Slashdot Subscription Update

A few things have changed in the Slashdot Subscription System since we originally announced it a few months ago. Most important to many of you is that we now can directly accept Credit Cards in addition to paypal. We also added some control to allow subscriptions to be time based instead of page view based. Read on to see how.

By far the biggest complaint that we heard was from users who either hate paypal, or simply don't want to mess with it. I'm not going to go into the politics of that issue here, but it's a valid complaint. As we've explained countless times, we picked paypal first because it was simple and quick and planned to support credit cards directly as soon as we worked the kinks out of the system. And now that's happened. I'm still interested in other payment mechanisms and I'm open to suggestions as to what they might be.

Complaint number two was from people who didn't like the metered subscriptions. Again, this is a very valid complaint. I've already explained why it was essential that we impose some sort of limits, so what we've implemented is a new option called Max Ads. What it does is limit the number of pages you choose to view ad free on any given day. By default, that is 10. So even if you view slashdot 20 times a day, your $5 subscription will still last 100 days with the default setting of 10 Max Ads. Of course, you can up that number too.

Subscribers still have the ability to choose what page classes you suppress ads on. Simply hiding ads on Articles and Index, but seeing them on Comments is enough for the vast majority of readers to never hit the default Max Ads settings. At those settings, the subscription fee for a year on Slashdot would be on par with a typical magazine.

So far we've been really pleased with the turnout: 2% of our logged in users have chosen to subscribe, and we really hope that number will increase since such a huge number of readers expressed support for the subscription system, but distaste for paypal.

As we explained earlier, a large part of our decision to suppress banner ads was so that we could start accepting other ad formats, but give users an option to support Slashdot, without seeing these new ad formats. These other ad formats are highly desirable and should allow our sales folks to get contracts that we would otherwise be ineligible for. Web Advertising is a highly competitive field, and these ad formats make it possible for us to compete.

The last thing I'm mentioning here is Subscriber Plums. We have a variety of things that subscribers will eventually have access to. We're certainly open to reasonable suggestions, and we'll announce them as they come online. As I've said before, we won't be taking away things from non-subscribers, just rewarding those who are throwing quarters into the guitar case. More on these plums at a later date.

Thanks to the subscribers, as well as to those who click on our ads and support us by supporting our advertisers. You guys are helping to ensure that Slashdot sticks around for a long time.

Comments

Blackout continues?

[Anonymous Coward]

Great, Rob, throw this out while the blackout is going on, so the "hard-core" discussion mongers won't be able to contribute. :)

I do wish you'd list what kinds of Subscriber Plums will be out there, though. I'm kinda-sorta waiting to see "what's in it for me" before I subscribe; if you wait too long I may just get used to the big fattie ads and not care about subscribing.

Just my feedback, without a name since I am kinda-sorta supporting the Great Slashdot Blackout.

Re:Interesting Concept, but

[Anonymous Coward]

Most of the discussion on slashdot is about that information should be free, and you should not pay for information. That makes it kind of weird to pay for the site itself, it should be free!

other ad forms?

[Drunken_Jackass]

These other ad formats are highly desirable...

God help us if Slashdot resorts to floater ads. There's more than a few sites that implemented these ads that once i was subjected to, i never returned.

I hope i don't have to find an alternative to /. because they start putting that crap here too!

Are You Mathematically-Challenged?

[waldoj]

I for one don't want to pay for a service that at is heart is free and should always be free.

Uh...OK. How about we host it on your server?

-Waldo Jaquith

"Block images from this server"

[spork_testicle]

Need I say more?

Re:Interesting Concept, but

[SuiteSisterMary]

There's a difference between 'trying to create a profitable business' and 'we need to cover bandwidth, hardware, and people costs. Profit would be nice, though.'

Why are people unwilling to pay for content?

[anthony_dipierro]

Here are some of the reasons...

Re:End of paypal?

[jamie]

"the credit card option's been on the subscribe page for about a week now. They only just got around to announcing it today."

Nope; it just showed up for an hour in the middle of the night, during a code refresh about a week ago. But has been absent from then until about 20 minutes ago. You were probably one of like 3 people who saw the dang thing last week :)

Re:New ad types?

