Patreon Product Ideas

[Sabu]

Two more ideas that could be interesting.

1 - Have some way for the creators to let other creators join their campaign for free. I’m a illustrator and I have friends that are illustrators as well and have a patreon camping themselves, right now in order for us to follow each other we have to pledge on each other camping making sure that it is the same amount of $, so we are basically exchanging money, would be nice to have like a “invite” that could be given for other creators to make this process easier.

2 - And this idea came from @bradguigar “Patreon gift cards” suggestion (wish is also a great idea!). Would be interesting if creators could set up some kind of “trial pass cards” between their campaigns, example:

Creator A have a patreon campaign for a web-comic
Creator B is friends with Creator A and have also a web-comic patreon campaing.
If a patron join Creator A’s campaign, he will get a free pass of one or two months for Creator B’s campaign, and after this time is over, if the patron liked creator B content, he could decide to join his campaign as well.

[DiogoTomas]

Thank you @ellie. I hope they can figure out a solution soon, I already have patrons who reply/comment to my patreon posts by email! Which doesn’t make sense at all. I believe solving this will be good for all of us. (by the way, Happy Christmas to all of you)

[ellie]

@DiogoTomas Good news: We currently have a fix out for this to 50% of users (will go to 100% soon, pending any hiccups). The fix will enable patrons to click into patron-only posts from their email without needing to be logged in. Should help your mom and others with access issues.

Happy holidays! Hope you have a wonderful rest of your week.

[DiogoTomas]

@ellie, those are wonderful news! My mom will be thrilled =P and my other patrons too. Can’t wait to have it become official to announce to all my patrons. Thank you so much! Hearts <3 to you and the super team!

[todex]

I have a few ideas which are mostly related to getting a bit more data about Patrons. (This sounds evil, I know! )
This matters to me because I am running a Forum/Website just for my Patrons and manually manage their accounts - safer that way, since there are still bot accounts pledging for me several times a month.

So I’d love to get a bit more insight into who is who. Two things:

1: Identifying Patrons Properly

Say a new Patron pledges to your project and he’s currently named “John Doe”. And uses a specific email address.
You wrote him into your list, he made an account, he got his gooddies… And then he decided to change his username, as well as his email he uses for Patreon. Then he changed his pledge level ontop of that.

As of now, at this point the Patron is no longer identifiable.

As an improvised solution, I will then search through my archived emails trying to look for notifications sent by Patreon - and then I have to manually click the “View Profile” link in every email, hoping to be lucky and land on a profile with a new name.
This is very, very time consuming and often does not lead to any success .

So here’s a suggestion:
Show the numerical user ID in the Patron manager. So that Patrons can always be found by their account number, independently of their username or email address. This would also make the .csv list export TONS more useful, as records can be painlessly linked! Should be a minor change, too, since you already have that data.

If this is a no-go, alternatively you could do the same thing that services like Steam do – show a list of past usernames.
So that there is a track-record. John Doe - Also known as: GrandMaster999, OtherUsername, YetAnother Username

2: Patron Track-Record

A second feature request is to bring some sort of indicator back that quickly lets a Creator see the good deeds a Patron has already done - in total, not just for the own project, which is still being shown.

On the old profiles, this used to be the case. There was that circle icon , as well as a numerical summary of the total pledge contributions in the past.

On the stylish new profiles, that information is sadly gone.
It is vital to know this because there are (some) Patrons who are either bots, or extremely unreliable (by accident, or on purpose).

This mostly affects Creators who do not use a monthly pledge cycle (such as myself), since then, new Patrons aren’t charged in advance, and thus have a lot more leeway to use fake credentials, at least until they’re flagged as fraud in the next month.

So a suggestion for this might be to add a badge feature to profiles (again) that indicates an account in good standing, and with a positive pledge history.

Or tweak the “Status” column that already exists in the Patron Manager. Instead of just saying “OK”, it could be saying “OK - Good track record ” for Patrons with 3 months of being awesome, and for those who have run into pledge problems with one or more Creators in the past 3 months, it may say “OK - Mixed track record ”. Those who are new to the site may have “OK - New On Patreon ”.

I know this only affects less than 10% of all Patrons, and most people are reliable and honest, just it would really help to get a little bit more insight into the data that you already have about peeps, especially since this was possible in the past.

