posted on November 26, 2003 10:55:21 AM new
I would like to be able to use this as our custom template for our eBay auctions: http://www.midwestdiscountgolf.com/template.html .
I first tried pasting the code into the description box for the item and using a "blank" template. The problem is that even the "blank" template uses a Layout that wants to include items after the discription. Is there a way that I can override the use of the layout so I can just integrate my own layout into the description like I'm doing? Or better yet, create a TRUE blank template that will let me make my own template by hand (NOT using the Template Workshop) and use macros such as %%AW_Text_Data%% to include the individual item descriptions?
Thank you.
Brian
Midwest Discount Golf
[ edited by midwestdiscountgolf on Nov 26, 2003 10:56 AM ]
posted on November 26, 2003 07:06:45 PM new
Hello Brian,
Let me cross this one by engineering. I know that even the blank templates have a tiny bit of HTML and I'm not sure how to get around that. I will probably not hear back on this until after the holiday weekend.
posted on November 28, 2003 09:13:36 PM new
Hi Brian. You can get it down to a truly empty page. If you use the blank template with "no layout" and turn off/opt out of all your vendio default sections you can get rid of everything except the auto roll in vendio ad they roll in below to identify themselves as the listing service, and the pic(s) at the bottom if you attach an image for the upper left preview ebay box or ebay gallery. When I html imbed all my images without attaching any I don't even have that--I got it down to an entirely blank page. I added back in the checkout button and counter which were the only 2 I wanted to keep.
There also will be no title in the auction description unless you code it in, so the 45 character ebay limit only applies to the title that Vendio references at the top section above the blank template preview and submits to ebay for you but it doesn't appear in your description--you are free to format and type any length title desired for the description section. All the other vendio templates have a title section that gets included with the description.
posted on December 1, 2003 11:22:55 AM new
Thanks for the input, I didn't think to turn off the post sale info and just code it into the template myself. That would make things much simpler. I'm currently having trouble with the %%AW_Title_Data%% macro to work properly, but for now I can just code the title into the item description.
Is there a way to actually save a hand-coded template into the drop-down template list? That would be nicer than manually copying and pasting the code for the template into the item description each time.
posted on December 1, 2003 07:08:16 PM new
You are very welcome. It seems that the "blank template" is just that--a way for sellers to control their entire description, and it also becomes devoid of electronic connections to vendio's formatting if you also use the "no layout" option, so I would not expect the vendio's macros to pull information if both their template and layout structure options are bypassed. If you can live with one of their layouts, the macros may then pull in the title info for you, but I haven't tried it to know.
As far as I can tell there is no way to save a template online that is not based on one of the vendio layouts. I have my templates set up in Frontpage pre-duplicated, and I save my running auctions and unsold auctions there also so relisting is just copy and paste again. I upload the data and title via SMPro out of my Access inventory database for ebay/vendio purposes, and type in the title(longer and nicer than ebay allows if I want) and adjust the description changes on my template and then paste in the html. Yes it would be nice to save it all online, but I do alot of custom graphic effects and I want control over every aspect of my listing appearance. I usually imbed all my images as well, so I can control the entire layout and can change any feature at will anytime in the auction.
It also has advantages that save time elsewhere. I never ever have image problems, and if I do I can instantly fix everything myself. I run my own inventory in my Access database so I am never frustrated by SMPro and online inventory never syncing or working--nor do I care that the download features of the program into my database are inadequate for what I need. I never end up stuck pleading with vendio for help after an auction launches because of listing or image snafoos, and I never have to depend on them to fix my problems after launch. So for me the benefits of total control even with the extra time spent is more than made up for on the trouble free launch end. About the only trouble I can have is if vendio's site goes completely down, or the checkout or post sale programs grossly malfunction.
For me, pasting html in auction by auction isn't much work the way I have it set up, and I avoid 99% of the problems that cause wailing and gnashing of teeth by users on the community board. My uploads never jam (either data or image), my images are never a problem in the listing or end up in funny sizes or places, images never mysteriously "disappear" off the page during auction creation, my image sizes or enlargements never get messed up, and my terms of service never get omitted or scrambled up. For me that is definitely worth the extra time to paste a hunk of html.
If you stumble on a faster way to do custom stuff, let me know. Good luck!
posted on December 2, 2003 11:34:32 AM new
Hello Brian & midwestdiscountgolf
I am having the same type of problem but it is obvious to me that you both know more about html than I do.
In smp 4.x, there was a place in preferences where you simply "put" your code. You could choose location of photos from sm(p) and the rest of the code was incorporated with your choices and your store.
I just updated my code and included calculators for shipping. (I pay someone else to do it.) I went to copy in my code and there is no longer a place to do it on-line or locally.
Now I don't know what to do... any ideas?
BTW, midwestdiscountgolf your access database structure might be a sellable product. I was going to create one but time became a problem. Now tracking my inventory is a horror! Have you thought about compiling it and selling the structure?
Thanks for any help!
Paula
ny-baglady
www.nybaglady.com
posted on December 2, 2003 06:35:24 PM new
Hi Paula. Not sure what Brian/midwestdiscountgolf does for their database so I assume your comment on Access might relate to my post. Access is very fluky about exact matches for fields and rows and their property designations (currency, number, text etc). If the tables don't exactly match down to the last iota, items can't be shuffled from one table to another--but when they do match it's great. Table structures need to be adjusted to what a person is doing with them, and that varies alot. The other drawback is that Access is not a sufficient database to run a full website for ecommerce except as a backend entrance for a heavier duty database like mySQL, SQLserver, Vendio's online database, etc. (you mentioned a store, but not what kind of store).
When I had my vendio store, I set up all my Access tables with rows and columns identical containing all the data for both kinds of items (auction and store). So for inventory it was just a matter of 2-click shuffing blocks of items from one table to the other every few days to keep track of what was sold and unsold and where everything was. As an added safety I had separate store and auction transfer tables I loaded all the stuff I wanted to list into, and matched only the fields in SmPro I needed and I knew wouldn't be stalled out. (I transfer everything but the image and the html from my Access tables).
After pulling my hair and shouting at the computer alot for auctions I quit using the automatic upload features for things like description and images, I imbedded all my images with an embedded or blank template with no layout, and pasted the html from my html editor (Frontpage) into the description screen in SmPro. I can catch and correct all my mistakes in the SmPro preview before uploading/sync'ing to online. Now I also attach one image for the ebay auction upper left viewbox, but not from my database--I keep the image names I use with the auction in there for my own reference only and attach it directly in SmPro.
If you are uploading from SmPro, the screen with the description box should still be there for you to paste into or change if you hit "edit" for a selected item. If it is already online the pending auction edit screen has the html SmPro uploaded when it sync'd and you can change it there, assuming you didn't choose immediate launch in SmPro. If It has already uploaded and flown the coop to ebay, the description html has to be edited on ebay---but it can always be edited somewhere.
When I realized many things within Vendio were not well integrated (SmPro didn't sync with online inventory, SmPro didn't sync with store quantities, image uploads stalled out, etc) I was doing so many end arounds and manual changes anyway that it was just easier to control a higher percentage of it myself. Do take the time to set up your tables in Access the way you think and function, then just match only the fields you need--vendio requires you to rematch for every upload anyway. Hope some of that helps.
