Alcantara-Designs Job Engine (ADJE)
Contents
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Full List of Features
- 3 Live Demo
- 4 Installation Requirements
- 5 Quick Installation Guide
- 6 Website Templates
- 7 Website Themes
- 8 Website Configuration
- 9 Dashboard
- 10 User Administration
- 11 Job Post Administration
- 12 Categories Administration
- 13 Administer Locations
- 14 Administer System Issues
- 15 Employer Registration
- 16 Job Seeker Registration
- 17 User Profiles
- 18 Employer/Recruiter Features
- 19 Job Seeker Features
- 20 ADJE Version History and Change Log
- 21 Download Latest Version

Introduction
ADJE (Alcantara-Designs Job Engine) is a FREE job board software made using ASP.Net, DevExpress controls, and MySQL database server. It is highly customizable via CSS, HTML, control themes, and templates. Some features include: Resume upload, Medium trust hosting ready, Cufon Fonts, Templates, PayPal and DalPay Payment integration, Facebook share/recommend built-in, Google Analytics integration, and a lot more.
This software was initially intended to be used internally for our own purposes, but I decided to share it with everybody who might want to put up their own job board website.
All information here is subject to change without notice. There is no warranty provided with this FREE software. You may not redistribute the software without my consent. You are however free to link back to this page. I have set up a support forum for questions/suggestions/bug reports. You can also purchase support if you need my full assistance (with installation, troubleshooting, etc.)
topFull List of Features
Technical
1 | Engineered to load Millions records in seconds |
2 | Customizable Cufon fonts |
3 | Customizable via CSS, Templates, Themes, and HTML |
4 | PayPal and DalPay Payment Ready (for accepting ads) |
5 | Medium Trust Hosting tested |
6 | Google Analytics Integration |
7 | Facebook Integration (for job posts) |
8 | Custom (optional) sidebar area for ADS/additional content |
9 | Tested on IE (7-9), Google Chrome, FireFox, and Safari (IE6 support is possible by customizing CSS template file) |
10 | Login CAPTCHA appears after X failed attempts (Admin defined) |
11 | Secure private files protected by custom HTPHandler |
12 | Public files repository |
13 | Automatic (technical) issues logging |
14 | SMTP Email Integration |
15 | AES encrypted passwords |
16 | Admin defined job posting expiration |
17 | Limit allowed file upload extensions (Admin defined) |
18 | Auto publish job posts (Admin defined) |
19 | System configuration and Dashboard |
20 | Administrator Back-end Data Administration |
21 | Preloaded with 7 Countries (US, UK, PH, HK, SG, CA, AU) 446 Country Regions 214,613 Cities |
Job Seeker Features
1 | Multiple resume allowed (Admin Defined Maximum) |
2 | Resume file upload |
3 | Online resume creator with preview/print/export to PDF |
4 | Profile creation |
5 | Application tracking |
Recruiter Features
1 | Shortlist creation and rating system |
2 | Unlimited free job posting |
3 | Applicants tracking (per job post) |
4 | View applicants online and file resume |
Live Demo
Demo Accounts
The following accounts are available for use in the Live Demo. Also try to explore the site as a guest user (i.e. do not sign in):
- administrator – (username & password: admin@alcantara-designs.com)
- registered job Seeker – (username & password: jobseeker@alcantara-designs.com)
- registered employer/recruiter – (username & password: employer@alcantara-designs.com)
Read Only Live Demo Link
The live demo is running on a read only database. You can interact with the interface, open edit forms and so on, but clicking on the “delete” or “save” buttons (or executing commands that modify data) will have no effect. You will see alert messages indicating problems during save, update or delete, so keep in mind that the database is running in read only mode.
It is currently hosted on a Godaddy Shared Hosting server with Medium Trust, so it may run a bit slower than normal. I recommend a Virtual Dedicated Hosting server. Otherwise, try it on whatever you’ve got.
Installation Requirements
Required Skill Level
While this web app software wasn’t developed with the novice user in mind, you don’t have to be a developer to get it up and running. If you have installed or maintained a blog website before this, then you will probably be fine.
At the most basic level, you must be comfortable using/operating the following:
- Zip/Unzip compression software
- FTP upload software
- Setting permissions on your Website Hosting Controller
- Editing text files (CSS, HTML, and Configuration Files)
System Requirements
Web Hosting
You will need to have a web server where you can host your ADJE website. Your web server must have the following capabilities:
- ASP.Net 3.5
- MySQL database
- At least Medium Trust security
- phpMyAdmin (for MySQL database administration)
Quick Installation Guide
- Download the latest ADJE website zip file
- Extract the zip file contents to a local folder (e.g. c:\adje)
- In your hosting controller, create a MySQL database called “adje”. It is possible to use a different name for your database. Just make sure to change the database connection string in the web.config, and the database name in the import file you plan to restore.
