PenBookmarks Update History - Updated 3/13/05

New Format: More Categories- 10/20/04
We've been working on ways to make the site more friendly and decided to break up the categories into more bite size pieces instead of lumping them together. We hope you find the new format helpful.

New Category: Promotional Pen Manufacturers- 9/12/04
After many inquiries, we have decided to add a category under Pen Manufacturers for promotional pen manufacturers.

Champion Link Finder: Mark Bacas - 7/21/04
Many, many thanks to Mark Bacas, who is on a crusade to find all the broken links on the site. Mark has already found several dozen corrections.

Shortest Lived Site Award - 7/21/04
We placed Loring Web Pages, a site about dip and presidential pens with articles on July 5. On July 20, it was reported down. A nanosecond of internet time. We hope John Loring revives the site, as it was interesting to visit.

The Dilemma Of Classifications - 7/5/04
How do you classify a site like Pentrix? There's really no place on the list a site devoted to spinning pens on your fingers like a baton best fits. We decided to place it in the Pen Books and Collector Information Sites, as the site is certainly "informational." Several times a year we get one that stumps us. This one was the July challenge. We hesitate creating an "other" list for fear that it becomes the oddball section, and Pentrix is definitely a cool site. Don't recommend you try to twirl your Montblanc 149, though.

Pen Making Products Section Added - 7/5/04
Likewise, sites that sell pen making products are cropping up. These aren't repair parts, but these supplies fit best with them, so we modified that section to Pen Repair and Pen Making Supplies.

Pen Books Section Added - 5/20/04
A new section, Pen Books, can be found in the renamed Pen Books and Collector Information Sites. This section will get populated with author sites, sites devoted to pen books, and dealers in pen books.

Pen Magazines Section Updated - 5/20/04
Pen magazines should be easier to find in the renamed Pen Magazines, News, and Articles.

Pen Makers and Distributors Updated - 5/20/04
The pen makers section is renamed, Pen Manufacturers, Custom Pens, and Distributors, to better reflect the content.

Goodbye To The Full Listing - 3/2/04
Managing the Full Listing page with all the other pages has become a chore. I know that many people go straight to that page as an overall reference, but it's become too large and unwieldy, a lot of extra work to coordinate with the other pages, which have been growing and growing. So, goodbye to the Full Listing page, the genesis for the PenBookmarks site.

New Look! - 11/16/03
We've adjusted the font size and fine tuned some of the formatting for easier surfing. Tell us what you think!

A Request To Pen Website Owners - 10/18/03
If you have a pen website, PenHero.com's PenBookmarks is probably driving traffic to your website as pen collectors click through to get to you. PenHero's PenBookmarks is completely free, takes no advertising, and sees 275,000 hits per month. If you are getting this benefit, would you be so kind as to reciprocate a link to this site? Instructions on linking to this site, with suggested graphics can be found by clicking here. Thanks!

Please Review Your Site's Listing - 10/18/03
With over 800 sites listed in PenBookmarks, it's time to ask those of you who have sites listed here to review your link and send in any updates. Please use the email link below:

800 Link Barrier Broken! - 7/11/03
Onward to 1,000 links!

New Sections! - 6/7/03
The Pen Information And Collector Links section has been broken up into three sections to make it a bit more useful and focused. All pen news and article links are in a new section, Pen News And Articles, the links to information oriented and collector sites is now Pen Collector And Information Sites, and Pen Clubs And Shows was created to make them easier to find.

Should Imprint Pen Makers And Sellers Be Listed? - 4/22/03
We occasionally get requests from imprint pen makers and sellers to add their sites to the list. For the most part these are declined as most do not sell fountain pens nor sell individual pens. Since this comes up frequently enough, we've posted a poll and will let you decide. If so, a new category will be created for these sites:

700 Link Barrier Broken! - 1/13/03

Free Pen Contest: Congratulations To Mike Cameron! - 1/3/03
Thanks to everyone for their submissions to the PenBookmarks Free Pen Contest! We have enough new links to break the 700 site barrier. The update will be posted this weekend. Mike gets to choose between two pens: a restored Sheaffer Craftsman Touchdown pen or a resacced Esterbrook Copper J! Mike won his choice of a Sheaffer Craftsman Touchdown or Esterbrook Copper J.

New Logo - 7/23/02
The logo has been updated! The new logo is cleaner and has a better photograph of the pen nib in it. The new logo also reflects a shortened version of the subsite name "PenBookmarks", which I think is easier to say and post to links sites. For those who want to know, the nib is a Parker Sonnet Cisele. The PenHero logo has also been updated, and may get another update soon.

FAQ Updated - 6/20/02
A number of changes have been made, so the site FAQ has beed updated to address them.

Update History - 6/1/02
In order to cut down the size of the front page, all the update history posted here that's past its expiration date is on a new page: Update History.

Search Engine - Please Keep the Feedback Coming - 4/16/02
The search engine used on the site is from Atomz. Please continue to give your feedback on how you like it. It indexes the entire PenHero site. NOTE: This survey takes you off-site. To return, hit the back button.

New Format - 4/15/02
In order to keep my sanity on managing what is rapidly becoming 100+ page website, I'm fitting the PenBookmarks pages into the general look and feel of the rest of the PenHero site. This saves me a headache when I'm updating and will position me for the eventual shift to a better webtool that will handle frames. You'll notice the menubar on the left of the page is the main change. You'll also notice that the "Pens for Sale" link is absent. My intent is for the PenBookmarks section to stand on its own and to remain "commercial free".

You Voted: Should email-only Links Be Included? YES! - 3/22/02
Email links to repair people and contacts for some pen shows that do not have web pages have been added. They are marked EMAIL in the link. You can review the vote on this addition below. Thanks for voting and expressing your opinion on improving the site! NOTE: This survey takes you off-site. To return, hit the back button.

New Sub-Category - 3/10/02
Added "Pen Buyer Sites" as a new sub-category to Pen Dealers - Vintage and Auction Houses.

Category Changes - You Voted YES! - 2/2/02
There are now two categories from the old "Pen Dealers and Auction Houses - New and Vintage" - Pen Dealers - New and Liquidators addressing sources for new pens and Pen Dealers - Vintage and Auction Houses addressing sources for vintage pens. The survey did not generate a lot of votes, but it was heavily in favor of the split. NOTE: This survey takes you off-site. To return, hit the back button.

New Sub-Category - 1/26/02
Added "Pen Shows" as a new sub-category to Pen Information and Collector Links.

New Sub-Category - 1/1/02
Added "Liquidators" as a new sub-category to Pen Dealers - Vintage and Auction Houses.

Renamed Sub-Category - 1/1/02
Changed sub-category "Pen Manufacturers" to "Pen Manufacturers and Distributors" under Pen Makers to clarify that many maker sites are in fact their distributor sites.

New Formatting - 12/16/01 - You asked for it. Thanks for your input!
The PenBookmarks site has been reformatted to make it easier to navigate and to make load times faster. These changes were made in response to your inputs. For those who wanted to keep the old one-page format, you can click the link above "Full Length Listing" to get it. As long as it is practical, I'll maintain that format.