[Straight 6]

Ok i didn't know there was going to be another update soon.

Will be patient then..