Etsy's Handmade Blog
Tech Update: Changes to Search and Categories are Live!
Story by kfarrell, TechUpdates
Published on May 5, 2008 in Etsy News 		Photo by Mina180

Today, we launched some exciting changes to Etsy's search engine. These changes were requested by the community and we think they help improve the shopping experience on Etsy.

We've separated item search into three new searches: Handmade, Vintage, and Supplies. The default is Handmade, with Vintage and Supplies available in the drop-down. You can also select "All items" to search Handmade, Supplies, and Vintage all at once.

Consequently, it is critical that sellers categorize and tag their items correctly in order to place them within the proper search. Last week, we posted some information that will help you with that process. You can read the initial heads up here  — Tech Updates: Upcoming Changes to Search and Categories — and its companion, follow-up article here —  Upcoming Changes to Search: Your Questions Answered.

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18 comments     Login to add your own!

May 5, 2008 at 4:26 p.m. pawandclawdesigns

LOVE IT!

great job guys!

May 5, 2008 at 4:37 p.m. pookeh

wahoo! this is most excellent news. and looky, my owl necklace. that was a pleasant surprise, thx. xoxoxo

May 5, 2008 at 4:38 p.m. pdxbeanies

Hooray!

May 5, 2008 at 4:40 p.m. LapinNoir

Thanks guys!

May 5, 2008 at 4:41 p.m. bunny

thank you for all of your hard work!
:D

May 5, 2008 at 6:36 p.m. sidquilts

ALL RIGHT! This is what etsy should be. Thank you.

May 5, 2008 at 11:36 p.m. SamanthaSprite

This is fantastic! It's already easy to search women's dresses, for instance, without having to negotiate around loads of patterns. I'm really pleased with the change.

May 6, 2008 at 11:37 a.m. birdie1

There seems to be a problem with your server today possibly related to this?? - I keep losing my listings!! Error message says Internal Etsy Server Error.

May 6, 2008 at 2:37 p.m. Vanessa

If you're getting errors you should let the engineers know in the Bugs Forum! http://www.etsy.com/forums_board.php?...

May 7, 2008 at 7:51 p.m. pinkee

I believe the new search feature is a good thing;
but I have a few questions.

Search drop-down menu shows:

>Handmade Items: tags, titles (default)
>Handmade Items: tags, titles, descriptions
>Supplies: tags, titles
>Vintage: tags, titles
>All Items: tags, titles
>Sellers: Usernames
>Materials

1. Why isn't there the option to search *descriptions* when looking for Vintage & Supplies?

2. Why isn't there an option for
*All Items: tags, titles, descriptions*?

This narrow search option for Vintage & Supply items means:
sellers of these items need to include all vital search terms in their titles and in the 13 available tags ---
which has the potential to result in ridiculously long listing titles.

When tagged properly & in accordance with the rules of the site, Commercial Supplies are limited to 12 descriptive tags because the first 2 must always be *Supplies* & *Commercial.*

Why the inequity?
(schOOLLOcker)

There are many incorrect tags allowing supplies to be posted in handmade. How will these be handles?

May 7, 2008 at 10:08 p.m. schOOLLOcker

pinkee is referencing this thread with a lot of very thoughtful replies:

http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php...

May 8, 2008 at 12:24 p.m. faro

I second the posts above from Pinkee and SchoolLocker.

Why the inequity?

May 10, 2008 at 11:34 a.m. takethetrain

Hmm.. with changes like these, I think it is time for Etsy to consider an "Advanced Search" feature!

Then we can make things *far* less confusing by employing this technologically advanced form feature of the future: CHECKBOXES!!!

Seriously, guys... :)

May 10, 2008 at 12:48 p.m. Vanessa

We do need advanced search!

May 11, 2008 at 4:40 p.m. takethetrain

I hate to say it, but you could actually use Ebay has a source of inspiration for this. The search on their main page is very, very simple, which is what makes it successful!

Even as a quick mod, I'd recommend making "All" the default option, rather than "Handmade." It took me a second to realize I wasn't finding vintage items when I was doing a search yesterday, because I didn't bother to read what was in the dropdown menu. (Before now, I never had to!) (PS: I'm a web developer!)

May 12, 2008 at 10:46 a.m. ccce

An Email communication should have been sent regarding these changes to allow people to comment before the changes were made.

Relying on everyone using the Storque and forums should not have been the way such an important change was implelented.

May 12, 2008 at 10:51 a.m. Vanessa

We are going to, ccce. We are just trying to time it with some other important news regarding policy, so that we get our important messages consolidated into one important email. We think this will be more effective communication in the end.

May 12, 2008 at 12:04 p.m. Justpickedvintage

Please consider the issues brought up in the aforementioned thread. Vintage and Supply sellers are seeing a noticable drop in views and sales.

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