Access and paywalls

You don't have to make a whole article free or a whole article paid. Each block of an article, and each block of a zine, can say who reads it: everyone, your subscribers, paid members, or members of a higher paid level. A paywall says that everything after it asks for a level. Each reader gets what their level reads, and a short line in place of the rest.

The levels

The same five choices come up everywhere, in this order:

• Everyone
• Subscribers
• Paid members
• Paid level 2 and above
• Paid level 3 and above

"Subscribers" is anyone subscribed to your publication, free or paid. It asks a reader for an email address and nothing more, no payment. "Paid members" is any paid subscriber, whatever they pay. A member at paid level 2 reads everything a paid member reads, a member at paid level 3 reads everything level 2 reads, and every paid member reads what subscribers read. If you named your paid offers (Founding member, say), the lists in the Studio use your names instead: "Founding member and above". A reader who isn't signed in, or isn't subscribed, is in "Everyone".

Two kinds of reader stay in "Everyone" even though they have an address on your list: someone you imported who hasn't accepted yet, and someone who subscribed but hasn't confirmed yet. Typing an address never opens content for someone else's account: to read what is kept for subscribers, a reader has to be signed in as a subscriber. On a publication that asks readers to confirm their email (the default, see Subscribing with only an email), a subscriber must also have verified their email.

Setting who reads one block of an article

In the article editor, hover a block and open the menu of its drag handle (the dots on its left). Next to the delete and colors items, "Access" opens a small window with three settings:

• Who reads it, one of the levels above
• Shown on the web
• Shown in the email

There is no save button: a change applies as you make it. If you switch both "Shown on the web" and "Shown in the email" off, Peakub keeps both on, since a block shown nowhere isn't a choice.

A block that has a level, or that shows on one side only, is marked in the editor: a line at its left and a small label above it ("Subscribers", "Paid members", "Web only", "Email only"). The marks are for you. Readers don't see them.

A block for the web only, or the email only

Switching "Shown in the email" off keeps a block on the page but out of the email, handy for an embed that an email can't show. Switching "Shown on the web" off does the opposite: a note meant only for people who get the email, such as a sign-off.

The paywall block

Type "/" in the editor and choose "Paywall". It draws a line across the article, and "Below this line: Paid members" tells you what it asks. Its "Who reads below" select lets you pick a paid level (it can't be "Everyone", since that would be no paywall).

Every block after the paywall asks at least that level.

The Freewall block

To keep the end of a piece for your subscribers, free or paid, type "/" and choose "Freewall". It is a paywall already set to "Subscribers": the line says "Below this line: Subscribers", and everything after it is for subscribers. You can also pick "Subscribers" in the "Who reads below" select of any Paywall block. The two are the same wall.

A freewall can sit above a paywall in the same piece. Put a Freewall after the opening, write a few more blocks, then add a Paywall at "Paid members": a visitor reads the opening, a free subscriber reads on to the paywall, and a paid member reads it all. Each reader gets their own part.

Paywalls stack. Put one at "Paid members", write a few more blocks, then put a second one at "Paid level 2 and above": a paid member reads up to the second paywall, a member at paid level 2 reads on. A block's own setting still counts: below a paywall for paid members, a block set to paid level 3 asks paid level 3, the higher of the two.

What readers get

A reader gets the blocks their level reads. In place of each stretch of blocks they don't read, one line in italics says who does: "For Paid members", or "For Paid level 2 and above". Blocks below a stretch they can read again keep going: a paid level 3 block in the middle of the article doesn't hide the rest from a paid member.

Where the stretch is kept for subscribers, the reader sees a card instead of the line: a person in a circle, "Subscribe to keep reading", "The rest is for subscribers. Subscribing is free." and your publication's own Subscribe button. Content for subscribers shows that person where content for paid members shows a lock, on the page, on cards and on rubrics, so readers know before they click that it asks an email and not a payment.

A reader whose subscription doesn't count yet sees a different card. When they were imported and haven't accepted, or typed their address and haven't confirmed, or (on a publication that asks readers to confirm their email) haven't verified their address, the card is titled "Confirm your subscription". Its line says "Verify your email to read what is kept for subscribers" or "Confirm your subscription to read what is kept for subscribers", and the button does the matching step: "Verify your email" or "Confirm your subscription", and "Accept invitation" for someone you imported. Once they do, the rest opens.

The email is the same: each subscriber gets the version of the article their level reads, with the lock lines. Every newsletter goes to a subscriber, so the email carries what a freewall keeps, and the parts for paid members keep their short note. It leaves out blocks set to "Web only", and keeps the ones set to "Email only". Search results quote a piece's text only to a reader who can read all of it.

Readers who can't read the article at all

When you turn on "Premium members only" in the Publish window, a reader without access to the article gets its free preview, or nothing when the free preview is off ("Allow free preview", in the same section). The free preview is what's above the article's own paywall:

• the first Paywall block, if there is one
• else, the first block that asks for a level
• else, roughly the first third of the article

You don't have to add a paywall block for this. When there is none, Peakub cuts the free preview for you, at the first block that asks a level, or about 30% of the way down.

Zines

A zine has the same two ideas, laid out for a zine.

• Who reads a block. Each block's controls (the ones that show when you click a block) have a lock button ("Who reads it"). It opens the same Access window: who reads it, shown on the web, shown in the email. The padlock is open until the block has a setting, then it shows closed. For "Subscribers" it shows the person in a circle in place of the padlock.
• The Paywall block. Add it from the blocks you can add to a zine. Its "Who reads below" select works like the article's, "Subscribers" included, and the paywalls stack the same way.
• What readers get. A reader gets the blocks their level reads. In place of a stretch they don't read, a locked block says "For Paid members" (or the higher paid level). Several locked blocks in a row make one. A locked block kept for subscribers offers your Subscribe button, and the same confirm lines as an article ("Confirm your subscription", "Verify your email").

A reader who can't read a paid zine gets what's above its first Paywall block.

A zine by email

When a zine is sent by email, the email now holds the issue itself. It shows text, headings, images, dividers, buttons and the locks. The other blocks are read on the web: the email has a button that leads there. As for the page, each subscriber gets the blocks their level reads, and the "Shown on the web" and "Shown in the email" settings apply.

What isn't covered

• A block asks for a minimum level: "this level and above". You can't name a list of levels for one block.
• Pages of your website aren't cut by level: this is for articles and zines.

Related

See Previews, sneak peeks and early access for what cards show and for letting paid members read first. The editor and zines guides cover the rest of the writing and layout tools.