completed Inviting 2000+ Ning members to log in - anything I should know before jumping in?

Deb W.
Deb W.
@deb-w
8 years ago
136 posts
We're just about ready to send out new passwords for the 2000+ members we imported from our Ning sites. Any advice before I go ahead with this?

I've done Ning-to-JR migrations before, but nothing with a group this large.
updated by @deb-w: 02/19/17 01:52:48PM
Strumelia
Strumelia
@strumelia
8 years ago
3,603 posts
Yes!-
1) assuming you have tested 1 email address thorugh your Mailgun tools to make sure mailgun is set up right.
2) Assuming you have checked the validity of all your member emails using the Kickbox validator tool, so there won't be a lot of bounces which could trigger a Mailgun preventative action. Invalid email members can be filtered into a separate quota- and you won't select that quota when sending invitations.
3) In your JR Email Core module, under Global, set the Max Send Rate to "5" or at most "10" per minute. This will throttle the emails going out so that Mailgun does not view it as a spam sendout and shut you off. with 2000 members, it'll take 6 or 7 hours to send them all out...not a big deal. You can WATCH the number of remaining invites slowly go down to 0 in your "Queue Viewer" TAB of your Dashboard....cool to do. :) Be sure to set the MaxSendRate throttle back to "disabled" when you are done sending out all the invite emails.

Remember there will be members who cannot mangae to log in for one reason or another with their temp passwords- be prepared to reset their account to a NEW easy PW yourself, and then email them your instructions and the pw you manually created for them...they can then log in and change thier pw again if they like.


--
...just another satisfied Jamroom customer.
Migrated from Ning to Jamroom June 2015
Deb W.
Deb W.
@deb-w
8 years ago
136 posts
Yup, #1 & #2 all set. Thanks for #3! Great advice and info, as always. Wish me luck!
paul
@paul
8 years ago
4,326 posts
Hi Deb
Yes, Strum's advice on throttling the send rate is good.
I think you have validated by KickBox? If so, but sure to check the KB checkbox on the send tool.
Also, enable and set up your MailGun module. This will be useful going forward as that will validate up to 100 new emails a day.
hth
Pa


--
Paul Asher - JR Developer and System Import Specialist
Deb W.
Deb W.
@deb-w
8 years ago
136 posts
I just hit the "send" button - wish me luck! And thanks all for your help and support.
Strumelia
Strumelia
@strumelia
8 years ago
3,603 posts
Good luck! I know how exciting it is. :)
Watch the number of remaining invites slowly go down to 0 in your "Queue Viewer" TAB of your Dashboard. Also watch your "users online" tab in your Dashboard to see who is logging in.
You can keep track of when members logged in in your User Account Browser (/user/browser).
Yaaay!


--
...just another satisfied Jamroom customer.
Migrated from Ning to Jamroom June 2015
paul
@paul
8 years ago
4,326 posts
Also note that the NingImport send email tool only sends to users that have not yet logged in, so in a couple of weeks time (or whenever) you can change the template wording and resend so as to give those members a nudge.


--
Paul Asher - JR Developer and System Import Specialist
Strumelia
Strumelia
@strumelia
8 years ago
3,603 posts
paul:
Also note that the NingImport send email tool only sends to users that have not yet logged in, so in a couple of weeks time (or whenever) you can change the template wording and resend so as to give those members a nudge.

Yes, I love that feature of the Import email tool! I actually did this four times with my 3,000 members importing from Ning, spread over a period of 6 months. Each time a couple hundred more members finally logged in, and those having trouble contacted me and I helped them log in. The last email I sent out was a warning that their accounts would be removed if they didn't log in at least once.

I wound up removing those folks, since they never responded over 6 months even though their email addresses passed the Kickbox test. It was a good way to get rid of deadwood... I no longer had to store photos of deceased members' dogs on my server. lol


--
...just another satisfied Jamroom customer.
Migrated from Ning to Jamroom June 2015
Deb W.
Deb W.
@deb-w
8 years ago
136 posts
Yay! what a fun morning! I've been watching folks log-in, responding to emails with questions, and seeing them start posting already (tip: if you want an active online community, start one for people who are community organizers in the real world!)
Strumelia
Strumelia
@strumelia
8 years ago
3,603 posts
Happy Day! I remember the feeling well about 15 months ago. The glorious feeling of a new successful site and platform that's FAR BETTER than ning 2.0 or 3.0 ...and the joy and relief of getting OFF the sinking Ning ship.
Congratulations Deb!! :D


