test site migrating 3.0 ning site

@soaringeagle
9 years ago
3,304 posts

transplantbuddies.com wants to move to jr, i know the new ning importer can import data but not jsons directly from ning...2.0 at least
would there be any way in the future to 'scrape" the site and create a json and import everything, jsons, datafiles, from 2.0 and 3.0

ive been banned from ning, but ning after 3 years still has done nothing on 3.0 for at least a year 1/2 or more say 'were almost done a 3.0 archiver"
but nothing ever gets updated...nothing

if you develop a wayto import the entire ning content from both 2.0 and 3.0 i bet ya everyone would be here in a heartbeat

is there any way in the future that a way can be developed to pull the data json and all off ning withoit having to wait for ning to never get aroundd to an exporter

it was a year ago they told me we should expectto hear about a 3.0 exporter 'soon" i asked if that meant days or weeks they have been saying for a year or more 'might not be weeks but will vbe soon i know its nearly done'
nearly done for ayear without even a beta version for beta testing being released?

i do not think ning has any plans on finishing 3.0
i do not think they have plans on movi ng people off 3.0 for a year or more
i think thet plan to take as many peoples money as long as anyones willing to pay, and when the last few arent enough to cover the cost of the last 3 employees answering the phones to say 'were working on it' there will just be a pre recorded 'we are no longer working on it, we are shutting down'
and everyones data will be lost

so... if theres a way to save them
move them without having to wait for ning 3.0 archiver wich may never ever happen, can we try?
we have a test site totaly jumpingat the chance to be a guinipig

--
soaringeagle
head dreadhead at dreadlocks site
glider pilot student and member/volunteer coordinator with freedoms wings international soaring for people with disabilities
updated by @soaringeagle: 08/18/15 09:14:39AM

Strumelia
@strumelia
9 years ago
3,603 posts

All that you say i swhat i believe to be true as well.
Didn't know you were banned...i guess because you no longer have a ning site, right?

I'll still be paying for my 2.0 for one more month anyway, and I have a free sandbox 3.0 which i do nothing with. Not sure what will happened when I announce my live JR site there on Creators...those who hate me will say "Ok, so BYE!!!"..they'll be soooo anxious to see me go since they hate being reminded so often about how doomed they are...lol. but i'll still be a paying ning customer with a network for another month yet. So if I don't say anything horrible, i;ll be able to still post there for a few more weeks.

It's hard to believe how there are still some 2.0 owners who come stumbling in over there and still have no clue about 3.0 or about the ning problems. Oy! They never look up from their networks long enough to check in the 'support' forum...for years. !

--
...just another satisfied Jamroom customer.
Migrated from Ning to Jamroom June 2015

@soaringeagle
9 years ago
3,304 posts

yea there are many ning owners that arent even aware creators exists

sp or someone had mentioned about a service or product that alowed you to 'scrape data from a website' and might be a down and dirty way of migrating a site that didnt have a migrate tool
it might not have been him but i do remember in 1 of the many lets abandonning discussions someone had suggestred there might be a way to pull the data off ning into a usuable form to import into a sitre

it would take more development then jr should have to do but since nings doing nothing it would save alotta asses

--
soaringeagle
head dreadhead at dreadlocks site
glider pilot student and member/volunteer coordinator with freedoms wings international soaring for people with disabilities

@paul
9 years ago
4,332 posts

Hi SE - Thanks for your thoughts on this. Skimming Ning3 sites for content that can be imported to JR is a nice idea (assuming that there is consistency in the tags that surround blocks of content within the html source to make this possible!!) but is flawed right from the start as far as Jamroom is concerned. The first thing needed in JR is profiles and their users and to do that, the minimum that would need to be skimmed is a name and an email. Names are available but I don't think that even Ning are publishing their members' email addresses anywhere on a public site!!

--
Paul Asher - JR Developer and System Import Specialist

Strumelia
@strumelia
9 years ago
3,603 posts

Yes but I believe it was recently added to Ning 3.0 the ability for the site owner to save a file (.csv maybe) of their own member names and emails. Not an archive of content mind you, but a member name/email listing. So maybe the site owner could provide that from a Ning 3.0 network now. This was added recently...
Do you want me to ask about it in the ning forum? I swear they added it to 3.0 a few months ago.

