Johanna

Easy, Bob! Click your name at the top right of the page and a drop down menu will appear. Choose "My Settings". At the top of the page is a row of tabs- click the Blog tab. The forum will ask you to agree to abide by the rules and you click "create" Voila! a blog. Members with blogs hosted elsewhere can link their blogs to LW directly also. I'm looking forward to seeing yours, Bob- I enjoy the PSLAC newsletters every month, too. Johanna

Todd, Our Directory is less than two weeks old. We are trying to get the word out so that it fills up. Suppliers and vendors get a free standard ad for February, all leatherworkers can have a free ad forever, or they can upgrade to a more prominent ad display. Your ideas are all very good- but we're just starting out. This is our old list: http://leatherworker.net/suppliers.htm (Huge improvement, huh?) and we have three staff members working on the directory now, in between kids, jobs, and leatherwork. I hope everyone takes advantage of the free advertising and the Directory fills up quickly! See the blog section (Kate & Johanna) for more info on the Directory and how to use it to get found. Whether you are a leatherworker or a supplier to leatherworkers, our Directory will be THE place to get found on the Internet. LW hopes it keeps you all from having to get day jobs. Johanna

We did this already. Click the button on your toolbar that says "Directory". If you haven't registered your business, create an account and choose from the options. For the month of Feb. all vendor/supplier text ads are FREE. Johanna

Waterhouse Leather gives discounts to LW members. Click one of their banners for more info. ~J

When you open a thumbnail picture into the lightbox, scroll to the bottom right of the pic. You should see two options there- one to save and one to close the picture. Johanna

Sorry I can't be a vendor yet, Brent, but I'll be there with my camera, and glad to lend a hand where I can. The Spring Shows have become a nice tradition. They are smaller shows than the IFoLG, but similarly styled. Plenty of friends and lots to talk about, too. I've been lucky that they have all been fairly "local" for me. If you've never been to the sand dunes in Michigan City, make sure you check them out while you are there. Awesome! Johanna

I don't like thumb trackballs. All my thumb has to do is click and scroll. My three fingers control the ball, and my pinkie or ring finger right-clicks. My wrist is supported and straight (that's like a beanbag on top of a gel pad underneath). If you look closely you can see the scars where the 4 pins held my wrist together after i broke it. If it weren't for the track ball and support I know I'd have trouble. I also use a split keyboard, but that's just because I'm a crummy typist, not for ergonomics. ~J

I don't understand why people use a mouse when a trackball is so much more efficient. Trackballs come in several styles, but think of them as upside down mice. Which means you don't have to move the unit, just tickle the ball. When you set up a new mouse or trackball, make sure you enable the "snap to" feature in the Control Panel. That automatically puts your cursor in the default places, and saves a lot of running around the screen. Johanna

We figured a way for you leatherworkers to get your site rankings up and draw in extra business. Glance up at your toolbar- see that button that says "Directory"? LW is proud to use its power to help our members get found by customers and make sales. This is going to a huge deal in the future, so get in there and create an account. You want business? We have a way for all the shoppers who come here to browse your sites and pick the right leatherworker for their job. Any registered member of LW can have a plain free ad, but if you want more of a stand-out presence, we can do that, too. And here is the best part- not only will your ad be seen by more people than any other place in print or online that you can advertise, it's CHEAP. We're talking waaaay less than it would cost to take out a classified ad in a newspaper or the yellow pages. The point is to have a comprehensive leatherworker directory that keeps you guys and gals busy at the bench and not thinking about day jobs. (yuck!) We hope you use this service and make some money off it- if you are a custom leatherworker or saddlemaker with a website, you want to be in the Directory. If you are a supplier or business that caters to leatherworkers- we are offering a regular text ad for the entire month of February for FREE, just so you can see how much your ad can impact your business. When you see the extra hits your site gets, and the phone starts ringing, we are confident you will want to stay with us and choose a plan that's right for you. You won't faint when you see the prices, either. With the high traffic and the low prices, you have to agree this is the best advertising deal to a TARGET market ever. We are more affordable than magazine ads, yellow page ads, radio advertising, newspaper advertising, PLUS our Directory will be seen by more leather folk than all that other advertising combined. The math speaks for itself.The top of this page has the links to compare different advertising campaigns and to sign up. It's easy and fast, and we want you to benefit from the Directory feature. Please ask Kate or me if you have questions or need assistance. We are happy to help you.

If someone feels "attacked", there is a little yellow triangle marked "report" on the bottom left of every single post. Click that button and let the staff know there is a problem. One post to this topic is already gone because it served no constructive purpose. Generally, when people introduce themselves, they say Hi, and this is what I do and who I am. No one that I can recall has said "Take your best shot" in their intro and announced their intentions to "piss people off", so excuse me if I'm a little bewildered. People have tried to steer this and the other thread back on track, and it keeps getting bumped with another voice chiming in. Why are we responding so heatedly? Perhaps we're just not used to this communication style here. Personally, I'd rather not start a precedent, so either keep it friendly and civil, or the thread will be locked and we will move on with more important things, like talking about leatherwork. Johanna

Kate and I have wanted to do a leatherworker directory for years. A huge thanks to our donors and sponsors who make it possible for us to keep improving the site. We hope the directory makes it easy for people who land here and want to shop to find the right leatherworker, and that you leatherworkers stay busy enough to keep the lights on and the mortgage paid.

What you want is a content management software. Kate and I have been pleased with Concrete5, an open source software with add ons available. If you don't want to go through the learning curve again, PM CitizenKate to have her set it up for you to manage yourself. If your site includes a storefront there are a couple of choices for "shopping carts", some free, some not. You can also Google payment gateways for more info on ways to accept money online. If you have more specific questions, Kate and I can probably help. Johanna