Comments on: 9 Free Ning Alternatives And Some Open Source Solutions http://www.jonbishop.com/2010/04/9-free-ning-alternatives-and-some-open-source-solutions/ Social Media, WordPress and Web Development Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12:48:15 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Rex http://www.jonbishop.com/2010/04/9-free-ning-alternatives-and-some-open-source-solutions/comment-page-1/#comment-116996 Rex Fri, 20 Jan 2012 09:41:37 +0000 http://www.jonbishop.com/?p=2104#comment-116996 Like Ning.com Socialgo.com is NOT free anymore. Like Ning.com Socialgo.com is NOT free anymore.

]]> By: Is er zoiets als een social network armageddon? « Erfgoed 2.0 http://www.jonbishop.com/2010/04/9-free-ning-alternatives-and-some-open-source-solutions/comment-page-1/#comment-81083 Is er zoiets als een social network armageddon? « Erfgoed 2.0 Wed, 10 Aug 2011 08:50:09 +0000 http://www.jonbishop.com/?p=2104#comment-81083 [...] nog betaalde versies hanteert, waardoor veel Ning communities ofwel gesloten worden, ofwel migreren naar alternatieven, die op hun beurt ook weer (deels) betaalde versies gaan hanteren. Is dit een wetmatigheid die [...] [...] nog betaalde versies hanteert, waardoor veel Ning communities ofwel gesloten worden, ofwel migreren naar alternatieven, die op hun beurt ook weer (deels) betaalde versies gaan hanteren. Is dit een wetmatigheid die [...]

]]> By: Miss Capri http://www.jonbishop.com/2010/04/9-free-ning-alternatives-and-some-open-source-solutions/comment-page-1/#comment-81082 Miss Capri Wed, 10 Aug 2011 08:35:11 +0000 http://www.jonbishop.com/?p=2104#comment-81082 Yes, I detest what Ning did as well. I am very happy with Groupsite.com, but a heads up - they have just introduced new limits on free networks starting in late June. Free networks created before June 21 won't be effected and can operate as they always have, without the new limits, but any new groups now are something like 25 membrs per free group, and then you have to pay to increase that limit. Only one manager/owner per free group now, and I forget what the other limits are. So, u until late June, I would've said Groupsite all the way. It has good features, and the support is very friendly and helpful. There is Blastgroups too, but you only get one forum per network "the Lounge" - not quite so great if you want several forums dealing with specialized topics. Wackwall is now Wall.fm and they're okay. Yuku - I really don't like the name of that domain, otherwise, very good looking setup. Yes, I detest what Ning did as well. I am very happy with Groupsite.com, but a heads up – they have just introduced new limits on free networks starting in late June. Free networks created before June 21 won’t be effected and can operate as they always have, without the new limits, but any new groups now are something like 25 membrs per free group, and then you have to pay to increase that limit. Only one manager/owner per free group now, and I forget what the other limits are. So, u until late June, I would’ve said Groupsite all the way. It has good features, and the support is very friendly and helpful. There is Blastgroups too, but you only get one forum per network “the Lounge” – not quite so great if you want several forums dealing with specialized topics. Wackwall is now Wall.fm and they’re okay. Yuku – I really don’t like the name of that domain, otherwise, very good looking setup.

]]> By: Kay Smith http://www.jonbishop.com/2010/04/9-free-ning-alternatives-and-some-open-source-solutions/comment-page-1/#comment-81006 Kay Smith Tue, 09 Aug 2011 19:36:17 +0000 http://www.jonbishop.com/?p=2104#comment-81006 I am a website builder/creator. I created The Cherokee Path on Ning. I was so shocked when they started charging for the websites on Ning. I had moved and was without internet and I lost my old email address and pass word to log into my website on Ning. Now they have it up for grabs. I spent years building The Cherokee Path and it was very enjoyable for me to create the site! If I had known when I was building The Cherokee Path that down the road they were going to start charging for the use of it...I would Not have put all my effort into building it. Excuse me but I feel like I have been robbed of my art!!!! These are my thoughts and feelings on how I feel about Ning not letting everyone Know at one point they would be charging for the use of their site!! I am a website builder/creator. I created The Cherokee Path on Ning. I was so shocked when they started charging for the websites on Ning. I had moved and was without internet and I lost my old email address and pass word to log into my website on Ning. Now they have it up for grabs. I spent years building The Cherokee Path and it was very enjoyable for me to create the site! If I had known when I was building The Cherokee Path that down the road they were going to start charging for the use of it…I would Not have put all my effort into building it. Excuse me but I feel like I have been robbed of my art!!!! These are my thoughts and feelings on how I feel about Ning not letting everyone Know at one point they would be charging for the use of their site!!

