Add-On Releases - Rewrite eBay Links

Rewrite eBay Links

Description:
This mod rewrites eBay links so they link to an affiliate.

Request:
Requested in a paid deal by brookelyn, this modification's idea can also be accredited to brookelyn. Also requested by various other members.

Installation:
All the installation information is in the package.

Changes:
2 Plugins
1 File

[Dismounted]

It shouldn't "double-rover" them. It shouldn't be even touching those links. But what could go wrong, will go wrong, so I'll look into if I have the time.

[benFF]

Cheers

[benFF]

Quoted posts also fall foul of this.

[Big Kahuna]

Originally Posted by noppid

The problem is the encoded ampersand on the item URL var.

urlencode is doing it. I had this issue in an eBay Developer Application I run.

In the functions file on like line 57, add one line of code after the urlencode that looks like this.

PHP Code:

    // encode URL
    $encodedlink = urlencode($rightlink);
    $encodedlink = str_replace("%26amp%3B", "&" , $encodedlink); 


That fixed it for us. YMMV.

OK -- when you say functions file are you talking about the /includes/function.php -- because if so, in that file, my first occurrence of the word urlencode is not anywhere near line 57-- by line 1376.

I'd like to get this fix -- but I don't want to screw things up worse by following half instructions making the assumption I know the key to the other half.

What is the exact file I need to modify and what is the phrase I need to search for to insert the patch afterward?

Thank you

[Big Kahuna]

I figured it out -- silly me for not reading minds well enough -- functions files is code (to throw off dumb-asses like me) for the file /includes/functions_rewrite_ebay_links.php

[Big Kahuna]

Originally Posted by noppid

Glad to help. When I saw the bug and that dismounted was busy, I had to do something. I use this hack and it's important to us. So, hopefully this can be the permanent fix.

This is shorter.

PHP Code:

$encodedlink = str_replace("%26amp%3B", "&" , urlencode($rightlink)); 


That appears to be the fix.

[creativepart]

Hey Dismounted,

I had a HUGE problem with the rewrite mod this week. Someone posted a link to a non-auction HTML page that is on ebay.com on my forum running this mod.

Naturally, the mod rewrote the link and put my campid and rover coding on this static html page link.

Then one of my members ran an auction on EBay and he decided to put a link to this static page in his auction description. He could not find the URL but he remembered he had seen it on my website. So, he went there and copied the link and placed it in his EBay Auction Description.

All this was, of course, unbeknownst to me.

Within an hour or two of him posting that auction I received an email from Ebay closing my EPN Affiliate account and seizing all of my earnings.

Luckily, I have an EPN rep that I can turn to with issues and problems. I called my rep and we figured it out and we found the problem and the guy that posted the link containing my affiliate coding notified Ebay that I wasn't involved and that it was an accident.

The next day I did get my account back.

But everyone should know that if for any reason one of your converted links ends up in an Ebay Auction, Blog, or even Ebay Forum you'll get booted out of EPN within hours of the posting. I was told that that any Affiliate coding link on any Ebay Hosted page will get you booted.

This mod needs to be fixed to NOT convert anything but auction URLs. It has to be made so that it will ignore ebay.com urls that do not contain the rest of the auction part of the URL.

PS They also said -- and this is a different subject but important too for people using this mod to know -- that you can not put your affiliate coding on any auction that you are conducting. So, if you are running Ebay auctions in the same niche as your forum and using the rewrite mod be sure that none of your auctions can show up on your forum with your Affiliate coding.

[Dismounted]

Could your EPN rep give me specific "URL-types" to only rewrite?

That would be great.

[creativepart]

Sorry, I didn't see this earlier.

The mods needs to be able to tell the difference between an auction URL and simply the letters "e b a y . c o m" anywhere in any URL. As was pointed out a long time ago, a URL for a place called Tine Bay had rover tags put on it because it was tinebay.com

In my case a URL for a non-auction page like ebay.com/disclosure.htm had rover links put on it and this is what got posted into a real Ebay Auction description and caused all the problems.

[ShadMan]

Thanks, noppid!