Important Ruby Lane Site Updates - Search Views, Square Cropping, Pic Management Tools & More

Important Ruby Lane Site Updates

We are excited to let you know of some site updates that are designed to further enhance the shopping experience on Ruby Lane, thus increasing sales throughout the site. It is important to note that these updates have been designed with both shop owners and buyers in mind. Read on for an overview of the updates:

New Look to the Search Results Gallery and List View Pages
In order to stay current with online shopping trends, we have updated the look of the Gallery and List View pages for Ruby Lane Search results. We have streamlined the pages to make them even easier on the eye. Now all item photos display larger than before, and with rounded corners. (Please note that corners will display as square in any version of Internet Explorer 8 or earlier.) We feel the page now has more uniformity and better flow. Unlike our previous Search layout, the new version also displays shop names and a portion of the item title for the Gallery view, which is now the default view.

Optional Square Auto-Crop
We have also added the option for your item thumbnail photos to be automatically cropped to make them appear even larger, and square, when displayed in thumbnail formats on the site (such as search results or in shopping bags). We've been doing this already for the tiny thumbnails on the item pages for the past year. If turned "on" this feature automatically crops the photo to display the top center area of the photo, making it square. This feature is currently optional, and can be turned either on or off for all of your shop items (not individually). You can find the tool for selecting square auto-crop on your Edit Shop Info page.

Square Auto-Crop "on" becomes the default In August 2012
As part of this update, we have set the default to "square auto-crop off" to give shops a choice of whether you would like your items cropped or not cropped. You can c hoose to do nothing at this time and your items will not be auto-cropped. However in August 2012, the site-wide default will be changed to be "square auto-crop on". If you choose not to have square auto-crop you can go in and turn it off.

Square Auto-Crop Becomes Site-Wide Standard in May 2013
Beginning in May 2013 the option to turn square auto-crop off will no longer be available. All items will be square auto-cropped. Again, photos will be cropped to display the top center area of the photo. After this update square photos will always present best.

Some shops may want to begin to update some of your photos in preparation for this change a year from now. This is an advisory that if you have narrow photos in your shop, either tall or wide, we recommend that you take the next 12 months to tweak or retake them so that they are closer to a square. For long slender items such as pens or a piece of flatware, photographing them at a 45 degree angle is recommended. You can also use the improved picture editing tools on Ruby Lane under Modify Item to make adjustments, and you can re-order your photos choosing a more square-shaped photo as the main photo using drag/drop also on Modify Item page.

To summarize, you have three choices when selecting square auto-cropping:

1. Do nothing; i.e. make no selection on your Edit Shop Info page. Your photos will display as square auto-crop "off" until August 1st, 2012, then after that they will display as square auto-cropping "on".
2. Select "square auto-crop off" in Edit Shop Info. After May 1st, 2013 it will change to "on".
3. Select "square auto-crop on" in Edit Shop Info. Get the new picture formats now!

We suggest you try out the new look, even if your pictures are not perfectly cropped. Be sure to click "Update", then "View My Shop" after you make your selection and then do a search to see the difference. You should view both the Gallery vi ew and List view to get a complete idea of how it will look. If you don't like the change, you're welcome to go back and turn if "off" and adjust your shop pictures.

Improved Picture Management Tools
We have also updated the Picture Editor tool to allow even more enhancement options when cropping or editing a photo, with no plug-ins needed. And we've added a simpler new drag and drop tool for re-ordering photos. Again, you can use these newly-updated picture tools to make the necessary adjustments for optimum auto-cropping display and really make your item photos pop.

Why Are We Making These Changes?
This type of auto-cropping is becoming a standard for many e-commerce sites as it lends an artistic look to the photo. Research shows that uniform-looking search results lead to increased visual retention, easier scanning of the page, and an overall improved shopping experience. With more detail viewable, items become much more inviting to prospective buyers. We are aware that some items will not be cropped ideally until they are manually edited by you.

New "Item Suggestion Feature" Added to the SOLD Shop
We are adding a new feature to the Ruby Lane Sold Shop that suggests similar items currently available for sale that the viewer may be interested in for purchase. This has the potential to turn those browsing for research purposes - into buyers. Each time the viewer searches the Sold shop, suggested similar items are presented at the top of the page.

