Locus Online: 10th Year Anniversary

A Brief History of Locus Online, or,
How I've Spent My Free Time the Past 10 Years

by Mark R. Kelly

2007

April 17: 10th anniversary.
April 1: Neil Gaiman One Step Closer to Sainthood.
February: a Book Editors page is compiled as reference for the new Hugo Award category for Best Editor, Long form

2006

Fall: Locus Online begins posting selected columns and reviews from Locus Magazine, by Cory Doctorow, Graham Sleight, and regular reviewers
Spring: a poll for best poetry of the year and of all-time draws a light response
April 1: Barry Malzberg to Fly Virgin Galactic Free

2005

By year-end the homepage layout is refined with new colors and link arrangements (still the current design).
Feature reviews are gradually scaled back to cover significant genre films and occasional essays, but not regular book reviews
May: current webpage templates are rebuilt using style sheet tags instead of hard-coded html for spacing and formatting
April 1: Charles Stross Achieves Posthuman Status
Locus Online receives a Hugo Award nomination for Best Website but loses to Sci Fiction by one vote.

2004

Fall: The first version of a Cover Art Gallery is posted.
October: editorial blog Views from Medina Road launches.
April 1: Ben Gory Gerdorf reviews The Einstein Code.
January: updates to the What's New page are discontinued, as the homepage loses the colored tab sections and posts become strictly chronological, blog-like; at the same time archives are split by section -- News, Monitor, etc.

2003

Separate pages for Aether Vibrations, Field Inspections, E-Publications, etc., are discontinued due to time constraints, and are replaced by a Blinks column, first on the What's New page, then on the homepage.
Still running lots of reviews, by Lawrence Person, Cynthia Ward, Jeff Berkwits, Greg Benford, et al.
June: Locus Online wins first of three Wooden Rocket awards
April 1: Clarion Recalls Classes of '96 and '98, and others.

2002

Throughout year: dozens of reviews and commentaries by John Shirley, Gary Westfahl, Rich Horton, Lawrence Person, Philip Shropshire, Jeff VanderMeer...
September: Locus Online wins a Hugo Award for Best Website.
August: regular pages launched for New in Paperback and Classic Reprints, as New Books pages go weekly (in theory)
Directories of each year's books by category begin.
March: The Locus Index To Science Fiction Awards expands to full capacity with 80+ awards, FAQs, tables, statistics, essays.

2001

December: My last monthly review column ("Distillations") is turned in to Locus Magazine.
On 9/11, reports from New York City (scroll up for more), followed by an essay by Marleen Barr
Pop-up This Week windows [pop-up function now discontinued] track new books and author events for most of the year, before merging back onto the homepage
May: the homepage layout widens, with a new left pane, and coloring is made more uniform
The site runs numerous special-to-the-website reviews by John Shirley, Claude Lalumiere, Nick Gevers, and others
Cumulative necrology and awards listings are tracked on the homepage and archive page
More April Foolishness
Spring: first online Locus Poll and Survey ballot includes a bonus question for online voters: Name the 5 deceased 20th century SF & fantasy writers you think will still be read 50 years from now

2000

June: the Locus Index to Science Fiction Awards launches
Website readers are asked what they like about the website and we respond
Several pages of Prose Quotations are compiled; these would eventually find a home at the bottom of each week's New Books page
A short-lived Skiffy Flix feature tracks critical reactions to sf/f/h movies
We try to keep up with E-zines
The site starts running occasional special-to-the-website full length reviews
March: ICFA inspires Locus Online's first April 1st issue.

1999

In August the homepage (which had looked like this) is cleaned up with colored tabs.
The site conducts an independent poll with categories for all-time short fiction, and survey
Review extracts from the magazine highlight two books a month
Year-end best books are tallied
We get lots of letters

1998

New sections are added: Field Inspections, Media Refractions, a weekly Bestsellers page, and descriptions of nonfiction books

1997

October: site redesigned and renamed Locus Online, with an editorial, descriptions of new books, magazines, and websites, and a page called Aether Vibrations.
April 17: Locus website launches, with listings and samples from the magazine, a Breaking News page, letters, and a quiz. (Update history)

(See the website's Site Map for links to complete archives, and many more homepage captures.)