--
...just another satisfied Jamroom customer.
Migrated from Ning to Jamroom June 2015
updated by @strumelia: 06/14/15 03:43:26PM

Strumelia
@strumelia
9 years ago
3,603 posts

OK, I asked over on the ning forums and YES, 3.0 owners can download the same .csv memberdata file as the 2.0 people can.

Here's how:
"yes you can! Go to your dashboard, select "members" and on the first page of your list of active members you can click "Export all member data (.csv)"."

-Seems to be the same exact process as how it's done in ning 2.0. That will at least get you all member user names and their email addresses.

--
...just another satisfied Jamroom customer.
Migrated from Ning to Jamroom June 2015
updated by @strumelia: 06/14/15 04:58:04PM

@soaringeagle
9 years ago
3,304 posts

ok this sounds promicing, ill have a csv created as a starting point
i know its a challenge, however if 1 can nbe reverse engineered simply starting from that csv, that could make all the diference in the world

--
soaringeagle
head dreadhead at dreadlocks site
glider pilot student and member/volunteer coordinator with freedoms wings international soaring for people with disabilities

@soaringeagle
9 years ago
3,304 posts

paul, emailed the suport email and the site owner together to nget you the csv and access to the site

--
soaringeagle
head dreadhead at dreadlocks site
glider pilot student and member/volunteer coordinator with freedoms wings international soaring for people with disabilities

Strumelia
@strumelia
9 years ago
3,603 posts

You're welcome.

--
...just another satisfied Jamroom customer.
Migrated from Ning to Jamroom June 2015

@soaringeagle
9 years ago
3,304 posts

sdtrumk u still got a 3.0 get your csv to psaul too hers includesno media really not that 3.0 is setup formedia right

oh paul the nesw embeded mediua thingadded to the importer i cantinstall for some reasion and if i could isthereaway to extracyt it andpull it in after import

--
soaringeagle
head dreadhead at dreadlocks site
glider pilot student and member/volunteer coordinator with freedoms wings international soaring for people with disabilities

@paul
9 years ago
4,332 posts

If a CSV file of Ning3 member names, emails and other details is available that could be imported to a JR site. But as for then skimming sites for content, I can see it fraught with problems, complexities, and endless support issues, so don't want to go there.

--
Paul Asher - JR Developer and System Import Specialist

White Agency
@white-agency
9 years ago
204 posts

I fully understand where Paul is coming from on this !

We often scrape sites for clients when we are building new a new website for them and we can't get the original site builder to give us a csv or database of the data.

Each time we have to customise the code to get it to work so it's something we only do as one off. Quite often we have to massage the data once we've managed to scrape it.

@soaringeagle
9 years ago
3,304 posts

ok understandable
was just hoping thered be a way to sort of make an exporter like nings suposedly doing, but i know you could do faster

i wonder if it would even be worth trying to contact ning and request thier exporter alpha code
they say they have worked on it ayear or 2 they must have some code that you can start off from

but whether they will be cooperative or not is adiferent story

on a totalydiferent topic, has anyone had a chance to try out thed win 10 tech preview and test jrsites on the new ie replacement(thank god ie was scrapped!) whats it called...i forget the name
just hoping its more common code compliant then ie was

--
soaringeagle
head dreadhead at dreadlocks site
glider pilot student and member/volunteer coordinator with freedoms wings international soaring for people with disabilities

@paul
9 years ago
4,332 posts

"Hello Ning - Just wondering if you can let us have the code you've been developing for the past two years so that we can adapt it and take away your customers?"

You never know - Stranger things have happened lol

--
Paul Asher - JR Developer and System Import Specialist

@soaringeagle
9 years ago
3,304 posts

well, they arent developing anything
most people are under the impression they are either in shut down mode, or trying to find anew buyer
while they are 3 years behind schedule finishing 3.0 so people can migrate to it, they are not working on the tools needed to migrateto it, but instead an archiver so people can migrate away from it
if your planning on using 3.0 you finish 3.0 so it can be used
if your planning on screwing your customers you say your 'developing the tools to move away from it' while taking thier money as long as you can and delaying those tools for years
or they would do the right thing develop the tools to move away from ning, and shut down
helping thier customers by any means nesacary

you could develop the archiver in a week perfect it in a month
they have teams of engineers...suposedly./. working exclusively on an archiver and its taking 2 years?

