The new Artspan site design went online the second week of June. We believe the design makes Artspan easier to navigate, with the various functions and directories more clearly indicated, and that this will lead to an increase in site use and in traffic to the member sites.  The new design incorporates a separate advertising column off to the right where the small banner ads will not infringe on the editorial content . The ads are very important. Among other things, they will allow us to continue our aggresive ad campaign in the major art magazines and on the Internet. This is an important factor in driving new traffic to Artspan and through to your sites.  

Also added were background colors to the new templates introduced two months ago, and improvements were made to the articles section (threads are now also automatically created in the Forum). Beyond this we continued to work on programming issues.
-Eric Sparre

The coding has been checked for the new template designs which will be introduced this week. The biggest difference is that the gallery pages will feature up to 36 thumbnails. Visitors will see at a glance a much wider range of work.  

The first portal, Photography, will also be launched – it has been coded. There will be articles and other content, lists of resources and added exposure for Artspan members. These portals are absolutely key to our long term growth strategy and to getting more visitors to your sites. Other portals have the content ready to go: Sculpture, Painting, Portraiture, Fiber Arts, Jewelry and Mixed Media. In planning are Feminist Art, Collectors Corner, Art Trends, Contemporary Chinese Art, Art in the U.K., and Watercolor Painting….as you can see, this is a very ambitious project. A major reason for the portals was to be able to feature member work in yet another context. There will both featured member images, as well as category and subcategory directories. Please see the informative item by our Portals Editor, Laura Kuehl, below.  

As to the existing member sites, the main member admin page will also be redesigned, a slideshow option will be added and the image upload funtion will be streamlined to enable larger and quicker uploads. the Articles section will be further refined as will the Forum.

And we have other initiatives planned for the near term. Some of these are more back office and will not directly effect your sites or visitor counts but will make Artspan more manageable and reduce potential bugs. 
- Eric Sparre

We have been very busy getting ready to launch the Artspan Portals.  These pages are designed to interest and attract collectors and art enthusiasts, to serve as a central reference point for varied aspects of particular genres or subgenres. The first three will be sculpture, painting, and photography.  They will feature Artspan member work (with links to the individual sites), member directories, as well as articles, events, and resource lists and links. For example, there will be lists of associations, publications, museums and galleries, education, events and articles.   

We need your help in fleshing out the content for their portals. You will in many cases have more specific expertise than we do in some areas. You will also generally have access to information that we may not be aware of.  You may want to tell us of  associations and groups that correspond to a particular portal or events. Or you may want to submit an article or review. These articles and reviews will be placed in the articles section but they will have a link and a brief descriptive on the Portals pages (and a link also from the Forum). We need your help. Please can reach me at portals@artspan.com.
- Laura Kuehl, Portals Editor

Members frequently ask why they can't find their artwork using the Artspansearch function, primarily the keyword search box. Here is a brief overview of how to resolve this. 

First, make sure you have searchable images in your Artwork section of your Member Admin. You can quickly determine this  and see how many of your images are searchable by viewing your main Artwork page, where all the thumbnails of your uploaded work are displayed. Displayed under each thumbnail is the title of the piece, the links 'edit, delete, view large image', the image number and 'searchable: yes (or no)'. You should have several searchable images. The total number of searchables depends upon your membership level. Basic has four, Pro has six and Pro Plus (unlimited images) has nine. 

To make an image searchable, click 'edit' under the image and go to the bottom of the edit image page that opens. There is a checkbox at the bottom called 'show in search'. Check that off and click save. 

It is important to include ALL terms that correspond to your artwork in the keyword box, also on the edit image page. These should be all lower case and separated by commas. If your image is a landscape in watercolor, some terms would be landscape, landscapes, watercolor, watercolors, watercolorpainting, watercolor paintings, landscape painting,landscape paintings, and so on. Make sure to include your first name, last name, first last name, city and state. Try also to include very specific terms, not just general ones. Think about how a visitor might search for your work. For example, "California landscape" might work more effectively than just "landscape."

Finally, make sure that you have the category, medium and subject drop-downs indicated. This will ensure that anyone using the drop-down menus to search will find your images. Please feel free to contact Artspan Support with any questions about using the Helpdesk, or send an email to ask@artspan.com.  Also, if you have an issue you would like addressed in a future Newsletter, please send it to the same email.
- Denise Glover

Stay awake! If you receive an email asking to purchase one or more of your works, be sure to pop into the Artspan Forum and check the Scam thread. Apparently these people never tire of sending out poorly worded and misspelled emails, sometimes requesting artwork for their grandma or boss or to decorate their lovely new apartment. Other red flags include the naming of a third party as shipping agent and a payment that is in excess of the amount of the artwork, with a request to give the excess funds to the "shipping agent" or other third party. Even if they do send you a check (and it can be in the form of a cashier's check or money order) this check can be fake. Before doing anything, always wait for the funds to actually clear your account. This can take a week or more. This is not the same thing as having the funds credited to your account. That happens when you deposit the check. If the check is bogus, the bank will subsequently debit your account the amount of the check.

At the Forum, you can report to other members if you have received one of these emails and also see if anyone else has gotten one from the sameperson, as these usually go out en masse. If you are still in doubt after checking the Forum, forward the email to ask@artspan.com and we will be happy to take a look! 

We covered this last month, but here it is again: Artspan is not associated with the Domain Registry of America (based in Canada). They appear to send letters to all domain holders in North America (and now in Europe where they are equally official in their letters and call themselves Domain Registry of Europe). These are rather official looking documents, and have caused some members to transfer their domains. While not, it seems, illegal, these messages can be deceptive. And expensive.
- Denise Glover

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