| Do You Have a Website? | |
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How do you show your art on the web? | WYSIWYG Editor- made my own site | | 25% | [ 3 ] | Dreamweaver/HTML Editor-made my own site | | 8% | [ 1 ] | A Social Networking site (Facebook...) | | 17% | [ 2 ] | A blog (Wordpress, Blogger...) | | 25% | [ 3 ] | Hire a professional designer/web company | | 8% | [ 1 ] | On-Line Artists' Gallery Site | | 8% | [ 1 ] | On-Line Store (Etsy, E-Bay...) | | 0% | [ 0 ] | Photo-Sharing Site (Flickr...) | | 8% | [ 1 ] | I'm not on the web | | 0% | [ 0 ] |
| Total Votes : 12 | | |
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Callie Moderator
Posts : 1233 Join date : 2009-11-21 Location : St. Louis, MO USA
| Subject: Do You Have a Website? Thu Dec 10, 2009 5:57 pm | |
| Let's talk about getting our art on the web. Share advice, tips and favorite software for building a website, experiences with on-line galleries and stores, advice for building a blog; anything to do with how you created your on-line presence. Check one or more of the choices above, and tell us why you went with that method. | |
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Sofie Moderator
Posts : 713 Join date : 2009-11-27 Location : Courtenay, BC, Canada
| Subject: Re: Do You Have a Website? Thu Dec 10, 2009 8:40 pm | |
| I went with the WYSIWYG site because I don't do code, but I wanted to be in control of my website and be able to update it whenever I liked. The templates available were very basic, but I was able to customise the one I chose a bit. I like to keep things clean and simple and let the art be the focal point. It might be nicer to have a few extra bells and whistles, but for now I'm happy. I might try one of the art websites, like myartclub, which offers a free site for two months or so, just to see how I like it. What I don't like about the myartclub paid sites is that they are more limited rto the amount of paintings that can be posted than the host I'm using right now. | |
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Callie Moderator
Posts : 1233 Join date : 2009-11-21 Location : St. Louis, MO USA
| Subject: Re: Do You Have a Website? Thu Dec 10, 2009 11:51 pm | |
| I started with a wysiwyg that came free with my first hosting acct. At the time all of my design work was for print - I really believed I had no interest in web design. But several software programs later (including Dreamweaver), I'm hooked. My next site will be a re-do of my current one (which isn't finished, 'cause I keep changing it), only this time around, I'll do it from scratch - HTML, CSS... I got a bunch of Coffee Cup software with another hosting acct. I've been experimenting with the various programs (code editor, visual editor, form builder, gallery....), fun stuff! You did a nice job with your site, Sofie. It's easy to get to the art, and has a nice, friendly feel to it. That surprises me about the myartclub site - I wouldn't think too many artists would want to have that sort of limitation. If you do give it a try, please let us know what you think of it. | |
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Janet Moderator
Posts : 2050 Join date : 2009-11-15 Location : North Bay, Ontario Canada
| Subject: Re: Do You Have a Website? Fri Dec 11, 2009 8:57 am | |
| I have a blog and an account with Flickr. My blog is pretty lame it was just a place where in one place I can review my progress and my family has the site info so they can see what I'm up to artwise. Flickr is somewhere where I can store larger files. Next time my computer decides to quit on me I won't lose all my photos. Flickr does have a surprisingly large artists presence with several art related groups where you can share your art. Some day I plan to create an art related website but I'll wait until I've actually progressed beyond the newbie stage in art. | |
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Dawn
Posts : 65 Join date : 2009-11-28 Location : Uniontown Mo
| Subject: Re: Do You Have a Website? Fri Dec 11, 2009 10:16 am | |
| I do have a web site but I don’t sell much from it, I am hoping to change all that and maybe you guys will have some advise. I have been using a program called web easy and you don’t have to know code so it really is easy. I say easy but let me tell you its very time consuming which is why my site is in the condition its in, I just have not had time to fix all the problems. I am in the process of switching back to the original host that will take place in the next few days, transferring the domain name, once that’s done I will re vamp the site. I am working on simplifying it, take a look any advise is welcome! www.dawnmelkafineart.com | |
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judyfilarecki Moderator
Posts : 2685 Join date : 2009-11-16 Location : Northern NY and Southern Arizona
| Subject: Re: Do You Have a Website? Sat Dec 12, 2009 5:27 pm | |
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Last edited by judyfilarecki on Sat Dec 12, 2009 5:35 pm; edited 1 time in total | |
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Janet Moderator
Posts : 2050 Join date : 2009-11-15 Location : North Bay, Ontario Canada
| Subject: Re: Do You Have a Website? Sat Dec 12, 2009 5:55 pm | |
| Dawn, I love your website. No suggestions from me I think it looks great! Judy, wonderful information on software for building a website! | |
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judyfilarecki Moderator
Posts : 2685 Join date : 2009-11-16 Location : Northern NY and Southern Arizona
| Subject: Re: Do You Have a Website? Sat Dec 12, 2009 6:01 pm | |
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Sofie Moderator
Posts : 713 Join date : 2009-11-27 Location : Courtenay, BC, Canada
| Subject: Re: Do You Have a Website? Sat Dec 12, 2009 9:07 pm | |
| Thanks for all the info, Judy. I admire your perseverence to try so many applications to create your website. I enjoyed my visit to your website - it is easy to use and very informative! Callie - thanks! I checked out your website too and found it very easy to navigate and well laid out. Your colours are very distinctive and that adds attraction. Dawn - your website works very well. I like the fact that you've kept it simple and it's easy to navigate. On your home page there is a text box which warped the first letters of each line of text. I don't know if this was just how it looks on my computer, or if it is a problem all your visitors can see. Maybe ypu have to adjust the size of the text box to make it a bit bigger so the letters aren't so close to the edge. | |
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judyfilarecki Moderator
Posts : 2685 Join date : 2009-11-16 Location : Northern NY and Southern Arizona
| Subject: Re: Do You Have a Website? Sat Dec 12, 2009 9:52 pm | |
| Thanks Sofie.