all ning developers are now developing for glam nings just a petty cash investment they will take as much as they can till the very last person says screw you and leaves abandoning thier data

maybe what we should do is creatre a change.org petition "ning stop holding our data hostage"
details like ning 3.0 is 3 years behind schedule and maynever be finished, ning 2 users can migrate to other platforms, and many have, but ning 3 users are stuck using a unusable incomplete platform

we demand progress, either release a working archiver in the next 30 days, or release the code you claim to have been developing for a 3.0 data archiver in an 'open source" liscencing form for other platformsto develop into a working archiver

3 years wasted is enough when other platform developers could get the archiver finished in weeks

strumk would u be willing to create such a petition and post it on creators on thier fb and ill post it on my page
5,000 signitures would be a louyd voice but even 1000 they would have to listen to

--
soaringeagle
head dreadhead at dreadlocks site
glider pilot student and member/volunteer coordinator with freedoms wings international soaring for people with disabilities

@paul
9 years ago
4,332 posts

Get me a sample copy of this Ning3 members CSV file. If I can make a tool to import them Ning3 users would at least have the opportunity of starting again on JR with their most important asset.

--
Paul Asher - JR Developer and System Import Specialist

@soaringeagle
9 years ago
3,304 posts

thats awesome shes downloading 1 now

--
soaringeagle
head dreadhead at dreadlocks site
glider pilot student and member/volunteer coordinator with freedoms wings international soaring for people with disabilities

Zachary Moonshine
@zachary-moonshine
9 years ago
824 posts

i was wondering the same thing i am coming to jamroom probably next month and i have a ning 3.0 with almost a thousand members im not so worried about the content all the groups and blogs etc but it would be really cool to a tleast bring my members i have the data file it lets me save with the members names and emails in csv if you could do this it would make things much faster for sure

Strumelia
@strumelia
9 years ago
3,603 posts

Soaring, I am not on FB anyway, so I can't help with that. If I start a petition on Creators surely i'll get booted at this point...they know Im leaving soon anyway. All I want to do is post some links on creators to show the creators there a comparison between my old and new site- may do that later today. That's my contribution.
Zach is not on Ning's badlist on creators yet, and I bet he's on FB.

p.s. I'm sure the Jamroom Team can't wait to spend the rest of their lives 'massaging' people's 3.0 ning data. lololol...

--
...just another satisfied Jamroom customer.
Migrated from Ning to Jamroom June 2015
updated by @strumelia: 06/20/15 05:23:32AM

Zachary Moonshine
@zachary-moonshine
9 years ago
824 posts

what about new people on jamroom is it the same you just import emails or facebook contacts how do u get new members to sign up exactly and how do members invite there contacts as well ?

Strumelia
@strumelia
9 years ago
3,603 posts

The only good side of this is that there are no ning 3.0 site older than 3 years, so they 'tend to' have less content to lose than the older ning 2 sites that have been around for 5 or 6 years and have a whole lot more to lose (in general). If one starts a new JR site from scratch without importing old Ning content, and only have a list of members to invite and their emails, it's naturally a lot simpler to get going on it. (I do understand that there are some very large ning3.0 sites out there with lots of valuable content though.)

--
...just another satisfied Jamroom customer.
Migrated from Ning to Jamroom June 2015

Zachary Moonshine
@zachary-moonshine
9 years ago
824 posts

ya we have thousands of pages of stuff on our ning 3 site its insane but its so frustrating the way they have it set up its very hard to navigate and find anything it will put a huge hole in my seo i imagine as all that stuff will be broken links for a minute but it is worth it i have to do this for my community my website gets almost an average of 40k visits a month and i believe if it was on a site like this where they have more things to do and interact with like ratings and voting and uploading music. There is a few things jamroom is still missing that other social networks have but i have a feeling they are willing to make them happen eventually just from watching the activity here over the last year. My main reason to come here is the simple fact my site is all about music and bands more than anything and jamroom is all about that too so i can wait on the other stuff but i need to have a place for all these people to do all the stuff they need to do. at this point ning 3 is just like a big giant wall you just throw everything up on it and then it just sticks there and does nothing so its really pointless it is a total trap and i see that now. Jamroom is all about growth! lol

i havent even started yet but thats how im feeling now just watching you guys make the move from ning has been very inspiring

Zachary Moonshine
@zachary-moonshine
9 years ago
824 posts

I was going to go ahead and set up server today but i am going to wait till the first of next month so i can just pay one whole month rather than pay for 9 days now and be at work most of those days gonna shut down my ning site on the 12th when my next payment is due i figure if i can get things set up fast enough will be fine have a back up site to host my radio and chat just in case it takes me longer though i will have csv file of member data just in case that tool gets built but if not its gonna be start from scratch

Zachary Moonshine
@zachary-moonshine
9 years ago
824 posts

i cant fathom giving ning any more money after this month they have not responded to any of my emails asking anything so to hell with them im done!

