DP Timeline

DP Official Documentation - General

2000-2005

2000

See the first post in this thread for a summary of the e-book creation process during the 1990s, and the beginnings of DP.

Apr	20th	Charles Franks posts to the Project Gutenberg volunteer discussion list. ("Request for comments: distributed proofreaders test site.") He describes (and links to) a system where "scanners" upload (multi-page) "work packages", which are checked out and downloaded by proofreaders, who work on them and upload the results.
Jul	25th	Charles posts again ("Re: experimental proof read: volunteers and suggestions wanted"), this time describing "a totally on-line system" that sounds very much like DP as we know it today. He says "I hope to have a beta/demo site available for this portion of the project available soon for review and comments."
Sep	1st	Supposedly, Charles (charlz) and Jim Tinsley (jim) register on the DP site. (Other evidence indicates that their user records were created July 24th and Sept 3rd, respectively.)
Oct	1st	DP goes public. Jim announces it on the PG volunteer discussion list.
Nov	22nd(?)	PG posts 1st book from DP. The Iliad of Homer (no forum thread) Records are fuzzy for this time period. Charlz stated in an update on the original site (Wayback Machine version here) that "One of our proofers, Ralph Zimmermann has made an html version of The Iliad of Homer translated by Andrew Lang which was the first e-text completed through this site. I have added an 'online' link to the completed works section that will take you to the html version."
Dec		Approximately 1950 pages were completed during the month. See this stats image for reference.

A description of the first few months and a list (and discussion) of early projects proofed at DP are given in this post.
See also remarks from Jim Tinsley (jim) in this post.

2001

Mar
Jun	4th	See this page for the appearance of DP around this time.
Oct	1st	Daily page goals begin to be set. (Inferred from stats images recovered from Wayback Machine.) See this stats image for reference.

To see the page statistics graphs for all of 2001, use this page.

2002

Nov	8th	First Slashdotting of DP. That day 4,000 new members joined, and over 15,000 pages were proofed (before that DP averaged less than 2,000 pages per day). See forum threads here and here for details.
	9th	First draft of the "Document Guidelines" (later the Proofreading Guidelines) produced by Aldarondo.
Dec	11th	Enhanced interface was introduced.

2003

Feb	1st	Beginners only projects were introduced. The first one was apparently The Glory of the Trenches.
	19th	PG posts 1,000th book from DP. Tales of St. Austin's (forum thread) - Project Manager/Post-Processor: slshell Records are fuzzy for this time period. Research indicates this title is the most likely candidate.
May	22nd	Michael Hart of PG appears on TechTV's "The ScreenSavers" and DP's URL is shown at bottom of screen. Announcement here at the Wayback Machine.
Jun		Implementation of release queues, following the discussion in this thread.
Jul	4th	Charlz posted his vision paper. Discussion occurred in separate threads for metadata, quality levels, PG infrastructure, workflow, and Whuffie.
	4th	Another Slashdotting; see this thread.
Aug	31st	Made the monthly goal through a major push during the final six hours. See this thread for details.
Sep	3rd	PG posts 2,000th book from DP. Hamlet — the 'Bad Quarto'. (as mentioned in this forum post). Project Manager/Post-Processor: Jon Ingram
Oct		Another large increase in volunteers during the middle of the month. This thread has some discussion of it.
	31st	DP's first Halloween bash, and the only time that the original Slashdot record (15,309 pages proofed in one day) was beaten in the old R* system. (forum post).
Nov	22nd	Jabber was first suggested in the forums as a medium for discussion.

2004

Jan		Distributed Proofreaders Europe goes online. (forum thread)
	14th	PG posts 3,000th book from DP. The Anatomy of Melancholy. Project Manager: dmoynihan, Post Processor: sesquipedalian (forum post)
	21st	The first project facilitators were announced in this thread.
Apr	6th	PG posts 4,000th book from DP. Aventures du capitaine Hatteras. Project Manager/Post-Processor: garweyne(forum thread)
Jun	4th	The Page Details, including diffs, first became available.
Aug	24th	PG posts 5,000th book from DP. A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature. (forum thread), and the subsequent Slashdotting as a result. Project Manager: JulietS, Post Processor: pourlean

2005

Feb	2nd	PG posts 6,000th book from DP. The Journal of Sir Walter Scott, v. I and The Journal of Sir Walter Scott, v. II. Project Manager: twinkle, Post Processor: susanskinner
Jun	1st	The Change, splitting proofreading and formatting into separate stages. Rounds R1,R2 are replaced by P1,P2,F1,F2. Announced here.
	23rd	PG posts 7,000th book from DP. Three non-English titles: Opúsculos por Alexandre Herculano (vol. I), Viage al Parnaso and Leabhráin an Irisleabhair-III.
Oct	25th	The P1.5 experiment began, sending some projects through P1 a second time; it continued through December. See this post and this thread for details.
Nov	3rd	A wiki is installed on www.pgdp.org. Announced here.

