Zoicks.com - Website Customization, Setup, Installation and Customer Support

Steps to self host your images, create a template and list with TurboLister II

This looks a bit daunting but just take it one step at a time and you'll see that it's really rather simple once you get into a routine of preparing your images and uploading them to your new website, then creating your listings with your saved template in TurboLister II. So let's get started!

1. Purchase a domain name.

I believe the cheapest registrar is Netfirms right now. They are currently charging $7.99 for .com and .net domain names, $9.95 for .biz, .us, .org, etc.

2. Set up a hosting account.

You can do a Google search for web hosts that have unlimited disk space and unlimited bandwidth. Or go with my recommendation of WebHostingPad. Yes, I am an affiliate and do get a commission but I am an affiliate for several different web hosting companies. I am currently recommending this particular company because their prices are very reasonable and their service is reliable with 24/7 support.

WebHostingPad's current rates are $58.80 for two years ($2.45/mo.) or $47.40 for one year ($3.95/mo.). The two year rate includes their one time discount for new customers. To get that rate, simply hit the back button while on the Sign Up page and the offer will pop up. Of course, their best rates are for 3 or 4 year sign ups at only $1.99/month.

Once you purchase hosting you'll need to go back to Netfirms and change your nameservers to point to your new web host. To do that...
1. Login to the Netfirms Members Control Panel and enter the membername and password for your hosting account
2.Click Domains
3. Click Domain Manager
4. For the domain you wish to configure, click the plus sign to the left of the domain
5. Click the corresponding DNS tab
5. In the DNS Servers tab, update the nameserver listing accordingly and then click Modify

NOTE: When you enter the nameservers, the first one to answer is assumed to be the primary. Therefore the order in which the nameservers are listed does not matter and will not impact your domain's functionality.

NOTE: This could take up to 48 hours to propagate across the world wide web so plan ahead.

3. Download a free FTP program and learn how to use it.

NOTE: Before uploading all your images to your FTP site, be sure they are the proper size and compression for displaying in your eBay or website listings by following the directions in Step 4 below.

Download FileZilla and install it on your PC.

Instructions for Filezilla...
To set up an FTP session in FileZilla, open the FileZilla program
Where it says 'Host:' type in your website address (ftp.zoicks.com for example - replace zoicks with your domain name)
Where it says 'Username:' type in your Username sent to you in an email from your web host sign up
Where it says 'Password:' type in your Password sent to you in an email from your web host sign up
Where it says 'Port:' type in 21 then click the 'Quickconnect' button

On the left side of the screen you will see two sections labeled 'Local site:' and 'Filename' below that. That is your computer.
On the right side of the screen you will see two sections labeled 'Remote site:' and 'Filename' below that. That is your website.

On the remote site, click on the + sign next to the / folder in the remote window
Then click on the + sign next to the public_html folder
That shows you all folders saved to your website
If you are using a cPanel you need to ensure all your uploads go into the directory labeled public_html
To create a folder to store your images in, right click in the bottom window and select 'Create directory'.
A Create directory window will pop up with the words '/public_html/New directory' in the window.
Click and drag through the 'New directory' and change it to 'images' (or whatever you prefer) and click the 'OK' button
Click on the images folder to open it in the 'Filename' window
You should now see a list of all files located on your website in the 'images' folder in the bottom right window which is currently empty... that is where you want to be.

Now you need to navigate to where you have your images saved on your hard drive on the 'Local site:'. I can't really help you there as I can't see your hard drive or know how you have it set up. Most people have their pics saved to their c: drive in the 'My Documents' folder and then in the 'My Pictures' folder within the 'My Documents' folder but your hard drive could be set up differently or you could have elected to save your inventory pics elsewhere.

If you need to move your photos from PhotoBucket or Auctiva back to your hard drive, I would recommend saving them to a new folder on your Desktop so they're easy to find and saving them all in one folder so they'll be easier to transfer to your website.

If you're the organized type and want to keep your photos separated in different folders, you can create as many folders as you need using the method above. Be sure to follow the proper naming conventions when creating folders... no special characters (only the underline or underscore) and it's always best to stick with all lower case letters.

Once you find your inventory pics on the Local site, you simply open the folder where your pics reside on your hard drive by clicking on folders until you drill down far enough to where you see your pic filenames in the bottom left 'Filename' window. Then select them all by clicking on the first filename, holding down your shift key and clicking on the last filename which will highlight them all.

Once they are highlighted, click on them and drag them all to the 'images' folder in the bottom right window of the 'Remote site'. Be sure you do not drop them on the icon of the folder... just anywhere else inside that window. If you have lots of files it could take a while for the transfer but you will see a progress bar at the bottom of the FileZilla window and will know when it's done.

Another option is to move your pictures from your PC to your website by folders. You can select the folders and drag them to the Remote site instead of selecting individual picture files.

