Early access is a neat feature, I will be using it a lot. I assume this is a trial feature, and the intersection with other features is still being fully worked out/prioritized based on demand/etc.
One thing I notice is that the messaging isn’t quite correct. I have four tiers, and three of them get early access, but my posts report that they are seen early by patrons. (They’re seen early by some patrons.)
Secondly, as the poster, it would be really helpful to see what the schedule is. As it stands, I have to edit the post to see the schedule.
Thirdly, there’s a bug in the Patreon app (on Android)… the time field doesn’t seem to be editable. At least, my keyboard hides when I click on that field ,and I couldn’t figure out how to change it.
Fourth, a question. Here’s my scenario:
I create a paid post.
I make it visible to some Patron tiers, but not all of them.
I choose Early Access
I set the Early Access date to be two months from now.
At the next month end, many patrons will still not have access to the post. Do they get charged? If not, will they get charged in two months and change when they can finally see the post?
I’m trying to embrace doing more from my phone, but sneak peeks are oddly hampered. No early access or scheduling support from within the Patreon app, and scheduling from the mobile site offers no control over the times.
Hey @michaelprescott, I checked with the team and have some answers for ya!
For the messaging, I can see why you’d suggest updating this copy here as it doesn’t quite fit within what you’re doing. Not all creators grant early access only to specific tiers before it becomes public, but I will pass this on to the team. Today it reads to sort of say “Hey! Patrons had access to this content before it became public, don’t you want that?”
This is true, will let the product team know about this as a general feedback/request.
We have that bug filled! thank you for finding it, the team work on bugs in order of priority
This is definitely an interesting question but it won’t apply to a paid post because they can only be public or patron-only. You can’t create a paid post within specific tiers, which might explain some of the confusion. This help article has more info too.
Hope that helps! Let me know if you have more questions.
I hadn’t realized that early access was only for unpaid posts! That makes sense; keeps down the odd edge cases.
I’d read that article before, but hadn’t realized this restriction. (The article actually says that you can have an early access schedule for any patron-only post, whether all patrons or specific tiers, for what it’s worth.)
Thanks for relaying my comments and questions—I know you can’t get to everything, and you probably have a backlog as long as your leg, but it’s nice to get answers.
