Sapling's history

Sapling has come a long way since it first appeared, with little fanfare, in 1998. Here's our potted history...

1998

July 1998
Graham Soult (now Sapling Editor) creates his first website. The site is hosted on free Angelfire webspace, and includes a single page of links relating to his architecture and planning interests - this will eventually evolve into Sapling.

October 1998
The links page is referred to as 'Sapling' for the first time; the name is chosen to refect the site's focus on 'sustaining urban places', with the 'apl' of Sapling standing for 'architecture planning landscape'. The site is divided into sections covering Graham's research interests - Planning, Technology, Design, Conservation, Mixed Use, Resources, Transport and Regeneration.

December 1998
Sapling introduces its first logo.

Sapling's first logo, from 1998

1999

May 1999
The site is redesigned, with a different logo.

How Sapling looked, May 1999 - March 2000

June 1999
Sapling is listed in the prestigious (and sadly now defunct) Argus Clearinghouse directory.

November 1999
Sapling introduces its 'Site of the Month' award.

2000

January 2000
Sapling acquires the domain name 'sapling.org.uk', which is pointed at the Angelfire webspace.

March 2000
Sapling moves location, and is now hosted at soult.com. There are some changes to the site's design, 'Conservation' becomes 'Heritage', and the Sapling Message Board is launched.

How Sapling looked, March 2000 - May 2000

May 2000
The red and green 'Sapling' logo is introduced, and the site is redesigned again. With minor changes, this look is used until October 2003. Sapling Bookshop is launched, and the mailing list is set up. New sections covering Construction and Housing are created, while the 'Resources' section is renamed 'Sustainability'.

Sapling's new logo, May 2000

How Sapling looked, May 2000 - July 2001

December 2000
Sapling celebrates Christmas with a special festive version of its logo.

Sapling's Christmas logo, December 2000

2001

April 2001
Sapling is named 'Site of the Day' by the Royal Institute of British Architects' site at architecture.com.

July 2001
Sapling begins displaying news headlines from Moreover.com. Visitor numbers are measured for the first time - Sapling gains more than 6,300 page views in July 2001. There are some minor changes to the design, with the left and right-hand columns changing colour from red to pink.

How Sapling looked, July 2001

August 2001
Sapling introduces a new Landscape section, which quickly becomes one of the most popular parts of the site.

November 2001
After using the subtitle 'Architecture, Planning and Landscape Links' since 2000, Sapling belatedly becomes an acronym as it rebrands itself the 'Architecture, Planning & Landscape INformation Gateway'.

Sapling's revised logo, November 2001

2002

January 2002
Visitor numbers have changed little since July, with 6,500 page views recorded in January 2002.

March 2002
A number of improvements are made, including the launch of SaplingChat, and the introduction of Architecture and Arts & Culture sections to replace 'Design'. The launch of SaplingSearch allows users to search Sapling's links directory for the first time - although only 15% of the sites are included so far.

April 2002
Lots more changes... Sapling's new logo makes an appearance - according to the site, the logo "is based around a letter 'S', its shape forming the basis of a stylised tree, or sapling. The colour scheme of green and dark pink echoes the colours already used throughout the Sapling website. The familiar red and green 'Sapling' text has been retained and enhanced as part of the new identity."

Meanwhile, Sapling moves location again, this time to its own webspace at sapling.org.uk, and acquires the additional domain name 'sapling.org'. 7,700 page views are recorded in April 2002; meanwhile, Sapling Mailing List gains its 200th subscriber.

Sapling's new logo, introduced in 2002

May 2002
Sapling supports the National Trust campaign to save Tyntesfield, by introducing a new Campaigns section. Meanwhile, Sapling expands its domain name collection by acquiring 'sapling.info'.

October 2002
After a year of little change, visitor numbers begin to climb, reaching 17,500 page views in October 2002.

How Sapling looked, October 2002

November 2002
Following the closure of the Odeon Cinema in Newcastle, Sapling features the campaign to 'Save Newcastle's Paramount Theatre'. The Paramount site is publicised in the local press, and more than 800 page views are recorded in the first month. Elsewhere, the 'Online Library' becomes 'Other Information Resources'.

December 2002
Sapling gains sponsorship, and begins displays sponsors' advertisements. Nearly 18,000 page views are logged in December.

