Artist Membership Guide
This guide is designed to help an artist learn how to use the Minds Island web site and maintain thier studios. If you were a member before December, 2005 — then there are some new features that we added to the site.New Features
Browse
You can now Browse Art by art category or all categories at once. The Browse function will also allow you to view art by “Most Recent Addition”, “Most Popular”, “Today’s Pick” or by “Artist Directory”. If you click on an artist’s image, you will be taken to their Minds Island Studio. You can swiftly return to Browsing Art by clicking their art category listed just below their name. The site also keeps track of what art category you are browsing by lighting up at the left hand side of the page.
Preview Your Studio
When logged into Minds Island, you will see a box showing your USER ID in the upper left hand corner of the site (just under our logo). If you click this link, it will jump you to the “public view” of your Minds Island Studio. The button just below that is Account Settings. This will take you to the “member’s area” where you can continue to edit your information.
Art Detail Pages
Every image in your studio now has it"s own Detail Page. This allows you to express more detail about each item — and the preview image shown is dramatically larger. This feature also allows you to easily send someone a link to a specific piece of art, and people can bookmark items easier.
Art Description
There are 2 studio lay-outs to choose from for displaying your art, and they show your art in different ways — they are “Default” (2 across by 3 down lay-out) and the “Featured Item & Small Items” (horizontal lay-out 6 images going down the page).
We"ve worked on making the studios look clean and spacious (to show off your art!), however, the trade-off was that we now limit how much information is shown. If you choose the “Default” studio layout, only the Title, Art Category, Size and Price shows up in the quick view of your studio. Visitors can see your text descriptions (and other info) for each art item, by clicking on the image or “View Details” link. If you choose the “Featured Item & Small Items” (horizontal) layout, there is much more room on the page for art descriptions, however page is much longer and users will have to scroll down to see the last item. Full details about your art can be seen by clicking the “View Details” link under the image.
Larger Images
Throughout the site, you will find that thumbnail images and the studios now show more of your artwork. You do not have to re-upload anything, it just works. Our system uses your original uploaded image to make various sized versions in your studio, the artist directory, and detail pages.
Art for Sale
If you enter $0.00 as the price of the art, the outside visitor to your studio will see the words “Available on Request” in the price box.
Art Manager Tab
You can now manage the art in your studio (or multiple studio pages) using the Art Manager tab. We have eliminated the “Studio” tab to help with navigation and management of your art images.
Guestbook Comment Editor
When people leave you a comment, you can edit or delete them by logging in to your account and going to the “Profile” section.
Understanding How Your New Studio Works
Logging On
First, you must be a Minds Island member to successfully log in. Log in to your studio by hitting the Log In button in the top left corner of the Minds Island Home Page and type in your case sensitive User ID and Password and click Submit. You will be transported to your new studio on Minds Island. Logging in is essential for setting up or changing your studio and when you want to submit your studio for a trade job or click on an image to sell it on eBay (Silver and Gold members only).
Setting up or Updating your Profile and Biography
You now have 2 sections, Profile and Biography, in which to include information about yourself that you would like visitors to know when viewing your studio.
Profile: Your profile is what shows up when a visitor first clicks into your studio. It serves as a brief description of you and your work. It is displayed just below your name and your art category. It is limited to 500 characters so try to be brief. Select the Profile link at the top of your studio page to begin. From there you will be prompted to fill in some information about yourself and your work.
Profile Image: At the top of the profile page are directions for uploading an image of you for your studio. This is the image that appears directly next to your name. PLEASE UPLOAD AN IMAGE. If you leave it blank, it takes away from your studio! If you choose not to upload an image of yourself, upload another work of art and take advantage of the extra space. The “Your Picture” image that you upload into the Profile page will automatically be resized to 92 pixels wide by 125 pixels high.
To “Upload Images”, hit the Upload Image button. From there, hit the Browse button to find your image on your computer. (Remember that images uploaded to the site must be in jpeg format between 600-1000pixels.) Click on the stored file and hit Open, which brings the file path into the box, then hit Upload. When your profile is complete, hit the Update button at the bottom of the page. Your profile is finished. But you may go back at any time and change your information. Please fill out the survey when you get a chance as well.
Biography: When a visitor clicks on the “About” tab in your studio, your profile will show up again followed by your biography, contact information and favorite links. The biography area will give you more space for descriptive information.
To Upload Artwork
Log into your Minds Island Studio. Click on the Art Manger tab. You will see a button “Add Art” where you can upload and change your art. Depending on your membership level, you will be shown how many image spaces you have available in your studio and warehouse. Click on the Add Art link: you will be taken to the upload page. To select a file to upload, click Browse, then choose the image file on your local computer. Once you select it, the name of the file appears in the box. Now click Upload. The upload may take a little time, depending on the size of the file and your Internet connection.
Once the image has finished uploading, you will then taken to the "edit art" page, where you can fill in information about the piece. Repeat this process to fill your page/pages with artwork.
Which Thumbnail Image shows up in Browse on the site?
The first image in your studio or studio pages will be the image that is captured for our Browse section on the site. If you do not have an image in the first position of your main studio page, then you may not show up at all!
Recent Additions in the Browse Section
The LAST image you upload into your studio will be the image that is captured for “Recent Additions”. For example, if you upload 10 images consecutively into your studio, the 10th image is the one that is captured for display (so basically, each artist can have only one item show at a time). The site refreshes every 15 minutes, so you may not see your upload right away. Recent uploads are displayed in the main page, and in each category page in the Browse section.
To Create Multiple Studio Pages
(You must be a Silver or Gold member to have multiple pages)Click on the Art Manager tab at the top of your studio page. Then click on the Add Studios button where you will be asked to name the page you are creating. If you are grouping your work by pages, this is where you let the visitor know what is on each studio page. If you are not grouping your work, numbering each page can help you keep track. When there are images in each of these Studio Pages, going to the Art Manager tab will help you view your pages under the “Studios” heading. By clicking on any of the studio page links under “Studios”, you can edit each studio page. Each studio page has a “category”. Remember to categorize each studio page because that will be the trigger for the computer to list it in the separate Browse Categories on the site (paintings, mixed media, drawings, jewelry, etc).
Account
You can see your previous bills, change your password, and fill out/change the membership survey in the Account section.
Business Tools
Click on the Business Tools link at the top of your studio page to apply for trade jobs and send promotional emails to your clients. Under the Trade Job Tab, you will be able to view existing trade jobs as well as track which jobs you have applied for. Under the Send Your Studio Link tab, follow the instructions to email up to 50 people at a time.