Table of Contents:
MobileLot is intended as a vehicle data collection application, not a complete inventory management solution. It's general purpose is for window sticker printing and vehicle data collection companies, as well as for dealers, to use for collecting vehicle data and photos, as well as for printing window stickers and buyers guides for vehicles recently added to a dealers lot.
The most common usage scenario is:
To use MobileLot, you must have a WalkTheLot.com WebLot account. For information on WalkTheLot.com WebLot accounts, including the ability to create an account, click here.
To login to MobileLot, tap the button that is either displaying A, E, D or S and select which type of login you will be doing. Then enter your numeric WebLot login ID and password, and then tap the "Login" button.
On Android, to exit or logout of MobileLot, press your Android "Back" button until the app is exited. On iOS, suspend the app with the Home button, then double press the Home button, long press the app icon until a minus (-) sign appears, then tap the minus sign to close the app.
Vehicles Tab / Vehicle List Screen
The vehicle list shows either all vehicles for all dealers within MobileLot, or all vehicles for one dealer, depending on what you have set for the "Dealer Filter", which is available via the menu button.
Note: In the best interest of performance and reliability, the vehicle list is limited to 1000 vehicles. This is because MobileLot is intended to be a vehicle data and photo collection, publishing, and window sticker printing application, not an application for housing and maintaining complete inventory for dealers. Complete inventory is to be kept and maintained via the WebLot web-based backend.
Vehicles that have been published to WebLot are shown in green. Vehicles that have not yet been published are shown in orange. Any time vehicle data changes, the vehicle is marked as UN-published since the changes need to be published to WebLot again.
The numbers to the left of each vehicle, where the photo 1 preview is shown (if a photo 1 exists), tell how many photos exist for the vehicle.
If there is just one number, that is how many photos exist for the vehicle in MobileLot. If there are two numbers, the first is the number of MobileLot photos, and the second is the number of photos that exist for the vehicle on the WalkTheLot.com servers.
The latter number is only shown when you "Import" vehicle data from WebLot via the "Import" menu option, and is shown for comparison reasons.
Note: Photos themselves are never imported into MobileLot from WebLot. If you need to modify server photos, use the WebLot backend.
To search/filter the list based on stock number, start typing a stock number in the filter search box at the top of the vehicle list. This is a quick way to locate a particular vehicle based on stock number.
The first line of vehicle data shows the Condition (New, Used or Certified), Year, Make, Model and Trim Level.
The second line shows the VIN.
The third line the Stock Number.
The forth line the dealers Dealer ID and Company Name when displaying vehicles for all dealers. When displaying vehicles for one dealer, this line shows the date/time a sticker was last printed for the vehicle.
The box on the right is for tapping to place or remove a checkmark to select the vehicle for the below listed menu button functions:
To edit a vehicle LONG PRESS (i.e. hold your finger on it for a moment) it in the list.
To scroll through vehicles in the list, just use your finger to flip or scroll through the list.
All fields with the exception of "Condition" are optional. Condition defaults to "Used".
Keep in mind, when publishing a vehicle to WebLot, MobileLot will overwrite the values for any fields on WebLot with the values in MobileLot, thus, blank values in MobileLot will result in blank values for a given field in WebLot.
The Published checkbox sets a vehicle as published or not published. Published vehicles are vehicles that have already been published to WebLot for the dealer. Whenever any data changes for the vehicle, the Published flag will be set to false.
The VIN is entered when you added the vehicle or imported it via the "Import" menu option from the vehicle list. After a vehicle is added, the VIN may not be changed.
To decode the VIN (if VIN decoding is enabled for the "Settings" menu), simply tap the magnifying glass icon.
If you have available a barcode of the vehicle Stock Number, you may use the built-in barcode scanner to scan that. Tap the barcode icon to initiate the barcode scanner to scan a Stock Number, or manually enter one.
For all other fields, you may manually enter/change the data via the text fields, or where applicable, use the right-arrow icons to select common values from a list.
All fields are optional. For numeric values, enter 0 for none. Keep in mind, values within MobileLot will overwrite values in WebLot when publishing vehicle data.
There are four different categories of vehicle equipment, to make it easier to weed through and choose.
To add equipment items to a vehicle, simply select one of the categories. Then tap the items that you want associated with the vehicle so that a checkmark is next to it. That's it. That item is now associated with the vehicle.
Checked items that exist in more than one category will be checked in each of the categories. This does NOT mean that the item has been added to the vehicle more than once. It is like this so that you know, as you browse through other categories, that the item is already selected. Deselecting an item from any category will deselect the item from any and all categories that have the same item.
Vehicle Edit: Promotional Text Tab
The optional promotional text may be an unlimited length. Promotional text is normally some sales oriented text such as "One Owner, Low Mileage", or "This is a 2011 Car & Driver Car of the Year. Test Drive It Today. Call Bob @ (800) 555-1212".
You may manually enter (or paste) data into this field, or you may select from Promotional Text values already pre-defined in the dealers WebLot account.
