HTML on Craigslist Problem

December 18, 2013 10:03 PM

Craigslist no longer allows the HTML A command. This is a hardship for me as I often sell several items in different Craigslist categories and can no longer post a link to all of my items for sale. Hoping someone can help me figure out another way to do this.

I am often selling items in multiple categories, for example, something in Antiques, Tools, Books, et cetera. For years I would include a link in each listing that when clicked would display all of the items I had for sale on Craigslist, on a Craigslist page.

Craigslist has now forbidden use of the A command. My understanding is they did this because of spammers creating listings that had links like buyingusedcarsandpayingtopdollar which when clicked would take you to that site.

But the solution is hurting people like me. I don't want to spam the site, I don't want to post links that redirect to external sites, I simply want to post a link that takes the person to the Craigslist directory (this may be the wrong word but I am not sure what to call it - the link I used to create would display my phone number in the Craigslist search window which would then list all of the items I was selling).

Here is the link detailing which HTML elements, attributes, and values are supported.

"Note: A, IMG, FONT, TABLE, DIV, SPAN, CENTER are disallowed in for sale and housing."

Is there any other way I can create a link that will display everything I am selling?

posted by You Get A Favorite For Being A Snowflake to Computers & Internet (6 answers total)

Are you still able to post the link, even if it doesn't end up making a hyperlink, and tell people to copy paste this link into their browser?
posted by foxfirefey at 10:51 PM on December 18, 2013 [1 favorite]

This wouldn't create a link, but can you say something like "do a search for [X] to bring up the rest of my items" where [X] is an unusual word that makes sense. Like...the name of your street or something else you might logically mention in every ad without it sounding contrived.
posted by needs more cowbell at 10:52 PM on December 18, 2013 [1 favorite]

I don't think there is a way to create a link when Craigslist is explicitly blocking links. To combine the previous answers, if you used to do:

<a href="http://somewhere.craigslist.org/search/?query=555-1234">See my other items for sale</a>

Switch to:

To see my other items for sale, search my phone number 555-1234 or copy this URL into your browser: http://somewhere.craigslist.org/search/?query=555-1234
posted by domnit at 11:23 PM on December 18, 2013

You can also use a URL shortener such as TinyURL to make the search URL easier to type or select. I would recommend choosing a custom alias to make the URL sensible, something like http://tinyurl.com/snowflakeCL
posted by domnit at 11:27 PM on December 18, 2013 [1 favorite]

I was going to suggest the search-for-a-keyword approach as well.

FWIW, I won't click on shortened URLs in craigslist posts (or a lot of other places, either). Too much shadiness out there.
posted by inigo2 at 5:46 AM on December 19, 2013 [1 favorite]

I successfully got people to use a hashtag when selling a bunch of stuff before a move. I had a line in there like: "search for #ByeByeAustin2014 to see the rest of my listings and ask about discounts on multiple items!"

You could use something like "#SnowflakesStore"
posted by fontophilic at 7:38 AM on December 19, 2013 [1 favorite]