I’m hoping someone can help me understand what the “Invites” section in our community profile is supposed to do. When I first saw it, I honestly thought, “ maybe this is another place to upload my favorite invitations so they show up in my profile along with badges and activity.”
But… that’s not it.
It doesn’t seem to be a promotional tool, it doesn’t connect to our store profile, and it doesn’t display any of our actual invitation products. Mine just says “No invites to display,” and I’m not sure what I’m supposed to be uploading or sharing there if anything.
Is this meant for inviting other people to join the community? What people, customers friends’ My mom? My dentist? The mailman? Is it something we’re supposed to use? Or is it just an optional feature that doesn’t really affect our stores?
This new community layout definitely has a learning curve, and I feel like I’m missing the purpose of this option. What are you all doing with it?
Thanks for the reply I’m still trying to understand how this feature is meant to be used. All customers already have Zazzle accounts, so they’re technically members by default. That makes me wonder even more who this “Invite members” option is actually intended for.
Are you inviting other POD creators? Collaborators? Friends who want to start designing? I’m curious because I can’t think of anyone in my own workflow who would need this.
This community board is made with a open source software named Discourse.
I think the invite option can make sense in several situations, even if
the person is not already an active Zazzle Community member.
For example, a support team could create one public answer to a question
that many customers ask. Instead of writing the same explanation again and
again by email, they could send the customer an invitation or a link and say:
“We have added a detailed answer here for you and for other customers who may
have the same question.”
It could also be useful for a specific discussion between a customer, a
designer, a reseller, an Ambassador, or a Zazzle team member. Someone could
be invited because they have relevant experience, need to provide feedback,
or asked for help with a particular product or feature.
For creators, it could also be useful when working with someone who promotes
their products. A creator could point an Ambassador or reseller to one
discussion containing instructions, product information, image guidance, or
link information.
The Community is public, and Discourse is a general open-source forum system,
not software built only for Zazzle creators. An invite feature may therefore
exist as part of the forum platform even if most Zazzle users will never need
it. It does not have to be connected only to existing Zazzle member accounts
to have a purpose.
So I would not assume that the feature is unnecessary simply because it is
not useful for every normal creator interaction. It could be especially useful
for support, collaboration, feedback, external contributors, and people who
need an answer but are not yet Community members.
The invitation gives you a way to register for the Zazzle
After following the first registration steps, you can view the Community board.
However, I still do not appear to have permission to post or reply.
I also cannot access the Pro Seller area.
So the invite feature may be useful for introducing a newcomer to the
Community or directing someone to a particular discussion. It seems to be a
standard Discourse feature rather than something created specifically for
Zazzle.
For public topics, a normal link may be enough if someone only needs to read
an answer. An invitation could be more useful when someone needs to create an
account, participate in a discussion, or potentially receive access to a
restricted area.
Of course, just because the option exists does not mean that everyone needs to
use it. I only wanted to understand what it does.
Here is what I can see after using the invitation. I did not complete the full
registration process, so it is possible that my display name or account setup
is not finished yet.