To select a pre-defined value, tap the magnifying glass icon.
To enter pre-defined promotional text for dealers, you may either follow these steps, or the dealer may login to their dealer login and define promotional text the same way: Edit any vehicle within the WebLot web-based backend. From the "Main" tab, scroll down to the "Promotional" section, and click the magnifying glass icon. Then simply add each promotional text entry that you would like to be available. These pre-defined entries will be available to MobileLot, your WebLot backend, and the dealers WebLot backend.
Using Your Devices Internal Camera (the default setting):
For Android users, your first step should be to adjust your devices camera settings so that it does NOT take photos at large photo dimensions such as 3264, 2592 or 2048 pixels wide. Photos that are too large in file size will be rejected when you attempt to upload them to WebLot.
Generally the resolution is set via the Android menu, or a tools icon, when MobileLot launches your camera, however, devices vary.
The reasons MobileLot limits the size are:
Keep in mind, when images arrive on the server, oversized images are automatically resized to either 1024, 800, or 640 pixels wide depending on the setting you have set for the dealership.
We also strongly suggest that if you are using a wide screen device, that you set your camera to NOT take pictures in wide screen format. The reason why is, all 3rd party vehicle classified sites count on the images width/height proportions be 75%. Example: 640wx480h, 800wx600h, 1024wx768h... for all of which the height is 75% of the width. If your device takes pictures at a different proportion, then chances are, your images are going to be displayed skewed and/or the website layout is going to flow wrong.
To take pictures, select which photo you are taking the picture for (1 through 50) by tapping the first row on the photos page. The system defaults to Photo 1, so, you normally do not have to select which photo number. Then tap the Take Photo button to launch the camera and take the photo.
After each successful picture, the photo number selector row automatically changes to the next photo number for your convenience. Therefore, under normal circumstances, to take additional photos, you just need to tap the camera icon each time and the system will automatically increment to the next photo number.
You may also select which photo number you want to take a picture for by tapping it's row in the list. The selector will then automatically go to that photo number.
To view a photo, tap the "Tap to View" text.
To delete a photo, tap the X icon.
Using an External Digital Camera (see Settings/Camera Settings/Use External Camera):
Make sure the date/time on your digital camera is as close as possible to the date/time displayed on your device, otherwise, photos may not match accurately.
When you're ready to begin taking photos of vehicles with your digital camera, tap the "Start Taking Photos" button.
Take all of the photos of the vehicle that you wish to take, in the order in which you wish for them to appear.
When you're finished taking photos for a vehicle, tap the "Stop Taking Photos" button.
The start and end time will be displayed and also stored within MobileLot.
When you publish the vehicle to WebLot, those dates/times will be stored on the servers.
When you're ready to match and upload the vehicle photos from your digital camera, be sure that you've downloaded and installed the "WebLot Photo Match" utility for Windows.
On your Windows computer, plug your digital camera or digital camera memory card into your computer. IMPORTANT: Do not import the photos to your computer, leave them on your camera memory card, otherwise, most Windows versions reset the date/time of the photo to the date/time the photo was imported rather than the date/time the photo was taken, which will cause the photos not to match to any vehicles.
Launch "WebLot Photo Match" and select the location of your cameras memory stick (example: G:\DCIM).
Click the "Match" button. This will download vehicle data for the selected WebLot dealership account and compare the date/time photos were taken to the date/time of the photos on your camera, and match them to the vehicles they belong to, in the order in which they were taken.
When you are satisfied with the matches, click the "Upload" button to post the photos to the proper vehicles in WebLot.
Once the upload is complete, you will receive an inventory upload report at the email address you have on file for your WebLot account.
In the event that any of your Photo Start or Photo End times are incorrect, you may manually adjust the date/times for any vehicles by editing the vehicle in WebLot and selecting the "Misc" tab.
If you want to print a buyer guide for the vehicle, enter and
check-off details about the warranty for the vehicle, or select pre-defined
warranties already associated with the dealers WalkTheLot.com account via
the magnifying glass icon within the "Warranty" tab.
To enter pre-defined warranties for dealers, you may either follow these
steps, or the dealer may login to their dealer login and define warranties
the same way: Edit any vehicle within the WebLot web-based backend. From the
"Warranty" tab, on the right-hand column, click the
magnifying glass icon that has "Select Warranty" beside it. Then simply add
each warranty entry that you would like to be available. These pre-defined
entries will be available to MobileLot, your WebLot backend, and the
dealers WebLot backend.
Be careful to read the buttons. The first four buttons within the "Batch" tab will either read a specific dealers Dealer ID (such as D1000), or your Administrative Account ID, depending on if your vehicle list is showing vehicles for ALL DEALERS or one specific dealer account.
To change which dealer account vehicles within the vehicle list are showing, and thus which dealer account(s) are being processed by the "Batch" tab buttons, from the vehicle list screen ("Vehicles" tab), select the menu button and tap "Dealer Filter".
Publish Unpublished Vehicles: Publishes all vehicle data and photos to WebLot for the account shown that are unpublished.
