I “slept on it” and came back this morning. If anything, I hate it even more.
The Folksy Front Page is equivalent to the large windows of a Department Store, which are arranged for the passer by to view what is available from the many departments inside. Our shops are basically equivalent to concessions within a department store, or small shops within a mall I suppose.
If Debenhams arranged their main windows in this chaotic fashion, everyone would be disgusted. It’s hideous, untidy, chaotic and unorganised. There appears to be no thought put into it - no design, no structure. The Debenhams window dresser would lose their job over something like this.
Also, as mentioned, the link buttons take potential customers right out of Folksy altogether. I raised this on Folksy Suggestions a long time ago. It is Important - Vital - that we Keep Customers Within Folksy, if we want sales! It’s not a big task to set the buttons up so that the link is opened in a new tab or window, leaving the original Folksy window still connected. This Must be put right, it really must. It’s definitely losing potential customers.
I’m sorry to be so negative - I am a chatterbox and I do leave comments in the forum; I do try to be positive and make useful remarks & helpful suggestions. However, this time I am so disgusted that I feel I must be very blunt. This is Not a good step for Folksy. It has no finesse, no design, nothing that should be expected from an online marketplace site who wishes to be ranked with the main contenders (I assume that is Folksy’s goal?).
I - along with hundreds of other “Plus” sellers - have paid a subscription to Folksy, to provide us with a service. We are Folksy’s Paying Customers. No-one asks us about these changes - they are imposed on us. This time, Folksy has really gone too far. The change is ridiculous and I’m disgusted. I am seriously considering closing my Folksy shop and leaving. It’s beyond a joke. I am really upset.
I’m the opposite, I’m growing to like it after watching it for far too long this morning! It reminds me of a craft fair, where you usually find an eclectic mix of things to look at, all mixed up and fighting for attention. I don’t like bland department stores where everything is neatly staged, I much prefer craft fairs and markets where I can stumble across something unusual and interesting, so this actually appeals to me more than the previous neatly curated selection of items. It will be interesting to see whether it leads to more sales or not.
…and I love being able to see what’s actually selling and being favourited - that’s so revealing! - and I’ve already looked at some new, very interesting shops because of it.
wooah that’s a bit strong @LizzieMade . using your analogy, we have a concession within the department store, and how the store decides to dress the window is really nothing to do with us.
folksy have listened to us - user curated collections were introduced (pinterest boards) and recently listed items were re-instated.
(although my personal opinion was the folksy-only curated collections in the past were awesome. and i’ve been loving the favourite finds.
of course, other opinion was that they were “unfair” or had too cohesive a look)
i’ve only seen the new look on my ipad as yet, and while i agree some of it seems a bit busy and i think the external links should be tucked away at the bottom (maybe in place of the “recently listed” bar ) i’m quite enjoying it.
i just emailed a friend to tell her 2 of her lampshades were on the front page “being sold” as i watched, and sure enough, as we were chatting, she got the sales notifications
I have to say I am loving it and I’m not one for change (hated the new forums at first but have now got used to it)
I like that the items change quite often which means I am seeing items I wouldn’t normally be looking at and I also like the ‘activity’ aspect as I think it shows the site is in use, people are listing, loving and buying. I have to admit, at the moment I’ve got a little obsessed and keep popping back to see what is showing
I do agree though that the social media links should open in a new window and not direct people away from Folksy.
Sorry James, I really don’t like it. I felt that you had completely “nailed it” with the last format.
My concerns are as follows ( these have all been raised by others … often more eloquently)
Links to: instagram, pinterest, twitter, Facebook etc … take up so much space and don’t take me to the unusual and beautiful objects I would like to look at and potentially buy (edit: oh they do … now I’m confused).
The teeny tiny images are utterly incomprehensible to me, even when viewed on a PC ( granted I have an eye condition … )
I have no interest in what has just been sold …
The # of people viewing thingy feels a bit ebay’ish
I do, however, like the work-shop images at the top of the page … it would be great if these could have a little refresh button.
