Hi there. I don’t know if this has been mentioned before but when I add a listing there is no lino in the materials section. As a lino printer this would be another useful way to categorize our work and might help in search. at the minute I get these messages:
You added Lino . This material isn’t in our list but will be added to your item page.
If more people use Lino we’ll add it to our navigation.
You added Linoleum . This material isn’t in our list but will be added to your item page.
If more people use Linoleum we’ll add it to our navigation.
I would have thought there was enough linocuts on this site now to have had it added. Does Folksy have a certain number of listings it needs to have before looking at updating the materials section?
Good point. I varnish and mount my paintings but Folksy doesn’t recognise these as items. I’m not sure what difference it makes in the long run, but varnish and mounts are pretty basic materials.
I think perhaps the materials list is more geared to what customers would put in a search for a product rather than a true maker’s materials list, though I do agree with you that ‘lino’ as in lino cut is pretty well known even among non craftspeople. When I am listing my own materials, I include clay and stoneware clay, plus ceramic, and sometimes get the messages you describe, but I put them in anyway. I don’t really believe that many customers actually search using types of clay, and I don’t bother to include things like slip, underglaze colour, oxides or things like that, even though I may use them. I don’t know whether anyone knows for sure how the materials list works and why it is there, so would welcome advice if anyone does know!
PS, further to posting the above, I wondered if the materials list might have been designed by Folksy to help overseas buyers gain information about certain materials which may be restricted by the post services in their postal zone, and therefore would help them decide whether to buy or not. I was thinking of things like batteries etc Or if people suffer from allergies to certain materials.
Hi it doesn’t really matter though as you can type it in anyway. I actually find the specific colours list really aggravating. I just want Blue but Blue is not in the list… I have to have a qualified blue and if i forget when typing Blue to add a space on the end it picks up one of the qualified blue colours instead of the simple blue i want.
As for the lino material though, if you type it it will be accepted and as of course you will create any new listings by copying a similar one with lino in it you will only ever need to type it in once.
For how it works on Folksy it is no different whether you select a material/colour from the drop down or just type it in - they will all be included as tags on the item, it just saves a second on typing.
