New free tool: Nifty Fanci-Panci bookmarklets for easy-peasy Collection animations on social media

[HightonRidley]

Getting and putting your collection animation on a new pin on Pinterest is the easiest - it’s one-click magic:
https://youtu.be/o0ptZyLkMXE (2minute video)

Here’s a pin I made of one of my own collections: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/332562753751134111/

Get the bookmarklets so you can do the same:
https://niftytoolz.com/npcp/collections-anigif-maker.html

getting your Fanci-Panci bookmarklets

Facebook and Twitter involve some copying and pasting but you’re given everything you need - just drag and drop the animation and copy and paste the text-with-link.

See the full “How To” tutorial here:
https://niftytoolz.com/fanci-panci-bookmarklets-for-easy-peasy-zazzle-collection-animations-on-social-media

[ColsCreations]

This looks like an awesome tool, tried it out straight away!

Maybe I’m slow to catch on but it took me quite a while to figure out what/where I was supposed to click & drag to get the Niftymarklet on my toolbar.

Once I figured that out, the Fanci version worked with no issues. I right-clicked the resulting .gif animation, saved/downloaded it, then added it to a FB post with my own text and the referral link copied from the Nifty page (edited to change the tracking code part).

The Panci version gave me issues though. After I activated it I got this

So I waited a short bit and then got this

which is the home page for Pinterest UK which I am never logged in to. I tried several times to log-in to it but have apparently forgotten how to get in to that version of the site. So I gave up and tried manually creating a pin (on the US site I am always logged in to) using the .gif I had downloaded created by the Fanci version, and you’re right, it doesn’t animate on Pinterest.

This is a really nice addition to your tool collection but the US vs UK site issue may be throwing a wrench in the works for the Pinterest version. 

[HightonRidley]

Thanks for the helpful feedback, @ColsCreations

Maybe I need to do a short video on dragging the bookmarklets to the toolbar??

About your issue with Pinterest… is it maybe because you’re not logged in to the .com domain? They have a way of detecting where you’re from and switching domains behind the scenes. That’s what happens to me (I’m in the UK) when I try to visit a page on the .com site.

..I just checked. If I’m NOT logged in to Pinterest and try to go to https://www.pinterest.com/pin/332562753751134111/  (note the .com) it takes me to the .co.uk version. So whether logged in or out, it sorts out which domain to use for me.

The pin builder I’ve been using behind the scenes just happens to be the .co.uk one - because it was always doing the right thing for me. I wonder if it’s broken the other way around? Anyway, I’ve changed it under the bonnet so it uses the .com pin builder now.

Give it a try and let me know how you get on, please. You can check you’re using the latest version (1.1) by hitting the new FAQ button at top right hand side when it’s making the animation.

[Connie]

This is a very neat tool! I tried it on a collection for Pinterest, and it works very well! It’s a bit slow, and I did get a “hiccup” message the first time, but refreshing the page does the trick. Thank you!

[ColsCreations]

Maybe I need to do a short video on dragging the bookmarklets to the toolbar??

No, it was just me being a dummy. I read the title, viewed your sample pin, and went right to the link for the marklet. It took a bit of trying before I noticed it says to use the underlined text. I barely even glanced at the screenshot tute in your post where you made it clear as day what you’re supposed to drag.

About your issue with Pinterest… is it maybe because you’re not logged in to the .com domain? They have a way of detecting where you’re from and switching domains behind the scenes.

I was definitely logged in to the US .com domain. It wouldn’t take my log-in credentials for the UK site and I don’t even remember if that’s a separate log-in name/pw or supposed to be the same as for the US site. It def was not auto detecting and switching me, was making me manually sign-in and as said, I don’t remember how I am supposed to do that.

Anyways, the 1.1 version worked with no problem. Thanks for making such a quick change!

I have another question now, though.

I was using this Collection as a test as it’s my largest one I think. If you’re just viewing the board, it’s a static image. I did a pin using the marklet and the top main image was that of the ceramic knob that happens to be the 7th item in the Collection.  Curious now about which image gets used, I deleted that pin and did another. This time it picked the window decal, which happens to be the 3rd item in the Collection, for the top main image. So then I thought, maybe I can manipulate which image gets used by waiting to click to Save to board until the preview animation is on the image I want. That didn’t work, I got the ceramic knob again.

Since it doesn’t animate unless you click to view the pin, is there a way to pick which image we want as that top main one for the static image people will see when scrolling their feed?

P.S - In case anyone is wondering, this works on any Collection, doesn’t have to be your own.

[HightonRidley]

My coding has gone with the defaults of whatever Zazzle provides. So the image at the very start is the one that’s mentioned in the collection page’s under-the-hood head section, the og:image tag, with the bit of text in the filename changed from z5em8 to zruem - It’s the same as the one that you’d get from clicking the share button on the collection page (then the link option, with the portrait size option selected –> then look in the html section for the image filename)

The order of the images is supposed to be whatever Zazzle’s rss feed mechanism provides, which is the order of the products in the collection. I’ve just checked but that isn’t the order they appear in the animation.

