This article describes the process for correcting punctuation issues displaying in a catalog that has been exported to an online bidding platform.
Overview
Punctuation issues may appear in a catalog when the operating system's characters use different coding than those recognized by the auction platform. While Wavebid can generally read these characters without issue, the punctuation may be converted into question marks once the catalog is exported to a bidding platform. This generally occurs with commas, apostrophes, and quotation marks.
What is Smart Punctuation?
Apple devices using iOS 11 or higher are enabled with Smart Punctuation. The quotation marks and apostrophes generated by Smart Punctuation are read by Wavebid, but are not read by Proxibid and may not be read by other bidding platforms. The result is that the punctuation will appear correctly in Wavebid, but will appear as question marks in Proxibid.
Wavebid:
Proxibid:
To correct this, users should turn off Smart Punctuation on any Apple devices that may be used for cataloging.
Turning Off Smart Punctuation
To turn off Smart Punctuation on an Apple mobile device, access Settings > General > Keyboard and turn off the Smart Punctuation feature. This will correct any cataloging done in the future but will not correct cataloging that has already been done with the device. See below for information on removing Smart Punctuation from a catalog.
Correcting Punctuation Issues
In order to correct punctuation issues within a catalog, the catalog will need to be exported to a comma-separated value (.CSV) spreadsheet. The punctuation on the catalog spreadsheet will need to be replaced and then the catalog will need to be imported back into Wavebid.
- Access the auction via the desktop version of Wavebid and navigate to Auction > Preview Auction.
- Click the Download button in the top right corner of the page and select .CSV.
- Once the .CSV downloads, compare the quotation marks/apostrophes in the .CSV with those that produced question marks in Proxibid or with other quotation marks/apostrophes within the document.
- Smart Punctuation quotation marks and apostrophes curve slightly, while those entered via Excel are straight.
- Smart Punctuation quotation marks and apostrophes curve slightly, while those entered via Excel are straight.
- Perform a Find and Replace action, copying and pasting the incorrect quotation mark/apostrophe in the Find What field and typing the correct quotation mark/apostrophe (the one on a PC keyboard) in the Replace With field.
- Click the Replace All button to ensure all instances of the punctuation are replaced.
- Click the Replace All button to ensure all instances of the punctuation are replaced.
- A confirmation pop-up will appear. Click the Ok button.
- The Find and Replace action will need to be done for both opening and closing quotation marks and apostrophes- meaning that the action will need to be done at least three times.
- Once all the offending punctuation has been replaced, save the .CSV and close it.
- The updated fields will now need to be imported to overwrite those that are incorrect. Navigate to the applicable auction in Wavebid, then select Catalogs > Import Catalog.
- Click the Choose File button and select the updated .CSV.
- Click the Upload button.
- Delete all of the headers from the Mapped To column except for Lot #, Lot Name, Description, and Additional Description.
- Additional fields (such as Location) may need to be mapped only if they contained punctuation issues.
- Importing the Seller field from an export of the Auction Preview will alter all of the seller codes.
- Click the Import button at the bottom of the page. A confirmation will appear once the import is complete.
- The catalog can now be exported to the applicable bidding platform.
- Be sure to uncheck the New Photos Only box under Photo Options when exporting.
- Review the catalog in the bidding platform (if possible) after export to ensure the punctuation issues have been corrected.
- Users may need to clear cache or view the catalog through an incognito window to see the changes.
- Be sure to uncheck the New Photos Only box under Photo Options when exporting.
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