Make JNC clear again
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@jon-mitchell As someone who did their research on JNC before purchasing a membership, so I knew what I was getting into with it and am completely content with my purchase, I still believe that JNC could do more to make the details of their service clearer for potential new customers.
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There is no link to the FAQ from "How It Works," and the FAQ has important information that people sometimes feel cheated for not knowing about when they purchase a membership. Often, it's the fact that pre-pubs expire after a certain point and this isn't a "read everything we've ever produced" membership.
- Solution: Either put more of the stuff that people most often don't realize before purchasing in the HIW itself, add a link to the FAQ from it since right now it's just tucked into all the links at the bottom of the website, or when someone clicks on "Become a Member," have some sort of "Make sure you read our FAQ for the full details of a membership before purchasing!" blurb to direct people there. Doing multiple of these changes would be best imo.
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The Future Volume Release Schedule is only ever explained on the forums - and it's in "Suggestions and Feedback" of all places, which I personally don't think is where most people are going to think that important membership information/news would be.
- Solution: Put this information on the HIW/FAQ/calendar page, to make it much easier to find, and immediately accessible for someone who thinks "Oh I'll go to the calendar to see when the next volume is coming out!" Heck, add it as a blurb to the series listing for any volume that has finished and the next one isn't scheduled yet. And maybe move the forum post to the "News" section of the forums.
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The Manga FAQ is also only on the forums, and contains the important information that manga epubs are not available to purchase through JNC. People who are new to the site and buying things for the first time can (and will) end up wondering if the lack of a premium credits button is just a bug/glitch and go to the forums to ask how to buy the manga through JNC.
- Solution: Put this on the HIW/FAQ, and have some mention of "JNC currently does not sell manga epubs with premium credits, they are only available through third-party sellers" on the purchase button for all manga. Also, move the forum post to News, since right now it's in the members-exclusive subcategory Manga Discussion which means non-members can't access it.
This is more general information rather than premium-membership-specific stuff, but I just wanted to point out things I think could be improved since I agree that the information can be confusing or difficult to find.
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I ended up moving some posts into a more appropriate established topic.
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agreed no hyperlink in (or between) "how it works" and "FAQ"- they could be/should be linked - but "how it works" is on the homepage above FAQ - I'd like to see the "how it woks" expanded on the homepage itself- and include the differences between Manga and LN credit use (and repeat that info on the sign up page)
it seems logical to me that a prospective member would read "how it works" before buying -but that's just me -
a future volume release schedule is never promised as a feature/benefit of membership or how it works - all that is promised is access as available and JNC delivers on that - however considering how often (i.e.frequently) it is asked about- that should be in FAQ - then forum admin can just refer via link to that FAQ
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agreed FAQ should be updated to cover Manga
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@jon-mitchell said in Make JNC clear again:
"how it works" is on the homepage above FAQ - I'd like to see the "how it woks" expanded on the homepage itself
Oh right, it's been so long since I've really looked at HIW except via direct link that I forgot it was even down there haha. But actually, looking at the homepage again, it turns out that both HIW and FAQ are linked there - it's just that the hyperlink they're under doesn't make it clear that's what they're going to.
- HIW link: "Our Latest Titles" segment, "[...] with a regular or premium membership subscription you will be able to read beyond the first free part [...]
- FAQ link: "Our Latest Digital Releases" segment, "Premium members also get discounts!"
