Re changes to auction description width

[3drom]

When I've done the template you'll be able to see what I mean, Gothinica, it will be just as easy to edit as the WYSIWYG editor, in terms of people changing the title, the subtitle, the description, the picture, etc.
Any other changes I can set up in the external CSS file to their liking, and then no matter what happens to the auction format in the future, it should be possible to change all of their auctions' appearance from the one CSS file, so they'll never need to go back and manually edit any of the HTML ever again.

[Gothicina]

When I've done the template you'll be able to see what I mean, Gothinica, it will be just as easy to edit as the WYSIWYG editor, in terms of people changing the title, the subtitle, the description, the picture, etc.
Any other changes I can set up in the external CSS file to their liking, and then no matter what happens to the auction format in the future, it should be possible to change all of their auctions' appearance from the one CSS file, so they'll never need to go back and manually edit any of the HTML ever again.

Where will the CSS files be hosted?
What happens if Gazza does change the plain text editor to exclude linking?

[drcooper]

What happens if Gazza does change the plain text editor to exclude linking?

Well, hopefully we'd get more than two hours notice and could be prepared to go back to editing html again or using wysiwyg. In any case, I'm curious to see what 3drom posts as an example as I'm personally not afraid of the text editor. For those that are, html templates and wysiwyg should be viable no matter what.

[3drom]

Hi Gothinica, the CSS file would be hosted on a free hosting site, by the user. I'll explain how to do all of that.
If Gazza decides to stop external CSS files I would be extremely surprised indeed, I can't think of any reason why he would want to severely limit the ability of users to produce the best looking auctions they can.

My template will simply be an alternative to the WYSIWYG editor. Nobody has to use it, it's just an option for anybody who wants it. I can't see the problem here.

The whole point about using an external style sheet is that people can start entering their auctions, without having to worry about the look of them at the moment. They just enter all the text, the title, description, postage methods, etc. and upload it, and if they want a different colour, I can edit the CSS file for them (if they don't know how to do it themselves yet), etc. If they fancy adding a Christmas theme, I can do that for them, etc.

[NaturallyBetter]

why not learn the good designs from ebay (i know we hate it). It's no shame to learn from other people/company as long as it's good for the users.

But now ebid keep changing the main layout/structure of the description page for items and it really puts people off. I hated this when they started to use narrow width because it restricts/lack of the flexibility and ugly but nobody care my opion. Now they change them back but it's clumsy.

Why not just move the main (bigger) picture and Shipping Details information to the bottom (like ebay does) so that the Auction Options, the middle section and the Meet The Seller will level then followed by the wide Description section?????????????????????????????????

why such basic layout design can take so long to be put right?? very frustrating.

[johnwash1]

When I've done the template you'll be able to see what I mean, Gothinica, it will be just as easy to edit as the WYSIWYG editor, in terms of people changing the title, the subtitle, the description, the picture, etc.

But 3drom, are you saying that people won't be able to use the wysiwyg editor with your method. That might be fine for the likes of you, me, or Gothicina and others, but there's a huge chunk of people who have a life and consider anything except the wysiwyg editor is right up there alongside discussing string theory with Stephen Hawking. And rightly so.

Unless I've misunderstood you, it seems like the place we should be focussing is fixing the bugs in the wysiwyg editor. Maybe if the site upgraded to the latest version we'd find they're fixed already. Someone needs to investigate that, would myself but I've little time right now. Sorry.

[leadhillsonline]

But 3drom, are you saying that people won't be able to use the wysiwyg editor with your method. That might be fine for the likes of you, me, or Gothicina and others, but there's a huge chunk of people who have a life and consider anything except the wysiwyg editor is right up there alongside discussing string theory with Stephen Hawking. And rightly so.

Unless I've misunderstood you, it seems like the place we should be focussing is fixing the bugs in the wysiwyg editor. Maybe if the site upgraded to the latest version we'd find they're fixed already. Someone needs to investigate that, would myself but I've little time right now. Sorry.

I've not found a problem with the WYSIWYG editor, it's the width change that irritated me. I've just spent the past 4 days copying and pasting HTML into my listings, so my templates are centered. I'm sick to death of looking at div tags etc.
I've now got quite a few to items to relist but at least I can just copy the text over.

[3drom]

Jonwash, I presume people won't be able to use WYSIWYG with my method, but it will be as easy as editing this sort of code:

<!-- The text you can edit has a space above and below it, and doesn't start with < or end with > -->
<!-- ENTER YOUR TITLE BELOW -->
<h1>

Title of auction

</h1>

<!-- ENTER SUBTITLE BELOW -->
<h2>

Subtitle

</h2>


etc.etc.

Presumably most people can understand how to edit the text that says "Title of auction", etc. Those who can't will just have to carry on using the WYSIWYG editor, but I'm sure most people will be able to easily edit the template. After all, I've always used a template to produce my auctions and once I've spent several hours designing the basic template, all I do from then on is exactly what I've shown above - edit the title, subtitle, add pictures, item details, change the postage cost, etc. I don't have to think about the HTML because obviously I want every auction to look exactly the same.

Wizbooks - if you'd used an external style sheet you would only have had to make one change to it, and your auctions would all change automatically.

I'll show you this when I've done the template - sorry I haven't done it yet, been busy with other things unfortunately, but I'll try to get it done tomorrow. It will just be a very simple template, with basic CSS, then I'll produce some custom heading bars, layouts, etc. in different CSS files, and you can choose the one you like best.

[tozcentral]

Wizbooks - if you'd used an external style sheet you would only have had to make one change to it, and your auctions would all change automatically.

Using an external style sheet would not have helped with my mum's templates due to the way they are constructed and they way IE 6 works, also using external stylesheets could cause issues with eBid's own layout if they rename or add new ids and classes. At the time there was no need to make the templates to allow for changes from a remote location as the width changes where unexpected.

[3drom]

Using an external style sheet would not have helped with my mum's templates due to the way they are constructed

That's a bit of a circular argument- if they'd been constructed with an external style sheet, then it would have worked.

and they way IE 6 works,

I'm not sure what you mean by this, can you elaborate?

also using external stylesheets could cause issues with eBid's own layout if they rename or add new ids and classes.

I use an external style sheet in my auctions - please have a look. It's not a problem at all. You can't rename an ID or class, that's not how stylesheets work.

At the time there was no need to make the templates to allow for changes from a remote location as the width changes where unexpected.

Well, I would have to disagree - it's always better to use CSS for your auction template than not. If you don't need to change anything, ever, then it's still better to use CSS, just to make the auction HTML smaller and to give you much more control over the layout.
But as things do inevitably change over time, CSS is even more useful.