*** From the Archives ***
This article is from January 30, 2014, and is no longer current.
New InDesignSecrets Monthly and Annual Memberships
Welcome to a brand new InDesignSecrets, a.k.a. phase 3!
Since we launched “phase 1,” 8 years ago, we have published over 1,700 free blog posts, tutorials, and tips here at InDesignSecrets — plus over 200 audio podcasts! Over 8,000 people visit InDesignSecrets each day, from all around the globe, relying on us to get answers to many of InDesign’s most vexing problems.
Then, a few years ago, we launched “phase 2” — which included a forum that now has thousands of InDesign users from around the world helping other InDesign users. To post on the forum, you need to have a free membership account on InDesignSecrets (that was the “phase 2” part).
Today, we are announcing “phase 3” — the addition of a paid membership program at InDesignSecrets! Note that we said addition! We’re not dropping the free stuff. We love giving stuff away for free, and we’re not going to stop! The blog will stay free, the podcasts and videocasts will be free, we’ll keep letting you download free scripts and templates. Free is good.
And we’re going to offer even more with the paid membership:
- InDesign Magazine. This subscription-only PDF magazine has been publishing InDesign in-depth articles, tutorials, and advice since 2005. Now we’re taking InDesign Magazine monthly, and making it a benefit for both monthly and annual members. If you’re already a magazine subscriber, see this article for important information!
- InDesign Template of the Month. Template documents help you get a jump-start on your publications, whether you’re a new user or a long-time designer. We’re going to give you a great one every month!
- Members forum. We’ve added a new forum, just for members. All the other forums will keep working, but The InDesignSecrets Crew is going to focus first on answering questions in the member forum.
- Free eBooks, Scripts, and Tutorials. Monthly and annual subscribers will get access to additional materials throughout the year.
- Discounts on products and services. We’ll be passing along significant discounts and deals to our members, including the largest available discount to PePcon: The Print + ePublishing Conference and other events.
The Inevitable Questions
Q: Why are you doing this?
A: To be blunt, because we want InDesignSecrets to survive, and we believe this is the only way for us to survive and keep providing great material to InDesign users worldwide. Plus, we can do even more cool stuff for members than we could before. By becoming a member, you help support the site and all the contributors at InDesignSecrets.
Q: Are you doing this because of Adobe’s Creative Cloud membership thing?
A: Oh man, don’t even get us started. No! It has nothing to do with that.
Q: How much is a membership?
A: We based our membership fee on the long-time InDesign Magazine subscription rate: $59/year. However, we wanted to offer far more value, so we doubled the number of issues per year, and added more benefits (templates, forum, and so on). Then we decided that some people might want to subscribe just to receive an issue here and there, so we added an monthly option for only $5.95. The annual offer is a better deal, not just because it’s cheaper per month, but also because if you sign up for an annual membership, you get all the back issues of InDesign Magazine! (That’s over a $500 value by itself.)
You can learn more about membership here or by clicking the Membership button at the top of every page.
Q: Where can I find the magazine on this site?
A: Easy! Click the Magazine link in the nav bar (or bookmark this link). We don’t have all the back issues loaded yet, but we’ll get there.
Q: How do I upgrade my free membership to get InDesign Magazine and other membership benefits?
A: Just head on over to this sign-up page!
Q: Something on the site isn’t working properly! What’s wrong?
A: To be honest, even though we’ve been working on this update for months, we’re new at this and there’s bound to be unexpected things coming up. The best way to get customer service on your account is to email [email protected]. We’ll try to fix things as quickly as we can!
Just the Beginning
Remember that this is a process and a community. We want to hear from you! We hope you like what we’re offering, and want to sign up. But if it’s not for you, that’s okay, too. We’ll continue sharing all our favorite InDesign tips and news on the site (no membership required), because we love doing it!
Thanks for reading, and for being an important part of InDesignSecrets.com.
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I’m getting a 404 Error when I click on the link for ” If you’re already a magazine subscriber, see this article for important information!”
Sorry, Nancy. Fixed now.
Just wanted to drop a line and say I’m excited for the new changes. Keep bringing the secrets!
Also, Tammy in Customer Service was very helpful in merging my two InDesignSecrets accounts (I had an old, free account and a new one was created based on my paid InDesignMag account). All is well now.
That’s great to hear, Ken, thank you! Yes, she’s GREAT. I’ll pass along your compliments to her.
I’ve just subscribed for the monthly subscription and I’ve received the invoice yet when I logged back in and go my account it still list me as having a free membership. Any help would be appreciated. Invoice Number: s2-52edcaf05a5bf
Thanks
@Paul: Sorry for this, Paul. Something does appear to be wrong with your account; I’ll contact you offline. In general, if people have problems, the best thing to do is to write to [email protected]
Can this discount to PepCon be combined with other discounts? Say I work in higher education and my supervisor signs the team up to go to PepCon, would we get the group discount + higher ed discount + membership discount?
Hi inkeye: Based on how the registration service works, you can pick either higher ed or the membership discount (only one discount code), but I’m pretty sure the group discount would apply on top of that.
I recently became a member (May 2014). I was wondering if you can tell me where I go to access the ‘InDesign Template of the Month’? Re: “Template documents help you get a jump-start on your publications, whether you’re a new user or a long-time designer. We’re going to give you a great one every month!”
I’m familiar with the pre CS4 InDesign Templates that you have on your site.
Thanks
Like Fiona Byme, posted on 6/11/14, I have not been able to find the “InDesign Template of the Month,” mentioned at the top of this page.
Hi! We just started up the templates of the month a few months ago. Mike Rankin, editor-in-chief of InDesignSecrets.com, publishes a post when a new template is released, and only paid members who are logged are able to see and access the link to download the templates that he includes in the post (a little Javascript voodoo).
I believe the other place you can find your templates is if you click the My Account button top right of every page and then on that page click Member Benefits.
Thanks J Edwards for following up my post. I still cannot find the ‘template of the month’. I am an annual premium member and all that is showing under my member benefits is the Indesign Tips ebook as well as the conference info and discount codes.