2006

Feb	8th	PG posts 8,000th book from DP. The Suppression of the African slave-trade to the United States of America, 1638-1870. Project Manager: slshell, Post Processor: claybits (forum thread)
Apr	21st	P2alt was introduced.
May	19th	Wiki goes live on www.pgdp.net. Announced here.
Jun	23rd	Addition of a third proofing round (P3). Announced here.
Sep	8th	PG posts 9,000th book from DP. "A Trinity of Literary Diversity:" History of the World War for Human Rights, Poems, (Author's Edition), and Hey Diddle Diddle and Baby Bunting. Project Manager: JulietS, Post Processor: macka

2007

Mar		WordCheck replaced Spell Check in the Proofreading Interface; the PM aspect was installed on March 2 and the proofer aspect on March 12.
	9th	PG posts 10,000th book from DP. See the DP 10K Collection for the set of projects posted at that time, and the 10K Challenge for DP's celebration of the event. The 10K Challenge wiki page documents the results of that challenge.
Sep	12th	PG posts 11,000th book from DP. NNGA Annual Report 1943. Project Manager: Fraser-Cunliffe, Post Processor: tenaj (forum thread)
	30th	The first DP Remembrance Day was observed, to honor DP volunteers who have passed away. (forum thread)

2008

Jan	26th	PG posts 12,000th book from DP. Zur Psychopathologie des Alltagslebens. Project Manager/Post-Processor: Frau Sma (forum post)
Jun	24th	PG posts 13,000th book from DP. A World of Girls. Project Manager/Post-Processor: rfrank (forum post)
Dec	1st	PG posts 14,000th book from DP. The Art of Stage Dancing. Project Manager: mikeyc21, Post Processor: LCantoni(forum post)

2009

Feb	19-22	The site was down for about 3 days following the replacement of a failed hard drive, due to a conflict with the new drive's firmware which caused filesystem corruption. Most damaged files were restored from backups, but more than 5,000 had to be replaced manually during the following months. (summary thread, corrupted file statistics, image replacements discussion)
May	12th	PG posts 15,000th book from DP. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society - Vol 1 - 1666. Project Manager: PM Phil Trans, Post Processor: Laverock(forum post)
Jun	11-25	First election for members of the DP Foundation Board. The plans for the election were announced here in March of 2009, and the election results were given here.
Sep	25th	The DP Foundation Board announced the appointment of Louise Davies as the new General Manager for DP, to take over from Juliet Sutherland.
Oct	1st	PG posts 16,000th book from DP. ABC Petits Contes. Project Manager/Post-Processor: Wile (forum post)

2010

Mar	4th	PG posts 17,000th book from DP. The Position of Woman in Primitive Society. Project Manager: Steven Gibbs Post Processor: Valoria (forum topic)
May	9-19	Elections for three new Board members (see candidate information), expanding the size of the Board from five to seven members.
Jun	15th	PG posts 18,000th book from DP. Area Handbook for Romania (1972). Project Manager: JulietS, Post Processor: Droopy (forum topic)
Oct	1st	DP celebrates 10th anniversary; DP blog, Hot off the Press, inaugurated.
Nov	9th	PG posts 19,000th book from DP. Vanden Vos Reinaerde Uitgegeven en Toegelicht. Project Manager: shabam Post Processor Clog (forum topic)
Dec	27th	DP reaches 100,000 total members.

2011

Apr	7th	DP celebrates 20,000 books posted to PG, with a collection of multiple-language books. (forum topic)
Aug	22nd	PG posts 21,000th book from DP. PM: Close@Hand PP/V: Josephine The Pros and Cons of Vivisection. (forum topic)
	27-29th	Hurricane/TS Irene makes its way up the US East Coast. The eye passes a few miles east of the DP server. (forum topic)

2012

Jan	2nd	PG posts 22,000th book from DP. PM: JulietS PP: Rory OConor The Nibelungenlied. (forum topic)
Jun	5th	PG posts 23,000th book from DP. PM: Quister PP/Ver: mdmcdaniel Crusoe's Island: Ramble in the Footsteps of Alexander Selkirk. (forum topic)
Oct	29-30th	"Superstorm" Sandy makes its way up and into the US East Coast. (forum topic)
	31st	PG posts 24,000th book from DP. Cours Familier de Littérature 14/28. PM: Mireille PP/Ver: Lostpaces (forum topic)

2013

Apr	10th	PG posts 25,000th book from DP. The Art and Practice of Silver Printing. Project Manager: jjz Post-Processor: jjz (forum topic)
Oct	1st	PG posts 26,000th book from DP. Comic Insects. (forum topic)

