Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How do I create an account?

Go to the Sign In Page.

Enter your name, email address, and create a password.

Check your email (including junk/spam) for the one-time passcode (OTP).

Enter the OTP on the website and click "Verify".

Once verified, your account will be created.

Q: How do I subscribe?

Click Subscribe at the top left of the homepage, or visit www.westernstandard.news/subscription.

Choose your preferred plan (monthly or yearly) and follow the checkout process.

Q: What is the difference between a free and paid account?

A free account gives you limited access to a few articles per month. Once your account is created, you will also be automatically opted-in to the daily email newsletter.

A paid subscription is affordable, supports our newsroom, and gives you full access to all content on our site — including all news, opinion pieces, and our entire "Watch" section.

Q: What is the difference between the daily newsletter and a paid subscription?

When you create a free account, you're automatically subscribed to our daily newsletter. This email includes a summary of recent headlines to help you stay up to date.

However, the newsletter itself does not include full articles. When you click on a headline, you'll be directed to our website, where you must be logged in and have an active paid subscription to read the full content.

The newsletter is simply a helpful preview — full access requires a paid membership.

Q: I’m only interested in news from my region. Do you offer regional newsletters?

Yes — we offer regional newsletters that you can subscribe to separately.

To manage your preferences, visit the “Publications” tab on our website and select “Free Newsletters.” From there, you can opt into updates specific to your region.

You can also manage your newsletter preferences by scrolling to the bottom of any Western Standard newsletter email and clicking “Manage Preferences.”

Q: How do I update my payment information as a paid member?

Click the Customer Portal.

Enter your email address. You’ll receive a login link via email—click it to access your account.

From there, you can update your contact info, change your credit card, and view all past invoices.

Q: How can I access my invoices?

Click the Customer Portal.

Enter your email address. You’ll receive a login link via email—click it to sign in.

Once inside the portal, you’ll be able to view, download, or print all of your invoices.

Q: How do I update my username or profile photo?

You can update your username or profile photo by logging into your account and navigating to the My Profile page. From there, click the pencil (✏️) icon next to your name or photo to make changes.

Please note: the username and photo you choose will be visible when you leave comments under articles.

Q: I forgot my password. How do I reset it?

Go to the Sign In Page.

Enter your email address and click Continue. Click “Forgot password?”

A One-Time Password (OTP) code will be sent to your email. Enter the OTP on the website and follow the prompts to reset your password.

Didn’t get the email? Check your junk or spam folders—sometimes it ends up there.

Still no luck? Email us at membership@westernstandard.news and our team can manually reset it for you.

Q: I forgot which email address I used to sign up. What should I do?

No worries—just email our team at membership@westernstandard.news and we’ll help you recover your account.

Please include your full name and phone number in the message so we can locate your subscription quickly.

Q: How do I update my email address?

At this time, users are not able to update their email address directly through the site. This is in place to prevent unauthorized sharing of subscriptions.

If you’ve changed your email and would like us to update it for you, please contact us at membership@westernstandard.news. A member of our team will verify your request and make the update on your behalf.

Q: How do I cancel my subscription?

To cancel your subscription, please email us at membership@westernstandard.news or call us at 1.866.479.WEST (9378), ext. 0.

Q: Why am I being blocked from reading articles even though I’m a paid member?

Most likely, you’re not logged in. This is the most common issue we see. Your account doesn’t automatically stay signed in across different devices or browsers.

For example, if you usually read on Google Chrome and suddenly open our site in Safari, you’ll need to log in again. Same goes if you switch from your phone to your laptop.

Your device or browser will usually remember you as long as you’ve signed in at least once—unless your browser settings are set to clear cookies or forget passwords.

Q: Why can't I comment at the bottom of an article?

You’re likely not signed in to your account. Commenting is only available to logged-in users. Don’t worry — it’s quick and free to create an account!

Q: What are the rules for the comment section of the website?

Our general policy is maximum freedom — but with a dose of common sense to keep the space readable and enjoyable for everyone. Here’s what we expect:

  • Be respectful: Disagree all you want, but personal attacks on other users won't fly.
  • No violent content: Comments that advocate for violence will be removed.
  • Be intelligible: Free expression is welcome, but aim to be thoughtful and coherent.
  • Don't be that person: If you're posting 500-word rants or trying to provoke everyone, expect your comment to be flagged.
  • We’re a private company: We reserve the right to ban users for excessive posting, harassment, threats, or just being a perpetual jerk.
  • Borderline comments may be delayed: Our system flags questionable content for manual review. It may still be approved after a check by our team.

Thanks for keeping it civil and on-topic.

Q: Can I download articles from your website onto my computer for later use?

Not really. We don’t offer a download option, and most of our content is behind a paywall since we rely on subscribers to keep us going.

That said, you can share articles using the share button at the top of each post or by copying the URL from your browser.

Keep in mind: anyone you share the link with will usually need to be logged in to read the article — but even a free account on our site gives access to a few free articles each month!

Q: What is your policy on staff using AI?

All of our content is written by our staff. Writers may use AI tools for things like spellcheck, grammar support, or image generation when appropriate — to help illustrate stories more effectively.

In some cases, for quick-turnaround items like press releases or basic announcements, we may use AI to help speed things along. These pieces will always appear under the byline Western Standard News Services — never under a staff reporter’s name.

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