]]> By: Elshara http://www.jonbishop.com/2010/04/9-free-ning-alternatives-and-some-open-source-solutions/comment-page-1/#comment-76898 Elshara Sun, 10 Jul 2011 15:11:06 +0000 http://www.jonbishop.com/?p=2104#comment-76898 I have 2 ning pro ning networks because I hate all the other options. Spruz in my experience is just about the worst of them all! I tried grou.ps and hate them as well but I love the interface and its easier to use than ning. I never honestly liked ning all that much to begin with because something told me that it was going to end, and it did so I was not the least bit surprised about it. What honestly can you find that is free anymore without having extensive web application knowledge for things like Drupal and well, I will not even begin to tell you how I hate the modern ones like facebook and twitter, well, nah, my opinion is I will check out a few of them and let you know what I think. So far, ning seems to work for me, but I am seriously thinking of switching to another site, I need all the same capabilities though as ning, but it would be so much easier if I went with something reliable two. Comercialisation is fine for me but when it comes to lying to clients or at least asking their opinions about charging for services like that, it is that which I have a problem with. Just because 1 company does it, does not mean that all of them have to. Let the idiot fail for once lol. My vote is grou.ps until further notice for free stuff even though they suck, as far as interface goes, I like it and the options are cool. Never give them your credit card information! I have 2 ning pro ning networks because I hate all the other options. Spruz in my experience is just about the worst of them all! I tried grou.ps and hate them as well but I love the interface and its easier to use than ning. I never honestly liked ning all that much to begin with because something told me that it was going to end, and it did so I was not the least bit surprised about it. What honestly can you find that is free anymore without having extensive web application knowledge for things like Drupal and well, I will not even begin to tell you how I hate the modern ones like facebook and twitter, well, nah, my opinion is I will check out a few of them and let you know what I think. So far, ning seems to work for me, but I am seriously thinking of switching to another site, I need all the same capabilities though as ning, but it would be so much easier if I went with something reliable two. Comercialisation is fine for me but when it comes to lying to clients or at least asking their opinions about charging for services like that, it is that which I have a problem with. Just because 1 company does it, does not mean that all of them have to. Let the idiot fail for once lol. My vote is grou.ps until further notice for free stuff even though they suck, as far as interface goes, I like it and the options are cool. Never give them your credit card information!

]]> By: testking http://www.jonbishop.com/2010/04/9-free-ning-alternatives-and-some-open-source-solutions/comment-page-1/#comment-69435 testking Sat, 28 May 2011 10:52:41 +0000 http://www.jonbishop.com/?p=2104#comment-69435 It offers several services including Drupal website installations. We also offer blog article posting and integration of Word Press blogs.Thanks for sharing the informative post. It offers several services including Drupal website installations. We also offer blog article posting and integration of Word Press blogs.Thanks for sharing the informative post.

]]> By: aluminium kozijnen http://www.jonbishop.com/2010/04/9-free-ning-alternatives-and-some-open-source-solutions/comment-page-1/#comment-66515 aluminium kozijnen Tue, 10 May 2011 13:33:54 +0000 http://www.jonbishop.com/?p=2104#comment-66515 Thanks for sharing this ning alternatives and open source solutions.. Thanks for sharing this ning alternatives and open source solutions..

