4 ms·

There is no "Subscribe" link anywhere in the text of this article or on the web page that hosts it (http://lwn.net/Articles/696017/ http://lwn.net/Articles/6960

by mherdeg 10y ago

There is no "Subscribe" link anywhere in the text of this article or on the web page that hosts it (http://lwn.net/Articles/696017/ http://lwn.net/Articles/696017/). I was able to find the link from the front page, but it's kind of hidden -- https://lwn.net/subscribe/Info https://lwn.net/subscribe/Info which says "Get started! The first step is to log into LWN. If you do not yet have an account, please create one now; otherwise, please log in to continue:". Which seems like a lot of steps to pay them money.

randac 10y ago
At least they tell you the price before making you create a login! I ran into this gem recently: https://www.flograppling.com/signup?next=/ https://www.flograppling.com/signup?next=/
- zeveb 10y ago
  > https://www.flograppling.com/signup?next=/ https://www.flograppling.com/signup?next=/ What an odd name. Flog rappeling? Flo grappling? Eff log rap pling? /me loads page Ah, door #2.
- stronglikedan 10y ago
  But how are they going to get you to opt-in to their spam, if they show you the prices first?
rtpg 10y ago
100% agree. There's nothing wrong with informing people that you can subscribe! A small Call To Action at the end of every post (Do you like this post? Help support us and get future content directly to your inbox by subscribing) would already do wonders! And having "Subscribe" in the sidebar. (If anyone from LWN is reading: use those words verbatim if you wish) There's no shame in this being a paid publication. Considering the anti-advertising demographic, many would be glad to help support an ad-free system.
donpdonp 10y ago
Yes this! I just scanned the article page and the front page. Surely there is a subscription link in the header somewhere.. nope.. surely there is subscription information in the nav bar on the left... nope... okay the horizonal bar in the left nav menu probably separates the article related menu items from the site administration menu items and subscription is below the bar... nope. well maybe its down in the footer (scroll scoll scoll).. nope. okay I see the articles in the left are the paid ones because of the green dollarysign, surely that is a link to information about subscriptions... nope. Okay found it in the middle of a paragraph on the front page. I think the nav could be improved.
tlrobinson 10y ago
Over the years of occasionally reading LWN articles I've never noticed, or at least internalized, that LWN is subscription supported. Not saying they should introduce annoying "subscribe now!" modals, but they definitely could sell it a little harder.
- Analemma_ 10y ago
  LWN articles are paywalled, but subscribers can generate public "subscriber links", which are the ones that get shared to HN. This is such a double-edged sword: it's great for visibility, but as you've shown, it means people can read your content for a long time and never even know that subscriptions are available. That trend only gets stronger as more people go through aggregators like HN/Reddit. Hopefully "pledge drives" like this bring in enough new revenue that they can keep the current system going.
  - dublinben 10y ago
    They could make it significantly more clear that you are viewing a free preview, provided by the subscriber who shared it with you. It seems like a lost opportunity for conversions to omit this from the page.
    - notatoad 10y ago
      They do exactly that on their paid content. This article is a free public post, not a subscriber link, so no message. For example, https://lwn.net/SubscriberLink/695910/61948e743f7054ec/ https://lwn.net/SubscriberLink/695910/61948e743f7054ec/
  - umbs 10y ago
    "LWN articles are paywalled" It is paywalled for a short period (2 weeks??). After that, everyone can read their articles for free.
    - JoshTriplett 10y ago
      One week, and only for a subset of articles; some articles are available to everyone immediately.
roryokane 10y ago
There is a link to subscribe within the article body; it's just named "subscription" instead of "subscribe": > LWN is, of course, a [subscription]-supported operation. But I agree that's it's not a strong call for action, and that it's hard to search for if you overlooked that sentence.
- mherdeg 10y ago
  Thanks! I missed this — I read the whole article, somehow missed that [subscription] was a hyperlink, then re-read the article and searched for the verb "subscribe".
kentonv 10y ago
Another problem is that when you subscribe, you choose a number of months for your subscription to last. The maximum you can choose in 24. I just now discovered that my subscription had lapsed. If I had the option to subscribe permanently, I would choose to do so. I assume this is some sort of principled stand designed to avoid skimming money from people who no longer use their subscriptions but are too lazy to cancel... but it probably means LWN is failing to accept money from a lot of people who would be very happy to be paying.
- mwcremer 10y ago
  An annuity may be preferable to lump sum. And I receive several courteous reminders to renew before my subscription runs out.
- cbsmith 10y ago
  Honestly, I appreciate that they do the expiration. I learn soon enough when I check the articles.

