The beta-test FREE newsletter is out!

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The next big thing at AskWoody? A free version of the weekly newsletter. Our thanks to the 400+ AskWoody members who volunteered to be beta testers. W
[See the full post at: The beta-test FREE newsletter is out!]

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jburk07, abbodi86, Pepsiboy

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The test worked for me!

Nathan Parker

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woody

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Just had a chance to check out the test free version. Looks really good to me. There is only one suggestion I would offer.

The offer to upgrade to the Plus edition gets lost in all the other type. It needs to stand out more. Perhaps through the use of bullets? Or some other device to highlight the benefits. You should not be reluctant to employ a harder sell. Each of the additional benefits has merit on its own; the alerts alone are worth the donation! Say so!

Also, it is not clear enough that Plus status includes the ability to read ALL past issues, not only the most recent issues, just from the way that benefit is worded. (You might include a couple of examples to demonstrate some of the more popular columns from a year or two or three ago or even more to reinforce the value of that benefit.

Mikey Dworkin

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woody

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MikeyD215 wrote:

Also, it is not clear enough that Plus status includes the ability to read ALL past issues, not only the most recent issues,

The older editions are open to all, not just Plus members. Only Plus members have the ability to see the last 3 months’ worth of newsletters

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woody

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Excellent analysis.

I’m making the changes now. Many thanks!

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Very nice first edition. I agree with above comments. I’m wondering how it will be determined what articles appear in the free newsletter? Will they be, as in the current newsletter, articles from previous Plus newsletters?

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woody

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Current intent is to publish the lead article in the Plus Newsletter as the (sole) article in the FREE Newsletter.

But plans may change.

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[Wayne]

I’m a bit puzzled. Since as a Plus member I read each regular newsletter avidly from end to end on my browser (Opera), and then spend (too much) time browsing the forum, there’s nothing new for me in this free version.

For Plus members, then, the only use seems to be to forward it to friends and acquaintances to hopefully share the wealth and increase the membership, both admirable goals.

Technically (from a non-techie), it looks great with all the C-book pictures properly delivered, just like the regular newsletter. Which, again, I’ve already read . . .  I wonder, though, if the non-working “(more . . .)” links in the current article section aren’t rather annoying and another way to indicate that the articles continue should be used, e.g., an ellipsis in the middle of the last sentence with the rest of the sentence left incomplete:

Buy new or keep the old? That question became personal recently when one of my brothers asked me whether he needed to buy a new PC in order to …

• This reply was modified 5 years, 4 months ago by Wayne.

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Wayne wrote:

Since as a Plus member I read each regular newsletter avidly from end to end on my browser (Opera), and then spend (too much) time browsing the forum, there’s nothing new for me in this free version.

For Plus members, then, the only use seems to be to forward it to friends and acquaintances to hopefully share the wealth and increase the membership, both admirable goals.

Glad you find the site and Plus newsletter useful!

From Become an AskWoody Insider! Sign up to beta test the AskWoody FREE Newsletter.

Each issue will appear shortly after the Plus Newsletter, and each will lead with the first article from the Plus Newsletter. We’ll also have thumbnails of the other articles, pointers to what’s happening on the AskWoody site, and instructions for signing up — both for the AskWoody Lounge web site, and for the AskWoody PLUS Newsletter.

Our goal is to give people a reason to become Plus Members, make it easy for people to check out the Newsletters and point their friends to the source, and (if history is any indication) get the word out to many more people. Free.
…
You can be both a Plus Member (and thus an AskWoody Plus Newsletter subscriber) and a FREE Newsletter subscriber at the same time.

From Last chance to join the AskWoody Insider Program, er, sign up to beta test the FREE newsletter:

For you Plus Members, it won’t have any remarkable new content — the main article in the FREE Newsletter will be the same as the main article in the Plus Newsletter, and “Best of the Lounge” will come across — but it’ll be arranged a little differently. Most of all it’s an absolutely free way for folks to see what we’re all about.

There will not be much in the way of novel information for Plus users, but as you say, a very good method of giving a taster to those that are not Plus subscribers. Forwarding it would be one of those ways

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Thanks Woody,

I’m not a plus member yet and got the beta newsletter today. It looks good and the info on Chromebook may be useful to people I know.

I think a limited free newsletter is a good idea.

-firemind

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I have been a reader of AskWoody free and then a paid user for a lot of years.  I got started using computers when Radio Shack produced the TRS80 Model II.  Then I got an IBM PC and when Windows 1.1 was issued I started sending E-mail.  I have been a user of the Internet when it became available.  I have long appreciated Woody and his associates for timely and accurate information.

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