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Auctions Template Maker
Auction decorator's interface has only two main controls : the "Document Editor" tab and the "Layout Editor" tab. On the latter, you will find the last of the three steps involved in the production of a Listing, namely : the "Publish now" button.
The Document Editor is a modern, powerful and space concentrated tool that offers all major functionalities found in other text processors. To quickly master the creation of a Document, remember that tools are grouped in five distinct sections, each bearing a title describing which part of the document they apply to. Right-click your mouse in the document area to access more formatting options for the object on which the cursor is positioned. To experiment, click the "Open Document" button, select the "_dummy_text" file and start modifying away.
The Layout Editor is even simpler to use than the Document editor. A Layout is comparable to a real framed picture. It has an Outer Border, a Frame, an Inner border and a center area to which your Document will be automatically transferred. You can define the width, type and color of each border. Background images can be loaded in the page, Frame and Text areas to further refine the presentation of your listing. You don't like using images? then just choose colors. Write anything in the Document editor, click the Layout tab and start decorating away. Freely switch between the Document and Layout tabs to fine tune your listing. To quickly master the usage of the Layout Editor, note that tools are also grouped in five distinct sections, each bearing a title indicating which part of the Layout they apply to.
New users, please load and experiment with the "Tutorials & Examples" section found under the Auction Decorator top menu "File" option.
Overview
Layout images : All images available in the Layout Editor are also stored on our servers in order to show in your listing when bidders view your ad. At publishing time, the program automatically takes care of adjusting the Layout images Web location. You do not need to worry about that. To use your own images in Layouts, please see the next paragraph.
Lastly, all Layout images are installed in your "My Documents\Auction Decorator\Images\..." folders. Do not move these images or rename the folders. The main reason for this restriction is that Auction Decorator allows users to share Layout files. For more information about file sharing, please see the Sharing your files section.
Lastly, all Layout images are installed in your "My Documents\Auction Decorator\Images\..." folders. Do not move these images or rename the folders. The main reason for this restriction is that Auction Decorator allows users to share Layout files. For more information about file sharing, please see the Sharing your files section.
Using images
Document images : You can insert any number of your own images in your Documents. These images must be uploaded to a Web server in order to show when your listing is viewed by bidders. We do not offer to store your own images on our servers. You can use your own Home page server if you have one or can sign-up with one of the numerous image hosting services available on the web. Most of them are free and easy to use. Please see the Image hosting section for more information on the subject.
Images used in Documents can be stored anywhere on your hard disk. However, the program automatically copies these images to your "My Documents\Auction Decorator\Images\My images" folder. This way, you will know exactly which images have to be uploaded to your image server. This enables you to resize, rename or delete them without altering the original. This "My Images" folder was created at install time and is ready for you to use.
Keep in mind that Web servers are usually case sensitive and do not like spaces in file names (contrarily to Windows). To avoid annoying mishaps, it is recommended that all image filenames used in your layout are in lower case, without space characters. For example, "Dirt Bike Auction.JPG" may cause problems but "dirt_bike_auction.jpg" should work on any Web server.
Images used in Documents can be stored anywhere on your hard disk. However, the program automatically copies these images to your "My Documents\Auction Decorator\Images\My images" folder. This way, you will know exactly which images have to be uploaded to your image server. This enables you to resize, rename or delete them without altering the original. This "My Images" folder was created at install time and is ready for you to use.
Keep in mind that Web servers are usually case sensitive and do not like spaces in file names (contrarily to Windows). To avoid annoying mishaps, it is recommended that all image filenames used in your layout are in lower case, without space characters. For example, "Dirt Bike Auction.JPG" may cause problems but "dirt_bike_auction.jpg" should work on any Web server.
There are many image hosting offerings on the Web. These Companies host your images in order for you to share them with a community. Many such services allow "Direct linking" or "Hot linking". This means that you can legally link directly to your images from your home page, web site, blog or Auction listing and this is what you want. The second important point is to make sure that the service does not modify file names when you upload images to it. In many cases, if you upload say "flower.jpg", the images may be saved as, for instance, "flower_127.jpg". You don't want that to happen because your layout will be looking for "flower.jpg" which will result in an image not found error.
