Although Etsy warned us of major forum changes back in January, signing on yesterday still made me feel as if I'd risen from a deep slumber and zombies had taken over the world. Trying to figure out what had happened made my brain hurt. We were told several of the forum sections would be migrated to teams instead, but the ones that have always been the most helpful in sharing my work and making me smile (Promotions and Etc) were not mentioned in the original announcement I read, so I wrongly assumed they'd be left as is. Not so. Every single thread in both categories are now locked with the cheery message of "You don't have permission to participate in this discussion."
When picking through the rotting flesh of what's left of the Etsy Forums to see where I'm supposed to shamelessly promote my art now, the only instruction I could find was to join a team and start a discussion on its personal forum board. I am already a part of several teams, and they're an excellent tool in meeting supportive souls with like interests. However, all of mine have less than 200 members each, and only a fraction of the members actually participate on a daily basis. I glanced at the Team directory and there's 140 pages of teams, with no option that I can see to sort by member amount. Quantity can come in handy! The great thing about the original Etsy Forums was that because there were thousands of people with access to the broad range of topics, there was always someone around to share new insight or creations within moments of a post. Now not so much.
I do hope Etsy rethinks their decision to fragment their handmade community. But I'm not going to hold my breath! A group of Etsy sellers had the brilliant idea to start an Unofficial Etsy Forums board with sections modeled after the old Etsy Forums.
EDIT: Due to circumstances I'm not familiar enough with to explain, the Unofficial Etsy Forums burst into flames and rose from the ashes as the Creative Breakroom. The name change is smart - now anyone will feel welcome there, no matter what handmade venue they prefer to use.
When picking through the rotting flesh of what's left of the Etsy Forums to see where I'm supposed to shamelessly promote my art now, the only instruction I could find was to join a team and start a discussion on its personal forum board. I am already a part of several teams, and they're an excellent tool in meeting supportive souls with like interests. However, all of mine have less than 200 members each, and only a fraction of the members actually participate on a daily basis. I glanced at the Team directory and there's 140 pages of teams, with no option that I can see to sort by member amount. Quantity can come in handy! The great thing about the original Etsy Forums was that because there were thousands of people with access to the broad range of topics, there was always someone around to share new insight or creations within moments of a post. Now not so much.
I do hope Etsy rethinks their decision to fragment their handmade community. But I'm not going to hold my breath! A group of Etsy sellers had the brilliant idea to start an Unofficial Etsy Forums board with sections modeled after the old Etsy Forums.
EDIT: Due to circumstances I'm not familiar enough with to explain, the Unofficial Etsy Forums burst into flames and rose from the ashes as the Creative Breakroom. The name change is smart - now anyone will feel welcome there, no matter what handmade venue they prefer to use.
I've joined the UEF too...I don't know what Etsy is thinking these days. I haven't been receiving emails from them for over a week...along with many other Earthlink customers...and so far it's like Too bad so sad...we're working on it. Sheesh.
ReplyDeletePersonally I like the UEF format better because the forum tools are pretty standard and allow for editing or deleting of comments, which is problematic with Etsy's format. It's also nice to be able to customize your signature to link to your shop on Etsy AND Artfire, or independent website or blog.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this! I was confused today when i went to the etsy forums for the first time in forever and got the "you aren't allowed to participate in this discussion message." Glad to know that it isn't just me ;o)
ReplyDeleteJust signed up for the unofficial forums. Good stuff.
When someone told me that Etsy was changing their forums I never thought they would be taking the HEART out of it. Silly people! Hope they rethink. I will be popping over to UEF in the hope of seeing all my regular Etsy friends, thanks so much for sharing :)
ReplyDeleteHave a lovely weekend, T. :)
I know! I was very disappointed to see Etsy let that go! Thanks for sharing the link though..I will definitely be checking that out.
ReplyDeleteIt's sad what happened to the forums. I joined UEF but how will buyers who are not sellers find us. Most of my sales came from the promotions forum from buyers only.
ReplyDeleteI will check UEF. I believe that the teams will still have public threads so I am just waiting to see how it is after the dust has settled.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that all of you are going to check out UEF! I was dreading that I would not see your posts ever again.
ReplyDeleteAndrea Kiss - I had the same thought! When I signed on Friday night and did my usual search of "blogs", I thought it was only me that had been blocked. I can see that message causing a lot of confusion to everyone, but buyers especially that find their way to the forums.
Marlene - the teams do have public threads and they all show up in the Forum Thread search. However, when you click a thread you're interested in, that same message shows up that you don't have permission to post. It doesn't tell you why or that you have to join that specific team. You can find out what team it is and apply by following the tiny path that shows up underneath the Etsy navigation (ie. Home > Community > Forums > Discussion > Thread Name ) and clicking the Discussion link - but how many people are going to accidentally discover that like I did!? And even if they do, many teams are juried and it may take over a month to be accepted.
Thanks for posting this!
ReplyDeleteThe new forum structure is confusing and hard to use. I can't imagine how off-putting this will be for newbies or those who pop in every so often to ask questions or get advice. I don't see this as a great idea for building the socializing community that Etsy seems so focused on.
ReplyDeleteI've signed up at the UEF, but haven't been over there much. Everything seems too scattered at the moment, but the UEF is a great answer to what is now missing from the Etsy site.
I joined UEF too, see you all there!
ReplyDeleteI'm not a big fan of proboards. I actually sifted through all the team pages on Etsy (when there were 138) and I saw a number of purely promo teams and purely treasury teams too.
ReplyDeleteChange can be rough. I think I need to stick it out a while longer before I decide.
Thanks for this post and the advice. I think I will check out the Unofficial Etsy Forums.
ReplyDelete:)
Denise
from
BeadedEmbellishments
http://www.etsy.com/shop/beadedembellishments
http://beadedembellishments.blogspot.com/
Fairy Cardmaker - I'm not abandoning all hope for the Etsy Forums yet, just broadening my horizons. I did join the Etsy Business Topics Team, as it looks like that forum will continue to be of use in advice, namely because it's still linked through the Forums page and easy to find for more users. If Etsy had set up an official team like that for the Promotions and Etc forums, I'd be a much happier camper.
ReplyDeleteOh my, I haven't been very active on Etsy lately but I've read from other blogs too about what's going on... Luckily there is an option, that UEF sounds goooood! Have to join. Thank you for information!
ReplyDeleteI don't like the new way Etsy is doing things either. It's like segregation!
ReplyDeleteThanks again for the heads up, Kristin. I have signed up at UEF and am looking forward to participating.
ReplyDelete