Has anyone converted their Listing template to PUre HTML yet??? If you haven't, give it a whirl. It is cool.

Be sure to duplicate your original template and save the copy to another name. Then Convert it. Even if just to see how it works and looks. It is soooooo cooolll!

Judy/blue

Judy:

KEWL is right. I just converted 3 templates (after renaming them). Once The renaming and other caution work was done the conversion went fine and it is really cool. I like it - I figured why not play with a template and save it and try it out. Since I'm a big spender I thought why not upload one into stores and then end it if I didn't like what I had done or just messed up horribly. Well it worked great.

A lot of my templates had parts written in notepad using HTML and also I had done some in Front Page and did a cut and paste into AW2K.

Now with this great new feature I won't have to do that. One more time Thom and his group have come through with really useful new feature.

Garry,

That is exactly what I did. With the HTML template, I could get rid of an annoying line I always wanted to get rid of but never could. Now it is gone. I just started listing all my auctions with it this afternoon.

I have some other things I want to do but I have to work on it. I am absolutely terrible with clickable images. I am going to put my new bluepennylady logo into my listing template and make the logo link back to my eBay store auctions. I got it into the sample one I am playing with. But I have to re-do the image size. It is too small.

Judy/blue

Judy:

I know what you mean about annoying little things in the templates. Even with Frontpage there were times when I couldn't get rid of some things.

Sounds as if you got plans - and that's the best part of the new HTML templates. Pretty much anything you want to do you can do.

If you have Frontpage - the clickable image thing works well there. If you do it once you've got the code down pat and it's easy to do after that. Just load frontpage. move in an image and size it to what you want. Right click the image and select HYPERLINK. From there it's real easy and as I said it shows you everything you'll need.

Garry

Garry,

Geez, Why didn't I think of that. I have FrontPage and DreamWeaver. I have messed and messed with the image. and then writing and writing code trying to get it just the way I want it.

Off to FrontPage.

Judy/blue

Judy:

I know exactly what you mean. I've spent countless hours doing something and never get it the way I want it. Then realize there is another way. Oh well.

All I ever do with a clickable if the image isn't the right size is just load the image onto a blank page in FP and do the rest of the stuff and then test the link. If I works then I cut and paste it into note pad (just in case there may be a problem) and then copy and paste it into aw2k. Works like a charm.

Have fun frontpaging and dreamweaving.

Garry

First I am going to stay by the fireplace until I am beet red.

Then after I unthaw, I am going to drink coffee. Then I may think about links and images.

Judy/blue

Judy:
Thawing out needs to be the first order of business. Fire place and hot coffee sound as if they are the beginning of the process. My Grandfather always used to complain of being cold and would have my Grandmother bring him hot hot hot italian coffee. He would then proceed to pick up the spoon - hold it over the coffee upside down and "measure" out some of his alcoholic beverage that he loved (it might have been Amaretto). He said that unless you measured that way the spoons were always too small. Oh yea, he warmed up. It's just a suggestion, but maybe might wanna start with a small spoon. Hmm, might make for some wild HTML templates though.

Garry

ummmm, since I can't even take Nyquil without getting completely loopy, I can only imagine what something in my coffee would do [laugh[

Judy/blue

Last time I examined this "feature" you completely lose the ability to include images with listings right unless you hard code them into a listing. You know that right? You have to manage those outside aw2k to make use of this "feature".

Better to improve the template manager and/or overhaul the image naming conventions so we can know them up front and add code to our templates using DOM to access each page element and create much more interesting layouts.

Hi grumpy,

You lost me. What do you mean we don't have the ability to include images in the HTML template?? If that is what you mean, that isn't so. The "Image display code" is hard coded into the Pure HTML template layout. And there is a distinct line as well as a warning not to alter anything below the Image display code line. As the H and V spacing is included in the Image display code.

Judy/blue

Howdy Judy,

Sorry if that was a tad techie...when the Pure HTML option was first explained to me there was no ability to design your template and access each image attached to an auction lot. As a matter of fact if one was to use a Pure HTML listing we could not even access images from inside aw2k. Which really made it useless for what I had in mind when I first brought up the idea of such listings to Thom...apparently others had asked to the ability also... :)

But after reading your comment it seem to imply that this was somehow possible. So I just not looked in the help file for info on the current pure HTML templates...all I can say is EXCELLENT...it does indeed give access to tokens (or also called custom HTML tags) to place each image in a listing. This is absolutely necessary to create more complex listings that are just plain HTML when uploaded to eBay.

it is EXACLTY what I was looking for. And in all honesty I from the addition of this level of access to the auction lot fields I believe I can now completely create a true ecommerce site with the aw2k functioning as the database back-end and order management...or at a minimum create all items to be used on the ecommerce software I've been developing the past 4 years (and no ya can't see it, it ain't ready for public viewing just yet...hehehehe)...I so wanted to use aw2k to manage the sales end of the deal...I am almost maybe possibly and potentially sure I can now, maybe...but this is a nice step on the way.

Thanks for the motivation to look into the newer version of pure HTML...or maybe I misunderstood Thom way back when and could have been using this for a while now...who knows... ;)

PS: I think if the hands are feeling up to the coding I'll make up a sample pure HTML template and post it here to share...then we can all tear it apart and create our own and imporve what can be done...seriously this is the best news I had all year...

Edited by grumpy3b on 03/29/07 04:16 PM (server time).

Neat...Thom worked serious overtime on this Pure HTML. I am looking now and he even added conditional tags. If you do not know what that means. A conditional is a way to test a condition then act based on where it is true or false. For example. He added this tag:

<#ifNotOneImage><#EndIf>

Well that allows the creation of more generic templates where there might be many images, just one image, or you only want certain page content to appear if there is an image in that spot...

