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I am proud to debut our new-look PWTorch.com. This has been a long-time in the making and a lot of hard work on many people's part for everything to come together in time for our 20th Anniversary month. (The first issue of PWTorch Newsletter was published the first week of October 1987.)
Since our six-week long intense coverage of the Chris Benoit Family Tragedy wound down, we embarked on a complete makeover inside and out of PWTorch.com. This included a major server upgrade in August, software upgrades to various aspects of the site behind the scenes that required a lot of surprises around each corner to make work (especially on the VIP-site side of things with a new member's password program and our massive archives that all needed to be made compatible with the new site), a complete site redesign including new templates being professionally designed from pencil sketches I drew for the layout placement, working with our graphic artist on a redesigned logo and rollover buttons, commissioning artists to create new art for the site (such as Samoa Joe in the Spotlight Box right now), and then launching the new site today. There will be some tweaks in the coming week here and there (such as re-adding the "visited link" color which is missing right now), but its largely done and certainly ready to "go live" with.
Our new software behind the scenes allows us to do more and do things we've always done more quickly. Getting to this point frees up a lot of my time, as I have been spending a lot of time lately investing in this massive make-over (the majority of which went into the VIP site, which has so much more archived content, audio and newsletter templates, and other bells and whistles).
One thing I like best about the site is the new Spotlight Article box. I anticipate this changing about once per day, sometimes more often. We have also added the BREAKING NEWS ALERTS box which allows you to quickly ascertain what major stories we've covered in recent days without having to sift through the entire MAIN LISTING of articles to find them. My goal was to make visiting PWTorch.com more pleasant and more efficient. You can now immediately see our feature story (which will include things such as my TV reports, which are returning to the free version of PWTorch.com with this relaunch, my PPV reports, special features, noteworthy flashbacks, PPV previews, and other special feature articles which will be more common here at PWTorch.com in coming weeks). Then you can catch up on the latest BREAKING NEWS ALERTS. And then from there, relax and scroll down into the MAIN LISTING to see what the latest articles are from Staff Takes, Specialists Features, TV reporters, Reader Reax, Blogs, and various other news and commentary features.
We're eliminated the splash page entirely, saving you a step in the process. We've created a wider-base layout that is standard among most all newer sites (including, for instance, CNN.com, ABCNews.com, etc.) now that screens are larger for almost everyone compared to five years ago. We've structured the layout so everything fits like a glove. You'll noticed among the expanded real estate we have on the right of the page among our sponsor ads is the SEARCH BOX, a new UPCOMING EVENTS listing box, and a PWTORCH POLL. You'll also notice with the new wider base and smaller logo and buttons that more links appear above the scroll, again making visiting PWTorch a more pleasant, efficient experience.
Image of New-Look PWTorch VIP Site (click for Four Free Days Offer)
I have taken thousands of pictures over the years dating back to the late-1980s through this year. I have spent a lot of time in recent weeks scanning, cropping, and formatting them to fit our new website layout, so we will be utilizing more pictures in articles in the future to add to the overall appearance of the site. We will also be incorporating more original art into the site. I'm excited to add Grant Gould to the PWTorch team of art contributors along with Joe Borzotta and Neal Obermeyer. We'll be adding one or two more artists to the mix in the next week or two, also. The original art will add a punch to the pages and give PWTorch a signature style that stands out among websites of any subject. Grant Gould is an accomplished professional full-time illustrator who has done work for Lucas Films (including Star Wars collector cards), the cast of ABC's "Lost," and many other high-profile clients. Visit his website at www.GrantGould.com for more examples of his work.
All of this is packaging. Being a visual, organized person, this is very important to me - and I was really never content with the look of the former site. I had grown to practically loath it as it just didn't work in 2007. Now it's time to show you improved content - in quantity and quality of news and editorials and features. So keep an eye on us as we begin to match this great new layout and look with improved content! (Many of you who emailed about contributing to the site will be hearing from me soon; my list of people I wanted to respond to had to be put on hold during the site redesign, so thanks for your patience and be on the lookout for my email.)
I welcome your feedback! Let me know what you think of the new look. Email me here.
The PWTorch VIP site redesign launched earlier this week and the reviews have been tremendous so far. Remember you can check out all of the exclusives available as a VIP member - which includes the elimination of all display ads and tons of exclusive audio, archived, and new text content every day - for four days for free. Just click on the VIP Sign-Up button at the top of the page under our main logo. Send feedback on this article to pwtorch@gmail.com and we'll regularly publish reader feedback in the "Torch Feedback" category on the Main Listing.
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