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Redesign preview: A rose by any other name…

Posted By Mike Orren in Square Pegs on October 22, 2009

We've been talking about a planned redesign of Pegasus News for some time - first reference I can find is from back in February. We're in the homestretch now, as Frontburner noted this morning, so I figured I'd go ahead and start previewing some of the good stuff we're working on -- lest we get scooped further on our own transmogrification.

But first, some backstory and explanation: Our original (and existing) design was put together in a hurried couple days with a designer as we were rushing to launch TexasGigs. Everything we've done since then has just been tacked on to that like a spoiler onto a Hyundai. So while the function of the site was really thoroughly thought out, the design never was -- meaning that it was our weakest suit, making many of our coolest features hard to find.

Then, when we were purchased by the digital arm of GAP Broadcasting at the end of last year, it quickly became clear that our longtime plan of moving beyond Dallas / Fort Worth would come to fruition and that we would start with markets where we have radio stations.

This spring, we started working on a redesign that we thought would be a really extensive paint job. But some of the great ideas that came out in the planning process turned out or require us cutting some new windows -- and damned if some those weren't load-bearing walls. That means we've had to take time to do a pretty thorough revamp on both sides of the hood. We've kept everything intact, while adding a lot of cool extras. I'll preview some of those here over the next few weeks leading up to the relaunch.

With the imminent addition of other cities, we had to face something that's been looming over us for a long time: Our name.

I've long said that the name Pegasus News is the biggest mistake I made in our early days. Why a mistake?

I consider it an indictment of our education system, but the vast majority of people cannot spell "Pegasus."

People always shorten it to "Pegasus," causing people to think our website is at Pegasus.com.

It doesn't exactly roll off the tongue

The "News" part is also problematic. While we certainly cover a fair amount of news, we're much stronger in and much more recognized for arts and entertainment coverage and our databases. It doesn't emphasize what we're best at.

I originally chose "Pegasus" because of its affiliation with Dallas. That doesn't make so much sense outside the area. And frankly, I don't encounter that many people who get the connection between Pegasus and Dallas as it is.

That last point meant that our new sites would certainly need a different name. And as I saw how different (and better) the redesign looked, I knew that this was our last chance to make a name shift on our original, flagship Dallas / Fort Worth site. At the tail end of a long planning meeting, I spoke up and told the group that I thought we should make the change. This brought a ginormous sigh of relief from the whole party, whom I'm sure had been drawing straws to see who would get stuck with the duty of trying to convince me to change the name of this site.

So, in a few weeks, you'll find the same Pegasus News with a new skin and a new name: WiredLocal.

We chose the name WiredLocal because we wanted something that would work equally well anywhere and that simply reinforced the way we try to connect you to your community. And because the domain name was available.

When you come to the site, if we know where you are, you can get right to business. If not, you'll pick your area once and we'll remember your preference.

For sentimental reasons, I'll find a way to keep the Pegasus name alive on the new site, most likely through the blog.

To clear up some confusion I saw in a Frontburner comment, as we add sites, they will all be distinct sites, not one big sprawling megalopolis. DFW.WiredLocal.com will be a totally different site from othercityname.WiredLocal.com.

Once we launch the redesign here, we'll be quickly launching in Shreveport / Bossier City; then in Tyler / Longview and then in other places to be named later. So if you have friends in those cities, tell them to look for us.

So, it's only appropriate that the first thing we preview is the logo, and the way we're using it on the new site(s). It is drivers-license inspired and will display both your username and avatar, in an attempt to reinforce the way we customize things via The Daily You:

Stay tuned-- more preview to come...

One funny side note: I appreciate Sarah B. being so cagey in keeping the name under wraps when talking to the Frontburner, but I'm truly shocked that it's gone this far without a leak. Our sales team has been talking this up for a couple months, and anyone who's gone to an event at the Eisemann Center could have guessed, as we have the name (and an earlier rendition of the logo) on the backs of all their tickets as part of a sponsorship deal. We thought we'd be live before the tickets came out, and my SNAFU on that has led us to be a little quieter on the marketing front while we pulled everything together. Expect some noise as we make the shift.

Staff
Verified User
Anonymous

To paraphrase what we asked as kids from the back seat of the car on long family outtings: "Are we rich yet?"

Congrats in advance for the next giant leap for manned flight into the future.

Rawlins Gilliland Verified

4 weeks, 1 day ago
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As someone who stands very little to gain or lose with the shift, gotta say I'll miss Pegasus News.

Granted, only reason it made sense to me is b/c when I was little my grandmother told me the flying red horse used to the highest point in Dallas and you could see it for miles. Would it sway things if I told you she's dying and would be heartbroken if you changed before her end of days?

A few retorts:

If you can't spell "pegasus" I'd rather you not be here to begin with.
Surely this will step on toes, but WiredLocal sounds like something an entry level marketing "whiz" coughed up while hungover and late for a meeting. Just being honest.
My life has gotten much busier since I first joined PN and I don't frequent nearly as much. Wonder how much stock was put into whether current users might bounce if the revamp isn't to our liking?

Not that I'd ever quit you, Miko. <3 Hopefully the new digs won't take much getting used to - sincerely hope it goes off without a hitch!

Scott Doyle Verified

4 weeks, 1 day ago
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Hey ScoDo, a couple answers:

You might not want people who can't spell Pegasus, but I'm not sure a business can be made out of an audience that only includes good spellers.
People of goodwill can (and will) disagree on the new name. I can assure you we could have done much worse. I, for one, like it,
As to considering how current users might leave if they don't like the redesign: Of course we did/do/will. In fact, many of you will remember a survey we did earlier this year about your likes and dislikes on the site. That survey went to two groups: People who use the site really regularly and people who signed up for accounts and then quickly disappeared. We started day one of the redesign process with that information, plus all the casual suggestions made in comments on the site over the last three years -- many of those from you, ScoDo. Of course there was no way to hit them all, but the most-cited ones drove most of the design process.

