ZAZZLE! PLEASE listen to us! Re: Collection Covers

[Connie]

OK, this is going WAY too far! It's bad enough to substitute the collection cover images for the product images on search results pages. They are confusing to customers, who don't see the exact product that they are looking for, and instead see a mish-mash and bunch of clutter that they have to try to decipher what products are even relevant to their search. But apparently, our products don't even show up as individual products in our STORES!!!!!! (the public view). I happened to look at another designer's store, and there were several products with the same cover image, which turned out to be the collection cover that was substituted for the product cover images! So now even if someone goes right to our STORE, they won't be able to see the actual products!!!!!! PLEASE, ZAZZLE, Reconsider this awful change! Most of the collection changes have been good, but this one is just plain wrong!

[Wesha]

Hi Connie, am actually very confused with all the conversations going on about Cover image thing recently ... I had made some product cover images earlier but haven't made any collection cover yet ... is this essential to do for every collection ?

Will this affect the visibility and ranking of product in marketplace search ?

Would you please link one collection with proper Cover image for some idea ?

I know my queries are silly, but just want to clarify my confusions 🙂 

[Connie]

I'm sorry, I'm definitely NOT the one to ask these questions! Only Zazzle can answer them definitively.

[Cat]

Hmmm... well, I have only done 2 collection covers because I've been super confused about how they're used, plus, with everything else it hasn't risen to the top of my list. So this info is based on VERY limited experience, but this is my understanding (which could be wrong because, yes, this whole thing is clear as mud, as they say.)

First of all, the collection cover (or RealView) is only shown in search on items that you designate. For example in this collection Misty Blue Mountains Rustic Wedding Suite (zazzle.com) (which is a bit of a mess in terms of organization - don't judge me 😁)  I have the following RealView set as the default: 

Since that particular invitation doesn't have a cover yet, I went into the Zazzle Marketplace channel and set it to use the RealView instead of the product image in search: 

As far as I know, the only products that will show the collection cover instead of the product image in search are the ones that you choose on that screen. However, I searched for that invitation by name, and it still pulled up the product image rather than the RealView - so I don't know what that means. I think maybe they're still testing this feature?

Well anyhow, in terms of what's shown on the product page, my understanding is that the default collection cover (or RealView) will appear in the list for every product in that collection. The image is in the top slot of the list on the left (or if there's a product cover it's in the second spot), but it still brings up the individual product image (or cover) when you land on the page. If the ones you were seeing were defaulting to the collection cover, that's a BIG problem, IMHO. Anyhow, here's how it comes up on mine, and I think this is how it's supposed to work:

So, it's not like the collection cover replaces the product image, it's shown in addition. I do think it's problematic though, especially for collections with multiple invitations. 

For example, here's how the product page comes up for a different invitation from that collection. 

The correct invitation comes up, but the next image in the list is the RealView which features the other style of invitation, and I think that's super confusing for the customer. If I had my druthers, I'd make the RealView populate with whichever invitation is being viewed.

Anyhow, that's all I know. Hope that was helpful and not just blathering.

[Wesha]

Thank you so much Cat, for taking time to explain everything so nicely and precisely with images ... it really helps a lot to understand the Collection cover thing now 🙂

This inspires me to go and try if any Real view is applicable for my small wedding collections

[Connie]

I don't see anything wrong with showing the collection image along side the product images. And your example mostly just features the invitation anyway, so if they substitute it in search, or in your store, it isn't a problem. But when people have several items in their collection image, it is SUPER CONFUSING to see that show up in a search for the invitation, or any other individual product. It's even WORSE when it is substituted for the product image in our stores! (Not the product page itself, but in the grid of products in our store categories).

[Cat]

Oh, I see what you mean now! I didn't realize that the collection image was being used in the product listings in our stores - I thought you were just referring to the thing on the product page. Hmmm... Presumably (hopefully) that's only on the products that we've chosen to show the collection image instead of the product image?

I don't know. Honestly, I'm still on the fence with all of this collection cover stuff - especially in terms of using it in place of the product image. I think (hope) that they're still testing that feature, and that they won't implement it unless it's proven to increase sales because I do think that it's confusing. 

Somewhere in one of these threads I saw some examples where people were using a collection cover that had text saying something about coordinating products, and then just a simple grid with 4 or 6 product shown. That makes sense to me, at least for something in the list on the product page. But in terms of using something like that in the search... I'm super skeptical. 

[ColsCreations]

Your post reminded me that a while back I stumbled on one of my own products in the MP showing the Collection cover instead of the product thumb. 😮 With your info at hand I went looking through my Collections. I only have two cross-sell collections (one wedding, one holiday) that show as the new pod way on the product pages. For those, everything you said here is correct. I just want to add that by default, it has the first four images in the Collection checked to show the Collection cover instead of the product thumb in search results. So if one does not want this happening you have to go in and manually un-check those. Which I did. So thanks for the reminder and the helpful information.

Also to add: When viewing the Collection pod on the product page, the first thumb on the left is the primary Collection cover. (Uh, mine are all very old, made long before all these changes started so yeah, don't judge LOL.) Then it shows covers for products within the collection. I find that really weird. I would think this is where they would show the "up to 10 images or videos" media files you can add for each Collection.

