Site stuff

Site Stuff

Saturday Site Stuff: Our new college crew

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DEJAN
Our college coverage technically began Tuesday with the start of September, but it goes off in earnest today with the kickoff of football for Pitt, Penn State and West Virginia.

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You’ll get to know our group of contributors more closely in the coming weeks and months, but for now here’s the complete roster, with their Twitter handles hyperlinked: Alan Saunders (Pitt football and basketball, Robert Morris hockey), Connor Whooley (Penn State football), Nicole Curtin (West Virginia football), Zachary Weiss (Duquesne basketball), Chris Mueller (Robert Morris basketball), Darian Somers (Penn State), C.J. Cunningham (Pitt), Steve Brenner (Pitt), David Statman (West Virginia) and D.J. Deskins (West Virginia).

Give them a follow, both on social media and right here. And deepest thanks to our Matt Gajtka for investing a ton of time this summer in assembling this talented group.

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OK, the new platform is here … so now what?

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DEJAN
MILWAUKEE — Our custom commerce platform is up and running. As mentioned the other day, it’s aimed almost entirely at new subscribers but also will have some immediate impact on existing subscribers:

• You’ll need to log in. Actually, if you log in, you’ll solve about 99.999999 percent of any problems that might occur. So log in.

• Check the Support page. This will solve most any other question.

• The app will work fine between now and when it undergoes a similar process in the very near future. You won’t need to do anything to continue using it.

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Site going under construction at midnight

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DEJAN
As we complete our new commerce platform, our entire site and app and everything related to it will go into a hibernation tonight at midnight and lasting about four hours.

When we emerge, a few things will be different:

• Everyone will be logged out of the site. Not the app, but just the site. You will need to log back in with your current credentials.

• Your commenting name will temporarily revert to your username. In the very near future, most likely this week, you’ll be able to choose a commenting name. For a slew of reasons, it can’t happen right away. Your avatars will remain the same throughout.

• We’re going to a hard paywall. No more free views of any kind, unless we choose to make an article available to everyone. If you’re a subscriber, obviously, this won’t affect you.

All the rest of the changes will behind-the-scenes or point-of-purchase stuff that will affect only new subscribers, so you might not even notice.

If you have any questions, please check our Support page. If your answer isn’t there, email us at [email protected]. You’ll be answered within 24 hours.

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Monday Planner: Here come the colleges

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By Dejan Kovacevic
A look at the week ahead on the site …

Monday: We open with our weekly Dave DiCello photo gallery, which henceforth will be called DiCello’s Point of View and sponsored by Point Park University. (Get it?) Neal Coolong will have our Steelers PATs first thing in the morning. By daylight, I’ll cover Pat Narduzzi’s first game-week press conference before Pitt football opens, then pick up Steelers right across the hall. At 2 p.m., Josh Yohe will have Good Dudes. At 5 p.m., Matt Gajtka will take your Five Qs at 5 on a new day to better suit his baseball schedule.

Monday Planner New Logo

Tuesday: I’m headed out to Milwaukee for a week on the road covering the Pirates. I’ll begin by writing from Miller Park that afternoon. Neal will have the Mike Tomlin press conference, the Steelers’ first big cutdown day, coverage of practice and Five Qs. This also will be the day we begin covering Penn State and West Virginia football, with correspondents Connor Whooley and Nicole Curtin reporting from State College and Morgantown, respectively, on the James Franklin and Dana Holgorsen press conferences.

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Photo-illustration -- DALI KOVACEVIC

Photo-illustration -- DALI KOVACEVIC

Saturday Site Stuff: The Point Park discount

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DEJAN
Who better to step up for our coming college discount than Point Park University?

It’s so perfect in so many ways I don’t know where to start, but I’ll try by going way back to preschool. I was born and raised right Downtown way before that was a thing, and I went to kindergarten on Point Park’s campus back when that was a thing. Our playground was actually on the rooftop of the current main building there.

Few of us can remember much from that age, but I’ve never forgotten that.

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In addition to that — maybe partly because of it — I’ve written often over the years, including for this site just last year, of my enormous respect for the institution and all that it’s done for our Downtown, practically picking up Wood Street on its broad shoulders. It’s been a joy to watch and experience first-hand with my family.

Well, now, Point Park University is family.

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Matt Gajtka at PNC Park two months ago, shortly after he was added to the staff. -- DEJAN KOVACEVIC

Matt Gajtka at PNC Park two months ago, shortly after he was added to the staff. -- DEJAN KOVACEVIC

Welcome, Matt Gajtka … as Pirates beat writer

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DEJAN
I don’t need to introduce Matt Gajtka to anyone who’s subscribed to our site the past few months, but I now, finally, formally can introduce him to you as our baseball beat writer.

