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Web Site Development Blog

Archive Page 1 from start to September 2016

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Blog02 - Report - Europe - Other Countries - Africa - Abbreviations - next journal

I'll use this page to keep track of progress in rewriting the web site. At the time of writing (April 2016), I am just about to finish bringing the Newsletter Index up-to-date and so will aim to include landmarks after that. The Newsletter reference standard is v8n3p17 = volume 8 number 3 page 17.

Events prior to April 2016, will be noted retrospectively.

I never know whether to build blogs with the latest entry at the top (so you can see what has happened recently) or at the bottom (so that you can experience the "narrative arc"). This one is the latter and when I archive it and start another page, I'll do it the other way.

The most important item on this page is the tracking of progress on the detail pages, so I'll move that to the top

Country categories and checklist
  Pages Links Index Cat cols Images Xref Seq Sc/SG Subsid
EurΔ
19Jun
24Jun
25Jun
25Jun
25Jun
25Jun
26Jun
26Jun
CNam
29Jun
29Jun
  
30Jun
30Jun
30Jun
30Jun
30Jun
30Jun
SAm
27Jun
27Jun
  
28Jun
28Jun
29Jun
29Jun
29Jun
†
Asia
27Jul
31Jul
  
1Aug
1Aug
1Aug
1Aug
1Aug
o/s ‡
MEast
24Aug
24Aug
  
25Aug
25Aug
25Aug
26Aug
26Aug
§
Afr
 

Δ - 64 Kosovo awaiting recent catalogue access
- 55b Moldova - Dniester, PMR, Transnistra needs more research
- 17a Mount Athos, Greece - awaiting recent catalogue access
† Peru locals to be done, Argentina provinces, Colombian states.
‡ HK Occ, Japan Occ, China TP & Occ, Indian Offices
§ Egyptian Offices, see Gibbons.

to clarify what those columns mean,

  • Pages - a detail page (or sub page) for every FICC catalogue entry
  • Links - forward and backward links for every detail page
  • Index - check all the variants are in the Index, e.g. Muscat and Oman
  • Cat cols - entries in the new category columns on the catalogue page
  • Decent images for all the nominated stamps, or entries in the wants list with indicative prices to follow
  • Cross-referenced FICC ID entries in the Category table
  • Check the sequence ids for the category
  • Scott and Gibbons numbers, Mi and Y&T to follow, where available
  • add all the subsidiary entries such as occ issues into the right category tables and, later, the Index

  
Date Event Reference
2000 Just trawling through the early Journals, I found these. v8n3p17 & v8n4p7
gosh
gosh2
2003 The first description of the FICC web site. v11n1p9
1st
2006
1431
 v14n3p1
2007
1511
 v15n1p1
2008 Webmaster Needed v16n2p1
v16n2p2
2009
1732
 v17n3p2
2010
18211831
 v18n2p1 & v18n3p1
2011
1931
 v19n3p1
2012
2033
2041
2042
 v20n3p3, v20n4p1 & v20n4p2
2013
2115
 v21n1p5
26th Feb 2016 While rewriting the web site I asked for permission to show an image of Luxembourg's first stamp booklet from another site and the owner (Paul Ramsay) turned out to be the editor of the GBPS newsletter who asked for an article on first issues.
I pinched most of the piece (and all the images) from the 2006 exhibition, in an effort to keep to FICC orthodoxy. 		 
  gbps  
9th Feb 2016 I wrote to the officers of the club with a summary my suggestions:
  • Complete the detail pages (currently 120, 779 needed, some of which may be multiple entries).
  • Cross-reference the entries by category (South America, French Colony etc.) and allow navigation by category.
  • Think about starting a new forum
  • At that time the detail pages had been completed for the first page of the catalogue.
  
Mar 2016 Towards the end of March the detail pages for page 2 of the catalogue were completed. Rather than continue working on the additions chronologically, it is now intended to progress by category, starting with Europe.  
6th April 2016 The index is now up to date with Newsletter v24n1, the first of 2016. This will allow me to use past Newsletter articles when writing the detail pages.  
8th Apr 2016 The first European country to be done was San Marino and that provided an excellent example of catalogue differences and catalogue excess, with Scott, for once listing too many stamps (24 plus variants) in the first set while Gibbons, Michel and Y&T are beter organised. Google url shortener - https://goo.gl/ e.g. http://goo.gl/LU6ijq  
11th Apr 2016 The Newsletter CD Archive comes as a single file containing the first 12 volumes (1990-2004), followed by some single whole year volumes and the most recent as single issues. I have created a second volume covering 2005 onwards that makes searches much easier.  
17th Apr 2016 There's a long way to go before we get to the last page of the catalogue, but three Wikipedia pages that might prove useful there, and also along the way, are:  
26th Apr 2016 An update from Dead Stamps introduced me to Stamp World History, an informative and attractive site which in turn has suggested some useful resources, notably the Statesman’s Year-Book Historical Companion, now on order.