[Lochy]

I wish there was a way to uncheck all for email notifications, perhaps one to uncheck those you’re following and another for creators you’re supporting. I follow between 50-100 creators and having to uncheck every box for all of them is extremely time consuming. Plus, sometimes they randomly recheck themselves. My email is gettin’ flooded and I just check my home feed daily to see those I follow. As far as that goes, it would be kind of nice if supported creators were on top of that feed. Also I would love it if I got notifications on Patreon if a non-patron comments on one of my posts. Because I get so many emails from Patreon, I am afraid I might miss a comment from a potential patron.

Thanks for all you do! <3

[karlfredriksson88]

Do my supporters have to sign up with Patreon?
I’ve found out that some of my supporters just can’t be bothered to sign up with Patreon in order to support me, and maybe other creators.

So my question is - how annoying is the “signing up part”? Since I had my patreon for some time I dont remember, but, I’ve been turned off plenty of times when the “signing up” process is to much of a hassle. For example
"you need a user name" (we shall never have to make user names in this day and age - just log in with FB or Email)
“username already in USE”
“password need to be 8 characters long”
“password need cap and low cap letter”
"password need a symbol"
etc etc… The password hassle made me a IGN-non-member cuz it drew me nuts

So yea. Maybe my “signing up tolerance” is very low - but what is the process?
Is it possible to support without even signing up? My brother is still not supporting me since he just cant be arsed to fill out the info unless its automatic

[Lochy]

When I first read about gift cards I wasn’t sure exactly how that would work or exactly why, but the more I think about it, the better it sounds. I just saw on an artist group on FB someone asking for a gift idea for someone who was about to go to art school and I thought it would be neat to be able to buy them a subscription pledge to their favorite artist (especially when so many artists offer tutorial rewards).

Tutorials are great rewards, but not something a non-artist would necessarily want/need. I have a friend and patron who is extremely supportive of me and she gives to several other artists at the amount to get tutorials, but she has no intention of ever using them. How much better all around if she could give me (or another artist) the tutorial? She would be not only supporting two artists financially, but also supporting the growth of an artist and seein’ the direct result of her help.

But they would be great not even for the rewards, just a gift sponsorship to give an art appreciator.

To further the idea of gift cards or gift pledges, it would be neat if patrons and creators could have a wishlist. Let’s say, I have a wishlist for watching speedpaints of artist A, tutorial packs from artists B & C, and a one on one critique from artist D. One of my patrons sees it and really also loves Artist C’s work and sees a way to not only benefit each artist independently, but mutually. Another example would be that a patron is supporting an artist at the $1 level, but would really like a yearlong $5 subscription. They could have it on their wishlist and share with friends and family further promoting Patreon and creators.

[MandyRosko]

I thought they could sign up through their Facebook Accounts? I could be wrong, but I hope not since that’s what I’ve been telling my readers they could do

[DiogoTomas]

Is there a way to know who or how many people are following us on patreon? And if not, don’t you think it would be a good information for us creators?

[Lochy]

I understand why it would be best not to know who: some people might try to pressure them into becoming patrons and it could push them off Patreon altogether. A few months back I started following an artist I had commissioned an artwork from in the past and when I commented on a public post he started a high pressure pitch for becoming a patron and it felt really awkward. I couldn’t backpedal my way out of there quick enough. I am really reluctant to comment on anyone’s Patreon now, but I still leave a heart so they know someone appreciated their work.

I would like to know the number of followers so I could address them as a group to join in the discussion. I know not everyone can afford to be a patron or they can only afford to support a few creators and I might not be one of them. Knowing the number of followers would be helpful to community building though. It’s also encouraging to know the number of potential future patrons.

[DiogoTomas]

@Lochy, there will always be people who have a questionable approach toward followers, I’m sorry to hear that that creator made you feel uncomfortable. My experience is a little different, every creator I’ve reached was always very polite and respectful and never pushed me into becoming their patron. Unfortunately, there will always be people who won’t chose the best ways to get to their goals. I feel it’s important to know who our followers are more to get a notion of what kind of people we are attracting (who’s our audience) so we can figure out why they’re not our patrons yet and maybe, by asking that, improve our approach/ tactics. Having only the number of followers would help but we would miss a lot of info that could benefit all of us.

[Lochy]

I would like a limited time reward tier option for special promotions.

