Imperial War Museum new website format?

Discussion in 'Research Material' started by Mr Jinks, Jan 26, 2018.

  1. Mr Jinks

    Mr Jinks Bit of a Cad

    The title says it all really ,I didnt find the old one particularly easy to navigate and this one (for me anyway) feels worse! :(

    Kyle

    https://www.iwm.org.uk/
     
  2. von Poop

    von Poop Adaministrator Admin

    I've not been able to make the collections search work yet, and have lots of crashing out when trying to open an image, but will give it time to settle down. Big site, lots of stuff.
    They seem to have preserved embedded image links, which is nice (and a relief!).
     
  3. Jedburgh22

    Jedburgh22 Very Senior Member

    I was at the IWM Thursday and the new system had crashed - the old one had been removed - a case of going live without thorough testing of the new one. . . . so it was impossible to look at a Documents catalogue.
     
  4. Charley Fortnum

    Charley Fortnum Dreaming of Red Eagles

    I'm sure that it's nothing more than teething problems, but I'm getting security warnings on at least two different browsers (their 'this is a genuine website' certificates are not set up and registered).
     
  5. dbf

    dbf Moderatrix MOD

    I like the search filters now, they were fiddly before if you wanted to set up more than one.
    I don't like the pinterest-style result page for images. I preferred the thumbnail list style with more text info. Maybe that's just me.

    But why couldn't they have just spent the time/money on making more available online!
     
    Ron Goldstein likes this.
  6. Ron Goldstein

    Ron Goldstein WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    T IMW Wbsite.JPG his is what I get when I try to access the site
     
  7. Charley Fortnum

    Charley Fortnum Dreaming of Red Eagles

    Same here, but the site is fine.

    Go 'Advanced' to proceed regardless.
     
    Ron Goldstein likes this.
  8. Ron Goldstein

    Ron Goldstein WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    Charley

    Thanks for that...... I'm now back onsite and examining the changes !

    Ron
     
  9. Ron Goldstein

    Ron Goldstein WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    Mixed feelings about the new site.......

    On the one hand it is so much more "Visual" that it may very well tempt new viewers to learn about WW2, which can't be a bad thing, but it had me frustrated whilst trying to find my own contribution.

    Eventually found it here: https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/1030023786 after realising that I had lodged it under Ronald Goldstein instead of my normal "Ron" :)
     
    dbf likes this.
  10. 51highland

    51highland Very Senior Member

    Been visiting the site lately, but do not seem to be able to find previous photos using the same search criteria. Course it might be something to do with the morphine based meds that I'm taking.!!!
     
  11. von Poop

    von Poop Adaministrator Admin

    Settling down, I think.
    And already seen pics that are new to me.
    They haven't broken the image links and the collection is still more freely available than most other photo archives, so I'm content.

    The design thing is always going to be marmite, but I get the feeling most new sites are now far more consciously presented with Tablet & mobile users in mind. Setups that work reasonably smoothly across every format. Just something we'll gradually get used to.

    Earliest iteration I can find on Wayback for IWM. 06/12/1998
    Imperial War Museum: Home Page


    As long as they keep sharing fine shots like this, I'm happy.

    [​IMG]
    WOMEN AT WAR 1939 - 1945. © IWM (TR 686)
    IWM Non Commercial License
    Small image?
    Wonder if they've cut the embed size or it's just these pics.
    Don't blame them. Their bandwidth must be hammered. Perfectly adequate.
     
  12. dbf

    dbf Moderatrix MOD

    want large image?
    Use Image/Download, insert that url as image, but don't forget to add url & Cat No./Object description to post
    https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205188444
    Catalogue number: TR 686
    Object description: ATS (Auxiliary Territorial Service) girls loading shells into the breech of a 25-pdr field gun at the Royal Artillery Experimental Unit, Shoeburyness, Essex, 1943.

    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Jan 28, 2018
    4jonboy and von Poop like this.
  13. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

    I have always been underwhelmed by the IWM site, but I am finding it slightly more user-friendly now.
     
  14. PsyWar.Org

    PsyWar.Org Archive monkey

    Looks good, much more mobile friendly but surprised it lacks social media meta tags.
     
  15. Charley Fortnum

    Charley Fortnum Dreaming of Red Eagles

    I got a little excited because they're listed some new 4th Indian Division interviews made since 2000 that didn't used to be on there, but they're all external 'United Productions' interviews (used for their documentaries), which the IWM cannot make available online for copyright reasons.

    I did make a concerted effort one afternoon to find contact for United Productions so that I could ask to purchase a copy of one of their Alamein interviews in full (only scraps were used in the television programme), but none of my emails received a reply.
     
  16. Cee

    Cee Senior Member Patron

    Noticed you can download videos now. There is an embed function for videos as well, but not sure how to do that or if it's supported here?

    Regards ...
     
  17. dbf

    dbf Moderatrix MOD

    I don't know either; used this as a test, failed.
     
  18. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

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