"Digital Libraries", also known as "Digital Bookshelves" are growing in popularity as a way to sell ebooks and other online periodicals. In a Digital Library, store owners don't sell the periodicals directly instead the customer purchases a subscription to the Library service. The subscription provides the customer with access to a members-only Library which is stocked with a growing, revolving inventory of ebooks, articles, forms and other periodicals they can download and enjoy.
More and more clients have been asking what's the best way to set this up in Modular Merchant. It's actually pretty simple to set up and maintain! Here's an example of how a Digital Library could be managed. The three necessary components are: Modular Merchant's Marketplace STANDARD shopping cart software, the Digital Delivery module, and the Subscription & Membership Products module all included in Modular Merchant's standard account package.
Following is a tutorial on how you can set up your own Digital Library. Note: This tutorial assumes the reader is familiar with setting up standard products and digital products in their Modular Merchant account. For more information on setting up products, refer to Modular Merchant's Admin Guide and Digital Delivery module manual.
1. Activating Modules
If you haven't done so already, activate your account's Digital Delivery and Subscription & Membership Products modules. This is as easy as entering your module's activation code and clicking the Activation button. If you have misplaced your module activation codes, contact Modular Merchant Tech Support for a replacement.
2. Create Your "Subscription" Product
Create a product in your shopping cart that will be the "Digital Library" subscription. This will be the product the customer purchases in your online store. (The "Product Editor" tool is located in your account's administration area at: Products > Add a Product.)
For example: The Digital Library in our example store, Robot Roundtable, will contain a growing number of ebooks and articles pertaining to the proper care and feeding of robots. We will create a new product in our store catalog titled, "Robot Roundtable Reading Room". When a customer purchases this product, they will gain access to the library. |
3. Set Recurring Billing Rules
If you will be charging a regular subscription fee for your Digital Library service, you will need to add a rule for this to your Digital Library product. This can be done in the "Scheduled Billing" section of the Product Editor.
For example: Subscription fees to our "Robot Roundtable Reading Room" product will be billed on the 20th of every month. In the "Scheduled Billing" section of the product editor, we'll set our product to the following settings: Product Billing Term: We'll set this option to "Re-schedule an order on the 20th day of every 1 month(s), with a 10 day grace period." Rescheduling Options: We'll set this option to "Restart its cycle in the Scheduled Order queue." This will cause this product to continue rescheduling an order for itself every month, creating an infinite loop. That way, I don't need to manually enter an order for each customer each month. The shopping cart software will automatically do it for me. |
4. Uploading Files
Now that we have a product the customer will purchase to start their subscription, we'll need to provide the ebooks and articles their subscription gives them access to. This is done with the Digital Delivery module.
Firstly, upload the ebooks, articles and other "Digital Objects" that your library will contain. Do this within the Digital Delivery module's "Add a Digital Object" tool, located at: Modules > Digital Delivery > Add a Single Digital Object. Using this tool, you'll be able to upload the files, name them, and add instructions that will be displayed next to the file's download button in your library.
For example: To start with, our library will contain five ebooks:
1. Robot Repair Made Somewhat Easy (PDF)
2. Wheels or Treads: The Debate Continues (Excel Spreadsheet)
3. A Review of Isaac Asimov's I, Robot: Essential Reading? (Podcast)
4. An Introductory Guide to Soldering (PDF)
5. Rampage! Preventing Robot Rebellion (Podcast) Using the Add a Single Digital Object tool, I'll upload and create a "Digital Object" for each of them. Once all five are created, I'm ready to make them available to my subscribers in the next step. |
After your files have been uploaded and your Digital Objects have been created, the next step is to assign them to your product(s). When a customer buys your "Digital Library" subscription product, they will have access to all of the Digital Objects that are assigned it.
5. Making Files Available to Subscribers
Let's return to the Product Editor and assign the Digital Objects we've created to our "Robot Roundtable Reading Room" product. In the Product Editor, click on the tab for the "Digital Delivery" section. In this section, select "Download Only" for the Digital Product Type. Below that option you will find a menu containing all the Digital Objects you have created. The Digital Objects you select from this list will be available to your subscribers.
For example: To start with, I'll assign the following three Digital Objects to my "Robot Roundtable Reading Room" product:
1. Robot Repair Made Somewhat Easy (PDF)
2. Wheels or Treads: The Debate Continues (Excel Spreadsheet)
3. A Review of Isaac Asimov's I, Robot: Essential Reading? (Podcast) Now, when a customer purchases a subscription to the "Robot Roundtable Reading Room", they will have access to download these three files. |
6. Maintenance
You may have noticed that I didn't assign all five of the Digital Objects to my "Robot Roundtable Reading Room" product. Why not? Is this a mistake? No. Let's take a look at the method behind the madness...
Since my Digital Library is an ongoing subscription, the list of files the subscribers have access to will grow and change over time.
For example: Next month, I will open my "Robot Roundtable Reading Room" product in the Product Editor. In the editor's "Digital Delivery" section, I'll add the following Digital Object to the list of those assigned to this product:
4. An Introductory Guide to Soldering (PDF) Now, both current and new subscribers will have access to download this file! |
For example: The month after that, I will open my "Robot Roundtable Reading Room" product in the Product Editor. In the editor's "Digital Delivery" section, I'll add the following Digital Object to the list of those assigned to this product:
5. Rampage! Preventing Robot Rebellion (Podcast) And then, just to be interesting, I'll remove the Digital Object:
2. Wheels or Treads: The Debate Continues (Excel Spreadsheet)
Why? Because I've decided to make this file available as a stand-alone product my customers can purchase in the store, and don't want it to be available in the Digital Library anymore. Now, both current and new subscribers will have access to the "Rampage..." podcast, but the "Wheels or Treads..." spreadsheet won't be listed in for download anymore. |
And there you have it. Over the coming months I can add downloads to my Digital Library by assigning more Digital Objects to the "Robot Roundtable Reading Room" product. Whatever I assign to it will automatically be available for download to my subscribers.
This is just one of several different ways in which a Digital Library can be set up in your store. This is the simplest method. Different approaches are available, each with their own level of sophistication and technical requirements. If you have any questions on Digital Libraries, let us know!
Hot Tip: Customize the shelf life of the products in your Digital Library.
The Digital Delivery module's options allow you to set the "shelf life" of your customer's downloads. The shelf life control how long customers have access to their downloads after their initial purchase. For example, a shelf life of 24 hours will allow a customer to download their files for an entire day after their purchase. A Digital Library introduces a potential problem: A customer may want to download files days, weeks or months after their initial purchase. But, if you set your Digital Delivery module's shelf life option to a million years, then customers that purchase other digital products in your store that aren't part of your Digital Library, then they'll be able to download those files for a million years too. The solution is simple. When you create a Digital Object (step 4 above) you may assign a custom shelf life to that Digital Object. So, while your store's general shelf life may be set to 24 hours, a specific Digital Object you're going to use in your Digital Library could be set to a million years. That way, only that specific file will have a shelf life of a million years. All the other digital products in your store will retain their original 24 hour shelf life. |
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