How To Turn Your Blog Module Into A Classifieds Section For Your Club

A few months ago, I wrote an article about The Best Ways To Use Your Blog Module For Things That Aren’t Blogs. In that article, I mentioned that the Member Jungle blog module could be turned into a classifieds section for your club. 

It turns out that a lot of people really liked the idea of using the blog module as a classifieds section, but my original article didn’t go into enough detail about how actually to do it. So here is the definitive guide to turning your blog into a classifieds section for your club or association.

The blog module can work as a blog, classifieds or both at the same time. It just depends on how you want to use the module. Today, we will assume that you only want to use it as a classified, but using it as both is simple, and we will touch on that later.  

Step 1. Work Out How You Want To Use Your Blog Module For

Before setting anything up, you must decide how many categories of items you will have in your classifieds. Will you have just one overarching category or a few more specific ones? What you choose and what works best for your club heavily depends on what your club does and how extensive the range of club-related products is. A car club, for example, could use several categories, while a rock climbing club may only need one. 

You could set up a broad category like "Classifieds," but it's better to be more specific if you can. For instance, if you're creating this page for a Bushwalking/Hiking club, you could have categories such as "Clothes For Sale," "Hiking Gear For Sale," and "Camping Equipment for Sale." Multiple categories allow your members to search for the products they want quickly and easily. However, be careful not to have too many categories and ensure they are relevant to your club and its members.

If you still want to use your blog module for blogs, you can set up the above categories and keep or create a blog category. This will allow you to use the Blog Module for blogs and classifieds. You can see this in action below from Queensland Corvette Club. 

 

 

As you can see, Queensland Corvette Club uses their blog module for three categories or classifieds and two blogs. This is actually a custom page the Member Jungle team set up for them, with each button redirected to the appropriate blog category. 

We will cover how to do this for your club shortly. 

Step 2. Create A New Blog Category

Once you know your categories, you need to go to the “Blog Module” in the Modules section of your website. Here, you will see the below page. If you haven’t used the blog module before, the centre part of the page will be blank. 

 

 

Next, you need to click "Add Blog Category" from the left-hand menu. Doing so will take you to a page where you can enter the name of your new blog. You can only do this on this page; just enter the blog category name and click "Save and Close". 

Repeat this process for all of your blog categories.  

Step 3. Rename The Blog Module 

Once you have created the categories for your blog, you should change the name of the Blog Module to something more suitable, such as "Classifieds" or "Sales List". To do this, you will need to Raise A Support Ticket with the Member Jungle team and request that they rename your blog module. Once done, the new name will be visible to your members as a button in the mobile app. This will make finding and using your new classifieds section much more straightforward. 

Those are the three steps to setting up your blog module as a classifieds section. However, we still need to cover how members post listings on your classifieds page and how you can monetise this for your club. 

Set Up The Right To Post In You Classifieds Sections As A Member Level

One great way to set up your members to have the ability to post in your classifieds sections is by setting up the persimmon to post as a separate member level. This is also the easiest way for you to monetise your classifieds. 

To do this, you need to create a new member level in the Membership tab of your website; name it something like "Classified Ad Poster". Choose how much the membership level costs to join and how often it needs to be renewed and set it up so that only existing members can join it. Remember that if it is locked down to existing members, they are already paying you, so price the new level accordingly. 

Then, you need to go into the Security tab of your website and adjust the permissions of your new member level. Go to the Module Privileges section and allow your new member level to add and edit pages on your blog module by giving them “item contributor” permissions to the Blog module. Be sure not to give them approver permission, leaving this privilege for a member of your admin team. 

Once this is done, your members can sign up for and pay a little extra for the right to sell things through your website. They can then create and edit their own listings in your club's classifieds section. 

It's worth bearing in mind that with this method, members can see the website's backend when they create an ad but only the blog section. They will not have access to any other parts of the website's backend. 

From here, all you have to do is sit back and let your classifieds section work for you and your club. 

Set Up Posting On Your Classifieds Section Via Powerdata Forms

Using Powerdata forms to allow members to post ads on your classifieds is simpler, but it will take a bit more work from your end in the long run. Remember that it is a little harder to monetise your classifieds section this way. To do so, you will need to create a new item in your online store and then have the Member Jungle team redirect the submit button on your Powerdata form to the new item in your store.

To set your classifieds up this way, you need to create a custom Powerdata form that will collect all the information you need for a classifieds' ad. You must then add a button at the top of your Classifieds (formerly blog) page that says something like "Post An Add". You will need to make it a hyperlink, so that when a member clicks on the button, it takes them to the Powerdata form, where they can enter all their relevant ad information. 

As an admin, you will be emailed all the information from the Powerdata form so you can fill in the details and post the classified ad yourself. 

Posting An Ad In The Classifieds

Actually, posting an ad on the classifieds page is very simple. Once you are in the Blog Module, click "Add New Blog Entry" on the left-hand menu, which will open the page below.  

 

This page will allow you to enter all the ad information, including photos of the item being sold through the classifieds. The most crucial step is to choose the correct category. This will then sort the ad into the classified categories you created earlier, making the ad easier for members to find. 

How Else Can You Get More From The Member Jungle System?

If you have any more questions about how to turn your blog module into a classified section, please Raise A Support Ticket. 

If you haven’t already read the article that this one came from, you can read it here: The Best Ways To Use Your Blog Module For Things That Aren’t Blogs. 

If you are still looking for more ways to ensure you get everything you can from the Member Jungle system, please read How To Get The Most Out Of Your Member Jungle Subscription.