IN 2010 WORK BEGAN ON CREATING A NEW WEBSITE for the LBPs which would incorporate the latest technology and allow members to subscribe on line as well as access resources and information that had been unavailable on the old site. Web development, however, does not stand still, neither does the media that deliver it. Seven years ago very few users would be accessing the website using tablets or smartphones; today probably the majority do. It was clearly time to upgrade the site to improve their experience. Upgrading the site to include not just the latest technology but also the latest security functions meant a complete redesign; an opportunity then, to reconsider how best the vast amount of information that has accumulated over the 30 year of the Society’s history might best be presented. Two factors have influenced the new design; multiple device availability and ease of searching. The first is built into the new design architecture; users should find the information presented appropriately on whatever device they use. The second required a good deal of thought, particularly in the presentation of the archive of Common Stock. In the end a two-fold system was chosen; this is reflected in two kinds of menu; one which displays links to pages on the site by their title, and the other which displays links, chiefly to articles in Common Stock by their ‘tags’. Each page or article carries multiple tags which identify its contents in various ways. These menus are headed in the form ‘History Articles’, ‘Events Articles’ and so on.

Clicking on these ‘article’ menu links will generate a list of articles that match the tag. Thus clicking the link ‘competition results’ shown here (displayed on the ‘Event Reports’ page) will give a list of all articles that match. There is also a page of competition results for the past 6 years that include sound files of the prize-winning performances. More Power to Your elbow The videos from the CD that used to accompany More Power to Your Elbow are now fully accessible. Pipes for Sale The old Forum, which was used almost entirely for the occasional For Sale or Wanted post has been replaced with a dedicated ‘for sale/wanted’ facility that users can post to.

Common Stock
Access to Common Stock has been significantly improved. All issues from 2010 onwards are fully text-searchable (using the ‘Search’ menu) as well as by tags. Individual articles will display in search results. Issues prior to 2010 are stored as page images. Each of these is tagged, and each issue has a table of contents, the entries in which are text-searchable. Thus, if you have either a topic or likely words from a title, you should be able to quickly locate and access the article/s you are seeking.

One of the sections of the site that has been greatly expanded is that of ‘repertoire’. Content for the six sections displayed are still work-in-progress (and offers of help are welcome), but you will find a long index of published tunes (compiled by Alex Maclean) which has been augmented by links to the articles in Common Stock that contain them, as well as access to online manuscript sources and other music.

The site now has over 900 pages, so it’s difficult to give a full view of the coverage. If you have any comments, suggestions or offers to help in the creation of content, please contact the website at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..