What's New at anvilfire!

Almost every day we are adding new items. In order to help you find the newest additions we have added this page. Here we will try to log changes and additions by date as we make them. There will always be daily changes in the Virtual Hammer-In and the Guru page.

In 1999 we launched the following new features:
  • iForge
  • Web-Ring Nexus
  • Emile's Hot Links
  • AnvilCAM
  • International Registry of
    Blacksmith Touchmarks
  • ABANA 2000 JYH Event
  • ABANA-Chapter.com
    • In 2000 we added:
  • CSI Members & Forum
  • Armoury Page
  • Story Page
  • anvilfire Store
  • Rings @ anvilfire.com!
    We setup our own Ringlink webring hosting system and moved our webrings to it.
    • We now host:
  • The Blacksmiths Ring
  • Steelworkers Webring
  • Country Life and Heritage
  • Architectural Metals*
  • Archeaometalurgy*
  • More to come. . .
    * New - no members
    • What's New archive I (12/98)
    What's New archive II (6/99)
    What's New archive III (12/99)
    		 What's New archive IV (1st Qtr 2000)
    What's New archive V (2nd Qtr 2000)
    What's New archive VI (3rd-4th Qtr 2k)
    Summer of 1999 we reported:
    "anvilfire! had 5,500 hits to the main page in May (a slow month). That's some 12,650 hits in aggregate . . ."

    At the close of the 1st Quarter of 2000:

    Our aggregate hits were up to an average of 22,150 per month. Total traffic has been doubling every six months. We are archiving over 400Kb of Q&A from the guru page every month. Double what it was in 1999. We now archive it every 7 days. The Slack-Tub Pub logs must be cleared every 24 hours. There are now 45 iForge demos, 14 posted this Quarter.

    SPRING 2001 * We have our first 50,000 visitor month!

    That is a hit rate of 10 times two years ago! This means that this year we will have as many visits as in the previous 3 combined!

    January 8, 2001 @ 499,730   Posted a new page for Kayne & Son describing their new blacksmiths rolling mill the BLU Crusher
    January 18, 2001 @ 513,363   Posted last night's iForge demo on Riveting. Also posted J-J's Round Rose demo last week the day after the demo. The new classroom has some problems but it helps get the demos posted in a timely fashion.
    January 23, 2001 @ 523,000  
    Anvilfire is listed by Machine Design magazine as an important web resource!
    anvilfire.com was listed in the January 11, 2001 of Machine Design magazine a Penton publication as well as on the magazine's popular website.
    Updated the links pages on the 41 ABANA-Chapter pages that we maintain OR those using our links list. Corrected some errors on the ABANA-Chapter page. Archived the guru page. Our hit rate for the past week has been near 2,000 visitors a day!
    January 24, 2001 @ 523,600   We have added a new advertiser, The Traditional Metalsmith a George Dixon publication.
    January 27, 2001  Posted a NEW Swords article by Bruce Blackistone on our NEW Armoury page.
    January 29, 2001 @ 532,950  
    NEW!    Online Metal Sales

    anvilfire is happy to offer you this great new service, together with our partners at Online Metals we are happy to offer you this new and valuable service. Buying smaller quantities has never been easier, with this new functionality you just point, click and get metal! Your purchases help keep anvilfire on-line!
    February 4, 2001 @ 541,100   We are happy to introduce a NEW series on anvilfire. The serial publication of the novel, The Revolutionary Blacksmith by Jim Paw-Paw Wilson. This month we start with the Introduction and Chapter 1 of this historical romance.

    Look for it on our new Anvilfire Story Page

    February 7, 2001 @ 545,100   We welcome Nimba Anvils as an advertiser at anvilfire.com! Check out these fine American made anvils.
    February 8, 2001 @ 546,760   Edited last night's iForge demo on Scrapers and Burnishers and have reposted the NEW version. It now has the address and source for the Timberline Tools Scraper.
    February 14, 2001 @ 557,462   Posted tonight's iForge Valentines demo on Hearts and Piercing with a jewlers saw.
    March 3, 2001
    Kayne and Son
    Have an all NEW web site with on-line catalog. Check it out!!!
    March 5, 2001 @ 583,468   Posted Chapter 2 of Paw-Paws novella, The Revolutionary Blacksmith
    March 8, 2001 @ 588,000   Added the drop down menu to all versions of the guru page including the members version. Note: Currently this does not link to the members special pages. That will require a special version of the menu (in progress).

    Added two quotes to the Dave Manzer Little Giant Video Review including one from Clifton Ralph.

    March 9, 2001 @ 589,638   Posted Four NEW stories and one illustration to the anvilfire Story page!
    March 11, 2001 @ 592,242   Posted More NEW stories on the anvilfire Story page. Paw-Paws, 12 Forge Rules, Longfellow's classic The Village Blacksmith and more. . . Thanks to the collection Jim Paw-Paw Wilson.
    Later @ 592,818   Even more stories! A replacement for Paw-Paw's Anvil Ringing Story and a Blacksmith's 12 days of Christmas. . . Hmmmm a little out of season.
    March 15 @ 599,000   Added STRIKER TOOL CO. as a new advertiser.
    March 16 @ 600,000 / 28,870   FINALLY archived this page. . .
    Page hits:
    • HOME 305,500 - The difference between this and our total is the number of visitors that come in through individual pages such as below.
    • Guru 106,200
    • iForge 92,400
    • NEWS 68,000
    • Slack-Tub Pub 84,300
    • Plans 55,500
    • Hammer-In 55,000
    • Power hammer Page 48,400
    • 21st Century 29,700
    • Ring Nexus 29,300 (alternate "HOME" entry point)
    March 20 @ 604,000  Added General Site Counters to archives that are being accessed directly from search engines. Will be adding this counter to other pages to catch "hits" that are being missed by the main pages.
    March 28 @ 620,000  We have LOWERED the shipping on non-US orders of Anvils in America. There was some confusion about the NEW postal rates and we overcompensated. The one order shipped at the high rate was sent Air-mail and credited the difference.
    March 30 @ 626,375  Updated the HOME page adding the drop down menu. The new drop down menu system makes it easier to navigate anvilfire. However it required redesigning all pages to use and work with it. This process is still in progress but is already working on most pages.

