ArtSites Updates

Last week, Facebook made an "update" that you probably should know about.

In essence, Facebook has made yet another change to their "algorithm" (which is a fancy way of saying their "formula" ;-) that determines which posts get shown on your (and your friends / network's) news feed!

In short, going forward, personal posts from your "friends" will have more weight and be shown more often than posts from Facebook Pages.

Since this is a very new change, it's not 100% clear of the impact.

That said, Facebook does seem to be moving towards "encouraging" Facebook Page authors and small businesses - like you and us - to pay to get exposure.

Now, this isn't the death toll of Facebook Pages, but you may notice a decrease in views of your Facebook Page posts.

So, you may want to start posting announcements, status updates, etc. from BOTH your personal Facebook account and your "official" Facebook Page.

I simply wanted to mention this to you since we all have limited time and you need to think about the benefits vs. the costs of maintaining and managing your Facebook Page, especially if you're not getting the "attention" you want! ;-)

I'll be sure to keep you posted on any future developments! :-)

And, if you're interested, here's the official Facebook announcement with all the details!

(As some of you may have noticed, I don't spend much time on our ArtSites Facebook Page anymore. This is because, for the effort I was spending, we weren't getting the results to make it worthwhile. ;-)

Last week, when we asked you to let us know what photographers, framers, shippers, etc. you like to work with, Astrid Davidson shared a great (and detailed) article written in the last Opus Newsletter about:

Below are also two videos from that article that you probably want to watch!

Documenting Your Artwork (Part 1)

Documenting Your Artwork (Part 2)

Thanks so much, Astrid, for passing this article along! ;-)

Enjoy the article / videos and we look forward to seeing even more amazing new images of your art! :-)

One question that keeps popping up with many of our artists is:

While we have shared a video, sometimes you just need a photographer! :-)

This week, while we were hosting our ArtSites demonstration, this question came up again!

Many artists mentioned that putting a website together using ArtSites was quite attractive, but more difficult is getting good digital images of their artwork!

This got Geoff and me thinking that it would be a good idea to ask YOU for some recommendations!

Do you work with or know some REALLY good:

• art photographers,
  (& if you're one of OUR photographers who photographs art, please let us know! :-)
• art framers,
• art shippers,
• Or, other art-related people / companies?

If so, we'd love to create a directory so that we can share it with ALL our artists! :-)

We've created the following form to capture your recommendations!

(click to share your recommendations)

So, please let us know what photographers, framers, shippers, etc. you like to work with!

Help us support businesses who are doing a GREAT job supporting YOU! :-)

In anticipation of Google starting to more favourably rank websites that are "mobile-friendly", Geoff's been working on a couple more "mobile-friendly" layouts.

Like the images above, our latest "Tiled" layouts will automatically layout your website in slightly different ways depending on your visitor's screen size.

The goal with these latest layouts is to make your images and your website as easy to view as possible no matter what screen size your visitors have! ;-)

(With some of our "classic" layouts, images appear quite small on smaller screens and/or it's difficult to hit the intended link with your finger ;-)

(To read more about these newer layouts and why it's a good idea to upgrade, please check out our previous article on Responsive Web Design.)

We've also decided to go with more "descriptive" layout names.

For example, all of the new "Tiled" layouts use a "Tiled" layout for your galleries and the most significant changes between them reflect where the menu is located.

Interested in trying out one of these newer layouts? Here's how:

1. Go to your Layout tab in your Admin Panel
2. You should see 3 "new" layout options (see below):
   • 
   • Tiled with Top Menu (FYI - this used to be "Tiled Responsive")
     This layout is really a modernized version of our "classic" Tiled layout with the menu at the top of your webpages. It can also work as a "replacement" for the Vertical layout.
   • Tiled with Left Menu
     This layout has the menu on the left-hand side. This option can work as a "replacement" for our current Matted, Vertical, or Minimalist layouts.
   • Tiled with Slideout Menu
     This layout is the most minimalist. It is really intended to replace the Minimalist layout. The menu slides out by clicking a "menu" icon (three stacked lines). And, when you've made your selection, the menu slides away again. This provides very clean webpages, primarily filled with just images and text.
3. Select one of the above Layouts.
4. Select a Colour Scheme.
5. Scroll down and click "Update Website Header & Layout" to save your selections!
6. Go and view your website!

