Method to Automatically Switch Back To Classic eBay Label FLow

[berserkerplanet]

They !^%##$ switched me into the new eBay label flow. It sucks, as others have indicated.

My main gripe so far is that the page isn't printable which is a must for me - it is part of my order processing flow to have an archival PDF copy of the ready to purchase label with all the details visible. Also, the new label flow does not work at all in FF3.6.24 (blank page) and results in a "something went wrong" error in FF31, which forces me to use FF52 which I do not want to do.

(What little of it that will print is 2 pages of emptiness, and it looks like it will be 4 pages when I can get it all to print via Stylish CSS rules. Then another few hours to get that to fit on maybe 2 pages.)

So, I fired up HTTPFox, captured the load sequence, and whipped up a simple Redirector rule to automatically switch me back to the classic label page (it is probably the easiest Redirector rule I've created to date).

The Classic eBay label flow Redirector rule:

Example URL:      https://gslblui.ebay.com/gslblui/new_label?transId=987654321&itemId=123456789012
Include Pattern:  https://gslblui.ebay.com/gslblui/new_label?*
Exclude Pattern:  https://gslblui.ebay.com/gslblui/back_to_classic*
Redirect To:      https://gslblui.ebay.com/gslblui/back_to_classic?$1
Pattern Type:     Wildcard
Unescape Matches: No

Install Redirector, enter that rule, and forget about the new label flow until the day eBay changes things or finally takes the classic label flow away.

Some threads/posts about the Redirector addon, which, it appears, can be used in Firefox, Chrome, Vivaldi, and Opera. Edge, Safari, and IE out of luck.

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Bidding-Buying/I-guess-eBay-just-wants-to-lose-business-by-making-it-h...

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Technical-Issues/Bug-found-when-clicking-on-See-Other-Items-or-Seller-...

There is an alternative Redirector rule that could be used that shortcuts the path I chose. The rule above essentially mimics clicking the "Go back to classic label printing" link on the new label page, which results in an eBay internal redirect, finally arriving at the classic label page. The alternative method would dissect the URL from the "Print label" option found on My eBay Sold item page for an item, and re-construct a new URL directly to the classic label flow. Problem with that approach is that there can be numerous different paths/initial URLs to the new label flow (seller hub orders page, emails, etc), and that second approach would probably fail for many of them.

[rhinolip]

Hey there!

THANK YOU KIND SIR!!

I sincerely Appreciate it.

I kept reading & re-reading & even googling what was previously written & just got even more confused as I went along.

That Plane never came in for a landing unfortunately.

Your outline was easy to understand & worked perfectly.

With appreciative regards:

Cas-Michel

[eburtonlab]

@rhinolip 

You are entirely welcome!

So glad to hear my explanation was clear and you were successful.

Thanks also to berserkerplanet for providing the javascript code!

[berserkerplanet]

Thank you eburtonlab for providing the more easily understandable explanation. (I knew you would :grin)


I write code or rules, and try to provide some explanation, but once I start going down the "try to cover all the possibilities regarding user tech savvy levels, OSs in use, and possible browser brands/versions" rabbithole, my brain rebels, and I back away (and my posts are already "reader eyes glaze over" too long most of the time anyway.

[elvia2207]

This seems like it would be easier than manually cutting & pasting "back_to_classic" every time I print a label.

Except...

"paste it in the location field for a new browser toolbar bookmark or a bookmarks menu bookmark, name it SwToClassicLabels (or whatever) As always, you have to remove the X from the javaXscript for it to work (forum software mangles the post if the X isn't included.)"

I HAVE NO CLUE HOW TO DO ANY OF THIS.  How do I "paste it in the location field for a new browser toolbar bookmark"?  **bleep** is a "bookmarks menu bookmark" and where do you access such an animal?  How do you "name it"? (My browser is Chrome)

[hurryagain]

OMG You are AWSOME!!!

I never got the chance to save that classic label page - I had no idea they were going to change it and suddenly, it was too late.  Like you said the switch to classic view button was gone with no hope of retrieving that page ever again.  I am SO HAPPY you had the wisdom to save this old version for us all to benefit.

THANK YOU - THANK YOU - THANK YOU!!!

[eburtonlab]

@elvia2207

If you are using Chrome on a desktop computer, copy that javascript code in the text box from berserkerplanet's post by highlighting all the text and then right clicking and choosing "copy" or by using a keyboard shortcut (Control-c).

Bookmark the current page (it does not matter what page, since you will be replacing the page URL with that code) -- in Chrome, when you bookmark a page you can choose a name for it, so you can change the name to something memorable like "back to classic label". You can also choose where the bookmark will be located -- the bookmark toolbar is a good spot, but anywhere that you can find it easily is fine.

From within that bookmark popup, choose "more" to see further options. Where it says "URL" there is a text box with the address of the page you just bookmarked. Highlight that address, and then paste berserkerplanet's code in that box by right clicking and choosing "paste" or by using the keyboard shortcut Control-v. Make sure that you scroll to the very start of the code so that you can delete that "X" from "javaXscript" so that the code will actually run. Then save the bookmark.

Whenever you need to print a label and eBay gives you a new label page and you want the old style page, just click on that bookmark you just created -- the new label page should reload as the old style page, if I understand correctly.

If you get stuck at any point, or you need clarification, just reply in this thread.

[elvia2207]

Thank you very much 

[eburtonlab]

@elvia2207 

You are entirely welcome.  Happy labeling!

[unique118]

Thank you!! I had been changing it each time and that's a whole other pain! I truly wish they would listen to those who do not like their "upgrades" "updates" and obviously horrible "improvements"!!

[*shoelala*]

You are a hero

[valicky13]

I'm not sure if I've ever posted on these forums, but I have to thank you for solution! Thank you!!!   I responded to the survey pointing out that having to enter dimensions for every clothing package I ship in a poly mailer was a time waster which means I'll have less time to list, resulting in less sales,  and finally less money for eBay.  The least they could do would be to have a box you could tick for poly mailer or box and then if it's a box, you'd need to enter dimensions.  

I've never understood why eBay wastes money paying programmers to fix the parts of eBay that actually work well. We can give them plenty of ideas of stuff they could do if they need to keep them busy!   I got a glimpse the other day of a new feedback page.  Lots of white all over it.  Another time waster as there's nothing wrong with how members' feedback pages look now. 

[tout-partout]

why dont they listen to us? if its not landing/selling page its shipping its no more restocking fee its must do returns ect. i pray on day the actually listen to us sellers but again they just dont care.  

[solarlightsplus]

THANKS !!!!!

[solarlightsplus]

This works well for printing single label, but does not work for bulk shipping. Am I missing something?

[viacomvender]

The above would be helpful if I understood it, but why all the babble? Exclude pattern? this was the part that I had been told to use instead of new Label - now you way redirect to: what the "H" is that? then there is the pattern type??? un the unescape match. Why is all this unexplained stuff necessary or helpful?