Apologies if this has already been posted ( I can't receive daily updates from this forum), but on asking Fine Woodworking why the magazine hasn't been in newsagents this year, they have advised that it is subscription-only.
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Apologies if this has already been posted ( I can't receive daily updates from this forum), but on asking Fine Woodworking why the magazine hasn't been in newsagents this year, they have advised that it is subscription-only.
A predictable move I guess. This removes the need for a supply chain and gives them tighter control on production numbers saving money there also. Buy it now because print production will end and digital will be the only edition they will publish if they survive at all.
I'm watching the FWW journey through the "new media" transition with interest, having been a subscriber for many years.
What I feel they are doing well, is to use the print magazine as but one arm of the octopus, all helping to build a FWW community.
Consider the amount of free content they produce across social media, their in-person events (when global pandemics don't get in the way), and support of woodworking schools/classes across the US. Even schools which don't advertise with them.
From my perspective they have a platform, and are using it to the betterment of the broader woodworking community. That said, their unlimited subscription is a bit much for me when converted to AUD.
Whilst I appreciate a paper magazine, I decided to forego this about a year ago, as Australia Post were having problems getting the physical copy to me (not just that, but normal mail too). To eliminate the heartache, I dropped the magazine subscription and scaled back to digital only, as an unlimited member.
I think one of the problems FWW have is that they have produced so much content over the years that it is/was getting really hard to find the stuff you needed on their site.
I also think this is something the new editor (Mike Pekovich) is trying to tackle, particularly with the new "guides" they're releasing, where they're curating content, and collecting it all under a relevant topic/banner.
They have more challenges to solve in this space - personally speaking, I find the unlimited membership to represent good value, though I'm sure it's not so for everyone, depending on their needs and wants.
Having tried several other competing organisations over the past few years, FWW was the only one that I kept, though the one I haven't tried yet is Woodsmith - it does look appealing (though, so did some of the others).
It’s not FWW but you can probably get online access to a number of woodworking magazines from your library.
Mine gives me online at-home access to five woodworking magazines free.
Regards,
Brian
Quote:
Originally Posted by Midnight Man
I basically agree, but would phrase it differently - FWW has a third rate search engine, no where near as good as google. And therein lies a partial solution.
From outside their website, and say I was searching for left handed chisels thenI would just add "FWW" to the search parameters and google "FWW left handed chisels" and if there was a magazine article google would usually find it. Not always, but usually.
Using Google advanced search gives some good ways to filter searches in any specific domain. For some reason Google does not exactly make it easy to find the advanced search page at all.
Google Advanced Search
No need to use the advanced search page for that - just add "site:finewoodworking.com" to your search terms to limit it to that domain.Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris Parks
It offers other ways to filter searches without having to know how to phrase Boolean search terms but yes I take your point.Quote:
Originally Posted by mpot
One thing I forgot to make mention of, FWW have just released all their digital plans to Unlimited subscribers at no charge.
I found this was a welcome addition to an already valuable resource - whilst the plans are in imperial measurements, it's not hard to convert, and even if the plan itself isn't used, the techniques and methods used to design a piece can often be very informative.
If you use Chrome (or a derivative such as Brave, which I use) then there are plugins obtainable that do context searching much better.
e.g. Selection Context Search - Chrome Web Store
This one is for Firefox Context Search – Get this Extension for 🦊 Firefox (en-US)
Selection Context Search is an excellent plugin. Highlight the text you are after and up pops a set of selections. One is the equivalent of "search this site".
I use it for the WWF all the time as the search on here is.... ah, very terrible.
I've added (in the options area) the various extra sites I use frequently and pruned off the 101 extra unused ones.