(Please note that if we've customized your current website, e.g. colours, fonts, etc., your customizations will still be in effect!)

That said, feel free to give any of the new layouts a try and if you don't like them, you can always go back to what you had! :-)

We've already done a fair bit of testing, but we also know we can't replicate every situation. ;-)

So based on your feedback and experiences, we may "tweak" these new layouts to ensure that they work best for a variety of visitors / devices! ;-)

As always, if you experience any issues or problems, please just let us know!

Once again, we simply want to make sure your visitors have the best viewing experience regardless of the device they're using! :-)

Just in case you want to improve your drawing or sketching capabilities, you may want to check out Osmo Masterpiece.

Osmo Masterpiece is an app that enables kids and adults to become digital artists and regain confidence in their ability to draw.

With Osmo Masterpiece, you can snap a picture of anything or anyone or select a photo from one of your albums.

Then, you attach Osmo’s reflective mirror to the iPad and activate an app that taps into Osmo’s artificial intelligence technology.

The app uses computer vision to analyze the scene and produce a rough sketch of the object you have photographed.

It lays out the important lines that you can use to create a drawing of that image!

Then, you can set a piece of paper in front of the iPad and trace the lines that Osmo suggests on the image on the iPad screen.

This may be hard to picture, but the videos above & below show how it works.

With Osmo Masterpiece, you can learn to draw better!

Not only does Osmo assist you by training you to re-create what you're actually seeing in front of you, it also nurtures your spatial intelligence and builds confidence in your instincts.

While much of the marketing is focused on kids, I can see a lot of interesting new opportunities with a tool like this even for experienced artists!

Enjoy and let's get drawing! :-)

You may have heard that starting next month, your Google website rankings will be positively affected by mobile-phone friendly web design.

Here's what Google said:

"Starting April 21, we [Google] will be expanding our use of mobile-friendliness as a ranking signal. This change will affect mobile searches in all languages worldwide and will have a significant impact in our search results. Consequently, users will find it easier to get relevant, high quality search results that are optimized for their devices."

So, in anticipation of these changes, Geoff's done his technical wizardry again! :-)

This past week, we've integrated mobile-phone friendly layouts into ALL of our layouts!

So, what does this mean?

It means that ALL of our layouts are now mobile-phone friendly! Woohoo! :-)

(And, you don't have to change anything; it's automatically integrated!)

If anyone goes to your website using a mobile phone now, they will see a layout that is optimized for mobile-phone viewing.

Also, if you are interested in a layout that has been optimized for viewing on a desktop, laptop, tablets, and mobile phones, you may want to try out our "Tiled with Top Menu" layout.

And, if you'd like to read more, please feel free to check out our previous article on Responsive Web Design.

We simply want to make sure your visitors have the best viewing experience! :-)

(The original image is in the middle)
(At left, white-balanced as if the dress is white-gold.
At right, white-balanced to blue-black.)

I'm sure you've probably heard about the recent online discussions debating the colour of the above dress!

Some people saw it (the middle image) as white and gold, while others saw it as blue and black.

Now, you may be tired of hearing about the debate ... but, I did think it offered a nice opportunity to talk about colours online.

In short, what you see and what others see may not be the same colour!

Since much of your artwork depends on colour, you should always keep this in mind!

In this most recent case, the issue was primarily due to the lighting of the dress and how the photo was taken.

(If you're interested, here's a nice video on How to Photograph Your Artwork! ;-)

However, there can also be significant differences in colour due to your monitor or screen.

Or, even the angle at which you're looking at an image!

So, when you post an image of your artwork, simply remember that it may not look the same for everyone! ;-)

And, if you're interested, here's a great article about The Science of Why No One Agrees on the Colour of this Dress! :-)

Unfortunately, images online cannot replace seeing art in real life!

