Upgrades, Discounts & Black Friday

[AgentPete]

We’re running a Black Friday promo (our first) intended to tempt either new members or Basic Members to upgrade to the full experience.

The promo code to use is:

BLKFRI15

Which will give you 15% discount off your first membership payment… so if you choose a yearly membership upgrade, you’ll get nearly $15 off the cost… such a deal!

This is only for new members or Basic Members looking to upgrade.

The coupon code expires on November 30th.

 

[Pamela Jo]

Can we call it "'Our Flag Means Death'Friday"? Or Rainbow and unicorns Friday? I'm sick of that phrase. Why do the anglosaxons have to import the WORST of the US?

'Special Holiday Warm and Fuzzy Friday"?

 

[CarolMS]

We’re running a Black Friday promo (our first) intended to tempt either new members or Basic Members to upgrade to the full experience.

The promo code to use is:

BLKFRI15

Which will give you 15% discount off your first membership payment… so if you choose a yearly membership upgrade, you’ll get nearly $15 off the cost… such a deal!

This is only for new members or Basic Members looking to upgrade.

The coupon code expires on November 30th.

I've discovered a few concerning blips related to membership sign-ups or status that I think need fixing.

(1) I referred a friend to the site to look into signing up and she spent quite a bit of time trying to find where on the site to do so, then gave up. When I went to check it out, all I found was the section about upgrades, etc., and that section, too, was a bit hidden, hardly beckoning to potential new members. Not only that, despite my appearing to be logged in just fine (my user name shows at the top), when I clicked on that "upgrade" box it wouldn't let me in, saying I needed to sign in. I think I am signed in, so don't know what that's about. At this point, my friend is discouraged, and I'm trying to talk her into joining, so I hope doing so is made easier. I would think a membership invitation should be very prominent on a home page, though Litopia's home page doesn't function like most do, like a "cover," and instead feels almost like a list of blog posts to those first looking at it. Or was I unable to see the home page because I'm already in (that would be weird, though).

(2) Further, though I am a full member, when I post, it now says "basic" in my identification box next to my post. And also, if I go to my profile, it says "narrator" under my name. My user name, too, has been changed to Carol MS instead of CarolMS, which is how I signed up. (I posted separately about this earlier, wondering if others are having the same experience and hadn't yet noticed.)

It won't do much good to be trying all kinds of ways to get new members if they get to the site and can't find a way to sign up. Just my thoughts. Sorry if I'm missing something.

 

[CarolMS]

I just realized I sent my friend a link to a page in the colony, rather than the home page for Litopia.com. That explains it, but it's still a bit confusing, like two websites for the same thing, related but not under the same roof. Or is it just me?

 

[AgentPete]

Further, though I am a full member, when I post, it now says "basic" in my identification box next to my post.

Carol, apologies for the downgrade, this has been fixed. I don’t know how a space was introduced into your member name, this has also been changed – so when you log on now, please use the correct (no space) version.

I referred a friend to the site to look into signing up and she spent quite a bit of time trying to find where on the site to do so, then gave up.

This is a User Interface (UI) issue, and I am keenly aware that for some folk, the signup process isn’t as obvious as it ought to be.

If you come to the Colony as a non-member, you’ll be greeted with a large banner as below:


Clicking on that will take you to this pricing table where the new member can choose their membership level:



I would love to make this simpler / clearer. If you have any suggestions, please let me know.

When I went to check it out, all I found was the section about upgrades, etc., and that section, too, was a bit hidden, hardly beckoning to potential new members.

You can see that but non-members can't. What they see is the above.

They then have to choose the level of membership they want. Clicking on the button takes them to a signup page.

Not only that, despite my appearing to be logged in just fine (my user name shows at the top), when I clicked on that "upgrade" box it wouldn't let me in, saying I needed to sign in. I think I am signed in, so don't know what that's about.

This is a known issue that we’re working on at the moment. It’s an attempt to prevent junk signups (i.e. spammers) but not quite there yet.

At this point, my friend is discouraged, and I'm trying to talk her into joining, so I hope doing so is made easier.

I'm sorry.

I would think a membership invitation should be very prominent on a home page, though Litopia's home page doesn't function like most do, like a "cover," and instead feels almost like a list of blog posts to those first looking at it. Or was I unable to see the home page because I'm already in (that would be weird, though).

You’re referring to the Colony home page, which suppose does look like a list of blog posts, but of course they are actually forum threads.

The “cover page” you want is actually here, on the main site –

Welcome to Litopia Writers’ Colony

If you write – anything – then you’re a writer. And writers need each other: to learn from, to collaborate with and to have fun with! Join us and see.

litopia.com

I’m very sorry you’re having these problems. I’m aware that people are being inconvenienced as we try to get the new membership system running and integrated. That is why every Full Member is sent a substantial discount coupon when their membership comes due for renewal; it’s a way of expressing our apologies for the inconvenience. I hope that’s OK by you.

 

[LJ Beck]

Fantastic! I've been singing Litopia's praises to a few writer pals, and I will for sure send them the discount offer. They would love it here!

My two suggestions for the "Choose your membership" --

- the price comparison could just be 2 columns, basic and full, with the monthly price and the annual price on two lines above the full. I spent time trying to see the difference in the features and there was none. So that could be simplified.
- What are "All core colony facilities" ? This is a bit confusing when the other features are listed quite clearly. It kind of sounds like razzmatazz.

Small things that wouldn't stop me from sending it out!

 

[AgentPete]

Fantastic! I've been singing Litopia's praises to a few writer pals, and I will for sure send them the discount offer. They would love it here!

My two suggestions for the "Choose your membership" --

- the price comparison could just be 2 columns, basic and full, with the monthly price and the annual price on two lines above the full. I spent time trying to see the difference in the features and there was none. So that could be simplified.

Great suggestion, now implemented, thx.

- What are "All core colony facilities" ? This is a bit confusing when the other features are listed quite clearly. It kind of sounds like razzmatazz.

Yes, I know. It includes stuff that frankly is a bit too detailed to list. EG many forums prevent free members from accessing internal mail (Dms, Pms are whatever you want to call them) or put a restriction on uploads, access to search, and so on. The basic idea here is that we don’t mess folk around with a “fremium” model that is deliberately broken / barely functional as a lot of sites do. If you can come up with a better phrase, please...!

 

[Hannah F]

I just want to say, now that I'm receiving the bundle of new member emails, I think they're great and should definitely help newbies feel welcomed and cared for and should certainly help start them off on their journey around the colony.