Forum Activity for @ken-rich

Important questions about Ning "Groups"

Ning To Jamroom


Yes already supported in a sense, but not implemented. For instance, this thread we are currently in doesn't support that functionality. I find I even have to reopen my comment to attach a pic.

It seems very basic and featureless compared to being in a Ning discussion thread.
updated by @ken-rich: 12/29/14 09:23:54AM

my list of things ning migrators will mkiss

Ning To Jamroom

Here is also the admin control of members. I blacked out the email addresses but basically you could assign different status levels - like appoint some group admin.

updated by @ken-rich: 12/29/14 09:23:54AM

my list of things ning migrators will mkiss

Ning To Jamroom


Hi Brian,

The ability to contact the members is essential for meetings, updates, etc. Ning made it something the group admin could turn on or off with a check box. Perhaps allowing only certain members (like admins or those they assign) to have that ability would be a better choice. In other words, retain the functionality but restrict it's use - to eliminate the danger.


There was a global option to restrict page creation to admins. Group controls in Ning 2 are shown in the attached pic. They were pretty course, and a finer level of control (like pages and other content creation abilities) would be a step up.

updated by @ken-rich: 12/29/14 09:23:54AM

Important questions about Ning "Groups"

Ning To Jamroom


- First 3 - correct
- For the forth one I would say, groups can "CONTAIN" pages and discussions but that is not "ALL" they consist of. I think that's especually true in the Ning 3 groups. http://cultivate.ning.com/ning-blog/unleash-the-power-of-groups-on-ning-3-0
- 5th point yes
- 6th point, yes they can be standalone or part of a group, but they are a little more than more than comments on a page. How so?
1) Discussions were organized in categories, and each had their own RSS feed.
2) The rich text boxes allowed videos, music and slideshow players, and just about everything you can imagine as part of (or used in) the discussion - not just text comments.
3) They had tags, social share and featuring tools, and you could attach files.

Here is a Ning 2 discussion (within a group) where blogs were used as discussion comments - lol. http://indiegospel.org/group/bikerheaven/forum/topics/biker-blogs
updated by @ken-rich: 12/29/14 09:23:54AM

Important questions about Ning "Groups"

Ning To Jamroom

Hi Brian,

I'm just transferring over some points I made in the other thread. This list is just to get you to Ning 2 functionality.

- a WYSIWYG editor for the main area.
- a heading area for title description etc.
- The ability for for one member to message all members.
- The ability for members to send invites to their friends/followers
- The ability for an admin to invite all network members.
- A group forum whose discussions are isolated from the community forums and from other group forums.
- Group admin tools like adding deleting members, assigning group admins, etc.
- The ability to make pages which stay isolated to that group and automatically linked within it.
- RSS generation for export of discussions and rendering of RSS for importation of external feed.
- They link to the originators profile, but not obtusely, feeling like a "separate space" not a "glorified" profile page.

=======================================

This one was just to expand on the points you brought up.

- Groups can be public or private

- Yes, pages and discussions occur as separate entities within a group. In Ning 2 pages could have comments blocked, they also had an advanced function that allowed the page creator to insert metadata and even codes to the header. You could also set privacy individually. In this sense, pages were a totally different animal than either a discussion thread or a note. (See attached pic)

- Yes getting rid of the profile info (except for a small link back) is crucial to making it feel like a "separate space" not a "glorified" profile page. Listing pages and discussion categories, and whatever other tools, can fill that pace along with the group description.

- I'm not sure how this would work (I'm suggesting using the Master Admin's account). SE suggested "seamless". All I know is the "Community" Groups and Forum linked on the main menu, need to be set-up a little different from the profile groups and forums. Only, in the sense that the site wide groups and discussions need to be represented, categorized, and managed there.

-It's important in all of this to realize that discussions and pages created within (especially private) groups remain only accessible to those groups, and not mixed in with the site wide lists.

- Why do I say "especially". Well even public group stuff can be very specific and themed away from the general thrust of the network. To illustrate, let's say I have an Art group set-up, and one of the discussion threads within it explodes with a thousand posts about Piccaso.

It may be a public group, and the thread's posts might be searchable on site and spidered by Google, and it's pretty benign stuff I don't mind being public.

However, that doesn't mean I want those posts mixed in with my "Community Forum" discussions where I might have four different Ministry related Discussion categories set up, and feeding my front page "Top Discussions".

===================================

This point is about going more advanced as in Ning 3.

