Cancelled my subscription to PPCT

[TopDog]

Yesterday changed my creditcard on PayPal. Little did I know that at the same time I cancelled my subscription to PPCT.

At first, we I got the mail about the cancellation, I thought "Oh ****"... but then I thought about it. After I bought a SmartPhone almost 6 months ago, I barely post here, but stay mostly over at SmartPhone Thoughts. I've also registrered myself at Digital Media Thoughts.

So, Jason, why not make subscription's and registrations count for all three sites? I know I would sign up for a new subscription if that happened, but now I'm unsure if I'll bother signing up again just for one of the sites.

PS: I love the new http://www.thoughtsmedia.com/ site... check it every day :hippy:

[David Prahl]

PS: I love the new http://www.thoughtsmedia.com/ site... check it every day :hippy:

Me too! :way to go:

I'm guessing that the sites are kept separate because not many people visit all three sites. I've probably been to SMT a dozen times, but I visit DMT and PPCT a few times every day.

<guess> The number of subscribers to each site probably helps Jason and his team keep track of growth trends, too. A big influx (or a drop) in the number of subscribers lets them keep a finger on the pulse of the Thoughts Media empire. </guess>

[Jason Dunn]

So, Jason, why not make subscription's and registrations count for all three sites?

It's something we've discussed, but there are a few reasons why we can't/won't do it at the moment:

1) We have three different phpBB databases for content and three different databases for user registrations. When we were launching SPT, we pondered porting the entire registration database to the new site, meaning it would be seamless as far as users were concerned (no need to log in at two different sites). Ultimately we nixed the idea because of privacy concerns - we didn't think users would appreciate having their information and email addresses put into another database without their knowledge. Our long term solution is to have a centralized registration process, but that's down the road...

2) Although it may seem like the communities are the same, they're not. SPT has a largely different group of people commenting than PPCT and DMT do. Over time, that difference will become more apparent, as will the subscriber benefits. Having different people with different interests all have access to the same coupon/discount pool becomes tricky - let's say I have 300 subscribers on Pocket PC Thoughts, and 100 on Digital Media Thoughts, so 400 network-wide. When I'm buying coupons from Vaja by giving them advertising inventory, I'd need 400 $20 coupons to give to anyone in the network? What about lifetime subscriptions - would they get three micro lights? This is a difficult thing to figure out, and I'm still learning.

3) With each subscription where we offer a coupon for free, that has a cost associated with it, so ultimately each subscription has to be profitable on it's own. We thought about offering a Thoughts Media subscription, but the truth is it would be pretty expensive with the way I have things set up now with vendors and benefits. What we've done instead is offer DMT subscribers discounted subscriptions if they're already PPCT subscribers (33% off in the case of a PPCT full subscriber buying a DMT full subscription).

A network-wide registration and subscription isn't far from my mind, but right now it's not possible. Who knows what the future may hold... ;-)