Getting Started

Here, in the order you should attend to them, are the things you will need, and the actions you will need to take, to get your basic site up and running.

The Internet Connection

Because the script you will be using is hosted entirely on the server, you will need to go online to carry out your daily site tasks, and to edit your web pages. These are written in PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor), a web scripting language which allows pages to be produced dynamically.

You do not need to know how to program in PHP, as all the page editing is done on-screen on a PHP editor, built into your ISP’s web space control panel (CPanel is recommended). If you know how to make web pages using HTML, then you should not find this difficult, as the process is somewhat similar.

A fast Internet connection is a must, as you will be checking each page "on the fly" as you edit it. You could use dial-up, but you would need to be a complete masochist with a lot of time on your hands……

The Site Script

Throughout this guide, we will be referring to Cash Crusader as our site script. The reason for this is the fact that is the driving force behind my own site, and is the script that I am most familiar with, giving me the opportunity to relate my experiences first-hand.

Other scripts are available; these vary from the cheap and unsophisticated, through the modestly priced and quite usable, all the way up to the overly expensive and cumbersome. However, not all of the information presented here will apply to other scripts.

Cash Crusader is available from a company called www.scripts-r-us.com. I recommend that you use their services, because their knowledge of the product is second to none, and their after-sales service is unbeatable.

Plug-Ins and Add-Ons

Before purchasing the script, you will need to consider the extras you want included with it. These are provided by additional modules of code, more often than not written by a third party, called plug-ins and add-ons. I strongly recommend that you consider those shown below, to save you time and to give the site better functionality. You CAN manage without them, but you will find yourself spending more and more valuable time on repetitive tasks, time that would be better spent doing something more productive, such as painting the ceiling, or feeding the cat....

Note that these are all designed for Cash Crusader only, and once installed, you access most of them via Admin.

Auto Ad Manager: this plug-in is essential, as it automates the normally time-consuming business of uploading e-mails, paid to click ads and rotating banners.

Because advertisers order ads via an on-site form, the order shows up on an administration page with all the relevant information displayed, i.e. payment method, number of clicks required, etc., ready for the webmaster to approve and upload with a couple of clicks. This is a very powerful feature, because you can approve or reject ads in virtually no time at all.

The resident Cash Crusader Ad Manager can also be used, but uploading advertisements that way can be an onerous task, so get the plug-in and let the computer do all the work.

Auto Ad Manager also displays your advertising terms, rates, package deals and such on a page which is dynamically generated, meaning you will not need to edit the page in PHP when you want to make changes; you set prices, etc. from the admin page, and the information will automatically appear on the advertising page for your members and outside advertisers to view.

Change Currency: this add-on does exactly as its name suggests. It is essential if you are not going to operate the site using the standard US dollar. All references to dollars on your site (members' earnings, ad prices, ad reward levels, etc.) will be changed to your local currency.

Member Approval System: an invaluable asset, as this add-on allows you to screen out potential cheaters at the very start of the member sign-up process. 

Every prospective member that signs up is given "account pending" status, until their details have been fully checked out by the site owner.

It is great for removing known fraudsters at an early stage, and for weeding out country cheaters who try to join from banned countries using false addresses. These are usually easy to spot, as the addresses have impossible combinations of state (County), city and zip code (post code).

You should prevent prospective members from accessing the "Get Paid to" portions of the site, but allow them access to pay-to-play features, such as the Jackpot Game. That way, they often spend their sign-up bonus on the games while awaiting approval, which has the welcome effect of reducing site debt a little.

Paid to Affiliate: This is recommended as a replacement for the standard Cash Crusader "Paid to Sign Up" section, which frankly can be a chore to operate. It can be adapted to provide a valuable "Cashback" facility for members. We will discuss this topic later under "Paid to Sign Up".

Those very nice people at Scripts-R-Us will gladly install all of the above items for you, for a minimum additional cost.

Hosting

If there is one thing I learned the hard way when first setting up my site, it was that cheap web hosting solutions are out of the question, simply because the servers are not geared up to satisfy the huge demands on resources that a "Get Paid To" site inherently generates.

Cash Crusader uses a server-based database facility known as MySQL, and it is important that the host server can cope with the enormous demands placed upon it by this type of program. I started out with a cheap hosting package, and everything was fine until I reached a membership of around 1,000. After that, the MySQL database collapsed at regular intervals, simply because the server could not keep up with demand.

The solution was to relocate to a higher-powered server at another hosting company. The one I now use is Go-Mama Hosting, because their servers are specially tailored to suit the demands of GPT scripts, and their support team are responsive, polite and very knowledgeable.

You will need a hosting package that can provide this specification, or better:

Server space: 400MB

GPT compatibility

PHP 4.3 or higher

Monthly data transfer: 12GB

5 x e-mail addresses

3 x MySQL databases (MySQL 4.x or better)

Monthly/weekly backups

Cron facility

Cpanel support

 

This minimum specification should hold you in good stead until you have acquired at least 1,000 members – after that you should review the situation with the hosting company, to see if an upgrade is required.

If you are not going to be using Go-Mama, you must check with the hosting company that the package you will be using can support Cash Crusader, MySQL and Cron, a server-side, time-based scheduling service. It is mandatory because as it updates all of the site's statistics every few minutes.

A Registered Domain Name

If you have never registered a domain name before, be assured that it is painless, and can be arranged by the hosting company. Note that you cannot use the script until you have purchased a domain, and the dns has resolved, as all of the site operations you will be carrying out require the script to be in place on the server.

NEXT: Admin Setup