Blog

Get ready to find out how I manage my website.  Let's start by looking at the homepage:

I can choose to have either a slide show, or an individual  photo.  In this case the slideshow for Cowgirl Up! is active.  I can add or delete photos from the array by going to this page:

And don't forget to hit "Save".   I can spend a huge amount of time making adjustments and adding images, then forget to hit "save" and everything is lost.  

When I want to add new painting, this is the "Artwork" page: 

I click on "Add New Artwork"

And I am taken to this page:

Then I'm taken to this page where I fill out all the details of a painting:

I fill in all the information and hit "save".  When I do that, the painting is not only shown on my Landscape page, but also FASO automatically sends the image to "Artful Alerts" and the image and relevant information go out to the Universe--well, to anyone who has signed on to Artful Alerts and apparently many of you do.  After I release a new painting, I often get responses and inquiries.  Signing on to Artful alerts is one of the best ways to be first to know about new work.  You can do that on my homepage, by the way.

That's all a lot of clicking--something I wasn't accustomed to with my old Apple-supported website.  All I had to do was click and drag, so learning my way around this was a challenge.

Funny story-I learned very quickly to be careful to NOT accidentally upload photos from hikes or other non-art images onto the Artworks page.  It has happened more than I'd like to admit.  Much to my chagrin, a hike image will go out to the Universe in Artful Alerts announcing "Dawn Sutherland has new work", and there's a photo from a trail.  

There are a lot of other features with this web design program.  I can change the overall look and color of my site.  I can dig deep into statistics and analytics, and if I cared to, I could set up to receive PayPal payments.  That would simply take too much work keeping track of what paintings are available and which to take out of circulation. 

Finally, since you're probably reading this because you received my newsletter, here's a look at the template page on which I develop my epistle:

I select the content blocks from the left and drag them to the right. There are infinite choices of background colors I can use.  I quickly learned to create links, and to change the font.  When I feel the newsletter is complete, I can "send a test" to my email address.  That's where my husband Stan comes in.  He is my proofreader.  He'll catch little glitches, sometimes suggest slightly different wording, and fix my comma usage.  Stan says I am apparently comma-disabled.  The truth is, I know the rules, but when I'm in the throes of writing, I just don't pay attention.  

I also can get an idea of the number of hits on my site each day.  As you can see by the spike in the next photo, there is always an increase after my newsletter goes out:

So, now you've had another look into the exciting behind-the-scenes life of a landscape painter!  What will it be next month?!