The concept is pretty simple: create an
automated system that will enable Guild
members to have a World Wide Web
presence. Many people don’t need a full
blown website. They just need a web
page; a place where they can publish a
bit of information, and a few pictures,
about themselves and their work.

Now, as it happens, your humble editor
is also the Guild’s webmaster, and so the
project fell to me. A project like this,
simple as it may seem, is in fact pretty
complicated. It is tricky enough to cre-
ate a website ‘by hand.’ It is quite a bit
trickier to write a program that allows
normal people to make a webpage by
filling in a form.

Cyberspace is a very inconstant sort of
space. What works here doesn’t work

there. This can be a problem. But also,
in cyberspace, there are very many dif-

Member Web Pages

ferent ways of doing anything. If you're
stuck with this approach, then maybe
that approach will work.

Well, I created a program that worked
perfectly on my own system. So |
uploaded it to the Guild’s webhost (ie.
the company that provides the facilities
that support the Guild’s website) and it
worked there too. Early users of the sys-
tem revealed a problem - they could
make their webpages just fine - but they
couldn't change them! Not only that,
but I couldn't change them either! Turns
out that the webhost had, due to securi-
ty concerns, configured their system so
that my program could create pages, but
not modify them.

We geeks have an expression that we use
in a situation like this. We say
“hmmm”. This means “Geez - what do
I do now?” Another expression we have

is “hehe”. It’s a response to a challenge
meaning “It may seem like I’m stuck
but I can get unstuck by doing .. .”
So, I’ve said “hehe” to the webhost
problem. Saying “hehe” to the webhost
meant rewriting the whole Member
Web Page system. A geek has to be
tough.

So give it a try! If you don’t have a pres-
ence on the internet, you can get it
through the Guild for only $15 a year
and the hassle of filling out a webform.

What a deal!

It’s not hard. A short bio, a short artist’s
statement, a few pictures and you're
ready to go. The form provides ample
instructions, and is easy to use. There is
a link on the Guild’s website to the
Memberwebpages data entry form.

Martin Hunt

BC Tajimi Exhibition Update

The BC-Tajimi in Japan has been well received with a lot of interest. 50 works from our Guild are being exhibited along-
side 50 from Tajimi potters from Aug. 13 to Sept. 23. In 2006, we will be having a return exhibition when the Japanese

potters will send their work over here.

The exhibition is at the Tajimi Creative Plaza.

Keith Rice-Jones

October 2005

Potters Guild of British Columbia Newsletter