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Review: Ning Mobile App - A New Interface, and Easy as 1-2-3 to Customize!

Ning has just completed and implemented a new interface for the Ning Mobile App. The new interface is a great improvement from the older mobile app interface. If you dig around a little, you'll be pleasantly surprised. At first glance, it appears that all you can do is add modules, pages, move pages around (which I love!), and add a logo. However, if you click on each "Module" page, you'll discover you have several options for customization. Below are the highlights of the features, from Creators.ning.com:

Design details: The Ning Mobile site is standardized for design consistency, but there are a few branding options for Ning Creators to take advantage of. You can upload a logo to replace the name of a network in the header or change the background color of the header. A preview mode is also provided to see what it all looks like before committing to a change.

Choose your pages: Ning Creators can choose the pages they wish to display and how the data on the pages is sorted (e.g., by "Latest Activity"). Some pages include choices about whether to show or hide preview-style content. Don't like the order of pages? Ning Creators can drag and drop them and reorder them to their satisfaction. The first one listed will function as the "Main Page."

Opt-out option: Don't want a mobile version? We've got you covered. If a Ning Creator removes all of the pages from the Mobile section of the dashboard, visitors will instead be shown the desktop version of your Ning Network.

Back-out option: We've included a "Desktop View" for any member or visitor who wants to switch off the mobile version and rely on the standard desktop view.

I was particularly pleased to see the ability to change module headers, add RSS feeds, and add custom HTML to a new page. I experienced one thing that threw me a little: when I clicked on the SAVE button within the "Module" page, it didn't seem that anything happened. But, it did save my first change. When I tried to change the title again, it didn't save. Today, all seems to be working properly. It could be my browser, not sure. I felt it worth mentioning. There may be a few bugs, yet. That's nothing to sweat about when a brand new product has been rolled out - - report any bugs to Ning if you experience any.

From the Site Visitor and Member's vantage point, the interface is smoother, better swiping experience, works better on most smartphones, offers more content availability, and a more enjoyable mobile experience. I actually found it to be fun! With the old mobile app, I would run to the "Desktop View" if I wanted to add any content. It also taught me what I need to do to clean up stale content! Be sure to flip back/forth, to see what you are adding to your mobile app. If by chance you don't have access to a smartphone, you can at least view your mobile app via http://yourning.com/m

Smartphone Access:

Newbies to mobile apps: When you access your Ning Network from a smartphone, in the past you could enter http://yourning.com/m, and most smartphones depending on your OS (Operating System) would automatically direct you to the mobile app. Now, Ning automatically directs you to the mobile app. To change your view to "Desktop View" or to select a different available module, click on Settings button in upper right of screen. See screenshot below.

Ning Network Creators: To access the Mobile App Interface on your Ning Network, go to your dashboard - My Network/Settings/Mobile

The interface is very well written and self-explanatory. As with any interface, it takes experimenting with the features, and checking your mobile app to view your success. =)

Ning Network Creators, like mentioned above, this interface offers much more customization than the old Mobile App, which was close to none. And the best part? It couldn't be easier to customize! It took me 10 minutes to upload a simple logo, move a few pages around, and basically learn the interface. I popped back/forth between my Mobile Customization Page and my Smartphone. The next day I spent another 30-45 minutes perfecting my mobile app content.

Bottom line: The app is beautiful on the smartphone, and light years ahead of the old app. This is a great move forward for the Ning platform, and a much needed improvement. Ning also makes promises to add more features in the future.

For more details and FAQ, go to discussion on Creators.

Be sure to spend at least 10-15 minutes checking out your settings, and access your site via a smartphone to see your Site Visitor's mobile experience.

~ Jen

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Home Based Business Program on July 21, 2012 at 10:39pm

Hi Jen, I am having the same problem, when I try to edit on the "mobile pages" section, the "save" button won't work. Also, when I try to "add a new page", its not working as well. Already submitted the ticket to support team.

Permalink Reply by Home Based Business Program on July 23, 2012 at 9:35pm

Hi Jen, the support team fix the problem. This is their answer:

"Sorry to hear you're experiencing this issue. I tested this out from over here and everything looks to be working properly on our end. It sounds like what you're encountering is due to a browser or JavaScript issue. To fix this, disable any plug-ins and add-ons in your browser, and ensure that JavaScript is enabled in the browser.

