Collection updates on the horizon

[Scott]

Hey everyone, we wanted to let you know about something exciting that you'll be seeing real soon. We posted an article in the News section (link), but figured that we'd start a discussion here so that everyone was aware. When we have more information we'll be sure to share it!

Edit July 24th: We've opened a new discussion forum for conversation relating to Collections Types: https://community.zazzle.com/t5/new-collection-types-information/bd-p/collections

[CrazyMermaid]

I am trying to get my personalized cookies out of Bonus Purgatory. The bread crumb implies it belongs here: Matching results from: Home & Living > Food & Drink > Baked Goods. However when I go to edit details to put it there. I can't find that category. There is no Food and Drink listed under Home&Living. I see Bath & Beauty, Bedding, Garage & Automotive, Garden & Outdoor, Health & Personal Care, Home Decor, Kitchen & Dining, Memorials & Keepsakes, Pet Supplies, Storage & Organization, Other. Am I doing this wrong?

[Kate3]

Same here. 😕

[Laura]

Right, Home & Living > Food & Drink > Baked Goods along with several other department tree categories don't exist. I've listed them earlier in this thread and a few when I first repled to this thread here: https://community.zazzle.com/t5/ask-a-question/envelopes-for-a-wedding-suite/td-p/94330 

[CrazyMermaid]

Thank you for preserving my sanity.

[Cat]

I have a few issues, suggestions & requests with Wedding Cross Sell Collections

First of all, I LOVE how we can now separate the products into different sections. I'm not sure this feature is entirely rolled out yet but here's a list of my issues/suggestions/requests

1) Currently there is no way for the customer to filter the collection by section - that would be extremely helpful
2) If these collections are going to be presented so that the items are grouped (like sub-sections or something) it would be great if the 300 item limit could be lifted so that large wedding collections didn't have to be broken up into separate collections (I have some where the seating charts and/or favors had to be broken into separate collections because I was over the 300 item limit.)
3) There doesn't seem to be any way to manually assign a product to a section - this would be really useful for when the automated process gets it wrong - which it seems to do even when the category assignment is correct.
4) A few obvious sections seem to have been omitted, and some products seem to end up in the bonus section when they clearly belong in one of the existing sections. These include:

- wedding gifts and favors should have their own section (stuff like keychains, can coolers, flip flops, tote bags, chocolate bars, etc.)
- bridal party proposal cards & gifts should have their own section
- envelopes should be grouped with envelope liners
- rsvp envelopes should be grouped with rsvp cards
- napkin bands should be grouped with napkins
- signs made on the plaque product should be grouped with tabletop signs
- signs made on the foam core board product should be grouped with large signs/banners (these are all over the place at the moment - some are even missing from the collections altogether!)

That's all I've got at the moment, but I'm sure I'll come across more "issues!"

[LMGildersleeve]

Feedback Form

[Cat]

Thanks! Where on earth did you find that?

[Sandra-]

It’s in Zazzle’s announcement (under number 4) https://community.zazzle.com/t5/creator-news/it-s-here-enhance-your-collections-with-new-tools-and-f... 

[Cat]

Thank you! I completely missed that announcement and I swear I looked for it! Hmmmmm...

[Pixelan]

For now I have those foam core boards (wedding welcome signs) under "Weddings > Décor & Party Supplies > Décor > Wedding Signs > Posters & Prints" so they will appear in the "Large Wedding Signs" slot. It's the closest matching, better would be if they'll add "..Wedding Signs > Foam Boards".

[klstock]

Suggestions: 1. There should be a general birthday category under occasions - not specific to kids or adults.

Some designs work well for both and it would be redundant to make two different collections repeating all the items when the template is already set up for the customer to simply personalize it with the age/birthday number. 

2. Product Type - There should be an option that would accommodate a collection that has different designs on different products but for the same overall purpose.

An example would be that I have a collection for "Beach House Vacation Rental" that features items someone would buy for their vacation rental property such as guest books, guest information folders, some decor items, etc. There is not an accurate product type for these because they are on different products with different designs - but they are for the same purpose. 

[KeegansCreation]

I agree that a generic Birthday is needed. Sweet Sixteen was brought up elsewhere. I'm also thinking of sports themes that are not cutesy. A baseball birthday theme for a 4 year old and a 14 year old are going to look very different and the one for a 14 year old could work for a 30 year old. 

Also agree that there are many, many cross-sell collections that aren't tied to parties, such as your vacation rental example as well as many business branding examples.

[Connie]

You can choose Cross-sell for "Business & Corporate." It just puts all the products in the "bonus" section, which is no big deal. Those sections are just for our use, and have nothing to do with customers.

[BevStuff]

I agree.

[LMGildersleeve]

Feedback form

[klstock]

thanks! 

[Connie]

I KNEW IT! I was afraid they'd be pushing cover photos for collections also, and sure enough, they are! Does Zazzle think we have AI managing our stores or something? There's only so many hours in a day, and I'm already working non-stop trying to add cover photos to all my products, as well as hopefully being able to design a few new things now and then. How am I supposed to find time to make collection cover photos, which are even more complex because they have to incorporate multiple different products???? 😓😢

[LMGildersleeve]

You don't need to add cover photos on Collections if you don't want to. My suggestion is stop making cover photos for a month and make new products instead. It may restore you sanity to take a break.

