The WPA website (http://www.wpanet.org) has been thoroughly re‐designed with state‐of‐the‐art features and has gone live since October 2015. The website is based on a responsive design, which means that the dimensions of its pages now get automatically modified so as to make them properly fit the screens of various devices such as smart phones and tablets.
Media gallery on the website showcases latest photos, videos and audios. Photo gallery shows photos of international conferences and other events. The section on videos and audios contains videos of the speeches of WPA President and other officials as well as various educational videos. The homepage showcases announcements and updates on World Congresses and other WPA conferences in the near future. Latest updates regarding WPA are also given.
The homepage prominently displays the latest news from WPA Member Societies, Scientific Sections, Zonal Representatives and Affiliated Associations, along with the WPA Action Plan1, the latest issue of the WPA official journal World Psychiatry and of the WPA Newsletter, along with all the past issues. The e‐learning section, available for all registered users, includes various educational videos and other materials of clinically relevance.
A specially designed login for WPA Executive Committee members has been introduced in the website, where details of agendas of various meetings are available. A group talk feature is available, where all WPA Executive Committee members can join together for discussions.
The educational section of the website contains details about educational resources, essentials of the WPA international guidelines for diagnostic assessment, along with a public educational gallery which includes several articles on common mental disorders. The website also provides information on how to join a WPA Scientific Section, details on the various Sections, and a list of office bearers. The website is linked with social media such as Twitter, Facebook and the WPA YouTube channel.
World Psychiatry, the WPA official journal, is frequently visited on our website. The new impact factor of the journal is 26.561, consolidating its position as no. 1 among psychiatric journals worldwide. The journal is also now no. 1 in the overall Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI) category. Back issues from 2002, along with translations in several languages, are available for free download.
Several recent WPA documents are available on the website, which include WPA position statements on good psychiatric practice, substance use disorders, safeguarding children, roles and responsibilities of the psychiatrist in the 21st century, mental health and well‐being of psychiatrists, cultural competency in mental health care, rights of children and adults with intellectual disability, mental health in the workplace, e‐mental health, and homelessness and mental health.
The site's relevance and the popularity of its contents are documented by the fact that it has constantly remained on the high Google page rank of 6. This is an algorithm used by Google that measures how many links point to a website or page, and more importantly the quality or importance of the sites that provide those links.
The performance report of our website for the year 2017 bears testimony to its increasing influence. There has been a total of 121,776 visitors, with 87,866 new and 15,204 returning. Users visited the site from 205 different countries and from 8,003 different cities around the world. Maximum users (33%) were in the 25‐34 years age group.
In the future, the launch of WPA mobile apps for Android and iOS versions may become necessary. We are planning to finalize the designs of the apps and their scope. There is also provision for live streaming using the WPA YouTube channel with a link on our website. The live streaming of the various meetings and congresses can thus reach much larger audiences. Further plans involve more aggressive search engine optimization (SEO), to increase the site publicity and reach, which will make the website come on top on Google page results.
As the Editor of the website, the WPA Secretary General works with the guidance and support of the WPA Executive Committee, Board, Council and all other WPA components2, 3, 4. Our collaborative work will undoubtedly make the WPA website an instrument to usher in progressive changes in psychiatry and mental health.
Roy Abraham Kallivayalil WPA Secretary General
References
- 1. Herrman H. World Psychiatry 2017;16:329‐30. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 2. Kallivayalil RA. World Psychiatry 2015;14:374‐5. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 3. Kallivayalil RA. World Psychiatry 2017;16:114. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 4. Kallivayalil RA. World Psychiatry 2017;16:330‐1. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]