Additional Artist Search Functionality Released

As promised, we've improved the Artist search functionality further, allowing you to rapidly narrow down your search results using the artists surname.

The following screen grab highlights the new functionality:

So, if I am searching for an artist called Thomas Bewick, I begin typing his surname and the results are all reduced as follows:

The results then continue to filter, until there is only one possible option left.

This functionality will help improve the speed with which users can navigate through your artists profiles.

New artist page layouts designed to improve SEO

We've recently redesigned the way our core application handles the display of Artists, their biographies and their artworks.

Our primary objective was to improve the SEO of each artists name, boosting the page rank and link juice that each artist passes through to their specific works of art.

We were also keen to improve the usability and searchability for web browsers, removing the automatic pre-fix filtering we previously used.

The following screen grabs highlight the ways in which we have developed the application:

You can visit this page here.

Once you click through from the main search page, you are now presented with an Artist Summary page containing Biographies, Popular Keywords, Categorisation of works, Popular Images:

You can visit this page here.

Joe does the Fastnet

Joe will be setting off on the prestigious Fastnet race on Sunday 9th August.

The Fastnet race takes place every two years, and starts at Cowes on the Isle of Wight. From there, it's round the Fastnet rock off the soutwest coast of Ireland, and then back into Plymouth for the finish - a total of 608 miles.

We will all be tracking Joe's progress from the dry, warm and safe Magnolia Box office using the Fastnet Fleet Tracking site, which allows you to follow every boat throughout the race. If you want to follow Joe, he's aboard a Class40 boat called "Spliff".

The potential for severe weather means that the Fastnet has a justified reputation for being one of the most challenging offshore races. The tragedy of the 1979 race has been well-documented, and in 1985 Simon Le Bon was famously trapped under the hull of his boat "Drum" after her keel sheared off.

We obviously wish Joe all the best of luck. We are sure it will be an amazing experience, and we hope that he gets back to Plymouth speedily - but most of all that he just gets back.