Who

Membership

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Gallery

Links

Contact


www.ontarioblacksmiths.ca


SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

NOTE:

1)  Information provided in the GALLERY section is LIMITED TO OABA MEMBERS ONLY.

2)  Information or links provided in the COURSES section is LIMITED TO OABA MEMBERS  plus selected INSTITUTIONS - ONLY

3)  Information or links provided in the LINKS section is  LIMITED TO OABA MEMBERS  plus selected INSTITUTIONS  or  well known COMMERICIAL SUPPLIERS - ONLY

 4)  Information or links provided in the SALES section is  LIMITED TO OABA MEMBERS  - ONLY
It is not the general policy of OABA to link to private Blacksmith's or Art Gallery web sites - Unless there is a direct utility for OABA members.

5)  COPYRIGHTS  : All materials fount within this web site REMAIN THE COPYRIGHTED PROPERTY OF THE ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTER. In NO CASE shoud materials included on this web site, either text or images, be re-used, in any form what so ever, without the expressed written permission of the Author or Artist. This includes the designs of any original art metalworks illustrated here. For a good overview of copyright issues- go HERE


LINK TO OABA AT www.ontarioblacksmiths.ca

Please send any requests for a link on this site  to the web master.
We will ask that you post a reciprical link to www.ontarioblacksmiths.ca at your site.
Go here for a web ready code fragment and small logo.


General Information

A) All text should be submitted as either 'plain text' or 'html' ONLY. When in doubt, stick your text into the inside of an e-mail. I WILL NOT BE ABLE TO USE ANY 'MICROSOFT' SPECIFIC FILES.
B) All images should be submitted as small sized 'jpeg' or 'gif' files ONLY. (see the detailed instructions below). I WILL NOT BE ABLE TO DOWNLOAD HUGE 'FROM THE CAMERA' IMAGES.

1) If you wish to be included in the Members Gallery section :
Each Member can have up to THREE IMAGES of their work. These will be linked via a smaller thumb nail image to a DESCRIPTION with your CONTACT INFORMATION and WEB SITE LINK
Interested? - by e-mail, you contact me at OABA@warehamforge.ca :
- Best is to send me the location URL of the images you wish to have included.
- If you send me image files with an e-mail, PLEASE follow these restrictions:
no image to be larger than 5 x 7 inches at 75 dpi resolution
no individual image file to be larger than 100 K
ideally include a thumb nail version no more than 2" tall
- If you don't have a computer, you can Canada Post me your photographs:
Darrell Markewitz / the Wareham Forge
Hamlet of Wareham / RR # 2
Proton Station, ON - N0C 1L0

I can then direct scan your photos and prepare them for the web site.
In either case, please include a few lines describing the work. This could include:
Title / date
size
materials / techniques
comment on purpose or inspiration
studio name / location
contact information - phone / e-mail (that you wish published)
your web site URL

2) Only OABA members or registered schools/colleges will be listed under the Training in Blacksmithing section. Please send a brief description, plus the contact information you wish published. A web site URL for details and dates is recommended.

3) OABA Members can have items included in the  For Sale section. Please send a brief description, plus the contact information you wish published. An image of the item(s) can be posted up as well, use the image guidelines above. Check the For Sale sheet for examples of the layout used.

4) If you have an article or image you want to share with other members, there is now a Hidden Files section. Access to this collection is ONLY by using the specific web address that will be published monthly in the Iron Trillium. This will be a standing collection of submitted information of interest to members. Use the same general requirements as for other submissions. If your have a question about acceptable formats, e-mail me directly.

5) Are you Hosting a Meeting? Please send me a copy of the same information your have submitted for the Iron Trillium. This should include any maps. I'll try to keep this part of the OABA site as current as possible to help attract new members - over the web.


Some Background - How the OABA site is organized...
Darrell Markewitz

Going into 2005, there was some discussion about upgrading the existing OABA web site. The web is primarily a GRAPHIC medium - and Smithing a VISUAL art. The web provides an excellent and LOW COST tool to promote OABA and highlight member's work.

In my mind the OABA site should be clean and simple in design. It should do the following:

Explain WHO / WHAT / WHEN / HOW about OABA
Provide some information directly to the general public:
- upcoming meetings
- general links to supplies / organizations / smithing information
- information on events etc of special interest to smiths in general (conferences, exhibits,...)
Provide some services limited to MEMBERS ONLY :
- working smiths list
- courses available
- gallery images
Exist as an ADDITION to the information that is provided in the OABA members newsletter :
- archive of past articles (with some delay in publication)

To achieve these objectives:
The whole site would be open to anyone who opens the site address.
Only members would have their information / work listed on the web site.
Some parts of the site would be more or less 'permanent'
Some parts of the site would be changed on a monthly basis (upcoming meetings)

I have volunteered to register, create and manage a new OABA web site. I have done a number of group and special interest sites in the past. One thing we want to avoid is the kind of thing often produced by professional web designers are overly complex - which leads to slow load times to anyone with a rural dial up connection (most of the OABA members!). Often these high end sites will also not function correctly on older / non MICROSOFT machines.

First thing to remember when designing any site is that it should :
Remain simple enough to load on to older computers
Not be so complex to require fast speed connections / long download times
Work equally well on both MAC and IBM/PC machines
Work equally well on ALL web browsers - Netscape and Explorer
Needs to be registered with the primary search engines

OABA now has a distinctive 'domain name' registered :

www.ontarioblacksmiths.ca

The storage space required for the information on the site has also been paid for for the first year (the total cost is about $50 per year for these two elements*). I have prepared a basic framework for a revised OABA web site and placed up on the web. At this point the content is somewhat limited. (I scrounged images from those member smiths who already have their own web sites.)

Any web site needs some CONTENT!:
A standard template should be used for all additions.
Ideally a system should be worked out to allow the files created for production of the newsletter to be also duplicated into html for the web site.
Members should use a standardized format to contribute their information / images

I have made some grand decisions about what should be on the site and how each section would work. At this point I have maintained the rough framework that was used on the original site, but intend to change this to make it easier to move around inside, especially once more content is added.

Generally, I am intending that most imformation included on to the OABA site will be limited to that from MEMBERS ONLY. Some general information on blacksmithing, plus things like sources of tools or links to other ABANA / reference sites will be included as well.

The main place OABA members will be listed is via the GALLERY:
- listed alphabetically by personal name (not by studio)
- three images per member
- small thumbnail linked to larger page that includes a couple of lines about the size / method on the object
- 'hot link' to member's web site or direct e-mail

I have removed entirely the old 'find a blacksmith' section. This never represented the wide number of working smith's even from OABA. I think it better to let the public LOOK at the work provided in the members gallery and then make their own decision on who to contact.



* Domain Hosting (or getting a web site)


Thanks to a recommendation from David Robertson, I have used the following on line service with the best possible rates:

www.azhosting.com


Their 'Extra light' package provides for 10 meg storage plus 200 meg download per month. One e-mail address. (This is about 100 pages of information plus about 80 standard sized images)
Cost is $15 US / $20 CDN per YEAR (billing via a credit card)
They will register a domain name for $11 US / $15 CDN per YEAR

The same company also provides the Domain Name Registration. The cost for one year of a .ca name is $20 US / $28 CDN per YEAR.

Thinking of your own personal web site?

Remember that if you have a normal 'dial up' account, providing you with e-mail, typically ALSO get a simple web site.
I have posted up a short article on how to create a basic web site in the OABA FILES section HERE


Article © and Web Design - Darrell Markewitz