I’ve done some digging and now know that the reason it’s happening is because of stuff (stuff = some techo babble to do with asynchronous image saving) . Now that I know I’ll try to do something about it. Don’t hold your breath

Thanks for making me aware

PS I see that in testing, I limited the number of piccies in the animation to 10 and forgot to set that max back to the 30 it was supposed to be. I’ve done that now.

[HightonRidley]

It didn’t take as long as I thought. The images now follow the same order as they appear in the collection (as they should have done from the get-go!)

[ColsCreations]

I didn’t think it mattered to me what order the product images are shown in when animated, I was only wondering about the top image used for the static view

which with your most recent update is now the first product in the Collection.
That’s terrific, that means we can move whatever we want to showcase to best represent the collection into the first spot in the Collection on Zazzle.

That the animated gif shows the products in the same order they are in in the Collection - that’s a big unexpected +.
I just did this pin and love that it seamlessly cycles through the different pre-set color options I made for each product!

You’ve made this so easy I am now motivated to actually try and promote my Collections.

[HightonRidley]

I’m glad you’re finding it so easy to use and are now motivated enough to promote your collections, @ColsCreations !

A word to the wise: If you do move anything in your collection, you’ll need to give it time for Zazzle to reindex the collection so the rss feed mechanism, and hence the animation when created, uses the new order. Maybe 12-24 hours to bake properly???

[HightonRidley]

I’ve changed things up a little and you’ll need to delete the old bookmarklets and get the new ones from here:
https://niftytoolz.com/npcp/collections-anigif-maker.html

The default orientation now for Facebook / X (formerly Twitter) is landscape. If you want to get portrait orientation instead for them then you press either of the shift keys when the tool page first opens after clicking the Fanci bookmarklet. You’ve got 3 seconds and if you manage it ok, you’l get a dialog box to let you know.

If you don’t get the dialog box, refresh the page and try again - maybe press and release the shift key two or three times, just to be sure.

So to summarize - Panci gives you portrait orientation on the auto-created pin. Fanci gives you landscape orientation by default or portrait orientation if you press the key while the page is loading.

Enjoy

[HightonRidley]

I’ve been tweaking again. The bookmarklets are now called Fansci-Pansci (they were called Fanci-Panci) and have been modified to create either a collection animation or a search results page animation, depending on where they were used. See the tutorial for more.

getting a search results page animation

[HightonRidley]

Made an oopsie booboo - you’ll need to reget the Pansci bookmarklet - bug squished!

[HightonRidley]

I’ve been adding a great new feature that works for the Fansci and Pansci bookmarklets on Zazzle Search pages and Collection pages (marketplace or store).

The new templates will give lots of variation to your social media pins / posts and I’m sure you’re gonna love 'em

It doesn’t add any complexity - all you have to do is choose the layout option in the dialog box you get when you click one of the bookmarklets:

choose your layout option

You’ll need to delete your old bookmarklets and get the new ones from here:
https://niftytoolz.com/npcp/collections-anigif-maker

Enjoy!

[ColsCreations]

Finally got a chance to try the newest versions. Have only tried the Pinterest (Pansci) one so far but wow, you’ve outdone yourself with the Search results version. Here’s one I made using my store name as the search term, then using the cat filter to narrow it down to just tissue paper:
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/421719952623812867/

Here’s another one I made after searching for [tie dye pillows] then clicking the suggestion for “rainbow” then using the cat filter to narrow it down to just square pillows:
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/421719952623812905/

This is wonderful for targeting things that aren’t all in a specific category or collection and even from multiple stores. Would it be at all possible to make the pin title optionally editable?

Feedback on the Collections version in another reply.

[HightonRidley]

I’m really happy you’re loving it, @ColsCreations - and I’m loving those tissue papers

Unfortunately there’s nothing I can do about any of the text used in pins. It’s because Pinterest visits the link given and grabs the title and description from the page’s meta tags (stuff beihnd the scenes for others reading this).

I wish it were different but, hey ho!

[HightonRidley]

I’m in the process of tweaking again! Watch this space for news about a change that lets you do the magic on a public storefront.

[ColsCreations]

The Collection use is awesome too but for one reason that I realize is probably very specific to just me, I prefer the orig version.

In this screenshot, the pin made with the original version is on the right, the pin made with the latest version is on the left.

This is the Collection I was using. Since the Z Collection pages show four products across, I specifically made four pre-set color versions of each product. I have a couple of Collections like that. Even when color versions aren’t a factor, I try to organize my Collections in ways that make visual sense to me based on “groups” of four each. So,

In the orig version, you got static images of products 1-4 in the Collection (in order) plus the large animated square that cycles thru all the products. In the latest version, the first product (in this case the black version) becomes the animated square, and products 2-5 are the smaller static image squares. For me that breaks the cohesiveness of things so I did prefer the orig version where the animated square wasn’t doubling as the first product image causing the fifth product image to be added as the fourth smaller square.

I am watching this space, looking forward to seeing what you have up your sleeve before I start pinning anything besides just tests.

[HightonRidley]

Great feedback - thanks @ColsCreations  

Just to make sure I understand you properly - you’re suggesting that the 4 smaller images should always be the first 4 in the collection and the larger, animating one should then cycle through all of them starting at the first, yes?

[ColsCreations]

Yes, exactly.

[HightonRidley]

Give it a try now