Overview
The CoCA Artist Member Directory is not powered by commercial software. There is no Apple, Microsoft, or even WordPress behind it. Especially not Elon Musk. This means that is slightly delicate, and subject to some of the foibles of hand-written, non-commercial code. This tip sheet will guide you through some of the pitfalls, with the goal of making your user experience a bit less fraught.
Filling Out The Forms
There are a number of places in the Directory interface where you are presented with a form where you can enter text. Two of these appear in the aptly-name "Enter Artist Texts" section, where you can create your Artist's Statement and Artist's Bio. Beware. These two boxes can get you in a lot of trouble. The thing is, these input boxes expect you to type your texts into them. If you do that, no problem. It's when you start cutting and pasting from other sources where can easily screw the pooch.
When you cut and paste from something like a Word Document or a Web Page, it's easy to bring a long of invisible formatting codes along with you. You don't see them, but they are in there. And when you paste those codes into one of our text boxes, it's possible to introduce a bunch of undesirable behavior. For the most part, it just messes with YOUR profile, because each profile exists on a separate web page. But when it happens, it can be really annoying. Extra large spaces between paragraphs that you can't get rid of, bold face text that won't go away, or even worse. Really bad code droppings can render your page uneditable.
There are a couple of ways to avoid this situation:
- Type your text into the boxes. No cutting and pasting. Gives you a chance to actually think about it as you type it. Highly recommended as both a technique and an experience.
- Filter your text with a true plain text editor. This involves cutting it from the original source, pasting it into a text editor, then copying it from there and pasting it into the box. Some candidates include:
- Windows Notepad. It comes with every installation of Windows.
- Notepad++ for Windows only. A more full-featured plain text editor that will more than do the job.
- TextEdit for Mac, with the caveat that you have to change the Format in Preferences from Rich Text to Plain Text.
- emacs or Vim for Mac. If you have them, you already know what they do and how to use them.
- Windows Notepad. It comes with every installation of Windows.
If your text editor lets you boldface or italicize portions of your text, it isn't a plain text editor. In order to do that stuff, it has to embed invisible codes into your text. Some of these are harmless, but some are not.
Working With Images
Images can be the most frustrating part of working with your Directory Profile and Catalog Page. There are some image-specific tips here, and here are some other things to keep in mind when working with your images:
- All images get resized to 1050 pixels in their shortest direction. This means that there is no point in sending us that 4K image. It isn't going to fit on anyone's screen, and it might just muck up your submission, especially if it is so big that we can't even download it to resize it. Be reasonable.
- Only .jpg and .png file formats are supported.
- There's this this thing called 'caching'. That's when your browser tries to be more efficient (and faster) by storing the images on a web page in memory. Sometimes, when you upload a new image, the old one is still cached, so your new image doesn't show up. Whether it does so or not is dependent on your operating system, your browser, and your personal browser settings. If you have uploaded a new image and it doesn't show up, you can cause your browser to do a full refresh (no cache) in one of the following ways:
- Chrome on Windows: Hold down Ctrl and click the Reload button or hold down Ctrl and press F5
- Chrome on Mac: Hold down Shift and click the Reload button or hold down Command, Shift and click the ‘R’ key
- Firefox on Windows: Hold down Ctrl, Shift and the ‘R’ key or hold down Ctrl and press F5
- Firefox on Mac: Hold down Command, Shift and the ‘R’ key or hold down Shift and press the reload button
- Safari: Hold down the option and command key then press the ‘E’ key
- Internet Explorer: Hold the Control key, press the F5 key or hold the Control key, click the Refresh button
- Chrome on Windows: Hold down Ctrl and click the Reload button or hold down Ctrl and press F5
Catalog Notes
- The catalog page editor does not use "forms" to edit the text. Instead, the text on the left side of the page is directly editable right on the page.
- You can submit a new or updated image, or you can submit your text edits. You can not do both at the same time. If you edit your text, the select an image to upload, when you submit, your image will be uploaded, but your (current) text edits will be lost. This is a bug and we are working on it.
- The note above re: caching is particularly true with the Catalog Page, because you are replacing one image with another.
- See the notes below re: space limitations.
Catalog Entry Space Limitations
Unlike your Directory Profile, your Catalog Page doesn't scroll. It's in print! Also instead of up to ten images, you only have one. The space below the images is filled with the following items:
- Title of Artwork
- Artwork media, size, and date
- Artwork description
- Artist Statement
- Artist Bio
Thats a lot of stuff to fit into a small space. Initially, this data comes from your Directory Profile, where you have plenty of space. That means that it's likely that it's not all going to fit on your catalog page. That's why we give you the chance to edit it before we go to print. It's up to you to prioritize what's the most important.
As discussed on the image sizing page here, the taller your image, the less room you have for text. If your image is the most important thing, simply edit your text to fit. If you want more room for your text, you are going to have to crop your image.
Note that any edits made for the Catalog Page do not affect your Directory Entry. That includes the image and all of the texts. These changes only affect the printed catalog for the show.
You might notice that the texts behave a bit differently from one another while editing. The Title, art details, description, and statement are pushed to the top, directly under the image, while the bio is pushed to the bottom. That's stricly a design decision to make the catalog more consistent from page to page.