We have product covers and Collection "covers" and it is really seeming like Z is h-bent on intentionally mixing them up, showing Collection covers where it should just be a product cover, and showing product covers where it should only be Collection covers.
It should be really simple:
* Make product covers that showcase just that one product and add them via the Media Manager tab on the product page.
* Make Collection covers showcasing multiple products and add them via the Media section on the Collections Management page. (Or enable a RealView if applicable)
* Then only display each in the appropriate places, quit creating all this confusion by mixing them up.

Also also also, the collection you linked above isn't showing any Collection cover.

This is some in-between layout where you get the pod style but without a big cover image and I actually find this preferable as it shows EIGHT products instead of just the four shown when a cover is there, and without any confusing thumbs down the left. I'm going to change my two mentioned cross-sell collections to something else so they go back to the old classic "other products from this collection scroll" instead of the POD style, but this would be my second choice if I had one so anything you can add about what you did / didn't do to this Collection to make it appear this way would be insightful.

[Cat]

I'm not entirely sure what I did to make the collection POD display this way - except that I didn't make my own cover, I just enabled the RealView (which I did mostly because Zazzle asked us to enable some and to set some products to use the them in search so they could test it - so I was being a good sport & trying to keep an open mind.)

So I don't know if that behavior will "stick" once they fully roll out this RealView stuff or what. But for sure, if you don't make a collection cover and don't enable any RealViews, you'll get this sort of POD (for cross-sell collections), and I too like it much better than the ones with the covers because all of the images are clickable. Somebody somewhere in one of the gazillions of threads on this topic noted that the collection covers and images that appear on the left aren't clickable - all you can do is look at them, but they don't take you to the collection or the products. She didn't realize that ANY of the previews shown in the POD were clickable because she didn't differentiate between the ones on the left and the ones on the right. I have to wonder how many customers are assuming the same thing and don't know how to actually get to any of the products shown in the POD. Oy Vay!

This is sort of an aside, but in writing this it occurred to me that part of the reason we're all so confused and frustrated is that things seem to be in a perpetual state of flux. We're never sure how things are supposed to work because they're only partially enabling these features, so some people get one sort of functionality and other people get a different one. I know these are big complicated changes, and I know they want to test things before they fully roll out these sorts of features, and I think that's valid. But it does leave all of us feeling like we're swimming around in the dark trying to figure out what's going on and what's the best use of our time.

[Connie]

I also prefer that layout without the big cover images, because it actually shows more of the different products in the collections!

[Waqar_Muhammad]

It seems you're asking about why Zazzle displays collection covers instead of individual product covers in search results, which can be confusing for customers.

In response, this display setting is actually controlled by the store owner. They have the option to choose whether they want to showcase the collection cover image for each product or not. This can be adjusted for all products in a collection or for specific ones.

If you prefer not to display the collection cover for products in search results, you can simply uncheck the corresponding option in the collection management settings. I've personally done this for one of my collections, as shown.

[Wesha]

Thanks a lot @Waqar_Muhammad  for pointing it out, it really helped 🙂

[Laura-LiseWong]

Turning that function off seems like the entire collection will no longer be available in the marketplace. I could be wrong though.

[Sara_H]

@Laura-LiseWong I don't think @Waqar_Muhammad is suggesting turning off the collection completely (via the green enabled button) - just unchecking the selected products (under the 'Select 10 representative products for search' section)  that are being overridden by the collection photo in the marketplace.

I've unselected those that were affected as I didn't think my collection cover photo enhanced the customer's experience 😂 and my individual product photos are nicer 🤣

Switching off that function doesn't make the entire collection/products no longer available in search - It just switches off the collection cover image showing instead of the product cover images - the products will still appear as they did before

[Waqar_Muhammad]

You're correct; I didn't specify disabling the entire collection. Rather, I suggested unchecking specific products if you prefer them not to showcase the collection cover instead of the product cover in search results. This way, you can selectively choose which products display the collection cover, ensuring a tailored presentation that aligns with your preferences and enhances the browsing experience for customers.

[Sq]

Thanks!  So helpful.

[TMGEE]

Thanks, Waqar and Sara, for this very helpful clarification. This thing is getting so complex that we have to read several times what's to be done or not to make sure we understand what it means and the impact it will have on our products and collections. OMG, someone is overthinking this at Zazzle... Sometimes, keeping it simple is the best solution.

[Connie]

Thank you. Somewhere in my overwhelmed brain I DID know that! But will Zazzle override that automatically? I've seen a lot of collection covers being shown in search that don't even feature the product that it's substituted for! Did the designer actually select that option, or is it some sort of automated thing that Zazzle turned on by default?

[Cat]

A while back when all this first started I added a cover to one collection just to test this all out, and then when I went to the marketplace channel, it had automatically checked the first 10 items to show the collection cover instead of the product image. But, last week when I enabled some RealViews and then went to that section, nothing was checked by default. I'm not sure what that means - hopefully checking them automatically was a bug and they've now fixed it?

Maybe that explains stuff in the marketplace that's inappropriately showing a collection cover? Or maybe it's just that people didn't understand that feature? 

Not sure, but it's worth checking your collections if you're concerned about it.