For projects that successfully fund in the Design & Technology categories the creator will have an option to set a Status to keep their backers up to date as they move through the different stages of reward development, production, and fulfillment.
A Design & Technology Status is a shorter version of a project update. The latter lets you offer lengthy updates, where you can embed audio, video, and images, but a Design & Technology Status is a quick capture that’s easy for visitors of your project page to digest. Simply write a short statement to let backers know what you’re working on, and what milestone is next—you can also select a date to let them know when you plan to start.
These brief updates can cover a new phase within the production journey, whether it be a major step or simply a smaller task, it can also be used to let backers know what point you are at with fulfilling rewards. We recommend that you use the associated date feature to give your backers a better sense of when they should check in next, or when they can expect to hear from you again.
Note: This feature is currently only available for projects in the Design & Technology categories.
Do Design & Technology Statuses replace project updates?
No, we still encourage you to maintain a monthly cadence of project updates, and deliver more detailed, media-rich, behind-the-scenes snapshots of your project. The Design & Technology Status feature provides a more light-weight look at a project’s progress that can be updated more frequently without the complexity of longer updates.
Are backers notified of Status updates?
A Status will only appear on the project page—they’re not sent to backers via email and they don’t appear in a backer’s activity feed.
How do I set a Status on my project?
First, ensure that you have opted in by making sure that the top left corner of the Status update area says “Sharing on project page”. You should see the expanded module on your project page along with a pencil icon.
- Click the pencil icon and fill out both the ‘Now’ and ‘Next’ text boxes with 100 characters or less.
- Pick a date for when you plan on starting your ‘Next’ work.
- Click the “Publish” button in the upper right hand corner of the editing area. Your new Status will refresh and appear on your project page.
How do I opt out of this feature?
You can hide the Design & Technology Status tool from your project at any time. When you click on “Sharing on project page,” it will change to “Hiding on project page”. This removes the Status bar from your project page. You can restore this by simply clicking “Hiding on project page” so that it says “Sharing on project page” again. Enter and publish a new Status if you have any new information to share.