How do *you* get a Dreamwidth?
I've seen some slightly alarming misconceptions about how to obtain a Dreamwidth account, so let me just clear this up a bit.
I think I covered all of the obvious possibilities, but I love to answer questions about Dreamwidth. Oh: you do not need to use an invite code to create a community. All personal accounts may create communities. You do not need a paid account to create a syndicated feed. All personal accounts may create feed acounts.
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- If all you want is the ability to comment on other people's entries and have a reading list, you can get an OpenID account this very instant for US$0 without an invite code. OpenID accounts have six icons, if you confirm your e-mail address you get comment notifications, and you can comment on entries where anonymous users are not allowed to comment.
Attention: To comment on entries where anonymous commenters are blocked, you must have (a) already confirmed your e-mail address and (b) be logged into DW before you hit reply. - If you would like to get a personal account (one that can make entries and join communities) before Open Beta, there are two ways to play the lottery: get an OpenID account or join the dw-discuss list, the dw-progress list (weekly progress reports), or the dw-launch list. These cost US$0, but they are a crapshoot.
- Ask your friends who have a Dreamwidth account for an invite code. If you don't have any friends with DW accounts, look around dw-codesharing, the official codesharing comm. P.S. My invite code list is pretty long now. I'll be happy to add you to the end of mine, but if you know someone else who is getting an account, it may be faster to ask them. These cost US$0, but invite codes are being issued on an irregular basis over time. Thanks for you patience.
- Starting the evening of April 30, you may purchase an account for US$3. A US$3 purchase represents one month of time as a paid user. Paid user benefits are very similar to the benefits on LJ, but there are no imagehosting, phoneposting, or SMS services. It is possible to buy up to a year of paid service or to buy at the premium level. Account levels and pricing are explained in greater detail on the wiki.
- Four hundred seed accounts will be sold, in two lots of 200 each. The first lot will be offered at launch, the second lot will be offered approximately twelve hours later. Seed accounts have a one time payment of US$200 in order to get permanent benefits at the premium level. All signs point to sell out in a very short period of time.
Seed accounts are a necessary evil. Dreamwidth's business plan is to be a service, for which users (who can afford it and like the perks) pay over the long haul. Seed accounts pay a lot of money, but they only pay it once. The revenue of all seed accounts being sold is the estimated operating costs for the first year of real service, i.e. after closed beta. The plan is that, by the end of the first year of service, paid accounts will pay for the service's operation. In effect, the seed accounts are being sold in lieu of pursuing a business loan or a venture capital investment.
I think I covered all of the obvious possibilities, but I love to answer questions about Dreamwidth. Oh: you do not need to use an invite code to create a community. All personal accounts may create communities. You do not need a paid account to create a syndicated feed. All personal accounts may create feed acounts.
Leave a comment (must be logged into DW first!) or Read Comments.