- Use phpMyAdmin on your hosting server and import one of the two ADJE Database import files provided (blank or with demo data) in the zip file. The import files are stored in the ADJE_DB folder. Choose one to restore:
- BLANK – A blank database. Not a single user or job post. Totally empty.
- DEMO 2K – The demo data as seen on the ADJE Demo Site
- You may need to change the values of the following items in the web.config file:
- sitename – Change to your website domain name.
131
<add key="sitename" value="adje-myjobsite.com" />
- aes – This is the AES encryption key used to encrypt the passwords in the database.
132
<add key="aes" value="jHipLioAj4a2gVa8jK0ynMa7i92mDr" />
- IF you imported the DEMO 2K database, then leave this setting alone for now. But don’t forget to change this when you switch to a blank database later on.
- IF you imported the BLANK database, then change aes to a unique string sequence of mixed lower case, upper case, and numbers.
- adje – Change the connection string server, user, and password values to point to your MySQL database.
138
<add key="adje" value="Driver={MySQL ODBC 3.51 Driver};database=adje;option=0;port=0;server=mysqlserver;uid=user;pwd=password" />
- sitename – Change to your website domain name.
- Before uploading the files, you should recheck that you have:
- A working adje MySQL database in your hosting server
- An edited version of the web.config file that has a valid connection string to your online adje database, and a matching aes value for the database you have imported.
- Set the target folder as an Application Folder in your hosting control panel.
- Using an FTP client, upload all of the files you have extracted to c:\adje to your hosting server. You can exclude uploading the ADJE_DB folder.
- After uploading the website files, go to your hosting control panel and change the permissions for the uploads folder (and everything in it) to read/write. This is the folder where user folders (and their files) are created and stored. This folder is protected by ADJE so files cannot be downloaded or hot-linked without proper user verification and authorization.
Step 1 : Download Latest ADJE
Step 2 : Import Database
Step 3 : Edit web.config
Step 4 : Upload Files via FTP
Step 5 : Folder Security
That’s it! You should now be able to run the website. Read more about using ADJE features, website settings, and customization in the next few sections.
If you encountered problems or have questions about installation, please proceed to the questions/suggestions/bug reports.
topWebsite Templates
ADJE uses templates that can be customized so you easily switch the look and styling of the website. A “template” is not a single file, but a collection of files in a folder called the template folder. The default repository for all templates is the folder ADJE_Templates.
The Proper Place for Your Files
If you feel like creating your own template, just make a copy of the ADJE_Default folder and edit the copy. It is strongly recommended that you place all of your custom files inside your template folder to avoid being overwritten by future updates of ADJE.
Inside the template folder you will find files that ADJE loads depending on the value of sitemodel in the web.config:
130 | <add key="sitemodel" value="ADJE_Default" /> |
In the above example, the contents of ADJE_Templates/ADJE_Default will include the following files and folders:
Header
Header.html defines the area shown below. The Header Search Group will be overlapped on top of your header and is positioned (by default) on the right hand side. The header will be shown on all pages of ADJE. You can change all aspects of the header by editing Header.html, Header.css and Stylesheet.css files.
Footer.html defines the area shown below. The footer is only visible on the main page. You can change all aspects of the footer by editing Footer.html, Footer.css and Stylesheet.css files.
Template Images
Images used by templates are stored in the template folders Images folder. It contains images for Facebook integration, Ads, the Header, the Footer, and the Favicon image (small icon on browser tabs).
Favicon
A Favicon is that small icon you see on browser tab next to the title of your website. The default ADJE favicon is contained in the current templates Images\Favicon folder. If you want to change the icon, simply change the file names favicon.ico with your own file.
If you already have an image that you want to use as a favicon there are many free favicon generators on the Intenet that will allow you to upload an image and download an ICO (icon file) that you can use as favicon.
Cufon Fonts
Cufon fonts enable you to use ANY font you wish on ADJE. ADJE uses two special fonts contained in the current template folders Cufon folder. Cufon fonts are typically used for headings (H1 to H6) and it is discouraged to use them indiscriminately throughout the website (such as on the BODY tag) because it will slow down rendering the website.
Cufon.js contains the html tags that will be replaced by the corresponding Cufon font. The clarendon_700.font.js and trade_gothic_300.font.js are the default fonts that comes with the ADJE_Default template.