	FEATURES 2007 Archive Features Indexes Contributors Books, Magazines Reviewed Movies Reviewed Advertisement LINKS Links Portal E-mail Locus Online		Tuesday 17 April 2007 A Brief History of Locus Online, or, How I've Spent My Free Time the Past 10 Years by Mark R. Kelly 2007 April 17: 10th anniversary. April 1: Neil Gaiman One Step Closer to Sainthood. February: a Book Editors page is compiled as reference for the new Hugo Award category for Best Editor, Long form 2006 Fall: Locus Online begins posting selected columns and reviews from Locus Magazine, by Cory Doctorow, Graham Sleight, and regular reviewers Spring: a poll for best poetry of the year and of all-time draws a light response April 1: Barry Malzberg to Fly Virgin Galactic Free 2005 By year-end the homepage layout is refined with new colors and link arrangements (still the current design). Feature reviews are gradually scaled back to cover significant genre films and occasional essays, but not regular book reviews May: current webpage templates are rebuilt using style sheet tags instead of hard-coded html for spacing and formatting April 1: Charles Stross Achieves Posthuman Status Locus Online receives a Hugo Award nomination for Best Website but loses to Sci Fiction by one vote. 2004 Fall: The first version of a Cover Art Gallery is posted. October: editorial blog Views from Medina Road launches. April 1: Ben Gory Gerdorf reviews The Einstein Code. January: updates to the What's New page are discontinued, as the homepage loses the colored tab sections and posts become strictly chronological, blog-like; at the same time archives are split by section -- News, Monitor, etc. 2003 Separate pages for Aether Vibrations, Field Inspections, E-Publications, etc., are discontinued due to time constraints, and are replaced by a Blinks column, first on the What's New page, then on the homepage. Still running lots of reviews, by Lawrence Person, Cynthia Ward, Jeff Berkwits, Greg Benford, et al. June: Locus Online wins first of three Wooden Rocket awards April 1: Clarion Recalls Classes of '96 and '98, and others. 2002 Throughout year: dozens of reviews and commentaries by John Shirley, Gary Westfahl, Rich Horton, Lawrence Person, Philip Shropshire, Jeff VanderMeer... September: Locus Online wins a Hugo Award for Best Website. August: regular pages launched for New in Paperback and Classic Reprints, as New Books pages go weekly (in theory) Directories of each year's books by category begin. March: The Locus Index To Science Fiction Awards expands to full capacity with 80+ awards, FAQs, tables, statistics, essays. 2001 December: My last monthly review column ("Distillations") is turned in to Locus Magazine. On 9/11, reports from New York City (scroll up for more), followed by an essay by Marleen Barr Pop-up This Week windows [pop-up function now discontinued] track new books and author events for most of the year, before merging back onto the homepage May: the homepage layout widens, with a new left pane, and coloring is made more uniform The site runs numerous special-to-the-website reviews by John Shirley, Claude Lalumiere, Nick Gevers, and others Cumulative necrology and awards listings are tracked on the homepage and archive page More April Foolishness Spring: first online Locus Poll and Survey ballot includes a bonus question for online voters: Name the 5 deceased 20th century SF & fantasy writers you think will still be read 50 years from now 2000 June: the Locus Index to Science Fiction Awards launches Website readers are asked what they like about the website and we respond Several pages of Prose Quotations are compiled; these would eventually find a home at the bottom of each week's New Books page A short-lived Skiffy Flix feature tracks critical reactions to sf/f/h movies We try to keep up with E-zines The site starts running occasional special-to-the-website full length reviews March: ICFA inspires Locus Online's first April 1st issue. 1999 In August the homepage (which had looked like this) is cleaned up with colored tabs. The site conducts an independent poll with categories for all-time short fiction, and survey Review extracts from the magazine highlight two books a month Year-end best books are tallied We get lots of letters 1998 New sections are added: Field Inspections, Media Refractions, a weekly Bestsellers page, and descriptions of nonfiction books 1997 October: site redesigned and renamed Locus Online, with an editorial, descriptions of new books, magazines, and websites, and a page called Aether Vibrations. April 17: Locus website launches, with listings and samples from the magazine, a Breaking News page, letters, and a quiz. (Update history) (See the website's Site Map for links to complete archives, and many more homepage captures.)
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