This is a comprehensive list of the most common questions and answers about the Piggybank plugin.
In addition to this FAQ, there is also full documentation available here, and also tutorials for Installing and Configuring Piggybank Plugin here, and Using Piggybank Plugin here.
1) What are the server requirements to run Piggybank ?
Piggybank plugin needs the following to run successfully -
- A server running any version of PHP 5.0 (or higher), with CURL support installed.
- The SimpleXML support module for PHP must be compiled with your servers PHP.
- WordPress 2.7 (or higher).
- An Ebay Partner Network affiliate account.
2) How can I check that my server has the minimum requirement ?
We have made a small test file that you can run on your server and it will tell you if you have the correct server requirements.
Unzip the file. Upload the test.php file to the root folder of your server. Then go to the following URL : http://your-domain-name-here/test.php with your browser … make sure that you replace the words “your-domain-name-here with your own domain that you uploaded the test file to.
This test program will tell you if your server has met the minimum requirements.
3) How do I install Piggybank plugin ?
Exactly as you install almost every other WordPress plugin.
- Unzip the plugin file.
- Upload the /piggybank folder (which contains the piggybank.php file) into your /wp-content/plugins folder.
- Go to the plugins page in your WordPress administration panel, and activate the PiggyBank EPN Report plugin that should be in the list.
- Click on the Piggybank item in the main menu, and then click on “Configure”.
- Fill in the fields, and Save.
4) In the configuration screen, what do I fill in for the currency ?
It does not matter. This is just what you will see in front of some of the figures in the main statistics screen.
If your commissions are in US Dollars, then you can enter US$, or $, or Dollars. If your account is in Euro then fill in Euro.
Its just a descriptive string, and has no bearing on whether Piggybank will work, or not.
5) In the configuration screen, what does “Hosted on GoDaddy” mean ?
This only applies to you if your site is actually HOSTED on GoDaddy servers. NOT whether you have registered your domain name with them.
Only if your SITE is HOSTED on Godaddy server then answer YES to this question.
GoDaddy do some weird things when it comes to secure connections, and we have to take special action if you are hosted with them.
6) In the configuration screen, what is “Show completed auction pictures” ?
In the main Piggybank screen, the plugin will display information about each completed auction you get. One of the things you get next to each of these items (by default) is a clickable link that will take you directly to the eBay auction if you click it.
If you would rather see a small picture (also clickable) from the completed auction then set this to YES.
You can see an example of this on our Sample Report page here.
7) In the configuration screen, what is “Maximum Memory Allocation” ?
By default your server automatically allocates 16M of RAM for a PHP script to work within. In most cases this is enough. However, Piggybank crunches a HUGE amount of data, and 16M is usually not enough.
Piggybank internally tries to allocate itself 32M instead. In MOST cases this will be sufficient. Sometimes, if you have many thouands of completed auction sales and ACRU’s in your specified date range, then this is not enough either.
You can use this field to allocate more memory. If you increase it, then do it in 16M chunks, ie. 32M to 48M to 64M, etc.
Bear in mind that this is ONLY for Piggybank. As soon as Piggybank has finished executing, then its memory is released and returned back to your servers operating system.
8) In the configuration screen, what is “Script Timeout” ?
By default your server allows a script a total of 30 seconds to finish its process. Because it takes so long for EPN to transfer your transaction file to Piggybank this is normally not enough time, and Piggybank is halted before it can finish.
Piggybank will automatically attempt to increase this timeout value to 60 seconds, to give itself more time. If you do a big dataset report then this is often not enough either. So you can use this field to increase it even further.
Increase it in chunks of 60 seconds if you edit it.
9) Is my EPN login and password safe ?
Your login and password is masked when you enter it, so prying eyes over your shoulder cannot see it.
When your login and password is sent across the internet to EPN (to log in and retrieve your stats), then it is sent across a completely secure HTTPS type connection, that is fully encrypted at both ends. It is exactly the same risk as if you had typed it into the EPN page yourself.
Your EPN login and password is stored in your WordPress database file by the plugin. If you have a rubbish WordPress password, and somebody gains access to your blog, and then further gains access to your WP database (they cannot see your login and password just by gaining access to your WP admin panel), then they could in theory get your EPN login and password. This is no shortcoming of Piggybank though. You MUST maintain a secure blog for your own peace of mind.
10) I get an error message saying that my information could not be retrieved, what is wrong ?
The following are the ONLY things that can cause this.
- You entered your EPN login incorrect.
- or, you entered your EPN password incorrect.
- or, you entered one or both of the dates in the incorrect format … it must be american format, mm/dd/yy .. 2 digit month + 2 digit day + 2 digit year, with the month coming first.
- or, you entered an end date that is historically before the start date.
- or, for some obscure reason ebaypartnernetwork.com is unreachable at this time.
These are the ONLY reasons. There are NO others.
The best way to fix this is to empty all of the fields in the configuration screen … Click the Save button to save all the empty fields … then reenter your information correctly … and hit the Save button again to save the correct information.
If this does not work, then click on the “Uninstall” option for this plugin (NOT the deactivate option in the Plugins screen). This will completely remove all of the Piggybank related fields from your WordPress database, and allow you to start again from a “clean slate”. Then reenter your information in the configuration fields, and Save.
11) What do the fancy metrics in the display show ?
These are metrics that cannot presently even been seen in the EPN dashboard. In a recent post on the EPN blog, eBay mentioned that these particular measurements may well be in their algorithm.
WB# = The number of winning bids (completed auctions).
WRev = The total revenue generated by the winning bid (the closing price of the auction).
ACRU = The total number of ACRU’s acquired.
WB/Cl(%) = The winning bid conversion % and is calculated by (no. of winning bids / no. of clicks). So if you get 2 winning bids from 10 clicks, then that will give you a 20% winning bid conversion ratio. The higher you can get this the better.
WRev/Cl = The revenue per click ratio. This is a measurement of how much eBay makes for each click that you drive into their site. It is calculated by (winning bid revenue / no. of clicks), and the higher this is the better for them (and you).
A/Cl(%) = The ACRU conversion %. This is a measure of the number of ACRU’s that eBay gets per click that you send them. It is calculated by (no. of ACRU’s / no. of clicks). Once again the higher the better for both eBay and you, as ACRU’s are apparently factored into their new QPC algorithm.
SoM = Our “Sale-O-Meter” metric. This is a measurement of the amount of time (in days) between when the visitor clicked on your sites auction link, until when they purchased.
What constitutes good numbers for these metrics will probably always remain an EPN mystery, but, they do very easily show you which of your campaigns are the real winners, and which ones need life-support.
12) How do I uninstall the Piggybank plugin ?
If you wish to uninstall the Piggybank plugin completely from your site, then follow these steps -
- Click the “Uninstall” menu item for Piggybank. This will completely remove all Piggybank related information from your WordPress database.
- Deactivate the Piggybank EPN Report plugin in the WordPress plugins screen.
- Delete the /piggybank folder from your /wp-content/plugins folder.
13) May I use Piggybank on more than one site ?
Absolutely. You have an unlimited license, and as a licensed owner of Piggybank plugin you may install it on as many sites THAT YOU OWN as you wish.
14) What about future updates ?
You only purchase Piggybank plugin once. That will entitle you to every update (for free) that will ever be made to Piggybank in the future. This includes updates for bug fixes, and new features.
15) Is there documentation available for this plugin ?
Yes. You can download/view the PDF from our server here.
16) I have a problem, who do I contact ?
Our contact information is available at this page.