Below are the elements that make up the Auction Homepage:

Search:
There is a search box located right on the front of your auction homepage to allow your users to locate items on the auction block quickly and easily.

Categories: Listed on the hompage you will also find the categories that are listed in Alphabetical order and will have a number in brackets next to them representing how many lots are currently open in those categories.

Hot Deals!: Under this section you can specify featured auctions.

User Features: This area lets your users login and either check their bid status on all their bids or head on over to their sellers homepage. All they have to do is enter their username and password and then choose one or the other to proceed.

Navigation: Some other elements of navigation on this page allow users to go to the :

a) Search Page
b) Register Page
c) Sellers Page
d) View All Lots Page
e) Bid Status Page
f) Help Page

Main Window: The main section of the homepage contains lots that are opening and closing today, along with the lot number, the name of the lot, and the starting bid.

Text:
(This is where a user types in the text string that he is looking for. The user can also search for multiple items by entering the terms seperated by a comma.)

Opens:
(This search criteria lets you search by lot opening date. If you are performing this type of search, one, two, or three of the "before", "on" or "after" checkboxes must be checked.)

Closes:
(This search criteria lets you search by lot closing date. If you are performing this type of search, one, two, or three of the "before", "on" or "after" checkboxes must be checked.)

Category:
(This section allows a user to search a specific category(s).)

In order to Activate the search you must click on the "Search Lots" button located at the bottom of the page.

Here are the fields that must be filled out by the users:

    >>>> Username
    >>>> Password
    >>>> Password Verification
    >>>> (Automatic cookie login choice)
    >>>> First Name
    >>>> Last Name
    >>>> E-Mail Address
    >>>> E-Mail Address verification

Checkbox choices: [] Send daily e-mail on status on all lots I bid on
(this will send the user a daily e-mail with a complete status report on the bids the lots that the user participated in.)

[] I am a winning bidder (after auction closes)
(this will send out an e-mail to the user if he or she is a winning bidder at the end of the lot close.)

[] Not a winning bidder (after auction closes)
(this will send out an e-mail to the user if her or she is not a winning bidder after the lot closes.)

[] I am outbid during auction and need to raise my bid.
(this will send out an e-mail to the user if he or she has been outbid in the lot and they need to raise their bid in order to stay in the running for the item that is being bid on.)

[] My bid is automatically raised via auto-bid feature.
(this will turn on the auto-bid feature for the user by default)

    >>>> Phone #
    >>>> Address
    >>>> City
    >>>> State/Province
    >>>> Zip/Postal Code
    >>>> Country

>>>> Billing Information

[] check here if your billing address is the same as your shipping address.
This means that the user can simply check the box and ignore the field below if the shipping address and the billing address are the same.

Below is a detailed explanation of the fields that the seller can fill out to create the lot.

>>> Username: (a registered username)

>>> Password: (correct password)

>>> [] E-Mail lot information to me after creating the lot
(this option allows you to have the system e-mail you with all the lot information for your own records after it is created)

>>> Lot Name: (the name of the lot)

>>> [] (check to have your item stand out with a bold name)
(this will have your lot name stand out in bold in the category listings that your lot falls under - there is an additional charge for this)

>>> [] (check to have your item featured on the category page)
(this will have your lot featured on the main category page that it falls under)

>>> Opening Date/Time:
This is the opening date and time of your lot

>>> [] Open lot now
(if this is selected the "opening date/time" is ignored

>>> Closing date/Time:
This is the closing date and time of your lot>

>>> [] # of days the lot should remain open
(if this option is chosen, it is used instead of the "closing Date/Time value.

>>> Close Basis:
This allows you to determine what criteria will justify the closing of your lot.

