ABBA On The Web - March 2002
Of all the unofficial ABBA fan sites on the Internet, this issue’s featured website would have to be one of the most professional looking of them all. It’s ABBA Plaza, and the webmaster is Robert Verbeek from The Netherlands.
Upon entering the site the visitor is greeted by the four faces of ABBA from the artwork for ABBA – The Album and ABBA – The Movie, which Robert describes as “clean and minimal. Only elements that contribute something are there … Who needs more?” And indeed, that’s true - from here, all the major sections of the site can be reached, and there’s also a selection of regularly rotated “quick links” at the bottom of the screen to access particular highlights of the site.
Alternately, you can click on the faces of ABBA to enter the main menu page. Here, the links to each section are listed on the left, and by moving the mouse over each of them a drop down menu lists the various other pages within each section. It’s extremely easy to navigate around ABBA Plaza.
ABBA Plaza is a major Internet resource, with many sections of interest to ABBA fans:
- Lyrics to every ABBA song, including who sang which particular parts of each song – very handy for those of us having trouble distinguishing between the member’s voices. You can search for a particular lyric of just browse by a number of categories, such as alphabetically or by the style of song, among others. Very handy indeed!
- Descriptions of all of ABBA’s promotional video clips and songs included on officially released videos.
- Details about the ABBA stamp released by the Swedish post office in 1983.
- Information about the ABBA dolls, including several outfits that were available separately.
- There’s even the story of the Formula One racing car that ABBA sponsored in the early Eighties – something that not many fans know about.
Something special and unique about ABBA Plaza is that Robert also shares a more personal insight into his own ABBA fandom, with the site featuring many rare and interesting items from his collection, stories of his encounters with the ABBA members, and ABBA autographs that he’s been lucky enough to collect over the years. If you’re interested in other fans, you can also learn a bit about Robert himself.
Also to be found in ABBA Plaza are downloadable items such as screensavers and wallpaper to customise your own computer’s desktop, and you can even download “the ABBA font” if you like, so that you can recreate the ABBA look.
You can even personalise your experience through my plaza, and be kept up-to-date with the latest changes. Another unique feature of Robert’s site.
One section that I particularly like (and visit often) is the e-fun section, including a weekly poll, e-cards to send to friends, a slide show of random images (of ABBA, of course!) and a quiz to test your knowledge of ABBA’s song lyrics – very e-fun indeed!
There’s much more to be found by searching around the site - these are just the highlights. One cute touch is the use of appropriate ABBA song lyrics on most pages - see if you can spot them all!
ABBA Plaza has been on the Internet since 1997, when it was first known as ABBA – The Site (before the official site came on-line with that title), which was very basic compared to what the site contains today. Many of that original site’s original features are still present in ABBA Plaza, which has had just two major upgrades since coming on-line.
Robert says that he usually spends around two hours per week maintaining and updating the site, mostly thinking of new questions for the weekly poll and changing the quick links, and the site also requires regular behind-the-scenes maintenance. Though sometimes, when he gets a new idea, he’ll spend up to 20 hours a week on it. That’s dedication!
Robert tells me that his job is to build and develop websites, so looking after ABBA Plaza is an enjoyable way to build on his skills. He’s even working on ways of improving the site and more features as you read this. And he tells me that the most popular sections of the site are the downloads and the lyrics.
So, if you’re looking for a quality ABBA fan site, look no further than ABBA Plaza. I highly recommend it.
