The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) has upgraded its internet infrastructure to improve access to online information and meet demand for its services.
RHS membership had grown by 80 per cent in the past decade and online services, including information, plant search facilities, shopping and ticket booking, are blooming.
Internet consultancy cScape is advising the charity on the redevelopment of its online resources, the migration of its site’s content to Microsoft Content Management Server and the implementation of powerful search facilities.
‘Last year the site received 6.5 million hits,’ said Caroline Houlden, web producers of RHS online. ‘The 6,000 pages on the site have been content managed by a small team. The upgrade will free them from day-to-day manual updating tasks.’
Houlden says that the team can now divert their energies towards innovation. ‘We can develop more video clips and podcasts of gardening tips so gardeners can take their iPods into the garden’, she said.
The RHS aims to create a member’s portal in the longer term and provide better information to partners.
‘With XML support, there is endless scope for sharing gardening information,’ said Houlden.
Lisa Kelly