broken links for my Html pics - they display but do not have any functionality

[whyworka]

I use a website called use.com for my html pics. I copy and paste the html into the my Item Description. the pics appear but do not have any functionality.  I should be able to click on a thumb nail and it would enlarge , also the navigation links would work , so I can scroll thru the thumbnails to see which one I want to enlarge. Can anyone help me. I have called ebay 50 times trying to get help but they always blame use.com  and say the link is broken.  I am open to using a different html code provider and would appreciate input.  Another thing that ticks me off  ,is that ebay does not have any technical support. 

[berserkerplanet]

As part of the changes eBay made over the last year or so to avoid problems with Google Chrome and for general security, you can no longer have active content (JavaScript image zoomers) or offsite links (thumbnails with links to larger offsite images).

You can only embed <img src=...> tags that load the offsite images - which makes it impossible to have zoomable or larger images. And gigantic, detailed images in the item description are also not a good look for viewers, and are a problem for mobile. Have to strike a balance between detail, mobile viewers, etc.

[shipscript]

@whyworka

As @berserkerplanet  explained, the use.com gallery code is no longer valid on eBay, due to the move away from Active Content within listings. eBay is also discouraging large photos in the description, preferring that sellers use eBay photo-hosting at the top of the listing.

However, there are some cases where sellers may still want to use photos within the description. If so, there are still gallery options. You could gather up your use.com photos and make a compliant photo gallery or you can collect eBay-hosted photos to do the same thing.

This online tool can arrange your previously hosted photos into a compliant photo gallery within your description:

http://www.isdntek.com/csstools/photos.htm

I looked at listing 352414355323 as an example and see that use.com is labeling photos as "0" for thumbnails and "2" for full size, as marked below.

https://www.use.com/images/s_0/f5bbd0529a9603ffe29a_25.jpg
https://www.use.com/images/s_2/f5bbd0529a9603ffe29a_25.jpg

The full size would be the one to use in the tool (you would probably need to manually relabel your URLs that way).

Alternatively, after uploading all photos to eBay and listing the item, you could use the same tool to extract those eBay-hosted photos and add a gallery to your description.

[berserkerplanet]

>>and make a compliant photo gallery or you can collect eBay-hosted photos

Very nice. CSS driven gallery.

>>berserkerplanet said:
>>...which makes it impossible to have zoomable or larger images

I been schooled.

"No one will need more than 640 kilobytes of memory for a personal computer"

[whyworka]

Thanks for the help. I am not the most tech savvy person the world and want to be clear - is the ability to enlarge a thumbnail considered active content ?  I already use the suggested tool , a rep from ebay suggested it . I that thought it simply added the S behind the http to make it secure but never did check the code to see what changes it actually made. 

Anyway ,  I find it 100% necessary to have additional pics in my listings. I sell antiques and collectibles. Many of my  items have details that I need to show and 12 pics does not suffice . I want this extra pics because I do want to note every little imperfection in the condition report , therefore covering myself from taking the chance getting an "Other Than Described" return. 

So are you saying that I can alter the code , with a 2 instead of a 0 and my html images will be full size. The problem with that is , it makes my Item Description block very large and I am not sure that this will be mobile friendly.  

I want to show you one of my items, its a watch , item number 153113685877 . In that listing the thumbnails work as they should .  Why does it work in this case and not in the others. My listings are all ebay compliant , so from what you are saying , this should not be the case. 

[shipscript]

@whyworka

"... is the ability to enlarge a thumbnail considered active content ?"

Motion or "action" is not automatically active content, although some active content could have that capability. Most of the Active Content we have seen on eBay has had the ability to modify the listing after the page has already loaded, usually by accessing content from external locations. That opens the path to viruses, malware, or complete alteration of the description. While a scripted thumbnail gallery is not automatically malicious, there is no way to determine whether or not foul code has been added to a script, so all scripts are banned.

A compliant thumbnail gallery uses CSS stylesheets to load everything it needs during description loading.  Unlike a script, a CSS stylesheet can only rearrange and decorate listings— it can't perform the smart functions that a script can— so eBay still allows us to link to stylesheets.

Thus, your photo gallery that relies on scripts to enlarge thumbnails will fail when eBay strips the scripts (all scripts are active content), but will enlarge correctly when CSS is used.  And yes, CSS makes code a LOT fatter than the scripts would.

The extra block of CSS code is not so much a problem for mobile, but the preloading of those larger photos could be because they'll take some time and bandwidth to load.

"...item number 153113685877 . In that listing the thumbnails work as they should". 

When the scripts are removed, the fallback position for your use.com gallery is to open the image in a new page. But that is also now against eBay links policy. eBay does not allow links that take the visitor to a non-eBay page (except for YouTube and some shipping sites that are named in the full policy). Even if that new page is just a single photo, it is not allowed if it is not an eBay URL. 

"So are you saying that I can alter the code , with a 2 instead of a 0 and my html images will be full size"

You can feed your URLs into the CSS gallery tool by choosing the larger "2" image instead of the thumbnail-sized "0" image.

