Etsy forums and teams will be temporarily read-only

Etsy newsbreak:

Teams and forums will be essentially offline for nearly 2 weeks... Starting in one week, Etsy will begin their "improvements ... to Etsy's community spaces."

“...we’ll be entering a brief read-only period in Teams and Forums spaces from January 10-22. During that time you’ll be able to view community content, but unable to post comments or start new discussion threads.“

“Starting January 22, members will have access to improved tools and features in the Teams and Forums spaces... We appreciate your patience while we finalize these improvements."

Admin officially announced the team migration here. 

Since making it official, they have amended the above announcement twice. The first adjustment was to state the "The only exception [to the full shutdown of the forums and teams] will be the Bugs forum, which will remain open for both reading and posting new threads and comments.

A day later, they added:

**More about the read-only period: In addition to putting the finishing touches on new tools and features, the January 10-22 read-only period allows for the extensive migration of existing Teams and Forums content—including over 10,000 Etsy Teams and millions of discussion posts—into our updated community spaces. Our aim during this period is to ensure a seamless transition that will make it easier for you to connect with other sellers, grow your creative business, and keep up with the latest Etsy news.**

Information for team captains and leaders here.

Etsy has provided some clues about how the new team spaces will be

1. They will run on Lithium. Lithium is the operating system used by PayPal's forums. So take a peek at how it may work. It seems like a less pictorial, less warm and fuzzy place for sure.

2. Previously deleted threads will no longer be accessible, and any deleted threads in the future will not be saved.

3. Forums threads without a comment in the past three years will not be available in the refreshed community space. If you have older Forums threads saved, you’ll want to jot down any pertinent tips or resources prior to the read-only period.

4. Improved tools for Team Captains and Leaders make it simple to quickly communicate with all members, including a streamlined group messaging feature and a customizable announcements section on each team's home page.

5. If you have set up a question for new members to answer, their answers will not be saved and teh question will not appear to future people trying to join.

6. There will still be the option to make your group open (anyone can join) or closed (members must request and be approved to join), but there will no longer be an option to hide your team completely and make it invite-only.

7. There will no longer be an option to download a CSV file of your team's members.

What about promotion? Etsy has said nothing. The indications I am receiving are that the new spaces are not designed for it.

What is is store for forums?

1. "We’re increasing the overall number of sections available in the Forums, and adding intuitive labels to surface the answers you need quickly." Included is a "new shop critique section provides an easy way to share and request feedback."

2. "... enhanced comment functionality lets you @mention and “like” other members’ posts. After posting a new thread, you’ll be able to select an accepted solution that indicates when another member’s reply addresses your question effectively." You will have "the ability to like and tag other members within threads..."

3. "...search simultaneously across existing Forums and Teams threads to see what questions have already been answered by the community. You can even follow threads or saved searches that you want to pay close attention to."

4. There will be "an increased character limit and text formatting tools including bullets, numbers, and emphasis options like bold and italics."


Will it be better? I have not seen it so I cannot say.

We will find out soon!