JenSocial: Social Web Directory and Ning Tips

Social Web Directory :: Social Network Directory :: Ning Tips and Ning Support

Ning Conference Calls Attendees: What Was Your Take? Here's Mine.

Ning Conference Calls Attendees: What Was Your Take? Here's Mine.

What Got My Attention On the Ning Conference Call - - The Plus Plan

I'm not sure if any of you chose to join one of the phone conferences Ning offered in the past couple of days. I attended the last one on Thursday May 6, 2010, before the final call on Friday (Spanish call).

I have to tell you, on behalf of a lot of fellow Network Creators and friends, I was pleasantly surprised with what all I heard. Even for the Plus Plan, the power and features will be so much more than currently offered. With the exception of uploading Videos, Music and branded players, the Plus is like all of the premium services put together, plus a whole lot more, and all for $19.95 per month. This is actually a good deal less than premium networks pay today, for the same features - - again, except the music and video uploads. But the most critical point to keep in mind, there are a host of additional features you will gain from the Plus, that no one has today. Read more, below.

There were a lot of exciting topics touched-on in the conference call. And, for current premium customers it's almost a no-brainer. I have been a premium subscriber since day one, and will remain a premium. However, my main reason for joining the call was to learn and share any information I thought would be helpful to fellow Network Creators; especially for those of you who are currently free Ning Networks, and are struggling with making a decision. Some of you know your next move, and that's great. For those who aren't sure, and are considering the Plus Plan, here are a few tidbits I retained from the call.

Plus Plan Highlights:
Since the biggest loss is uploading videos and music, I will cover that first. In regards to Video, my understanding is: if you choose to go with the Plus instead of the Pro, any videos you currently have on your site will remain accessible in the same manner they are today. However, you or members will not be able to upload any more in the future. But, here's the thing. You can upload/host your videos somewhere like YouTube and add the embedded code to your Ning Network, in pretty much any text box from the home page to profile pages. And, I believe you will still be able to upload Videos with the "+Add Video" feature. My guess is: you just won't see an upload button, but a text box for embedded code.

For music, you can use a similar method for music uploads, by utilizing embedded music players. There are several free music players available online - - and you can use the embedded code for those players on your Ning Network. I know for sites where video and music uploads are critical, this adds an extra step. However, if these two media formats are that critical to a site, you probably should figure out how to upgrade to the Pro Plan.

This is how I see it, if I were trying to make a decision. If I could not go to the Pro Plan, and I could live with video and music embeds, the Plus Plan is awesome. This is why.

Unlimited Members
All the features premium Networks enjoy today, with that one exception of no uploads on video and music.
Removal of all Ning Branding. Now you can promote your brand completely.
Ad-free - - you can run your own Ads, even if just Google Adsense. You can sell whatever you want - - I suppose as long as it's not illegal or something in the p-o-r-n arena. Note: Our bad word filter is working, hence the dashes.
Your site will no longer carry the Ning brand/name. When a new member signs-up, they will see your name, your brand.
And this simply ROCKS! Sign-in with Facebook, Twitter or other authentication services
(Coming soon)
You will have the option of using your own domain name.
You will have new features like special text boxes for the header/footer.
Small yet very powerful new features like: being able to choose the home page - - what your members and visitors will see first.
Member Stats
25 Text Boxes and 25 RSS Feeds
Feature controls like: Hide invite, share, Facebook or Twitter links, turn off private messaging, and strengthen member verification.

Here's another topic that of course got my attention - - optional premium Memberships:
I can't remember if this was available for Plus and Pro. If any other attendee knows, please let us know and I will move it up to the bulleted items for the Plus Plan.

You will be able to choose whether or not you want to charge members for membership, and the way I heard it: you should be able to choose areas of your Social Network, and enable a membership fee for that specific area. It wasn't clear on when this level of membership fees would be available, and I may have misunderstood how this will work. Time will tell. I do believe however, the basic "membership fee" feature will be available soon. Additionally, the Ning platform will process the payments for you, via PayPal.

There was definitely more covered in the call, and especially with the unique questions/answers asked by fellow Ning Network Creators. For example: a fellow Network Creator asked if Ning would raise their rates. The Ning Team was very quick to answer, "We have no plans to raise the rates." You had to be there. It was very convincing. But, time will tell.

I have covered the main points I caught. If anyone else reading this discussion attended a call, and you want to add more, or correct anything I've stated, please do. :-)

NING CONFERENCE CALL ATTENDEES: Please share what you got from the Conference Call you attended. Network Creators asked questions for each call. If there was anything you found of interest and want to share, we'd all love to hear it.