Those trials were over a four year period. The biggest thing I learned from SBI was that it is content that attracts search engines and that is why I switch from my original art site that just showed paintings to discussion with key words about the different paintings and media.
Unfortunately, I haven't had the time to devote to the web site mainly because I keep getting side tracked by article writing, the forum, my blog, and painting along with...life.
I think I am going to try to devote more time to the website and actually use some of the writing I do other places to expand the web site. What I have to do is start writing a "To Do List" again. I get a lot done t hat way.
Judy | |
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Callie Moderator
Posts : 1233 Join date : 2009-11-21 Location : St. Louis, MO USA
| Subject: Re: Do You Have a Website? Sat Dec 12, 2009 10:08 pm | |
| The version of my website that's up now was made with Coffee Cup, the gallery is a Jalbum template that I tweaked to make it match. It's really easy to add other components to the Coffee Cup site. Judy, if you're having problems with getting images uploaded - do you have the latest version/update? I've avoided taking advantage of key words and site maps, etc. because my site has been in limbo for so long... one of these days I've been wanting to try out the Coffee Cup shopping cart, but I have nothing to sell! Let us know if you like it - what's good, not so good... Dawn - I tried Web easy a few years ago, it was fast and easy to get a site up. I couldn't resist when I got an upgrade offer a few months ago - Web Easy 8 Professional for $29.95. Haven't made anything with it yet, but it looks good for a wysiwyg. Did you use a recent version? I'll have to take another look at your site. Another one that's fun to use is Web Creator Pro fro LMSoft: http://www.lmsoft.com/wc5-new-functions.html What makes it different from the other wysiwygs is the ability to add javascript through an easy to use docker. It also has a layers/elements docker that lets you lock things so you don't accidentally move them), or make layers visible/invisible. I wish Coffee Cup would swipe those features for their visual editor! If anyone has suggestions for good (easy to update) photo galleries, share them here. Most of the easy DIY programs are weak in their gallery functions (if they even have them). | |
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Dawn
Posts : 65 Join date : 2009-11-28 Location : Uniontown Mo
| Subject: Re: Do You Have a Website? Sun Dec 13, 2009 12:05 pm | |
| I’m using the web easy 8, I was able to upgrade for 14, that was way cool ! I have tried other programs and nothing compares for me because I don’t know code and truly not interested in learning, I just have no time. But I have not had a chance to use all the stuff it offers, time time time! I know the site needs soooo much work , I noticed the box on the front page, I have actually fixed it but have not uploaded any changes yet, maybe I can do that this week. I really have to learn about getting my site noticed it just seems a little scary for me, there is so much to it, that will be my winter project. I just want to paint I wish I could hire someone to do all this web stuff, when I catch rich, LOL Who does everyone use as a hosting company? I am going back to bravnet, there customer service in bad but it still seems to work for me. | |
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Janet Moderator
Posts : 2050 Join date : 2009-11-15 Location : North Bay, Ontario Canada
| Subject: Re: Do You Have a Website? Sun Dec 13, 2009 12:56 pm | |
| Dawn, I found this article that you might be interesting "37 Ways to Promote Your Website" here: http://www.wilsonweb.com/articles/checklist.htm I don't have a website yet but I can see from all the information being shared here when I do I'll have a lot of great options. | |
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judyfilarecki Moderator
Posts : 2685 Join date : 2009-11-16 Location : Northern NY and Southern Arizona
| Subject: Re: Do You Have a Website? Sun Dec 13, 2009 1:04 pm | |
| Hi Dawn,
I use Godaddy http://www.godaddy.com/ and they have a hosting agent which you can get for free if you allow Godaddy to put an ad on the top (see http://www.judyfilarecki.com/ ) or pay for the host and not have the ad (see http://www.filarecki.com/ ) You also get a free blog no matter which way you go as far as the hosting. (see http://blog.filarecki.com/ )
Their technical support is very good. You can reach them by phone and usually reach a real person in Phoenix, AZ or email and they are very prompt to respond. I've used them for 4 years and have been very pleased.
