There has been some confusion about the nature of the pattern database on Threadloop, so we've decided to make things a lot clearer by changing some key things about the pattern form you get when you want to add or edit patterns.

From the beginning, we have always intended for most patterns on Threadloop to be public and shared in the community. If we all share it, there's no need for every single user to maintain their own private library of patterns, saving most people a lot of work if they want a total overview of their stash. When you add a pattern to your stash on Threadloop - you then get the option to add some of your own personal details and/or files. But this does not interfere with the pattern itself.

We've allowed private patterns to account for self-drafted patterns or unreleased designs. Understandably, there has been some confusion around this. Maybe because this has always been presented as a binary choice, as equally valid:

This has led to a few headaches. Most notably, some members have been editing patterns in the belief that they're only editing them for themselves - not realising this will affect all users. There are also some who would rather have their own private version of all their patterns, which ultimately leads to a lot of duplicated patterns, clutter and unmanageable costs for us.

So we've decided to make it clear that public patterns are the norm, and private patterns are only to be used for unreleased designs, like self-drafted patterns. 

As a result of this, you will now see a new section at the top of the form, making it clear that you are contributing to a shared database. If you want to create a private pattern, you can by clicking 'add a private pattern', and you will get a very minimal form to reflect that this is a unreleased design that won't benefit anybody else than yourself.

Why are we making this change now?
Other than the reasons already mentioned, we are currently overhauling Publications - which means that all books and magazines will be resources of their own. You will be able to browse through books and periodicals in a much better way (with cover photos!), and Plus users will be able to maintain their own Bookshelf - being able to stash all patterns from a book or magazine with one click. 

To achieve this, we've had to remove the option to add publications to private patterns, as this made it impossible to organise publications as a shared resource.

The new Publication section is coming very soon, and we can't wait to show you! And we hope these changes to the pattern form will make it clearer and more easy to understand the purpose of the pattern database.