Summary

  • The new-look TTJ website is more interactive.
  • The site includes the full TTJ archive and links to our industry directory.
  • Timber Building’s new website is open access.
  • The site includes case studies, environmental articles and technical features from TRADA.

Two major developments have significantly strengthened TTJ’s online presence and service to readers, advertisers and the wider timber market place.

TTJ’s own website, www.ttjonline.com, has been completely redesigned and relaunched and its quarterly sister title Timber Building, covering the fast-developing wood-based construction market in the UK, now also has its own site at www.timber-building.com

The previous TTJ website first went live in 2002 and proved a great success with subscribers. Updated every day, the site also provided an easily accessible archive of all TTJ’s news and feature content, plus a direct link to the online version of the industry directory, the TTJ Address Book and Buyer’s Guide, which now includes more than 3,000 company entries and 5,000 product listings. It also provided subscribers with a weekly e-mail news bulletin, giving a bite-sized summary of the previous week’s breaking news, with direct links to the full stories on the site itself.

The new site, at the same address, features all the above and more. The site has a fresh new look, the layout is clearer and provides the facility for greater and better use of photos and other illustrations. It also has more facilities for readers to interact with the site, raise questions about particular stories and participate in online-reader polls.

The online TTJ Address Book and Buyer’s Guide has also been redesigned, making it more user-friendly for visitors searching for company or product details and enabling businesses with entries to add their logos and include further information about their products and services.

The ttjonline archive, comprising many thousands of news stories, market reports and feature articles, continues to be available on the new site and, by using the search function, readers can call up all the previous mentions of a particular business, topic, person, product or product category.

The site will also provide the weekly ttjonline e-mail newsletter, giving readers their rapid-read digest of the latest industry news every Monday morning.

“Our previous website worked well, but we decided it was time for an overhaul to reflect developments in the timber industry and the TTJ itself and to take advantage of latest advances in website systems and technology,” said TTJ editor Mike Jeffree.

The new Timber Building website has been developed in response to the growing number of subscribers and reader enquiries to what has become the leading magazine for the UK timber construction sector.

The new site, which is open access, is targeted at the timber trade and all those interested in the use of wood in the built environment, including architects, specifiers, housebuilders, local and central government specifiers and procurement officers, property developers and timber frame suppliers.

Timber Building magazine, which launched in 2005, already covers a wide range of the latest innovative timber-based projects across the UK and abroad. The website will provide background and technical details on many more of the latest developments and deliver more news more frequently.

Like the magazine, the website will also feature a whole host of other material. Environmental issues relating to the timber and timber construction sector will be a staple of the site, as will in-depth technical articles provided by Timber Building’s consultant TRADA and reports from the UK Timber Frame Association.

The website has a searchable archive of Timber Building’s back issues and links to the TTJ Address Book and Buyer’s Guide. It is also interactive, featuring polls on industry issues as well as providing details of upcoming events featuring timber and timber frame, such as The Wood Awards, the TTJ Awards, the Timber Zone at Interbuild and next year’s Ecobuild and Timber Show.

Website content will be updated on a weekly basis, while visitors can also sign up for regular e-mail alerts. There is also a subscription page for Timber Building magazine.

“The combination of the new TTJ site and the online version of Timber Building provides readers in the timber trade and related industries with a powerful new, up-to-the-minute information resource,” said Mr Jeffree. “It should also act as an effective shop window for the timber industry to key decision makers in their core markets.” n