]]> By: Rosemary http://www.jonbishop.com/2010/04/9-free-ning-alternatives-and-some-open-source-solutions/comment-page-1/#comment-65422 Rosemary Mon, 02 May 2011 01:29:58 +0000 http://www.jonbishop.com/?p=2104#comment-65422 Andrew, we'd love to help you! Our Hoop.la application is free, offers unlimited usage, and has forums, blogs, chat, video/photo/other file upload, so it might meet your needs. Please feel free to email me directly If you have questions. Andrew, we’d love to help you! Our Hoop.la application is free, offers unlimited usage, and has forums, blogs, chat, video/photo/other file upload, so it might meet your needs. Please feel free to email me directly If you have questions.

]]> By: Andrew http://www.jonbishop.com/2010/04/9-free-ning-alternatives-and-some-open-source-solutions/comment-page-1/#comment-64148 Andrew Sun, 24 Apr 2011 04:52:35 +0000 http://www.jonbishop.com/?p=2104#comment-64148 Hi Guys, I hoping someone maybe able to please answer a question for me. We are a non-profit that plans to provide some classes on-line for our members. We were thinking of using a social network site like Ning or some others listed here. If we wanted to post a number of classes with video and audio, do these sites offer enough storage and bandwith to allow us to do that? Any suggestions? Thank you, Andrew Hi Guys,

I hoping someone maybe able to please answer a question for me. We are a non-profit that plans to provide some classes on-line for our members. We were thinking of using a social network site like Ning or some others listed here. If we wanted to post a number of classes with video and audio, do these sites offer enough storage and bandwith to allow us to do that? Any suggestions?

Thank you,

Andrew

]]> By: soni gul http://www.jonbishop.com/2010/04/9-free-ning-alternatives-and-some-open-source-solutions/comment-page-1/#comment-55447 soni gul Sun, 13 Feb 2011 15:21:28 +0000 http://www.jonbishop.com/?p=2104#comment-55447 hi hi hi ( http://www.adsense.pk ) Regards, M IMRAN YOUSAF-19105 hi hi hi ( http://www.adsense.pk )
Regards,
M IMRAN YOUSAF-19105

]]> By: Rob Reinhardt http://www.jonbishop.com/2010/04/9-free-ning-alternatives-and-some-open-source-solutions/comment-page-1/#comment-54720 Rob Reinhardt Mon, 07 Feb 2011 15:39:23 +0000 http://www.jonbishop.com/?p=2104#comment-54720 Hi John, Thank you for the kind words. Sorry that Wiser Earth didn't work out for you. I hope my list will help you find a host that will finally meet all of your needs. As you may have caught on my site, there's still not a site that meets all of our group's needs either. In any case, I'm glad to hear that you've found my site useful and invite you to add your own user reviews to the site. The true power of my site will be when many users offer their own views about the usefulness of each site. This is important since every person/group has their own concept of what an online social community should be like. Cheers! Hi John, Thank you for the kind words. Sorry that Wiser Earth didn’t work out for you. I hope my list will help you find a host that will finally meet all of your needs. As you may have caught on my site, there’s still not a site that meets all of our group’s needs either.

In any case, I’m glad to hear that you’ve found my site useful and invite you to add your own user reviews to the site. The true power of my site will be when many users offer their own views about the usefulness of each site. This is important since every person/group has their own concept of what an online social community should be like.

Cheers!

]]> By: John E. Rodriguez III http://www.jonbishop.com/2010/04/9-free-ning-alternatives-and-some-open-source-solutions/comment-page-1/#comment-54712 John E. Rodriguez III Mon, 07 Feb 2011 14:55:03 +0000 http://www.jonbishop.com/?p=2104#comment-54712 Well, checked out wiser earth. Cool site, but does not offer the customization and/or layout I was hoping for. Also, it would not be recommended to use this as a main web-site as can be done using ning or grou.ps... If it wasn't for the obvious issues with those networks... Siggestion to all; look at the already created pages of other members before investing the time and energy to join a new network. The search continues. Well, checked out wiser earth. Cool site, but does not offer the customization and/or layout I was hoping for. Also, it would not be recommended to use this as a main web-site as can be done using ning or grou.ps… If it wasn’t for the obvious issues with those networks…

Siggestion to all; look at the already created pages of other members before investing the time and energy to join a new network.

