Treasury Making

I've just nabbed myself another treasury on Etsy and thought I would do a condensed version about what they are, how to get one etc.

What are treasuries?
Treasuries are an opportunity to show off other peoples work. They are really not intended for self promotion and some people frown upon those who chose to put one of their own items in their treasuries. However, Etsy admin have said that we can put one of our own items in our treasuries, but it will be swapped to an alternate if the treasury makes the Front Page.

What is the difference in the main treasury and Treasury West?
The link to the main treasury can be found on the home page, whereas treasury west can only be found through the direct link - http://www.etsy.com/treasury_west.php

Treasury west is a test and may be removed at any time.

How do you know when treasuries are about to come up?
The main treasury will become available only when the total number of treasuries drops below 333. Treasury west becomes available when the total number drops below 222. You can work out approximately when they are going to become available by working out what times are left on remaining treasuries. However, it is possible to delete treasuries, so it's easy to get caught out! Remember that once the main treasury has reached 333 and treasury west 222, it is not possible to delete a treasury, so you can work it out accurately then.

What happens when they become available?
At the bottom of the page a box will appear and you type in the title of your treasury - this can't be changed later so make your spelling is accurate!There is a maximum of 33 characters, so make it short. Click on 'create' and hopefully it will take you to your treasury. I say hopefully, because strange things have been known to happen at this point!

Can I have a treasury ready in advance?
Yes with poster sketch You can click on http://www.etsy.com/poster_sketch.php and make up a treasury to keep until the next one is available. This allows you to move items around, change them about and generally have a play with your treasury. Remember that although you will put 16 items in your treasury, only the 12 in the first 3 columns are visable to anyone else. The last 4 are the alternates and are only visable to you. The only way to transfer your poster sketch to your treasury is to put the item numbers in one by one, there is no way to put your whole poster sketch in your treasury quickly.
One thing worth remembering about poster sketch is, if you have made it quite a bit before you get a treasury, some of the items may have sold or expired, so you need to check them every so often and certainly after making the treasury.

Can I let people know they are in my treasury?
Etsy admin changed the rules for this a few months ago and now we are allowed to convo people to let them know we have used one of their items for our treasuries. I think though that the spambot filter may still play up if you convo too many people at once with the same message, so either pause between your convo's or change the wording slighty.

How do I know if I am in a treasury?
You can either take a look at the treasury lists - a gold star means one of your items is featured, a silver star means that one of your items is an alternate - or you can use craftopolis where you just put in your shop name and it will tell you how many treasuries you are in or are alternates in. This brilliant site also allows you to find out if you are in any gift guides.

How will I know if I have made it to the Front Page?
Apart from the fact your shop and items hearts/views will no doubt have jumped significantly, you can take a look at craft cult where the new Vault feature shows all the front pages.

Well I hope this has covered the nuts and bolts of treasury making! The one thing I know that's been left out is getting a screen shot of your treasury but I've got to admit that's one thing I can't yet do, so if anyone can help out, I really appreciate it!