Coming to terms with WordPress

Here it is September and I’m just now making headway with my summer project – WordPress! WordPress is supposed to be simple to use, or so I thought…I figured it wouldn’t take much effort to figure it out since I know HTML and CSS. Boy was I wrong! I still don’t know where the HTML is hiding which makes it difficult to implement CSS.

I’ve gotten 2 sites set up and I’ve been helping Lee with hers, and it’s taken 3 weeks to do it! The free themes are pretty overwhelming; there are so many and they are set up to show you the blog page. I want to create websites where the blog plays a secondary role. I googled phototgraphy  themes for WordPress and found several good sources for premium themes. Themeforest is my favorite one stop shopping. The thing  I learned quickly about premium themes is that they explain everything the theme has to offer and lets you preview the pages. WordPress shows you a preview of the free theme, but it’s still hard to know what it will look like for images when all you see is the blog page with that boat image or pages of text. I like having things spelled out for me with appropriate samples.

I purchased a theme from Photocrati with 4 different ways to display images. I struggled for a week trying to figure out how the pages were created and how the menu worked…it was driving me crazy! There was a new update a few days after I purchased mine and it wouldn’t upload without making a mess. Photocrati responded to my email within a few hours but their advice didn’t solve my problem. After several attempts to fix things, they asked for my user names and passwords to take a look at the files. Their response was basically the same as the first time, the file was in the wrong folder…they gave me the same steps to try again. Isn’t this a good example of Einstein's  definition of insanity!

Here’s the deal in a nutshell:

Between Lee and I, we have 3 domain names, each one set up with its own hosting package with GoDaddy, and the Photocrati theme. My first install had a glitch that wasn’t apparent to a new WordPress user, I just thought WordPress was extremely difficult. As I noted before, the update completely ruined everything. I uninstalled the theme and re-installed the new version several times, I also uninstalled the WordPress application and re-installed it through GoDaddy. After numerous attempts, a whole day wasted, the thing worked. I don’t know how it happened but it works.

My biggest question for Photocrati is, if it was a simple matter of a file being in the wrong folder and since they had total access to my accounts, why didn’t they just move it for me? The folder was in the same folder as my other themes and the files were in the same configuration, I couldn’t find anything out of place and the solution they sent me failed twice, it would have been so easy for them to fix it, wouldn’t it?

My second site went smoothly. The license allows me to use Photocrati on as many personal websites as I want so I uploaded the same zip file to the new site. Don’t know why this worked the first time, but I’m not complaining!

Now for Lee’s experience…she had a domain name through GoDaddy so she set up her WordPress hosting through them too. Next she purchased the Photocrati theme. Every time she uploaded it, she got lines of text giving various error messages that pushed the dashboard off the screen making it hard to deactivate the theme. We both worked on her site, uninstalling both the theme and the WordPress application to no avail. As a last ditch effort, we uninstalled everything and I tried the installation on my computer. We’d become convinced that her firewall must be interfering some way. We discovered that I had to be an administrator for either of us to access her account from my computer which we can’t understand. So, starting from scratch, we installed the WordPress application again and then installed my copy of the zip file (which now worked on 2 sites) and nothing changed. It’s a mystery! Photocrati blames the way GoDaddy handles WordPress and GoDaddy says that there is a lot of trouble with Photocrati themes…neither attitude helps us! Lee has asked for her money back; we’ll see how that goes.

I downloaded Sandbox yesterday and I’m looking forward to playing with the CSS file so I can get a better understanding of how things work. I also start PHP and MySQL classes this week at Wake Tech, I’ll keep you posted. These are skills that seem very important to landing a job and they should make WordPress easier to understand. I’m also going to sign up for Lynda.com and see how those tutorials are.

Group marketing for artists

We had our second meeting on Sunday. We now have 9 artists that have decided to pool our time and resources to get aggressive with our self promotion. Not only do we have a very diverse range of art, we have a very diverse skill set and contact base. I could never do this on my own! My studio mates and I have been struggling to get things off the ground with 3 of us.

The goals for this week are:
decide on a group name, one that defines what we are doing and that is search engine friendly.
Research local venues that support and encourage art shows, like local coffee houses and restaurants
Laying out a promo piece that includes printed material and a CD with additional images and information.

I am very interested in following up on corporate sales. It seems that articles geared at helping artists in the marketplace talk a lot about corporate sales, directly to corporate curators, through art advisors, and online. I am hoping to find resources at the local library or at the local university libraries. So far my online searches aren't producing much. There are large online galleries that sale primarily to large corporations but they don't make it easy for artists to submit material to be considered.

Outside of research this week, I am going to work on SEO for the Carter Building Alliance website and my own. One of our members presented some great articles on SEO and I found a few new ideas that I hadn't thought about before.

