Here’s the third blog post for the morning. It’s definitely the most exciting. We’ve just released the mostest coolestest feature of ShipIndex since starting the site. (OK, so that’s admittedly my personal opinion, but I think it’s also a fact.)

Effective immediately, anyone with an account (that is, anyone who has created a username – you don’t need to be a subscriber) can be notified whenever a ship page is updated with new information. So, if you’re particularly interested in a vessel named Unanimity, you can go to that page, click on the button near that top that reads “NOTIFY ME when this page is updated”, and then whenever new content is added, you’ll get an email telling you so!

If you’re a subscriber, you’ll see what resource the content is from. You can go to the page directly, and check out the new citation.

If you’re not a subscriber, you’ll be notified that new citations have been added. You may decide it’s finally time to take gain access to everything that’s available on the site. Or, perhaps you use ShipIndex.org through a subscription provided by your local public or academic library. Go to your ship’s page and locate the new citations, which are always marked by a “new” icon for 45 days from the addition of the resource.

You’ll get just one email containing updates for all the ships you’re tracking, not a separate email for each ship, or each citation. Emails are sent in batches, several times per week, reflecting all the data added since the last update.

When you’re done following a vessel, you can just go to the ship page, click on the button that reads “CANCEL NOTIFICATIONS for this ship”, and the emails will stop.

You need to be logged in, so that we can keep track of how to notify you when a page is updated. But, as mentioned above, you DON’T need to be a subscriber. Also, from your profile page, you can see all the vessels you’re tracking, and clear all your notifications, or go to each page and modify them individually.

I truly believe this is an enormous step forward in what we’re offering via ShipIndex.org. You no longer need to come to the site to check on updates regarding the ships that interest you; we’ll take care of that for you. Now, when new citations are added for the ships that matter to you, you’ll be the first to know.

Please try it out, and let us know what you think. Remember: you do need to have an account, but you don’t need to be a subscriber.

I hope you’re as excited about this as I am.