I've had a lot of requests for a tutorial on how to put pictures up on Ebay. The reason I haven't created a tutorial is that there are just too many different variables. First, you need a scanner, and all scanners are a little different. Next you need some type of photo editing software, and writing a tutorial on one, let alone a dozen of these programs, is almost impossible. Finally, you have to FTP the picture up to the Web (I could write a tutorial for this). There are lots of guides to getting pictures on the Web for sale at Ebay. Or, if the above task seems daunting, take a look at my Online Picture Service.
Thanks!
This tutorial is intended to be used at Ebay and other bulletin boards
that support HTML tags. Don't try using
these commands on Yulelog's site since Todd would prefer people not
using fancy text formatting.
Here are several things to keep in mind while using this tutorial:
HTML is not a programming language (big sigh of relief). HTML is really nothing more than a way of formatting plain, boring text. In order to do this, HTML uses the concept of containers. If you've ever used the "Reveal Codes" feature on Word Perfect, you will have no problem picking up HTML. And even if you have no idea what I'm talking about, you'll still be able to pick this up pretty easily.
On the web, there are no line breaks, font sizes, colors, white space (beyond one character), centering, etc., without HTML. It is your responsibility to create these effects. In order to do so, you put the text you wish to format between what is called containter tags.
For example, let's say I want to bold a word on my page. In order to do so, I put the word BoldMeNow between <B> and </B> "tags". It is very important that you include the </B> line. Without this tag, the rest of your message will be in bold. This is how the term "containers" came about.
There are several different types of containers tags. They all follow the same format. Immediately before the text to be formated, place the command between < >. At the end of the text that is being formatted make sure to remember the closing command: </>.
Here is a list of basic container tags and what they do:
COLORS
When using the <FONT COLOR=TYPE of COLOR> </FONT>
tags, you have two options. The current
version of HTML supports several English color names. These
include:
|
|
|
|
This method is very easy to do, but there are some problems.
Sometimes the colors don't turn out
exactly as you had intended. The safer and more flexible way to
change text colors is to use what is called
hex code (don't panic). Hex code is a six character code that
represents thousands of different colors.
For example FF0000 is red. By using the hex code, you know that
all browsers will be able to view
your text in the color you intended. The "FF0000" is placed in the
same location as "NAVY" in the example
above. A great place to determine just the right color for you is
at the
Amazing Color Tool web site.
All right, I think I've covered most of the basics. Here are a
couple final thoughts:
Creating
a Link to your Site from Ebay
(and other sites)
This could be part of the Basic HTML tutorial above this, but I decided to break it out because it's very useful. I'm sure most of you have seen people put, click here to view my Web site. It's actually pretty easy to do (assuming you have a Web site to link to - if you don't please look at Collectiblity's Listing Service).
Here is the basic syntax:
<A HREF=http://www.name_of_server.com/name_of_page.html>My Web Site</A>
The bold code must be typed exactly as it appears above. Please replace the italics with your server and file name. The "My Web Site" can read anything you want. Just MAKE SURE to remember the </A> part of the code. Forgetting this can screw things up! You should also be aware that Ebay requires you to omit the quotations marks around the http://.......html part of the code. In most cases, you would leave the quotation marks in, but not at Ebay. Another good idea is to place the address of your site in the post. This way, just in case your code fails to work properly, the reader still knows the address of your site.
Creating a Link to a site from Hallmark.com
This is rather tricky to do, so please pay attention to the details. First, you cannot create a link to an outside site when posting a new Topic. I don't know why. I've tried several different ways, and none of them have worked. Just take my word on this, it's not possible. So, what do you do? Easy. Post your original message and then post a reply to that message with the link in the reply. So without further ado, here's how to do it!
<A HREF="http://www.name_of_server.com/name_of_page.html" TARGET="_blank">www.name_of_server.com/name_of_page.html</A>
The text in bold must be written EXACTLY as it appears above. Any deviation will likely mess things up. Failure to include the _blank piece of code will cause your page to be loaded into the small window normally used to read messages - not a good thing. The words in italics should be replaced by your personal information. For instance, the address to this page is http://www.collectibility.com/tutorials.html. It is possible to replace the second instance of your name (the one without the http://) with anything you'd like, such as a site name. I think it's a good idea to leave the exact address, however. That way, if you somehow mess up, people will still know the address of your site.
And once again, remember, don't try to post a link to your site in the original
message. It must go in a reply to that message!
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The "Your Name" section is the part that will become the link. For instance, put "Jump to Ebay Auction Listing" if you would like to have people click here to jump to Ebay. Or "Dale's Web Page" if you want to direct people to your web page.