Judy | |
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Callie Moderator
Posts : 1233 Join date : 2009-11-21 Location : St. Louis, MO USA
| Subject: Re: Do You Have a Website? Sun Dec 13, 2009 2:00 pm | |
| I've been using Lunar Pages for several years. I like their control panel - makes it easy to add features (auto-install Wordpress, for example). They've been very friendly, helpful the few times I've called about stuff, and they have a great forum - so lots of help and advice for all things web related (including SEO to get your site noticed).
Dawn - That was a great deal on Web Easy! | |
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judyfilarecki Moderator
Posts : 2685 Join date : 2009-11-16 Location : Northern NY and Southern Arizona
| Subject: Re: Do You Have a Website? Sun Dec 13, 2009 5:19 pm | |
| Callie, The only problem I was having with images in Coffee Cup when I used the WYSIWYG rather than the HTML page which is what I usually use, is the the default was a movable or absolute code which is not what I wanted for my fixed template. Once I realized that, I corrected the code to suit my needs. | |
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Sofie Moderator
Posts : 713 Join date : 2009-11-27 Location : Courtenay, BC, Canada
| Subject: Re: Do You Have a Website? Sun Dec 13, 2009 6:51 pm | |
| My webhost is easyweb, and they have a site builder with templates called easybuilder, so I haven't had to use any other programs at all in setting up my website - it's all there. | |
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Callie Moderator
Posts : 1233 Join date : 2009-11-21 Location : St. Louis, MO USA
| Subject: Re: Do You Have a Website? Sun Dec 13, 2009 9:04 pm | |
| Sofie, would you put up a link in case anyone wants to have a look at their hosting/software?
Judy - I've never used any of the Coffee Cup templates, I'm not quite sure I understand the image issue. Is it just the Visual designer code in general, or related to the templates? Are their templates easy to "re-model"? | |
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judyfilarecki Moderator
Posts : 2685 Join date : 2009-11-16 Location : Northern NY and Southern Arizona
| Subject: Re: Do You Have a Website? Sun Dec 13, 2009 9:32 pm | |
| Callie,
I haven't used any of the Coffee Cup templates. The issue came in when I tried to place an image in the Visual Editor in my fixed width template. The default for loading a picture was having an image style as Z-index: 100 and position as Absolute
If I changed the html to eliminate the IMG style Z index: 100, position: absolute
Then I could position it where I wanted such as to the right in this example.
Image source as applecard.jpg with a width of 300 and a height of 200 aligned to the right.
I didn't use the actual html codes here because every time I posted, it tried to make the code a link
This is getting too advanced for people not familiar with html.
I tend to work in html all the time now and not use the Visual Editor so I have better control over placement, but I have been working on learning the html for about a year and a half now.
I think for people just starting out, The Kompozer was the best choice of all the ones I progressed through. Judy | |
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Callie Moderator
Posts : 1233 Join date : 2009-11-21 Location : St. Louis, MO USA
| Subject: Re: Do You Have a Website? Sun Dec 13, 2009 11:38 pm | |
| I downloaded Kompozer some time ago, but I never could figure out what to do with it. I kept reading all these recommendations, and how easy it was, but I couldn't even get started with it - made Dreamweaver look simple I went back to the basics and got HTML Kit for coding. I'm thinking the Coffee Cup Editor looks like a happy medium. The lights just went on Coffee Cup has an HTML Editor that has both a code view and a visual editor view - They also have a Visual Site Designer, which is totally different. For those who don't want to mess with the coding, the Visual Designer lets you click a button to add text, images... then drag & drop. Very easy. I've heard the HTML Editor in visual mode can be quirky. | |
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judyfilarecki Moderator
Posts : 2685 Join date : 2009-11-16 Location : Northern NY and Southern Arizona
| Subject: Re: Do You Have a Website? Mon Dec 14, 2009 1:27 am | |
| I never checked out the visual site Designer. Is it different from the HTML Editor with the Visual Editor choice? Judy | |
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Dawn
Posts : 65 Join date : 2009-11-28 Location : Uniontown Mo
| Subject: Re: Do You Have a Website? Mon Dec 14, 2009 10:13 am | |
| Wow I checked out "37 Ways to Promote Your Website" that’s a lot of info I ended up saving it so I can go back and take my time reading it, I also signed up for the news letter. Thanks I think maybe I will learn a thing or two. I just love this forum all of you are so full of information and you so willing share it , you guys are the greatest | |
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Callie Moderator
Posts : 1233 Join date : 2009-11-21 Location : St. Louis, MO USA
| Subject: Re: Do You Have a Website? Mon Dec 14, 2009 10:57 am | |
| Judy- the Visual Site Designer is very different from the Html/Visual Editor. It requires no coding knowledge what so ever. It really is drag and drop easy, and has one-click tools to add other components (photo gallery, forms, menus...). It produces its own code (.VNU), but unlike some other wysiwygs, the end result meets W3 standards and will validate (good for search engines). I'm way too visually oriented to just type out a website - I have to see how everthing will look first. Even for someone who writes their own code, this could be a good tool for trying out lay-outs and color choices - as well as making a "live" mock-up since it's easy to add/change things. Dawn - I guess I better go have a look at that too, just in case I ever decide to actually promote my site | |
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