Posts only for subscribers?

[ses5909]

I subscribe to a blog and I was trying to catch up on some feeds tonight and at the top of the content it said:

This is a hidden post, only RSS readers and Archive lurkers can see this!


Which prompts a couple of questions.

1. How do you do this
2. What are the benefits of doing this? Just to ask people to subscribe to your feed?

Oh and it talks about sex in this post. I have never seen mention of sex on this blog. Its typically a blog about blogging, making money, ppp posts, etc. But for the people who subscribe, we are privy to the sex dreams.

[davemcnally]

Strange. I have never seen this before and wouldn't have a clue how to do it. I can't see many benefits either, I wouldn't subscribe just to be able to read an entry either.

If it was done regularly, it would actually put me off a blog...I won't bother going back if I can't see the content.

[BPartch]

I have seen just the opposite, where visitors to the actual site get to see stuff that RSS subscribers do not get to see, but I am unsure how to do this.

[davemcnally]

I have seen just the opposite, where visitors to the actual site get to see stuff that RSS subscribers do not get to see, but I am unsure how to do this.

I'm guessing you are talking about subscribers that just read the entries through their feed reader?

I don't see any point to that at all otherwise, no one is going to subscribe if they are going to get less content surely..

[BPartch]

I'm guessing you are talking about subscribers that just read the entries through their feed reader?Exactly.

I don't see any point to that at all otherwise, no one is going to subscribe if they are going to get less content surely..Guess it is incentive to get visitors to go to the actual site vs just reading the articles in their feed reader. :)

[SarahG]

I'm sure there's a plugin to prevent a post from displaying on the front page. I've heard of people who output additional bits of info in their feed as a bonus for subscribing. In fact I think Feedburner tell you how to do it (or I saw it somewhere on how to do it with Feedburner).

Why? Who knows!

[BPartch]

You can omit posts from the front page by altering the Loop in WP (http://codex.wordpress.org/The_Loop#Exclude_Posts_From_Some_Category), in fact it just occurred to me that I do this at one of my sites, so I even have a feed where you can see some posts that do not appear in the chronological order as the get published.

[shyflower]

I absolutely detest sites, blogs or otherwise, where I have to do something (register, subscribe, etc.) in order to see the content. I always assume that somehow or other it's either a spammer or a scammer and I immediately back out.

[adalante]

I've blogged about this before, basically this can be achived with a plugin, i've tested it before:
Fun With RSS in WordPress - Post For Your RSS Readers Only at WordPress Themes, Plugins, Blog Tips, Make Money Online >> WPthemesplugin.com (http://wpthemesplugin.com/fun-with-rss-in-wordpress-post-for-your-rss-readers-only/)

[ses5909]

Nice article Moses. What would you say the benefit of this would be?

[Michael Martin]

Nice article Moses. What would you say the benefit of this would be?

The one that jumps out at me is getting feedback on your blog. Most of your most loyal readers will be subscribed, so they would like a post asking about what they'd like to see on your blog etc. whereas new readers visiting the site for the first time wouldn't be interested.

[lilmissjenny]

A friend of mine has this too. I was wondering how she did it.

[chrispian]

I'm sure there has to be a plugin for this, but I love the idea. It's a great way to get people to subscribe so they can get the content first. It depends on the blog/subject of course, but if are giving away tips or info that's timely it could be a very useful tool in bumping up your subscriber count.

[adalante]

Nice article Moses. What would you say the benefit of this would be?

Thanks.

Well John Chow uses this method to run a contest where questions will only be given to his subscribers, or you could something unrelated to your blog niche and allow your RSS readers only to read it.

I'm sure there's some other uses for it to, i basically used the plugin to prevent certain posts from appearing on the frontpage.

[goldfries]

it's not applicable to every site, by going to "Posts only for subscribers" could actually hurt a site more than help.

[chrispian]

it's not applicable to every site, by going to "Posts only for subscribers" could actually hurt a site more than help.

I think most people who do it just give the subscribers the post early, between a few days to a week or so. The post still goes up on the site, subscribers just get it early.

[Jelena]

Well, yes, I agree, it goes to everyone, but only subscribers get to see it first. I would kind of understand that with contests someone mentioned but only if the number of subscribers is significant and won't hurt the actual number of possible visitors.

[chrispian]

Well, yes, I agree, it goes to everyone, but only subscribers get to see it first. I would kind of understand that with contests someone mentioned but only if the number of subscribers is significant and won't hurt the actual number of possible visitors.

Yeah, that makes sense too. This is the kind of thing that works when you have visitors coming in and not so much before you do. Trying to get one out of your three visitors to subscribe to the feed for "bonus" content is going to be tough. But once you have hundreds of daily visitors it could work petty well. They'll still get the content eventually but rss subscribers get it first.