What do you think about the Showcase category?

This is a bit more of a serious question, so please take a bit of time to think about it before you reply. I’ll ask about this on the old forums too so everyone can comment on it.

###Showcase / Craft Talk / Other
We’d like to encourage more discussion about craft and making on the forums. Craft Talk seems to be the obvious category for this, but we’ve noticed that the current Craft Talk forum has become dominated by promotional threads in the last couple of years.

That’s fine - we’re happy for sellers to continue sharing new listings, but we’re wondering if it might be better for buyers/non-sellers visiting the forums to have all promotional/ threads in a category called ‘Showcase’.

We envision this to be a kind of ‘Show & tell’ category to replace the underused ‘Offers & promotions’ forum, which we can place at the top of the Categories list so it’s more prominent for buyers. We could then encourage craft/making chat in Craft Talk. (Louisa, you might be one of the best people to answer this!)

What about the mutual support threads like the Daily ACEO & Art thread or the Listings Challenge Club. Should they go in Craft Talk, Showcase, or in another (new) Category - if so, what would you call it? (Natalie, Stephanie and Hazel - you might be good people to answer this!)

We’ve organised it like that to begin with so you can see what we mean, but it can be changed to go with the general consensus.

What do you think?

Wow! I like this new forum! It’ll take a little while to get used to it, but that’s ok. The Showcase category sounds excellent! I would have thought the Listings Challenge Club would be right at home there…

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I think showcase is a more appealing name than ‘promotions’. I suppose the acid test will be whether people feel their posts are being noticed here.

Is there a way of controlling the size of the photos that you post? Or is that down to the size they were uploaded at? They come up a bit big and ‘in your face’ for my baby laptop.

I think Showcase is a far better name than promotions and it would be an ideal home for the Daily listings and the Art thread. Hopefully it would prevent the promotional forum being so underused and also free up the Craft Talk forum for thread about actual crafting rather than all the what have you listed today etc threads.
When I’m looking for things to potentially purchase, having one place (Showcase) is easier than having to go to Craft Talk to check the daily/monthly threads there, and remember to go to the promotions forum as well to check out the special offers. Much better for buyers I’d say.

Absolutely. Showcase is perfect - it covers all the daily listing type threads and promotions too. I tended not to join in with the promotions forum simply because I had to remember to go visit it. And when all the chat was happening in craft talk, that was where I hung out.

Craft talk should definitely stay too - we can ask each other for advise in there - which is what a lot of folksy is about for me, it’s a community, not just a selling forum.

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I agree. Showcase is a great name.

I agree completely with Stephie on this one - Showcase is a great name, but we need Craft Talk as well

I very much like the idea of both. Many of you will know I’m not a fan of TVPs (thinly veiled promotions - threads that purport to be discussions but are really to show off the poster’s products) when they come on to the shop talk forum.

However - I totally understand why people do it, it’s because they don’t get seen on the promotions board.

“Showcase” sounds so much friendlier and appealing, I think the very name “promotions” is a bit off-putting to the british temperament! I rarely visit the current Craft Talk because I’m not part of the very active daily/weekly/whatever listings clubs.

Returning Craft Talk to its origins, chatting and asking questions about crafts, would be great!

Great, unless there’s any strong objection objection, I guess we should try Showcase for a bit and see how it goes. We can also create subcategories within Showcase if needed (Special offers, competitions etc., it’s likely we’d only create these if/when there was enough demand for them)

We’re definitely keeping Craft Talk!

While we’re here, is there anything else about the way the old forum Categories are named/organised that has been bothering you?

As you’re asking - the very fact that the link at the bottom of the page says “seller forums” is misleading I think. I know it gets Louisa15’s goat!

I like “time for a cuppa” sometimes, I wouldn’t want to see that go :wink:

And I’ve just looked in supplies and materials and it’s pretty much full of promotions by supplies sellers. I had thought it was intended to be more general - sort of “which type of yarn do you find best for socks” or whatever, rather than “look I’ve got a sale on for beads”

though I guess both “fit”, though it seems the promotional threads are very much dominant. Maybe, within showcase, it’d be worth having a distinct section for supply promotions? What does anyone else think? The comments and views are very low in supplies forum, so they’re not working for those who are trying to promote and presumably not useful to those who actually want to ask a question there?

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Yes that’s right Nifty, calling it the seller’s forum makes me wonder if I’m supposed to be there (though I gatecrash anyway). Must surely put other buyers off too. I would have thought you’d want to encourage buyers to the forums as they are (an essential!) part of the Folksy community too.

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Certainly all the people who post promotions must be wanting to see buyers in the forums… :wink:

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I wonder if maybe some of the inappropriate posts that appear every now and then are because sellers are misled by the “seller forum” title to think it’s ONLY for sellers and therefore it’s ok? Folksy Forums would be a better title I think. I am not a fan of “folksiers” or other nicknames for the community, and indeed that might make people feel excluded too, thinking they had to be members of a special group!

(I’m not thinking of anything in particular, just the occasional indiscretion, maybe a rant of some sort)

I quite like “Talk Folksy” as it’s named now.

I agree, Talk Folksy is perfect.

I like it too :slight_smile: It’s inviting to both buyers and sellers, and makes you feel you can find out more about Folksy and the people who use Folksy :slight_smile:

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I wondered if there should be a specific “Buyers” category ?
They could post their requests for wanted and customised items in there for starters -
eg. does anyone make a bright pink ballaclava with a beard as I have desperate need of one :slight_smile:

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That’s quite a good idea Joy. I started a thread once when I wanted a couple of mobile phone cases and thought rather than searching I’d ask what people had and that worked well. I’ve thought sometimes of asking about customised cards on occasion too. Would be good to have a category to put those kinds of requests but I wonder if there would be enough of them to warrant a whole section.

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What about a ‘Wanted’ category (or better name)? Could also include topics for people looking for supplies and materials recommendations (so remove the supplies and materials category?)

Just a thought. Happy to have that idea thrown out!

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hadn’t even noticed it’s called that! I thought we were still talking about the old forum titles. I’m REALLY observant today - not!