There is one last call scheduled for Friday May 7, and will be conducted in Spanish. If attendees would like to share what you get out of the Spanish speaking meeting, please feel free to share with Spanish-speaking friends, here, and in Spanish.

Hoping everyone is able to make the absolute best decision.

Best,
Jen

0 members favorited this

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by D. Patrick on May 7, 2010 at 9:32am

AWESOME! Thanks SO much, Jen!!! I'm really excited about the Plus plan.

If they could beef up the groups module feature a bit, it would solve a lot of other problems as far as consolidating a few free networks under the Plus plan via groups.

But the points you detailed are really great, especially the integrated signin with Facebook and Twitter.

Makes perfect sense about video/music, too.

Was anything said, by any chance, about the groups features or chat? Might there be a way to have groups have their own chat feature, rather than network chat only?

Thanks again!

Dena

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by JenSocial on May 7, 2010 at 9:47am

Hi Dena,
My pleasure! I don't particularly remember anything special that was said about Group or Chat. But, maybe another Attendee did, and will share.
Best Regards,
Jen

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by ABCD in Action on May 7, 2010 at 2:51pm

Nothing was said or asked specifically about having your own chat feature on the call I was on. I did bring up that Groups were a huge loss with the Minis, especially for teachers, who will want to have their kids work in groups or schools who will have teachers who want to work in groups. They acknowledged that they have been getting that feedback from some folks - didn't exactly say they would consider adding Groups to the Minis, but didn't say it was out of the question either.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Venus over Pan on May 7, 2010 at 9:40am

Sounds good to me :)

THANK YO SO MUCH Jen!

Love you much Sweetheart *XXX*

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by JenSocial on May 7, 2010 at 9:48am

Same back at cha! And, my pleasure to share.
Best Regards,
Jen

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by JenSocial on May 7, 2010 at 10:04am

Hi Bob,
I agree, since Ning is a platform and not your own hosted solution, the name will never be able to be removed completely. But, I do feel Ning is moving more towards a "powered by", instead of a "We own you" kind of feel. My understanding is, now, when a member forgets their password, that page will contain the Social Network's branding, instead of the Ning brand.

Time will tell.
Best,
Jen

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by RoadHouse Rockers on May 7, 2010 at 10:32am

{"With the exception of uploading Videos, Music and branded players,"} is only THE single Most Important Reason Why Most Of Us are here in the First place

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by JenSocial on May 7, 2010 at 10:40am

RoadHouse Rockers,
I have a lot of respect for your opinions and thoughts. But, I can't agree with you on this one. Don't get me wrong. I definitely hear you, and know that this is very important to your type Network. But I don't believe it's the single most important feature, for most networks. And, maybe I'm very wrong.

Do know this. I'm not pushing Ning, and in fact trying very much to stay neutral these days. But, I do like what I see for the Plus and Pro Plans, and wanted to share.

Do I like how this all came about and the way it was announced? No.

In the future, I do believe we will see that the majority of these type Social Networking platforms will charge to host videos. I've been in several phone call meetings with Ning competitors. I know this will be the case. And really, after thinking about it, and learning the costs involved with the storage and bandwidth, it's understandable.

We'll have to agree to disagree on this one. ;-)
Best,
Jen

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Pet Lovers Paradise on May 7, 2010 at 12:52pm

I agree with you, Jen. I really think it depends on the network. I've had my site for two years now, and we've had limited use of the video feature. We have almost 9500 photos, and about 300 videos. If folks couldn't post their photos, I am certain there would be concerns, but I really don't feel the same about the videos.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Peter J. Brown on May 7, 2010 at 10:39am

To many are using Ning Creators to spam with, instead of addressing the person it is intended for, and Ning is allowing it.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by JenSocial on May 7, 2010 at 10:43am

Off topic, but that's for sure! I reported several yesterday - - finally got sick of it. One guy sent me 13 emails within 2 minutes. Needless to say, I removed him from my friend list.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by RoadHouse Rockers on May 7, 2010 at 10:40am

free external players bring in lots of the problems we currently have wich is why most of us old hands at this Don't use them in the first place , so i hope the incurred bandwidth loss with ning continuosly being pinged by external servers etc,,, That was why wetsworld was doing the ning based image bank to stop that problem ... so its 2 steps foward and one step back ..........................