2003

March 2003
The Sapling Events Listing is launched. In March, Sapling's monthly page views exceed 20,000 for the first time.

June 2003
After 15 months, all the sites listed in Sapling (444 of them) are finally added to the searchable database. It means that all listed sites have been revisited and reviewed since April 2002. Page views for June hit 26,500.

July 2003
In July, Sapling exceeds 30,000 page views for the first time.

How Sapling looked, September 2003

October 2003
After three and a half years of its existing 'look', Sapling embarks upon a comprehensive redesign of the site. While radically different to the old look, the redesigned site retains the existing logo and Sapling's familiar green and pink colour scheme. Sapling Community (later merged into the new Forums) is introduced; key features, including the search facility and Events Listing, are extensively improved. Page views for October reach another all-time high of almost 44,000.

November 2003
The popular Events Listing is automated - events are now added to the listing as soon as someone submits the details.

How Sapling looked, October 2003 to March 2006

2004

January 2004
During the month of January, Sapling exceeds 50,000 page views for the first time.

March 2004
Another record, as Sapling hits 55,000 page views this month. Meanwhile, Sapling's first City Gateways - covering Newcastle upon Tyne, Bristol and London - go online, bringing together website reviews, books and events relevant to a given city and region. Elsewhere, an online version of 'Sapling Update' (our regular newsletter e-mailed to over 400 subscribers worldwide) is posted on the site for the first time.

April 2004
Visitor numbers climb further, as Sapling achieves over 60,000 page views in April. This is bettered yet again in May, with more than 63,000 hits recorded.

June 2004
Two more City Gateways - for Liverpool and Manchester - go online.

July 2004
Another record-breaking month, as Sapling hits 66,000 page views during July.

August 2004
The Sapling Forums are launched, replacing the existing Message Board. The new Forums offer improved functionality and a more secure environment, with separate Forums for Discussion, Jobs and Products & Services.

October 2004
A third wave of City Gateways go online - covering Birmingham, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Nottingham and Sheffield - bringing the total so far to twelve.

2005

April 2005
In April, Sapling exceeds 70,000 page views for the first time.

August 2005
Sapling adds an Interior Design Gateway to its collection, while the Sapling Events Listing features its 200th event since being automated in November 2003.

September 2005
The addition of eight new City Gateways, bringing the total to twenty, helps Sapling reach a new monthly high of 79,500 page views.

October 2005
Another monthly high, this time hitting 95,000 page views.

2006

January 2006
Sapling exceeds 100,000 monthly page views in January, a new high.

March 2006
Sapling embarks on a 'refreshing' of its existing design, including a new logo. The red and green text gets the chop, but the stylised tree is retained as part of the new 'Sapling.info' branding. The redesign is expected to take up much of 2006, and includes the addition of another new Gateway covering Urban Design. Alongside, March sees another record number of page views, with 112,000 hits recorded during the month.

Sapling's new logo, March 2006

April 2006
Started in 1996 by Matthew Guy and Ron Strong, the Housing Resource Guide (housinguk.org) is incorporated into Sapling. Work starts on rating and reviewing the 250+ Housing Resource Guide entries before transferring them to Sapling's database. The addition of these new entries will greatly enhance Sapling's coverage of housing-related sites, and will increase the total number of Sapling reviews by over 20% to more than 1,100. Having awarded the Housing Resource Guide its Site of the Month accolade in 2001, Sapling is pleased to be able to take forward Matthew and Ron's sterling work over the previous ten years.

The Housing Resource Guide logo

May 2006
Sapling gains 121,000 page views in May, another record.

June 2006
Sapling launches its new Urban Design Gateway, as well as a redesigned and reorganised Housing Gateway. The 1,000th website review is added, with the design and functionality of the site's search tools also enhanced. Page views hit a new high of 142,000 for the month, up from 61,000 just a year earlier.

July 2006
Sapling's twenty existing City Gateways are redesigned and reorganised, with a further eleven new ones added. Derby, Durham, Exeter, Ipswich, Leicester, Norwich, Plymouth. Southampton, Stoke on Trent, Sunderland and York are among the cities now covered.

September 2006
Sapling's first non-UK City Gateway - devoted to Dublin - is launched.

October 2006
The core stages of Sapling's redesign are completed - more than 1,000 reviewed links are now listed under 13 themed gateways covering more than 450 web pages.

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