IRIE! dance theatre professional portfolios

Wix.com: Pros

• hundreds of professionally looking and creative templates, bigger choice of portfolio style templates than reviewed alternatives (weebly.com, WordPress.org, WordPress.com)
• free access to fully customisable templates, no need to pay upfront unlike competitors (NB Some features such as Members Login or eStore will not become available until signed up to a payment plan)
• templates can be easily customised as they stand, no coding or design skills required
• advanced editing options
• create as many sites as you like
• straightfoward domain and hosting packages, easy to upgrade (deals between £6-18 + VAT/month, annual subscription)
• student discount on hosting with Student Beans
• guidance on SEO (how to be found on Google), accessibility, GDPR, cookies, privacy policy etc.
• free ad vouchers and analytics if you upgrade
• in-built get feedback function
• easy to unpublish website

Wix.com: Cons

• up to 500 MB media/file storage & up to 500 bandwidth (how much traffic your site can handle & how fast it loads for visitors) included in the free version
• Wix ads (free version)
• difficult to change between templates as every single one is unique, some of the content would have to be re-inserted (depends on the template)
• can’t be used offline
• difficult to transfer content to a different supplier due to different templates and design, website would most certainly need to be built from scratch
• not recommended for sites with an estore (weebly.com better option) or hundreds of subpages (WordPress for blog style website)

Before signing up

1. check you have the latest version of Chrome, Safari, Edge or Firefox needed (not compatible with IE or Opera)
2. allow third-party cookies for Wix.com
3. for info: student discount on web hosting available through Student Beans

Create a free account & select a template

1. sign up with your personal email
2. Don’t upgrade or sign up to any additional services yet, simply create a free account, skip the rest.
3. choose a template: select Portfolio & CV category or Blank Template to start from scratch
4. click View to check out how the template looks on a desktop and mobile
5. Edit this site (top right-hand corner) to start play around with it

Add your tutor to your site

• on Dashboard, click Site Actions < Add Contributor < Admin

Portfolio guidance

• Professional Portfolios (presentation by Heather Star Benson)

1. make your website accessible: accessibility guidance & checklist
2. make sure you comply with copyright regulations & know your rights
3. you own all rights to your content: intellectual property explained & know your rights
4. cookies & your privacy policy: informing your visitors about cookies
5. complying with GDPR: how do you collect, store and use your visitors’ data

• Access editing mode: on your Dashboard click Site Actions < Edit Site
• Site layout & width: recommended by Wix for best possible experience using different devices, so don’t design outside of it unless for decorative purposes
• Switch on editor tools: make sure all tools, rulers & gridlines are enabled (Tools tab in header)
• Editing options: If using a template, click on existing elements and editing options will pop up. Right-hand click will open additional editing options. Also see right-hand toolbar.
• Left-hand menu: customise background, navigate between pages & add a new page, add media etc.
• Left-hand menu – Plus icon: add stock images, music, videos, vector arts, shapes, social media tools etc.

Further support

• Comprehensive guidance: see left-hand menu or use search box
• Editor troubleshooting

1. check out free Wix photos, video & cinemagraph collections
2. also see other sites recommended by Wix such as Pexels Video, Pexels Images, Unsplash, Mazwai Videos, Pixabay etc.
3. use Google Custom Image Search
4. Gratisography: quirky, odd images
5. Creative Commons Search engine: over 300m images
6. Google Free Image Search
7. Nappy.co (“beautiful, high-res photos of black and brown people“)
8. the 20 best royalty-free music sites in 2019
9. europeana collections: artworks, artefacts, books, films & music from European museums, galleries, libraries and archives
10. flickr creative commons
11. more suggestions: art & stock photography
12. The Gender Spectrum Collection: Stock Photos Beyond the Binary

• Recommended formats for best possible user experience
• Uploading an image
• Click on the image in the media gallery and you’ll find the editing options on the right-hand side
• Editing images in Wix Photo Studio: crop, enhance, adjust, filters, cut out etc.
• NB Pictures are automatically compressed if less than 15 MB, ensure they’re RGB and not CMYK (see recommended formats)
• Tip: add a tooltip to your pictures (text that appears when hovering over them)
• adding a picture gallery/carousel

Further support

• Images – all you need to know

• university guidance on how to produce & edit a video

• Adding a single video: Left-hand menu < plus icon < Video < Single Video Players < select YouTube/Vimeo/FB etc.
• Adding and arranging a video stream/channel in a particular layout: Left-hand menu < plus icon < Video < Wix Video < select a layout
• once added, click on the video container to manage individual videos, settings, layout etc.

Further support

• Videos – all you need to know

• Share your drafts with your tutor, peers & others for feedback
• sharing link will work for 2 weeks
• no need to publish site
• reviewers are able to leave comments

• unlock further features such as Google Analytics & SEO marketing (get found on Google) – SEO Basics & Marketing Tools and Analytics
• remove Wix ads
• get more storage & video minutes
• make your site load faster etc
• Combo for £6/month or Unlimited for £8.50/month
• discounted hosting with Student Beans
• once upgraded see top header: Settings < change favicon, get found on Google etc.
• Inspiration & top tips from the Wix blog: promoting & marketing your site, small business tips, inspiration etc.