I have also looked at WayBackMachine and found backups of the site to 2002.		  
9th May 16
v24n2
 v24n2p1
17th May 16 Little progress on the Europe detail pages recently as I have been working on the plans for dealing with Journal Overflow onto the web, of which more later when the Committee has come to a decision.
[18th May] All in favour, so the exhibits option is enabled on the header menu.		  
20th May 16 I have sent off my quarterly progress report to Tim for the next Journal. For my next report, I am thinking of leading with the WayBackMachine especially as I have learned that you can access some of the old Bulletin Board posts through it. I have also nominated the FICC site for the British Library's archive and it is now awaiting upload.
Having taken a break for the exhibits section, I am now wading through 1920s Europe again, currently TFR.
I might move this blog to (or mirror it on) blogspot where, I now notice, I already have a blog called First Issues, untouched since Feb 2014.		  
31st May 16 I was nearing the end of Europe (1960s) when I realised that I had missed 1874 Montenegro, 1922 Ireland and some others. I have therefore paused to categorise all of the FICC catalogue so that (fingers crossed) I do not have to renumber Europe again. This has thrown up some difficulties I will have to address:
  • some areas of Europe in the reorganisations after WW1 and WW2. The former will require a category of Plebescites
  • Pacific islands from around the 1950s onwards
  • The West Indies, moving out of empire into commonwealth
  • Africa - it was clear from the outset that the Independencies of the 1960s would be troublesome
  • I expect there are others
  
5th June 16 With Europe nearing completion, it is time for a checklist of category tasks.
  • most obviously, a detail page (or sub page) for every FICC catalogue entry ✓ 19th June (excl. Kosovo)
  • forward and backward links for every detail page† ✓ 24th June
  • entries in the new category columns on the catalogue page ✓ 25th June
  • decent images for all the nominated stamps, or entries in the wants list with indicative prices ✓ 25th June, no prices yet
  • cross-referenced FICC ID entries in the Category table ✓ 25th June
  • a check of the sequence ids for the category ✓ 25th June
  • Scott and Gibbons numbers ✓ 26th June, Mi and Y&T to follow, where available
  • add all the subsidiary entries such as occ issues into the right category tables and the Index ✓ 26th June, category not index
†There are at least two ←→ link pairs on each page, the category and the catalogue. The category links are enabled when completing entries by category, the current policy: the catalogue links are possible for the first two pages of catalogue as these are complete but cannot currently be done consistently.

For Europe, the following detail pages are currently outstanding:
1x GB regionals ✓ 24th June
23 Montenegro ✓ 6th June
29 Crete, Rethymnon ✓ 7th June
31 Thrace ✓ 8th June
33 Epirus ✓ 15th June
45 Ireland ✓ 15th June
52 Croatia ✓ 17th June
53 Trieste A&B ✓ 17th June
55 Moldova ✓ 17th June
57 Kyrgyzstan ✓ 17th June
58 Kazakhstan ✓ 17th June
59 Belarus ✓ 18th June
60 Turkmenistan ✓ 18th June
61 Uzbekistan ✓ 18th June
62 Tajikistan ✓ 18th June
63 Macedonia ✓ 18th June
64 Kosovo awaiting recent catalogue access
55b Moldova - Dniester, PMR, Transnistra needs more research
17a Mount Athos, Greece - awaiting recent catalogue access

26Jun16 That's Europe about done except for new catalogue additions and changes to Georgia. Now on to the easy wins on country categories and then Africa.

