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How to Create Builder Templates
How to Create Builder Templates

Walkthrough on what builder templates are and how to use them

Rain Gilbert avatar
Written by Rain Gilbert
Updated over a week ago

Overview

Builder templates save you time and effort when creating new products. They work best with similar products to speed up the listing process by creating a standardized form that listers fill out, instead of creating each listing title and description manually.

Builder templates will appear when you select a product category while listing. As such, each product category can only be tied to one builder template.


Table of Contents


Builder Template Video Walkthrough


How to Create a Builder Template

  1. Click the gear icon in the top right corner of Lister to open the admin menu

  2. Click “Templates” from the side menu

  3. Click the blue "Create New Template" button

  4. Click “Builder” from the menu

  5. Enter a name that is easily recognizable for the category

  6. Select the relevant categories that the builder template will be tied to when listing the product

💡Operational Tip: As a reminder, each product category can only be tied to one builder template, but multiple categories can be used on one template.


Input Types

  1. Heading: Bold and large font title that can be used to break up or direct listers in filling out the form, listers do not interact with headings (e.g. "Guitars and Basses" field below)

  2. Checkbox: Checkbox input type for yes/no options (e.g. "Vintage?" field below)

  3. Combo Box: A combination of a drop-down list and a single-line editable textbox, allowing the user to either type a value directly or select a value from the list (e.g. “Brand” field below)

  4. Input: Short answer open text field (e.g. "Model name & number” and “Serial Number" fields below)

  5. Multiple Choice: Allows a user to select some, none, or all choices from a predefined list (e.g “Accessories” field below)

  6. Radio Input: Single choice menu (e.g. "Type" field below)

  7. Dropdown: Single choice dropdown menu, great for longer lists (e.g. "Condition" field below)

  8. Numeric Input: Only allows numeric inputs, great for measurements (e.g. "Scale Length” and “Total Length" fields below)

  9. Large Input: Paragraph field input (e.g. "Condition Details" field below)


Adding Inputs to a Template

  1. Click the blue "(+) New" button in the right column under “Inputs”

  2. Select your input type

  3. Label the input with a title that will be easy to understand for your listers

  4. Click the blue “Add” button

  5. Click the gear icon to customize the input

  6. You can drag to rearrange or adjust sizing as needed


How to Duplicate an Input

Duplicating inputs can be handy when one input type is similar to another:

  1. Hover mouse over input field and click the duplicate icon in the bottom left of the input

  2. Rename duplicated label in the popup box

  3. Click the blue “Duplicate” button in the lower right corner of the popup box


Ways to Customize Input Fields

Beyond the standard input fields listed above, you can further customize the behavior of how inputs work behind the scenes and display data when being used. Each input has standard configurable options across all input types, along with a set of configurable customization options unique to the specific input types.

To get started, hover the mouse over the input field and click the gear icon to open the configuration options.


Standard Configurable Options

These options are available on all types of inputs:

  • Label: The label is what the lister sees above the input type. Make the label easy to understand by listers

  • Variable Name: The variable name is the code used to add the lister's entry for the field into the title and description. It will default to match the label name but can be edited Variables are case-sensitive and cannot include special characters.

💡Operational Tip: Shorten variable names to be as concise as possible for ease of recognition when editing templates. For example, shorten modelNameAndNumber to modelDetails

  • Help Text: Add additional reminder text that will show up if the lister hovers over it

  • Hidden: Use hidden fields to hide the input unless the lister selects the right response on another field

  • Required: By toggling this option on, the input is required to be interacted with before a lister can continue to list a product


Input-Specific Configurable Options

  • Format: Add formatting to inputs to ensure consistency across listers:

    • Title Case: “Each Word Will Look Like This”

    • Upper Case First Word: “Each word will look like this”

    • Upper Case All: “EACH WORD WILL LOOK LIKE THIS”

    • Lowercase All: “each word will look like this”

  • Placeholder: Add example text that will show up in the field itself (only relevant for inputs, numeric inputs, and large inputs)

  • Maximum and Minimum Value: Used to restrict the numeric values possible within an input

  • Map to Product From Filed: Takes the numeric input and adds it to the Product Form in addition to anywhere specified in the template output. This can be especially handy for saving time entering measurements for shipping or having consistent product tags. Available options:

    • Height

    • Length

    • Width

    • Weight

    • Shipping Weight

    • Tags

  • Alphabetical Order: Toggle that sorts a list alphabetically when being shown to a lister

  • Format: Select how a multiple choice selection will display in the output section:

  1. Comma Separated

  2. Dash List

  3. Bullet List

  4. Line Separated List


Completing the Output Section

The output section is used to control the title and description based on the information the lister fills out in the template itself (the input section).

  • The basic formula is {{VariableName}}

  • The variable name can be manually entered in the output field or automatically copied to your clipboard by clicking on the orange tag in the right corner for that input (see example below).

  • The variable name must match the variable name in the input field in order to work and be between double curly brackets {{ }}

  • Click the preview button to see how the input will work when creating a listing


Tips & Best Practices

  • Editing an existing template? Previous template versions can't be restored if an edited syntax is invalid and saved. We recommend duplicating the template first to save it as a backup copy.

  • Use the "Preview" button to see what the form will look like for listers and how it will impact the title and description of your listing

  • Click "Save" at regular intervals to ensure you do not lose any progress!

  • Bulk Paste input options from CSV:

    • You can copy and Paste Multiple Options from a spreadsheet into inputs with multiple options (Combo Box, Dropdown, Multiple Choice, Radio Inputs)

    • Copy a range of cells from a column in a spreadsheet

    • Paste into Builder input "Add options" section

  • Use the "Default Description Footer" section of your channel settings for any disclaimers or information you would like included on all listings


How to Map Template Inputs to eBay Item Specifics

If you list to eBay, you can use builder template inputs to add eBay item specifics to your listings automatically.

  • A template field labeled "Brand" will autofill the "Brand" eBay specific field

  • A template field labeled "Size" will autofill the "Size" eBay specific field

  • If the eBay specific field does not allow for free-text, the specific will only autofill if it matches a valid drop-down value

Important Note: Builder Template input names need to be an exact match to the eBay specific field to auto-populate. For example, a clothing template with a builder template input called "Color/pattern" will not populate to the eBay specific "Color" field. The input name would have to be called "Color" to automatically add the eBay specific.

Product Attributes Page:

Listing Page eBay Specifics:


How to Use a Builder Template When Listing a Product

After you’ve created your template, it’ll appear when you go to list a new product within that category. Once you complete the inputs, it’ll autofill the places you marked with double curly braces in the title and description.

  1. When listing a product, select the matching category tied to the builder template

  2. Click “Next”

  3. On the “Product Attributes” page, fill in all the fields that were created in the builder template

  4. Click “Preview” to move to the listing page

  5. The inputs selected in step 3 will automatically populate to the title and description!


Related Guides

Have questions? Reach out to us at support@uprightlabs.com or via chat anytime between 9am-6pm ET, Monday to Friday

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