This is getting FUN... I am going to try and create a nice example using as many variations as I can. This is how I learn a new language anyway so why not share in case it might help other folks...or even more important...I do something wrong...hehehehehe...

FYI , in case someone does not know, just open the HELP file, then select the INDEX tab and enter HTML in the search box...look for the "HTML CODE"section then the "PURE HTML" subsection and you can then see all the custom HTML tags we now have to use!!

Sorry, I had been really bummed that this was not all here a year ago or maybe longer I forget now...but to find it now is just GREAT... :) I love my aw2k again...hehehehehe....and in case you are wondering...nope I "ain't right"... :p

Edited by grumpy3b on 03/29/07 06:19 PM (server time).

grumpy,

Nope not too techie at all. But you made me think I was totally missing something or didn't quite get it. I played around with the HTML templates for quite a while.

I am getting ready to completely re-do a couple of website thumbnail templates adding some other stuff. I want to change the link "Auctions by Bluepennylady" on my listing template to my logo which will be clickable instead of the text. Thought that would be cool That wasn't possible until Thom added the HTML. I was pretty excited about it too.

And hey, no fair mentioning you were working on the site and then telling us we can't see cause it isn't public yet! We wanna see!!!!!

Judy/blue

hehehehehe...tooo bad!!! hrrrmpphhh! ;)

As far as your logo and being clickable...I am not sure I understand the issue of not being clickable until the Pure HTML templates. I have all sort of items in my templates that are clickable images for various needs. I just add an html page component then the code inside that...or am I not getting your issue? I'll post an example...gimme 2-secs...

here is a simple example:

  <div style="text-align: center; font-family: georgia, arial; font-size: medium; color: #ffffff">
    <a name="eMail">
        <a href="mailto:someone@somesite.com"><img src='http://www.grumpysgoodies.com/images/smileys/wave_lg_wht.gif'></a><br />";
    </a>
  </div>

I actuallty made is a bit fancier by including a script that grabs the page title and passes it to the buyers email program filling it into the subject line...

And yeah that example is for email but an anchor tag is an anchor tag and the target would just be whatever URL you need...I can post the whole leetle snippet if ya wanna see what I did...it's not perfect at all because I need to add an "onclick" behavior instead of building the link on page load...but, eh, whenever...hehehehe... :D

grumpy,

I am telling you that t'isn't fair at all

You know you are going to have to make an announcement when you get it up and running. Maybe a "pre-public" viewing or something. Invitations, party hats, we could serve cake and ice cream.

Using "wasn't possible" was incorrect terminology. As it could have been done. However, doing all the little things that can make the listing template with all the perks wasn't possible until now. Now I just need enough time to do all the stuff I want to do. I wonder if anyone can come up with a way to manufacture more time??

Judy/blue

grumpy,

Your user id just doesn't fit you at all, at all. I have never ever figured it out. YOu are the happiest go lucky dude And the code for the image is "smileys wave" Now just what is that. A smiley face waving at you

anyway, yes post the whole shabang!! I wanna see. Since you are not going to let us have a pre-public viewing.

Judy/blue

Hi Judy:

That is kind of you to say. Thanks...but I really have earned the nickname. See I can be a tad direct with people and so many take that with the incorrect intentions on my part. See I feel we are not honest enough with each other anymore. All in a misguided attempt to not hurt some-one's feelings. I sorta kinda feel that by doing this you are not giving the other person enough credit or even the ability to grow-up. And it also means one has to be willing to hear the same sorts of things in return. Plus I have RA and when it is flaring I can be a ROYAL PITA...hehehehehe...mostly I just try and enjoy myself.

That being said...I would have been back sooner but in playing with the tags I decided to create a new pure HTML template. In the process I ran my code though the W3C code validation utility. That way you can easily keep your HTML clean and very in line with the W3C standards most browsers are supposed to use. I say most because some browsers **cough**IE**cough*FireFox**cough...oh, sorry had a frog caught...anyway, some browsers are 99% standards compliant but it can be that final 1% which takes all of the time to code for...but figure why not take the time to get it almost there in just a few mouse clicks.

Here is the W3C main site in case ya never been there before:
http://www.w3.org/

And here is the HTML Validation page:
http://validator.w3.org/

They are both great resources with more detail then ANY eBay seller would need to create listings but it might also be a way to learn more about how much can be done with HTML itself...

And I also had a bit of an RA flare too so I had to take it slower for a couple days...but tonight or this afternoon I will work on making the email link tighter and more generic.

Maybe tomorrow if the weather is nice again I'll setup the umbrella on the deck and work outside on using the custom html tags in AW2K...which in case you were not aware, anyone can define their own custom tags in an HTML page...the ability to create custom tags part of the original design or it might have been the 2nd generation of HTML, I am getting a tad foggy in my old age... :D

OK...it's MEDICATION TIME...woooohooo!! hehehehehe...back later...

Edited by grumpy3b on 03/31/07 04:35 PM (server time).

grumpy,

well say what you will, direct isn't necessarily grumpy. Of course, there is always rude in-between all of that. But I just find you pleasant and humorous.

Thanks for the validation link. That is cool. One of my other sellers friends told me about it but I had misplaced the URL.

Have fun with the meds and umbrella. Not necessarily in that order. If you take meds before putting up the umbrella you could end up being higher than a kite--literally

I know enough about HTML to get by. I would dearly love to be able to know more than I do. I find it beyond fascinating.

In all seriousness, Hope you get to feeling better. That is not fun at all.

Judy/blue