Basic information

What is EXPONET?

EXPONET – a virtual philatelic exhibition – is a place on the internet where presentations of philatelic material (exhibits) can be stored, exhibited, searched and viewed in electronic form. Alongside many competitive exhibits (prepared under the FIP rules), often highly awarded at competitive exhibitions, it hosts a number of other interesting displays that show and explain various areas of philately and everything related to it. It is a non-competitive exhibition whose aim is to promote philately and to offer visitors inspiration and instruction, as well as a place where they can present the results of their collecting and research.

Unlike traditional exhibitions, the exhibits are displayed permanently, without any risk of damage to the original documents, and are available to visitors from all over the world at home or on the move. EXPONET therefore contains both exhibits that exist today and exhibits created some time ago that no longer exist.

Basic functions of EXPONET

The site is designed for comfortable searching and viewing of exhibits with a choice of language (Czech, English and German; switch the language in the top bar). The home page offers the most recently added and the most visited exhibits; the whole collection is browsed in the catalogue.

The most important function is searching for exhibits according to the visitor's specialist interest, combining one to four basic criteria: territory, subject classification, time period and EXPONET exhibition class. Each criterion is further divided into up to three levels, so every visitor can gradually narrow down the selection. To find your way around faster, we recommend first getting acquainted with the structure of the criteria.

Territory – the territory the exhibit describes. The top level lists continents, the middle level individual countries or groups of countries, and the lowest level territorial or chronological subdivisions of the country chosen in the middle level. In areas with many exhibits the historical and political (and thus territorial and chronological) development is taken into account.

Subject classification – the basic division of exhibits by collecting fields in philately, covering postal history, postal products and thematic fields. It takes into account that some exhibits combine traditional and postal-history aspects, in some cases even with thematic ones.

Time period – the top level divides history into three periods defined by two milestones: the foundation of the UPU in 1874 and the end of the Second World War. These three periods are subdivided into shorter periods at the lower level.

EXPONET exhibition class – primarily based on the generally used division of exhibition classes at traditional exhibitions, but in a somewhat extended form. Not all exhibits on EXPONET are competitive and so need not meet the criteria of traditional exhibitions exactly; older competitive exhibits created years ago may not comply with the currently valid regulations either. Moreover, many competitive exhibits are known whose class was not entirely clear and differed from one exhibition to another. To avoid misinterpretation we use the term EXPONET exhibition class. At the top level the size of an exhibit is not considered important, so standard-size, one-frame and much larger exhibits are found side by side. Youth exhibits are not distinguished at the top level either; this is done at the second (lower) level.

Exhibits cannot always be classified simply and unambiguously into predefined categories, so they are often placed in several parallel categories that they fit to a greater or lesser degree. The aim was to give visitors access to exhibits from various points of view and, where possible, to offer also exhibits dealing with the topic only in part.

Searching for exhibits

In the catalogue you choose categories in the filter panel for all four criteria at once; the selection is reflected in the list of exhibits immediately. The search box above the list searches exhibit titles and exhibitor names; the results can be sorted by date added, popularity, title, registration number, country or exhibitor name. Separate listings offer the newest exhibits, the most visited exhibits and overviews by exhibitor's country, by exhibitor's name and by registration number. Clicking the exhibitor's name in the exhibit header shows all their exhibits. More tips can be found in the FAQ.

Viewing an exhibit

The exhibit page shows the basic data, the classification into categories and the thumbnails of the sheets of one exhibition frame; the navigation above the sheets moves between frames. Clicking a sheet opens it enlarged, where you can browse the neighbouring sheets of the same frame. Sheets are available in a width of up to 1280 pixels. See Viewing exhibits for details.

Some specific EXPONET terms

What is the EXPONET exhibition class?

The EXPONET exhibition class is based on the generally used division of exhibition classes at traditional exhibitions, but in a somewhat extended form. It takes into account that not all exhibits on EXPONET are competitive and so need not meet the criteria of traditional exhibitions exactly. We also see EXPONET as a suitable place for purpose-made exhibits intended to explain certain areas of philately or to promote it. The size of an exhibit is not bound by the FIP competition rules either, so you will find standard-size exhibits (5 or 8 frames of 16 sheets), one-frame exhibits and much larger ones.

What is the registration number of an exhibit?

The registration number identifies the exhibit. It is used mainly for administration, but an ordinary visitor can use it too when returning to the same exhibit – it allows quick lookup in the overview by registration number. Its value is shown in the header of the exhibit (e.g. EXP-01234). It is the same as in the old EXPONET.