Updated for 2024:
You'll find a Subscribe link floating around near the bottom of the page, and there's a "Sign Up" link in the Navigation menu at the bottom of every page.
If you're not a member of the site, click a Sign Up or Subscribe link, and you'll be directed to sign up and to subscribe to a paid package if you like. All four subscription tiers are described at that page. If you are a free member already, you can use the same link or the "Account" link in the main menu to get to the subscription tiers.
To unpack this a little: a member of the site can be free or paid, and it just involves you providing an email address and using the log in link that is emailed to you. There is no password. Only members can comment.
To subscribe, means to pay. We have three paid tiers and all three get you... the same thing! It's really a pay what you can system. More on this below.
Since you're here:
To sign up or to sign in, you only need a valid email address.
About that email: you can't use a throw-away email because you'll need it to sign in occasionally. There's no password to save or lose or forget, just a link sent to that email address. You must be able to access your email on the device you want to sign into the site on. You can't get the sign-in link on your phone and use it on a laptop. Signing in is browser and device specific.
Once you've signed up, you can comment – your account at PPP Leafs automatically makes an account for you with the comment provider with no need to sign in or make a new account. In the comments, you'll find your comment profile by clicking on the initial beside the posting box. You can customize a few things there.
Subscription Tiers
The first level of subscription is just signing up as an unpaid member. You get access to commenting.
For now, the first paid tier is $5 per month or $50 per year, and that has one intangible benefit right now: you won't see ads. You know what they say about intangibles, that if you can't see them, they aren't real, and this benefit and the ads are both theoretical right now. If we get enough subscribers, we won't ever turn ads on.
But, Cathy, I can hear you say: Isn't that just blackmail?
I prefer to call it an offer you shouldn't refuse. But yes, of course it's blackmail. This is the heart of subscription services. Pay for it, so it will continue. Pay to see it ad-free. Pay for it because content isn't free to produce.
There's two higher tiers, and one is set up to give access to another intangible: premium content. At the moment, we don't have that. All content is available even to people who aren't members. It's unlikely we'll ever move to even a partial paywall.
The highest tier is for people who are able to and desire to support the site with bigger bags of cash. You get our love and appreciation as the benefit for that tier.
Tip Jar
There's a link in the top menu to a tip jar if you feel like buying us a coffee or a pizza or a Maserati. It might show up on the occasional post. The tip jar, not the sports car. This is for one-time donations.
Payments
All payments go through Stripe, and so I do not have your banking details or other information beyond how much you've paid. The fees are the same as any store that takes your credit or debit card to buy things with, so we get most of the money to use to keep PPP rolling.
And that's the subscription story right now – subject to change as the blog continues to grow.