New "Item Suggestion Page" for Items In Newsletters That Have Sold
As many of you have noticed, last year we updated the format of our newsletters to make them much more shopping and item focused. Our statistics show that these items indeed sell! So now when a buyer clicks on an item in the newsletter that has already Sold or is Sale Pending, buyers see a message that the item is no longer available, plus a search page that automatically suggests similar items currently offered on Ruby Lane.

Why Have We Added This New Feature?
Again, Ruby Lane's overall goal is to promote and encourage the sale of items. Shop owners are our customers – and so are buyers. A potential buyer who succeeds in finding the type of item they are looking for is a "win-win" for everyone. If an item in your shop is featured in a newsletter (a free service) and has sold, if you have other, similar items for sale in your shop it is highly likely that those items will be among the suggestions automatically offered on the Search page when a buyer clicks on it. Please note that items are randomly chosen for newsletters by Ruby Lane staff based on the theme(s) of each newsletter, as well as the quality of each item and photo.

Preview Group of Shops
Before launching these updates we asked a test group of shop owners to preview them for us, and give us their candid feedback. We did indeed make a significant number of changes based on the excellent, thoughtful shop suggestions we received. We want to thank all shops who participated in the preview.

We're excited about these new updates, and we hope you are, too. While change is not always easy, we at Ruby Lane feel that updates such as these are a necessary part of delivering a dynamic, ever-evolving e-commerce site.

As always, if you have questions, or if we can be of assistance at any time, we invite you to contact Ruby Lane Customer Support.

Team Ruby Lane

Check your shop email for a copy of the above notice.

If anyone has questions, let me know.

Carol

Tags: Carol Augustine, Online Antiques Mall, Photos, Ruby Lane, picture cropping, rubylane

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Fortune Gallery of Vintage on June 2, 2012 at 11:30am

I would like to see RL put on their help section, a very detailed article about what they require for the size of photos, including every technical thing that applies. A real "how-to" for those people who are challenged when it comes to technical stuff. There was a thread here a few months back about all of the changes that Google is doing, & this also includes some changes to how we size and identify photos. RL could include all of the requirements that Google is putting in place. I think all RL sellers would benefit from a real simplified "how-to" section on photos.

Permalink Reply by Ornaments on June 2, 2012 at 1:07pm

Jeff, I was thinking the same thing. It would mean essentially adding back the extra background that I deliberately cropped out for some of my items, but it would be better than having to manually adjust dozens (at least) of my pictures, or having them cut in half by the auto cropping.

Permalink Reply by Pearl's Parlor on June 2, 2012 at 4:19pm

I'm with you! I'd love to see some detailed instructions on the size that Ruby Lane wants and how to make it a perfect square. I've been trying to google and read different instructions on the size of photos. I think that 75K, from what I can tell, translates into 75,000 which seems pretty big. But maybe someone knows - is that kilobytes or kilopixels? Both are mentioned in relation to the size of photos. I do wish I understood it better. I know kilo means a thousand, while mega is a million. That's the extent of my knowledge in this area.

CollectiblesRome said:

I would like to see RL put on their help section, a very detailed article about what they require for the size of photos, including every technical thing that applies. A real "how-to" for those people who are challenged when it comes to technical stuff. There was a thread here a few months back about all of the changes that Google is doing, & this also includes some changes to how we size and identify photos. RL could include all of the requirements that Google is putting in place. I think all RL sellers would benefit from a real simplified "how-to" section on photos.

Permalink Reply by Fortune Gallery of Vintage on June 2, 2012 at 5:19pm

Pearl, I too have been looking around on the internet today, reading different articles and instructions on photos. Those of you who also sell on ebay will probably be aware that they are making some big changes to their photo requirements for this Fall. I was reading ebay's info on photos, and they want the photos to be 1600 pixels on the largest side of the photo. I went to my photo image program and brought up a new photo that I had not sized. I sized it with a 1600 pixel on the length side. Wow!! that is one big picture! I guess we can be grateful that RL is only asking us to make our pics with 1024 pixels on the side. We need to save a copy of the pic in our computer, and those big picture files will really take up space in our computers.

Permalink Reply by Alley Cats Vintage on June 2, 2012 at 9:03pm

Is anyone having problems with new listings today? Several hours ago I put up 2 new items and they are still not showing in my shop nor on today's arrivals.

Permalink Reply by CheriShops - Admin on June 2, 2012 at 9:37pm

I have not tried any new listings but I did try to add some extra photos to existing listings and they just keep disappearing :( Not even the photographer icon dude...nada!

