This is the nascent ExpressoBeans User Guide.
It will grow over time...feel free to contribute!
Searching ExpressoBeans
There are several ways to search ExpressoBeans:
EB Search
The EB Search function can be accessed from the ExpressoBeans home page, an EB Member's Member Portal, the Print Search module to the left of any EB art entry, or by using the EB Firefox plugin. For any of these means of access, the EB Search Engine will return EB listings that include the text that is entered in the search field that is included in the search parameters.
Examples of possible searches include:
- "Ryan 06" - locate all 2006 entries by "Ryan"
- "McCarthy" - locate all entries by "McCarthy"
- "Little Feat" - locate all entries in which Little Feat is listed as a band
Note that full names of artists, bands, or keywords need not be entered - by choosing less common letter combinations in the search, it can be abbreviated. For example, koz labb returns the same listings as kozik labbit. Fewer keystrokes add to EB Search's efficiency.
There is also a "Class" pull-down menu on the ExpressoBeans home page and the Print Search module to the left of any EB art entry that can optionally be used to limit the search to a particular art type. The Member Portal includes the "Class" pull-down, as well as pull-downs for the "Artist," "Band," "Year," and "Available" fields.
Firefox Search Plugin
For those who use the Firefox browser, a powerful plug-in is available that allows one to search the ExpressoBeans art database by any text string. The plugin can be downloaded from the "Expresso Beans Firefox Search Plugin" link at the bottom of the Search form. This is the fastest, most powerful means of a "quick search" available - try it, you'll like it!
Wiki Search
The ExpressoBeans Wiki can be searched by entering a text string into the box in the "Wiki Search" module to the left of any Wiki page.
Forum Search
The ExpressoBeans Forums can be searched by entering a text string into the box in the "Forum Search" module to the left of any Forum Section page.
Alternatively, a more advanced Forum Search is available through the "Search" link in the "Forum Tools" module to the left of any Forum Section page.
EB Statistics
By following the "Help > Statistics" link from the top menu bar on any EB Art Guide page, one can view various statistical searches/sorts.
Adding art to the ExpressoBeans database
Please refer to the Member Usage Policy regarding uploads of images or information to ExpressoBeans.
Adding art to the ExpressoBeans Art Guide
Any EB Member may submit art for inclusion in the EB Art Guide. Please begin by searching the existing EB database to be sure the piece is not already included.
The art submission page is accessed by following the "Add Art" link in the Member Info section on the left of a user's "My Page" page. Please enter information into all fields where the information is known. Listed below is the most important information required for all art submissions. Please review and adhere to these guidelines and you're submission should glide through the approval process. Thanks!
- Name - Please refer to the Naming New Art Entries wiki page for guidelines on how to name a new art submission.
- Year - Required for all art submissions. Four digits please. If you are uncertain, make your best guess and add a phrase such as "exact year uncertain" into the "Note" field ...or do a little research.
- Class - If it advertises an event/gig (i.e. it has a date on it) - it is a poster. Please use dropdown menu. "Original Art" should only be used if there is only one of the item you are uploading in existence (this may mean the item is something unique like a painting, or possibly a rough sketch or line art for something that eventually became a print/poster). A hand embellished art print or doodled poster would not constitute "original art".
- Image - Please refer to the Image Guidelines wiki page for steps on how to add new or additional pictures to a new art submission. Images that require cropping, rotating, or resizing WILL slow the approval process.
- Artist - Please use dropdown menu. It lists the most popular artists added to the database. If your artist is not listed there, click on "More". If it's not there, select "Other" and add the artist's name - LAST NAME FIRST. (Example: Forbes, Alan).
- Band - Please use dropdown menu. It lists the most popular bands added to the database. If your band is not listed there, click on "More". If it's not there, select "Other" and add the band name. Do not add "The" at the beginning of the band's name. Example: Cult, The. If it is a multiple band event, add the headliner band. List all other band names in the "Note" section. They will be added by a Team Member during the approval process.
- Manufacturer - Please use dropdown menu. It lists the most popular manufacturers added to the database. If your manufacturer is not listed there, click on "More". If it's not there, select "Other" and add the manufacturer's name. Manufacturers are defined as the party the artist outsourced printing responsibilities to after creating the original art. It is rarely, if ever, the gallery that a piece of work is shown as, and please note that this field should be left blank if the artist performed their own printing as this would be a given.
- Venue - Please use dropdown menu. If it is not listed, select "Other" and add the venue name per the Venue Format guidelines.
- Note that the venue is only applicable when it appears somewhere on the actual piece of artwork. If the work is being shown at a specific gallery, or some other example of a location not being on the artwork itself, this information belongs in the "Event" stage of the submission and the "Venue" information should be left blank.