Marketing is a very large undertaking and very time consuming. I've always felt overwhelmed and not gotten very far along before I 'find something better' to do! Now I can take it one step at a time, one day at a time, and know that I am accountable to the group that is eager to hear what I learn and to share their new gained knowledge.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

First Friday at the Carter Building in August

A big part of pulling together a marketing plan is defining yourself as a business. We started the process this winter with new studio space, a name, and a logo. Our business goals weren't quite so well defined; we could do this to make money, or maybe this,...should definitely do that...You know how it goes. I got swallowed up in tax season, Lee had to finish the school year at the same time she and the girls were adjusting to Jeremy's long distance commute, and Tunde has been relocating to Boone. And have I mentioned the record heat?! Very debilitating!

While the heat continues to rage, I think we're starting to adjust to it. My house is still 89 degrees inside most days but I don't seem to feel it as much. Only problem is when my arms stick to my art work! Tunde finished his move this weekend; it's going to be hard to have him out of town but I think the stress level will be reduced and he'll get back to painting more and things will be right with the world. And now we have 2 art markets to focus on!

Lee's girls are getting restless, it's time for school to start back! We are using the time constructively while trying to keep them occupied. Yesterday we tore the whole studio apart. Tunde took most of his painting supplies, just leaving little bits of himself behind and since we moved into the space in a hurry in Febuary, things have never been properly put away. We literally pulled everything into the middle of the floor and started fresh: paper's in one place, the screws and nails are sorted, the office supplies are put away....and all the wrappers and trash are thrown away! We added 10 feet of surface work space! And we made room for a 4th person. I love the way the floor space is opened up again, there is breathing room and the sun seems to shine brighter. Today we are going to re-hang the walls and finish getting things in place for First Friday.

Now, we should be able to focus on defining our goals. We have started a group within the Carter Building to pool our time and resources. We met Sunday for the first time and brainstormed. First order of business is research. It's great, some one is tackling galleries, corporate sales, online galleries, promotion/proposals and then we have our next meeting scheduled - a very important next step. It will serve to keep us accountable!

Time for Daisy to take me for a walk. Did I mention the heat!!



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Glenwood South, Raleigh

Getting ready for August First Friday

The temperature reached 103! I'm sitting on my porch with two fans blowing hot air on me- feels cooler out here than my sunroom studio. No A/C this summer so it's 91 in the rest of the house!

Enough complaining; I'm getting a lot done work wise, it's too hot to be moving around. I got the class schedule updated for upcoming fall classes: check out www.cbaraleigh.com for the latest. I polished up my resume and started applying for web design jobs; it's amazing what they expect for an entry level job! There's always hope! Today I finally got the kinks out of my website-little things that have been driving me crazy. And the conference website should be finished! That was fun and I learned a lot and I got to work with some great people.

I haven't gotten as much done for my upcoming show as I'd hoped this week, it's too humid to color photographs without ruining them. I hope to get a least one more finished this weekend and then I get to photograph them; tungston lights ought to be a real joy right now! My show is Faces of Nature at Local Color Gallery, 20 Glenwood Ave on August 5th from 6-9.

This week is going to be another hot one so I plan to pour all my energy into marketing projects: brochure for corporate dealers, gallery submissions and our freelance web design. Plus I've got to color, photograph, matt & frame!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Raleigh

Mural is installed on The Carter Building

 

 

We had a grand time! Thanks to everybody that worked so hard: Tunde Afolayan, Lee Ball, Bill  Beatty, Donna Belt, Rick Bennett, Allen Clapp, Steve Coad, Karen Latta Cain, Greg, and Susan Jones.

And Special Thanks to all those from the community that participated in the painting.

Working on a large project like this has pulled us together and we are learning from each other. The building community is starting to get real excited so the sky’s the limit, nothing is impossible! If you google Raleigh, my dream city, the Carter Building pops up from multiple sources.

For more images, visit www.cbaraleigh.com.

Carter Building Community Mural Big Success

We had a great time at The Carter Building yesterday painting a community mural. At least 50 joined us during the day – we actually finished early! The weather was great and did I say we had a lot of fun?!

You can see additional pictures at www.cbaraleigh.com and www.simplyphotosnc.com.

We also had a great turnout for our First Friday musician, Lightnin’ Wells. He’s great and had everyone movin’.

Since I’ve been so involved in the marketing of these events, I wanted to go up to people and ask how they heard about the events!

This week will be busy; I start teaching summer camp in another week. Please let the heat stay away!!

Community Palette Mural at the Carter Building

In April we had our first event at the Carter Building, ArtSpeaks, with Lope Maz Diaz leading the group. We had a small turnout but were rewarded with individual critiques. I learned a lot and had a good time with my fellow tenants as well as 2 guests.

I’ve spent the last few days submitting our next event to local calendars – this is a very time consuming task! I hope it pays off in the end.

 

This event should be great fun and if the celebrities we have invited participate, it should be even better!