For example: I plan on opening up a reward tier on my Patreon anniversary to offer sketches (or some other reward) for $10 and $15 patrons. It is a promotional thing to try to introduce my Patreon to new people and those who might have been considering but not signed up yet. I only want to do this for one month, but it would be great if I could have it already written up and it would automatically go up at the assigned time and disappear at an allotted end date. A customizable message could be sent to all of those patrons at that reward level informing them that the reward was about to end and encouraging them to continue being a patron at a more sustainable level with a link to each other tier option. It would be fantastic if these promotional tiers were bolder or had some kind of background that made them stand out too.

[metaljesusrocks]

I would love to see a NOTES section added to the Patreon Manager for each Patreon. I would use this to keep track of what PERKS I have already sent to each Patreon. This would help me because I send something every 6 months or so and it would be nice to track who already got what. Thanks!

[ellie]

@Lochy, this is such a great idea and is something we hear from a lot of creators who want more flexibility in how/when they offer rewards to their patrons. We currently have a team focused solely on rewards right now–time-based and milestone-based rewards are definitely one of the things we are trying to solve.

Thank you for always sharing such great feedback!

[neil]

One of the things I worry about is having too many reward tiers. It just seems to make things confusing by providing too many up-front options. My rewards aren’t cumulative or stacked, meaning that what you get at $10 doesn’t necessarily include what is offered at $5. Occasionally, I have someone who is interested in receiving both the $10 and $5 reward, but at present there is no way for someone to do that without creating a second account. I could create a $15 tier that includes both, but to meet all the combinations would require adding several new tiers. It would be much simpler if we could create add-on items.

For example, someone has already pledged $10 and decides they’d also like our ebook. The ebook could be configured as a $2.99 add on for all tiers. They select that and it ups their pledge to $12.99 with two rewards. It would be even more useful if the add-ons could be configured as one-time or recurring. (One-time options would be more like an integrated storefront. Imagine being able to offer all your Patrons an option to buy a t-shift, book, or CD.)

[gareth.southwell]

(Apologies if this has been raised elsewhere - I couldn’t find it.)

Links to social media/website.

Firstly, there used to be an icon to link to a creator’s website in the Links section, just underneath the total patrons amount. This seems to have disappeared - don’t know why.

Secondly, would it be possible to have more social media links? I don’t use Facebook or Youtube or Twitch, but I do use Instagram and Pinterest. Since Patreon encourages connectivity (cross-posting content to different platforms), it seems strange not to have more of those listed - is there a reason for this?

[teamradious]

@ellie We absolutely love the tag/featured tag system. It allows us to stay organized and with the amount of content we release, it helps our patrons easily find what they are looking for.

I would be ecstatic to see this young feature enhanced over time and built into mobile menu. Here are some things I thought of:

Manual sorting of tags for creators

• Drag and drop similar to featured tags
• To keep most important tags front and center

Tag categories set by creators

• To help creators that rely on continually releasing content
• Excellent system for creators that post news from other sources
• Long-term solution for all creators
• Similar to a list in a document - Example:

Featured Tag

• Subtag
  ** Subtag
  ** Subtag
• Subtag
  ** Subtag
  ** Subtag
  *** Subtag

Tag Sorting for followers

• Ascending or descending order
• Newest-to-oldest or Oldest-to-newest posts
• Enhanced tag search
  ** For individual creator pages and entire Patreon community
  ** Would require code to automatically pull tags from all posts and compile into database

With even 1 or all of these features, Patreon would stay at the front of any incoming social media competition, and it would allow for even smoother integration in the future with twitter, instagram, facebook, and other platforms.

[SierraLee]

Is there any way to block specific users from commenting on public posts? If not, I would like to request such a feature, please. ^-^

The reason is the increasing numbers of Patreon pages that leave spam comments as a way to promote themselves. They’re always generic comments unrelated to the post like “cool” - and based on how fast they get posted, some of them may be using automated tools to post such comments on a large number of pages. My patrons are getting tired of these popping up on every public post, and I’m getting tired of deleting them (especially when the users just repost them). I know I’m not the only person who has this problem, they target a lot of users.

While this spam isn’t really harmful, it seems to me that comments could potentially be used for abuse, so a system to block users would be useful regardless.

[inversephase]

Hey @SierraLee, pretty sure what you’re looking for is “Block user” under the “… More” thing on the profile page of the specific user you are trying to Block. Just click on the user’s name to get there.