 
6th June 2016 Aide memoire, items to include in the next Journal piece (due ? - the submission deadlines are circa 15th Feb, 15th May, 15th Aug and 15th Nov)
  • WayBackMachine incl Bulletin Board posts and British Library's archive
  • should we show the prices of stamps, just broadly e.g. $ = <$1, $$=$1-$10, $$$ = $10-$100. Or perhaps $0, $1 $2, indicating how many zeros to add to get the range.
  • How useful the CD version of the journal is.
  • Progress on the catalogue entries.
  • A web page containing my submissions to the journal to make the links easier to follow. Also include any links mentioned in other parts of the Journal. A short URL in the article leading to the page.
  • instructions for the exhibitions pages incl. password
  • Colnect
  • are we collecting data on web site visitors, if not why not?
  • refer to images wantslist and invite contributions, use of prices
  • Consider regular sections: progress, visitors, discoveries …

Item 5 - it's here.		  
10th June 2016 Having found the WayBackMachine backups and that they contain some of the Forum entries, here's one of the most useful, Tim Balm's September 2003 update on (then) recent first issues. I have asked Tim whether he can update it to the current day.

Here is some info on newer "first issues" -- post 1990...

21Mar1990 - Namibia, set range = Sc#659-661, perf = 14.5x14, 14x14.5, no wmk, desc = 18c, 45c, 60c denominations

7Oct1990 - Lithuania, set range = Sc#371-374, perf = imperf, wmk = ?? , desc = 5, 10, 20, 50 kopeck denominations

19Oct1990 - Latvia, set range = Sc#300-307 (Mi#305-12), perf = 13x12.5, 13.5x14, wmk = ?? , desc = 5, 10, 15, 20, 40, 50, 100, 200 kopeck denominations

23June1991 - Moldova, set range = Mi#1-3, perf = imprf, wmk = ?? , desc = 7c, 13c, 30c denominations

26June1991 - Slovenia, 1st is Sc#100 (not #1 as currently indicated), perf = 10.5, wmk = ?? , desc = 5 dinar denomination

1 Oct1991 - Estonia, set range = Sc#200-208 (Mi#165-173), perf = 13x12.5, wmk = ?? , desc = 5, 10, 15, 30, 50, 70, 90 kopeck and 1, 2 ruble denominations

21Nov1991 - Croatia Sc#100, perf = 14 (or 11x10.5 on Sc#100a), wmk = ?? , desc = 4 dinar surcharge on 1.2d Sc#RA20

10Jan1992 - Russia, set range = Sc#6056-6058, perf = 11.5x12, wmk = ?? , desc = 14 kopeck and 1, 2 ruble denominations  [Note: the minisheets currently referenced are not distinct - that is just the format in which these stamps were printed - in minisheets of 8.]

4Feb1992 - Kyrgyzstan Sc#1, perf = 12, wmk = ?? , desc = 15 kopeck denomination.

8Feb1992 - Moldova Sc#25, perf = 12, wmk = ?? , desc = 25 kopeck denomination.

1Mar1992 - Ukraine, set range = Sc#100-101 (Mi#71-72), perf = 12, wmk = ?? , desc = 15 kopeck denomination on each.

17Mar1992 - Kazakhstan Sc#1, perf = 12x12.5, wmk = unwmk, desc = 50 kopeck denomination.

20Mar1992 - Belarus Sc#1, perf = 12x12.5, wmk = ??, desc = 1 ruble denomination.

26Mar1992 - Azerbaijan Sc#350, perf = 14, wmk = ?? , desc = 35 kopeck denomination  [Note: Scott does not have record of an Azerbaijan stamp being issued on 2Feb1992.]

26Apr1992 - Turkmenistan Sc#2-9 (set range is 1-9 with #1 being issued on 8Dec1992), perf = 12x12.5 (#9 is imperf), wmk = ?? , desc = ??.
7May1992 - Uzbekistan Sc#1, perf = 11.5x12, wmk = ??, desc = 20 kopeck denomination.

20May1992 - Tadjikistan Sc#1, perf = 12x12.5, wmk = ??, desc = 50 kopeck denomination.

28May1992 - Armenia Sc#430, set range = 430a-c and 431,  perf = 14, wmk = ??, desc = 20 kopecks, 2r, 5r and 7ruble denominations.

8Sep1992 - Macedonia Sc#1, perf = 13.5x13, wmk = ??, desc = 30 denar denomination.

26Oct1992 - Bosnian Serb Admin in Banja Luca, set range = Sc#1-11, perf = 12.5, wmk = ??, desc = surcharged overprints on Yugoslav stamps.

20Jan1993 - Czech Republic Sc#2877, perf = 11, wmk = ??, desc = 3 koruna denomination.

12May1993 - Bosnian Croat Admin in Mostar Sc#1, perf = 14, wmk = ??, desc = 2000 dinar denomination.