There is also a tab at the bottom of the FileZilla window labeled 'Successful transfers' so you can have a look there to ensure all files transferred successfully. If you lose your connection for any reason, you can also check the 'Failed transfers' tab to see if any files did not make it successfully.

Close the FileZilla program and you are done. The next time you open FileZilla, use the dropdown arrow next to the 'Quickconnect' button and you will see all your information is stored there so you can just select that and not have to type it in each time.

An easy check to verify that your files are where they are supposed to be is to try to open one in a browser window. Go to your browser and type in the following...
http://www.whatever.com/images/picname.jpg
Of course you are going to substitute the 'whatever' with your domain name and the 'picname.jpg' with your picture's filename.
If your picture appears in your browser window, you have successfully transferred your pics to your new website.

If you uploaded your pics in separate folders, be sure to change the 'images' directory name to the name you uploaded. For example, if you upload your images in a folder named 'auction1' then the URL would then be...
http://www.whatever.com/auction1/picname.jpg

4. Prep your pictures for uploading to your website.

Some good rules to keep in mind...
File names are case sensitive. It's best to name all files in lower case to avoid problems. Only use the dash (-) or underscore (_) if you need to use special characters and never include spaces or any other special characters in your file names.

Use Irfanview if you don't already have an image editor with batch capabilities. It's free and is an excellent image editor.
When installing Irfanview, you can leave all the extension associations blank unless you want to make this your default editor.
If you already have the Google Desktop Search or don't want it be sure to tic the 'Don't install Google Desktop Search' radio button before going to the next step.

An FAQ will open in your browser once the program is installed and it has lots of useful info. Please bookmark it for future reference.

When creating images for your listings, you should do the following in order to keep your file sizes consistent and professional looking, as well as quick and easy for your customers to download. There are still lots of peeps on dial-up who don't like to wait several minutes for very large files to open.

A good rule of thumb... portrait oriented pics should be resized to no more than 600 pixels high and landscape oriented pics should be resized to no more than 600 pixels wide.

To resize/compress your images with Irfanview...

Open an image.
Go to menu Image --> Resize/Resample and reduce the image dimensions in pixels to no larger than 600 wide. The height will take care of itself when the 'Preserve aspect ratio' block is checked. For web viewing the DPI should be kept at 72 (the program default).
Go to menu File -->Save as, choose JPG and save as new file. The 'Show options dialog' box should be checked at the bottom of the 'Save Picture As...' window. When it is you will see a pop-up window where you can save the quality of the Jpeg file. Try setting the quality to 85 and see if that works for your pics and your camera. If your pics look bad (have lots of compression artifacts) you'll need to increase the quality. Go as low as you can to compress your file sizes. Try to get your images under 50Kb each. Be sure to save your files with a different file name until you are sure you have it right. I always save mine with the quality percentage at the end of the file name... for example, if you have a pic named pix.jpg, change it to pix85.jpg when saving the resized/compressed version. That way you will be able to go back to your original file if you need to use it and it won't get overwritten.
Look at the file size of the new file. You will see it at the bottom of the Irfanview window. If still too big, repeat the steps, using smaller pixel size and/or lower quality, etc. Once you have your pics resized and compressed you're ready to upload them to your host.
Go back to Step 3 to read all about using FTP (File Transfer Protocol) to upload your images to your host.

Irfanview also has batch processing to resize/compress all your images at once. It's easy to use and if you plan to resize all your images to the same pixel size and quality, it's a breeze to do them in batches instead of one by one. The help file should explain it for you but if you need step-by-step directions to batch your files see below...

Step 1: Separate your pics into two separate folders, the portrait oriented pics in one folder and the landscape oriented pics into another folder.
Step 2: Create a third folder as the destination directory so you won't overwrite your original pics in case there's a problem
Step 3: When doing your Batch Conversion from Irfanview...
Click the 'Use advanced options (for bulk resize...) box and then click the 'Advanced' button
When resizing your portrait oriented pics, check the 'RESIZE' box and tic the radio button next to 'Set new size:' and 'Set one or both sides to", then type 600 in the 'Height' block.
Ensure the 'Preserve aspect ratio (proportional)' box is ticked, the 'Use Resample function (better quality)' box is ticked and the 'Don't enlarge smaller images' box is ticked. Then click the 'OK' button
Where it asks for 'Output directory for result files:' be sure to add the third folder your created as your destination folder.

When resizing your landscape oriented pics, check the 'RESIZE' box and tic the radio button next to 'Set new size:' and 'Set one or both sides to", then type 600 in the 'Width' block.
Then just follow the same directions as above.

5. Create a listing template

There are thousands of free listing templates available on the internet and a Google search will probably overwhelm you. My recommendation is to go to the Photos/HTML Board on eBay and have a look at the tools and templates supplied there for sellers' use.

