Site Subscriptions FAQ (updated 12/13/2024)
Thank you for considering a Daily Kos site subscription for yourself or for a friend. Your subscribed membership supports the independence of our site. In return, we allow subscribers to hide all ads.
If you are ready to subscribe for yourself, simply visit our subscription portal and follow the prompts. If you would like to purchase a gift subscription for someone else, visit this gift subscription portal instead. If you have questions about the process, the following set of FAQs may address yours.
Please note that the process differs at several key points for “self-subscribers,” namely those purchasing subscriptions for their own user accounts, and “gift subscribers,” namely those who are the recipients of subscriptions purchased for them by someone else. These differences are called out below where needed.
If the Q/A below does not help you resolve your issue completely, please feel free to open a ticket at the Help Desk [dkhelp@dailykos.helpscoutapp.com].
THE BASICS: WHO CAN SUBSCRIBE, HOW MUCH DOES IT COST, AND HOW DO I PURCHASE A SUBSCRIPTION FOR MYSELF OR FOR SOMEONE ELSE?
Who may subscribe?
Site subscriptions are now open to ANYONE who would like to support the site.
Already-registered members may purchase subscriptions for themselves, or purchase a gift subscription for someone else, whether a current site member or not.
Similarly, non-members may purchase subscriptions for themselves, or purchase a gift subscription for someone else, whether a current site member or not.
Detailed instructions for each case are provided below: see under GIFT subscriptions or SELF subscriptions.
How much does it cost to subscribe?
Subscriptions cost $60/year, a rate available both to SELF subscribers and as GIFT subscriptions. SELF subscribers may purchase a one-month subscription for $8/month ($96/year total).
GIFT subscriptions are available at two levels as well: the annual subscription for $60, and a six-month subscription for $45.
SELF subscriptions will auto-renew on the expiration date, whether monthly or annually.
GIFT subscriptions will not roll over; they are a one-time purchase.
NOTE THAT THESE RATES WILL INCREASE ON JANUARY 6, 2025
Self-subscriptions will increase to $90/year; the monthly self-sub rate will remain $8/month.
Gift subscriptions will also increase to $90/year; the six-month gift sub rate will remain $45.
We no longer allow the purchase of lifetime subscriptions, but we continue to honor those that were purchased when they were available.
How do I purchase a SELF subscription?
→ If I am a NON-MEMBER
Good news! NON-MEMBERS may now join and subscribe in one sequence.
If you wish to purchase a subscription but have yet to register an account, please follow these steps.
- Navigate to dailykos.com/subscribe in your web browser.
- On that page, supply your information to create a site username. (Note the optional step of joining our Action Alert mailing list on this registration form.)
- Upon completion of registration, you will receive an email link to confirm your now registered account.
- Once you have verified your email via the confirmation email, you will be redirected to the subscription page where you can set up either a one-year or a monthly subscription.
Please be aware that site members often subscribe simply for the sake of avoiding the ads and/or to support the site. We welcome all members to take an active role on the site through commenting, posting, or recommending, but there is no obligation to do so. The linked resource, "Quick Start Guides for Signing Up and Participating on Daily Kos," offers a number of resources useful for new site members.
Please note as well that joining our Daily Kos email list, though often also called "subscribing," is an entirely different and separate process. (Membership on our email list, like basic site membership, is free.) Details about signing up for our emails may be found in this article, “Daily Kos Activism.”
→ If I am already a site member (with a site username)?
If you're logged in, take these steps.
- Visit your user profile page (accessible via the Profile link in the pulldown attached to the round avatar in the upper right corner of the site's header) and click on the "Subscribe To Hide Ads" button in the left sidebar.
- OR go to the Subscribe page https://www.dailykos.com/subscribe
- Either route will redirect you to an online payment form. Complete as requested, deciding between the one-year and the one-month option, and you will be all set.
How do I sponsor a GIFT subscription?
→ If the recipient already has a site username and you know it
The handiest, most reliable way to give a gift subscription to a current site member is to start on your recipient's profile page. Such a page will have the syntax of
https://www.dailykos.com/users/user%20name
where the %20 stands in for any spaces within a username.
