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Web sites for artists. Dayton Visual Arts Center December 15, 2012 Steve Betts sbetts@minethurn.com 937-477-1797. Who am I?. Steve Betts Senior Software Developer at GD-AIS 24 years software experience Many many websites Photographer. Why have a web site?. To promote your art
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Web sites for artists Dayton Visual Arts CenterDecember 15, 2012Steve Betts sbetts@minethurn.com 937-477-1797
Who am I? • Steve Betts • Senior Software Developer at GD-AIS • 24 years software experience • Many many websites • Photographer
Why have a web site? • To promote your art • To connect with your fans
What to put on your website • Biography • Artist Statement • Portfolio • Contact Information • News
Kinds of web sites • Static • Everything on the web site is fixed before displaying the web page • Changes require user to code them • More difficult to maintain • Dynamic • The web page is created when requested • The content is stored in a Content Management System (CMS) • Pages may change based on the date, or the user, or some other criteria • Easier to maintain
Things to beware • Free is never free • Introductory pricing – know what it will cost • Technical Support – who you gonna call?
How to start • Find a hosting service • Look for inexpensive but reliable service • Check http://dayton.bbb.org • Get a domain name • Use your artist name in the domain • Get an email address • Make it easy to use, like artist@ or info@
Costs • Hosting should be about $5/month • Domain names cost about $10/year • Most hosting services include a domain name and email, but some don’t
Wordpress • Wordpress is software that manages the web site for you • You determine how the site should look using themes and plugins • Themes are designs for a website • Plugins are additional functionality • Vibrant community • Free! • http://wordpress.org
Hosting • Places to get Wordpress hosting • http://www.inmotionhosting.com/wordpress-hosting.html • http://www.bluehost.com/ • http://wpengine.com (costly)
Themes • http://wordpress.org/extend/themes/ • http://newwpthemes.com/ • http://themeforest.net/ (not free)
Plugins • http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/ • There is a plugin for everything • NextGEN Gallery – show your pictures • BackupWordpress – back up your website • Facebook Photo Fetcher – get images from Facebook • Flickr Manager – get images from Flickr
Images • When putting images on the web • Make them web sized • 2-3 inches at 300dpi • 500-600 pixels • Watermark them
Play • Start with what is there • Add little bits at a time • Everything can be changed • Play!