And as a result, we also finally, formally have our full team on the big three beats, with Neal Coolong on Steelers, Josh Yohe on Penguins, and now the Pirates are covered, as well.

From the moment I hired Matt as a contributor several months ago, then added him to the staff part-time, then double his part-time duty and now this, all he’s done is exceed expectations as a reporter, writer and that rarest of rare breeds, an analytics expert who doesn’t talk down his nose at the unwashed masses. (And yes, he’s insisting on continuing the weekly Matt’s Stats column, as well as keeping it open to all sports.)

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Photo-illustration -- DALI KOVACEVIC

Photo-illustration -- DALI KOVACEVIC

Welcome to Citrix, our newest, largest partner

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DEJAN
We’re delighted and honored to introduce to you our newest, largest partner: Citrix.

And I can’t begin to tell you exactly how delighted and how honored.

Citrix — and yes, I’m referring to that Citrix — is the California-based company whose software solutions, mobility management and networking are being used by more than 330,000 organizations and 100 million people worldwide. You might know them best for their GoToMeeting and GoToWebinar programs.

We’re proud to tell you Citrix came to us after being impressed with what we — and, in turn, you the reader — have built here in a short time, and they are prepared to move forward with us in a big way to continue our growth.

“We are excited to be partnering with DKPittsburghSports.com,” said Chris Hylen, GM of Citrix. “Citrix GoToMeeting and GoToWebinar will give DKPittsburghSports.com innovative ways to connect with their fans and customers all over the world, and partnering with a locally-based sports guru showcases all that is special about the Pittsburgh area.”

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Monday Planner: Miami, Cranberry, Buffalo

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By Dejan Kovacevic
A look at the week ahead on the site …

Monday: In addition to all our coverage of the Sunday Steelers and Pirates games, I’ll take your Five Qs at 5, Josh Yohe has Good Dudes, and Matt Gajtka flies down to Miami to begin covering the Pirates’ four-game set with the Marlins.

Monday Planner New Logo

Tuesday: Neal will have his weekly Steelers PATs breakdown, as well as Five Qs and the day’s coverage of practice. Josh will offer up a hockey surprise. Matt has Pirates-Marlins.

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Saturday Site Stuff: College discount? Finally!

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DEJAN
By far the most common question I’ve gotten from potential subscribers — and wow, there is no close second — is when, if ever, we’ll discount our rates for college students.

The answer, at long last, is September. For the whole month, we’ll offer one-year subscriptions at half-price to anyone currently studying at a college or university, for $12.

A measly buck a month!

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More details as we approach, but suffice it to say that we’ll all win with this, I hope. We as a site have everything to gain by getting the youngest generation of consumers on board, and college students gain … another couple of beers, I guess.

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Monday Planner: Packing up in Latrobe

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By Dejan Kovacevic
NEW YORK — A look at the week ahead on the site …

Monday: I’m headed home, but I’ll take your Five Qs at 5 today. Josh Yohe has Good Dudes, as well as Pirates-Diamondbacks from PNC Park. Neal Coolong has Steelers in Latrobe. Dave DiCello drives us through the Fort Pitt Tunnel.

Monday Planner New Logo

Tuesday: Neal will have Five Qs, but the Steelers will be off. Matt Gajtka has Pirates-Diamondbacks.

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Saturday Site Stuff: Internal promotion

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DEJAN
NEW YORK — Our Anna Webb is now really our Anna Webb.

Please join us in congratulating her on being promoted to full-time social media director for our site, just two months after she joined us in that capacity on a part-time basis. She’ll continue to forge and coordinate connections for us on all kinds of platforms, primarily our rapidly growing new Facebook and Twitter pages dedicated to the site.

If you haven’t followed both, every little like, share, RT, fave … all of it helps.

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Anyway, in addition to those duties, we’ll bring back the Anna’s Web feature as an intensive, interactive feature that will be Tumblr-based but linked out here. I’ve seen the early mockups, and it’s very cool. Expect to see it with the Steelers’ opener at New England.

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Monday Planner: Off to St. Louis, New York

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By Dejan Kovacevic
A look at the week ahead on the site …

Monday: I’d made up my mind to take yesterday off, even with the Steelers and Pirates both in action, and it wasn’t just so I could watch from the couch for once. It’s because I’m headed out on the road for a full week with the Pirates beginning tomorrow in St. Louis, then continuing on to New York. In the meantime, our week here will start with Neal Coolong’s coverage from Canton, Matt Gajtka’s coverage from PNC Park, Josh Yohe’s Good Dudes and a Dave DiCello photo gallery. Oh, and I’ll take Five Qs at 5 today.

Monday Planner New Logo

Tuesday: The Steelers will be back in Latrobe, and so will Neal. While there, Neal will have the Five Qs. I’ll cover Pirates-Cardinals from Busch.

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