>>> [] Time
(lot will close on your closing date/time specified above)

>>> [] Time + Inactivity
(lot will close on your closing date/time specified above OR will close if inactive for X amount of minutes)

>>> Quantity

>>> Max Quantity: []

>>> Opening Bid:
(the amount at which the auction will start bidding at for this lot)

>>> Bid Increment:
(the amount by which each bid must be raised to be considered a valid bid)

>>> Reserve Price:
(the reserve price is the amount that if no bid exceeds, the seller does not have to auction off the item)

>>> Shipping:
(this is the shipping amount that will be charged for this item)

>>> Sell Price:
(this is the price at which the item would possibly be sold for)

>>> Category:
(this is the category that the lot will appear in)

>>> Template:
(this allows you to choose which template you would like to use for your lot if the auction website has created any to choose from)

>>> Image:
(this is an optional feature that lets you add in a full size image by either uploading it or referencing it from an outside URL)

>>> Thumbnail:
(this is the thumbnail image that will appear on the actual lot page. This should ideally be a smaller version of the larger image that you have uploaded)

(You can either upload this thumbnail image or you can reference it from an outside URL)

>>> Summary:

>>> Description (lot description)

STATUS COLORS CHART
This section is a type of legend that explains how each of your bids are color coded.

GREEN -- You win. The lot is closed, so you definitely win.
YELLOW -- You currently have a winning bid, but the lot is still open
RED -- You did not win this lot.

LOT
Below the status color chart you will find a list of lots that you have bet on. Each lot will tell you what category it belongs to, the name of the lot, a link to the lot, the status of the lot (open / closed), date and time it opens, date and time it closes.

In the lot chart you are given your color coded bar with an explantion of your bid status. In the bar below your bid amount appears, then below that your bid quantity appears, and below that appears the time and date that you placed your bid.

Each auction is listed by lot number, lot name and the current bid.

Each Lot page is divided into the following sections:

LOT DESCRIPTION AND DETAILS
CURRENT HIGH BIDDERS
BID ON THIS ITEM

Here is a detailed run down of each of these sections that appear on the lot page.

>>> Opening Bid: This is the opening bid that was set by the seller.

>>> Bid Increments: This is the minimum that each bid must be increased by from the previous bid.

>>> Quantity Available: This is the amount of the particular item being sold.

>>> Auction Opens: This is the date and time the auction opens or has been open at.

>>> Auction Closes: This is the date and time the auction closes or has been closed at.

>>> Time Remaining: This is the amount of time that the lot will still be open for bidding.

>>> Shipping Cost: This is the cost of shipping that the seller has determined for shipping the item to the winning bidder.

>>> Time Last Bid Received: This is the time and date that the last bid was placed on this lot.

>>> Reserve Price: This area indicates whether or not the reserve price has been met.

>>> Minimum Winning Bid: This is the current bid that you must enter in order to move into first place for the bidding on this lot.

>>> LOT #: BID ON THIS LOT - is simply a hyperlink to the bidding area below.

>>> IMAGE: There is an optional image that the seller may have included of the item on the lot. This image is most likely linked to a larger picture that you can click on.

DESCRIPTION:
This is the description of the item being auctioned off on the lot as entered by the seller.

CURRENT HIGH BIDDERS:
This section is a list of the current high bidders. It lists the username of the bidder, the bid amount, the bid number and when the bid was submitted.

BID ON THIS ITEM:
This is the section that allows the bidder to place a bid on the current item in the lot.

In order to place a bid, the user must enter their username and password, along with their bid amount which is by default already entered as the next minimum bid. The user can also "checkmark" the checkbox to turn on the auto-bid feature that will automatically increase their bid each time they are autbid in order to remain in first place.

If the user chooses the auto-bid feature they should enter the maximum bid the auto-bid feature should bid to before they want to stop bidding.

BUTTON OPTIONS:
The three button options that appear below are:

CLEAR - clears all the form data that the user has entered on this page

PREVIEW BID - previews the bid by taking the user to a page that displays the lot name and the bid amount. (The maximum bid is also displayed if the auto-bid option has been selected by the user) The user at this point has the option to submit the bid or reject the bid.

SUBMIT BID - This will submit your bid as is. Depending on the conditions of the lot the user will get a Bid result page with information on what the results of their bid were.