Web Sites for the Studio Potter

eb pages on the World Wide Web are constructed using a code called HTML, which stands for HyperText Markup Language. This is a relatively simple code (in contrast to, let's say C++), which uses 'tags' to format text, insert images and create links. In theory, you could take a simple text file and open it in a web browser, but as there is no HTML formatting included, all text will appear in a block, without any formatting whatsoever. HTML 'tags' are interpreted by web browsers to arrange the page in a preconceived way. A certain portion of text for example, which is to appear bold, would be enclosed in bold tags like this: <B>this text will appear bold in your web browser</B>. HTML tags which would give text a different color would look like this: <FONT COLOR ="maroon">This text will appear maroon </FONT>. Various other tags are required for inserting images, links, frames and tables etc.

An important consideration when setting up a studio pottery web site is the file size of web pages and inserted images. A rule of thumb on the Net states that anything that takes longer than 20-30 seconds to download is too large. This means that HTML files and image file sizes should be kept below 30 kb if possible. Once the pages have been designed and written, they need to be 'uploaded' to the WWW. This is done using an 'FTP' program. 'FTP' stands for File Transfer Protocol. FTP sends the files to the server (a machine connected to the Internet), where they can be accessed by anyone connected to the Net.

For those who want to delve deeper into the workings of HTML and FTP more information is available online at http://webdesign.Ceramics Today/ and http://html.Ceramics Today/. You might also like to check out Web Pages That Suck for how not to design a site!

Although the World Wide Web was initially conceived in Switzerland in the late 80's, it is now dominated in many respects by the English speaking world. Despite the majority of web sites being in the English language, some countries such as France encourage native language or bilingual web sites, e.g. ImagineCeramic. Of course, because the WWW is connected to the whole world, multilingual web sites will have a distinct advantage over the rest, depending on your target audience.

Setting up your own studio pottery web site requires some knowledge of HTML, but there are also products on the market, which allow you to write web pages in the 'What You See Is What You Get' or WYSIWYG mode. This means that you write your pages not much differently from a word processing package and you actually view and manipulate the page as it will appear on the web itself. One relatively easy to use program is Netscape Composer, which comes integrated with Netscape 4.5 or Netscape Communicator Pro. Often these programs can be found on CD-ROMS, which accompany computer magazines. There are plenty of opportunities to find free email accounts and free web space, so you don't even require your own internet account to set yourself up. Of course many ceramists and potters will not want to get involved in this kind of work themselves and would like to get a web page designer to do the work for them. One of the best ways to find a web page designer suitable for you is by word of mouth, or by looking at local web sites on the Net and finding out who designed them. Often this just means sending an email to the 'web administrator'. Of course it will be of a great advantage if the web designer is geographically close, as a meeting may be required to discuss your needs and to look at design options. Some things for the ceramist to consider when setting up a web site are:

Who is my target audience?
What do I expect from the site?
What will I be able to achieve or not achieve with the site?
Will I be selling ceramics online, or is it mainly exposure I want?
What is my budget? Should the site be simple or with lots of 'frills'?
Do I also want to use the Net as a communication tool, i.e. do I want email?

Some companies offer email addresses without web access, but in most cases, you get both. However, this will mean that you must have your own computer to dial up a service provider (a company offering Internet access). An alternative would be to use public access, e.g. in a local library.