Dear Stamporama Members,

I am writing to tell you about some exciting developments in the effort to revitalize the Stamporama articles area. To begin with, the Stamporama articles area of our website has a new look and feel. If you look at the Stamporama menu bar you will now see options for both Articles (old) and Articles (new). A significant feature of the new articles page is the ability to search articles, rather than simply sorting by category - this enhancement will certainly become more and more valuable as our archive of articles grows. Currently there are only a few articles in the new area, but over the coming weeks we will be migrating everything into the new area and the old area will go away.

The new articles area is truly just the tip of the iceberg. Our inestimable webmaster Tim Auld has been quietly working over the last couple of months to develop tools to make it easier for Stamporama authors to write and submit their work. The result is an online web page editor that Tim has integrated into the Stamporama website itself. Stamporama authors now have a user friendly, remarkably intuitive workspace; if you've ever used a word processor like Microsoft Word you'll be able to use the editor without a problem. Even though it is quite simple to use, the editor can be used to create very sophisticated web pages with graphics, tables, and numerous other advanced features.

All members can give the new tool a try by logging into the members area as usual and selecting "Articles Workshop" (currently second from the bottom on the left side). Feel free to give the tool a spin. You can't accidentally publish your article to the live site! Very shortly we will be publishing a FAQ that will tell you everything you need to know to use the new tool, and we will also be publishing an updated article on writing for Stamporama.

At the heart of these upgrades is the hope that the new environment will encourage more members to donate some of their time and expertise to write articles on their favorite stamp collecting topics. Part of the Stamporama mission is to educate and mentor new collectors, and publishing philatelic articles is a great way of helping to meet that mission. As an added bonus for the club, building up our online archive will also help potential new members find our site. Translating your passion for collecting into a finished article can be a big challenge, but the rewards are great. If you are new to writing or collecting (or both) please consider giving it a try. As with all aspects of Stamporama, volunteers are ready to give you a hand. If you would like to write but feel you need some help getting going, please get in touch with me at the e-mail address below.

Best Regards,
Ralph Heymsfeld ( heyralph@comcast.net)