@michael
9 years ago
7,746 posts

Paul's investigating the methods of getting the 3.0 data you have into ways to get it into jamroom, He'll be around later on today or tomorrow as he's got a music thing on this weekend.

I think the idea of a comparison of what the ning site looked like and what it becomes when moved to Jamroom is a great idea. Seams like the type of thing that many people would be interested in.

Strumelia
@strumelia
9 years ago
3,603 posts

michael:

I think the idea of a comparison of what the ning site looked like and what it becomes when moved to Jamroom is a great idea. Seams like the type of thing that many people would be interested in.

I did that in two places yesterday on Ning Creators:

http://creators.ning.com/forum/topics/alternatives-to-ning-social-network?commentId=6651893%3AComment%3A1306562

http://creators.ning.com/forum/topics/jamroom-question?commentId=6651893%3AComment%3A1306653

So far only one comment. (huh?) The place is always flooded with endless coding workaround posts for (imho) trying to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.

Zach, check it out there and leave a comment- my old ning site compared to my new JR site! Better do it before I started dismantling my ning 2.0 in another week or two. I have another month paid on it, and am still picking up straggler members who wander over there without a clue because they 'didn't get my email'. lol

--
...just another satisfied Jamroom customer.
Migrated from Ning to Jamroom June 2015

Zachary Moonshine
@zachary-moonshine
9 years ago
824 posts

Ok im on it

Strumelia
@strumelia
9 years ago
3,603 posts

I just posted on Ning Creators forum two awesome screenshots comparing Ning vs Jamroom from a profile page video playing view: http://creators.ning.com/forum/topics/jamroom-question?commentId=6651893%3AComment%3A1306497

(hope I dont get prematurely kicked off for this)

Old Ning page:

--
...just another satisfied Jamroom customer.
Migrated from Ning to Jamroom June 2015
updated by @strumelia: 06/21/15 08:56:49PM

Strumelia
@strumelia
9 years ago
3,603 posts

New Jamroom page:
(look at the size of the actual video playing screen, for starters! And I did not edit the page sidebars spaces - the ning site WASTES sooooo much space)

--
...just another satisfied Jamroom customer.
Migrated from Ning to Jamroom June 2015
updated by @strumelia: 06/21/15 08:42:14PM

@michael
9 years ago
7,746 posts

Strumelia:...So far only one comment. (huh?) The place is always flooded with endless coding workaround posts for (imho) trying to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear....

These forums are? I guess that's a fair comment, there is a lot of code that gets posted in these forums. We could cut it down if only senior level dev's who had read all the documentation were the only ones allowed to use the forums, but that's not going to happen

But the best plan is probably just to realize that it's not going to be the best for everyone. If looking at code makes you scream and run away like spiders do ArgHHHHaaahhh, AND you want something that's unique and custom, then maybe Jamroom isn't there yet.

Being able to change the code means you can change anything, but it also means you can break stuff.

Zachary Moonshine
@zachary-moonshine
9 years ago
824 posts

I can see that Michael lol

proceed with caution when it comes to messing with code

@michael
9 years ago
7,746 posts

One comparison of operating systems that I read somewhere really like went something like:

Quote: "Windows thinks you don't know what your doing, so tries to protect you from yourself. Linux thinks you do know what your doing so will not say anything when you do something really dumb."

On linux its possible to wipe out the entire operating system and everything on it with a one line command and hit enter.

Both of the philosophies can become really frustrating when they get in between what you have and where you want to go.

Jamroom has its way of doing things and if that fits with the way you want to build things stuff is easy.

Strumelia
@strumelia
9 years ago
3,603 posts

[quote="michael"]
[quote="Strumelia"]...So far only one comment. (huh?) The place is always flooded with endless coding workaround posts for (imho) trying to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear....[/quote]

Nooooooooooooooooooo the Ning Creators forums are!! (ning is the sow's ear)

These Jamroom support forums are highly organized, useful and efficient! And yes, totally agree with your post! I'm learning a little bit more each week on how to tweak my own codes...veeery carefully now that my site is live!