It won't be the largest size. It will be about the size of the big photo in your current thumbnail gallery.  You can play around with different digits to see other sizes. I found an even larger size, but I did not like the file size — much too heavy a download. The "2" size is a reasonable download.

You may want to compromise and put the bulk of your photos in eBay slots and only the remainder in your gallery, labeling it "additional photos".

[shipscript]

@whyworka

"The problem with that is , it makes my Item Description block very large and I am not sure that this will be mobile friendly."

There is one more problem with your use.com gallery. The gallery is preset to 650px wide. The smallest phone that eBay accommodates is 320px wide. So the use.com gallery will not display correctly on phones.  You will have to abandon that gallery presentation entirely. 

The compliant CSS gallery will flex to fit the screen. Or you could use individual large photos and those will also flex to fit because you have added eBay's mobile friendly tags to the top of your description (you used eBay's mobile friendly fixit tool to do that).  One of the tags you added tells photos to shrink to fit:

<style>img{max-width:100%}</style>

Additionally, the template border is set to 927px wide, which won't fit correctly on mobile and can't be fixed by eBay's fixit tool. You may need to bulk edit and change the value, depending on whether it is in all of your listings.

width="927" 

[whyworka]

Thanks for all your input. Obviously you have a deep understanding of this field and the ability to speak on a highly technical level. I am curious if you work for ebay or are affiliated with ebay in some technical manner?

The problem is that I am an antique dealer , not a tech person , and its sort of confounding that ebay expects us users to possess that sort of tech knowledge to simply insert html code pics.  That is part of the disconnect between ebay and its sellers. 

I have a simple question and hopefully get a simply answer. Can you suggest a website that is ebay compliant, uses the CSS format you referred to , and can bulk upload my pics using html code into my listings.? Once again , one that is easy to use . 

[shipscript]

@whyworka

I neither work for, nor am affiliated with eBay. But because I build tools for sellers, I do need to have some understanding of how eBay's tools work.

The reason eBay does not simplify the process of adding image codes to the description is that eBay expects sellers to use eBay's slots at the top of the listing and discourages the use of HTML or photos down in the description.

Listing Services

You might need to look at a "Listing Service" for an automatically inserted photo gallery.  I don't know of any "image hosting" site that automatically adds content to your description without being a listing service. The reason is that the service must subscribe to, be certified by, and upload through eBay's Trading API.  There are several listing services that can provide images in the description, but I'm not sure that they provide a thumbnail gallery. I usually see the photos running down a line in the listing. And I don't know if they accept more photos than the twelve they also upload to eBay.

• Auctiva
• Inkfrog
• Vendio
• Garage Sale (apple)
• SixBit

I've not used any of these, so can't say whether they are "simple to use".  And there may be others I've not heard of, or have forgotten.  I would recommend that you ask for  hosting recommendations on the Selling discussion board, but I would warn that you steel yourself, and ignore, the gamut of flak that might also be thrown your way.

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/bd-p/selling-db

Photo Montage (Photo Stitching)

Another thought that may work for some of your items is to combine photos, but use only a single beauty shot as the main photo. When the item is not square, cropping and combining two photos to create a square may actually provide a better presentation. Or combine four photos into one square. Take a look at this tool to see if it can help.  You can zoom to crop the photos and can drag them around within the cropping squares to center each.

http://zippyhelp.com/imagetools/stitch/photostitch.htm

Video

Another way to get more visual mileage is to create a video with your camera or smartphone.

Upload your videos to YouTube:

• Create a free YouTube account if you don't already have one.
• Create a YouTube "channel" if you don't already have one.
• Upload your video to YouTube.

YouTube will then give you a Share Link or Embed Code.

Paste that code into this Code Converter tool to make it compatible with eBay.
http://www.isdntek.com/tagbot/YouTubeConverter.htm

Copy the code from the converter tool and paste it into the description that you write. eBay's Description editor has a RichText toolbar for editing text, but, instead, you must use the HTML tab or HTML link on the text editor and paste your code into the HTML view. Then, when you switch back to the RichText editor, you will see the placeholder for the video.

[whyworka]

Thank You for all your input , its much appreciated. I will take into consideration your suggestions and look into using a different site for html coded pics. 

 In essense all I want to do it provide my potential buyers , all the information they need in order to make an educated purchase. Believe me , 12 pics is not nearly enough for most items.   An example would be an antique clock . You have the movement , the dial face, the clock case,  the crystal , etc .  By the time that I show any of the tiny imperfections  or nuanced manufacturing differences there is hardly enough pics to show the aesthetics. I have listing evey detail in the Condition Report and additional pics , covers all the bases for me. I can make mention but not have to give every last detail. 

You have confirmed what I have thought about ebay for many years, its a platform that pays little attention to the needs of its sellers even when its obvious that what they provide is greatly lacking. They offer no technical assistance , so each seller is on their own.  Atleast they provide a forum for discussion but even at that  , the format is not at all convenient to find.. 

I have sold on here on ebay for 20 years , its a good portion of my income and to be honest I find them a **bleep** partner. Willing to take my money but not willing to work with us in the we need .Not everyone sells new items that require few pics and limited descriptions. On the other hand my listing require lots of work but not the tools to do things in the correct manner.