You can also try accessing the network in a different browser (http://www.ning.com/help/?p=2569), and seeing if that improves what you encounter."

Ben

Permalink Reply by JenSocial on July 23, 2012 at 10:02pm

Ben,

Ning is stating that it is due to your custom scripts in your Custom Code Box, and would say the same to me. And that's not always true. The nicest way I can say this - - that is their "canned" answer, always our code is causing the issue. On the Support Team's side of things, it's almost impossible for them to fully troubleshoot so many cases with so many scripts. We will have to do 1 of 2 things. Wait until they finally fix it, so it doesn't conflict with many scripts. Or, remove our scripts one at a time, on each of our networks, and see what fixes it. I find that over time, Ning's new features will finally work with our custom scripts. Let me know if you discover anything. I will do the same. Last I checked mine was working better.

Best Regards,

Jen

Permalink Reply by Home Based Business Program on July 23, 2012 at 9:38pm

Hi Jen, I don't understand one of the page which we can add, what is "HTML" about?

Permalink Reply by JenSocial on July 23, 2012 at 10:03pm

No sure what you're asking. If you are asking what is HTML, best way to get started is via Google searches. Let me know, and I will make suggestions.

Best,

Jen

Permalink Reply by Home Based Business Program on July 24, 2012 at 9:10pm

Hi Jen, what I mean is when we want to add a page to our "Mobile Pages" section, it will ask which page to add in the pop up boxes "Add a New Page".

For example, we can add activity, blogs, photos etc.

And one of the "page type" in the drop down menu is "HTML", I wonder what is that page for?

Have a wonderful day!

Ben

Permalink Reply by Home Based Business Program on July 24, 2012 at 10:06pm

Hi Jen,

I went through this article: http://creators.ning.com/forum/topics/ning-mobile-a-new-interface-d...

I think "HTML" page is probably something that we can customize ourselves.

Ben

Permalink Reply by JenSocial on July 24, 2012 at 10:48pm

That's correct.

Permalink Reply by JenSocial on July 24, 2012 at 10:34pm

Ben,

It means that you can create a page that contains HTML. For example, you could add a page with simple links.

HTML Code you would enter:

<ul>
<li style="list-style: none outside none; display: inline;">
<h3 style="color: #8dab4e ! important;">Site Links</h3>
</li>
<li><a href="http://jensocial.com/page/link-to-jensocial">Link to Us</a></li>
<li><a href="http://jensocial.com/page/guidelines-1">Site Guidelines</a></li>
<li><a href="http://jensocial.com/main/authorization/termsOfService">Terms of Service</a></li>
<li><a href="http://test-20e1e8o4cf577ea1cc45.ning.com/main/index/report">Report an Issue</a></li>
</ul>

Results seen on Mobile App for HTML code above:

Or you could add something like an image with a link, most any HTML would work. You would of course need to be mindful of the width of your content. For example, I have added the Socrata Data Table that lists the VIP Tips. It is a little too wide. Socrata provides embedded code. The embedded code/HTML looks like the code below.

HTML code you would enter in new page:

<p><a style="font-size:18px;" href="http://jensocial.com/group/premiumningtipsbyjen">VIP Club Access Link</a></p><div><iframe width="425px" title="Premium Tips View" height="425px" src="https://opendata.socrata.com/w/8r3i-v3rc/y34g-bnf3?cur=F7jPfND_jYT&from=xUEWShu0Xna" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"><a href="https://opendata.socrata.com/Education/Premium-Tips-View/8r3i-v3rc" title="Premium Tips View" target="_blank">Premium Tips View</a></iframe><p><a href="http://www.socrata.com/" target="_blank">Powered by Socrata</a></p></div>

Results:

VIP Club Access Link

To see the page above live, go to Mobile App for JenSocial (http://jensocial.com/m), and click on VIP Ning Tips.

VIP Ning Tips

Hope that helps,

Jen

Permalink Reply by JenSocial on July 24, 2012 at 10:35pm

Oops, the Socrata code will not work in this discussion. So, to see results of the Socrata HTML, access the Mobile App and click on VIP Ning Tips.

Permalink Reply by Home Based Business Program on July 24, 2012 at 10:43pm

OMG Jen, this is powerful! Thank you!

Permalink Reply by JenSocial on July 24, 2012 at 11:22pm

=) It is a nice feature!