Not very, according to this thread by an Etsy community member.
Stella, an Etsy admin, had this to say:
stellaloella says:
You know what, I agree. Well, to a point anyway — I’d say the current system in inefficient, but not totally ineffectual or useless. In fact, the Forums are lacking a lot of tools that would be super helpful for members and staff.A lot of requests have been made for sticky threads or an announcement forum or an indicator for “official” threads. And those are all good ideas, actually.
(And here come the part that you all love and hate to hear…)
We’re working on it. I can’t say when it will change, or what exactly will change. But we know this is a problem, it’s frustrating for us at time also, and we’re working to solve it.
Posted at 10:45 am, August 23 2007 EST
The reason the UEN was started by serena was because of this very lack of “sticky threads or an announcement forum or an indicator for “official” threads.” We look forward to the day when information communication at Etsy is so good that there’s no need for the UEN.
Update by JB
Rob has commented on the issue!
Rokali says:
Yep, we all want it. We’ll have a solution soon, in the form of a dedicated section of the site for news.
Posted at 12:11 am, August 24 2007 EST
No description whether the dedicated section of the site will be a new forum, or on another area completely. It’s also unknown how soon is “soon”.
August 27th, 2007 at 5:14 pm
Etsy is extremely guarded with their information, the way they do things makes me think Rob really wants to work for Bush/Cheney.
Have you been over to Ruby Lane lately? When I joined last winter it was pretty sterile, very simple and straight forward, low thrills except the merchandise. They got everything working “just so” as far as the nuts and bolts, then overnight earlier this month they launched a whole new format complete with lots of fun Flash applications, etc. They have a “links” page for shops, too, and if you need help there are both a customer representative waiting to help you via live chat and standing “forums” with helpful information.
They built their site on a solid foundation and then put the frills and thrills in. I wish Etsy had done the same. It’s an AWESOME concept and I hate to see it fail because they won’t take care of the infrastructure.
August 26th, 2007 at 7:36 pm
Lots of interesting thoughts on the potential for acquisition. This potentiality could indeed be one reason upgrades take a long time, or never get implemented.
I have known many coders and database engineers and these kinds of changes, even from scratch, do NOT take months in most cases. If they are skilled coders, it shouldn’t take years to implement small changes.
August 26th, 2007 at 7:28 pm
As I always like to add, they REALLY need a true announcements page. The fora are fine and dandy–except a lot of people don’t read, visit, or even know how to use them. They seriously need a real announcement / notice page, and not just the intermittently updated blog.
August 24th, 2007 at 7:05 pm
JB, I had that same thought.. “Forget it.. he’s talking about the Storque.”
I don’t need another blog to read. I need concrete information in a easily accessible place.
August 24th, 2007 at 4:33 pm
I hope he was not referring to the storque. A newsletter is a promotional tool like the blog, it’s going to have upbeat positive articles, not updates on current bugs or planned (and unplanned) downtime. Also, a newsletter comes out on a set schedule and bugs do not crop up on a schedule.
A dedicated FORUM for admin announcements is the most logical way to do it, and they could set that up TODAY, it would take 5 minutes. The forum software is already built, so it’s usually just one click to “add new forum”.
August 24th, 2007 at 3:41 pm
I’ve seen that Admin has been saying “we’re working on it” and “it’s coming soon” in regards to Alchemy since November 2006.
I’ve seen that Admin has been saying “we’re working on it” and “it’s coming soon” in regards to a block buyer feature since August 2006.
I’m tired of hearing it.
August 24th, 2007 at 2:25 pm
I’m pretty sure that I read somewhere that Rob claimed he wasn’t building Etsy to sell, but rather to create the company he wanted to work for. In that same breath, Etsy’s investors and advisers include the founder of del.icio.us, the former president of del.icio.us and the two founders of flickr. Both of those companies were sold to Yahoo! and it’s rumored that flickr sold for as much $35 million.
August 24th, 2007 at 12:52 pm
“Any wise entrepreneur could read the forums and sniff the opportunity available, I predict its just a matter of time.”
Another thought here and I’m probably way off base but maybe this is why nothing is getting fixed. There could already be offers or discussions in the works about selling Etsy. Why waste time and money fixing something you’re gonna get rid of!
August 24th, 2007 at 12:50 pm
“*never did trust morning people*”
Good motto to live by!! About this new part of the site for news…..are they talking about the stork??? What ever it is I hope it is REAL news and not their version of the news. There has been that thread about art students selling on Etsy. That’s an article for the stork right? (I haven’t really read it.) I don’t want to read that kind of fluff. I want the news section to have NEWS!!!!
August 24th, 2007 at 10:37 am
sadly the disgruntledness is driven by Etsy’s own failures to address communication issues. as a former avid forum watcher i could see how (and even experienced first hand) how the consistent lack of consistent information and feedback from authority drove certain situations to escalate, pushing certain customers ‘over the edge’
PS: there is a little door in the half floor in my house and if I go thru it I end up inside your head Patti. i take a pen, paper and a dictaphone - stay tuned
PPS: my wee guy is a morning person (i am most definitely not) but i have shredded the pom poms
BTW i think wise entrepreneurs are already reading the forums, there is enough outside discussion of what is happening on Etsy for people to stumble over it