- Please be conscious of potential nomenclature conflicts in venue names (example Theater vs. Theatre). If you see an alternate nomenclature for the same venue, please use what is already in the database, even if it does not match what is on the poster as artists occasionally make mistakes too. If you are certain the database is incorrect (meaning the venue nomenclature has been confirmed through the venue's official website or some other medium), please notify a Team Member and corrective action will be taken.
- Status - Please refer to the Status wiki page for a listing and explanation of the Status field.
- Quantity - Please enter the total number of prints in the edition. If it is an original piece of art, such as a painting or sculpture, enter "1". If there are several editions, please enter in the number of prints in the first (main) edition and add subsequent information in the "Notes" section. Example: If the first edition is a run of 150, there are 15 Artist Proofs and 3 Printer's Proofs, enter "150" as the edition quantity and add the other information in the notes section. A Team Member will create subsequent AP and PP editions during the approval process to reflect the remaining information.
- Technique - Please refer to the Technique wiki page for a listing and explanation of the Technique field.
- Paper - Please enter information regarding the material the artwork is printed on. Example: "Coventry Rag Archival" or "Embossed copper". If the medium is unknown, this field may be left blank.
- Release Date - This is the date the art was released to the general public. If you don't know the exact date, leave it blank. The correct format is Year, Month, Day (example - 2009-12-10 for December 10, 2009). All art submissions with an accompanying release date appear at the top of the approval queue for immediate attention. Please DO NOT enter 0000-00-00 or January 1st of the year the art was created. It doesn't help us and your submission will be overlooked.
- Event - Please insert the date of the event in this field. If the artwork is being shown at a specific gallery showing, this would also be an appropriate location to list the name of the event and the associated gallery in which it took place.
- Keywords - Please insert applicable keywords that DO NOT already appear in the title, artist, venue fields, etc. This is a field that will return this specific entry in a search query. A current example would be typing "chairs" in the search field and having Jay Ryan's "Fugazi Milwaukee 98 Ryan" print show up in the search results. This would also be an appropriate place to add alternate band or location names. Examples include the keyword of "Houston" for events taking place in The Woodlands (a Houston suburb), "Los Angeles" for events taking place in Hollywood, or "Motorhead" for the band Motörhead (note the umlaut). You can also enter in words such as "New Year's Eve, NYE, Halloween" etc for gigs taking place on particular days, or particular oddities about the print such as "glow in the dark".
- Please do not keyword related artists unless they are somehow represented in the subject matter of the piece, as this will muddy search results (example - it is relevant to use "graffiti" as a keyword for a Banksy piece, but irrelevant to use "Banksy" in a D*Face piece). Please DO NOT keyword subjective terms such as "cool" or "rare" in this area as these will be deleted during the approval process. Instead, focus on the subject or imagery of the artwork itself.
- Again, there is no need to keyword the artist or band, as these are automatically linked to the search results.
- Original Price - Please insert the original price the item sold for to the general public. This is typically the initial sale price by the artist or gallery, not the price an item is currently selling for or the price you acquired the piece at. Sale price should be in US dollars. If a piece was originally sold in a location outside the United States, please list the original sale price in the "Note" field, along with a description of the currency.
- Series - Please refer to the Series wiki page for a listing and explanation of the Series field. Note that the "Series" field is not related in any way to the "Quantity" field, or the particular number in said edition that you may have.
- Signed - Please note whether or not a particular entry is signed.
- Numbered - Please note whether or not a particular entry is numbered. Note that even though a particular piece of art may have a limited edition (as is often the case for vinyl toys or records), not every piece in the edition is necessarily numbered.
- Printings - Please enter the total number of printings for a particular piece of art. The default value is one, but there may be a second edition, a certain number of Artist Proofs, an original painting that has giclee prints, or several other examples. If there is more than one printing, please add descriptive information in the "Note" section of the entry so that a Team Member may properly name subsequent editions.
- Note - Please list all other information you think is important for us to know, ESPECIALLY additional band names for festival and gigposters. Please DO NOT list time sensitive information such as whether or not a print is still available at a certain website, as it will be difficult to keep this information up-to-date. Please do not list artist or band websites - this can/should be done on the artist's or band's wiki page instead. Avoid first-person notes, or descriptions about how/where you personally acquired the piece.
Please note that in order to facilitate pageloading speed, the initial listings in the Artist, Band and Venue drop-down menus are incomplete and include only the highest-ranked listings based on an internal ranking system that gives points based on views and related inventory on the site (8:1). To view the complete listings, click the "More" button to the right and the Add Art page will reload with the full list.
