Periodica
How this place works
Periodica is a period care marketplace in Canada. Right now the Reading Room is open and the shop is being built. Here is what each part of the site is for, in a line or two each.
Finding your way
The menu at the top has five parts: Shop, The Reading Room, Quiet Corner, Request and About. Each one opens a short list of what is inside. On a phone, tap "Menu" to open it. To search the site, use the Search link beside the Comfort control at the top of the page (inside the Menu on a phone), or the search box in the Reading Room's front hall. At the bottom of every page, the footer has links to every part of the site, our policies and a land acknowledgment.
Each part of the site has its own colour and wallpaper. The coloured band under the menu names the part you are in, so you can tell where you are even if colours are hard to tell apart or Calm layout is on.
| Part of the site | Colour | Wallpaper |
|---|---|---|
| Home | Buttermilk (pale yellow) | Wide stripes |
| The Reading Room | Periwinkle (soft blue) | Arched windows with lamps |
| The Quiet Corner | Sage (soft green) | Small arches |
| The Shop | Blush (light pink) | Checkerboard |
| The Request Desk | Seafoam (pale green-blue) | Wide stripes |
| Partner with us | Coral (orange-pink) | Checkerboard |
| This guide, About, Contact and Accessibility | Dusty rose (muted pink) | Tall arches, daytime, on off-white |
The Reading Room
Articles and guides about periods and period products. Every product explained, nothing ranked. Start at the Reading Room's front hall, or see every article in one list. The front hall has a search box, shelves by subject and reading lists for particular readers. The articles are general information, not medical advice.
Go to the Reading Room · See all articles · Search the articles
At a glance
Every article opens with a small box called "At a glance", just under the title. Tap it to see who the article is for, how long it takes to read, what's on the page and three key points. With Calm layout on, it opens by itself.
Reading comfort
The Reading comfort control is marked "Comfort". On a computer it sits at the top of every page, above the Periodica name. On a phone it is inside the Menu. It changes how the site looks for you.
- Calm layout
- Plain background, no patterns or frames, no movement, plain labels. The coloured band under the menu stays, so you still know where you are.
- Stop animations
- Nothing moves unless you press it.
- Higher contrast
- Darker text, solid backgrounds, visible borders.
- Text size
- Four sizes, from Standard to Extra large. At the larger sizes, boxes stack in one column.
- Dyslexia-friendly text
- Changes the font to Atkinson Hyperlegible and adds space between letters, words and lines; no italics.
- Reading ruler
- A soft band that follows your line as you read.
- Reset to the standard view
- Turns every option off and clears your saved choices.
Your Reading comfort choices are saved only in this browser, so they are there on your next visit.
The Quiet Corner
A page for a short break. Choose one thing from the menu at the top. Nothing here asks you to sign up.
- The Lamp
- A breathing guide. Follow the lamp as it brightens and dims; you choose the pace and how long, and you can stop whenever you like.
- A little fact
- One surprising fact from our articles at a time.
- Postcard puzzle
- Piece a picture postcard back together. You can show the whole picture at any time.
- Read it to me
- Your device reads a little fact aloud, with a voice built into your phone or computer.
- Sit a while
- A calm picture to look at.
- Stay and read
- Read any article without leaving the Quiet Corner.
- Mirror drawing
- Draw or stamp, and your drawing is mirrored. Save it as a picture if you like; it stays on your device.
- Room sound
- Soft background sound, like rain or a fireplace, made by your browser. It stays off until you turn it on.
- Mantel clock
- A gentle timer for a 3-, 20- or 45-minute break.
- A line to take with you
- A kind sentence from the Editor's letter, which you can save as a card.
- Kind notes
- Read or write a short, kind note.
The Shop
The part of the site where you will be able to buy period care products. It is under construction, and nothing is for sale yet. The Shop page lists the six kinds of product we plan to stock: period pads and liners, tampons, cups, discs, period underwear and reusable period pads. Each one has a link to read about it and a link to request it. On the homepage and on the Shop page, there is a door you can open to look inside. To hear when the shop opens, get the newsletter.
About the shop · Get the newsletter
The newsletter
One email a month, with new articles and news from the shop, including when it opens. After you sign up, we send you an email to confirm. Some sign-up forms have tick boxes for the products you would like to hear about; they are optional, and none is ticked in advance. You can unsubscribe at any time with the link in every email.
The Request Desk
Tell the Editor what you'd like from Periodica. Choose one of seven kinds of request: a product you'd like us to sell, a brand or vendor we should work with, a topic or question for the Reading Room, an idea for the Quiet Corner, how we could be more inclusive, a community initiative or event, or something else. It is one short form. Your email is optional: leave it only if you'd like a reply. There is a tick box for the newsletter, never ticked in advance. Please leave out health details and anything personal, yours or anyone's.
Partner with us
For brands and makers who would like to sell through Periodica. It sets out what we plan to sell, what we look for and how to get in touch.
Accessibility
How we are working to make the site work for everyone, what may not work well yet, and how to tell us when something gets in your way.
Still not sure? Write to the Editor · Back to the homepage