If you open up Cufon.js you will see the following:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 | Cufon.replace('h1', { fontFamily: 'clarendon', textShadow: '0px 1px #ffffff' }); Cufon.replace('h2', { fontFamily: 'clarendon', textShadow: '0px 1px #ffffff' }); Cufon.replace('h3', { fontFamily: 'clarendon', textShadow: '0px 1px #ffffff' }); Cufon.replace('h4', { fontFamily: 'clarendon', textShadow: '0px 1px #ffffff' }); Cufon.replace('h5', { fontFamily: 'clarendon', textShadow: '0px 1px #ffffff' }); Cufon.replace('h6', { fontFamily: 'clarendon', textShadow: '0px 1px #ffffff' }); Cufon.replace('.h1s', { fontFamily: 'trade_gothic', textShadow: '0px 1px #ffffff' }); Cufon.replace('.h2s', { fontFamily: 'trade_gothic', textShadow: '0px 1px #ffffff' }); Cufon.replace('.h3s', { fontFamily: 'trade_gothic', textShadow: '0px 1px #ffffff' }); Cufon.replace('.h4s', { fontFamily: 'trade_gothic', textShadow: '0px 1px #ffffff' }); Cufon.replace('.h5s', { fontFamily: 'trade_gothic', textShadow: '0px 1px #ffffff' }); Cufon.replace('.h6s', { fontFamily: 'trade_gothic', textShadow: '0px 1px #ffffff' }); |
Above, you will see that section headings H1 to H6 tags will be targeted by the Cufon rendering engine for font replacement. The classes “.h1s” to “.h6s” are special classes for use in P or DIV tags and are generally used for sub-titles throughout ADJE.
Changing Cufon Fonts
It’s really easy to replace one (or both) of the fonts on an ADJE template. The first thing you need to do is to find a suitable font to use and convert it to Cufon. Make sure you have the rights to embed the font on your website before you use it. There are a lot of free font resources on the Internet. Fonts typically have TTF or OTF file extensions.
- Once you have the font that you want to convert to Cufon, go to the Cufon Site and convert your file. You will get a download file with the name of your font but with a JS (JavaScript) extension. This is the file that you need to place in your template folders Cufon folder.
- Next, modify the Cufon.js file and change the HTML tags where you want to apply your Cufon font.
- Finally, do not forget to remove any unused font js file. ADJE loads all fonts in the Cufon folder –even unused ones.
Website Themes
Do not confuse Themes with Templates. ADJE themes define the look of individual controls (e.g. textboxes, checkboxes, grids, panels, buttons, etc.).
Themes are contained in the App_Themes folder and ADJE knows which theme to use via the web.config “theme” entry. If you want to switch the theme that is being used by ADJE, simply modify the web.config theme entry to the name of the theme that you would like to use:
139 140 141 | </appSettings> <devExpress> <themes enableThemesAssembly="true" styleSheetTheme="" theme="Office2003Blue"/> |
Themes that are included with ADJE have been developed by 3rd party UI controls developer DevExpress. DevExpress includes a fully functional theme builder with trial versions of their software. I have not personally tried it, but if you feel strongly about customizing the skins or creating your own skin for ADJE, then consider downloading the time limited trial of their software.
The following DevExpress themes are included with ADJE:
topWebsite Configuration
The following process needs to be completed for new ADJE websites. You will need to know all of the information contained in this section even if you only restored the DEMO 2K import file to test things out. Some of the things that will be discussed here include details like Email configuration, all the way to various integration options (Payment/Facebook/Google).
Initialize First Administrator
If you had imported the BLANK database you would need to create your first administrator account before you can continue to configure the website. This is the very first thing you need to do after you get your site up and running. Opening the page init.aspx and fill up the details for the first admin user.
init.aspx only shows up when there are no admin users on the database. It will redirect the user to the main page if at least one admin user already exists in the database.
System Configuration Form
Sign-in as an administrator then open the System Configuration form. The System Configuration form have several sections:
- Website State
- General Settings
- Email Setings
- Featured Content
- Google Integration
- Facebook Integration
- Payment Integration
Each section is explained in detail below.
topWebsite State
This section enables you to change the appearance of the main page of your website. The different settings in this section controls the visibility of the Promo Section, Header Search Group, and Menu Bar Quick Search. Currently, all options on this pane are specific to Promotion Mode.
Site Mode
- Promotion Mode – This mode displays the promo.html file on the main page. The Promo.html file is stored in the current template folder (as defined in the web.config “sitemodel” entry).
When the number of job posts in your database is below Search job min count the Header Search Group and the Menu Bar Quick Search will both be hidden. - Live Mode – This mode hides the Promo section, which means that the main page is filled up by Job Post listing (and any side-bar content that you define). The Header Search Group and the Menu Bar Quick Search will always be displayed in this mode.
- Semi-Live – This mode displays the Promo section, the Header Search Group, and the Menu Bar Quick Search all together on the main page. It’s basically a “Live with Promo section” flavor of your current template.
Search job min count
Applies when in Promotion Mode only. Hides The search bar until the minimum number of job posts are met. Set to ’0′ to disable (i.e. search will be enabled only when the site goes ‘Live’).
Default value: 100
Auto Live
Applies when in Promotion Mode only. Automatically sets ‘Live’ mode upon reaching this number of job posts. Set to ’0′ to disable (i.e. You must manually set the website to ‘Live’).
Default value: 1000
Rows to display
As job posts get added to the database, they will get displayed under the Promotion Section on the main page. This dictates the number of job posts to display while in Promotion Mode.
Default value: 5