Kate x
I absolutely love it - thank you so much. How it has been set out keeps the interest in my opinion, with the links to Pinterest, Twitter etc., thrown in. I also like the idea of showing what activity is happening, that keeps it vibrant and shows people are using the site. For business purposes, to see what’s actually sold is quite interesting - perhaps to see if there’s any trend at all to what people are looking for. It’s fresh and different … brilliant
Big thank you from Ellie’s Treasures (who will be coming out of holiday mode very very soon … promise!).
That’s an interesting POV @fionaT Fiona, I had forgotten about the Curated collections/Pinterest - good point, thank you!
Yes, putting the external link buttons away somewhere together might help a lot actually. It would reduce some of the cluttered feeling. I do like the “being sold”, “new listing” etc and the fact that there seems to be a better mix of items appearing. However, it is still too crowded and messy. The pictures are tiny… then there is the odd huge one.
I still stick by my view that our shops are equivalent to department store concessions - also that we didn’t really get any consultation before this change was made. It does still feel that things are being imposed, rather than introduced.
And I like “recently listed” - it’s now pushed so far down the frontpage, that I dont think many buyers would even notice it - same with the curated collections. They may well not realise it’s possible to scroll down.
Sorry… I just hate the new page layout and I’m still unhappy…
I think it’s a bit too busy. It did make me list something new just to get on the Front Page for 2 minutes! I do think that anything that takes you away is not a great idea - personally clicking to go and see what Folksy are doing on Pinterest would undoubtedly leave me distracted on Pinterest and not coming back to Folksy.
In all honesty if I got loads of sales I wouldn’t give a flying fiddle what it looked like but generally I suffer on here from Tumbleweed Syndrome. Anyway - enough waffling I need to hot foot it back to Etsy where I had 4 overnight sales! (2 for the whole of May on here!) Hey ho!
if i could choose, i’d have the whole front page themed and curated by folksy. i think @Folksycontent camilla has the most amazing eye for beautiful things and it should all be up to her.
i do find the recently sold/ listed images interesting, but i’d have them along the bottom so the rest of the collection has a more cohesive & styled look.
but as has already been established on the forums time and time again, as the old saying goes, “you can’t please none of people most of the time”
@KateBowles@fionaT I don’t vote for a Camilla Front Page as my item’s don’t fit the “Folksy” look! Featured sellers and future featured sellers would dominate totally and shops without the “look” would be left out in the cold even more.
PS Love both your shops btw, it’s just that already Featured shops like yours (with your lovely yellow stars) would feature more and shops like mine wouldn’t!
One person’s ‘beautiful’ is another’s ‘so-so’ or even ‘yuk’, so to leave it to one person to curate is fine if you share the same taste. Buyers come in all types, ages and styles - a single look will only appeal to a small number. Folksy have to create a site that generates more interest and more sales - that’s why we’re all here after all. If changing the layout and content helps achieve that, great - if not, back to the drawing board!
thanks @dottiedesigns . no, i know, why i said if had my way…
i know i’ve been fortunate enough to be picked for collections here 'n there, but zombies are a bit…erm…niche, so i suspect it’s more down to fluke photos that i do get picked
and like @ciesse says it’s all down to personal taste. so my own tastes aside, anything that draws potential customers in is a good thing. if that means a too busy, dynamic, smorgasboard front page then so be it.
I think having the massive pics against the Pinterest and Instagram banners is a bit confusing. All the other pics will take you to shop items. Those two take you away from Folksy. But it’s not obvious it’s going to. I would probably click the coloured banner if I wanted to go to the Pinterest or Instagram bits. I would expect clicking the pic to take me to the item. So I would make those two banners float like the Twitter and Facebook ones, and use those two photo slots for more product promotion to keep it all cohesive. And maybe try and clarify that the Bloom, Modern Rustic pic links into a collection/gift guide.
I looked at it again to day and it’s just as messy as my first impression. It’s not very well layed out it’s like a Scrap Patchwork Quit.
Nothing leads your eye like a well thought out page lay out does. It’s hectic and incohesive
Big photos and little groups of photos just says scrapbooking to me.
Outside links to social networking sites are far, far, far too prominent. You never want any thing that leads you away from Folksy you want people to stay on folksy when they find it.
Keep it simple plain and easy to view or people will turn away and look elsewhere to a site that is clear and simple and leads you about.
) i’m quite enjoying it.
