NEW: Full access subscribers now get unlimited access to washingtonpost.com after activating digital access to madison.com. Watch your email for the Post's invitation to sign up at no charge.
What is a full access subscription?
A full access subscription includes unlimited access to all madison.com websites, the Wisconsin State Journal e-edition and many specialized apps for iPad, iPhone, Android and Kindle Fire. Wisconsin State Journal newspaper home delivery service can be included where available.
If you’re a current Wisconsin State Journal print subscriber, you already qualify for full access. All you need to do is activate your subscription and create an online account. Visit go.madison.com/activate. Please be ready to provide an email address or phone number and zip code to activate your full access.
What if I don’t have any subscription?
If you’re not a newspaper subscriber, visit go.madison.com/subscribe to see your subscription options.
What do I get with a full access subscription?
Beyond the madison.com website, numerous additional digital products are available to full access subscribers. These products are:
• Wisconsin State Journal e-edition. http://go.madison.com/e-edition
• madison.com apps for iPad and iPhone, downloaded from iTunes
• madison.com app for Android phone and tablet, downloaded from Google Play
• madison.com for Kindle Fire, downloaded from Amazon.com
• BadgerBeat sports for iPhone and Android, Wisconsin PrepZone sport at iTunes, and Go Madison entertainment at iTunes.
Most of these require you to verify your account to get full access. You need only log in one time with the same email and password that you used to create an online account, and then you will have full access.
I already get the newspaper. Do I automatically get access to everything online?
Yes, as soon as you activate your full access subscription at go.madison.com/activate.
Full access means a paid home delivery subscriber’s subscription now entitles them to unlimited access to all of our great digital content on our many platforms with no restrictions.
In addition to your newspaper delivery, your news will be updated throughout the day and available digitally on your computer, smartphone and tablet. This option includes unlimited access to news stories, photos, and more.
What does this mean for current e-edition subscribers?
If you have an active subscription to the Wisconsin State Journal e-edition, that will continue with no changes. You also can qualify for newspaper home delivery where available and unlimited access to other madison.com digital products.
What if I choose not to subscribe to anything?
If you’re not a full access subscriber, access to certain stories and information will be limited. This is called a “meter,” which gives everyone free basic access to madison.com. You may have heard about “paywalls” that completely lock down access to specific sites, popular sections or specific subjects, but we’re not doing that at madison.com
Some parts of the site, such as homepages and popular sections listing headlines, are always free. Access to classified advertising including auto, real estate and employment remain open to everyone.
Our website meter operates more like a parking meter that gives you the first hour free. For some people, that’s enough. But if you want to spend more time, it will cost something. If you’re close to using up your free views, the site will warn you in advance. If you use all free views, the site will automatically provide some subscription options, making it easy to sign up.
TIP: If you subscribe to the Wisconsin State Journal, even just on Sunday, you can qualify for unlimited online access.
Why would I pay for online access?
The local news and information published on our websites is a valuable product. Much of the news on Madison.com comes exclusively from the newsrooms of the Wisconsin State Journal and Capital Times, which field the largest newsgathering force in the region. That means a lot of the news posted here can’t be found anywhere else.
And much of what is published online can’t be found in our printed products – live blogs, updating sports scores, galleries of photos, live weather conditions and radar, thousands of event listings, and much more.
By giving you the opportunity to purchase unlimited access to all of this exclusive information, we’ll be able to continue to maintain and improve the quality of this coverage and information. The full access subscription remains the best option to receive unlimited access that you want, when and where you want it.
What can I get online that I can’t get in the printed newspaper?
Many features are available online:
• Videos
• Commenting systems to voice your view or read others’ opinions
• Easily searched archives of past articles and entire newspaper editions
• More comics than can be printed in the paper
• Additional puzzles and games that can be played online (ex: multiple levels of Sudoku)
• Newsletters and alerts that can be emailed or sent to your phone so you never miss a thing
How do I get madison.com access on my smartphone or tablet?