--
...just another satisfied Jamroom customer.
Migrated from Ning to Jamroom June 2015
updated by @strumelia: 06/22/15 08:24:07AM

@paul
9 years ago
4,332 posts

Zachary Moonshine:
i was wondering the same thing i am coming to jamroom probably next month and i have a ning 3.0 with almost a thousand members im not so worried about the content all the groups and blogs etc but it would be really cool to a tleast bring my members i have the data file it lets me save with the members names and emails in csv if you could do this it would make things much faster for sure

Send me a copy of this CSV file. It should be pretty simple to write a script to import these Ning3 members to JR - paul[at] jamroom[dot] net

--
Paul Asher - JR Developer and System Import Specialist

Zachary Moonshine
@zachary-moonshine
9 years ago
824 posts

ok paul let me download a fresh copy as i have more members now do you want me to send it via private notes or email ?

Zachary Moonshine
@zachary-moonshine
9 years ago
824 posts

i see the tool in my modules now for import ning3 data ?

@paul
9 years ago
4,332 posts

Yeah - A few other Ning3 users sent me their CSV file so was able to develop the tool with those.
Its in the latest NingImport module release (as you have discovered) so try it for yourself and let me know how it goes.
Thanks

--
Paul Asher - JR Developer and System Import Specialist

Zachary Moonshine
@zachary-moonshine
9 years ago
824 posts

if i do it now before my site goes live will they know?

@paul
9 years ago
4,332 posts

Zachary Moonshine:
if i do it now before my site goes live will they know?

Not if you don't tell them ;-)

Have just checked and you are still on your 'secondary' domain and maintenance mode is on so whatever you do behind those walls is pretty safe. Import your members, then when you are ready to go live re-import with the latest CSV file so that you are up to date. Then, you can use the tool in the NingImport module to email all members with their new passwords - then they'll know !!!

--
Paul Asher - JR Developer and System Import Specialist

Strumelia
@strumelia
9 years ago
3,603 posts

Just a tip Zach, when you are ready to actually invite your members live- having done this just a couple weeks ago, and going through the email/password tool thing-
The tool works really well to send members their new passwords and get them over. However, there will be a few members who for one reason or another cannot seem to log in.
Maybe they are typing out their robot-assigned password by hand and making a typo. Or maybe there is an extra space in their old ning user name and they are not putting that space there when trying to log in.
In any case, if you get these folks emailing you for help, you can just go to their profile page on your new site and go to their Gear icon 'settings' and then go to the ACCOUNT TAB- you can give them a new and simple password (like robert123), and check their login username for any typos or extra spaces. Then save. (this stuff needs to be done in their Account Tab). I then send them a new email myself and tell them to copy/paste the username and (my new) password EXACTLY as I give to them...and that once they are logged in they can change anything in their account settings themselves.
This has worked great for several dozen of my 4800 members who for one reason or another could not log in with their email-assigned password.
Zach- you can also EDIT what you want that password email invite to say once you are ready...but maybe you knew that already.
Good luck!

--
...just another satisfied Jamroom customer.
Migrated from Ning to Jamroom June 2015
updated by @strumelia: 07/05/15 12:17:56PM

Zachary Moonshine
@zachary-moonshine
9 years ago
824 posts

ok cool i am gonna give it a go now and see what it does

@paul
9 years ago
4,332 posts

Hey Zach - Is your site going to be our first 'N3toJR' site? Pretty exciting if so !!

--
Paul Asher - JR Developer and System Import Specialist

Zachary Moonshine
@zachary-moonshine
9 years ago
824 posts

hah i dont know man ....but when i show them all that it is so much better i am sure i wont be the last !

Zachary Moonshine
@zachary-moonshine
9 years ago
824 posts

i cant seem to find the ning_archive folder to upload the csv file to ?

@paul
9 years ago
4,332 posts

It needs to be created in the Jamroom root folder (alongside the /data, /skins and /modules folders).
Make sure that whatever you call this folder you set 'Ning Archive Directory' in the NingImport config section the same, and that the CSV file is actually named 'memberdata.csv'.