The majority of these image hosting offerings have a free basic service with limitations on image size, disk space, bandwidth usage, etc. However, the experience shows that the free subscription of most is sufficient for people selling on Auction sites. You can always opt to upgrade for a small fee to lift these limitations if needed.
When you upload "flower.jpg" to the host, you will be provided with a web address (URL) to remotely access your image, for instance :
http://www.ThisImgHost.com/YourAccount/AFolder/flower.jpg
Copy the portion of the supplied URL corresponding to the part highlighted in yellow to your clipboard and paste it to the "Image servers" dialog in Auction Decorator. To learn how to do that, please see the Defining your image server section.
Run this Google search to locate and select a free image host*. Again, make sure that "Direct linking" is allowed and that your image files are not renamed when uploaded to the service you selected.
If you need an FTP app. to upload pictures, we can recommend the free FileZilla.
* Please note that these links are supplied for your convenience. We are in no way related to, financed by or liable for the referenced services. Please direct your questions directly to them.
The majority of these image hosting offerings have a free basic service with limitations on image size, disk space, bandwidth usage, etc. However, the experience shows that the free subscription of most is sufficient for people selling on Auction sites. You can always opt to upgrade for a small fee to lift these limitations if needed.
When you upload "flower.jpg" to the host, you will be provided with a web address (URL) to remotely access your image, for instance :
http://www.ThisImgHost.com/YourAccount/AFolder/flower.jpg
Copy the portion of the supplied URL corresponding to the part highlighted in yellow to your clipboard and paste it to the "Image servers" dialog in Auction Decorator. To learn how to do that, please see the Defining your image server section.
Run this Google search to locate and select a free image host*. Again, make sure that "Direct linking" is allowed and that your image files are not renamed when uploaded to the service you selected.
If you need an FTP app. to upload pictures, we can recommend the free FileZilla.
* Please note that these links are supplied for your convenience. We are in no way related to, financed by or liable for the referenced services. Please direct your questions directly to them.
Image hosting services
Saving your files
Documents are saved with the *.RVF extension and Layouts with the *.RBS extension. Do not change these defaults. You can save your files anywhere on your hard disk but it is strongly recommended to save them to the default location, namely in your "My Documents\Auction Decorator\Documents and Layouts" folder. The program automatically directs you to that folder when [Save as...] button is clicked. The [Save] buttons overwrite the file at the location from which is was loaded (no prompting). Please read the Documents image file name recommendations in the Using images - Document images section.
Registered users can email Document and layout files to each other. These files are very small. Navigate to your "My Documents\Auction Decorator\Documents and Layouts" folder and select the files to email. Remember that files with a *.RBS extension are the layout files and the *.RVF are document files. When you receive a Layout, save it to the above mentioned location.
This site will soon offer a "Users contribution" section through which <ou will be able to share your cool layouts with the Auction Decorator's community.
This site will soon offer a "Users contribution" section through which <ou will be able to share your cool layouts with the Auction Decorator's community.
Sharing your files
Images used in your Documents must be uploaded to a Web server in order to appear in your listing when published. This server can be your own domain, Company or an image hosting server. In any case you need to tell Auction Decorator where to find these images. To do so, click the top menu "Options" and select the "Image server" tab. You will see the following :
Defining your image server
Use the bottom section (green arrow) to enter the exact location of images on your server (note that the trailing slash is compulsory). You can enter 2 locations (optional) and switch between them using the radio buttons on the right, in case a server is temporarily not responding. If you use a third party image service, please see the Image hosting services section to learn how to set the location of your images stored on that server.
The "Use personal server for Documents & Layout images" option is available in the registered varsion only. The top section of this dialog allows to select any of our own three servers dedicated to serving images for Layouts. These locations are set internally and cannot be edited. Select a different server (radio buttons) if you notice that one is down for maintenance or if it is slow to respond.
Lastly, click the "Connection type" tab and define the way you connect to the Internet. The last tabs on this dialog is intuitive and commented and will not be detailed here.