Look to the left sidebar on the user's profile page for two important details. The first is to check for the presence of a little Subscriber badge—a small white heart inside a scalloped orange circle, shown above. That badge shows the user already does have a site subscription in effect. The second is to look for a button, "Send Gift Subscription." The presence of that button indicates that it is possible to give a gift subscription to that user, and clicking it will redirect you to the page for processing the gift. If the button is not shown that means the member is not eligible for a subscription, which can happen for a variety of reasons.
It is also possible to purchase a gift subscription on behalf of a user whose name you know through the process described below.
Gift subscriptions, unlike self-subscriptions, do not auto-renew when the subscription period (either one year or six months) has passed. As the giver, however, you will receive notification by email about a week in advance of its expiration. You may choose to purchase another gift but are under no obligation to do so.
We no longer permit people to "stack" gift subscriptions for multiple periods. If you have received a gift subscription that is ending soon, you will receive an email notification in advance of your gift’s expiration date inviting you to create your own site subscription. Similarly, a notice will be sent to the person who bought the subscription for you to ask if they would like to give you another year’s subscription.
→ If the recipient does not have a username already, or if you do not know what it is.
This set of instructions applies if you don’t know the username for your intended recipient or if you don’t know whether they have an account here already. Please be aware, however, that your entry of a complete email address MAY confirm that they have a user account here. The system will NOT confirm any relationship between an email address and a username, and even the most logical inferences may not be correct.*
*Please be cautious about “guessing” a username. It is possible to reassign site subscriptions given in error, but it’s not always easy to know when an error has occurred. Usernames are unique, and a great number of fabulous usernames with broad appeal have already been chosen over the years. It’s awkward and time-consuming to correct such an error, even if you do figure it out somehow; we do not monitor subscription creation.
To give a subscription to someone who (as far as you know) does not have a username on the site, or someone whose username you do not know for a certainty, you must know their email address. Please follow these steps.
- Visit this page https://www.dailykos.com/subscribe/gift where you will see a text box in which you may enter a username or an email address. The latter is preferable for reasons detailed in the note*
- Key your recipient’s email address into the box and click Enter. Three possible results will display, based on our system’s recognition of the email you enter:
- Valid email: Message will appear in green letters underneath the text box. This answer does not on its own confirm that this email is actually associated with any site member, only that the email syntax is more or less accurate. NOTE that this determination does NOT check for typos, so take care.
- Email is invalid: Message will appear in red letters underneath the text box. This does not indicate anything either way about a connection between the email and a site member, only that the syntax is in error (missing the domain, say).
- Oops! Response, because the email address you entered is associated with someone who is not only a site member BUT ALSO has a subscription in effect.
- If you ARE attempting to locate a possible recipient by a username, you may see similar responses, with one extra one that may be obvious.
- Valid username (in green)
- Username is invalid (in red) For usernames, the syntax IS checked (though usernames are not case-sensitive).
- Oops! Response, for someone who does have a valid site sub already
- User is a staff member (in red)
- Once you do have either “valid username” or “valid email” returned for your entry, you may proceed with the gift subscription purchase. Please note these special details:
- You may choose either a one-year or a six-month subscription period.
- You may give this subscription anonymously.
FINER POINTS of SUBSCRIBING: PROCESS DETAILS, including CONFIRMATION; RENEWALS; CANCELLATION; CREDIT CARD MANAGEMENT
How is my subscription processed?
We now operate our site subscriptions via Stripe, a secure online payment management site. When you subscribe, you will have access to a portal built into our site that displays your personalized account information. That portal is http://dailykos.com/subscription-management The portal will permit you to view your subscription's expiration date, view (and edit) your payment method, view (and edit) your billing email, view your billing history, and cancel the autorenewal of your own annual subscription if you choose.
How do I know that my effort to subscribe succeeded?
If you have subscribed for yourself OR have purchased a gift subscription, you will have several ways to confirm it. You'll see a thank you page; you'll be able to view the payment page; and–for a self-subscription–you'll see an announcement of the subscription on your profile page.
