Suggestion: Add Direct-only Link Function to Collections

[Ms_Jade]

Problem: Right now, collections can only be Public or Private not Direct-only linked like products. In a public collection, Direct-only link products show on the front end with other open published products.

Solution: Add Direct-only link ability to collections so creators can group Direct-only link products out of view from the front end store.

Reason: Sometimes customers have multiple items they want but private designed. It can be hard to add Direct-only products to the cart by clicking on each link in an email or message or spending time searching through messages to find each product link.

Benefits to Accessing Direct-only Link Collections:

• Makes things easier for customers to view and add private designed Direct-only items to the cart creating a smoother less frustrating transition and likely repeated sales.
• Allows one place for creators to organize and share special private designed Direct-only products to a customer or customers that requested those designs.

Thanks for your consideration!

[Windy]

Have you tried setting the direct-only products collection to private? 

There was SOME workaround for this mentioned in the old forums. Not sure if this was it, or not, or even if this was the exact situation that needing solving,  but it's worth trying until someone else answers. 

[Cat]

This is an excellent idea! I've been working with a client who wants a lot of custom tweaks to a variety of designs, and it's getting SUPER complicated to try to keep all of the links straight. I'm hesitant to publish them as public designs, because it will get messy having multiple versions that are practically identical, but you're absolutely right, there's no way to group them together for her unless I make them public and put them in a collection.

[Ms_Jade]

Thanks for the suggestion, @Windy. So far, I’ve tried to copy the private collection link from the share button. Currently, I get a message telling me to make the collection public before getting the link. Then, I tried copying the link of the private collection from the web address bar. I pasted it into a different tab (signed out of Zazzle) and got a blank page that says private. So I haven’t seen any work around that solves the problem.

@Cat  I have similar problems. I hope we can have a Direct-only link function on collections. It would save time and make the design process faster and easier on creators and customers. Customers would likely repeat purchases for those specific collections and have a better workflow with creators.

[Emma]

Hi @Ms_Jade , 

Many thanks for your suggestion! I'll be happy to pass this along to our Team ✍️

- Emma 🌻

[Ms_Jade]

Thank you, @Emma. 🌻

[ColsCreations]

You can achieve a Direct-Only collection by adding your Direct-Only products to X Collection (make it Public) then going to X Collection, Edit and at the bottom where it has "visible in stores" - UN-check everything.  This makes the Collection itself DO. It won't appear in any of your stores or in searches (I've tested the search aspect myself to be sure) but just like with a DO product, other people with the link can view it. And since the collection is not visible anywhere or findable via search, the only people who will know the URL are those you give it to. 😉

[Windy]

The workaround which I was thinking of is explained in detail here above, by @ColsCreations  and I hope you will find it @Ms_Jade 

[PAZP]

WOW, @ColsCreations THANK YOU for that detailed explanation for  a workaround. 

[Ms_Jade]

Thank you @ColsCreations for the temporary workaround. Thanks for following back up @Windy.

The workaround almost seems to work except it fluctuated my two test Direct-only collections in and out of public view on my Creator Profile Page and the first page of my Creator Collections page (default 20 collections showing).

Important Side Notes:

If you have a few visible public collections, then the public ones that you’re trying to turn into Direct-only collections might show in the first 20 collections listed on your Creator Profile/Collections pages. Sometimes these collections you’re trying to make Direct-only may be visible on a different browser and page refreshes. 

To add on to what @ColsCreations and @Windy suggested as a temporary solution, you will need to find a way to sandwich the Direct-only collections between your public collections and hope no one clicks them.  Maybe make them public when you know the exclusive customer is going to order then turn it on private.

Be careful!

If by chance an unintended customer sees your public Diriect-only collection under your Creator profile, they can buy a product from that collection that was made exclusively for another client. And I can’t imagine the effort of telling Z to cancel that other person’s order because that design was not intended for public use. If that is a new customer to Z, that person might not feel as comfortable or confident ordering again from the site or Creator. And Creators will have to let the other customer know someone ordered their exclusive design. That will likely hurt that professional relationship with the Creator.

Collection Test I Did:

Collection 1 existed in the store and I removed it as suggested by @ColsCreations but it still has a label associated with it in the top left corner to the store. The collection was not visible or searchable in the store front end.

Collection 2 was new and made through the Creator Profile and is only associated with the Creator Profile. It was not visible or searchable in store front end.

Both sometimes became visible and clickable in the Creator Profile as mentioned before. So I moved the two collections to another page deep between my many visual public collections (past the 20 collection default view) to see if that would made them “invisible” from public view.  It seemed to hide them, but I was using one browser. I tested it on a different browser, was able to see them after a page refresh occasionally.

[Windy]

Re: the important side notes you outline,  @Ms_Jade I am not entirely sure the following could be used to advantage to avoid the situations you mention, but just in case, I am copying from https://help.zazzle.com/hc/en-us/articles/360000289534-How-Collections-Work 

keeping a collection to three products or less, and not including a banner might be a good idea in view of these parameters.

Q:  Why isn’t a collection of mine showing up publicly in my store? 

A:  To show up in your store, your collection needs to be set to public and have at least four products in it. 

Q:  How can I have my collection show on the product pages under ‘Other products from this collection’?

 A:  To be included, you need to have created a collection that includes a banner, title plus description and have at least seven products in it.