Adding images and variants to existing ExpressoBeans Art Guide entries
Any EB Member may submit images for inclusion with existing EB Art Guide entries. This is done by following the "Add Image" link in the "Image Tools" section of any entry's Image Gallery. You should only add images that are better than the existing ones or that show some special detail of the print. Please do not add images to be used to show the condition of a print for the purposes of selling; this is for education. You may show off your frame jobs if you like. Keep in mind that images take space and space costs money so do not go overboard. All images will be subject to approval.
Please follow the Image Guidelines when submitting images.
Uploading files to the ExpressoBeans Wiki
The EB Wiki Upload page can be accessed from the "Tools" module to the left of any EB Wiki page.
Please note that the file upload function is not used for adding images to EB listings. See "Adding images to existing ExpressoBeans Art Guide entries" for help with this function.
Adding sales to the ExpressoBeans database
Any EB Member may submit sales for inclusion in the EB Art Guide.
Adding personal sales to to ExpressoBeans
Go to the listing page for item you have for sale or trade. For example:
http://www.expressobeans.com/show.php?id=1&view=2
Choose "Trade or Sell" from the Item Options list on the far left portion of the screen
Click the check box next to "I want to sell or trade the _____ edition"
Fill in the terms of the sale (selling price, shipping amount--which doesn't get saved, print number, condition, etc).
Click Save
Return to "Trade or Sell" from the Item Options list on the far left portion of the screen
Click "Sold at price shown"
Click Save
Adding eBay sales to ExpressoBeans
Enter the eBay item number in the box on the "For Sale or Trade" page next to the "Right Now on eBay" section. Click the "Add Auction" button and fill out any available details. Please do not enter information such as Buy It Now availability, free shipping, or cost of shipping.
Items with significant damage for their age should should still be entered into the database, but they should not be counted in the evaluation process. This includes major rips, stains, roll bends, or other. Items that have been professionally framed AFTER the initial point of sale should not be counted either, unless the seller specifically states that the print can be taken out of the frame and mailed in a tube, as this is the only way to absolutely confirm it has not been drymounted during the framing process.
Please note the clause "significant damage for their age" above, as some judgement and common sense is needed here. Pinholes for a 60s era poster may be perfectly acceptable, while something for a print less than a year old is not.
Managing your collection using ExpressoBeans
Adding an item to your collection
1. Assuming your print already exists in the database, locate your print in the ebeans database via either the search panel fields on the homepage or possibly the "Hot Today" list.
2. From the results display (should show GUI images) click on the image of the print you want to add. To the right of the print a list of menu items will display. ex:
View Item
Trade or Sell
Add to ISO
Add to Collection
3. Click on "Add to Collection". The "EB Item Options" page will display.
4. There will be several options depending on how many versions of the print are in the database (i.e. 1st edition, art prints, variants, etc). Click the appropriate checkbox for the item you want to add. (ex: My collection contains the 1st edition).
NOTE: you may need to click elsewhere on the page to get the fields for your checkbox to display. ex: Click on the sentence for your selection.
5. Complete the fields for your selection as appropriate.
6. At the very bottom of the page click "Save"
Removing an item from your collection
Follow the same steps as noted above, but when you get to the EB Item Options page there will be a "Remove" button to the right of your item.
Click "Remove"
Click "Save"
The following feeds may be monitored using a syndicated news reader:
- http://www.expressobeans.com/rssfeed.php
- This feed tracks recent additions to the ExpressoBeans sales tracking system. This includes both eBay listings and new additions to ExpressoBeans members' "For Sale/Trade" lists.
- http://www.expressobeans.com/wiki/index.php?title=Special:Recentchanges&feed=rss
- This feed tracks recent changes to the ExpressoBeans Wiki.
- Auction Alert Feed
- There is a feed at http://www.expressobeans.com/members/ebayiso.php that will allow a user to see a personalized list of eBay auctions based on their ISO list. Since the actual URL is user specific, you have to visit the page.
- Member Listing Alert Feed
- There is a feed at http://www.expressobeans.com/members/memberiso.php that will allow a user to see a personalized list of recent for sale or trade listings based on their ISO list. Since the actual URL is user specific, you have to visit the page.
Forums
Info regarding adding images, links, etc to forum threads.
Adding an image to your forum post
From within a desired forum thread:
1. Click on button for either "Post Reply" or "Quote" as applicable
2. Below the "Post a reply" box are two tabs, "Options" and "Upload attachment". Click "Upload Attachment".
3. "Browse" your local hard drive for the image you want to post.
4. "Add the File" (there are size limits but I can't remember what they are)
5. The page will refresh. Below the post you'll be able to enter a comment for the image or simply click either "Preview" to see what your post will look like with the image or or "Submit".
