(And How We Help Nonprofits Customize Them)
When it comes to building a successful online artist registry, beautiful design and strong content are important — but they aren’t enough on their own.
To truly serve your community, your registry needs to be easily searchable and intuitive to navigate.
At the heart of a great user experience (UX) are powerful search and filter tools — and at ClearDev, we make sure nonprofits can fully control these features right inside their content management system (CMS).
Here’s why search and filtering matter — and how we implement them the smart way.
Why Search and Filtering Matter for Artist Registries
When someone visits an artist registry — whether it’s a curator, a journalist, a buyer, or a community member — they usually have one goal in mind: finding the right artist quickly.
Without strong search and filter options, visitors can easily get frustrated, leave the site, and miss out on discovering the artists your organization works so hard to support.
Good search and filtering:
- Makes it easy to browse a large number of profiles.
- Highlights the diversity and richness of your artist community.
- Helps visitors explore by interest — whether that’s medium, location, style, or theme.
- Shows funders and stakeholders that your organization is organized and accessible.
UX Best Practices We Follow
When we design artist registries, we don’t just throw in a basic search bar and call it a day. We follow user experience best practices to ensure that your audience — and your artists — have the best possible experience.
Here are a few key principles we build into every project:
1. Simple, Prominent Search
- Clear search bar at the top of the registry page
- Quick, keyword searching
- No need for technical knowledge to use it
2. Smart Filtering
- Filters are intuitive: by medium, location, style, availability, and more
- Filters stack logically — users can mix and match categories to narrow results
3. Customizable Category Systems
- Categories are set up so that your organization controls them — not us
- You can create, rename, or delete categories anytime through the CMS, without needing a developer
- That means your registry can evolve with your community’s needs over time
4. Responsive and Mobile-Friendly
- Search and filter tools work beautifully on all devices, from desktop to mobile
- No squinting, no tapping tiny checkboxes — everything scales cleanly
How We Put the Power in Your Hands
One thing that sets us apart is how much control we give our clients over their own registries.
When we build your artist registry:
- You manage the categories and filters directly through the CMS
- You choose the structure: Want to organize by artistic discipline, city, genre? No problem.
- You update in real time: Add a new category tomorrow? Easy. Highlight a new artistic trend? Done.
This means you’re not locked into a system that gets outdated. Your registry can grow, shift, and evolve with your organization and your artist community.
In Summary
A great artist registry isn’t just a list — it’s a living, searchable, discoverable community.
By investing in smart, customizable search and filtering features, your organization empowers visitors to find artists they love — and shows funders and stakeholders that you value accessibility, user experience, and community connection.
If you’re ready to build (or upgrade) your artist registry with powerful search and filter tools built for the future, [contact us] for a free consultation!
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