Hi all,

Shapeways continues to introduce new developments, whether that is new materials or new site developments. And as you know we always value the input of our community. Hence, we hope you can give us your opinion on our next site development.

About 5-6 weeks ago, after consumer testing, we introduced our new left navigation bar on the home page and gallery pages. This enables our consumers to find what they are looking for more quickly. For us, that was just a first step. In the next couple of weeks we aim to implement new categories and sub-categories, of which you can find a list below.

How will it work? The categories will show as you see them now, and as you hover over them the sub-categories will appear (fold out to the left of the category), you will then have the option to click on or the category or the relevant sub-category to get to a gallery of all relevant products.

We are very interested to find out what you think, e.g. do you think you can find classification for the products you create? do you think we have any (sub)categories missing? ...

Thanks in advance for your feedback.



Jo

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[Updated on: Wed, 20 October 2010 05:45 UTC] by Moderator

Hi,

quick reaction on this question since I saw no reply and it's in my field of expertise
- What is the difference between Miniatures and Figurines/Characters? Figurines and Model Trains are both Miniatures. Or more direct, what is Miniatures?

In this case it's a specific use of the word, not the generic "small version of something".

Miniatures comes from table top wargaming and is the common word for small size figurative models. Say 30mm size and smaller. Think tin and plastic soldiers. It's a world in itself and nowadays miniatures are not just for gaming but also collecting and painting hobbies.

Larger sized figurative models tend to be called (scale) figures.

Model trains tend to be classified as scale models.

Hope this helps.

By the way, as mentioned in the podcast I'd like to suggest another category: tools.
This is a sculpting blade I made for miniatures sculpting. Pre- and post finishing.


Right now I have a hard time figuring what category it would fit in.

Bye,
Ming-Hua

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[Updated on: Fri, 09 July 2010 00:02 UTC]

I never even noticed this topic before!
I have pondered the subject a little, though. First off, though not really relevant to my stuff so far, I wonder if the Seasonal section should be expanded a bit. We've got Weddings, but it seems that maybe that should be expanded to other personal events like Birthdays, Anniversaries etc.
And we have a category for Christmas (I'm not sure it should be limited to 'decorations', though), but no room for any other religious (or non-religious) annual celebration. We may not have much (if any) call at present for specific subheadings, but there may well in future be items celebrating (for instance), Diwali, Hannukah, Yule etc, as well as things like various Saint's days, and even New Year (whichever that may be ).

More relevant to me, I'm surprised there isn't an actual "Toys" category somewhere, either as a subcat under Hobby (most likely), or a subdivided section of its own.
Actually, if there's doubt over the Games section, it could always be lumped into the classic Toys and Games, including action figures, accessories, toy vehicles, dice, gaming miniatures, and puzzles (if you don't think it's ready for its own section )

Is there only room for one level of subdivision?

Andy

[Updated on: Mon, 02 August 2010 16:46 UTC]