The "Use personal server for Documents & Layout images" option is available in the registered varsion only. The top section of this dialog allows to select any of our own three servers dedicated to serving images for Layouts. These locations are set internally and cannot be edited. Select a different server (radio buttons) if you notice that one is down for maintenance or if it is slow to respond.
Lastly, click the "Connection type" tab and define the way you connect to the Internet. The last tabs on this dialog is intuitive and commented and will not be detailed here.
About external links
Auction Decorator lets you insert links in your Documents thus allowing to load external web resources straight from your listing. To create a link, highlight the link's text and click the link button (bottom tools group). A dialog will popup to let you enter the location.
In the Document editor, ctrl-click links to navigate to that location. Please remember that links are not active when in the Layour editor. They will however react normally when the listing is published.
Be aware that many Auction sites have limitations on linking to external resources. Read their Terms & Conditions to avoid your listing being banned for non-conformance.
In the Document editor, ctrl-click links to navigate to that location. Please remember that links are not active when in the Layour editor. They will however react normally when the listing is published.
Be aware that many Auction sites have limitations on linking to external resources. Read their Terms & Conditions to avoid your listing being banned for non-conformance.
Images availability check (registered version only)
When the program detects that you used images in your listing (in the document and/or in the layout), the following dialog pops up after clicking the [Publish now] button. Images file names are displayed in the listbox. When [Test availability] is clicked, the program queries the servers for the images, analyses the servers response and accordingly displays OK or NOT FOUND after each file name.
If some of your Document images are NOT FOUND, make sure that you have uploaded them to your server. It could also mean that your image server is temporarily not responding (maintenance?). If you get a NOT FOUND result for all images, it is likely that your Internet connection is at fault. You can avoid this window popping up for the current session by ticking the corresponding checkbox. See the main menu "Options - Dialogs & pop ups" tab to reset.
The bottom portion of the window only shows when you used images in your Document. It reminds you where these images will be retrieved from.
The bottom portion of the window only shows when you used images in your Document. It reminds you where these images will be retrieved from.
The Publish dialog
When this final Publish dialog appears, proceed as follows:
- Choose the World region your Auction site is in
- Drop down the list of available sites for that region and select your Auction publisher
- Choose to publish with either the internal browser or your machine's default navigator
- Click the [Post listing now] button
- Choose the World region your Auction site is in
- Drop down the list of available sites for that region and select your Auction publisher
- Choose to publish with either the internal browser or your machine's default navigator
- Click the [Post listing now] button
From then on, do as you normally would when creating a new listing (log in, select a category etc.).See the Posting your listing section for the final and rewarding step.
Posting your Listing (final step)
Note that what follows assumes that you are now on your Auction site, logged to your account and into the creating a new listing option (in other words, this is not related to Auction Decorator but pertains to the Auction site you chose to publish to).
Once on the details form of your new listing, locate the "Product description" area and enter the HTML or "Source" mode. Position your cursor there and press Ctrl-V or right-click and choose Paste from the menu. The meaningless text you will see is your listing translated to a language Internet browsers understand. Don't pay attention to it and do not modify it. Just switch to the "Standard" view or hit "Preview" YES! your listing is there with images and all, ready to be bid on. Fill in the other required fields and finalize the process as you normally would.
That's it!
Images below are examples of how various Auction sites let you access the HTML or "Source" area to which Auction Decorator's output must be pasted:
Once on the details form of your new listing, locate the "Product description" area and enter the HTML or "Source" mode. Position your cursor there and press Ctrl-V or right-click and choose Paste from the menu. The meaningless text you will see is your listing translated to a language Internet browsers understand. Don't pay attention to it and do not modify it. Just switch to the "Standard" view or hit "Preview" YES! your listing is there with images and all, ready to be bid on. Fill in the other required fields and finalize the process as you normally would.
That's it!
Images below are examples of how various Auction sites let you access the HTML or "Source" area to which Auction Decorator's output must be pasted:
Copyright © 2008 - "AuctionDecorator.com". All Rights reserved
eBay.com example
Economique.fr example
FreeAdLists.com example