Some specific recommendations to check out...
How to add a template to an auction
Pretty Borders Plus - A template to make a template from shipscript
Free Spring auction templates hosted by shipscript
Free Fall/Winter auction templates hosted by shipscript
Free Christmas/Holiday templates hosted by shipscript
Auctin Templates compliments of shipscript
Auction template resource center hosted by shipscript (who else... LOL!)
Practice thread to test your template once you have it created

To insert your images from your new website into your template you only need to know a wee bit of HTML code...
<img src=http://www.whatever.com/images/picname.jpg>
Of course you are going to substitute the 'whatever' with your domain name, the 'images' with your directory name and the 'picname.jpg' with your picture's filename.

Once you have your custom template perfected you are gong to want to copy the HTML code so you can add it to TurboLister by pasting it into their Description Builder block.

6. Using TurboLister II and your template to upload listings to eBay

If you don't already have TurboLister installed on your PC you can downoad it here. There is a great Online Tour on that page and it's worth your time to take the tour. The pdf Quick Start Guide on that page is also very informative. In general, here are the steps you need to take to create a TL (TurboLister) listing with your custom template...

Open TL
Before starting it's always recommended to check for program updates from the 'Tools' menu. If you have a Store you need to do this each time you make changes to your custom categories even if the program itself does not need updating.
The next step is to 'Synchronize' to update your listings from eBay.
Now you are finally ready to create a listing using your new template.
From the 'New' menu select 'Create New Item'
Fill in all the information in the Title and Category Section. Type the name of your template into the Title block instead of your actual title if you plan to create more than one template (Store template, Auction template, etc.).
Be sure to include 'Item Specifics' in the Details section in order for your listings to be effective in Best Match.
In the Pictures and Description section I always recommend using eBay's first pic as your Gallery pic. That way, if your web host has any issues you will still always have the one free pic uploaded to eBay.
Click the 'Customize' link to the right of 'Pictures and Description', tic the 'Self-hosted pictures' radio button, then click 'OK'
If you want to use eBay for your 1st pic, use the Pictures tab and click the first box where it says 'Click to insert a picture' and browse your hard drive to find your primary pic of your auction item then click the 'Insert' button. You will see the pic in the 1st block so you can verify that all went as planned.
If you want to use your own hosting for your 1st pic, use the Picture URLs tab and type in your picture's URL. This will also be your Gallery image.
Click inside the Description Builder block and paste your custom template (the HTML code you created and copied in the step above).
Be sure to fill in all the sections on the right of the new listing... Selling Format, Listing Upgrades, Shipping Options, Payment Methods, Buyer Communication, Instructions and Policies and then click the 'Save as Template' button at the bottom right of the screen.
As you edit all the sections on the right be sure to tic the 'Save for future listings' option at the bottom left of each section so you won't have to do this each time you list.
If you have several different options you list with, you can create a separate template for each.
You now have your custom template saved to TL and you can use this for each and every listing.
To do that, under the 'Inventory' section, click the 'Templates' folder and select the template you just created by clicking on its title and then selecting 'Edit' from the menu bar.
You will then see your template in the 'Edit Template' window.
Click the Description Builder icon to take you to the Design View, HTML View and Preview tabs.
Click the 'Design View' tab to see your template.
Click and drag through any elements of the template that need to be changed and type in the new information... title, description, terms if necessary, etc.
To change the pics in your template click on the 1st pic, then click the green camera icon at the top of the page, type in the new URL for your picture, click the 'Preview' button to ensure the URL is correct, then click the 'Insert' button.
Follow the steps above for each pic you need to replace in your listing template
If you need to add additional pictures to your template, click on the spot in your template where you want to add a new pic, click the green camera icon, type in the URL for your picture, click the 'Preview' button to ensure the URL is correct, then click the 'Insert' button.
If you need to delete any pics from your template, simply click on it and hit the 'Delete' button on your keyboard.
At the bottom of the 'Design View' you will see your Gallery pic. Click the 'X' to remove the Gallery pic and then click inside the 'Click here to Insert a Picture' block to add your new Gallery picture.
You can then click the Preview tab to see how your listing will look, then click the 'Save' button.
The Edit Template window will open again. Click the 'Save as Item' button.
Select the folder in which you would like to save the listing and then click the 'Save' button.
You can then click the 'Cancel button to close out the 'Edit Template' window or create another listing using this same template.
Once you have all your listings created, go to the folder you saved them in, click on each one you want to upload to eBay and click the 'Add to Upload' icon
The Add to Upload window will open displaying the number of listings you have selected and informing you they have been added to Listings Waiting to Upload.
Click the 'Go Upload' button to review your listings waiting to upload and upload items to eBay.
From here you can Schedule your listings, Calculate your Fees and Upload your listings to eBay.
Review the listings, ensure all is well, then click the 'Upload All', 'Upload Selected' or 'Upload to Selling Manager' icon.
That's it!

Don't hesitate to email me if you have any questions or need additional help. Cheers!
Lesley