Beta

BUILT IN THE OPEN

A guide that keeps
getting better.

CastleScotland grows one visit,photograph and careful improvement at a time. This is the story of the changes visitors can actually see and use.

THE JOURNEY SO FAR↓
CURRENT RELEASE13Version

THE JOURNEY SO FAR

Small refinements. Meaningful progress.

Each release brings the atlas closer to a clear,reliable and enjoyable companion for exploring Scotland’s castles.
CURRENT RELEASE13

A lighter,more dependable guide

Detailed history is easier to reach,while the map and older installations load more reliably.

  • Every English and Polish castle guide now offers a separate,expandable verified historical record.
  • Newer research sources are merged with the core bibliography instead of replacing one another.
  • The Scotland map keeps its coastline and island coverage with substantially less data to download.
  • Added recovery for an obsolete service worker and standard browser and home-screen icons.
Version12

A clearer,more consistent atlas

Search,galleries and the story of the project now work together more naturally.

  • Homepage search now uses the complete castle catalogue,with thumbnails,result counts and a clear reset action.
  • Castle names are ranked ahead of matching regions,so the place you meant appears first.
  • Gallery placement is now consistent across every castle story,including Armadale and Urquhart.
  • This public release journal is now available from the footer.
Version11

The castle comes first

Search results now understand that a castle name matters more than a matching region.

  • Exact and close castle-name matches receive priority.
  • Searching for Edinburgh shows Edinburgh Castle before places merely located around Edinburgh.
Version10

Search with useful filters

Finding the right place became faster and more visual.

  • Added photographs to search results.
  • Added filters for region,admission and price,condition and manager.
  • Added a live result count and a clear-all control.
  • Castle and family filters remain planned for a later release.
Version09

One practical panel everywhere

The visit-planning panel now follows the same visual system across castle guides.

  • Unified status,address and recommended visit time.
  • Standardised practical cards and action links.
  • Improved consistency between desktop and mobile layouts.
Version08

A shared layout for every castle

The tiled guide design expanded beyond Edinburgh Castle.

  • Rolled out the practical tiled layout across castle stories.
  • Created a clearer rhythm between history,visit information and photography.
  • Kept individual castle content while making navigation familiar.
Version07

A smoother Edinburgh story

Edinburgh Castle became the model for a more comfortable long-form guide.

  • Moved the gallery into the story to break up a long wall of text.
  • Removed duplicated opening,travel and location details.
  • Corrected section numbering and gallery heading wrapping.
  • Fixed the Collections menu disappearing before it could be selected.
Version06

Edinburgh in tiles

Practical details became easier to scan before a visit.

  • Introduced a tiled information panel for Edinburgh Castle.
  • Improved the hierarchy of tickets,hours,location and travel actions.
  • Refined spacing for touch screens and smaller displays.
Version05

Practical details,redesigned

A new premium visit panel was introduced on selected castle guides.

  • Brought the most useful planning information together.
  • Added clearer status and time guidance.
  • Created the visual foundation used by later castle pages.
Version04

A new first impression

The homepage received a stronger editorial opening.

  • Introduced the ‘Explore Scottish castles beyond the guidebook’ message.
  • Improved the balance between the opening text and original castle photography.
  • Made the first route into the atlas easier to understand.
Version03

Polish that stays out of the way

Many small interface changes made the site calmer and easier to use.

  • Updated the appearance-mode icon so its purpose is clearer.
  • Retained six colour palettes and remembered each visitor’s light,dark and colour choices.
  • Applied the chosen appearance before the page paints,reducing colour flashes while loading.
  • Improved the mobile menu,keyboard navigation and search and gallery dialogs.
  • Added swipe and keyboard gallery controls,plus fullscreen map controls and a mobile map sheet.
Version02

Cleaner language,more dependable detail

Editorial and translation work improved trust across the guide.

  • Corrected punctuation,spacing and stray English text in translated pages.
  • Improved translated addresses,manager names and information pages.
  • Protected reviewed translations from accidental replacement.
  • Corrected inaccurate manager information on selected castle pages.
Version01

The new CastleScotland foundation

The modern atlas brought the project’s main visitor tools into one coherent experience.

  • Introduced the refreshed navigation,Collections,castle map and PWA entry points.
  • Brought castle stories,original photography and practical advice into one design system.
  • Added responsive layouts for phones,tablets and larger screens.
  • Created the foundation for the growing multilingual guide.

BUILT IN THE OPEN

The work continues.

New castles,original photography and practical improvements will keep joining the atlas. Every release is another step towards a guide worthy of the places it documents.
Return to the atlas→

Explore Scotland

Find Scottish castles by region, landscape or the stories that bring them to life.