About

Why was this site created?

I’m not happy unless I’m creating something or working on a project or hatching ideas for my next project.

I love working with clay and learning about pottery. I’m also fascinated with the internet and the unbelievable amount of information that is available. I also enjoy building websites and graphics as a hobby and working with technology as much as possible.

I hope this site will be a good resource for other potters as I find and share information and learn more about making pottery.

Site History

Small Beginnings

This site started as a simple Google Site which had the pottery search engines and little else.

2010 – A Real Website

• Created in Adobe Dreamweaver CS4
  • Layout based on the Holy Grail from A List Apart
  • Most other coding (CSS and XHTML) done by hand (or copy and paste!)
  • Other resources: Exploding Boy, iA, W3C-(CSS & XHTML), Favicon info
• Domain name from www.GoDaddy.com
• Hosted on 2GB Hosting
• Search tools provided by Google Custom Search Engines
• Yahoo Pipes used to mix, mash, and filter feeds and info

2011 – A New Design

In the summer of 2011 the whole site was re-designed. Major changes noted below:

• Redesigned in Adobe Dreamweaver CS5
  • Layout based on the Thematic Framework. (A child theme was created first, then the rest of the site was adapted from that.)
  • Resources included: Themeshaper Forum, Color Scheme Generator, Colors on the Web, Cats Who Code
• Hosting now provided by StableHost.
• Began the Clay Blog Review.

2014 – Better Design, Organized Content

• All static HTML pages have been converted to dynamically generated pages. Now I can update all content right in the browser.
• New responsive design should make the site more mobile friendly. Based on the Genesis Framework.
• Feeds have been discontinued for now. Possibly to return at a later date.
• New, top notch content is being planned and added.
• Email Newsletter is in the works.

Goals for Pottery Making Info

Other than taking over the world:

• Offer a site that is easy to read, navigate, and use.
• Help potters and ceramic artists locate relevant information quickly and easily.
• Continue to improve features and create a great user experience.
• Make enough money through ads and donations to break even with hosting and maintenance costs.

Ads and Affiliates

There are ads on Pottery Making Info because hosting and maintaining a website is not free. Revenue generated from the ads help offset these costs. Currently ads on this site are served by the Google Adsense program. They seem to do a good job offering relevant, honest ads from trustworthy sites without being offensive or spammy. If you encounter an ad that you feel should not be on the site or is in some way unacceptable contact Pottery Making Info, check the Adwords Terms and Conditions, or read the Google Privacy Policy.

Some affiliate programs are also in use. That means that if you click one of the links to Amazon and make a purchase, I get a small part of that money which helps with the cost of the site. There are also a few other companies that I promote through an affiliate program to earn money when a visitor makes a purchase using one of my links.

Warnings about scripts/ActiveX

Pottery Making Info makes use of scripts in many of the pages on the site. You can be assured that none of them will harm you or your computer. Here is a brief description of the scripts that are used:

• Google Analytics – Keeps track of visitors and how they interact with the site.
• Google Adsense – Serves advertisements from other sites that might interest you.
• Google Custom Search – allows a user to search specific sites or sources.
• AddThis – Provides the little buttons that make sharing easy.

Can I buy some ad space on Pottery Making Info?

In a word: yes. If you would like to put your ad on this site check out the advertising page. Keep in mind that Pottery Making Info has a specific audience (ceramic artists, potters, etc.) and will probably never have thousands of daily visitors. But if you feel your advertisement would be a good fit, let me know.

How else can I help?

If you find this site useful you can support it in a number of ways:

• Tell your friends to check out the site!
• Offer some feedback
• Add a link to your website or blog that points to Pottery Making Info
• Submit sites to be used in the search engines or in the directory
• Donate some money or buy some ad space

The Pottery Making Blog

Clay Blog Review

The Clay Blog Review is a collection of the best blogging by potters and ceramic artists from the preceding month. I try to find all the most useful, inspiring or original blog posts but surely there are things that I miss.

If you would like your blog listed in the Clay Blog Review:

• Make sure you are creating content that other potters want to read.
• Make sure your blog is on my radar. If it’s listed here it should be on my reading list. If not, add it.
• Email me if you think you have something that I missed.

Site of the Day

Site of the Day is a feature that explores some of the very best pottery sites and provides a little background.

Alexa Rank

The Alexa Rank shows how popular a site is at the time of the post by showing the approximate traffic rank.

Inbound Links

This number shows the number of individual domains that link to the site according to the SEOmoz linkscape.  It differs from the actual number of links to a site.  For example if site A has 12 links to site B, site B only gets credit for 1 Inbound Link in this calculation.

Content Quantity

How much information is available?  This includes variety and depth of ceramic and pottery information.

Content Quality

How useful is the information and resources to the average potter or ceramic artist?  Is the content unique?

Navigation

How easy is the site to use?  How easy is it to find what you are looking for?

Presentation

How pleasing to the eye is the site?  Is it easy to read and uncluttered?  Are there annoying advertisements that distract from the content?

Interaction

Can you interact with other potters or artists?  How easy is it to share your knowledge or opinion?

What are the numbers inside parentheses for?

On certain pages, especially articles on the blog, you might see some numbers with parentheses around them, for example, (24). This shows that the preceding statement or idea came from another source. If you scroll to the bottom of the page you will find a numbered list with the resources that were used while writing the article.