The search continues.

]]> By: John E. Rodriguez III http://www.jonbishop.com/2010/04/9-free-ning-alternatives-and-some-open-source-solutions/comment-page-1/#comment-54704 John E. Rodriguez III Mon, 07 Feb 2011 14:02:53 +0000 http://www.jonbishop.com/?p=2104#comment-54704 The comment above by Rob Reinhardt is in fact the most helpful one I have found on this website. I highly encourage EVERYONE to go to the website he developed, where a very detailed and complete list of many (if not all) of the mentioned networks are clearly reviewed. I was a ning user, turned off by how they treated us free users. I went to grou.ps as an alternative to star a new network, and am now searching for that magic alternative once again. Rob's web page was the ONLY place I saw the mentioned issues I am having with grou.ps, and that is largely unresponsive support from the creators of the group. I can assure you that bugs will occur, and you won't get assistance for them. After looking around Rob's page, I am going to give Wiser Earth a try. Fortunate for me the aims of my organization fit in well with the mission of Wiser Earth, Best of luck to everyone, and Rob if you are reading this... You rock! The comment above by Rob Reinhardt is in fact the most helpful one I have found on this website. I highly encourage EVERYONE to go to the website he developed, where a very detailed and complete list of many (if not all) of the mentioned networks are clearly reviewed.

I was a ning user, turned off by how they treated us free users. I went to grou.ps as an alternative to star a new network, and am now searching for that magic alternative once again.

Rob’s web page was the ONLY place I saw the mentioned issues I am having with grou.ps, and that is largely unresponsive support from the creators of the group. I can assure you that bugs will occur, and you won’t get assistance for them.

After looking around Rob’s page, I am going to give Wiser Earth a try. Fortunate for me the aims of my organization fit in well with the mission of Wiser Earth,

Best of luck to everyone, and Rob if you are reading this… You rock!

]]> By: Rob Reinhardt http://www.jonbishop.com/2010/04/9-free-ning-alternatives-and-some-open-source-solutions/comment-page-1/#comment-52502 Rob Reinhardt Wed, 26 Jan 2011 16:55:27 +0000 http://www.jonbishop.com/?p=2104#comment-52502 Jon, Great summary. It sounds like we've gone through similar searches. The social networking landscape is constantly changing. As a result of my search for a solid platform for hosting inexpensive small community/social networks, I've started a web site to attempt to keep up with all of the options as well as allow users to offer their own ratings! Please feel free to utilize it as a tool in your search as well as share your experiences and reviews! http://www.social-networkreviews.com/ FWIW, our group has ultimately decided on implementing our solution in Drupal as none of the hosted sites were able to fulfill our feature list. One of the most common missing features is the ability to handle recurring/repeating events; a mainstay of local social communities. Jon,
Great summary. It sounds like we’ve gone through similar searches. The social networking landscape is constantly changing. As a result of my search for a solid platform for hosting inexpensive small community/social networks, I’ve started a web site to attempt to keep up with all of the options as well as allow users to offer their own ratings!

Please feel free to utilize it as a tool in your search as well as share your experiences and reviews!

http://www.social-networkreviews.com/

FWIW, our group has ultimately decided on implementing our solution in Drupal as none of the hosted sites were able to fulfill our feature list. One of the most common missing features is the ability to handle recurring/repeating events; a mainstay of local social communities.

]]> By: Jon Bishop http://www.jonbishop.com/2010/04/9-free-ning-alternatives-and-some-open-source-solutions/comment-page-1/#comment-37767 Jon Bishop Sun, 07 Nov 2010 21:39:02 +0000 http://www.jonbishop.com/?p=2104#comment-37767 Thanks so much for the detailed input. Thanks so much for the detailed input.