31July1993 - Georgia, set range = 73-75a, perf = 13, wmk = ??, desc = 25, 50, 100 ruble denominations + s/s of the 3.

27Oct1993 - Bosnian Muslim Gov't in Sarejevo, set range = Sc#200-206, perf = imperf, wmk = ??, desc = 100, 500, 1000, 5000, 10,000, 20,000 and 50,000 dinar denominations.

3Apr2003 - Serbia and Montenegro, set range = ??1-2??, perf = 13.5x14, wmk = ??, desc = 16, 28.7 dinar denominations.

23Apr2001 - England Regional (listed under Gr Brit in Scott, just before Northern Ireland regionals) set range = Sc#1-5, perf = 15x14, wmk = ??, desc = 2nd, 1st, E, 65p 68p denominations. 

29Apr2000 - UNTAET/East Timor (listed under Timor) set range = Sc#350-351, perf = 14, wmk = ??, desc = DOM (10c) and INT (25c) denominations.  [Note, some may consider this as simply a change in government, but I consider it to be a new country that achieved independence and resumed issuing stamps - like some of the CIS countries in the early 1990s.]

14Mar2000 - UNMIK/UN offices in Kosovo set range = Sc#1-5, perf = 13.5x13, wmk = unwmk, desc = 20, 30, 50 pfennig, 1, 2 mark denominations.  [Note, if Kosovo ever sets up its own postal administration, I presume these stamps will be listed as #1-5 under Kosovo just like the UNTEA stamps are listed as #1-19 under West Irian.]

As for your notes 66.1 (Aruba) and 66.2 (Macedonia), The Aruba set you describe is Sc#18-21 issued 01Jan86.  The first set for Scott goes from 1-17 and was released over 4 issue dates from 01Jan86 to 17July87.  As for Macedonia, Scott lists #RA1 issued on 30Dec91, RA2-RA9 issued on 01Mar92, RA10-RA13 issued on 08May92, and RA14-17 issued on 01June92 -- all preceding the Sc#1 stamp issued on 08Sep92.  Hope this helps on your web site.  Don't hesitate to ask me questions of this nature that I might be able to help with.  Sometimes knowing the answers feels good.

update from Tim June 2016,
I spent several hours combing through the FICC Newsletters since 2000 to capture all the newly issued #1s as well as changes to existing #1s. I compared this list to the web site catalogue (old version) and was happy to see most of them were already updated. {Including all the Chinese Treaty Ports; St Vincent Gren Canouan, Mustique, and Mayreau; Western Hungary #1-10; the India IFS states of Dungarpur, Tonk, and Kotah; Greece - Mount Athos 1-5; Indonesia 1-24; the new Ukraine #1-5; the switch of Western Ukraine #1-4 with #5-8; and the new Curacao, St Martin and Carr Netherlands #1s. Following are changes that still need to be made...

West Irian #20 (on 5/1/1963) needs to have a notation under description that "now listed in Scott behind the Indonesia listings" Evidently Scott no longer wanted to list these under the W's.

1871 Afghanistan -- now has a #1 and the range goes from 1-4A (7 stamps). Under description, we should note :#1 is 30 mm in diameter; others are 26-27 mm.

The Georgia listing should change to indicate the range is 1-12 with 1-6 being perf 11.5 and 7-12 being imperf. [The latter info might go under Description - your call.

Biafra #1-3 is now listed in Scott (FICC catalogue states SG#1-3. These stamps are lith, perf 12.5 and unwatermarked.

South Sudan (new entry). Issued July 9, 2011 range of Sc#1-2. Lith. Perf 12. We should note in the description a 3rd stamp in the set was printed but only noted in Scott (not given with a number).

Kyrgyzstan Express Post (new entry). Issued Nov 18, 2014, range of Sc#1-3. Lith. Perf 14x14.5. Description should state Sc#1 is a 500s jet. Also, stamps are listed following the Kyrgyzstan listings.

Hopefully this will bring the FICC catalogue up to date. Let me know if you need any additional "technical" info on these. ... Also, let me know if/when you need scans of stamps. I know you've been obtaining many scans from David. If you want scans of full sets or of #1s he doesn't have for sale, let me know. Scans are easy to make and send. They also provide quick "check marks" on my to-do list. Sometimes that gives me a sense of accomplishment - sometimes not.

