The feature has been constructed as an Addon for the Geo 4+ software, which means you can enable/disable it through the Manage Addons screen in the Admin. At present, this is the only way to administrate the addon – there is no other switch in the admin – if the addon is installed and enabled, anonymous classifieds are possible on your site; if the addon is not installed and enabled, classifieds may not be posted anonymously. That brings up another point worth mentioning: only Classifieds (not auctions) may be posted anonymously at this time. Notwithstanding the whole no-admin-settings thing, the text/css of pages new to the addon (specifically, the two new pages involving the edit password) may be edited via the Manage Addons > Edit Text tool.

If anonymous listings are enabled, the classified placement process behaves as follows:

If a user is logged in, the user system "overrides" the anonymous processes. A logged in user cannot post a classified anonymously, nor can he edit an existing classified posted anonymously (without first logging out).

Users who view the cart while not logged in will not see options for order items that are not anonymous-capable. Currently, the only anonymous-capable order item is the new Classified listing. If no anonymous-capable order items are available, users will be prompted to log in when attempting to view the cart

If a logged-out user chooses the create a new Classified option, the listing process will ensue as normal, with an added step towards the end. After entering the details and images for the listing, the user is presented with a separate page showcasing a password generated by the system for this listing. In the current version of the Addon, this password is a randomized, 10-digit, hexadecimal (uses characters 0-9 and a-f) number. An example password is: f38a0db772. The user must record this password for use in identifying himself to edit the listing later (it will also be emailed to him, if he provides an email address). The user then clicks a Continue to Checkout link and proceeds with payment/checkout as normal.

Once an anonymous ad has been placed and approved and appears on the site, the poster (who has the password mentioned above) may edit it by clicking on the Edit button next to the listing on a browse page, at which point he will be prompted for the password. Correctly entering the password will enable him to step through the Edit Listing process as normal for that listing.

In order to enable pricing control, the Anonymous Listing addon creates a "user" named Anonymous and makes use of that user "behind the scenes" to post all anonymous listings. Logging into the site as the Anonymous user is not possible – it exists only to provide options for specific anonymous listings from within the Admin. Since all anonymous listings are attached to that user, the site admin may assign that Anonymous user to a user group / price plan in order to set the prices of listings placed anonymously. This "user" is identified in Admin controls by the name "Anonymous."

<tip c n >IMPORTANT: Because of the way the system was set up in previous releases (before the anonymous "user" mentioned above was created in 4.0 RC8), the anonymous addon will not allow anonymous posting if the default price plan is subscription-based. A future version may change this behavior to concern the anonymous "user's" price plan instead of the site default.</tip>

There are a couple of things to note about the actual display of anonymous listings. Certain user-specific fields have been removed from the listing display page when the listing being shown is anonymous. These are:

• Contact Seller links (can't send a site message to an anonymous seller)
• "Member Since" label and text (an anonymous lister is, by definition, NOT a site member at all)
• Seller's name (BUT see Addons > Anonymous Listings > Settings for more information on what is displayed instead)