I'm sure these are some basic questions, but I have to admit, I'm a bit confused, so I could use the help.  This site is for a weekly newspaper and we have some interesting requirements and I really hope that JContentSubscriptions can handle these (especially since I already bought the product )

1. Although most of the content will be subscription only, about 6-9 articles a week will be free to all visitors.  These articles will be across 6 (and possibly more) different categories. These would be the front page articles on the website. What is the best way to open these articles to all visitors while keeping the rest of the content restricted?

2. I'd like all visitors to see the headline and introduction to all articles.  So, if a friend sends you the link to a story, at least you'll be able to see the first part of the story which would hopefully entice you into buying a subscription (even if it is short term subscription).  Is this possible?  If so, how should I do it.

I think that is all I need for now.  Here is the dev site that I'm working on: http://guadalajarareporter.dreamhosters.com  If you visit the site, you'll notice that the subscription system isn't active yet, but I hope this will give an idea of what I need.

Thanks for the assistance!

Noah Brimhall
Guadalajara Reporter site developer

Hello,

Well, the only way you can let some articles free for everyone is to insert into each article which is NOT free the following line {JCSBOT SUBSCRIPTION=id1,id2...} where id is an id of an article. You should insert it in the beginning of the subscription. You see there would be a lot of work to do. But, unfortunately, there is no another way to realize it.

Regarding your question about intro section: when you create an article in Joomla you have two fileds: "Intro Text" and "Main Text". So, the information in the intro section will not be restricted, only the information of the main section will be.

I hope I answered your questions.
Thank you.

Hi Tanya,

Thanks for the response, although I find it pretty disappointing.  I guess I was really hoping you would say I just needed to add a "free" tag to every article that I wanted to be free.  Fair enough.

Any chance that a future version of JContentSubscription will include this feature? My subscription doesn't run out till November 2008 and although I may not be able to use the the module for the time being, I'd like to be able to use it eventually.

Thanks,
Noah

Hello,

There is another way you can organize free articles. It is much easier than my previously suggested. You can create a new subscription. Tick off "article individualization"; in the "Properties" section tick off "Invisible" and tick off the "Automaticly grant this subscription to all registered users" in the "Grant" field. Save the subscription and to the left of its name you can see its id (in the ID field).

When you have such a subscription you should add the {JCSBOT SUBSCRIPTION=id} line to each free article. id is an id of that subscription created. Each time you add the same line. Not that complicated. The subscription won't be visible to users if you tick off "Invisible".

The only problem is that the articles will be free only for registered users.
Perhaps this solution will satisfy you.

You can add this feature to the Feature Request section. If you do it there is more chances to have it in next releases.

Thank you.

Hi Tanya,

This is a better solution, but I still don't think it will work for me.  I'm going to mark the thread as "Solved" since you came up with a pretty good solution that will work for some people.  I'll add the Feature to Feature Request area and hope that the next release has what we need.  Thanks again for the prompt feedback.

Noah

If the Intro text is free to all, why not just use that section for the free articles?

Hello,


Indeed this could be probable solution, but I am guess not always suitable for blog view sections.

Thank you.