And, this latest debate is just a gentle reminder! :-)

Recently, I was asked another great question by ArtSites artist, Julie Elliot:

"Is it true, the more changes I make to my website, the more I move up in the search engine? How does that work exactly?"

You may have also heard this; so, here's my answer ... ;-)

There is some "research" (maybe even just anecdotal evidence) that shows that updating your website more frequently does trigger Google to review your website more and therefore, MAY increase your ranking and results.

In essence, when you update your website, Google sees this as your website being "fresh" or current and your website hasn't been abandoned. (I'm sure you've been to many websites that haven't been updated in a very long time and you've probably wondered whether they have just been abandoned ;-)

To rank websites and their relevance, Google has developed its own special "formula" (or algorithm ;-) that "weights" websites that are updated more frequently in a more positive manner.

That said, nobody knows Google's exact formula / algorithm.

How their ranking works exactly is really unknown.

People can only guess based on how their rankings change based on their website activities.

And, Google is frequently changing their formula (in fact, I recently read ~500-600 times/year ;-) so that people can't game their system. ;-)

The short answer is that updating your website can definitely be beneficial to your search engine rankings and results.

Although, exactly how much is hard to say.

Our suggestion is that you get your artwork uploaded as soon as possible.

And, try to list any shows or events you're participating in.

That said, I wouldn't stress out about updating your website on a daily basis - monthly is probably good enough.

But, do periodically update your website; it probably will improve and, at the very least, maintain your Google rankings.

I do hope this helps and please let us know if you have any other questions!

Over the past few weeks, we've received a few inquiries about a spell-checker for the ArtSites content editor.

And, thank goodness, we have Geoff! ;-)

Most modern web browsers have an inherent ability to spell-check “simple” data entry fields.

However, the ArtSites administration system has a much more sophisticated “content editor”, which is built on the features of modern web browsers.

Recently, we were able to integrate that underlying spell-checking web browser feature into our more sophisticated content editor.

This spell-checker should behave similarly to what you've seen for spell checking on other websites or even in word processors.

If you misspell a word, it will be underlined with a squiggly red ​line (see below).

The issue for us was getting the menu of suggested spellings / corrections. (In other situations, a right-click (or control-click on a Mac trackpad) on the word will bring up some suggested corrections, as well perhaps other, unrelated menu options.)

Unfortunately, a simple right-click doesn’t work in our content editor because we override that menu with options specific to the content editor.

That said, there IS a way to get that menu with suggested corrections but it does involve some "finger gymnastics"! ;-)

On Windows computers (& Macs using a standard mouse)

• Simultaneously, Press Ctrl + Right Mouse Click

On Macs using the Trackpad

• Simultaneously, Press Control + ⌘ + Click
  ("click" = a "tap" on your trackpad)

Here's to catching all those typos before you hit the "Update" button! ;-)

This week, I received the following question from one of our artists

Hi, I'm finding that when I link my blog to Facebook, the views that come from Facebook are not showing on my ArtSites stats page. Why is that?

Here's my answer ...

The number of Facebook views, i.e. only seeing or reading your Facebook post, are only recorded by and available through Facebook.

Facebook does not allow that information to be shared with any other websites.

However, if someone actually clicks on the link in your Facebook post and lands on your blog post to read it, that does get counted in your ArtSites statistics.

In other words, our statistics only present actual visits to your website / blog - and NOT "views" of links on other websites, e.g. Facebook, that point to your blog post.

All the views that happen anywhere else on the Internet, e.g. on Facebook, Twitter, etc. are managed by (& fiercely protected by ;-) those specific companies.

Unfortunately, we don't have access to their data.

So, if you want to know your Facebook statistics, you'll need to use Facebook's tools, e.g. Insights for Facebook Pages.

If you have any other questions about your statistics, you may want to read some of our earlier articles:

• How do ArtSites Statistics Work?
  And, Can I Get More Details?
• How to Interpret Your ArtSites Statistics

I do hope that helps clarify how our statistics work! ;-)