Did you notice the "Where genealogists collaborate" tagline?

Question

Hi WikiTreers,

We've made a small round of design changes as part of a continuing effort to make WikiTree more mobile-friendly.

One thing that's not just about design: We added the tagline "Where genealogists collaborate" to the logo.

 

We've always said that WikiTree is built for collaboration. It's what we're all about. And over time we've come to recognize that this is what sets us apart from other sites. (See this thread from last year: "Is genealogy collaboration WikiTree's 'USP'?")

Up until today, though, we were generally using "The Free Family Tree" as a tagline -- as the one-line that identifies what WikiTree is all about and why you'd want to participate.

Being free and accessible to everyone is fundamentally important to our mission, but by emphasizing "FREE" so heavily I think we've sometimes attracted people who just want something free, e.g. a free place to put their family tree. If a new member isn't prepared to collaborate with other genealogists they're in for trouble (and so are the rest of us).

So, I think if there's one thing we want all members and prospective members to understand and remember, it's that WikiTree is for genealogy collaboration. There's plenty else to understand (!) but most of it, I think, flows from this.

Any thoughts? Notice any problems that might be related to the recent changes?

Onward and upward,

Chris

P.S. If you don't see the tagline on the logo, try clicking to these and reloading them:
https://www.wikitree.com/images/wikitree-logo.png
https://www.wikitree.com/images/wikitree-small.png

Comments

Love the changes. As you say - onward & upward :D

Question - since the changes went live, I no longer receive an e-mail copy of comments posted to my profile page. Was that intentional, a side effect, or something going on with just me? (Every now and then, I quit receiving e-mails & have to change the e-mail address attached to my profile.)

---

Thanks, Liz. I don't think we changed anything regarding e-mail for comments on profiles. You also shouldn't have to change your e-mail address to fix a problem like this. I'm sure you're checking your spam filter, but that's all I can think of. Hmmm.

---

yup, checked that. I also double-checked that @wikitree.com was whitelisted & found that it had dropped off, so I re-added it. But I don't think that was it. It  seems like I was getting most copies, just not from one person whose contributions list said they'd posted a comment to my profile (nothing was on my profile from them either). But I used to get e-mail copies when I posted on my own page & now I don't. (Just tried again. Nope.)

Answer 1

I absolutely agree about adding the collaboration tag and not emphasizing free.  WikiTree should not be advertising to become the genealogy site of choice for only those people who want something for free and don't feel it's necessary to work for that privilege by collaborating and contributing to the community as a whole.  The new tagline looks great!

Comments

Thanks, Kathy!

Answer 2

I don't use mobile products so I can't comment on improvements there.  But I do agree that collaboration needs to be put out in front.  I've mentioned before the parallels I've seen between WikiTree and Toastmasters (where I belong to 2 clubs.)  Usually people think about public speaking when they hear Toastmasters, but a few years ago they added a tagline "Where Leaders are Made."  to change the expectations of members and potential members.  I think it's worked pretty well and think this new WikiTree tagline will also.

Comments

I do use mobile products, but I haven't noticed any changes to the mobile interface. I expect that we'll see another announcement when there's something significant to report on the mobile side of things.

Answer 3

I like the new tagline.

I notice, however, that "FREE" is still the main theme when WikiTree results come up on a Google Search Results page. (When I search for a surname plus "genealogy", the first hit is almost always WikiTree and the link title is SURNAME Genealogy & Family History - FREE.) Is there any plan to also tweak the way search results are packaged to change the emphasis there, or will "FREE" continue to be the theme there?

Comments

Thanks, Ellen.

I'm not sure if we'll change the title lines. That's what you're talking about where it says "FREE".

When we added it, we found that it increased our click-through rate.

Keep in mind that we don't expect 99% of our visitors to become WikiTreers. The average person clicking through from Google is just viewing the free information that the community produces.

---

Thanks, Chris. I was just curious.

Answer 4

Nice branding changes. I think it reflects the mission well. Any chance we can get this logo on some clothing, hats, etc. at the Wikitree Merch site at  https://www.redbubble.com/people/wikitree/shop?ref=artist_shop_category_refinement

Comments

Thanks for asking, Marty. I just updated the RedBubble account to add a logo shirt, but we'll need to have a higher-resolution one done so that there are more options.

---

Thanks. I will wait for the bigger image. It's rather subtle right now.

---

Chris, how are things going in the art department? I just went to the Redbubble store and the logo still looks really small on the shirt. I am speaking at a couple of local user groups about WikiTree and thought I'd wear a logo shirt. Also, I noticed on the web site the back of the shirt appears to have the same very small logo offset in the same location as the front of the shirt. That would be odd.

Answer 5

I love the new tagline!

Somehow the previous tagline just seemed flat - it didn't capture the appeal of WikiTree. This one nails it.

I first checked out WikiTree because it was free; it was the Honor Code that led me to join; and now collaboration keeps me here. Thank you, Chris!

Comments

Thank you, Carole! :-)

Answer 6

Is it possible to create an Andriod and IOS app, because that will be mobile friendly, other genealogy sites have apps already? I'm sure there is someone out there that could help out with creating a visually stunning but smart WikiTree application.

Comments

Hi Campbell,

Those other sites have hundreds of developers on staff. :-)  Volunteers can do a lot of things -- WikiTree is evidence of that -- but programming with volunteers has limitations. A volunteer might get excited about creating an app, but not be able to maintain it. Maintaining it could be difficult because we're always adding improvements to WikiTree.

That said, we have considered an app with limited functions, such as taking and uploading photos, e.g. for the Cemeterists.

Chris

---

Thanks Chris

I see what you mean, 

Answer 7

I love the new tagline! I think that it gives us WikiTreers the props we deserve for the work that we do here. I appreciate it when people help me out and I know that I am appreciated here. It is easy to get lost on other sites, but here we are a family. Great Job!!