Once you've activated your account, you can download and use our apps or websites on mobile devices. To get unlimited access, log in using the same email and password on all digital platforms. Visit http://host.madison.com/apps for a full listing of these digital products, along with handy links to download them to your device.
Your subscription login will allow access for up to five digital devices.
TIP: Be sure to check off “remember me” at login so you don’t have to enter your information on every visit.
Can I get access to the Wisconsin State Journal newspaper, not just the website, electronically?
Yes. The Wisconsin State Journal publishes an e-edition that is an exact replica of the newspaper available for download every morning to your desktop or iPad. This also is included in full access.
The e-edition is a specially formatted electronic version that looks just like the printed newspaper, and it is accessible on a computer web browser, a special iPad app, and other tablet computer web browsers.
I can’t get newspaper delivery in my area, and I don’t want to pay a subscription for a website. Why don’t you offer a basic website for free? That’s all I need.
That’s actually quite similar to what we’re doing. You can view a certain number of any stories on the website for free each month, and some parts of the site are free all the time.
You’ll be asked to pay if it turns out that you’re a frequent or heavy user of the site. Collecting, producing and delivering exclusive local information around the clock, seven days a week, costs money no matter whether it’s published and delivered once a day in print, or every few minutes online. We think it’s fair to ask people who rely heavily on our information to support the effort by paying a modest subscription fee, regardless of whether they get the information from our paper, website, or mobile products.
If you’re going to charge for access, why don’t you turn off the advertising?
As more advertisers shift from print to online, they expect us to continue to help them reach local residents with their offers, deals and other messages. We’ll recognize these shifts from print to online advertising by maintaining and possibly even expanding advertising options that will be more relevant and connected to your interests.
In this fast-changing business, modest digital subscriptions and advertising work together to cover the cost of collecting local news and information, and to produce numerous products around the clock.
I live out of state but have family in the Madison area. Why should I have to pay?
If you’re checking our site only once in a while, you probably won’t be asked to pay, because we allow limited free visits to the site. But if you rely heavily on us, it seems fair to charge a subscription fee, just as we do for local residents who pay for unlimited access to the website and newspaper.
I only read obituaries. Why should I have to pay?
If you read obituaries every day, it seems fair to ask for a modest subscription fee – just like our daily newspaper subscribers who pay to read these notices. And it’s the same fee we ask from folks who look at only one other section of the website, such as entertainment listings, sports, or politics. You’re not being singled out.
By the way, if you no longer live in the Madison area, you can get a Wisconsin State Journal e-edition that is an exact replica of the newspaper, including the obituaries. It looks just like the paper on your computer or iPad screen. You can even download and print out the puzzles.
Our customer service staff has all the details. Here’s the number: 1-800-362-8333.
I don’t go online and just want the paper delivered to my house. Do you have a subscription package for that?
All home delivery subscription packages now include digital access.
But digital access isn’t limited to you. A home delivery subscriber can share a login with others in your household, just like you share the newspaper with family or friends.
For example, if there are three people in your family, you all can share one account. The overall limit is five computers or devices. Please keep in mind, everyone who has access to a shared account also has the same access to account information and privileges, including the ability to comment in online forums under the same screen name.
Can I share my login with my friends and others?
We discourage sharing too widely. Sharing login information gives users access to all aspects of your subscriber account, including billing information. Also, reader comments will be tied to your account, so you may want to be careful about who can access your login information. Finally, if more than five devices are logged in at the same time, one or more will be denied access to digital products, possibly creating confusion about whether the digital subscription is really working.
I’m having problems activating my full access subscription. Who can I talk to?
Please call 1-800-362-8333 between 5:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. central time Monday through Friday, and 5:30 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Sundays and holidays. A customer service representative will be happy to assist you.
How do I update my subscriber account information?
To update account information, you just click go to Subscriber Services in the upper left hand corner of most any Madison.com webpage. That leads to the subscriber services homepage where you can log in to manage your account. If you have any trouble, please contact customer service as noted above.
What is the cancellation policy?
To learn more about a cancellation policy that applies to you, please contact customer service as noted above.
