Some suggestions to NING regarding Paid Access

[Christine Agro]

Hello Everyone,

 

I've searched through in the hopes not to repeat the efforts of others and did not find a thread on suggestions for Paid Access.

 

I have it installed on my membership site www.FEMSocial.com

 

In it's current state it is very limited, but I'm going to stick with it because it creates a great seamless process for signing up members.

 

Here are my suggestions for future development:

1) make renewals automatic (I know this is in the works)

2) allow for comping of members after the paywall has been activated

3) allow for a timed (weekly, monthly) comping of members after the paywall has been activated

4) allow for a coupon or discount code for membership promotions

5) allow for a free trail option  as well as the option of setting a free trail option that converts to an actual membership.

 

Those are my thoughts so far.

 

Thank you,

Christine

[Eric Suesz]

Good suggestions. As you note, we're working on recurring payments. You can comp members after you've turned on a paywall, but if I'm misunderstanding you, my apologies. We don't yet have coupon codes, but it is on our list of most-requested improvements. As is a free trial option. All great suggestions, and some that we have high on our list as well. 

[Christine Agro]

Thanks so much for replying.  On the comping of members - they have to actually be a member to comp them right?  So that means someone would have to pay to be a member and then I would comp them.  I'd like to be able to comp someone a membership and there is no way (that I am aware of) to manually add a member without having them pay.

 

So let's say I wanted you to be an admin on the site but you aren't a current member - I can't add you as a member manually.  You'd have to join as a paying monthly member and then I could comp you for future months. 

 

Yes? No?  Something I can do now and I'm just missing it?

 

Thanks again for replying and for creating Paid Access!!!!

 

Christine

[Eric Suesz]

That's correct, Christine. This is a limitation of this first iteration of this feature. You can't comp a non-member or sign someone up in this way. The comping members functionality was designed to be on an individual basis (sort of an exception for admins, for example) and not as a way to provide a try-it-first or join free as a special type of member functionality. But, we'd like to get there because we know there are a lot of different ways people want to use Paid Access. 

[Steve Saenz]

Eric, where do we stand with this? Thanks, Steve

[Eric Suesz]

We aren't working on Paid Access right now, so I would not wait around for this functionality to appear anytime soon. 

[gabet123]

Eric,

 

I would very much like the ability to have existing members pay one amount for full access to the site and new members pay a higher amount. Is this possible in the current configuration? Example, existing members would pay $12 a year while new members pay $24 a year.

[Eric Suesz]

Hey, gabet123. Sorry if I missed your question. A few slip by my occasionally. I don't think it's possible to create different levels of members in this way. You could do it using multiple paywalls for Groups or Pages, but not for site-wide membership. At some point, we'd like to add this type of system, but we're not there yet with this first version of Paid Access. 

[gabet123]

What if I allowed existing members to come in at 12 dollars for a week then after 7 days raise the price to 24 dollars? Anybody that doesn't take advatage of it in the 7 day grace period gets charged more later. Also I'm confused by the paywalls are you saying I can't just charge for straight access to the whole site but instead have to make them pay for access to each section of the site?

[gabet123]

I have been thinkig on this more and have a few more questions. What if I set it up to bill 12 dollars for a year. And give my members a given period of time to take advantage of it. Then after a given period I delete that 12/year and replace it with $5/month.  What happens when you delete a way to pay? Do the members that came it at 12/ year now have to sign up again? Or are they good for a year and when that year expires then they have to come in at the $5/month rate?

[Eric Suesz]

You can set up one paywall for the entire site. That's easiest. 

You can create as many paywalls as you like, but if you deactivate one, you've deactivated that "wall" -- the thing that keeps people in and out. And, if anyone needs a refund, you'll be responsible for refunding them on your own. Basically, we've tried to give you the power to choose your paywall and how you communicate it to your members. We've tried to stay out of your way and the choices you want to make. So, I would just think carefully about what you want to do. I wouldn't recommend changing your paywalls completely halfway through the time period you've chosen because that will affect how your members can access it and what they might perceive as fair.