I will get another gin
Perhaps I should try removing my shop altogether
If I just type in Bear, yes, I get a few shops with the word bear in their name, but I also got JoysofGlass!!!
Not all shops with Bear show up
If I type in Patchwork, I get some shops with the word patchwork in their name as you would hope, and then a few who havent but yes, seem to sell patchwork ( though not my shop) and also… JoysofGlass!
So, Joy, seems your shop is very “searchable” under all sorts of words, just not under Joy or glass…
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I have this in my about me…
it. I cannot bear to throw even the tiniest scrap away.
THAT is a wonderful example of exactly how stupid the shop search is. Couldn’t have found a better !
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Ah that was when i was checking out what i discovered. That the shop search looks in your about me so i added a few random words…all things i make, i do have several patchwork suncatchers…
Even makes me wonder if it only searches the about me and doesnt bother with your actual shop name !!!
Not sure whether i am sobbing or laughing hyserically. @Bearlescent please have a gin for me as i don’t, Make it a double :)!
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Oooh ok will make it a double Joy
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I recently discovered that shops in holiday mode are invisible. Does that explain your absence, Debby?. Francis @thatenamelguy does not appear if you type in his shop name either, but I have reappeared since I came out of holiday mode. I don’t think it’s acceptable, since a customer searching for a particular shop and not finding it may well never try again. Nor do I think it acceptable that if the shop is closed and you DO happen to manage to get into it you are directed to other shops, because you have ‘just missed it’.
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It’s not acceptable at all especially considering the wooden spoon that we are presented with every time we go to search is actually ‘unavailable’ as are the other items in that shop. Perhaps I should hide all my items and leave my shop open then I will be visible. I will try that, sick of this one rule for one shop and another for the rest of us that seems to have been happening over the past few weeks.
Holiday mode use to mean your items were invisible when people searched for eg a bear but now when I type my shop name in the search there are no results. However considering I have been blind for over 2 weeks when I was open it won’t actually make much difference.
Yes I have put mine on holiday @XStitcherJoss and don’t usually bother when I go to Whitby but there’s no point in keeping it open.
I actually think it is time this invisibility of shops stopped when we are on holiday mode @folksy why does that need to happen ?, why can’t shops stay visible with a note on their shop front saying they are on holiday, It is very unfair especially as for 2 weeks one shop on holiday dominated the search I kept trying.
I had better leave this thread again before I get utterly p…. off with it, only meant to pop by to see if anymore progress was being made but clearly not.
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Had enough of it Joy, what’s the point in being on here anymore ..i am going to add a paragraph to my about section with loads of random c..p and see if that works…had a double for you, need another for myself now x
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I’ve been reading this thread with interest since the search function changed. I’ve not until now commented here as pretty much everything I would have said has already been said but, having just read Debby’s comment about a shop being in holiday mode not showing up in a search I’ve now got to put my penny worth in.
For my birthday at the beginning of the month the hubster decided to treat me to something from folksy that I’ve shown him quite a few times ( he’s been well trained over the years!) He visited the shop but couldn’t find the item. He then sent a message to the seller who despite having her shop in ‘holiday mode’ while she’s doing fair prep, got back to him and said she could make the item he wanted. The seller is the lovely Jenny @jennynewallstainedglass and while I would be over the moon to have any of her birds he picked me the Blackbird which is my most favourite as it reminds me of my Mum.
So, anyway, fast forward from then to about a week ago and I wanted to share my blackbird on Insta so to make sure I got Jenny’s details I tried to find her shop. No luck what so ever no matter what I put in the search box. I ended up going to Google to search and then could access her shop here.
I assumed some sort of glitch or me just doing something wrong until now. Sorry Folksy but there is no explanation or reason you can give for not being able to find a shop that’s in ‘holiday mode’ when doing a search for that shop. If I was walking down the high street and a shop wasn’t open I’d still be able to look in the window, I’d still know that shop existed even when closed. YOU are our high street. If we’re on holiday, taking a break or whatever somebody ‘walking down the high street’ should still be able to look in our window! We shouldn’t just vanish.
If I was paying my rent for my shop to my local council and they made my shop disappear if closed while I took a break I’d be wanting a refund of rent! Are you going to refund ‘rent’ to those with disappearing shops?
Also, now I’m annoyed, let me tell you that for the first time in over 18 months I didn’t do my Folksy Friday board last Friday as I really couldn’t find anything I wanted to find. 18 months of Folksy Fridays! I really can’t be the only person either as I had hardly any boards show in my Insta feed last Friday. I’m just going to make a cup of tea and try to use search for tomorrow’s board although I’ve a feeling despite the changes nothing has really changed.
Sorry for the rather long rant. I’m usually quite a calm person but once I’ve got a bee in my bonnet I could go on forever!
