"New members often think treasuries are hard to get, but the truth is they are pretty easy once you understand the tricks. Here are all the tricks:
1) Read Etsy’s basic instructions on how to get a treasury: http://www.etsy.com/storque/how-to/how-to-make-a-treasury-the-nuts-and-bolts-688/Important points to note:i) Etsy’s instructions are written for the main treasury, but you can also curate in Treasury West:
http://www.etsy.com/treasury_west.php which opens when the lists go below 222, instead of 333 as in the main treasury.
ii) you don’t have to use the poster sketch tool:
http://www.etsy.com/poster_sketch.php but it is useful to see things laid out ahead of time, and moving items in the treasury can occasionally lead to the “stacking bug”, where one of your treasury spaces disappears. The stacking bug cannot be fixed! You can avoid the stacking bug by moving things slowly, and by not moving things when people are clicking on your treasury.
iii) don’t paste the whole listing URL into the little boxes; use the ID number only. It can be found at the end of the URL, or on the bottom right side of the listing.
2) Figure out when the treasuries open.That is a lot easier that it used to be if you check this website, which gives you a rough estimate of when to expect an opening:
http://www.craftopolis.com/index.php?com=tcImportant points to note:i) Craftopolis is only an estimate, so don’t assume it is correct – always go check the treasuries themselves for the exact time.
ii) To figure out exactly when the treasury is due to open: Sort by expiration with the next treasury to expire last, & figure out which is the 333rd (or 222nd in treasury west) treasury - that is when treasury is due to open. BUT beware that people will usually delete their treasuries early to get a new one so it will almost always open early. Assuming an hour early is a good guideline, but I have seen it open nearly 4 hours ahead of schedule; this unpredictability is part of the “fun” of treasuries.
iii) Figuring out the 333rd & 222nd treasury: If there are fewer than 500 treasuries, the target treasury is 8 from the bottom on page 17 of main Treasury, & 2nd from the top of page 12 in Treasury West. When there are more than 500 lists, you actually have to do the math to figure it out. That is when Craftopolis is most useful.
iv) Open the target treasury to find out the exact time. On the list of treasuries, any time remaining over one hour is rounded down, so if the list says “expires in 6 hours” it could actually still have almost 7 hours to go.
v) Once the treasury gets to 333 (or 222 in Treasury West) no one can delete theirs, so the treasury can’t open any earlier than the time shown on the last list.
3) Hang out & wait for the treasury to open, keeping an eye out for sudden deletions.Important points to note:i) the box will open at the bottom of the page, so wait there once the time gets close.
ii) the box is only open for a handful of seconds, so have your title already typed out & ready to paste as soon as you see the box. You only have 33 characters including spaces, & most symbols will not show up, so stick to letters & simple punctuation. Scroll through the treasury lists to see what other people have used in their titles.
iii) DO NOT REFRESH YOUR BROWSER – you run a high risk of missing the treasury opening this way. To get the times to count down in Flash (the program your computer uses to view & create treasuries), click on the little blue page number for the page you are on. When a treasury has less than 60 seconds remaining before expiration, clicking on the page number will allow you to see the seconds count down.
iv) When a treasury expires, it will usually briefly show as “Expired” before it actually drops off the list. This delay can be lengthy at some times, but DO NOT REFRESH YOUR BROWSER!
Have any treasury tips, or treasury questions? Leave a comment on the blog, or convo me & I will be happy to add it/answer it".
A huge thank you to Cindy (cindylouwho2) from putting this treasury info together!
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