ShipScript has been an eBay Community volunteer since 2003, specializing in HTML, CSS, Scripts, Photos, Active Content, Technical Solutions, and online Seller Tools.
I got my notice from ebay and they say I have about 16 listings that need to be modified. I tried to use the links that are provided on here, but I'm not getting anything. It says no changes were made. I don't get it. Ebay says I have things that need to be changed, but the links to see the changes say I have no changes. Help, please!! I have no idea how to fix these or my templates.
@hardrockpinstore wrote:Running a test on ebay. Using your [sandbox] editor (thank you), this is now the Newest version of my listing (using the Filtered tab results):
Listing 112361282032 - test listing
When using your "Click a width to see how your page might fit on smaller devices" - my test listing has No horizontal bar from 640 and up. At 480 and 320 there is a horizontal bar.
Also, after using your editor, my store search link ("Search my eBay Store:") does not work now.
If link targets are a problem, the tool will repair them. If there are no link problems the message says zero were repaired. As nominal as targets seem, this is actually a repair you will want to make because you have links to your store categories that would fail to perform under the coming ban.
Store search boxes will not be allowed and the action will be removed. To get rid of the visible search box itself, use the custom settings and checkmark "find and mark <form>...</form> ". But the phrase "search my store" will still remain unless you custom remove that as well.
While your table shrinks pretty well and your product photos shrink, the width problem is the result of the store thumbnails that are stacked across the page with no flexibility. That means you shouldn't add the viewport meta tag because your listing won't fit all viewports. Your thumbnails are larger on some pages than others, so the amount the page will shrink can be different for a different item. 162316141156
There is probably some way to rework those thumbnails and tables by adding a stylesheet, but if you plan to redo all of your templates anyway (which I wholeheartedly recommend), I probably wouldn't worry about that level of effort just yet.
In fact, since the only active content in the test listing is the store search and mouseover coloring on the store thumbnails, I think I would focus on preparing a new mobile friendly template rather than removing the active content that will simply fail to perform under the ban.
Thus, I think your focus should be placed on repairing links and creating a template that can be viewed on mobile devices.
1) Just to confirm - my “36 links were found with 0 repaired”
-Yes, those links are fine. They already have the target so zero repairs were required.
2) “probably some way to rework those thumbnails and tables by adding a style sheet”.
- try these filters in the Sandbox tool:
http://www.isdntek.com/ebaytools/ActiveContentSandbox.htm
?itm=381885446022&fm=true&act=true&lnk=true&vp=true&filter=%253C%253C%252BBEFORE%253E%253E%7C%7C%250A%253Cstyle%253E%250Aimg%2520%257Bmax-width%253A100%2525%253B%2520%257D%250A%2540media(max-width%253A640px)%257B%250Atable%2520%257B%2520border-collapse%253Acollapse%253B%2520border%253A0%253B%2520%257D%250Atd%2520%257Bdisplay%253Ablock%253B%2520width%253A100%2525%253B%2520border%253A0%253B%2520box-sizing%253Aborder-box%253B%257D%250A.storename%2520font%257B%2520font-size%253A1.8em%257D%250A%257D%2C%253Ctd%2520width%253D%252292%2525%2522%7C%7C%253Ctd%2520width%253D%252292%2525%2522%2520class%253D%2522storename%2522%2CSearch%2520my%2520eBay%2520Store%253A%7C%7C
Open the Custom filters and click the link at the center bottom that says "code filters". Paste this filter and click "Use filters". You'll then see what the decoded filters are doing.
3) Getting down to 480 is pretty good if your text is large enough, as some mobile devices will simply shrink the whole page. However, getting down to little or no scrolling at 320 would be best because then you could add the viewport tag. See the above filters.
4) The page is too busy and the format is not really mobile workable, but we tried.
5) I probably posted someone else's item number (looking at too many at the same time).
Use the @ symbol to call me back to this thread, just as I called you.
Add the red to the line that holds your storename. That allows us to identify that element so we can shrink the title on a mobile device, which allows the page to collapse more. That will also resolve the problem you see with the top table being wider than the one below it, and will get you down to 320 so you can use the viewport tag.
<TD width="99%" class="storename"><FONT face=Verdana color=#000000 size=7><B>HardRockPinStore</B></FONT></TD>
Try this stylesheet. I removed the code that removed the borders.
<style>
img { max-width:100%; }
@media(max-width:640px){
td { display:block; width:100%; box-sizing:border-box; }
.storename font{ font-size:1.8em; }
}
</style>I personally don't see any benefit in adding the table of contents at the top of the listing. It's just one more thing to scroll past. By now, buyers are accustomed to expecting the description first and small print afterwards.
You might play with that color in the left column titles to see how it looks when the titles are stacked at smaller sizes.
We are just tweaking a template that really needs an overhaul, so little tweaks aren't going to provide the perfect solution, and a little tweak here may produce a little problem over there. Remember, this is a table-based template that was not designed with skinny in mind, so we are just making do what what is available.
a) Wrapping the two-column terms into a single column is intentional. That is the only way to make the columns display correctly using minor tweaks. If two columns appeared together on a 320 device, the content would contain one word per row - definitely unreadable.
b) eBay' black and white boxes converting to a solid span across the top is an artifact of the above. If undesirable, I would just remove both TD rows. You can do it manually or use the stylesheet to turn off the two TDs, as shown below.
<style>
img { max-width:100%; }
@media(max-width:640px){
td { display:block; width:100%; box-sizing:border-box; }
.storename font { font-size:1.5em; width:100%; }
table.ebay td:nth-child(1){ display:none; }
table.ebay td:nth-child(2){ display:none; }
}
</style>c) The font size of the store name is causing the tiny bit of scrollbar and variance in table widths. I've descreased the font size a bit in the stylesheet above.
If you plan to create new listings with this older template, there are many instances of unclosed tags within the page, perhaps due to multiple edits. It also looks like an old editor was used, back before it became standard practice to close all elements. Fortunately, table code is capable of self-terminating loose ends within the table, so that helps with the appearance. But you will probably want to spend a little time to clean that up going forward.
A. The colors help the specs. If you had classnames on each of the tables, we could spell out which ones are to wrap and which ones won't. However, then we are getting into the realm of serious editing, as is your colorizing.
B. This works, the reason is that there is no vertical content to hold the cells open (the images were there for that purpose). So when you set a width, that will work. The height is determined by the store name. Additionally, because your store name represents content and the colored cells have no content, the colored cells will collapse when the table is no longer wide enough to accomodate the store name (seen on browsers that don't understand media queries). When the cell is put onto its own row by the media query in the stylesheet, the width is still there, but there is no height to keep it open. So it basically disappears.
D. The SCAN button on this tool may help you locate the missing or mismatched tags. It was designed many years ago to help eBay sellers on eBay's Photos/HTML forum check simple templates and to check against eBay rules. When eBay gutted the forums 8 years ago, it was no longer updated. But it's a start.