Louise x
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It’s a cluster.
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Same for me, put my shop on holiday mode today as I won’t be around for a week and it’s vanished !
It is concerning because I have been putting a lot of time in to my Instagram recently and if people want a look even if they can’t buy until I am back and they can’t find me it looks bad 
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Well said Louise, what a messing around to find thr item you loved on folksy, most buyers wouldn’t bother they would just think the shop had closed and left Folksy and these are reasons why people shop elsewhere.
I have been on Folksy since Autumn 2018 and do get involved with the forum but this is the first time in all these years that I am literally at screaching point, I have supported Folksy since I joined like everyone else does but I am honestly now close to closing my shop on here. This has been diabolical, the words I really want to write would not be acceptable so I am havìng to bite my tongue very hard, this is the last straw, I do not understand why making shops completely invisible is helpful for sellers or for Folksy. This has been an absolute waste of 2.5 weeks not to mention the lack of sales, if Folksy look at my sales record they will find £150 is pretty c..p, I am growing close to moving elsewhere. Now I am signing off before my mood spoils the rest of my night.
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Even if they do somehow manage to claw their way out of this farcical situation, you should still have other avenues. Pinning an entire business on one unreliable platform is a very bad strategy.
To add, this is a general comment - that everyone should have more than one avenue - not a criticism of you.
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I’ve not visited folksy for a couple of days because I’ve been disillusioned with the search, but catching up on the things some of you have written in this feed, I did a few experiments of my own.
Firstly, I searched for wooden duck…. 208 pages. Not really believing that there were that many wooden duck listings in folksy, I jumped to the last page and there were some interesting wall art pictures which I’m sure are copyrighted so I’ve reported them. Obviously I wasn’t intending to search for copyrighted items, but I guess in that instance my search was successful 
I then searched for bamboo duck. Not only did a “ Fabric crossbody bag with zipped pocket on front” appear before a “bamboo duckling”, but having jumped to the last page (only 50 pages this time) I found some lovely bee earrings. I looked at the listing and couldn’t find the words bamboo or duck anywhere, however, I did find “duck” in the shop name 
Okay, I thought, let’s type in Oasis (part of my shop name) in the search field. This time only 2 pages of listings but you can guess what the first page contained… yep, Liam and Noel everywhere. The last shop showed a lovely card of the Swindon skyline which happened to mention “oasis leisure centre” in the description. Unfortunately it showed nothing from my own shop where I have a few listings containing my shop name as a tag. Hey-ho. Guess I still won’t be listing any new items until the search has improved. Good job I don’t have all my eggs in one basket and sell elsewhere.
PS… although the “explore our gift guide” banner is smaller it really shouldn’t be there at all… there’s already “a selection of our gift ideas” section on the main Home Screen. If I went to search, I’d be searching for something specific not just something off chance.
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PS You think you had problems with your search. I just wondered if there was anything to inspire me for a ‘30th wedding anniversary’ gift for Bob and I (we couldn’t celebrate our 25th Silver as right in the middle of lockdown),
208 pages… who would have thought so many peope would be looking for that 
Found a " Blush opal stained glass paw decoration - dog lover gift"
How handy !
Think he would divorce me if i gave him that !!
Not sure he would be impressed with a birthday card, a Christmas card or a sparkly pink bead bracelet either for that matter.
The oddest find was possibly the Gluten Free Cookies…
I did look on E** and they had just 20 pages of suggestions and to be honest there was nothing there at all out of place for my search and certainly nothing dog related.
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Well I suppose there is always a bright side Joy @JOYSofGLASS - at least Folksy search results are giving us a good laugh!!
I am struggling to think how such a search algorithm has been written - how many hours have we all spent making sure our titles/descriptions/keywords are stuffed with keywords as instructed by Folksy only to become invisible overnight.
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Having 208 pages isn’t a problem as long as ALL the relevant items that are on Folksy are shown first, it doesn’t really matter if any remaining pages are filled up with irrelevant ones.
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Speaking as ‘a customer’ it really did matter. After scrolling 6 or 7 pages of clumped together pearl earrings and cufflinks with coins in and cards ( which I had not asked for) … I did flick to the end . Where I randomly found page after page of paintings by the same seller .. no idea why, maybe they have an 'anniversary ’ word in there somewhere.
But that is desperate. As I had 3 words in my search term and obviously wanted all three not just the one.
How silly , what sort of search is this and what a waste of time thought I and left – for E. Yes I found nothing there either but was not appalled by any clumping and desperate suggestions .
Customer perceptions matter. Very much. I felt I was being treated by 208 pages of not at all useful search,a little like a fool . Not Folksy fault that there is nothing suitable for my taste don’t keep pestering me with totally out of context suggestions.
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