A little HTML help - please!

[kitchen-topia]

Hello, I do not mess with the eBay settings for HTML, it is more expedient to just let eBay set the font and sizing. 
However often listings are not displaying correctly, my text goes from small, to large, to medium when I've done nothing to alter it. 
I nearly always list by "sell similar" and then just change the category to the current item being listed. 
But when I get to description I run into all sorts of wonky unintended appearance. 

So, I take a look at the HTML version and get some incredibly convoluted, repetitious, and lengthy stuff! 
Am I right this may interfere with how it appears to buyer? Or am I wrong, it's OK, just leave it alone? 
I do know some basic HTML but feel no need to incorporate font, size, color, bold, underline, etc. as it may slow the buyer down.
Thank you for any help. 🙂 

Here is a sample on one of my listings today. It was repeated FOUR TIMES on this one listing and I see no purpose to that. 
(I replaced all brackets < with a slash /)
"/font size="4" style="font-family:Arial" rwr="1"/ /font size="4"/ /span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Georgia; font-size: x-large; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; display: inline !important; float: none;"//span//br style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Georgia; font-size: x-large; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"//br style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Georgia; font-size: x-large; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"//span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Georgia; font-size: x-large; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; display: inline !important; float: none;"/  "


 
 
 

[dtexley3]

Here's what I do:

Step 1: copy the text from the description in Standard View, paste it into notepad or the text editor of your choice.

Step 2: Switch the description to HTML view and delete everything.

Step 3: Switch to standard mode.

Step 4: copy the text from notepad back to the description

Step 5: Edit as desired.

This strips all the fugly html garbage out and lets you start clean to make it look how you want.

[mycarolinavintage]

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@kitchen-topia wrote:

Hello, I do not mess with the eBay settings for HTML, it is more expedient to just let eBay set the font and sizing. 
However often listings are not displaying correctly, my text goes from small, to large, to medium when I've done nothing to alter it. 
I nearly always list by "sell similar" and then just change the category to the current item being listed. 
But when I get to description I run into all sorts of wonky unintended appearance. 

So, I take a look at the HTML version and get some incredibly convoluted, repetitious, and lengthy stuff! 
Am I right this may interfere with how it appears to buyer? Or am I wrong, it's OK, just leave it alone? 
I do know some basic HTML but feel no need to incorporate font, size, color, bold, underline, etc. as it may slow the buyer down.
Thank you for any help. 🙂 
 
 

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I have micro knowledge of HTML and have no need for it in my life at the present time.Thankfully this happened with me only a few times. Not knowing what else to do, I went back to the listing, copied the text, clicked re-list similar, deleted the convoluted mess, pasted the copied text and wallah. It has not happened for some time, for some reason that escapes me and that's ok with me. Maybe it is just a glitch when it does happen. 

.....................................

Today I will not judge.

[beardedbovine]

@kitchen-topia

It sounds like you copy/pasted from a Rich Text format, and every time you sell similar or make edits more formatting is being added in.

Start fresh. Paste your descriptions into notepad (PC) or text edit (mac) and make sure it's set to "plain text" format. That will strip out all coding without needing to delete anything. Paste the plain text into your eBay listing.

[mycarolinavintage]

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@beardedbovine wrote:

@kitchen-topia

It sounds like you copy/pasted from a Rich Text format, and every time you sell similar or make edits more formatting is being added in.

Start fresh. Paste your descriptions into notepad (PC) or text edit (mac) and make sure it's set to "plain text" format. That will strip out all coding without needing to delete anything. Paste the plain text into your eBay listing.

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Ah Ha! Plain Text. That's the secret! I haven't been paying attention, apparently and my HTML is occasionally being changed (by me) without my knowing it. Not a big deal to correct the re-list when it has gone wacky but every precious moment is, well, precious and why waste it on a step I can avoid. Thanks for that!

Today I will not judge.

[beardedbovine]

No problem. I keep my listing templates saved as .txt files so I never have to worry about unintended html formatting. You can even write html code into a plain text file then paste it onto the html tab in your listing.

[drusalina]

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@dtexley3 wrote:

Here's what I do:

Step 1: copy the text from the description in Standard View, paste it into notepad or the text editor of your choice.

Step 2: Switch the description to HTML view and delete everything.

Step 3: Switch to standard mode.

Step 4: copy the text from notepad back to the description

Step 5: Edit as desired.

This strips all the fugly html garbage out and lets you start clean to make it look how you want.

---

I do the same thing, except I use Google Docs.  I do all my editing, font, etc. in Google docs, then go to the HTML View in eBay and select all and delete.  Then  back to standard mode and paste my New Google Docs text.  

Don't forget to do the Mobile Friendly Checker in eBay listing page, because when you delete all of the HTML it strips everything out.  And make sure you click on Save in the Mobile Friendly Checker otherwise your description won't show at all. 

[mountainmommie]

I do 99% of my buying on my phone and about 1% of it on eBay because sellers do not have mobile-friendly text. I see NO DESCRIPTIONS on many sellers listings.

[mycarolinavintage]

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@mountainmommie wrote:

I do 99% of my buying on my phone and about 1% of it on eBay because sellers do not have mobile-friendly text. I see NO DESCRIPTIONS on many sellers listings.

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I am amazed the percentage is that low. That's sure on the sellers. There is a "Mobile Friendly Checker" link in the listing tool.

Today I will not judge.

[good_guy44]

Why the need to use "Mobile Friendly checker" at all? Why in the world should we have to go out of our way to add "mobile friendliness". This is one of those things that should be taken care of by our overlord landlord eBay. With eBay telling us 42% of sales are completed with a mobile device shouldn't everything on eBay automatically be "mobile friendly"? eBay, quit inappropriately adding Best Offer to listings and task thos 'Bots to making a 100% mobile friendly eBay! And make volume pricing show on phones. And .... And ....