--
Paul Asher - JR Developer and System Import Specialist

Zachary Moonshine
@zachary-moonshine
9 years ago
824 posts

ok i created a folder with the name "Ning Archive Directory"

Zachary Moonshine
@zachary-moonshine
9 years ago
824 posts

ok uploading now fingers crossed

Zachary Moonshine
@zachary-moonshine
9 years ago
824 posts

just uploaded the csv file into the folder on the server and it seems to have bogged down the site everything is moving really slow ...somehow i think ning data may be booby trapped ? hahhaha i will give it a few minutes to settle see what happens

Zachary Moonshine
@zachary-moonshine
9 years ago
824 posts

ok it didnt find it so i changed the name of the folder to Ning_Archive and now its importing them all

Zachary Moonshine
@zachary-moonshine
9 years ago
824 posts

ok the import was a success .... of course i have no idea what to do next lol

so i will continue tweeking things till i am ready gonna give it a few more days before i swap the domain over

@paul
9 years ago
4,332 posts

The default folder name is Ning_Archive so that is why it worked when you renamed your folder to that. If you had change the folder name to your original in the NingImport config section it would have worked (though I tend never to use spaces in any server folder or file names - I'm not sure that Linux handles them that well!!).

Anyways, glad its sorted. Looking forward to seeing your site and how well the Ning3 members pick up on it.

TIP - Install and setup the Kickbox module now so that it can be checking that all your member emails are valid for when you send out the passwords. Mailgun can get upset and block you as a spammer if it gets a lot of bounces from a mass emailing.

--
Paul Asher - JR Developer and System Import Specialist

Zachary Moonshine
@zachary-moonshine
9 years ago
824 posts

interesting i just did that and kickbox skipped every email in my system said they were all invalid even my own ? something must not be right

@paul
9 years ago
4,332 posts

How many users do you have?
Are you using the Kickbox free account? That will only test 100 emails a day so puzzled that you say 'every' email, unless you have less than 100, that is.
If you want, send us your admin login so that we can take a look.

--
Paul Asher - JR Developer and System Import Specialist

Zachary Moonshine
@zachary-moonshine
9 years ago
824 posts

almost 800 no i did it inside jamroom there is a button for test all profile accounts emails, i will send u private note of admin login thanks paul

Zachary Moonshine
@zachary-moonshine
9 years ago
824 posts

hmm it wont let me send you a private note ? says invalid user lol

?

@paul
9 years ago
4,332 posts

I think I have to be following you for you to be able to send me a PN.
Send the login to support[at]jamroom[dot]net instead.

--
Paul Asher - JR Developer and System Import Specialist

Zachary Moonshine
@zachary-moonshine
9 years ago
824 posts

ok thanks sent

Zachary Moonshine
@zachary-moonshine
9 years ago
824 posts

i almost wonder now if it would make more sense to just let them create new accounts since the only thing we can bring over is there emails and i already send them newsletters this way there is no confusion about passwords and such if i choose to go that rout i just delete the ning import ? and if they sign up its not gonna remember there emails or have any issues ?

@paul
9 years ago
4,332 posts

The Ning3 CSV also has their location (country, state, zip), gender and birthdate which are also saved in Jamroom.
If you just email them now and ask them to re-register on the new site, at a guess, only 10% to 20% of them will actually bother to do it.
One advantage of doing the import and using the JR Tool to send them their new passwords is that it only sends an email to those who have not already logged in at least once. This means that after a couple of weeks, say, you could edit the email content and use the tool again to resend only to members that haven't yet responded, so hopefully you'll ultimately retain a higher percentage of your current members.

--
Paul Asher - JR Developer and System Import Specialist

Zachary Moonshine
@zachary-moonshine
9 years ago
824 posts

Ok I see . That makes sense

Strumelia
@strumelia
9 years ago
3,603 posts

Yes that is what i'm doing now. I sent out the initial 'wave' of password invites when going live, which resulted in about 25% of my 4800 members logging in right away. Then 3 weeks later, I sent another wave out (and it was sent only to the ning members who still hadn't logged in yet)...which resulted in another 15% or so logging in within that 24 hours again. Many members are slow to respond or don't see the email.
I plan to send a third wave with a slightly more 'urgent' message in another 3 weeks or so. Then finally about 3 months after going live I'll send out a final notice that says if they don't log in their accounts will be removed. Which i may or may not do at that point.

We have to accept that on any social network, there is almost always a large proportion of members who sign up and then pretty much disappear again. You have to decide whether you want to retain those members, and for how long. On a media-rich site like mine with a whole lot of videos, uploaded audio clips, and photos, keeping long dormant members and their content will eventually boot me into a higher server price range...but at what actual benefit? Is the presence or content of those long gone members still important to the site? Such factors must be weighed against each other when doing site housekeeping.

