Magazine content into self-contained app?
Discussion
I want to port ongoing magazine content into a self-contained app.
The monthly print version has been discontinued but I wondered whether there is a relatively straightforward way to put new content into an own-branded app that users would subscribe to.
With predominantly local material it's not likely to be a great money spinner, so lower cost options would probably be preferred.
Any comments or wise words welcome!
The monthly print version has been discontinued but I wondered whether there is a relatively straightforward way to put new content into an own-branded app that users would subscribe to.
With predominantly local material it's not likely to be a great money spinner, so lower cost options would probably be preferred.
Any comments or wise words welcome!
I think what you are asking is if you can present a magazine layout as a magazine but viewable online - so when you turn the page you swipe to left the page 'visibly' turns if it were real. Is that right?
The term is 'Digital Magazine' Providers like Wix and GoDaddy have this function and there's a few specialist providers that provide a platform for this (search for Lucid Press)
Other than that, as above - PDF. You can do a lot with Acrobat Pro, setting up navigable indexes and the like. Distribute the file to subscribers via email or put it on a website for viewing or downloading.
I can't see what benefit it is to be had accessing it via an app to be honest.
The term is 'Digital Magazine' Providers like Wix and GoDaddy have this function and there's a few specialist providers that provide a platform for this (search for Lucid Press)
Other than that, as above - PDF. You can do a lot with Acrobat Pro, setting up navigable indexes and the like. Distribute the file to subscribers via email or put it on a website for viewing or downloading.
I can't see what benefit it is to be had accessing it via an app to be honest.
It's for a print magazine that's now been closed down so the contributors were thinking of going digital but still make it commercially viable;e. The main reason for the print version failing was the cost of designing and printing it, set against the falling circulation - all the contributors were on standard journalism rates.
I wondered whether we could get regular monthly income from a subscription app that contributors could populate with their own content across the existing subject areas. As long as we could upload content easily it wouldn't need to be designed as such, as the pictures and text would reflow according to how it's viewed.
I think a pdf format would still be too much design work, but perhaps we can streamline the template and content upload? A website is the obvious format but I can't see us getting subscribers as easily as a dedicated app.
Any other suggestions welcome.
I wondered whether we could get regular monthly income from a subscription app that contributors could populate with their own content across the existing subject areas. As long as we could upload content easily it wouldn't need to be designed as such, as the pictures and text would reflow according to how it's viewed.
I think a pdf format would still be too much design work, but perhaps we can streamline the template and content upload? A website is the obvious format but I can't see us getting subscribers as easily as a dedicated app.
Any other suggestions welcome.
Thanks for the suggestions.
Some of the pricing options are out of our league as we're trying to do it on a fairly tight budget (between £1k-2k costs a year) and don't want to pay several hundred dollars a month on subscription fees.
AppPresser looks like it'll do what we need, and the Business Pro pricing is around £500 a year. We need it to handle ads as we're conscious we need to recreate the ad revenue we had in the defunct print version.
Another option would be to make it website-based and allow a limited number of free articles before you need to subscribe - a bit like the Telegraph. I'm not sure whether there's a plugin for WordPress do do this?
The app format was considered because people are used to paying for apps and subscriptions and it would attract a younger demographic, which we need to cultivate to future-proof our user base.
Some of the pricing options are out of our league as we're trying to do it on a fairly tight budget (between £1k-2k costs a year) and don't want to pay several hundred dollars a month on subscription fees.
AppPresser looks like it'll do what we need, and the Business Pro pricing is around £500 a year. We need it to handle ads as we're conscious we need to recreate the ad revenue we had in the defunct print version.
Another option would be to make it website-based and allow a limited number of free articles before you need to subscribe - a bit like the Telegraph. I'm not sure whether there's a plugin for WordPress do do this?
The app format was considered because people are used to paying for apps and subscriptions and it would attract a younger demographic, which we need to cultivate to future-proof our user base.
Edited by mellowman on Tuesday 4th February 12:18
Yea, plenty of options on WordPress. I think MemberPress is the most popular option for having paid subscriptions.
Going down this route would give you total control over charges and payment processors.
There are also plugins/apps you can get that will effectively "wrap" your WordPress blog into a mobile app too.
Going down this route would give you total control over charges and payment processors.
There are also plugins/apps you can get that will effectively "wrap" your WordPress blog into a mobile app too.
jammy-git said:
Yea, plenty of options on WordPress. I think MemberPress is the most popular option for having paid subscriptions.
Going down this route would give you total control over charges and payment processors.
There are also plugins/apps you can get that will effectively "wrap" your WordPress blog into a mobile app too.
Thanks, that looks like a very useful option. Would prefer to keep it 'webby', but that gives us some good options, especially the app wrappers.Going down this route would give you total control over charges and payment processors.
There are also plugins/apps you can get that will effectively "wrap" your WordPress blog into a mobile app too.
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