History+of+Spaces

=Harry Potter and MuggleNet=

The parent site of the fan fiction section began as a means to occupy a bored homeschooled 12-year-old. Emerson Spartz began an experiement in 1999 to share his excitement concerning [|J.K. Rowling's] books and her boy wizard hero. More and more fans of all ages began flocking to the space and additional people signed on to help Emerson add to the growing canon and to enlarge it to include various sections, polls, quizzes, etc. for members to enjoy. Five years later, Mugglenet had won the JK Rowling fan site award and had greatly impressed the author herself: //It's high time I paid homage to the mighty MuggleNet. Where to start? I love the design, (I currently favour the 'Dementor' layout), the polls (I actually voted in the 'Who's the Half-Blood Prince?' one), the pretty-much-exhaustive information on all books and films, the wonderful editorials (more insight there than in several companion volumes I shall not name), 101 Ways to Annoy Lord Voldemort (made me laugh aloud), the Wall of Shame (nearly as funny as some of the stuff I get)… pretty much everything. Webmaster Emerson, Eric, Jamie, Damon, Ben, Matthew, Rachel, Jaymz and Sharon, I salute you.//



Today the site staff boasts seven senior management members, with Spartz as the webmaster, ten staffers, and three editorialists. The fanfic group has 25 editors itself - not crossovers from the parent site that perform different duties for the daily happenings of cyberspace fiction. There are also five international translators that make the site more accessible for Potter fans around the world. Much like the fanfic area, the Mugglenet editors are mostly older teens and young adults from across North America and around the world. And please don't think that only the online communities are aware of the influence and affinity of Mugglenet. Newspapers, magazines, TV broadcasts, and other groups have been noticing the buzz as well. Dozens of [|media releases] directly connected to this site have been published in its decade on the web. And while all the current Harry Potter books have been published (so says Rowling, for now), and filming for the seven-movie saga will come to a close later next year, fans continue to flcok to this site as the panultimate place for Potter info. A few facts about MuggleNet
 * Visitors in 2005: Over 27 million
 * Viewed by fans in: 183 countries
 * Average time spent on the site: 13 minutes, 37 seconds

Incarnations of the site throughout the years: