HTML code no longer works in lisitngs.

[memorycloset]

Hello!!
My listing template has a fair amount of HTML code that used to work. Now it displays and is no longer working.
What have I done/ not done?
All help gratefully appreciated with many thanks!!! <Smile>
Mike Berke at MemoryCloset

[shipscript]

I think the problem arises from where in the underlying HTML some of the new text is pasted.  It got in the wrong place and broke some of the code.  I see that you are using MS Word to construct your description, and that a whole boatload of XML is coming along for the ride (300 to 1000 lines of superfluous code). Does your Word have something like "save as: web page, filtered" to strip that off?

[memorycloset · Accepted solution]

Thanks! Yes, using Word, but in plain text mode. Does that still include "all that stuff"?

[memorycloset]

NOOOO!!!
Still not working!!
Even with Word in plain text mode.
Writers of that code should be forced to use it EVERY DAY!!

I see "Message 3 of 3". How do I get to see the other messages?
How do I get to the other messages?

[disneyshopper]

Are you using the new Unified Lister?  If so, and you want to add HTML to your listing, when you get to DESCRIPTION, you will need to click on SEE ALL OPTIONS in order to select SHOW HTML CODE.

[shipscript]

How are you creating your descriptions? Are you using sell-similar and swapping out only the newest detail? If so, then all of that XML code in your listings is from the boilerplate, carried forward.
I see the "displayed" code in only the newest listing, and that is the one with some mixed up codes. What did you do differently on that listing?

[shipscript]

@memorycloset 

When I look at your source code in your eBay listing, it appears that the trouble is being introduced by how Word is used. We can see the Word Mso (Microsoft office) codes for each line of listing text. But then we see that your own simple HTML tags for your item (which were created separately) are being recoded as entities. (Entities are used to make HTML symbols viewable, rather than executable.) I think you may be pasting HTML into Word, or perhaps into a Word boilerplate.

While I initially suspected using the wrong tab on eBay's description box, as did @disneyshopper, that is not possible when the underlying Mso codes are not similarly exposed. As we see below, the Mso codes (green, on the left) are not converted to entities (as on the right, red), and the Mso codes are not exposed when viewing the listing.

<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-family:&quot;Courier New&quot;">&lt;/H1&gt;</span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-family:&quot;Courier New&quot;">&lt;H2&gt;</span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-family:&quot;Courier New&quot;">&lt;blockquote&gt;</span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-family:&quot;Courier New&quot;">AUTHOR:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes">&nbsp; </span>Herbert J. Jackson</span></p>

So, perhaps you could describe how the listings are cobbled together in Word, and we could go from there.

[memorycloset]

Started Word, opened a new page in plain text and wrote a new listing. Used HTML markup, but it still display the markup and doesn't execute it.
I'm about at my wit's end!!
I know a fist through the monitor doesn't help, but it certainly is tempting!!! <Smile>

[shipscript]

Well, I would not recommend a fist through the monitor. The problem is that markup and rich text can not be mixed. It's not really a very serious issue.

If you are familiar with markup, and want to write your listings that way using a plain text editor, then open the HTML tab in eBay's description editor and past your markup into that HTML tab.

But where are you getting your boilerplate? There is definitely a difference between your new item description and your old boilerplate.