Breath Connie, breath... 😌 Your products look lovely even without the covers. 😘

[Connie]

Thank you. I've been trying to add cover photos as I make new products, but then I end up going down a rabbit hole and trying to do more of my existing products as well. And now I just realized that I have a bunch of wrapping paper, stickers, and gift tags for Christmas that aren't done, so I need to get those done with the holidays coming up!

Yes, I do need to just breath, and step back from covers for a while. I'll just pretend collection covers don't exist!

[sharonrheafords]

Oh my gosh, this reminded me I have to redo all my COLLECTIONS. They are all out of order now.

[Barbara]

Checking products in both active and ready to migrate collections, I saw that nothing has changed on product pages. The collection shows as it always has in both cases. I hope this continues.

In doing the above, I noticed a bad thing that I hope is fixed soon: We can't click on a product in a collection and go to that product's page. It made my above exercise tedious.

Colorwash's Home

[Sara_H]

@Barbara you can navigate to the product page by clicking the 3 dots - it's a pain that it doesn't take you to the store back end though.

[Barbara]

@Sara_H, thanks so much. Several clicks instead of one isn't a benefit, but at least provides a path, right? LOL

Colorwash's Home

[angelafuller729]

Yes, you can. 

Click on the product title - it's a hyperlink to the product page that will open in a separate window. Which also means you can just tab back over to the collection...

[Barbara]

Good Lord! Why do they insist on changing things that don't need to be changed?!

Colorwash's Home

[LMGildersleeve]

I suspect Barb that Zazzle hasn't rolled this out to the product pages yet.

[LMGildersleeve]

Just so you know there is a form you can use for Collections Update Feedback.

You can find it HERE.

[KeegansCreation]

Thanks for highlighting this link. I've now submitted a form.

[Barbara]

---

@LMGildersleeve wrote:

Just so you know there is a form you can use for Collections Update Feedback.

You can find it HERE.

---

UH-OH!

Colorwash's Home

[BevStuff]

Well, that link should've been provided immediately with Scott's announcement on July 18; not way back at the far end of the conversations on the July 23.

[Cat]

Agreed. Apparently there was another announcement, but even though I swear I checked the creator news, I somehow missed it completely. It’s here - Enhance Your Collections with New Tool... - Zazzle

I'm really not a fan of the way this new forum is set up because all of the important announcements are hidden off in the creator news section which for some crazy reason doesn't appear in the regular feed.

[Barbara]

I've a question that keeps recurring: How is Zazzle planning to use those collections that pass muster? Sure, we have them on our stores' front page if we so choose, but Zazzle has told us that customers usually go directly from the marketplace to a product page, bypassing our stores, so we personally won't necessarily gain from sprucing up our collections. The only thing I can think of is that Zazzle might use a chosen few for web page display. Those of us in the "Other" category won't be displayed. They've already told us this, told us, essentially, that our efforts will be wasted. It's not what they want. Where does this leave a huge number of us?

Colorwash's Home

[KeegansCreation]

I'm pinning my hopes on the fact that there are 3 non-event collection types: similar theme, different theme/similar product and gift. The vast majority (and in some departments the entirety) of Home, Accessories, Clothing, Electronics, Office and Art will be in these 3 categories. I don't think Zazzle will abandon them so utterly and devote all collections marketing to events that mandate an invitation. I know it looks that way now but I think this is in flux.

[Barbara]

I think, or at least hope, they'll make things more usable, but for those who focus on specific arenas like, for example, my canning labels or my music theory, I seriously doubt even making Home, Accessories, Office, and Art will help. Canning is unlikely to be on their radar nor music theory. My one hope is that they'll open up something for reunion invitations, which are generally done on postcards, and are good sellers, particularly in spring and early summer.

The way i use an image is to place it only on products where it's logical, and this has little to do with what Zazzle wants in a collection. Music theory, for instance, works on posters and clocks, for the most part, so that would be wall decor, but will they want more? Why would I do this if musicians are mostly interested in a reference image to hang on the wall? I know there are a lot of designers like me who focus on specific niches, and I suspect we'll all end up being ignored. That said, we were always ignored, but God bless the customers who use the search box and find us.

Colorwash's Home

[Connie]

I have a music collection with a variety of products. I think it'll have to go under gifts?

[James]

Hi all, 

Thank you so much for taking the time to go through this new experience. Thank you also for your feedback on useability and possible bugs. Please ensure you are using the form we posted with this announcement to be sure we're collecting all the important feedback and we can post answers to some popular questions later this week. Thanks! 

[Scott]

Also, we've opened up a new discussion forum that can be used for future conversation. We're not trying to curtail conversation here, but this is a significant new feature and we wanted to set some room aside for any conversation that might happen in the future.

https://community.zazzle.com/t5/new-collection-types-information/bd-p/collections

Also, the work on the Product Page is still underway. 

[Connie]

Good idea!