Some FindItGuide.com listing types have an Expiration Date field.  This field serves two purposes:

  1. It makes it easier for members to manage their listings (they don't have to remember to come back and unpublish something), and
  2. It helps keep the FindItGuide.com website accurate (by removing no-longer-relevant listings).


When a member creates a new listing, they will see a field like this:

The field defaults to "90 days from today", but members can change this to any date in the future, simply by clicking inside the text box and choosing a date from the calendar that appears.  We also provide three "easy" buttons for "7 days from now", "30 days from now" and "90 days from now".  Alternatively, members can also simply type a date in the textbox, provided they follow the proper date format referenced (MM/DD/YYYY).


When the listing is saved, this expiration date is entered into the database.


Then two "magic" steps happen:

  1. Every day, at approximately 8am, our system checks for any listings that will expire in the next 3 days. If a member has any listings that will expire in the next 3 days, a single email is sent containing information about those listings, similar to this:
    Each listing references the expiration date, the listing title, and offers two links: View and Edit.  Each does exactly as it sounds.  If a member wishes to extend a listing's expiration date, they can simply click the Edit link, change the Expiration Date and Save. Note that the above email is sent in both English and German.

  2. Every day, just past midnight, our system checks for any listings that expired "yesterday" and sets them to "Unpublished", removing them from the frontend of the FindItGuide.com website. The system also generates an email to members notifying them of any listings that have just expired, similar to this:
    Note that these listings are not deleted, merely unpublished, meaning, if a member wants to make a listing display on FindItGuide.com again, they can simply click the Edit link, change the Expiration Date, set the listing to Publish, and Save.  Note that the above email is sent in both English and German.

If anyone has any questions, as always, please feel free to contact us!