Unpublished vehicles are represented in the vehicles list as Orange. Published vehicles are represented as Green (such as all systems go). You may change a vehicles published flag by editing the vehicle and checking or unchecking the Published checkbox.
Delete All Published Vehicles: Deletes all vehicle data and photos from MobileLot for the account shown that have their published flag set to true.
This button is generally tapped after you have published all unpublished vehicles and have confirmed that they are completely published to WebLot.
After they have been completely published (data and photos), and window stickers have been printed for them, in most cases, you no longer need them in MobileLot.
In the event that you ever need to import the vehicles data (not photos) back into MobileLot, you may use the menu button from the vehicle list and select "Import".
Publish All Vehicles: Publishes all vehicle data and photos to WebLot for the account shown, regardless of whether they have previously been published or not.
Delete All Vehicles: Deletes all vehicle data and photos from MobileLot for the account shown, regardless of whether they have previously been published or not.
VIN Exploder Account
The VIN exploder is $40/month per device for an unlimited number of VIN decodes.
If you already have a VIN exploding account through MobileLot, enter the Account ID you were assigned when you created your account. This account is specific to the Device ID of your device.
If you have not yet created a VIN exploding account, and want to create a new one and subscribe, tap the "Manage VIN Exploder Account" and complete the online form, being sure to note the Account ID that it will assign you after account creation. You must enter this Account ID in this MobileLot settings screen.
Once you have an VIN exploder account, and you have entered the Account ID in this MobileLot settings screen, you may manage your subscription via the "Manage VIN Exploder Account" button.
Note: The Account ID and Device ID must be the same combination of ID and SN contained within our remote databases in order to confirm your subscription and allow the exploder to work. This is mainly for security reasons so people don't just enter a random Account ID and get access to the subscription (or your personal information). It is also so that in the unlikely event two different users have the same Device ID or Serial Number, they don't freeload off of another users account or gain access to their personal information.
If you have any questions or need support, email or call our support department.
QR Codes
For users who both have window sticker configurations that print QR Codes on them, and also have domain branding through us, by default, the URL's generated for QR Codes on MobileLot stickers will be links to OUR mobile inventory pages with the fully qualified domain name "www.walkthelot.com". Example: "http://www.walkthelot.com/inventory/detail/?etc...".
In order for the generated links to use YOUR fully qualified domain name (for example: "http://inventory.mydomain.com/inventory/detail/?etc...", you must enter the fully qualified domain name that we setup for you on our servers.
ONLY enter the fully qualified domain name, such as, "inventory.mydomain.com", or "dealers.mystickercompany.com", etc. Do NOT enter any forward slash characters such as "/" or any "http://".
Examples of proper settings:
To use the default setting, simply blank this setting and the system will enter and use "www.walkthelot.com".
Use External Camera: By default, MobileLot uses your devices built-in camera. However, for better photo quality and lighting handling, some users may prefer to use an external digital camera to take vehicle photos with.
To use an external digital camera, place a check the "Use External Camera" setting.
When this setting is set, within the "Photos" tab while editing a vehicle, rather than the normal controls such as the camera icon to take a photo, the photo list, and the picker to pick what photo to take a picture of, you are presented with a timer that shows the current date/time, a button to Start Taking Photos" that stores when you began taking photos, a "Stop Taking Photos" button, and a "Clear Times" button.
Make sure the date/time on your digital camera is as close as possible to the date/time displayed on your device, otherwise, photos may not match accurately.
When you're ready to begin taking photos of vehicles with your digital camera, tap the "Start Taking Photos" button.
Take all of the photos of the vehicle that you wish to take, in the order in which you wish for them to appear.
When you're finished taking photos for a vehicle, tap the "Stop Taking Photos" button.
The start and end time will be displayed and also stored within MobileLot.
When you publish the vehicle to WebLot, those dates/times will be stored on the servers.
When you're ready to match and upload the vehicle photos from your digital camera, be sure that you've downloaded and installed the "WebLot Photo Match" utility for Windows.
On your Windows computer, plug your digital camera or digital camera memory card into your computer. IMPORTANT: Do not import the photos to your computer, leave them on your camera memory card, otherwise, most Windows versions reset the date/time of the photo to the date/time the photo was imported rather than the date/time the photo was taken, which will cause the photos not to match to any vehicles.
Launch "WebLot Photo Match" and select the location of your cameras memory stick (example: G:\DCIM).
Click the "Match" button. This will download vehicle data for the selected WebLot dealership account and compare the date/time photos were taken to the date/time of the photos on your camera, and match them to the vehicles they belong to, in the order in which they were taken.
When you are satisfied with the matches, click the "Upload" button to post the photos to the proper vehicles in WebLot.
Once the upload is complete, you will receive an inventory upload report at the email address you have on file for your WebLot account.
In the event that any of your Photo Start or Photo End times are incorrect, you may manually adjust the date/times for any vehicles by editing the vehicle in WebLot and selecting the "Misc" tab.
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