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Developer Impact: Domain Split on the View Item Page

Posted by Laurel Kline in Business News & Product News
Monday, Aug.25.2008, 3:42 PM PT

Update (29 Aug, 2008): We have updated the domain split coding so that some of these best practices no longer apply.

Update (9 Sep, 2008): But testing has uncovered some new best practices.

As part of the new View Item page release, eBay is hosting the user description on a different domain and loading it into an iFrame for display on the View Item page. This helps eBay separate user content from eBay content and further protect its users from certain types of content that may harm your computer. With this change, your scripts will only be allowed to modify and control your item description and the area it occupies.

eBay has implemented this in a way that will not impact your SEO.

There are some steps you can take to make sure your content appears as expected inside an iFrame.

Content Dimensions

We recommend that all HTML content should have relative widths and heights.
~~Images and other fixed size objects should not exceed 700 px in width.~~
~~Tables and other content blocks should not have a set height percentage.~~
Avoid negative margins. They will hide your content behind the iFrame.

File Linking

HTML and Flash links and form actions should target a _blank window and use full paths including the http:// prefix.
Externally hosted images and other content references should point to valid existing content and use full paths including the http:// prefix. In other words, there should be no broken links.
Externally hosted images and other content must have quick load speeds.

Content Validity

HTML content should be well formed; preferably comply with XHTML 1.0 standards.
Script and other rich content should not depend on any elements in the eBay View Item page.
Scripts should properly execute without any runtime warnings or errors.

~~Also, the setInterval() and setTimeout() JavaScript functions will be disabled.~~

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Published Comments (15):

eggdisk99 wrote the following on 1/15/2009 3:48:17 PM:
Opening a new window for each click is utterly awful. I am finding it difficult to comprehend how this has been accepted during development.

This in my opinion is one of the worst intended design features of any e-commerce site that I have ever used. There are absolutely no good reasons for it.

laurel.developerrelations wrote the following on 1/15/2009 12:22:36 PM:
Hi spivack1212,

That is a fantastic question! Let me do some digging and get back to you.

Thanks!
Laurel Kline
Developer Relations

spivack1212 wrote the following on 1/15/2009 10:12:53 AM:
How does this affect eBay store listings? I have a template that is used for the description of every item that I list. In this template, there are links to other store categories. From my understanding, with this new veiw item page, if a user clicks on one of these links, that store category would open in a new window. Is this accurate?

laurel.developerrelations wrote the following on 10/23/2008 12:39:45 PM:
Hi auchelp, There are currently no plans to support target="_top" with the domain split. But I will pass your feedback on. Thanks! Laurel Kline Developer Relations

auchelp wrote the following on 10/23/2008 12:05:32 PM:
Has the issue about new windows been addressed yet? There needs to be a way to set up links within JavaScript and/or Flash objects so that the parent window is what is used to load the next item, and not a brand new window. If eBay does not support target="_top" then buyers will end up with 10-50 new browser windows every time they look at items on eBay.

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