 
19th Jun 2016 The end of Europe is nigh: not the UK Brexit referendum next Thursday, but the completion of the Europe category. Except:
  • I have no catalogues covering Kosovo and UN Kosovo and so that page will have to wait.
  • I have been giving some thought to catagory abbreviations. These are now being added to the catalgue pages and they need to be as short as meaningfully possible to minimise column width. I am thinking of limiting them to three characters and adding some significance by capitalisation. This is still WIP, but so far,
    • Continents are not a problem. They will begin with a capital letter, e.g. Eur, Afr
    • For GB colonies, French Offices and so on, perhaps two lower case letters for the country and one capital letter for the type, so gbC and frO. That will probably cover most requirements.
    • Others, such as Plebescite and UN can be considered when needed. continued here
  • I wish I had added last updated to the page templates. Jesper has it automatically on the old pages and I tinkered with that but did not reach an elegant solution. If I add it retrospectively and going forward, it will have to be manual.I have taken a snapshot of all the dates for the country pages and will make a start.
to Argentina 21Jun16; to Bahamas 22Jun; Belize 25Jun; Bremen 1Jul; Canton Zurich 12Jul; Gambia 13Jul; Hungary 14Jul; Ireland 24Jul; Luxembourg 25Jul; Naples 5Aug; New Republic 6Aug; Philippines 7Aug; St. Helena 9Aug; Scinde 11Aug; South Africa 12Aug; Taiwan 15 Aug; Turks Is 17 Aug;Turkmenistan 20Aug; completed 21Aug.		  
21 Jun 2016 I had a good idea today. When writing the Africa (since Independence) pages, add a column to the table to show Previously. This will ensure that there is backward continuity and that the necessary previous pages are built as part of the process.  
26 Jun 2016 Easy country categories and checklist
  Pages Links Index Cat cols Images Xref Seq Sc/SG Subsid
CNAm
29 Jun
29 Jun
  
30 Jun
30 Jun
30 Jun
30 Jun
30 Jun
30 Jun
SAm
27Jun
27Jun
  
28Jun
28Jun
29Jun
29Jun
29Jun
†
Asia
27Jul
31Jul
  
1Aug
1Aug
1Aug
1Aug
1Aug
o/s ‡
MidE
 
§
 
 

† Peru locals to be done, Argentina provinces, Colombian states.
‡ HK Occ, Japan Occ, China TP & Occ, Indian Offices
§ Egyptian Offices, see Gibbons.

to clarify what those columns mean,

  • Pages - a detail page (or sub page) for every FICC catalogue entry
  • Links - forward and backward links for every detail page
  • Index - check all th variants are in the Index, e.g. Muscat and Oman
  • Cat cols - entries in the new category columns on the catalogue page
  • Decent images for all the nominated stamps, or entries in the wants list with indicative prices to follow
  • Cross-referenced FICC ID entries in the Category table
  • Check the sequence ids for the category
  • Scott and Gibbons numbers, Mi and Y&T to follow, where available
  • add all the subsidiary entries such as occ issues into the right category tables and, later, the Index

  
27 Jun 2016 Consider splitting p.8 of the catalogue at 1990 or 2000. Done 27Jun.  
27 Jul 2016 Asia has taken longer than expected and that does not bode well for Africa after Independence. No matter, still the Asia polishing to do and then the Middle East.  
5th Aug 2016 Aide memoire, items to include in the next Journal piece 15th Nov
The dates are: circa 15th Feb, 15th May, 15th Aug and 15th Nov).
The August submission was sent yesterday and the following are leftovers:
  • should we show the prices of stamps, just broadly e.g. $ = <$1, $$=$1-$10, $$$ = $10-$100. Or perhaps $0, $1 $2, indicating how many zeros to add to get the range.
  • StampWorldHistory - link to the Franch African colonies flowchart
  • Auction pages

  
22nd Aug 2016 There's been a flurry of activity in the flags and so I thought I would rerun the valuations.
The Alexa rating is above 30M, so WorthofWeb allowed a recalculation, though it fell from $58 to $54. Sitesworth is creeping up.		  
flags Val2 Val1
24th Aug 2016 Nearing the end of the Middle East conveniently just before a trip to Scotland to visit some steam rail conservation lines. I will take one or more volumes of Africa Since Independence to make a start on that.  
9th Sep 2016 Just bought six 2006 Michel catalogues on ebay for £7 ($9.66) each.  
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Page created 6 Apr 2016 Page updated 04-Jan-2019

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