by mherdeg 10y ago

randac 10y ago

At least they tell you the price before making you create a login! I ran into this gem recently: https://www.flograppling.com/signup?next=/ https://www.flograppling.com/signup?next=/

zeveb 10y ago
> https://www.flograppling.com/signup?next=/ https://www.flograppling.com/signup?next=/ What an odd name. Flog rappeling? Flo grappling? Eff log rap pling? /me loads page Ah, door #2.
stronglikedan 10y ago
But how are they going to get you to opt-in to their spam, if they show you the prices first?

rtpg 10y ago

100% agree. There's nothing wrong with informing people that you can subscribe! A small Call To Action at the end of every post (Do you like this post? Help support us and get future content directly to your inbox by subscribing) would already do wonders! And having "Subscribe" in the sidebar. (If anyone from LWN is reading: use those words verbatim if you wish) There's no shame in this being a paid publication. Considering the anti-advertising demographic, many would be glad to help support an ad-free system.

donpdonp 10y ago

Yes this! I just scanned the article page and the front page. Surely there is a subscription link in the header somewhere.. nope.. surely there is subscription information in the nav bar on the left... nope... okay the horizonal bar in the left nav menu probably separates the article related menu items from the site administration menu items and subscription is below the bar... nope. well maybe its down in the footer (scroll scoll scoll).. nope. okay I see the articles in the left are the paid ones because of the green dollarysign, surely that is a link to information about subscriptions... nope. Okay found it in the middle of a paragraph on the front page. I think the nav could be improved.

tlrobinson 10y ago

Over the years of occasionally reading LWN articles I've never noticed, or at least internalized, that LWN is subscription supported. Not saying they should introduce annoying "subscribe now!" modals, but they definitely could sell it a little harder.

Analemma_ 10y ago
LWN articles are paywalled, but subscribers can generate public "subscriber links", which are the ones that get shared to HN. This is such a double-edged sword: it's great for visibility, but as you've shown, it means people can read your content for a long time and never even know that subscriptions are available. That trend only gets stronger as more people go through aggregators like HN/Reddit. Hopefully "pledge drives" like this bring in enough new revenue that they can keep the current system going.
- dublinben 10y ago
  They could make it significantly more clear that you are viewing a free preview, provided by the subscriber who shared it with you. It seems like a lost opportunity for conversions to omit this from the page.
  - notatoad 10y ago
    They do exactly that on their paid content. This article is a free public post, not a subscriber link, so no message. For example, https://lwn.net/SubscriberLink/695910/61948e743f7054ec/ https://lwn.net/SubscriberLink/695910/61948e743f7054ec/
- umbs 10y ago
  "LWN articles are paywalled" It is paywalled for a short period (2 weeks??). After that, everyone can read their articles for free.
  - JoshTriplett 10y ago
    One week, and only for a subset of articles; some articles are available to everyone immediately.

roryokane 10y ago

There is a link to subscribe within the article body; it's just named "subscription" instead of "subscribe": > LWN is, of course, a [subscription]-supported operation. But I agree that's it's not a strong call for action, and that it's hard to search for if you overlooked that sentence.

mherdeg 10y ago
Thanks! I missed this — I read the whole article, somehow missed that [subscription] was a hyperlink, then re-read the article and searched for the verb "subscribe".

kentonv 10y ago

Another problem is that when you subscribe, you choose a number of months for your subscription to last. The maximum you can choose in 24. I just now discovered that my subscription had lapsed. If I had the option to subscribe permanently, I would choose to do so. I assume this is some sort of principled stand designed to avoid skimming money from people who no longer use their subscriptions but are too lazy to cancel... but it probably means LWN is failing to accept money from a lot of people who would be very happy to be paying.

mwcremer 10y ago
An annuity may be preferable to lump sum. And I receive several courteous reminders to renew before my subscription runs out.
cbsmith 10y ago
Honestly, I appreciate that they do the expiration. I learn soon enough when I check the articles.