[SirSlud]

Unfortunately, due to a complete lack of a standard for implementing interactive ads (unless you call Flash a standard, which you could almost do these days), Flash is only gunna be more and more popular as advertisers get less and less afraid to run them and agencies get more and more saavy at producing Flash creatives.

/. may have said that they wish to avoid them, but if their ultimate goal is to command higher prices for their inventory (ie, our eyeballs), I highly doubt they will be able to completely steer clear of Flash.

Editorial integrity

[FattMattP]

Here's what I want for my subscription: Editorial Integrity. Here's what I mean:

1. Spell check the articles even if you didn't write it.
2. Use proper grammar.
3. Make edits if the submitter mispells something, has poor grammar, or screws up the links.
4. Make sure the links go to the right place.
5. Remove unnecessary links. We don't need to link to CNN's home page every time we write the letters "CNN." Just link to the article or issue at hand.
6. Before accepting an article, search your own damn site to ensure that it's not something you've approved to post before.

Do all of this and you'll have my money.

Re:Editorial integrity

[jeffehobbs]

I completely disagree. To me, bad grammar and poor spelling simply denote a lack of editorial dedication and generalized laziness on the part of the editorial staff. I regularly spell check the messages I submit for the viewing of my friends and family, or if I post to a mailing list where my message might be viewed by a hundred people or so, because I respect the people who read my words and I want my message to be as clear as possible.

When your audience is in the hundreds of thousands, however, it's unthinkable to me that someone who calls themself an editor wouldn't take 30 seconds to throw their text through a spell checker.

And not to mention it just simply looks bad for "the cause" -- there are plenty of linux spell check options, but every time I see a spelling error on slashdot, I think, "poor linux, can't even spell check," and I know I must not be alone in that peception.

~jeff

Why I am Not Participating in the Blackout

[grytpype]

I am abstaining from the blackout because I think it is fundamentally misguided.

I like the Slashdot moderation system. It is the best system I've seen for handling the turd-tossers who want to ruin resources like Slashdot. They are not prevented from tossing their turds, they just get modded down to -1. Anyone who wants to examine their faecal projectiles can browse the comments at -1. (Have you tried that lately? Can you imagine trying to read a discusssion if you couldn't block that shit?)

Subscription benefits

[brad3378]

This will piss off a lot of people,
but I think Members should be able to read stories first. Have a 10 minute delay for non members.
Maybe "Gold" members will have the smallest delay.

Only people that are logged on will have first posts. Its not likely people will pay money to be the first troll.

Value added. Slashdot members will be more likely to see sites before the slashdot affect.
This may also help to lower peak website traffic on linked sites.

easily implemented code.

and most importantly, Because I said so :-)

Re:Interesting Concept, but

[Teethgrinder]

I personally would pay - but not until I'm told how many pages I'm using.

You know, seeing your low user number one could be tempted to say something like "given that you've been reading /. for quite a while now (3-4 years I'd guess) you might just pay $5 for the heck of it and find out for yourself".

Just a thought, though ;).

Re:For only ...

[Redline]

C'mon now, you're not willing to throw quarters in the guitar case? Never mind that all the content is created by volunteers, and all slashdot does is distribute it.

This is such a fallacious argument. It is based on the assumption that your opinion is more valuable than the network services that distribute it. An opinion is worthless. Every person has one and every person wants to give it to you. The content (mostly the opinions of the uninformed) here is cheap, but bandwidth and employees are not. What's wrong with paying for the services that /. provides?
There is a coffee house down the street from my house that has open-mic poetry readings every Wednesday. I go, buy a cup of coffee, and listen to (and read) some poems. I am not going to demand my coffee for free, just because I provide some of the "content" on poetry night. The coffee shop provided the mic, stage, tables, lights, and ambiance. Isn't that worth as much (if not more) than the small amount of "content" that the users provide?

Trying to make it difficult?

[devphil]

The idea behind the suggestion is that subscribers would be able to actually read the stories before the /. effect shuts down the affected sites.

A far, far easier way to avoid the /. effect is for /. to simply keep a local (local to /. and the andover colocs) cache of the page. Link to that instead of to the actual site. The /. network is set up for that much load; a home enthusiast's cable modem isn't.

Maybe replace the link-to-cache with the link-to-real after 24 hours, or a week, or whatever. There's probably lots of tweaking possible here that I haven't even thought of, much less posted. My point is that /. has the capability to shoulder some of those slashdottings, at least briefly.

