About the site
If you have any comments or suggestions,
send email to suggestions@collectgbstamps.co.uk.
Website
The aim of this website is to be an on-line resource for collecting GB stamps.
The website was (is) written using Classic ASP. I have just started the long journey to convert the site to use PHP and to become well formed XHTML. Hopefully using PHP and current technologies like JQuery, Javascript and AJAX will bring new and exciting features to the site in the future.
Things still to do (May 2010):
Data Entry
I now have better reporting tools (through the search mechanism) to identify holes in the database, so I will make a big effort to fill in missing data and images. At the moment there are over 5,500 images on site totalling just under 2.3Gb of data.
I will be concentrating on the GB site for the forseeable future as there is just not enough time to keep up to date with the others.
Images
The addition of the thumbnail images will make a big difference to the way that I can show search results. The initial upload saw just under 4000 thumbnail images added and all new images will have thumbnails created for them.
The thumbnail images (32 x 32 pixels) may also bring the iPhone and mobile versions of the site closer as the normal images made browsing the site on small devices too clumsy.
March saw a new image contributor to the site - Barry Gilpin, with some very nice scans. Thanks.
Search
Improved the search feature with better search results and more criteria. The tumbnails make items in the search results far easier to identify.
As the Stamps, Issues and Themes tabs result mainly in lists of items and issues, these will utilise the search engine to generate these lists. The Themes page has already been changed to do this and uses jQuery and AJAX to display the results. The Issues tab will probably merge into the Stamps tab which will be renamed Explorer.
Other Changes
Other planned changes include:.
- Preferences - Store page and site settings using cookies. This would allow some customisation.
- FAQ - Add frequently Asked Questions tab.
- Links - Add 'where to buy' links from issue and item pages. Initially to eBay.
Site Changes
20 July 2010 - Added Royal Mail preview images for the Childrens Books, Pictorial Post & Go and Commemorative Sheets issues.
18 July 2010 - Beginnings of the mobile app available at www.collectgbstamps.co.uk/mobile. A bit of a mess at the moment but it will improve every dayor so.
11 July 2010 - Lots of things conspired to make updates a bit sparse over the last few weeks. The World Cup, new iPhone4 and work commitments.
Look out for a new mobile version soon.
20 June 2010 - Starting to implement tag lists for issues and items. This should make searching and categorising the data easier.
16 June 2010 - More covers, packs and prestige books from Swinpex 2010 and eBay. More progress on search engine.
10 June 2010 - More internal changes to make search facility more flexible. Good stuff coming soon.
9 June 2010 - A big step forwards for the site (internally at least) as the issues for a year display is now powered by the search system.
1 June 2010 - Added previews of British Railways, Medical Breakthroughs and Olympics issues. Trials with long descriptions and postmarks.
31 May 2010 - Internal changes to display year and search pages. Thumbnails now show large images when clicked.
30 May 2010 - Added lots of Presentation Pack covers and tidied up year display code. Thumbnails now have image preview. Start long job of rescanning some early ropey images.
28 May 2010 - Added more issue information, especially sizes.
25 May 2010 - Corrected many of the set types before changing the way they are defined.
23 May 2010 - Presentation Packs, Miniature Sheets and regional FDCs added.
16 May 2010 - Major internal changes. Changing names of key fields is scary stuff. Standardised navigation across pages.
13 May 2010 - Added Britain Alone issue details and link to Britan Alone video from the Royal Mail.
11 May 2010 - Started to use Blueprint CSS Framework for the site which should make the page structure more robust and flexible.
10 May 2010 - Had a great day in London on Saturday at the 2010 Festival of Stamps. Filled in more missing entries, especially Definitive and Regional Definitive packs. Added all the Festival issues special editions.
5 May 2010 - Regional Definitive images, presentation packs and a few FDC images added. Alt tags on search thumbnails.
2 May 2010 - Lots of images and entries from new FDC and PP collected at Worpex yesterday. More machin images filled in.
27 April 2010 - Added London 2012 MS and England Rugby World Cup MS. Started to experiment with CSS Frameworks - at the moment Blueprint seems to be the one to go for.
25 April 2010 - Started some work on the print stylesheet at last so you will not see menu, footer and searchbar in print preview.
25 April 2010 - Implemented new DB and display routines in search. Try show:issues format:stockbooklabels to see example of different formats to come.
22 April 2010 - Moving towards standardised database code. Added more database details for existing issues.
13 April 2010 - Added Mammals issue for 2010 plus more previews for the House of Stuart issue.
12 April 2010 - Added preview for the House of Stuart 2010 issue.
11 April 2010 - After a visit to the local Stamp Fair yesterday, a fair number of packs and first day covers have been added including the fabled fruit and Veg pack from 2003.