If you are in the of the advanced courses at IUS Ceramics, you will need to maintain a weekly blog of your progress in the studio. The blogs will be scored on a 6 point scale on a weekly basis: 2 points for around 200 words (usually two paragraphs), 2 points for evidence of progress (keeping in mind that new knowledge is progress, so failures, as well as successes, are “progress”). and 2 points for at least three images that show what has been happening in your studio practice for that week.
The point of this is to get in the habit of maintaining an online presence for you and your work, and to understand that websites are not static – they should be updated regularly.
Most students use Wix, WordPress, or Squarespace, although you may use another platform as long as it can work like a blog and have images and text in the same post. Other options for blogs are Blogger and Weebly. Please do not use Tumblr or micro-blogging/social media platforms.
Before getting started, take a look at some examples of student blogs here: https://claybucket.com/student-blogs/
Free options:
WordPress.com – This is a blog and website service that the SpaceLab blog is hosted on. Free blogs on WordPress are followed with the .wordpress.com address. WordPress is more customizable than Blogger. It’s easy to use and has a larger number of free templates available than Blogger. Most templates are highly customizable.
Wix.com – Offers a free blog option and many students us this platform.
Squarespace.com – They also offer a free blog option.
Blogger.com – Blogs hosted at Blogger are followed with the .blogspot.com address. Many consider this the easiest blog to learn how to use. Posting is as simple as writing an e-mail. The tradeoff for ease of use is appearance. The number of available templates is smaller and generally they aren’t as customizable as WordPress blogs.
Weebly.com – This is also a popular website and blogging option. They have a free tier that is fairly easy to use
Paid Options:
If you want to invest in a website/blog with more features, these are a couple of good options:
Squarespace.com – Starting at $12 per month, Squarespace has lots of great, clean website themes and is easy to set up. They offer e-commerce as well, if you want to start selling work on your website. You can purchase domain names through them, too.
Wix.com – Starting at $10 a month for non-branded websites and blogs, Wix offers great themes and features. It is easy to set up and you can buy your domain name through them as well.
WordPress on a web host – WordPress is hugely popular as a website option when it is hosted on a web host of your choice. This is different from a WordPress.com blog. When you have WordPress on a web host, it is infinitely customizable. It’s so common that over 40% of the websites on the internet use WordPress. If you are interested, check out web hosts that specialize in WordPress installs, like Bluehost, WP Engine, InMotion, Siteground, Flywheel, etc.
Some pointers if you want to purchase a domain name ..
Even if you decide to go for the free website/blog now, you should consider buying your domain name for a future website. Using just your name as a website URL address is more flexible, giving you the opportunity to convert it to another media or approach (if you change your focus). If you purchase something like joeceramics.com, you might regret it later if you become a photographer.
If you would like to purchase a domain name, go to a domain name registration company like Hover.com. Domain name registrations can usually be purchased from between 10-15 dollars per year. Domain name registrations just register your ownership of the domain (for example, Claybucket.com is a domain name), the place where you host the files that make up your website is at a hosting company somewhere else, although many services now allow you to do both “in house”. For example, with WordPress, Squarespace, Wix, etc, you can purchase your domain and hosting within the same service provider.
If you are curious, you can search available domains at a place like Hover. com. If you are interested in building your own website or hosting a blog using a unique domain name address (URL), you should research hosting companies first. Many hosting companies will offer to pay for your domain name registration if you host your website through their company. Again, research is key!