I think this only fair: I am writing this to let any of my free readers know that they are not in fact crazy. I am password protecting posts. Most recently my Casual Camera post about signage.

I want to illuminate the why, to illustrate the line of thinking.

Right now, I have the website and a Patreon page. The Patreon page is sort of a separate extension of the website. But there’s a clear and definable difference between the two. A different URL, a different visual format, a different payment structure.

The reality of the matter is that I dislike having Patron-only posts on Patreon. Yeah, it’s still the Casual Ramble, but it feels like I have ceded some level of my independence. I have conceded that I have to split where my content goes and that feels… bad.

The easier and more consistent solution seemed to be publishing the Casual Camera galleries and Poetry on the website with a password protection that would last for a month before the next post went live.

I would like to maintain that this was not a matter of trying to take a shortcut; it was a matter of streamlining. The thought process behind all of this was to keep my process simple so I’m not creating and formatting the same post twice over. In that way, I can spend more time actually writing and editing, rather than managing schedules.

There is one major drawback to this. The “password protected:” modifier to the post titles is nothing if not ugly. If I had the choice, it would read “Patreon Exclusive” instead. And it doesn’t change the fact that some the site is locked behind a paywall with no clear understanding of how to circumvent it.

The only other option, however, is to use Patreon’s functions more. The main issue there is that I do not like the social media post settings for Patreon. If I link a post on Bluesky, for example, it blurs out the featured image and uses a blockish title font. It’s the most unappealing thing possible. I would much rather just use a low-resolution featured image from the post.

So, for now, the password protected option feels like a spoonful of medicine needed to ensure most of the stories, photography and poetry stay on the website.

We may just scrap it, all things told, and go back to posting on Patreon for exclusives. However, I would prefer to find a different solution, and I do have a leading candidate in that regard. If I decide to pursue it, I’ll make an announcement and all that.

In the meantime, please let me know how you feel about the use of password protection in the comments! If you’re a fellow writer on WordPress, I want to know if it works for you or if there are other solutions. If you’re a reader, I want to know what that password protected modifier says to you.

Let me know!

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Editors Note: Oh yeah, there’s also a free Casual Camera post that I just made live too! It was meant to be published in February, but I was climbing out of the depression pit that was the holiday season. If you’re curious to know what my Casual Camera series is all about, that’s a great place to start.

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