From August 2020 The Ringing World has offered a new way of subscribing to the magazine.

Tower subscriptions allow members of a tower to share online access for much less per person than an individual subscription – usually around £20.

The subscription also includes a paper copy for the tower.  

Tower subscriptions consist of

• a paper copy for the tower, and
• online access for 3, 6, 10 or 15 readers (prices below)

Online readers can only read

• this week’s issue
• using BellBoard’s online viewer
• each week from Sunday

There are options for

• UK, Europe or the rest of the world
• 6-month or 12-month duration

One group administrator will manage access for all readers on BellBoard

See the current prices and subscribe

If you're a subscriber on a tower subscription, you will only be able to view this week’s issue. You won’t have the option to download a PDF, either in low or high resolution, unless you choose to purchase that issue at the single download price, but instead you will read it through our special online viewer (see opposite). Finally, just like seeing your tower copy when you go service ringing, the issue will only be readable from Sunday.

Tower readers can sign up like everyone else for a reminder email, and they will receive it when their copy becomes available each Sunday.

The readers of tower subscriptions will be managed on BellBoard by a group administrator. Group administrators can access the tower subscription admin interface through a new ‘Tower subs’ link which will appear on the BellBoard main menu. The group administrator can be any BellBoard user you nominate.

Readers

The group administrator will deal with adding and removing readers using a page on BellBoard. Email addresses they enter will be sent invitations to join the subscription, or sign up for BellBoard if they don’t have an account. As long as the email address is plausible, administrators won’t know whether the addresses they have invited are valid, or whether they already have a BellBoard account. If the email address is invalid or the message is ignored, the invitation will expire after seven days or can be cancelled by the administrator. If the email address does not have a BellBoard account associated with it, the invitation email will contain a link to create one. If the email address is already linked to an individual RW subscription, the administrator will be informed that they cannot be added to a tower subscription.

Further detail: The administrator can be one of the readers, but they don’t have to be – they can be a non-subscriber or have their own individual subscription. They also don’t have to be the person who corresponds with the office about the subscription, though you must tell us when you buy your subscription who you would like your first group administrator to be. After that, you can transfer administration to anyone else with a BellBoard account. The new or changed admin will receive an email invitation to become the group administrator.

Converting to a tower subscription

Some individual subscribers (perhaps already representing a tower) will want to change their subscription from individual to tower midway through its term. If you wish to do this, we can change it to a new tower subscription term at the next month-end, and discount the value of any remaining whole months on the old subscription. Please contact the office to help calculate your price. If you buy it through the online renewal process without contacting us, we will assume you wish to convert to a tower subscription at the end of your current term.

If you wish to cancel an existing subscription to become a reader on a tower subscription, our usual refund policy will apply.

Splitting the cost

In a tower subscription the paper copy is for sharing in the tower, but online access is restricted to a set number of people. You could split this cost in different ways. We suggest either:

• The tower fund contributes £50 for the paper copy and the readers split the rest (never more than £24 each, even if you aren’t using all your reader access)
• Or the readers each pay £20 and the tower fund covers the rest for the paper copy (never more than £60, and usually much less)

Note that the subscription cost must be paid to The Ringing World in one full sum at point of purchase.

Back issue access

Readers who subscribe through a tower subscription will not retain access to issues paid for through that subscription. We will soon be launching an archive access service which will enable you to buy back issues in bulk.

For users changing their type of subscription from individual to being a member of a group, all issues previously purchased under the individual subscription will continue to be available permanently.