If you’ve given a gift, then we will provide similar confirmations: a thank you page at the point of purchase, and then a record on your own subscription portal. We will also send you an email to thank you for it, and we will follow up with another email to let you know when your recipient has seen your gift. (A recipient of a gift subscription who already has a username will also see that announcement on their profile page.)
You will also see the white-heart-within-an-orange-circle badge (the image at the top of this FAQ) on the user profile page for yourself or for the recipient of the gift if they have a site username. To reach that user profile page for yourself, open the Daily Kos user menu underneath your main avatar and scroll down to the Profile link. To see another user’s profile page, search for their username or visit a page using this basic syntax: https://www.dailykos.com/users/user%20name where the %20 stands in for any spaces within a username.
Any subscriber will also see a button, Manage Subscription, in the left sidebar of their own user page. Clicking it will redirect to a page where a current subscription can be canceled, a card of record changed, or a gift subscription purchased.
How do I renew a subscription?
SELF-SUBSCRIBERS: If you purchased a subscription for yourself, your subscription is set to autorenew annually on your one-year or one-month anniversary date, using the card with which you originally paid for it. You will receive a reminder via email approximately two weeks in advance of the renewal date, whether you have an annual or a monthly subscription in effect. Our updated subscription portal allows you to edit your payment method and to set a default method if you've included more than one card.
There are two ways to reach your own site subscription portal.
- Visit your own user profile page (accessible via a link in the user dropdown menu) then click on the Manage Subscription button in the left sidebar.
- Visit the subscription management page at dailykos.com/subscription-management
GIFT SUBSCRIPTION RECIPIENTS: If you have received a gift subscription, it will not auto-renew. The person who gave it to you will receive an alert to renew your subscription prior to its expiration date. (Of course, that renewal is at the giver’s discretion.) You will receive your own, separate notification of the subscription’s impending expiration so you are not caught unaware. If you do nothing, and your original donor does nothing, the Gift Subscription will lapse.
Important: While your gift subscription is in effect, you will not be able to create a new site subscription for yourself. Only after the gift subscription has expired can you click on the “Switch to Individual Subscription” button on the subscription management page and complete the payment process on your own behalf.
How do I cancel a subscription?
- GIFT subscriptions are in effect for one year or six months only.
- SELF-subscriptions are designed to auto-renew either annually on the anniversary of the original purchase date, or monthly on the same date.
SELF-SUBSCRIBERS ONLY: You may cancel a subscription renewal at any time by going to the Subscription Management page when you are logged in. On the subscription management page, you will see the expiration date of your current subscription, a button to view or update your payment method, and a button to cancel your subscription. If you click on the cancellation button and then confirm the cancellation on the next page, you will have canceled your subscription renewal so that your subscription will end on your expiration date.
Please note that there are no refunds, pro-rated or otherwise, for canceled subscriptions. Thus, choosing to cancel your current subscription will not end it that same day. Cancellation merely means that no autorenewal will be processed on the subscription’s expiration date.
What if the information on my credit card is no longer valid, or if I want to use a different card for my subscription renewal?
If your card number changes or your card expires, so that a renewal charge would be declined, or if you want to have your subscription on a different card, you may continue your subscription without a break.
On Stripe, you may edit your payment method to ensure that we have the appropriate information on file when the time approaches for autorenewal. To do so, log in and go to the Subscription Management page. On that page you will see text announcing that you have a subscription in force, with its expiration date. You’ll also see a button that says, "View/Update Payment Method." Clicking on that button will redirect you to a page displaying your subscription status, your payment method(s), and your billing history. The payment method may be updated and saved.
SPECIAL SUBSCRIBER QUESTIONS: TURNING OFF ADS; REASSIGNING A SUBSCRIPTION
Why do I see ads if I am a subscriber?
Subscribing enables you to hide ads while you're signed in. Should you wish to see them again or if you accidentally turn them on, it remains possible to show/hide them via your Edit Profile page. Open the pulldown menu attached to your user avatar for the Show Ads/Hide Ads link.
Can I reassign my subscription if I decide to create a new username and abandon the username under which I was originally subscribed?
Yes. You must contact the Help Desk for assistance with that process.