JR gives us a nice user data browsing tool that tells us when a member's last login was (if ever), which is invaluable for this later down the road after ning invites are no longer sent out.

--
...just another satisfied Jamroom customer.
Migrated from Ning to Jamroom June 2015
updated by @strumelia: 07/09/15 06:26:06AM

ICW
@icw
9 years ago
114 posts

I'm going to jump in here for a minute to say thanks to strumelia and to soaring eagle. You probably don't know this but you led me from Ning (via the creators network) to Jamroom and I'm so happy you did. The JR folks are fabulous (so patient with my novice questions) and I think we're moving closer to actually migrating off of Ning and onto our JR sites, hosted on JR. The goal is to get it done before the end of the month so we don't need to pay Ning for another year.

Thanks to you all for asking questions I didn't know I even had, for sharing your talents and expertise, and for your encouragement.
Cheers!

Strumelia
@strumelia
9 years ago
3,603 posts

Wow, thanks for saying that.

It's wonderful that you are happily moving to Jamroom.

Just a few tips about ning payments- I suggest you call Ning's Billing dept RIGHT NOW and switch to a monthly payment plan. What will happen is this: your current yearly payment will continue to run until it's used up, and then if you run a little over your deadline the worst that would happen is that ning would only charge you for one more month...NOT for a whole 'nother year. Ning WILL NOT REFUND unused portions of a year payment plan once it's charged! So PLEASE protect yourself ahead of time by switching to a monthly plan NOW even if you don't intend to use it....just in case. You might need that extra month or two past your current yearly subscription.

Also...my ning payments get charged exactly on the 20th of every month. Be sure to CHECK if yours is the same, before you possibly get a nasty surprise of an entire new year charged.
And when you do cancel, don't leave it til the last couple of days. Others have done this and gotten charged because the change was 'working its way through the system'.
I will be canceling my nings on July 13th...a week ahead of when they would charge me for another month (on the 20th). When you go to cancel- be sure to not only create a support TICKET that is very clear about canceling, but PHONE them as well. Cover ALL your bases ahead of time, and save any communication you have with them. You'll know when you are canceled because your network will suddenly go POOF into thin air. lol!
Best of luck!

Here are three pages of various ning subscription support/billing contacts and info:
http://ec2-75-101-132-140.compute-1.amazonaws.com/contact/networkdown/
https://www.ning.com/help/?p=5690
https://www.ning.com/billingpolicy/

--
...just another satisfied Jamroom customer.
Migrated from Ning to Jamroom June 2015

ICW
@icw
9 years ago
114 posts

You are wonderful! Those are great tips... I will do that ASAP.

Thanks!

ICW
@icw
9 years ago
114 posts

Did you all get a survey from someone on the Ning Creators network this morning? I'm not sure who sent it... I think it was Garfield...

Strumelia
@strumelia
9 years ago
3,603 posts

Yep- I just asked him. I want to be sure it's not some spam hack thing. Maybe he's just trying to gauge the interest in his new project.

--
...just another satisfied Jamroom customer.
Migrated from Ning to Jamroom June 2015
updated by @strumelia: 07/10/15 09:48:12AM

ICW
@icw
9 years ago
114 posts

I wanted to be sure as well... thanks for finding out...

Zachary Moonshine
@zachary-moonshine
9 years ago
824 posts

im sending new passwords to my ning imports but i have a screen up saying 0 emails sent now for over 30 minutes does it take a really long time or is something wrong ?

updated by @zachary-moonshine: 07/12/15 07:05:56AM

@paul
9 years ago
4,332 posts

It has found none to send and has finished.
Maybe you had the Kickbox validation set but have not actually validated any of them yet?

--
Paul Asher - JR Developer and System Import Specialist

Zachary Moonshine
@zachary-moonshine
9 years ago
824 posts

yes i did the validation on kickbox main site then i came back and deleted the users with bad emails and now i unchecked validation since i manually did it and it is sending emails now

Zachary Moonshine
@zachary-moonshine
9 years ago
824 posts

complaints are pouring in now, nobody has gotten an email yet ? does it take more than a few hours ?