In the section entitled "URL", put the FULL address of the site you want
people to jump to when selecting "Your Name". For example, here is the
address of my auction listing on ebay:
http://www.ebay.com/aw-cgi/seller-list.cgi?email=dalejj@acs.bu.edu&c=0
You have to make sure that the http:// part is there or it won't work.
Rather than trying to type the address in, follow these instructions:
This is a brief tutorial on how to create an attachment. Please keep
in mind that I am in no way an expert at this.
Step 1: The first thing you need to do is create the list in a word processing program. Many of you may have already done this. If not, here's your chance.
Now, when you save the file, you have two choices. If you save it in
the format of the word processor you're using (Microsoft Word, Word
Perfect, etc.), the file will look the same as it does when you create
it. IE, any bold or italic words, centered text, etc. will remain the same.
Advantage: Your list will look nice. Disadvantage: Not everyone will be
able to view the list. The other option is to save it as a text file.
To save as a text file, type in the file name to be saved as
"name_of_file.txt" (if you don't type the .txt, the computer will
automatically save as word processing file type). When you're creating
your list, keep it simple. Advantage: most everyone will be able to
view. Disadvantage: it looks boring.
Step 2: Now that you have a list saved as a file, you can proceed with
attaching it to an e-mail message. I'm using Netscape 3.0 with Windows
95. If your version is older, or you're using Microsoft Explorer, the
commands may be slightly different.
In netscape, open mail. Click on "To: Mail". This opens the normal
mail screen where you usually type in messages. Fill out the "Mail To:",
"Subject" and message portion like normal. Below the area for "Subject"
is a button called "Attachment". Click on this button. A second
window should have opened. This is the Attachments window. Click on
"Attach File". A third window will open titled "Enter File to Attach."
Find the program you want to attach and click on "Open." You will be
brought back to the "Attachments" window. At this point you have the
option of attaching "As Is" or "Convert to Plain Text". I recommend
using "As Is" unless someone is having trouble getting the document.
Click on "Okay". This will bring you back to the main message
composition screen. The name of your file will appear to the right of the
"Attachment" button. Click on "Send" and you're done!
If you're using Windows 3.1, the instructions are very similar. The
main change is when getting your document to attachment. Rather than
clicking on "Open", click on "Okay". The process of choosing to "Convert
to Plain Text" is slightly different. Unfortunately, I'm not as
familiar with the Windows 3.1 process.
I hope this helps a little bit. Once again, keep in mind that I'm not an expert. I give no guarantees that my instructions will work on all computers. I'm just trying to lend a helping hand and make this great web site even better.
This is a brief tutorial on how to view an attachment. Please keep in
mind that I am in no way an expert at this.
I am using Netscape 3.0 and Windows 95. I'm believe that the process
of viewing attachments is very similar under other browsers such as
Microsoft Explorer.
Step 1: At the bottom of the e-mail message you just received, there will be a table of sorts (I don't know what else to call it). The left portion of the column should read similar to "Part 1.2".
In the right portion of the table, there are three items: "Name",
"Type", and "Encoding". The first is the name of the file being sent.
Don't worry about the other two things. Click on the words in the left
portion of the column ("Part 1.2" in this example). A window will pop up entitled "Save
As". At this point you may change the name of the file by typing in a
new file name. You may also choose the directory you want to save the
file in (I recommend creating a directory titled "Temp" or something
similar). Click on "Save", and the file is automatically saved to your hard
drive.
Step 2: Open a word processing program (Microsoft Word or Word
Perfect). Open file. If you're seeing gibberish of weird characters,
something didn't come through correctly. At this point, request that the
sender send the file again, preferably as a text document.
Warning: be careful of viewing attachments if you don't know where they came from. There are a lot of nasty viruses floating around. I'm not trying to scare anyone, but just giving a word of precaution.
How to Set-up your Signature File
All right, first, what's a signature file you're asking. If you've noticed, sometimes there is a message that appears at the bottom of an e-mail that's always the same. Sometimes it has contact information such as name, e-mail, company phone number, etc. Some people use it to promote their web site. Or other people just put a nice text based design. Recently, I've been using my signature file to promote my Web site. Whenever I send an e-mail, it reminds the receiver that Collectibility exists. It saves me time from having to write out, please come check out my Web site...., every time and it's not quite so obvious since it appears at the very bottom of the message (but still very effective).
Here's how you set up your signature file.
I hope this helps. Once again, I'm not an expert. I make no guarantees that
my instructions will work on all computers. I'm just trying to help everyone
out.
Dale
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