WSE's new web site is the latest in a series of changes
The times, they are a changin' at the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE) first a new building, then a new trading system, and now a new and improved web site.
The WSE gave its web site (http://www.gpw.com.pl) a makeover in mid-July to keep pace with the constant changes taking place on the internet, said Leonard Furga, director of information and marketing at the WSE.
"It's more attractive from a graphics point of view because the graphics don't hinder speed as they did years ago," he said.
The redesigned site features a black background with a picture of the exchange's new Centrum Gieldowe office location on the home page along with a menu bar, a market calendar with moving messages and a chart tracking continuous trading. The web site contains the same content and English-language version, but in a new package, Furga said.
Most web site professionals welcomed the upgrade. "It's a good change, but I expected more," said Lukasz Kwiecien, editor in chief and director of electronic media at the business daily Parkiet Gazeta Gieldy. Kwiecien, whose paper also operates a financial portal (http://www.parkiet.com.pl), said that the site was more attractive than the old "static" one, which featured all its information in green lettering on a white background.
He added that the WSE should use the site to provide information about its new trading system, WARSET, which is scheduled to be completed by late September. "The sooner they provide information for users, individual investors and institutional investors, the better the situation will be in the future," Kwiecien said. "Knowledge of the new system is the key to its success. It's a modern but complicated system."
Andrzej Gutowiec, the director of the capital markets department at technology incubator Erada, which operates the Pilot Finansowy (http://www.pilot-f.pl) portal, said the WSE's site is user-friendly and makes it easy for visitors to obtain information from its database of financial institutions, legal regulations and organization of transactions. He added that to improve the site, the WSE web master should include a more descriptive technical analysis connected to comments and stock recommendations as well as set up a ticker system with quotes.
But not everyone agreed that the new web site is more user friendly or content attractive. Andrzej Siluszek, the editor of financial services at TP Internet's portal (http://www.portal.pl) said that the graphics on the stock exchange's web site seem "heavier" than the original site, which was more "aesthetic and nicer to look at." When he visited the site, he said he did not find detailed information about listed firms, such as financial results, key shareholders and corporate personnel, company announcements, commentaries and analyses.
Furga said the WSE has received mixed comments about the remodeled site, and that the negative comments are usually from users who "got used to the old design and now find that certain things are different."
The web site is a work in progress that will eventually offer new features, including a real-time stock index, a ticker for delayed stock quotations, a section for frequently asked questions and an educational quiz, Furga said.