2014

Mar	1st	Scheduled OS upgrade on 'prod6' encounters problems and results in the decision to advance a scheduled hardware upgrade (intended for Summer 2014) to now.
	8th	DP returns with the upgraded hardware and OS. The new server hardware (donated by Tom Kowal) provides additional speed and redundancy, and is given the internal name 'prod7.'
	28th	PG posts 27,000th book from DP. (13 vol. set) Storia della decadenza e rovina dell'Impero Romano (v13) - Project Manager/Post Processor paganelli and PP Verifier babymag (forum topic) (Full List)
August	16th	PG posts 28,000th book from DP. The Mystery of Choice - Project Manager, grythumn, Post Processor, mirjam (forum topic)

2015

Jan	14th	PG posts 29,000th book from DP. Histoire de France - Project Manager, Mireille, Post-Processor, Lostpaces who post-processed 18 of the 19 volumes and Renald who post-processed Volume 3 (forum topic)
June	7th	PG posts 30,000th unique title from DP. The 30 titles up to and including 30,000 were celebrated (forum topic)
Sept	12th	Forums software upgraded to phpBB3. (forum post)
	17th	PG posts its 50,000th book which happens to be from DP. John Gutenberg, First Master Printer: His Acts and Most Remarkable Discourses and his Death (forum topic)
Oct	1st	15th DP Anniversary (forum topic)
Dec	27th	PG posts 31,000th book from DP. Colour in the Flower Garden - Project Manager sp1nd, Post processor throth (forum topic)

2016

May	28th	PG posts 32,000th book from DP. Tik-Tok of Oz - Project Manager De2164, Post processor Cosmas (forum topic)
Aug	15th	New Preview feature added to proofreading interface. Available for all rounds, it is primarily designed to aid formatters. (forum post)
November	28th	PG posts 33,000th book from DP. A Flower Wedding - Project Manager/Post-Processor Miller (forum topic)

2017

Mar	5th	Server moved to a new hosting facility in Pittsburgh, PA; OS Upgrade (forum post)
Apr	27th	Rolled out French Site Translation (forum post)
June	21st	Forums software upgraded to phpBB3.2; wiki software upgraded. (forum post)
July	5th	PG posts 34,000th book from DP. A Manual of the Art of Bookbinding - Project Manager Mebyon, Post Processor Halamus (forum topic)

2018

Jan.	26th	PG posts 35,000th book from DP. Shores of the Polar Sea, a Narrative of the Arctic Expedition of 1875-1876 - Project Manager ellinora, Post Processor thegaul (forum topic)
April	22	Operating System Upgrade to Ubuntu 16.04 (forum post)
September	7th	PG posts 36,000th book from DP. American Missionary - 1882.05 - Project Manager/Post Processor ArleneJoyce (forum topic)

2019

Apr.	16th	PG posts 37,000th book from DP. French Painting of the 19th Century in the National Gallery of Art - Project Manager/Post Processor hutcheson (forum topic)
July	13	Forum upgraded to phpBB 3.2.7 (forum post)
October	12	Production Server Memory Upgrade to 16Gb from 8Gb
Nov.	8th	PG posts 38,000th book from DP. The Birds of Australia.(vol. 3 of 7) - Project Manager Monicas wicked stepmother, Post Processor okrick (forum topic)

2020

Apr.	27th	PG posts 39,000th book from DP. Wilhelm Hauffs sämtliche Werke (6/6) - Project Manager/Post-Processor jpo (forum topic)
May	19	Site converted to Unicode (forum topic)
Oct	1st	20th DP Anniversary (forum topic)
Oct.	10th	PG posts 40,000th book from DP. London Labour and the London Poor - Project Manager/Post-Processor Henry Flower (forum topic)

2021

March	6th	PG posts 41,000th book from DP. Clara Barton's The story of my childood - Project Manager/Post-Processor okrick (forum topic)
March	9th	Upgraded our forum software to phpBB 3.3.3 and our PHP to 7.4
June	2nd	Upgraded our site to Ubuntu 20.04 and MySQL 8.0
August	3rd	PG posts 42,000th book from DP. P.G. Wodehouse's Carry On, Jeeves - Project Manager, gweeks, and Post-Processor, marym (forum topic)

2022

Feb.	1st	PG posts 43,000th book from DP. Die Sitten der Völker, Zweiter Band - Project Manager, Peter.Becker, and Post-Processor, salmonofdoubt (forum topic)
July	19th	PG posts 44,000th book from DP. The trial of Émile Zola - Project Manager, mannyack, Post-Processing Verifier, jjz, and Post-Processor, paracelsus8 (forum topic)

2023

Jan.	19th	PG posts 45,000th book from DP. Down The Mackenzie and up the Yukon in 1906 by Elihu Stewart - Project Manager, sonyaschermann, and Post-Processor, charliehoward (forum topic)

See also:

• In the beginning
• Story of DP
• Server history

To comment or request edits to this page, please contact lhamilton or wfarrell.

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