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The Association of British Philatelic Societies (ABPS) is looking at how it can improve the level of support it provides to member societies for the development of their websites.

The ABPS uses a free internet-based website compilation program (WIX.com) and has developed a template to meet the needs of a philatelic society. The template includes 4 webpages – Home; What’s On; About us; Map and Join us. It also provides an initial service of adjusting the template to meet the needs of each society, and populates the four pages with information provided by that society. So far the service has been taken up by more than 10 societies and a philatelic association.

The ABPS has found that this system works well in its initial stages and it provides a telephone enquiry service to help the societies with running their websites. However, problems often occur later with maintenance of the content because nobody is available or willing to take on this commitment.

To improve continuity of service the ABPS is considering whether to engage a professional company to take on the task of maintaining these websites, using information provided by the societies. A decision on the way forward is expected shortly.

This problem is faced by many philatelic organisations and has become more urgent following the extensive shift to on-line activity during the COVID crisis. For more information on the ABPS’s experience and its approach to tackling the problem, contact Neil Ritchie at neilritchie@netscape.net.