J. K. Rowling's Official Site is the official website of J. K. Rowling. Launched on 15 May, 2004, the site contained a large amount of information on the Harry Potter universe, as well as news and rumours, and an in-depth biography of Rowling herself.
The contents of the site, both its original version and the updated site, are considered as Canon by the The Harry Potter Compendium.
Updated 2012 website displayed in timeline view
In February 2012, Rowling announced the upcoming publication of a new novel, targeted at adults. In conjunction with this, the official website (which had not been updated to any great extent in at least two years), was taken down and replaced with a single-page announcement of the new book and a notice that the official site was being refreshed and redesigned and would be relaunched later in the Spring.
On 12 April 2012, the redesigned J. K. Rowling official website was opened. The new site is divided into three sections. The first contains information about Rowling herself, including a biography, news updates and an FAQs & Rumours section, which for the most repeats content found on the original version of the site. The second is a one-page announcement regarding Rowling's new book, The Casual Vacancy. The final section is about Harry Potter, and includes sections on Pottermore, the books and the films. The majority of the content is available through a "timeline" option that includes the same three sections and provides the option to toggle which are displayed. Due to extremely high traffic, access was erratic at first, with content often refusing to load and text-only pages displaying HTTP 500 errors. The site states that some of the Harry Potter content which has now been removed will be made available on Pottermore.
Sections - Previous version[]
Desktop of site's previous version
- Diary - This notebook is where Jo posts updates regarding her progress on Book 7 and her thoughts on writing the book.
- News - Set up as a newspaper, it is where JK makes announcements concerning her books, personal life, and more.
- Rumours! - Set up as a magazine, it is where JK clears up any and all rumours in this area.
- Rubbish Bin - This section is where Jo identifies news stories about her or her books that are "more-fiction-than-fact."
- F.A.Q.- JK's answers to popular questions that she has received.
- Fan Sites - JK features her favourite HP fan sites, one per year. So far these are the winners:
- Biography - An in-depth biography about herself.
- Extra Stuff - Assorted notes, things that were cut, extra details about characters, and "completely useless information" that isn't actually useless, such as gags like Gobb Lynn Security Specialists.
- Wizard of the Month Archive - A previously unknown witch or wizard is profiled each month.
- Links - Links to sites of interest to JK. These include publishers, charities, etc.
- Scrapbook - This is where all of your rewards are kept when you unlock the secrets of the site.
- Room of Requirement - The purpose of which remained a mystery until it was unlocked for the first time to reveal the official title of Book 6 (with a little riddle at first, of course) it also was used to house the W.O.M.B.A.T. test.
Peeves[]
Peeves not only causes trouble in Hogwarts, but he's also been up to some dirty work around Jo's desk, making appearances throughout the site. All of these visits from him require you to remain on the relevant page for a couple of minutes.