Mike Orren Staff

4 weeks, 1 day ago
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I'll miss the old name, too, and think the new one is a bit generic - but I suppose that's what you're going for.

I think a bigger concern is, aren't you worried about the similarity to Wired.com? Makes you sound like a subsidiary... I'd be worried about lawsuits.

Pavel Lishin Verified

4 weeks, 1 day ago
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Gonna miss this old friend called Pegasus News...Pegasus is/was much better than all the other local news/entertainment sites.

I hope the new site keeps me a fan....not too keen on the new name...sounds generic.

Jon Ostrowski Verified

4 weeks, 1 day ago
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Yeah, I have to chime in on the name...WiredLocal? It sounds like one of DMN's epic failures, IMO. I like the name Pegasus and the Dallas connection...always thought it gave the site the "local" feel that it well deserved.

Travis Bush Verified

4 weeks, 1 day ago
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seriously, with all the database technology behind this site, why don't you have multiple "skins" so those of us that like pegasus (and can spell) can keep coming here and the newbies can go to the generic site ?

toflorium Anonymous

4 weeks, 1 day ago
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Realize that this is a matter of faith for now, but I can assure you that the name is the only "generic" thing about the new site. Really, it's a case of meet the new site, same as the old site. On of the key factors we thought about in the new design is how to bring more of that voice and style and to communicate it quickly so more people would stay rather than bouncing.

As to multiple skins, that's harder than it sounds. And, part of the reason we've taken so long is because it's more than just a re-skin.

But to reiterate: Nothing taken away. Good things added. Hang in there.

Mike Orren Staff

4 weeks, 1 day ago
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Wow, this is huge. Phase 2 of hyperlocal world domination - engage!

ch0 Anonymous

4 weeks, 1 day ago
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Y'all changing on me this soon? :_( I don't like change!

Jesus Valadez Verified

4 weeks, 1 day ago
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Do I get my own soft serve ice cream machine?

Jason Rice Verified

4 weeks ago
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Yay! I hope this means all my incessant whining will finally pay off!

I am pretty alright with the new name, although it is considerably less unique. As far as domain names go – the more generic the better. It really sucks to find that you have named yourself into a limited corner as a site develops. Smart move for the long run, imo. I shudder to think of how many variation you had to go through to get that name.

When does the new site go live?

jtmbls Anonymous

4 weeks ago
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Do I get my own soft serve ice cream machine?

Implying you aren't a soft serve machine?

I don't mind the new name, just pointing out how generic it is - seems to be moving away from the down home touch a lot of people enjoy, methinks.

Scott Doyle Verified

4 weeks ago
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The new site is slated to go live by December 1, sooner if possible.

And while I agree the name (intentionally) sounds a bit more generic, we're working really hard to keep the down home touch, just in more eye-pleasing surroundings.

Also to clear up some confusion I've heard about accessing the site once we relaunch. The new domain is wiredlocal.com. If you're in DFW, that will automagically transmogrify into dfw.wiredlocal.com once we launch other sites. BUT virtually all pegasusnews.com urls will still work. So typing in pegasusnews.com or pegnews.com will still get you to the new site and most existing bookmarks will still work. Basically, all detail-level pages (stories, events, places, bands) should redirect automatically, as will most hub pages. The only old links that might break are where we've changed/moved hubpages, but we're going to try to catch all of those by hand.

Mike Orren Staff

4 weeks ago
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Any chance of a few of the comment counts getting "lost" in the shuffle? This could be an excellent opportunity to dethrone the Doyle from his #2 spot! Mwwaahaha!

jtmbls Anonymous

4 weeks ago
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Nope. We're playing it straight. Everything in profiles will stay intact and will (hopefully) be more usable.

Mike Orren Staff

4 weeks ago
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Change is always good. I'm glad Pegasus is changing their site to "keep up with the times" and to "rebrand" their company. I'm not sure how I feel about the name WiredLocal though because it does seem kind of generic. It seems like everyone is excited about the change and I fully support it. :) I hope I can still help with the site even if I'm not an intern anymore once the site is up and running. :)

Casandra Haynes Staff

3 weeks, 5 days ago
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All good... except that WiredLocal does sound like some kind of Wired.com spawn... I think "the peg" (as I will always affectionately refer to this site) is a great online "community". Even if some people whine a lot :-) Keep up the good work!

ps. re: links, there are still some texasgigs.com links lurking around here too...

Tracy Yost Verified

3 weeks, 3 days ago
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"Some people"

I don't even get my own category.
Ungrateful.

Jason Rice Verified

3 weeks, 3 days ago
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I thought you were categorized "soft serve machine" ??? ;-)

Tracy Yost Verified

3 weeks, 3 days ago
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Still, I deserve the enumeration, at least

Jason Rice Verified

3 weeks, 3 days ago
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Yes, Tracy, texasgigs links live on. One of the benefits of our system is that URL structures are automagical and easily preserved so we don't have to go back and hand code every single link.

Also, in case y'all missed, part 2 in this series is here:

http://www.pegasusnews.com/blogs/pega...

Part 3 coming soon...

Mike Orren Staff

3 weeks, 3 days ago
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yeh I figured as much and I only noticed it because the company I work for during the day protects me from dangerous web domains, which includes texasgigs.com but not pegasusnews.com :-)
(and I'm going to be really pissed if dfw.wiredlocal.com turns out to be dangerous)