Neither of those link labels makes it clear that you're being directed to the HIW or FAQ specifically; in fact, I never bothered clicking them because I assumed they would take me to the subscription purchasing page instead. These could definitely be more clearly labeled, to inform people that "hey, if you want answers to our frequently asked questions, or you want to know how our subscription service works, these are the links to click!"
a future volume release schedule is never promised as a feature/benefit of membership or how it works
This is true, but like you said, the lack of the next volume appearing is often asked about, so I think the forum post's "After a volume's last part comes out, there is usually a 2-3 week break before the new volume's first part comes out" is definitely worth putting on the calendar for people to see. Even if future volumes aren't "promised," they're generally assumed, considering comments like "JNC has never dropped a series of their own volition" sometimes get passed around when someone asks about when the next volume is coming.
it seems logical to me that a prospective member would read "how it works" before buying -but that's just me
People miss things sometimes. It's impossible to ensure that every last person understands something no matter how clear and easy to comprehend a statement is, but it's best to make information as understandable and easily accessible as possible as possible, even if it seems like you're bashing customers over the head with the info.
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@masterlillyclaw said in Make JNC clear again:
Oh right, it's been so long since I've really looked at HIW except via direct link that I forgot it was even down there haha. But actually, looking at the homepage again, it turns out that both HIW and FAQ are linked there - it's just that the hyperlink they're under doesn't make it clear that's what they're going to.
HIW link: "Our Latest Titles" segment, "[...] with a regular or premium membership subscription you will be able to read beyond the first free part [...]
FAQ link: "Our Latest Digital Releases" segment, "Premium members also get discounts!"I think we are talking past each other. I've never actually followed the links you cited- I've just always scrolled to the bottom of the homepage, there seems to be some webpage design convention that if you scroll to the bottom of the homepage, the "about us" "contact us" "information" links are to be found. And true to the convention on JNC's site - right in the center you'll see this: (at least I do on my pc w/ chrome browser)
Information
(and below all are active hyperlinks on the page)
About J-Novel Club
How It Works
Frequently Asked Questions
Terms of Service
Privacy Policy
Contact Us
Jobs"how it works" (if you click it) opens a new page (the same link you referenced above) and goes into (in my opinion) fairly straight-forward info on how the club works, the differences between standard and premium membership, is unambiguous about the cost of credits under each of those plans and that non members cannot buy credits (put can read some/limited previews) etcetera- it basically covers most of your objections/suggestions- what isn't covered there (again in my opinion) is covered adequately in the FAQ section (once you click it, under information heading from the main page) with a few exceptions:
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it isn't explicitly spelled out that the rules are different(for buying titles with credits)for Manga vs LN's (the LN rules are in HIW)
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there are NO hyperlinks in HIW that would link to the respective FAQ
I think we have the same objection regarding where the links are and why a potential customer should have to dig for the info - it should be front and center- like in the blurb under "Welcome to J-Novel Club" they should include "click here to see how it works" and on the HIW page have a "click here for FAQ".
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@paul-nebeling I half eyeroll at the "free labor", and half delighted at the opportunity to point out typos and nag at translation choices, because the alternative which is seeing it in unalterable finished form is less desirable.
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@lily-garden said in Make JNC clear again:
@cid It would be helpful if you were highlight specific points to rephrased. Perhaps, you could offer examples of how things could be better reworded?
I originally posted that in a different topic, because it has very little to do with the concerns being discussed here. My complaint was clear within the context of the original topic, and you’re only reading it now because a mod moved my feedback from there to here. It was a topic discussing the claim that premium members “get a Premium Credit to exchange for a Premium ebook once every month, saving you 20% off the retail ebook price!” As a premium membership costs $10 and a retail ebook $7, this statement only makes sense through extreme mental gymnastics.
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Hello,
I moved your posts (and the posts that followed) into this topic because the original topic was discussing the advantages to having a premium membership over a normal membership, whereas this topic is about clarity in J-Novel Club’s website and by extension the FAQ.
The user who you quoted replied to you when the topic was still in the original topic you posted in, not this one, so that comment was made in the original topic you posted in with all the context that was originally available when you posted.
After that, the comments went in a completely different direction then the topic the comments were posted in and moved here, which in my opinion is what you wanted addressed.
This topic is about J-Novel Club being clearer in their messaging, and on the website, you posted about the FAQ needing to be made clearer, and others followed up with comments.