@paul
9 years ago
4,332 posts

It could take a few hours to send them all - What do you have the send rate set to (emails/minute)?
Also, make sure the Active Email System set to? Its not still set to the debug log is it?

--
Paul Asher - JR Developer and System Import Specialist

Zachary Moonshine
@zachary-moonshine
9 years ago
824 posts

no idea i will check ..also mailgun just let me know i had still not verified domain with them so i had to back to yola and add the domain info mailgun has to the dns records now its says could take up to 48 hours to fully propegate

Zachary Moonshine
@zachary-moonshine
9 years ago
824 posts

my mailgun account has been suspended lol

ok new idea is theer anyway i can just delete all profile email accounts in one shot so these people can just sign up manually ?

Zachary Moonshine
@zachary-moonshine
9 years ago
824 posts

ok wait i see there was another txt record to add to dns problem is its confusing me that on yola they dont allow u to type in the hostname when adding a txt ? only the value section?

Zachary Moonshine
@zachary-moonshine
9 years ago
824 posts

it looks like the dns records only allow one txt to be used at a time so i dont know ?

Zachary Moonshine
@zachary-moonshine
9 years ago
824 posts

most of my people are using new emails since they are inpatient to wait on the email of new password so i am just gonna start deleting all the ning imports do i delete the user or the profile or both ?

@paul
9 years ago
4,332 posts

The Developer module has a tool to reset the site. It'll delete EVERYTHING except master admin.
But if users just sign up you'll still need emails working. You need to get Mailgun set up and working.

--
Paul Asher - JR Developer and System Import Specialist

@paul
9 years ago
4,332 posts

Note that if you do reset the site your skin and templates remain intact.

--
Paul Asher - JR Developer and System Import Specialist

Zachary Moonshine
@zachary-moonshine
9 years ago
824 posts

hmm but that would remove all the people that signed up today as well ?

Zachary Moonshine
@zachary-moonshine
9 years ago
824 posts

i still do plan on getting mailgun working i just am at the mercy of the domain provider now so i have to wait to see how they can make it work but till then everything else is working great everyone is loving the new site

Zachary Moonshine
@zachary-moonshine
9 years ago
824 posts

wait ok i can make everyone thats signed up master admin for a brief moment and go in reset and then turn them back to normal

Zachary Moonshine
@zachary-moonshine
9 years ago
824 posts

but this will delete all modules too it says ?

@paul
9 years ago
4,332 posts

Quote: but this will delete all modules too it says ?

It'll delete module content, not the modules themselves i.e.. all blogs, videos, images etc.

Quote: wait ok i can make everyone thats signed up master admin for a brief moment and go in reset and then turn them back to normal

No - it deletes all profiles and users except those with ID = 1 (the first (master) account created).

Quote: i still do plan on getting mailgun working i just am at the mercy of the domain provider now so i have to wait to see how they can make it work but till then everything else is working great everyone is loving the new site

That is the best plan. Get your domain and Mailgun working then use the tool to send all emails. Other Ning migrants have done this without issue.

--
Paul Asher - JR Developer and System Import Specialist

Zachary Moonshine
@zachary-moonshine
9 years ago
824 posts

Its just my donain thats being tricky will get it sorted though

Strumelia
@strumelia
9 years ago
3,603 posts

Hey Paul, you should update this page: https://www.jamroom.net/ning-to-jamroom

so that it reflects the new ability for Jamroom to import all MEMBERS from a ning 3.0 .csv file into a jamroom site. That's a big thing, IMHO. Right now with its asterisk* note, that page totally dismisses any options for 3.0 ning owners.

--
...just another satisfied Jamroom customer.
Migrated from Ning to Jamroom June 2015

@paul
9 years ago
4,332 posts

Good point - Thanks - We'll get that sorted.

--
Paul Asher - JR Developer and System Import Specialist

Strumelia
@strumelia
9 years ago
3,603 posts

While you're there, can you make it more obvious that those ugly green boxes are actually links? I'm not exactly stupid but it took me a looong time to realize the text-filled green boxes WERE the links.
I mentioned this elsewhere, that page is where prospective ning customers will be looking and (no offense intended) the whole page looks pretty '90s...the clunky bold type, oppressive and loud rather than confidence inspiring. Something cleaner, more modern airy looking perhaps? Doesn't need much, just a fresh face.

--
...just another satisfied Jamroom customer.
Migrated from Ning to Jamroom June 2015

test site migrating 3.0 ning site

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