In June, Evangelicals Now launched brand-new, fully mobile-device-compliant website.
It is a major step forward with an online version of the newspaper, known as en-online and the ability to subscribe to either version on the website by auto-renewing payments made by card or direct debit.
Since 1996 some of the content has been available on the EN website. But the launch of en-online is a landmark moment in EN’s history, bringing for the first time the entire editorial content of the newspaper to a digital platform and to a global audience.
Exciting development
EN’s administrator, Rob Clarke, said: ‘This is a very exciting development. It represents a huge amount of work by a number of people both within the EN team and outside, with design by Ninefootone Creative, web development by Jonny Barker (www.jonnybarker.com) and integration by Tom Seidler. We have been very blessed to have such talented people involved’.
‘We considered going down the “app” route’, Rob continued, ‘but we've been able to learn from the experience of the big boys in the periodical publishing sector. Many embraced “apps” early on, but soon discovered that they were not the promised digital publishing panacea they were cracked up to be. Having spent huge sums of money on their “apps”, some have ditched them and turned to the new generation of mobile-device-compliant websites. We have been able to go straight to that platform to publish en-online’.
John Benton, EN's editor, commented: ‘We want Evangelicals Now to remain a news- paper but it is great to have the flexibility that en-online gives us. We have decided to reduce the price of an en-online only subscription to £10. A UK subscription to the newspaper remains at £15 and will also give you access to en-online’.
Accessing en-online
All direct postal subscribers for whom an email address was held were sent an email in early June enabling them to set up a password. If you have a current direct postal subscription but you didn't receive this email, please go to the website, click on the login link and follow the instructions under the heading ‘newspaper subscriber?’.
How to give access to readers who get their copy of the newspaper from a church agency or bookshop posed a trickier challenge. Rob Clarke again: ‘The challenge was to provide a means of access to readers with whom we do not have direct contact. Our web developer came up with the solution of access codes. Each month a different access code will be printed on the bottom of page three of the newspaper. If you come up against the pay wall when browsing en-online articles, simply enter the access code from the current issue and you will have full access until the next issue is published, which will require the new access code. We realise that this method is open to abuse but we are trusting our Christian readers to play with a straight bat!’
14-day free trial
There is also a means of trying before you buy. For people who do not currently get the newspaper, the pay wall will also offer the option to sign up for a free trial period of 14 days – which it will let you do twice if you need to – so you can make an informed decision before paying for a subscription.
The new website allows you to subscribe online whenever you like. These will be auto-renewing subscriptions removing the bother of having to dust off your cheque book or phone the EN office each year! You can pay either by card or you can set up a direct debit.
Evangelicals Now sees the launch of the new website as just the first stage of an ongoing process of developing and enhancing their online offering.
John Benton concluded: ‘We believe this is a great step forward for EN, which God in his goodness has enabled us to take. However, I also want to reassure those readers of EN for whom the internet holds no interest that we will be continuing to print the newspaper. After all, it’s a really bad idea to try lining your budgie’s cage with a back issue of en-online!’