--
...just another satisfied Jamroom customer.
Migrated from Ning to Jamroom June 2015
Deb W.
Deb W.
@deb-w
8 years ago
136 posts
This was the last two migration I had to do... I did two smaller ones (with Paul's help of course!) last Oct. & March. This one was the biggest and most complicated (two Nings merging into one, and many more members). Thanks for all the help to everyone here on JR, especially Paul, strumelia and all the other former Ning creators and JR staff. You guys rock!
researchcooperative
@researchcooperative
8 years ago
694 posts
Strumelia:
Yes!-
1) assuming you have tested 1 email address thorugh your Mailgun tools to make sure mailgun is set up right.
2) Assuming you have checked the validity of all your member emails using the Kickbox validator tool, so there won't be a lot of bounces which could trigger a Mailgun preventative action. Invalid email members can be filtered into a separate quota- and you won't select that quota when sending invitations.
3) In your JR Email Core module, under Global, set the Max Send Rate to "5" or at most "10" per minute. This will throttle the emails going out so that Mailgun does not view it as a spam sendout and shut you off. with 2000 members, it'll take 6 or 7 hours to send them all out...not a big deal. You can WATCH the number of remaining invites slowly go down to 0 in your "Queue Viewer" TAB of your Dashboard....cool to do. :) Be sure to set the MaxSendRate throttle back to "disabled" when you are done sending out all the invite emails.

Remember there will be members who cannot manage to log in for one reason or another with their temp passwords- be prepared to reset their account to a NEW easy PW yourself, and then email them your instructions and the pw you manually created for them...they can then log in and change thier pw again if they like.

In addition to these three steps, what have other site owners done about the display of profile information that was previously on public display in a Ning network?

In my case, after importing, all the Ning profile data went into the private Account fields of each member, regardless of whether it had been designated public or private in the Ning profile field settings. This left all the Profile fields empty in the new JR-based network.

With some early help from JR, I was able to add profile field templates to my NingJa skin so that Profile content is published in the public profile page sidebar, but since the migrated data are all in the Account fields, the public profiles of most members are empty by default.

The result is that nobody can learn anything about anyone else in the new network, which makes it very uninteresting. "People Watching" is one of the main entertainments of social networks!

When my former Ning members do login, they (1) will see their own empty profile page (discouraging even to them, I imagine), and (2) should follow instructions in the Mailgun invitation to rebuild a public Profile page (by adding data to the Profile fields), even if they can see their old data sitting in their Account fields.

This second technical hurdle, after the new login process with new passwords, may be what stops many members from rejoining the network - along with the fact that the network looks like a ghost-town, with all the empty profile pages showing.

I have not yet sent out a second Mailgun message to remind members to login to the new network, because the response to the first round was not impressive.

I need to improve how the site works and looks before I send out the reminder message.

Any suggestions about the issue I describe here would be welcome. What have other site owners chosen to do with old profile data from the former Ning network, and how did their members respond?

Thanks.


--
PJ Matthews, Kyoto
Migrated from Ning 2.0. Now at Jamroom 6 beta and using Jamroom Hosting for The Research Cooperative (researchcooperative.org)

updated by @researchcooperative: 11/19/16 08:10:00PM
paul
@paul
8 years ago
4,326 posts
By 'Profile Information' I assume you mean the Ning Signup Questions? These are imported to the Jamroom user accounts but the form needs to be modified using Form Designer so that they show to and can be updated by users. See the Nig to Jamroom docs. for how to do this.
As for showing the questions and answers on a profile page there is a NingImport smarty call to do this. If you are using the Ningja skin it is already there and can be enabled in the skin config. If not, add this template code to the skin profile template where you want the Q&As to show -

{jrNingImport_signup_questions user_id=$_user_id}


--
Paul Asher - JR Developer and System Import Specialist
researchcooperative
@researchcooperative
8 years ago
694 posts
paul:
By 'Profile Information' I assume you mean the Ning Signup Questions? These are imported to the Jamroom user accounts but the form needs to be modified using Form Designer so that they show to and can be updated by users. See the Nig to Jamroom docs. for how to do this.

Yes - in Ning, Sign-up questions, account information, and public profile were all one and the same, in so far as the questions were designated as "public/private "and "required/not required" by the site owner.

In my new JR site, the old Ning profile fields (with post migration modifications) are displayed to members in their Account settings page, which is not displayed to all users.

In the Ningja skin, I can modify the template for the public sidebar display (visible to all site visitors), namely "profile_sidebar.tpl", and add a code that displays Profile fields to all users looking at a profile side bar. If this can be done directly from the otherwise hidden Account fields, why does the skin have "Profile fields" at all? Since their default condition is private, why not just work with "Account" fields? In the form designer pages for both Profile and for Account, the default for all fields is private, and there is no ready way (in the form) to publish them (display to all users) in likely publication (display) locations such as the profile sidebar.

paul:
As for showing the questions and answers on a profile page there is a NingImport smarty call to do this. If you are using the Ningja skin it is already there and can be enabled in the skin config. If not, add this template code to the skin profile template where you want the Q&As to show -

{jrNingImport_signup_questions user_id=$_user_id}

Thanks... but, I do not know anything about this. Where in the Ningja skin is the "smarty call" located? Where can it be enabled? I do not know where to look, or how to find it, so I do not know if I have it.


--
PJ Matthews, Kyoto
Migrated from Ning 2.0. Now at Jamroom 6 beta and using Jamroom Hosting for The Research Cooperative (researchcooperative.org)

updated by @researchcooperative: 11/20/16 04:38:01AM