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Psychologies website down but not out, says editor - major relaunch later this year

Posted: 20/03/08 By: Jemima Arnold

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Psychologies magazine website, which was forced to close because of severe technical problems, will undergo a major relaunch later this year, its editor claimed.

Maureen Rice told Journalism.co.uk the site would take inspiration from its French counterpart for the relaunch by focusing on communities and multimedia content.

"In France, where Psychologies began its website, it's enormous and we intend to be the same. It's very community driven and that is obviously our aspiration," she said.

The relaunch will follow a dormant period for the title. Publisher Hachette suspended the web operation after a series of severe technical problems, including a hacking attack that came just as the publisher was looking to shift priorities to digital media.

The decision was taken to mothball the original site, Rice said, grow the print magazine and focus on an expansive online relaunch.

"It [the web operation] is hugely important to us, the potential for it is enormous. We did not have the resources, time or attention to do everything at once. We had to get the magazine launched first but now our attention is very heavily on digital," she said.

She added that it was still undecided whether or not to go back online with a temporary site ahead of more wholesale changes later in the year.

Psychologies will hope to transfer some of its success in print into the new online venture. The magazine saw it's circulation increase over a fifth year-on-year to monthly figure of 140,162 for the second half of 2007.

To develop its online titles, publisher Hachette last year created a specialist digital unit, poaching Dave Killeen from Associated Northcliffe Digital to set up the unit and act as digital director.

It launched its first major project in December, creating a new social bookmarking tool - called Sugarscape - targeted at readers of teen girl magazine Sugar.

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