- Since groups and multiple instances is one of the few things Ning got right in Ning 3, perhaps it would be helpful to see this before you start.
http://cultivate.ning.com/ning-blog/unleash-the-power-of-groups-on-ning-3-0

updated by @ken-rich: 12/29/14 09:23:54AM

my list of things ning migrators will mkiss

Ning To Jamroom

Hi Brian,

- Groups can be public or private

- Yes, pages and discussions occur as separate entities within a group. In Ning 2 pages could have comments blocked, they also had an advanced function that allowed the page creator to insert metadata and even codes to the header. You could also set privacy individually. In this sense, pages were a totally different animal than either a discussion thread or a note. (See attached pic)

- Yes getting rid of the profile info (except for a small link back) is crucial to making it feel like a "separate space" not a "glorified" profile page. Listing pages and discussion categories, and whatever other tools, can fill that space along with the group description.

- I'm not sure how this would work (I'm suggesting using the Master Admin's account). SE suggested "seamless". All I know is the "Community" Groups and Forum linked on the main menu, need to be set-up a little different from the profile groups and forums. Only, in the sense that the site wide groups and discussions need to be represented, categorized, and managed there.

-It's important in all of this to realize that discussions and pages created within (especially private) groups remain only accessible to those groups, and not mixed in with the site wide lists.

- Why do I say "especially". Well even public group stuff can be very specific and themed away from the general thrust of the network. To illustrate, let's say I have an Art group set-up, and one of the discussion threads within it explodes with a thousand posts about Piccaso.

It may be a public group, and the thread's posts might be searchable on site and spidered by Google, and it's pretty benign stuff I don't mind being public.

However, that doesn't mean I want those posts mixed in with my "Community Forum" discussions where I might have four different Ministry related Discussion categories set up, and feeding my front page "Top Discussions".

- Since groups and multiple instances is one of the few things Ning got right in Ning 3, perhaps it would be helpful to see this before you start.
http://cultivate.ning.com/ning-blog/unleash-the-power-of-groups-on-ning-3-0

updated by @ken-rich: 12/29/14 09:23:54AM

my list of things ning migrators will mkiss

Ning To Jamroom


OK - got it. Yes, that registration stuff can be a pain without a mobile. One thing I learned that can save you some time. When you are testing with that site, don't use your displayed network's menu to navigate to another page on your network.

Put the exact URL of the page you want to test in the blank at the top and hit go, then you get a true mobile view (in advanced mode) rather than just a responsive view (there's a difference).
updated by @ken-rich: 12/29/14 09:23:54AM

my list of things ning migrators will mkiss

Ning To Jamroom

A little tip on the mobile phone stuff - I don't have one either. Go to this site and use advanced mode, not regular mode - http://mobiletest.me/
updated by @ken-rich: 12/29/14 09:23:54AM

my list of things ning migrators will mkiss

Ning To Jamroom

I think I see where Brian is going with this and what he is talking about will be "super-powerful" and inherently stable (since it uses existing functionality that is 100% stable).

Now for the Community Group and Community Forum, it could just be the Master Admins profile being used and linked to the main menu.

Perhaps a little design tweaking (like categories) to make it the community (rather than a profile bound space), and voila - Bob's yer Uncle!
updated by @ken-rich: 12/29/14 09:23:54AM

my list of things ning migrators will mkiss

Ning To Jamroom


Hi Brian,

I know nothing about Ning 3 groups - so SE is a better source on their functionality than I.

Paul has also started a Ning 3 site, so if you get him to send you the log-in credentials, you could actually experiment with a Ning 3 group.

========================

I kind of went "bug eyed" trying to follow you through the convoluted process of creating a group the way you describe, and I'm already familiar with quotas and power user options - lol.

However, I do see the inherent power in that approach. It would be confusing for a Jamroom "newbie" to implement, and therefore impractical, but I think I see where you are coming from.

Therefore, if you could make a group module work along those lines, but be relatively easy to set up and admin, that would be "the bomb".

Perhaps a button that launches a "group creation" process, that is "idiot proof" but accomplishes the above steps in an intuitive, user friendly way.

I agree, renaming already existing functionality would have to be part of such a module. Like group instead of a "secondary profile", perhaps "group admin" instead of "power user" - whatever - to make it not so confusing...

Then you would just need to make it seem like a "separate space" by design. Add group photo instead of profile pic, add group description, instead of biography - etc., etc.
updated by @ken-rich: 12/29/14 09:23:54AM