Question for all readers: Categories in the shop / please join in.

Dear users, dear authors,
When you’re looking for something in the shop, do you use the search bar at the top or the categories—which are organized by type of craft and then have many subcategories for sorting the patterns on the left?

Please give me some feedback on searching in the shop. How do you go about it? Please let me know how it works for you. Thank you all for your responses. 

Both—and.
If I want to make something specific, like crocheting a bird, I type that into the search bar at the top.
If I’m just looking for any new project, I check the categories on the left and first decide whether I want to crochet, knit, or sew.

I almost exclusively use the search function. I usually find what I’m looking for faster that way. 

I mainly use the search bar.

I mainly use the search bar as well. But I also use the “Knitting” or “Crochet” categories when I’m looking for something.

I usually start by checking the Crochet and Knitting categories to see what’s new. If I’m looking for something specific, I type it into the search bar. If I don’t find it there, I check the subcategories.

I actually use the categories; I rarely use the search bar.

I mainly use the search bar, too.

I use the search bar, then I filter by crocheting or knitting, depending on what I’m in the mood for at the moment. 

I don’t use the search at all. I usually search by tags, or else in the categories.

About the search bar

I usually use the search bar.
But if there are a lot of search results, I use the categories to narrow down my search.

I use the search bar

I’m not quite sure if this is the right place for this.
For years, I’ve wanted the option to create my own categories for my own “shop.”
If, like me, you have so many items, it would be helpful for customers to browse by category.
“A customer wants to knit a children’s sweater—at that moment, they’re not interested in appliqués, crocheted door wreaths, or anything else.”
If they could simply click on the “Sweaters” category in the shop, wouldn’t that be really helpful?

@ ursulapetra:
When you create collections, then you do have your categories! The only problem is that the collections should be made better known to customers. 

I use both—when I search using the search bar at the top, I immediately apply the filter for the type of craft afterward.

I also use both search options.

When I’m looking for something specific, I enter the term in the search field and then filter by craft type and review (e.g., sweater, knitting, 5 stars).

If I don’t know exactly what I want to make yet (e.g., I have some new fabric and want to sew a top for myself), then I prefer to browse the categories. That way, I see all the options and can let myself be inspired on the spot.

Best regards, Ina

I use both features as well—both the search bar (though not as often) and the categories. My “keywords” often appear in multiple categories, so it’s usually faster for me to browse through the categories and subcategories. 

For me, it’s the same as for most people: if I’m looking for something specific, I use the search function. If I just want to browse, I go through the categories. 

What has been a bit confusing to me, though, is this: when I enter, say, “Easter” and “potholders” into the search function, I do get some results, but my own patterns—which contain both terms in both the title and the tags—don’t show up. Does anyone know why that is? I assume that others also try to narrow down their search by using multiple terms when a single term yields too many results.

IrmiARTS, did you just upload that particular pattern? In my experience, it can take up to 24 hours after approval for my pattern to appear in search results. But once it does, it shows up under all the keywords and tags I’ve used...

No, the pattern has been in the shop for quite some time. I also revised the tags and titles again one or two weeks ago, but that didn’t really make a difference either.

Yesterday, I heard from another author that she’d also noticed she gets different results for the same search terms depending on the browser (Firefox or Edge).

Lately, I’ve been testing this on my iPad, using Safari. Maybe my products do show up in Edge or Firefox for the same search—I just haven’t been able to test that yet.

But since more and more users are browsing on mobile devices, it would definitely make sense for the search to work the same way there.

I use the search bar. When I enter a word there and click “Search,” I can still easily narrow down the results by individual categories using that feature.
That way, I almost always find something wonderful and inspiring.