Just create a page with no content?
Why would you want to create a blank page? Am I missing something here? And what do you mean by having to “place a code in there”?
Puzzled.
PAE
The reason is because I am trying to follow the instructions of the ebay partner network which they require a blank page with their assigned code as a signature of my ownership of the site.
They not only want just the code with no content in there, but TOTAL blank page with only their assigned code.
But I have been trying to do that with no success. It’s a royal pain and I don’t understand why they want it that way. If I was using a different program than word press I would have no problem doing it. But with this system I find it difficult to make one blank page for them with only the code showing. Here is what they said in the email;
Dear David,
Thank you for your email regarding your domain validation.
I have checked your site and found that it has many other content
besides the activation code. For example a coloured background, banners & texts:
Please note that this page should be a blank page with only the code and nothing else displaying
there.
I hope I have explained everything clearly. If you need any more
information, please contact us.
Kind regards,
Dorothy Gambin
eBay Partner Network Support
Do you have any tips to achieve their request?
Gotcha.
Sounds like you need a custom page or a special page for a specific slug.
For example if you created a special page for a slug (say ‘blankebay’), you could create a blankebay.php page template that would load instead of the normal page template when the slug was ‘blankebay’.
Just copy the ebay code into there. Since there will be none of the normal calls to get_header() and so on, I think (hope) that just the copied in code will be output.
If that doesn’t work, another call to ebay support might be in order. They must have met this before.
Cheers
PAE
Hello PAE,
I been playing with it a little since your reply and trying to understand how I create a blankebay.php page template with the tools provided on the site.
I know how to create a new page of course, and looking at the options,
add new,
then, “screen options”
I select the page slug,
but this is where I am stuck. It still shows my template.
I do see the alternate templates, but none for a custom. Does Word press offer this feature?
Thanks! Best, David
You create blankebay.php by creating a file of that name in your (child) theme’s directory.
Have a look at this article on creating custom templates.
You should read it in conjunction with the template hierarchy.
Once you’ve created the file it should be available for editing in Dashboard –> Appearance –> Editor
I think you could also do the same thing by creating a file called page-blankebay.php. You wouldn’t need to add any special comments into that.
In both cases you just have to make sure that your page’s slug is ‘blankebay’ (if that’s what you’re going to use as the name).
Cheers
PAE
Just create your php file, put it into the theme file your currently running on your site and place this code inside inside
<?php
/*
Template Name: Blank Page
*/
?>
then go to create new page on the dashboard and under template pick the blank page option instead of default template and name the page.
Hi gbaka, thanks for your assistance. I am getting a lot of good information from you and peredur. I think I am getting close to solving the issue however I am not a journeymen when it comes to running around on word press.
I know other software quite well and have not had a lot of practice with this. Just to touch on what you said, creating a PHP file is this,
<?php
/*
Template Name: Blank Page
*/
?>
But here is the problem I currently have, can not find how I place this into my current theme. Not finding this option. I can however create a custom theme and its giving me options. Width, color, etc. When I sele3cted white, it took me to a page with a lot of white templates that already have their own look. Nothing I can find so far where I can make a custom theme. I know it probably does exist, but this is where I am stuck at the moment.
peredur shared a link on how to make a custom template so this is what I am going to look at right now. Thanks for your input as I really appreciate it.
Best, David
The easiest way to integrate with ebay partners and affiliates like that is to open “NotePad” on your pc. Add the code into the notepad and save the file as the filename and add the extension .html to the end of it. Make sure when saving in Notepad that you change the Type to “All”, then upload to your server using an FTP program such as FireFTP or FileZilla.
Hope that helps!
Yes, after double checking the above conversation it’s as i suspected. it needs to be a plain file. when you create a file in wordpress it still calls all of the extra files such as the header, footer, functions, style.css, etc… Ebay’s email clearly states it needs to be a blank file with a specific name i believe.
1 – Open Notepad.exe
2 – Save as “file name they tell you to”
3 – Make sure before you HIT SAVE that You Change the Drop Down “SAVE AS TYPE” to “All” instead of “Text”
4 – Upload to server root directory of your website using an FTP program such as FileZilla or FireFTP
Hi jondiego, I made it all the way down to number 4 on your list. Can I use IE as my FTP server? I have done this with Godaddy before. If not, which program would be best in this situation? FileZilla or FireFTP? Its probably going to be a one shot deal on this blank page.
Thanks for your help. Sincerely, David
Either FileZilla or FireFTP would be fine. Any FTP client would be fine.
If you’re doing Web development I should avoid IE like that plague except to check that your pages work in the versions of IE you’re interested in (and I use IETester rather than IE for that, to be honest). But IE could have an FTP client plugin. I wouldn’t know.
Cheers
PAE
Thank you peredur, I am still plugging away at this.
I agree with peredur. I avoid IE as much as possible except for accessibility testing for client websites.
I prefer to use FireFTP. It’s a plugin for FireFox. You can download it through the add-on section. Go to “tools” -> “add-ons” and search for “fireftp”
You can also use SmartFTP which I use when I am uploading a large number of files.
jondiego, thanks. I will use FireFTP as I mostly use Mozilla anyway. It’s such an important thing that I am doing because the ebay partner network is a worthy merchant to become associated with. I just don’t know why they made is such a pain to confirm the identity of our domain :-/ I have a few other sites, however the best fit for ebay is with my word press site. Had no trouble getting it installed and adding pages. But this blank page thing … wow. Intending to work on it tonight. Hoping for a break through. Will keep you informed as well as everyone else who has been kind enough to help me on this thread. Thanks again very much.
Best, David
