I've created a simple classified ads module for Drupal 4.7 and Drupal 5. It is now in use on a large number of Drupal-based sites.

Background

My classified module creates a new node type ('ed_classified') and associates an expiration timestamp with all nodes of that type. Borrowing from the image.module image gallery scheme, it creates and associates a custom taxonomy with the classified ads. Site administrators then need to create child taxonomy terms for each classified ad category. As with any Drupal taxonomy, ad categories may be nested to arbitrary depth.

It's pretty simple in terms of data structures, but there are many details like:

• automatic content expiration on cron run,
• ad renewals (user can renew an ad before it expires),
• body text length limitations,
• client-side javascript to display body text length consumed in real time while user enters ad text,
• custom CSS (ed_classified.css),
• new/popular ad blocks,
• views module integration,
• admin/user menu add-ins and other policy/admin stuff.

Note: The current implementation does not, and the 1.0 version will not support the following features:

• Paid ads. There is a paypal payments module that should allow one to charge for ads, though. I'm considering integrating with that module at some point in the future, after the initial feature set is implemented and released.
• Image ads. I use upload_image module on my sites, but you could also use image_attach (included with the image module) - I tried it and found that image_attach does not delete attached image nodes when the parent node is deleted - important, since I want to have ad photos deleted automatically when the original ad is deleted.

Great, so how do I use it on my site?

NEWS FLASH: It's now available on Drupal.org. Classified Ads for Drupal 4.7 and Drupal 5.

Enhancements planned for post-1.0 releases

(These will not be in the 1.0 version described above.)

• email notifications prior to ad expiration (feature development in progress),
• per-category (taxonomy term) configuration for things like ad duration, body text length, etc.
• integrated photo ads using the filemanager.module api
• smart integration with the paypal payments module (to be defined)
• report mis categorized/inappropriate ad
• additional views.module support
• tighter integration with location.api module
• provide limited ability for ad creators to add new categories
• email notification of new ads matching user-supplied criteria