This document provides an overview and code snippets for a classified ads website called Clemson Classifieds. The website allows users in the Clemson community to post ads in different categories. It has features like email/SMS alerts, advanced search options, and a calendar. The document includes the system overview, ER diagram, and PHP code for key functions like connecting to the database, user registration/profiles, posting/editing ads, and searching.

1. Clemson Classifieds –
Real Time Online Classifieds for Web Portal
Clemson University,
School of Computing
Srikanth Vanama

2. 1. SYSTEM
OVERVIEW
Clemson Classifieds is a web portal, which features online classifieds of the Clemson community.
This web application is used to bring the buyer and seller closer by providing a web based
platform.
The portal has been designed to be very user friendly. There are categories in the portal in which
a user can post deals. This categorization provides easy navigation. A client can do a lot of things
on the website like post new items, comment on existing items, subscribe for Email/SMS alerts
etc. Subscribing for Email/SMS alerts means that the user gets latest updates on what is
happening in that specific category. All the updates can be emailed to the interested user and thus
he can check for updates right from his inbox. There is also an “Email this” link, using which the
user can send a post as an email to anyone he wishes, including to himself! This is a very
convenient and useful feature.
There is also a search feature included in the website where a user can do an item based search or
category based search. Advanced search is also provided and the user can search using
appropriate filters. For example, in the motor vehicles category, the user can choose specific price
range and type and make his search easier and more precise. Apart from the search, there is also a
calendar that is provided on the website. If a client remembers the date a deal was posted, he can
directly click on the date and reach the relevant post.
All the latest and hottest deals are posted on the homepage so that the current trends can be
observed. Given all the features, we feel that this would be of great help to the Clemson
community.

3.
Fig: E-R Model

4. 2. PHP CODE SNIPPETS
Database
Connection:
The
following
code
is
used
to
connect
to
the
database
“f09t14”
through
PHP
commands.
The
entire
project
was
hosted
in
the
database
‘f09t14’.
New
User
Registration:
The
following
code
inserts
the
details
of
a
new
user
who
has
registered
on
the
clemson
classifieds
website.
The
below
code
inserts
all
the
details
into
the
“users”
table
which
includes
fields
like
username,
gender,
date
of
birth,
address,
email,
zip
code,
option
to
choose
for
email
alerts
or
SMS
alerts.
Edit
Profile:
The
following
code
updates
the
details
of
a
registered
user
on
the
website.
The
updated
fields
reflect
in
the
“Users”
table
pertaining
to
that
user.
Examples
of
the
the
fields
include
password,
title,
first
name,
last
name,
gender
and
other
personal
details
of
the
user.

5.
Posting
a
New
Deal:
The
following
code
inserts
the
details
of
a
new
deal
posted
by
the
user
in
the
products
table.
All
the
product
details
are
inserted
in
the
various
fields
of
the
“Products”
table.
The
fields
include
date
of
posting,
product
deadline,
price
of
the
product,
product
description,
product
name,
keywords
associated
with
the
product
and
also
the
name
of
the
user
who
has
posted
a
new
deal.
Also,
the
details
of
the
category
under
which
the
product
was
posted
are
stored
in
“Category”
table.

6.
Display
Deals
on
Home
Page:
The
following
code
displays
the
product
deals
on
the
home
page
sorted
by
various
criteria.
The
details
of
the
products
include
product
name,
price
of
the
product,
date
posted,
deadline
of
the
product.
The
product
details
are
retrieved
from
the
“Products”
table.
The
images
related
to
a
product
are
retrieved
from
“Profileimages”
table.
The
“Productinfo”
and
“Email
this”
buttons
are
also
displayed
on
the
homepage
along
with
the
product
details.

7.
Edit
Deals:
The
following
code
updates
the
details
of
an
existing
deal
posted
by
a
registered
user
on
the
website.
The
updated
fields
reflect
in
the
“Products”
table
pertaining
to
that
product.
Examples
of
the
fields
include
product
name,
date
of
posting,
deadline,
price,
product
description
and
also
keywords
related
to
that
product.

8.
Display
Product
Info:
The
following
code
displays
the
complete
details
of
a
product.
The
details
of
the
products
include
product
name,
price
of
the
product,
date
posted,
deadline
of
the
product,
product
description.
The
product
details
are
retrieved
from
the
“Products”
table.
The
images
related
to
a
product
are
retrieved
from
“Profileimages”
table.
The
“Productinfo”
and
“Email
this”
buttons
are
also
displayed
on
the
homepage
along
with
the
product
details.

9.
Search
Deals
based
on
keywords:
The
following
code
is
used
to
search
for
deals
based
on
the
keywords
entered
by
the
user.
If
a
keyword
matches
with
the
keywords
associated
with
any
of
the
product,
the
product
gets
displayed
in
the
search
results.

10.
Calendar
based
search:
The
following
code
is
used
to
search
for
deals
based
on
the
calendar
entries
entered
by
the
user.
If
a
keyword
matches
with
the
keywords
associated
with
any
of
the
product,
the
product
gets
displayed
in
the
search
results

11. Category
based
Search:
The
following
code
is
used
to
search
for
deals
based
on
the
category
chosen
by
the
user.
If
a
keyword
matches
with
the
keywords
associated
with
any
of
the
product,
the
product
gets
displayed
in
the
search
results.
Example
categories
include
Cars,
Mobile
Phones,
and
Sporting
Goods
etc.

12.
Dynamic
Retrieval
of
Categories
list
(AJAX):
The
following
is
an
Ajax
code
to
retrieve
category
and
sub
category
list
from
the
database
stored
in
the
table
“Category”.
E-­‐mail
Form:
The
following
code
is
used
to
send
an
email
to
a
referred
friend.
The
“To”
field
and
the
“Subject”
field
would
include
those
details
entered
by
the
user
when
filling
an
e-­‐
mail
form.
The
content
of
the
email
would
include
the
details
of
the
referred
product,
which
includes
Product
name,
Price,
Product
URL.