Guest Sherman Posted March 22, 2010 Report Share Posted March 22, 2010 From time to time, we get inquiries about starting your own website. Since clay artists tend to be DIYers, and there are several hosting and building options, many of you have said you're interested in making your own website. The options can get overwhelming, like for Randy: ------------------ I've been looking on line to find a website or blog site offering I can use for my work. There is so much information and so many kinds from free to expensive, some that search engines can access easily and others they can't. Could you do a post about that? I want to start applying to shows and galleries and all of them want to know if I have a website. Thanks. Love the Daily.---Randy Bill ------------------ Randy, Ceramic Arts Daily is put together on WordPress, which is open source (free) blog application. It can be customized relatively easily, depending on how much time you are willing to invest in exploring and learning. Many folks use it pretty much out of the box, and since it's mainly built as a blog, it is definitely search engine friendly. They make it easy to buy your own domain name as well, if you don't already have one or would rather just one-stop-shop. Another one (that I haven't tried) is Other People's Pixels, which might be a site worth looking into. Naomi Cleary, author of a great article on using the internet to market your work, uses it for her website and says it is a great, easy starter website. I'm sure others have experience with a good number of these sites and services, and I'm sure they'll (ahem) chime in and help you out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christine Posted April 2, 2010 Report Share Posted April 2, 2010 Thank you, Sherman - I've been thinking about a website for a while now, but restrictions on time (and a woefull inadequacy when it comes to anything more complex than email) have discouraged me from pursuing it further ..... you've definitely pointed me in the right direction and I may well have a play soon and see what I can come up with I love Ceramic Arts Daily - I've been a subscriber since Jan 2008 and find it very instructive and inspiring - thank you Christine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davorka Posted April 3, 2010 Report Share Posted April 3, 2010 I've been looking into free "online galleries" for a while, just to start showing my work on the internet. So far Exto is the best free place I've found, for us on a limited budget. There is a bit tedious registration procedure required, but once accepted and approved you'll have your free web site in a matter of minutes, with address like johndoe.exto.org . There are some minor flaws, like dutch and english language on the same page but it's free...so thumbs up Davorka Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zola de Firmian Posted April 3, 2010 Report Share Posted April 3, 2010 I've got my website up via Yahoo's small business site hosting porgram. I'm fairly tech-friendly, but do NOT want to spend the time reinventing the wheel takes to not use templates, etc. It's been good, and the support is excellent. (www.zinfusions.com) The second site I created was via Vista Print's service, (surprised myself, but used design from something ordered, so it took off easily. Ease Matters!) I LOVED both the ease and style of the rotating gallery on the home page I created for our contracting site. (http://firmiandesigns.vpweb.com ) Third, I'm trying to do a 1000 Market's Online Store right now and WANT TO HEAR other's EXPERIENCES with thier stores there. CAD: thanks for the great forum you've created! - ZOLA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GEP Posted April 8, 2010 Report Share Posted April 8, 2010 I recommend Weebly ( http://weebly.com ) to build an easy and free website. I built my wholesale pricelist on Weebly earlier this year, and I liked it so much I am now planning to rebuild my main website on Weebly. It has a fabulous photo gallery feature, which is really important for a artist's site. And it lets you create contact forms, which allow folks to send you emails without publishing your email address online (which thwarts the spam harvesters). Here's a link to my wholesale pricelist site, in case you want to see it: http://gep-wholesale.weebly.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Campbell Posted April 11, 2010 Report Share Posted April 11, 2010 For any Mac users out there, I highly recommend Karelia Software's "Sandvox". It is the easiest software to use ... if you can cut and paste you can have a great website using one of their many templates. I update mine almost daily ... it is so simple to add text and images. No, it is not free but it was very reasonably priced. See my results at www.ccpottery.com Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leigh@CAC Posted April 14, 2010 Report Share Posted April 14, 2010 I just created my website with Other People's Pixels and was very impressed with how easy it was. I have been trying to get around to getting myself a website for years now, and I put this website together in just the better part of an afternoon! A great way to get it done. Thanks for the suggestion!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Campbell Posted April 14, 2010 Report Share Posted April 14, 2010 Yes, it is amazing how simple it is to create a website now ... none of the hassle of even three years ago. I am so happy I gave up my difficult 'techie' software and went with the easy, easy, easy site builder. Sold out? Heck yeh! chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadMudder Posted July 21, 2010 Report Share Posted July 21, 2010 For any Mac users out there, I highly recommend Karelia Software's "Sandvox". It is the easiest software to use ... if you can cut and paste you can have a great website using one of their many templates. I update mine almost daily ... it is so simple to add text and images. No, it is not free but it was very reasonably priced. See my results at www.ccpottery.com Chris Your website is amazing. It loads quickly, is very easy to navigate and the resolution is good. Love your work! MM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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