Showing posts with label admin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label admin. Show all posts

Monday, July 1, 2013

We're Back! And We've Got a Secret...

We're delighted to be able to share some exciting Toy Society news with you!

We're sorry you haven't heard from us for a while. Things got away from us and before we knew it, time did too. We sincerely apologise, we hate letting this amazing community down.

The Toy Society has grown, so rapidly, into an inspiring world-wide community since we started with that humble first toy drop almost five years ago. We've been straining under the weight of time consuming systems set up in the early days before we understood just how many like minded people there were wanting to get in on the fun. We hated keeping people waiting but at the same time it became impossible not to.

To help things flow faster and smoother (and to lighten the work load for the admins) we will be making a number of changes over the coming months. As you can already see that we have a fresh new look. We are slowly rolling that out across everything we do, so please be patient. 

We're starting off with the simplest changes that hopefully will have the biggest impact for you:

1. The biggest change is that we've changed our name! 


Well, sort of. You might remember that we used to have a Facebook page. Someone with a business with a very similar name managed to get our lovely page shut down. This was despite legal advice that there were no trademark infringements and we were legitimately able to use our name. However, we don't wanna be hassled anymore! So, you'll see in our sweet new logo up there that we are now The (secret) Toy Society! Cheeky, right? Also, completely appropriate given we do our toy dropping in secret! What do you think? 

We are keeping the blog address the same for now.

2. We've simplified the process for how you post your drops

It's now as easy as sending an email! The email address will be updated every couple of months (mostly to avoid drowning in spam) and we ask that you follow the instructions exactly. 

Posts will be held in draft until an admin approves and publishes them. Please note, we are unable to edit your photos, so you must make sure they are appropriately sized and facing the right way! All details on how to submit your drop now live here. The email address will be sent to all members so be sure that you are signed up and your details are current. 

We are going through the back log of drops and posting them at the moment, please bare with us while we catch up.

3. We have a new sign up process

It is much simpler and a little bit prettier. Plus, it shouldn't break now (it used to sometime which was very annoying!). We realise this change has very little impact on you, seeing as you're already receiving this email but we wanted to let you know as it's all part of our refresh. 

4. Getting back into Facebook

As we mentioned above, our lovely Facebook community was shut down last year. Never fear, we've moved on and are starting again. You can like our page here: www.facebook.com/TheSecretToySociety 

We will also be back tweeting and pinning, too. We would love to pin your patterns if you have any. Tag us on Pinterest if you have a pattern you would like us to share, or tweet us or email us and let us know. 

The Flickr community will remain, for now, but we won't be posting drops to the blog from Flickr anymore.

5. We would love to hear your thoughts 

Whether you've done a bunch of drops or only just joined, we would love to hear your ideas on how you think things could improve here. Soon, we will send you a brief survey via email. We will use that to help shape our next round of improvements.

We are really so very sorry things slipped away but we are so excited about the refresh and getting things back up and running so we can all enjoy seeing how the love is being shared around the world, one handmade toy at a time.

Start emailing your drops!

Bianca xo
Founder, The Toy Society

Monday, June 24, 2013

We're Coming Back!

We're sorry things have fallen away here.

Things got away from us and before we knew it, time did too.

We sincerely apologise, we hate letting this amazing community down.

Never fear though, we are working on some small, followed by bigger improvements! We are changing how you sign up and how you post your drops. We are also changing how we manage things around here as it was far too much for just one or two people to handle.

We will announce the changes on 1st July both here and in our newsletter.

In the mean time, feel free to drop us an email if you have any specific suggestions.

And if you're trying to sign up, email thetoysociety@gmail.com with the subject SIGN ME UP and we will add you straight into the new database.

Onwards and upwards!

Yours in kind acts with no expectations,

The Toy Society  xxx

Sunday, March 18, 2012

Toy Society blog - update

Hi again all you lovely toy-makers, toy-droppers and toy-lovers...

I just wanted to keep you up to date on a few goings-on around here. My name is Juddie and I've been an administrator for this site for the past few years. In recent months our small team has been swamped by other other commitments but we've been doing what we can to maintain the blog postings. As it happens, I'm due to have my first baby in the the next week or so and I don't know how frequently I'll be able to continue updating this blog once I get the bub home.

Thank you very much to those of you who have offered to help out .... we're currently in the process of making new arrangements for speedy uploads and timely news from the Toy Society community, and we'll be in touch as soon as we finalise these details.

So .... I guess I'm just asking you all to hang in there with us and be patient - we'd still love you to continue making and dropping toys, adding your pictures and details to the Flickr group , and perhaps email me directly if you have any questions in the meantime: juddieb[at]bigpond[dot]com.


Many thanks everyone!

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Apologies once more!

Hi everyone,

just a quick note to apologise again for the delay in posting your pictures and toy drop information. We will catch up soon and arrange a regular posting schedule to ensure that all drops are recorded quickly!

Thank you again to all involved with the Toy Society - we hope you continue to enjoy spreading the love ... and we appreciate your patience as we regroup our resources.

Thank you too, to those who have offered to help with administering this site - we definitely appreciate any offer to help and we'll be in contact soon.

Love and best wishes from The Toy Society girls.