Review copy — not the live site. Design options → · Open questions →
Greg Laswell
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Review copy — not on the live site

Open questions

Short answers are fine, and “skip it” or “I don't know” is a real answer to any of them. Section 1 unblocks the most. For section 7, the design options page shows every version, each with a note at the top describing its style. The last group is for the site owner, not Greg.

1. Four things that take five minutes each

  1. Your distributor export
    One file from TuneCore (or whoever handles distribution now) gives me the barcode for every release and the unique ID for every track. These are what make your music findable and correctly credited everywhere. I can't get them from outside.
    How: Log in, find “export” or “catalogue,” send me the file
  2. Your cover art folder
    I have art for about half your releases, and what I have is low resolution — pulled from streaming thumbnails. Several albums have none at all.
    How: Send the folder. Biggest files you have.
  3. Press photos
    There's no photography in the catalogue at all. The site needs some.
    How: Send a folder, any size
  4. Bandsintown login
    So tour dates flow to the site automatically. You'd update them in Bandsintown as you already do, and the site follows on its own.
    How: Confirm who has the login

2. Decisions only you can make

  1. Dead Air — the 2006 EP listed as unreleased. Do you want it on the site at all?
    It shows on Wikipedia but was never released anywhere. I can list it as unreleased, put it in a vault section, or leave it off entirely.
  2. The newest record — is it announced? Can I list it?
    I have the title and track listing but no streaming links. Without those, no “listen” buttons will appear on its page.
  3. [private release] — the demos and outtakes. Public, or not?
    Currently marked private in my notes, but one of your Square products includes a download link to it. Want to check what's intentional.
  4. Christmas Bell Chimes — is that one yours, or a traditional carol?
    It matters for how it's credited.
  5. Three Flights has an unlisted twelfth track. What is it?
    It's on the CD but not on the sleeve.

3. The paintings

  1. Which song each painting is for — a list is fine, even scribbled
    This is the whole idea: each painting sits beside its song rather than in a separate gallery. Without the link, they're just pictures.
  2. Which album, where it isn't obvious
    A few are from Three Flights rather than Through Toledo.
  3. The order you painted them in, if you know it
    You've described one as “the seventh in the series” — so there's a sequence that isn't the album order. Worth preserving.
  4. Which are finished and which aren't
    So the page shows what exists rather than gaps.
  5. Higher-resolution files, if you have them
    Store images are fine for thumbnails, but if someone wants to look closely at the brushwork, I need bigger files.

4. Your Square store

  1. Who holds the Square login, and is the account under your name or Leg Graswell?
    I'd need read-only access to connect the site — enough to see your items, not to change or sell anything. I'd rather you set that up than hand over a password.
  2. Do you use Square mostly on your phone, or on a computer?
    The extra fields for the paintings only appear in the browser version, not the phone app. If you live in the phone app, I need to design around that.
  3. Is every painting in Square, or only the ones currently for sale?
    The site can show work that isn't for sale — and probably should. Anything not in Square, I'd need another way.
  4. When a piece sells, do you delete it or mark it sold?
    If it's deleted, the site loses it the moment it sells. Marked sold, the site can keep showing it with “sold” on it — which is better. People want to see the whole body of work.
  5. Would you fill in two or three extra boxes per painting — song, dimensions, place in the series?
    This is the thing that puts each painting beside its song. Once per painting, then never again. If it's a nuisance, tell me and I'll find another way.
  6. Does the store hold anything besides paintings — CDs, vinyl, shirts, workshops?
    So the shop page covers everything rather than half of it.
  7. Roughly how many orders a year, and what's a typical order worth?
    Only matters for whether it's worth reviewing what you pay in card fees. A ballpark is plenty, and it changes nothing about the site.
  8. Anyone else help you run the store?
    So I know who else may need access, and who I should avoid surprising.
  9. The store address is off-i-go.square.site. Keep it, or eventually move it under greglaswellmusic.com?
    No rush at all. It only matters much later, and there's a good argument for leaving it exactly as it is.

5. Only if you feel like it

  1. Who played on what
    Credits per record. I have some from Discogs but it's patchy.
  2. Where each record was recorded
    I have the cabin near Flagstaff and the church in Maine. The rest is guesswork.
  3. Film and TV placements
    I have a partial list. Yours is certainly longer, and this page is genuinely useful to music supervisors.
  4. Anything the internet has wrong
    There are things in public databases about your catalogue that look incorrect. If anything jumps out, tell me and I'll get it fixed at the source.

6. The site itself

  1. Which design feels like you — the warm one or the dark one? They are side by side on the design page.
    Everything else is styled from this choice. The paintings' rust, terracotta and cream suggest the warm one, but it's your call.
  2. Launch with every section, or only the ones that have material?
    The 2018 site ran on four sections. An empty section ages a site; sections can be added as material arrives.
  3. Will you post news?
    A news page is only worth having if it gets posts. An empty one looks abandoned.
  4. An email address at greglaswellmusic.com: receive only, or send from it too?
    Forwarding to your existing inbox is free. Sending as greg@greglaswellmusic.com needs a real mailbox, about $60–290 a year.

7. Pick a design

  1. Home page: Option A or Option B?
    Design options → Home A and Home B. Each has a note at the top describing its style.
  2. Releases page: Option A, B or C?
    Design options → Releases A, B and C.
  3. Gallery page: Option A, B or C?
    Design options → Gallery A, B and C. Option B is the one that puts each painting beside its song.
  4. Live, news and newsletter on one combined page: yes or no?
    Design options → Live · News.
  5. Anything you like from one option and want on another?
    Mixing is fine — say which part of which option.

For the site owner, not Greg

  1. How should the real site be published: from a copy of the code on GitHub, so Cloudflare rebuilds it by itself, or from Baroness, like this dev copy and the villas site?
    Cloudflare fixes the method when the site is first set up there, and can't change it later. The code lives in Forgejo, which Cloudflare can't connect to. The production name greg-laswell-site is held unused until this is decided.
  2. Which editor for Greg: TinaCMS (free for two editors) or CloudCannon (about $660 a year)?
    Both keep content in the repo. The deciding question is whether TinaCMS really supports Astro, and that is settled by a short trial, not by reading.