When did the HTML forums / community start on eBay?
I remember learning HTML on the forums many years back so I could improve my listings. This got me into web design and now many years later I am still working in web and have eBay to be thank for that. For my resume / own website I would like to find out when exactly the eBay HTML forum started... or do they and or their archives still exist? If you do not know, who else could I ask? If you could point me in the right direction I would be very grateful. Thank you and best wishes from Berlin.
4 comments
thaiartrares
OP1 year agoDearest @lacemaker3 thank you so so much. Have a great weekend!
lacemaker3
·1 year ago@thaiartrares,
No, the old archives of the original eBay community no longer exist ... back then, eBay ran/managed/hosted the community themselves, and there were actual eBay employees who ran it and posted themselves ... no third-party hosting (or separate login) back then.
The first version (as it were) of the community was the answer center (now unfortunately long gone) and the first person who answered a question in the answer center was @glenda -- and she has been a "Community Member since 11-19-2002" so that gives you the overall start date.
Another very early member was @shipscript, who was still active until very recently. She was the last of the original members who was still active. I remember her from very early, and back then, she only posted in the HTML forum. That was her forte, HTML coding, but HTML was banned on most of the forums/boards, except for that one, to help people learn it for use in their descriptions. She originally had trouble posting on the other boards, and thought she was banned from them, so I think her date could probably be used as the best guess for a start date for the HTML forum: "Community Member since ‎07-03-2003".
Glenda and Shipscript were very early recipients of the first eBay Community Hall of Fame awards, as I recall. However I think all record of this has been removed since then (I would love if anyone could find it). Another early community member (and Hall of Famer) was Glenda's husband, @bobmill: "Community Member since ‎11-19-2002". I think Glenda and Bobmill were the first two recipients, and then Shipscript was honored a year or two later. If I recall correctly, Shipscript was recognized for her work on the HTML forum.
Oh, I found confirmation of the date when Shipscript was honored in the eBay Hall of Fame ... from one of her other accounts, in the signature:
@shipscript2: eBay Live 2007 Community Hall of Fame Award
wastingtime101
·1 year agoWhat HTML forum? If you're referring to old eBay forums they are long gone. No archive.
FYI listings are best in plain text with zero added HTML. More than 50% of eBay buyers shop on mobile and the app hides descriptions behind more links when you use HTML - even simple font adjustments.
Keep it plain!
thaiartrares
OP1 year agoYou just totally broke my heart (but thanks so much for the fast answer!)
Then maybe a start date, if anyone could guess?