This month marks the second anniversary of the APICS Web site — actually the site has been operational for a little more than two years, but nobody except newlyweds celebrate half-month anniversaries. As in years past, this seems like a good time to sit back and review the mail.

Last year at this time, events had just forced APICS to move its entire site to a new service provider, UUNET, where it lives today. At that time, visitors could review the entire site index in about four screens, and the site consisted of less than 300 static Web pages. As a result, it took only two people, working part time, to maintain the site, and I actually knew what each and every page said. On a big month, the site generated little more than 800 e-mail messages, and the biggest complaint was that some areas of the site required visitors to complete a registration screen and log in. Finally, until APICS moved to its new Internet provider, the society never knew how many people were visiting the Web site.

Today, the site hosts over 800 Web pages, three database query services, a document download area, gateways to several other services such as the e-mail discussion lists, and a number of automated scripts. Registration and login are no longer required. On the other hand, the site index has grown to several pages in length, and the site now requires significant care and feeding from well over a dozen assorted staff. To say the least, site growth has been phenomenal.

In fact, as I'm writing this column, the latest statistics available reveal that the site generated 1,829 e-mail requests in March alone. This was a record for APICS but, with a monthly average of 1,700 and 1,500 requests for the previous three and six months respectively, it does not appear to be unusual.

Better yet, UUNET is providing APICS with very detailed statistics on site traffic. For example, in March 1998, the site logged 389,632 hits over 25,108 sessions lasting an average of 11 minutes each. Based on individual page hits, we know that certification is the most popular topic, followed closely by the online catalog and calendar.

Best of all, based on the e-mail, it looks as though the site is serving most users well. The main issues seem to have shifted from technical features to content. Furthermore, no single issue dominates. This is as it should be.

Meanwhile, what have we learned about APICS Web site visitors? Some might recall that APICS used to send out visitor surveys. This is no longer necessary because much of the information APICS needed is now available from site statistics.

For example, while the single favorite Internet Service Provider is America Online, many site visitors come through corporate gateways. In all, 65 percent access APICS from .com domains, 26 percent from .net domains, and six percent from .edu domains. Most of those accessing the Web site live in the United States, Canada, South Korea, the United Kingdom and Japan. Yahoo! and Excite appear to be the most popular search engines, or at least that's how most users are finding APICS, and the favorite keyword is apics. On the whole, users tend to visit the site on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (USA). Last but not least, most users run Windows 95, and Microsoft Explorer is beginning to edge out Netscape as the browser of choice — but only by a hair.

In addition, more users each month are placing orders with APICS through the Web. While this is great for all the obvious reasons, I want everyone to know that I really appreciate their trust. APICS has taken measures and continues to explore new options available to secure its Web site. APICS also tries very hard to respect users' privacy and does not publish e-mail addresses or even track individual visits. All of the statistics I quoted above, for example, are based solely on aggregate information.

As I write this, APICS is working to bring a fantastic new look to the site — its first major facelift. In fact, if all goes according to plan, the new look should be in place shortly after publication of this issue of the magazine. To be one of the first to see this new look, I recommend that you subscribe to the WhatsNew service. To do this, send an e-mail message containing the comment, JOIN WHATSNEW, on a line by itself with no other text and no signature block at [email protected]