Hello everyone,
The following are tips and tricks to getting the most out of the eBay Community:
Spellcheck (browser based):
There is the option to use Khoro’s spell check option within the Community, or allow the specific browser being used to control the spell check. We’ve opted to use the browsers spell check feature and that means it should work according to the browser being used to access the Community pages. In order for spell check to work for you, you’ll need to ensure it’s turned on for your browser. That can vary by browser/settings, so it’s good to run an internet search for how to turn your browser's spell check on if you aren’t sure how to do so.
How to Bookmark a thread or discussion:
Have you come across a thread, topic or conversation that you want to remember or save for later? Bookmarking a thread will let you build your own library of content that you can quickly access again in the future, while not giving you updates on the posting activity itself.
1. From the Options drop down, select Bookmark.
2. Once confirmed, the thread will now be saved for quick access in the future. You can view it by selecting your profile photo and choosing ‘My Subscriptions’
3. That will take you right to your subscriptions page where you can view any of your saved bookmarks
Notifications:
If you look to the left of your profile picture in the upper right corner of the screen, you’ll see a Bell. This is where notifications will show up for posts you’ve been tagged/at-mentioned in and helpfuls you’ve received (thumbs up icon in posts). To adjust how you’re notified, follow the below steps:
1. Click your profile picture and then select, “My settings”
2. Click the “Subscriptions & Notifications” link
3. Click the “Notifications Settings” link
4. Turn things off and on per your preference
You can also subscribe to topics you participate in as well as determine delivery frequency, content inclusion and format. You can choose to remove HTML and signatures from posts and ignore posts that have already been read. Two final options are the ability to be notified of your own posts and replies and to be able to reply to subscribed threads via email. There are so many options!
Quoting:
In an effort to help keep track of which post you're responding to, there is a feature to quote the post. You can follow the below steps and even revise/edit the post you’re quoting where applicable:
1. Click the blue, “Reply” button
2. Click the quote symbol (“) at the top of the Reply box that appears
3. Notice that their message appears and at this point you can leave it as is or delete parts, high-light things, etc. as necessary. To do this, you would use the options as pictured above. B to bold text, I to italicize text, T to change the text size, and A to change text color
4.Once that is set up, you can start typing below the quoted text. If you want to ensure the member sees your message, but sure to at-mention them
At-mentions:
A way to call out specific users in your post and invite them to join the conversation, is to at-mention them. This will send them a notification so they're aware as to the mention, or tag, to the post. To at-mention someone, you will start by using the @ sign and then typing in their username if it doesn't automatically pop up in a menu to select. Example below:
Subscriptions:
There is an option to subscribe to boards and you can set this up by clicking on the “Options” carrot/link in the upper right corner of the page. From there, you’ll see the “Subscribe” link mid-way down the menu that appears:
To manage your subscriptions, notifications, etc. follow the below steps:
1. Click on your profile picture in the upper right corner of the screen and then click the, “My subscriptions” link from the menu that appears
2. The My Subscriptions option shows you what you are subscribed to. If you want to delete a subscription simply check the box and then select that option from the, “Email Subscriptions Options” dropdown menu
3. To select how you’re notified about the content you’ve subscribed to, click the, “Notification Settings” link to the right of, “My Subscriptions”
Common courtesies/etiquette:
The eBay Community is meant to be a place for peer-to-peer support. Where tips and advice can be provided in a friendly and inclusive manner. That being said, there are some common courtesies and etiquette we’d like to elaborate on below:
- First and foremost, we ask that you be respectful. Content that is harmful, hostile, threatening, abusive, baiting, vulgar, defamatory, harassing, or includes hate or racist speech, name calling or profanity will be edited or removed.
- Avoid duplicate, repetitive or disruptive threads and posts. Members should only post one thread per topic and do so in the most relevant board for the issue or question.
- No abusing Helpfuls...meaning you don’t solicit them from others, give an excessive number of helpfuls to a specific user or users, or use multiple accounts to give yourself or others multiple helpfuls.
- No naming and shaming. This is a big one. It’s not cool to post about listing or member violations (including item numbers, auction links, negative/neutral feedback scores, other members’ ID or contact information) for the purpose of shaming others.
- Keep private interactions confidential. If someone emailed/private messaged you, then they most likely wanted that to remain between the two of you.
- Do not advertise items, listings, services, or commercial websites, including petitions or solicitations for others to buy your items, or use your products. As we noted above, the Community is meant to be a space for getting help, sharing tips, etc. and not trying to advertise or spam others in any manner.
- Lastly, we ask that you not encourage others to do things that will be a breach of eBay policies or the eBay User Agreement. It goes against the spirit of the Community and what we are all here to do; whether that’s to get help, share knowledge, vent frustrations in a constructive way, or share good news and accomplishments.
You’ve probably noticed a carrot in the upper right corner of posts (image below) and if you click that, it opens a dropdown menu with several options. In case you’re wondering what each option does, please see below:
- Mark as New: Shows the new topic indicator in the topic list
- Bookmark: Adds this topic to the current user's bookmark list
- Subscribe: Will send you a notification when this topic is updated
- Mute: Must be subscribed to the board to use this. Gives the ability to mute the board/post from sending notifications. Side Note: If you have enabled the Automatically subscribe me to topics or reviews I participate setting under My Settings > Preference Options and participate (reply) in a topic you’ve muted, you will not be subscribed to this thread. The mute setting takes precedence over the auto-subscribe setting
- Subscribe to RSS Feed: Provides an RSS feed of this topic and its replies
- Permalink: Allows you to always access the original post
- Print: Ability to print the page
- Email to a Friend: Share the post with someone via email
- Report Inappropriate Content: Use this to report a post
