a few ideas for the forum

Hello everyone, I think it’s a bit of a shame that the forum still isn’t getting the attention it deserves, so I’ve been thinking about it a bit. Maybe some of you would like to read through this text—which, admittedly, has turned out a bit long—and perhaps you’ll find something here that you like.I just thought that winter is traditionally a great time for crafts anyway. When the weather outside is wet or chilly, you’d rather stay inside where it’s nice and warm.Collaboration with yarn suppliersI thought it might be good for the forum—and the platform itself—if we could collaborate more with suppliers of yarn and other materials. That would liven things up here, because it might attract new users drawn in by the high-quality, affordable materials—and once they’re here, they can discover the patterns available for purchase and the friendly chats in the forum. I mean, when you buy yarn, you don’t necessarily want to just let it pile up at home and forget about it—you want to actually make something with it. And if you’re not quite sure what you could do with that pretty yarn, you can get some ideas in the shop. And then maybe you’ll also want to chat with other crafters every now and then. Basically, everything a craftsperson’s heart desires, all under one roof. So far, some of the ladies and gentlemen in the shops have been offering a little bit of material for sale, though not so much through Crazypatterns as on their own websites or other portals. Would the idea of expanding the selection be of interest at all, or not at all? Advertising on CrazypatternsBefore you start throwing stones at me, please read on. I’m not sure if I’m treading on thin ice with this suggestion. I’ll just give it a try. If we were to allow a few small ad banners here and there from other companies—such as material suppliers—then Crazypatterns might have more money available for technical improvements. What I could envision, for example, would be some kind of spam prevention and removal system or something similar. I’m not particularly tech-savvy, so I don’t know how that could be designed, but I definitely know that programmers aren’t cheap and that something like this costs time and money. I don’t yet know how these ad banners could be integrated with what I wrote in point one above in a way that works well together. But maybe you have some ideas?

sorry about the strange formatting. the system kicked me out several times when I was trying to make the post
I had to split it up, and I don’t know what happened with the formatting. I hope you can read it.

here’s the rest of the post from above Wish lists and “I already have that” listsIt’s possible to create collections with patterns you’ve bought or patterns you like. In another forum I’m in, which is about books and has nothing to do with crafts, I saw the option to create lists there with the books you own, the ones you’d like to have, etc. And the special thing about it is that the system then automatically finds people and shows you clearly who also own these patterns or would like to have them. You simply go into your own profile in the forum and can enter the books there, and then you can see who has a similar selection. I think that’s a really good thing if you want to meet new people who like similar things. And then, in the lists of people you already have a lot in common with, you might find other books—or on Crazypatterns it would be patterns—that you might also like.Buyers could conveniently find patterns they really like through this automated process. Sellers could benefit from it by perhaps finding new interested buyers for the patterns that are shown there.And I also have to admit, these lists are always fun to browse through. Forums are also about increasing users’ online time, and doing that in as entertaining a way as possible, and something like this can help achieve that. So users would have even more exciting things to look at, and the longer users are online, the better the chances that they’ll buy something too. So everyone would benefit.In short, it’s about expanding the collections that already exist; that’s what I have in mind.What do you think?
Like functionI believe, as far as I’ve noticed so far, that there isn’t yet a like function or sharing on Facebook or other social media platforms here on Crazypatterns.I don’t know how that’s handled, though. But maybe it would be a good addition to Crazypatterns’s presence on Facebook. In addition, some forums also have the option to like posts directly, without going through Facebook; then it’s displayed directly under the relevant forum post, e.g. “muetzekatze and 2 other users like this.” That’s then limited to the forum here. But that way you can conveniently and quickly let other users know that you like something. This might be especially good for people who don’t dare to write posts in forums. Yes, that really does happen, that some people have an inhibition about saying something in forums. Maybe they’re afraid they’ll do something wrong technically, or that they’ll ask questions that have already been answered 8888 times, and then someone says again, “use the search function before you open a thread.” With the like function, you could perhaps make it easier for shy users to get started. The catch, though—there’s always a catch—is that you can only use the like function if you disable the ad blocker for the website in question, or set the website in question as an exception in the ad blocker. These ad blockers are pretty widespread. But I can say from my own experience that it’s incredibly motivating and also makes you stick with a forum and stay loyal to it when you get likes for your forum posts now and then. So then I also try to look at what I wrote that someone liked. I really think that’s good, and then you get much more involved. I’ve also found that it’s good for morale in forums, because people make much more effort to leave a good impression. So I think everyone is happy about positive feedback.I could probably think of more things too, but I’d like to leave it at that for now. Not too much all at once :)I’m curious whether you’d like to say something about it and what you’d like to say. But I won’t be offended or anything if you say that one or more of my suggestions aren’t any good at all. They’re just meant as a basis for discussion. best regards and have a nice weekend, everyone muetzekatze

Hi muetzekatze,

first of all, a big compliment to you. I think it’s great when someone puts thought into how to improve things and contributes their time and effort.
I hope that’s appreciated :-)

I think the idea of a “Like” button is quite good.
Personally, I’d also love it if the forum were a bit more entertaining. What I mean is that people wouldn’t only post when they’re looking for help or have problems, etc. (although I’ve often used it for that myself).
Here are a few suggestions, for example:
I’m also active on scrapbooking forums, and they always have a “monthly contest.” A specific color, arrangement, or something similar is set, and everyone can join in and show what they’ve made. The prizes are sponsored by paper and stamp companies. Maybe yarn or fabric companies could be included there as in your suggestion, muetzekatze???
For patterns, we might need to adapt the themes a bit: e.g. at least 4 different colors, monochrome, with triangles, with circles, with animal motifs... just something different every month. I’d find something like that really exciting, and I also think it’s great to work with this kind of prompt now and then because it might take us to a point we otherwise wouldn’t have reached; it forces us to think in new directions, if you know what I mean.
At Dawanda there’s also a monthly color campaign, though it’s more as a platform for selling rather than for winning something.

It’s really just meant to be a little suggestion for Crazypatterns, but I’d be happy if there were something like that soon.

Best regards

Nici

Thanks for your kind words and the compliment, Sternen-Welt :)

Hi Muetzekatze,

thank you very much for the suggestions. We’ll look into the forum soon.

Best regards
Alexander

Hi Alexander,
glad you like my ideas :) I’m curious to see what happens.
Best regards
muetzekatze