]]> By: Capri http://www.jonbishop.com/2010/04/9-free-ning-alternatives-and-some-open-source-solutions/comment-page-1/#comment-37753 Capri Sun, 07 Nov 2010 20:20:59 +0000 http://www.jonbishop.com/?p=2104#comment-37753 Thatstoday.com appears to be good, Groupsites.com makes you use your real name, otherwise, looks good. Blastgroups.com - for some reason, the registration form winks out and I cannot fill in all required fields. But it looks like it would be another good alternative. I wasn't happy with Spruz, and if you don't log in after a time, they delete your network anyway. There is Yuku.com but as good as the features look, the name puts me off a bit - looks too much like "yuck" I just used Boardhost to put all my Ning discussion posts but still would like a social network. Thatstoday.com appears to be good, Groupsites.com makes you use your real name, otherwise, looks good. Blastgroups.com – for some reason, the registration form winks out and I cannot fill in all required fields. But it looks like it would be another good alternative. I wasn’t happy with Spruz, and if you don’t log in after a time, they delete your network anyway. There is Yuku.com but as good as the features look, the name puts me off a bit – looks too much like “yuck” I just used Boardhost to put all my Ning discussion posts but still would like a social network.

]]> By: Ja http://www.jonbishop.com/2010/04/9-free-ning-alternatives-and-some-open-source-solutions/comment-page-1/#comment-35887 Ja Tue, 26 Oct 2010 15:54:24 +0000 http://www.jonbishop.com/?p=2104#comment-35887 How is grou.ps with you? Today i just got an email.. that i need to choose a plan payment. aww! i though i was free! oh well! How is grou.ps with you? Today i just got an email.. that i need to choose a plan payment. aww! i though i was free! oh well!

]]> By: @ITCareerCoach http://www.jonbishop.com/2010/04/9-free-ning-alternatives-and-some-open-source-solutions/comment-page-1/#comment-28142 @ITCareerCoach Sat, 04 Sep 2010 18:18:07 +0000 http://www.jonbishop.com/?p=2104#comment-28142 This is an excellent post. I have been looking for this information ... a detailed review of Free vs. Hosted Community Applications This is an excellent post. I have been looking for this information … a detailed review of Free vs. Hosted Community Applications

]]> By: Jay A. Allen http://www.jonbishop.com/2010/04/9-free-ning-alternatives-and-some-open-source-solutions/comment-page-1/#comment-26419 Jay A. Allen Mon, 23 Aug 2010 13:14:50 +0000 http://www.jonbishop.com/?p=2104#comment-26419 I would be interested in people's opinions regarding Google Sites Groups as an alternative. I've been working/playing with Google Sites and Groups for a few months now and they seem pretty capable in offering a solution. It appears the biggest drawback is the storage size limitations (which seems odd for a Google product). Thoughts? I would be interested in people’s opinions regarding Google Sites Groups as an alternative.

I’ve been working/playing with Google Sites and Groups for a few months now and they seem pretty capable in offering a solution.

It appears the biggest drawback is the storage size limitations (which seems odd for a Google product).

Thoughts?

]]> By: Mathias Möller http://www.jonbishop.com/2010/04/9-free-ning-alternatives-and-some-open-source-solutions/comment-page-1/#comment-24455 Mathias Möller Thu, 29 Jul 2010 08:39:45 +0000 http://www.jonbishop.com/?p=2104#comment-24455 Hey Jon and everybody else, since you asked for free Ning alternatives, may I shamelessly suggest our platform for Social Action/ Social Collaboration? The name is Amazee, we are a small team based in Switzerland and offer a free migration service for Ning Networks whose members aren't willing or able to pay for the new payment scheme Ning has come up with. You can find all the necessary information and a link to the migrator here: http://blog.amazee.com/welcome-ning-refugees-2/. Don't hesitate to ask questions, if you do have any! Hey Jon and everybody else, since you asked for free Ning alternatives, may I shamelessly suggest our platform for Social Action/ Social Collaboration? The name is Amazee, we are a small team based in Switzerland and offer a free migration service for Ning Networks whose members aren’t willing or able to pay for the new payment scheme Ning has come up with. You can find all the necessary information and a link to the migrator here: http://blog.amazee.com/welcome-ning-refugees-2/. Don’t hesitate to ask questions, if you do have any!

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