If you are not familiar with databases, it may seem like there is a lot of work involved
in uploading these images. You may have questions like "Why do I have to create a record
of the artist first?", and so on. The short answer is "It will all work better". Believe me.
We are working a page that more fully explains the architecture of the site. But in the meantime,
just know that a lot of experience goes into the overall design. For many
people to be able to contribute (without knowledge of programming) and still keep the
site clean, accurate, and organized, this is the best way. We promise.
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These are the preferred steps for adding an artwork to the site. You may find other
ways to get it done, but this procedure should be fairly simple, and will lead to the
fewest problems down the road.
- 1. Download/scan the image into your computer hard drive.
- 2. Do any "cleanup" of the image (cropping, color correction, etc.) and save it as
a JPEG file. Our site cannot currently upload other types of files, including
GIFs and PNGs.
- 3. Collect/write down "other data" about the image - the title, the artist,
the date it was created, who owns it, etc.
- 4. See if the artist is already in the site. You can look at all of the people
in our database by going to Display People page and choosing to view all people.
(here's a link to that page).
If the artist is in our database, proceed to step 5. Otherwise, go to step 4a.
- 4a. - If the artist has NOT already been entered, you will need to add a person
record for that artist. This is very simple, and mostly involves entering the
correct name for the artist. On the display people page is a link to "Add a
person" (or follow this
link).
Make sure when you add a new person to choose an artistic profession from
the list, or you will not be able to do step 6.
- 5. Go to the detail page for the artist. In the person listing page, you can simply
click on the "Detail" link next to the artist's name.
- 6. IF the person is an artist (see step 4a.), there will be a section on the person
detail page called "Actions," and it will have a link called "Add an Artwork". Click
that link to go to the artwork upload page.
- 7. The artwork upload page is pretty self-explanatory. It has places to enter the
title, the dimensions of the work, and so on. Since the artist is entered in the
database, she/he will show up in the artist dropbox (see how convenient this is?).
There is also a button to upload a file, which allows you to look through your hard
drive for the correct image.
NOTE: - If a museum owns the artwork, and it is not in the museum list,
you will need to add a museum record and come back to the artwork entry
page when you are done. To add a new museum, follow this
link.
- 8. Press the Submit button, and wait for the upload to finish. This may take a little
while, especially for people with dialup modems. Remember, we are transferring a
file, creating a thumbnail automatically (if needed), and making changes to the database.
Don't click the submit button repeatedly, or you will add multiple records for the artwork,
which creates a mess.
And that's it - you're done! Congratulations!
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You have several options for when you are finished with uploading a piece of art. They include:
- Basking in the warm glow of contributing to a worthwhile cause.
- Bragging to your friends.
- Checking your profile page to see how many you've done so far.
Of course, our favorite answer to this questions is - upload another one! :-)
We do eventually plan on having more ways to track your own contribution, over time and
as compared to other members. For now, just know that your work is appreciated.
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