Subscriber help - Religion News Service

Welcome, subscribers! Below is a list of common help requests. If you can’t find what you need, please contact Wendy Gustofson for additional assistance.

Common Questions about our downloads system

How do I reset my username and password?

Usernames cannot be reset or changed. Contact Ron Ribiat if you forgot your username.

Reset your password here. Submit your username, then check your email for a reset link (note: emails are sent to the main contact email on your account, so check with others in your office — including business and management departments — if you don’t receive a message right away). Click the reset link, then enter a new password. Log in to the site with your new password.

How do I download RNS stories and photos?

Review RNS stories via E-WIRE (individual stories) or Daily Report (compilation) emails, or through the AP feed. Note the stories you’d like to reprint.

You can either click story links in news wire emails to load stories directly, or you can search on ReligionNews.com and click a headline to load a story.

Once you’ve loaded a story page, scroll to the bottom and click the “Free – download now” button. An “Added to cart” confirmation will appear. Repeat for as many stories as you wish, then click the “Checkout” button (TIP: the “Free – download now” button changes to “Checkout” after an item is loaded to your cart).

On the checkout page, enter your email address and name, and then click “Purchase” (TIP: all stories and photos will be free for subscribers and won’t require any payment information).

On the download confirmation page, below each story title will be a list of all the downloads available, including our license agreement, stories in plain text or html, photos in web or print resolution, and photo captions/credits. Click only the files you need, which immediately prompts them to download to your computer. Alternately, you can click file links from the email receipt you’ll receive each time you checkout with the system.

Open your downloaded files to start plugging them into your content management systems.

Why don't I see a 'Free - download button' on a story I want to download?

Make sure you’re logged in. If you’re logged in and no button is visible, then the story is not available for reprint. Any blog post be default is not available for reprint.

How do I download RNS stories and photos?

Some photos visible in the story are not included as a download file. Why?

Can I use this system to download previously-published stories and photos?

Yes! We only ask that you read photo captions carefully to determine the reprint allowance for each photo as those stories were published prior to the debut of our new downloads system.

I downloaded the files, but now I can't find them on my computer. Where did they go?

When you click the file links, the downloads go to the default location you set for your web browser. Typically those locations could include your desktop, your C Drive, your Documents or My Documents Folder, or your Downloads folder.

Can I use this system on a mobile device or tablet?

We recommend you use a desktop machine or laptop for ease of use.

Do I still need to use the RNS archives site (Archives.ReligionNews.com)?

Your accounts on our archives site are still intact in the event that you cannot find a story or photo on our main site. We think, however, that nearly all your needs will be served by our new downloads system. You are also welcome to ask our photo editor for help in locating photos if the need arises. Note: new RNS stories and photos will not be uploaded to our archives site, effective 5/21/15.

What are the file types this new system offers?

You can now choose two kinds of story files: plain text or html. You can use the html (web code) versions of stories to copy and paste the web code directly into your content management system’s html tab to keep hyperlinks and formatting intact. For photos you can choose between a story’s featured thumbnail image, low-res story images and high-res story images. Each low or high-res photo also comes with a caption and credit text file. And finally, every story download includes a copy of our license agreement.

I tried to reset my account password, but I never received the reset email. What now?

Check with others in your office to see if they received the email. There is only one email address associated with each RNS account, and on occasion that email address is that of management or business personnel. If no one else has seen the email address, request help.

I can't remember my username. What now?

Contact our staff. We can look up the username and send it to you.

Is there a limit to how many stories and photos I can download?

There is no limit. Please refer to the license agreement that is downloaded with each story to ensure best practices for using our content.

I tried to log in and it said my account has expired. What now?

Contact us to update your account’s payment information. Usually this indicates we haven’t received payment for your subscription.