Dear Etsians,
We are edging near — very near — to launching the Storque. The engineers are testing the biscuits out of it and making sure it’s user-friendly.
Alison and I (and Shannon too, who is helping us with video production) are excited to share the pieces we’ve produced and the pieces we’ve asked community members to produce. We’re hoping the launch will inspire many more of you to pitch fresh ideas to The Storque so that we can share the handmade life with the world!
To that end, we’ll have a link where you can pitch your ideas to us. We’ll also be setting up a weekly online Workshop, to informally take suggestions, chat about the direction of The Storque, and hear your reactions.
We are soooo excited!
–The Storque team
Update Sept 4, by JB
stellaloella says:
Atlas is not part of the public site. Atlas is a behind the scenes, Admin-only tool.
The Storque (which will finally be launched very soon) will have a dedicated section just for news about Etsy. This includes all technical updates, new feature info and all other Admin announcements. Users will be able to subscribe to an RSS feed for *just* the News section, if desired. There is great categorization and content filtering ability on The Storque, which will make it easy for users to get all the important site-specific news info all in one place.
Posted at 1:18 pm, September 4 2007 EST
For previous coverage of The Storque, see these articles:
http://etsynews.com/285/give-input-on-the-storque-at-719-meeting/
http://etsynews.com/175/the-storque-has-been-delayed/
http://etsynews.com/35/stay-tuned-for-a-new-feature-storque/
August 29th, 2007 at 12:05 pm
I’m actually really looking forward to this. It should be awesome!
August 29th, 2007 at 1:07 pm
I’m worried that this is going to be their answer to an admin forum or stickied admin posts and will then be full of fluff. If it is going to be a seperate section of the site (I don’t know if it is or not but I have gotten that impression.) how will it be any different than the blog? Just another place to rah rah about Etsy.
August 29th, 2007 at 2:41 pm
retroattic, a lot of us have been wondering the very same thing, and expressed it on a thread in which Rob had mentioned that changes in communication were in the works. ( http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=5204483&page=2 about halfway down the page) As far as I know, Rob never answered, to either confirm or dispell, the Storque-as-official-news worry.
You can bet if that happens a small army of Sticky Supporters will raise their virtual placards of protest. Myself included. Admin must come up with a better way to inform its membership. The Etsy Garden blog, the jumbled, hardly-searchable fora, and the seldom used e-mail avenues are just not cutting it. At all.
That said, I am still looking forward to the Storque. Etsy, for all its many faults and missteps is still a cool concept and growing venue. I like that they are so community oriented - both inside and outside of Etsy. I hope they mature to the point of being able to offer the service that they do, complete with their distinctive, handmade ‘fingerprint’, in such a way that also incorporates vital business and common sense (which is sadly lacking here and there).
August 29th, 2007 at 3:20 pm
Oh I think it will be fluff, but really, that is all a newsletter format is suited for. I like fluff. I will read it. I’m looking forward to it. But it’s not suited for site updates because bugs and downtime do not happen on a schedule. They STILL need a site updates area in addition to the Storque. And honestly, I would not want t put a bunch of negative stuff about bugs and downtime in my newsletter either, that’s not good promotion. I want my updates but also want etsy to succeed, so the “face” should be kept clean and positive while still having a place for members to get hard information. (even if it’s less than pretty)
August 29th, 2007 at 9:27 pm
what bothers me most about hte blog as a news source is that actual news and important things are pushed down by the endless fluff so that no one can find the real meat.
August 30th, 2007 at 7:35 am
That’s definitely true Rita, but I think that’s what Etsy wants.
I’m excited to see the Storque. I’ve heard some exciting things from people who are working on it.
August 30th, 2007 at 1:43 pm
did you see today’s revolvingdork comment regarding this very subject?
Dreamwoven says:
how about making this a sticky note so it doesnt get lost in the shuffle?
RevolvingDork says:
Threads fall down when they get old — it is the natural way of things…
http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=5212495
natural my ass!
September 4th, 2007 at 3:50 pm
Like everyone else, I’m looking forward to seeing the Storque land. Everyone at Labs seemed really excited about it! (Hi chocolab!!!!! Nice meeting you in person!). I still think the site needs an announcement board and/or stickies for official posts. It sounded like Rob’s last post (can’t remember the thread) was leaning in favor of something for official announcements/communications.
__________________________________
pattihaskins,
I saw that comment. I know he’s an Etsy-co-founder, but why do they allow him to communicate directly with the public? Not saying anything about RD’s brilliance (or not) but I’ve met some intellectually stellar people over time who should never be allowed near anything resembling PR. His posts always come across as flip and/or condescending and deliberately dense.
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September 4th, 2007 at 5:09 pm
Updated the top article with Stella’s comment.
The Storque (unfortunately) IS the admin announcements area they were talking about.
September 4th, 2007 at 5:14 pm
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