    The advantage of the new menu is that it "fits" on a short screen unlike our stand menu AND it has links to our family of pages as well as our advertisers.

    MEMBERS: Please note that we have added the menu to the members HOME page but that the links do not go to special members pages. A special menu will be written when the page upgrades are complete. Sorry for the delay.

    April 1, 2001 @ 628,000  Posted chapter 3 of Paw-Paw's The Revolutionary Blacksmith
    First Quarter Statistics
    • Distinct hosts served: 57,300
    • We had 130,000 counted visits (avg. 40,000/month)
    • Found under more than 10,000 search terms
    • Linked from over 8,000 sites (referals).
    • Total iForge demos = 91
    • Archived an average of 475K of the guru page each month.
    • Blacksmith's Ring is back up to 84 sites (the level before we moved).
    • Steelworkers Webring is up to 26 sites (double before we moved).
    • Cyber Smiths International has 67 members.
    At the beginning of April we corrected two problems that created errors in our stats.
    1. We moved the files called by the webring sites to the ring server (created file count and referal errors).
    2. We added general site counted to the archives files and were shocked to see there were 150 visits a day coming in directly to the archives!
    April 16, 2001 @ 655,000  55 thousand visits in the past 30 days!
    That would be 660 thousand a year (more than our cumulative 4 year total) if we had zero growth.
    April 24, 2001 @ 666,895  Corrected an error in Revolutionary Blacksmith on the story page. There was code for a WAV file that had been "remarked" out. Some systems were trying to load it. All fixed now. My appologies to all for the inconvienience and frustration.

    Its a REALLY good story. Check it out!

    April 25, 2001 @ 668,468  Archived the guru page. Added our new cookie system on the members forum and guru page.
    April 26, 2001 @ 669,400 (wee hours)  The STORY page has a NEW blacksmith story sent in by Alan Longmire. Posted the new Bill Epps "Eagle" iForge demo.
    April 27, 2001 @ 670,914 (wee hours again)  Launched the NEW remodeled Virtual Hammer-In! Working on members version.
    April 29, 2001 @ 673,876  Posted the final edit of the BGOP Spring Fling article in the NEWS. Its quite different than the preliminary posting. Now to find the letter from Dona. . .
    May 1, 2001 @ 676,400  Posted Chapter 4 of of Jim "Paw Paw" Wilson's Revolutionary Blacksmith.

    Traffic is a little off at 48,400 for the month (down from a peak of 55,000). I forget that this is the usual trend. It's spring time in the Northern Hemisphere and EVERYONE is outdoors, doing lawn work, firing up the forge, or doing demonstrations!

    May 3, 2001 @ 679,050 - 3:15am  Corrected errors in member system menus and forum input forms. Editing and debugging our new cookie and member authentication system has been a huge job. Everything now works except the member pass-through to the Slack-Tub Pub. Please thank Kiwi for all the work he has put into the system.

    Posted a new privacy policy reflecting our new cookie system and no longer using 3rd party banner systems. The important addition is as follows:

    anvilfire.com does not sell, distribute, trade or give away user information (user lists, customer identities, membership lists, e-mail or other personal information).
    I appologise for losing a day and not having last nights iForge demo ready. . . :(
    May 14, 2001 @ 694,090

    Welcome Frank Turley to the anvilfire guru page color guard (Silver).
    Frank Turley is the founder and operator of Turley Forge Blacksmithing School and is a frequent demonstrator at craft schools, regional workshops, and universities. Frank has a distinct wit and brings an experianced teaching background to our group.

    Check out the NEW Blacksmith Leg Vises on the Kayne & Son page. These European imports are heavy forged steel and priced right!

    Centaur Forge is mailing out their new 41st anniversary catalog. If you have been holding off getting one, now is the time.

    May 22, 2001 @ 708,067  Posted iForge demo #97 @ 109,559. This was the beginning of our 3rd year of iForge demos! iForge has been one of our more popular features. Last week we posted another story on the Story Page. The Henry Haus Blacksmith Shop, Pope, California, USA by Tim Cisneros. More are on the way!

    We have had 102,000 visitors since March 22 making our average for these two slow months 51,000/month.

    May 30, 2001 @ 716,733  Finally finished posting the last of the 24th Edition of the NEWS covering the SERBC conference and the anvil shooting controversy.
    June 1, 2001 @ 719,328  We have posted chapter 5 of Jim "Paw-Paw" Wilson's novel Revolutionary Blacksmith. The plans page now has its own header and menu and is listed on the dropdown menu. We also added a NEWs page about the virus going around and the following hoaxes.
    June 2, 2001 @ 721,675  Posted an addendum to the NEWs (24th Ed) with a letter from the SERBC president to the ABANA president.
    June 9, 2001 @ 732,432  Dona Meilach Extends dealine on new book, Fireplace Accessories to August 1. See NEWS for details

    Page Counter