I am so weary of all these sudden changes and continuing glitches that I am ready to quit RL totally.

Permalink Reply by COBAYLEY on June 2, 2012 at 11:34pm

My three new items I added today are showing up with all pictures. But, we started months ago putting "frame" around every picture we put on RL. A tech rep at Ruby Lane advised me to do this after some of my pictures were not showing up correctly..ie, long pictures of a lucite purse were cut off on both sides. He advised to use my picture editing program and put a simple frame around all my pictures. So..now we do this and I've not had any trouble. But...I haven't even started to think about what will happen in August and next March...as I said, my husband quit on me after he read the message from RL. He's had it. As of next March, he will no longer support me. I will have to learn to do the pictures myself...what PITA..

Permalink Reply by Alley Cats Vintage on June 3, 2012 at 9:37am

I enjoy making the photographs. I think other than the shopping that is the most enjoyable part of this process. However I do clothing and hats. I cannot do jewelry or smaller items. The worst part for me is the descriptions. I struggle with every word.

Permalink Reply by Marni Bakst on June 3, 2012 at 5:17pm

I really like the changes. I think it gives a unity and an organized look to the new page views, really much better. In order to achieve this bigger and better look, however, one uniform size had to be chosen for the photo presentation; and while you can debate the merits of a 1:1 (square) aspect ratio vs. a 4:3 or 3:2 (different rectangles) aspect ratio, it is inevitable that any one choice will fit some items better than others.

I know some shop owners are upset about the cropping, that some items will require a different, or even a new thumbnail photo, and that some pieces just don't fit well in their entirety in a square. Certainly, a complete view of the item should be available once a customer has clicked through, but there is no requirement that the thumbnail be a view of the entire item. I have always used details as thumbnails for some items, I think it invites further investigation. It was Gypsy Rose Lee's secret… give them a taste and they'll want more, and every good movie trailer tries to show you just enough to get you to plunk down your ten bucks but not so much that you feel like you've already seen it all.

Etsy uses a similar system, cropping photos into a 5:4 aspect ratio, not a proportion that most consumer cameras shoot in, so almost all their shop owner's photos are cropped in the thumbnail presentation. Still, it's a site that I've always enjoyed looking at even though I sell exclusively on Ruby Lane.

Think about it, if you click on a thumbnail and only ever get just a bigger view of the same photo, it's not as interesting as if you get a slightly different view, maybe one that reveals a bit more. Used creatively, this new presentation can be another powerful marketing tool. Why not see it as an opportunity to present your items more creatively?

Permalink Reply by C & J Vintage Treasures on June 3, 2012 at 6:03pm

All,

Did I miss some part of this discussion? Forgive me if I did.

When I looked at my pictures in list view in the new format, the very last line of my description was cut in half. Is it just me? The top half of the line of text showed and the bottom half didn't. Logically, it seems like we'd have more room for description if the pictures are bigger.

I did have the missing pictures and missing items yesterday. I readded pictures, but eventually everything showed up. It was strange not seeing the picture man. Or the pictures.

Thanks all, for the help as always.

C & J Vintage Treasures

Permalink Reply by Marni Bakst on June 3, 2012 at 7:34pm

They are now using a square format but enabling individual shop owners to present their photos with no cropping in a letter box or pillar box format by simply not choosing to opt in to the new format until August when the square presentation becomes the default. Once the new format becomes the default you will have to opt out if you still want a letter box or pillar box format, then next spring you will not be able to opt out.

Yes, it's more orderly, but it's also bigger (WOW!), cleaner, and I think more modern. And like I said, I think it can be more interesting and offer peekaboo opportunities.

San Marcos Art Glass said:

I understand why RL wants all pictures square. It fits the gallery view in the search results. If you run a search right now, you find some landscape, some portrait, and some square. The dimensions are different for the pictures, so RL wants to make things look orderly in the gallery. I'm ambivalent on the gallery view thing, so it just seems like so much fuss.

Permalink Reply by San Marcos Art Glass on June 3, 2012 at 7:43pm

I just switched to the new format. I realize RL is trying to make its gallery view look neater. I'm rather ambivalent about the gallery view, so think it's a lot of fuss. I did notice that in the gallery view, you have to catch the item description in the first 3-4 words. And if the words are long, you might only get a couple of them in.

My rebel hippie self is kicking in. We'll have to see what the future brings.