Re:Here's an even better "plum" idea

[Steveftoth]

Just remove his articles, believe it or not, everyone doesn't think like you. Some of us have our own opinions on the matter and like to see what the crackpots have to say from time to time.

Re:No thanks

[letxa2000]

I can live with pop-up ads even easier than normal ads, because Mozilla lets me supress additional windows from popping up without my request.

I don't filter banner ads or banner icons, nothing. I'm not going to install programs of plug-ins in my browsers to censor content, even if they are ads. What I do and will continue to filter is pop-up anything. Not beacuse they are ads but because they annoy me and clutter my desktop.

I run a popular website with traditional banner ads (468x60 up top an a few 100x100 on the left sidebar). That's the way it was, that's the way it will be. The day an advertiser demands that I give them pop-up is the day they can look for a new place to put their ads.

In any case, I still think traditional banner ads are both more asthetic and more effective. The bigger and more intrusive an ad, the quicker it will be closed or scrolled over. And in the case of pop-up ads it's just too easy for users to disable them entirely.

In fact, I've been tempted to go to text-based ads. The main reason I don't is because I think they'd be TOO effective: users would actually see them as content rather than the advertisement that they are. I want to maintain a distinction. I think traditional banner ads are the right balance.

Re:Accepting credit cards

[President Chimp Toe]

do you _really_ want mr. taco to have your special 16 digits in some file somewhere?

Good point, Sir!
Didnt sourceforge get r00ted not so long back? This is only one degree of freedom from slashdot, surely.

Which gets me thinking. What security measures are slashdot taking to keep my (important) personal data private? For what period are they keeping cc no's? Do slashdot have a data protection policy? Can I see it please?

Re:For only ...

[jordan_a]

Read the copyright notice on the bottom of the page.

All trademarks and copyrights on this page are owned by their respective owners. Comments are owned by the Poster. The Rest © 1997-2002 OSDN

Re:Story moderation

[dipfan]

Hmm, interesting. Seeing into the submit bin is also helpful, in more ways than one. I often wonder, when submitting a story, if anyone else has already submitted it. If we could see the submit bin (and rejects and acceptances) then the chances are the editors would have to deal with a lot fewer duplications ... users wouldn't waste their time submitting stories that were already pending or rejected, and the editors wouldn't get so much noise in the bin.

Re:For only ...

[Chundra]

What's wrong with paying for the services that /. provides?

I just don't like the idea of paying money to OSDN when they are primarily focused on making money. It's just a fucking contradiction. "We're the Open Source Development Network, line our pockets, suckers!" Yeah. That's the spirit of free software! Woohooo!

Now, if they were to have open accounting, where we could see what their costs are, where their income originates, what they use it for, etc. I'd be glad to contribute. Until then, they can run their advertisements, and die for all I care. Fuck 'em.

Re:For only ...

[kontos]

A mirror. Not legal.
A copy of your own comments on your own webpage. Fine.

The individuals that comment are giving OSDN a license to publish the comments on /. .

suggested payment mechanism

[e-gold]

(Well, looking at my username, this one should come as no shock.)

e-gold has many advantages. I once again offer a small click of the stuff to anyone who replies to my email address with an account number. e-gold Ltd. won't sell/trade/give away your information (because they need it to be accurate).

Now that we have things like http://www.fastsci.com and http://www.clicktwocents.com our shopping cart interface is MUCH easier to use, and recent news indicates that it may be more secure than some other methods of selling things online.

Since e-gold tipjars are (IMNSHO) the ideal musicians' solution to the Napster/RIAA problems, I am hoping that these sites become widely popular, (suggestions welcome)! Thanks.
JMR

"Tip Jar"

[The Pi-Guy]

Actually, I don't really want to be subscribed. What I really want is to be able to go and donate $25 to /. as a "Tip Jar". Or something like "giving" subscriptions, as in paying $5 and the next 1000 ACs won't have ads, or a friend of mine won't have ads. I'd even pay a premium for that, if it went to /.... (Slashdot, dot dot dot....)

Just my $5 (I guess $0.02 doesn't work here?)
--joshua

(ah and the servers are being flaky, slow, and unreliable. I guess I shoulda paid before...)