Content archive tool coming soon [NOW LIVE]

[Evan]

Update: This release is now live.

Hi everyone,

Since the launch of the Ning platform, Network Creators have asked us to create a way for them to download personal copies of the data on their Ning Networks, usually for back-up purposes.

Until now, providing that has been a difficult process. While you can download a basic list of your members, email addresses and profile information, there isn't currently a way to download a backup of your content or a more comprehensive list of your members. For Network Creators who are leaving the platform, we've traditionally provided an archive file, but it's a manual process that involves faxing a signed form to Ning and requires a Ning engineer to produce the file.

That's all about to change. We'll be releasing a tool — later this week, hopefully — that makes it easy to download an archive of your Ning Network's members and content.



Downloading the content and members for an entire Ning Network is not an easy process. To make it as easy as possible, we've built an application that you can download and run on your desktop.

The application is built using the Adobe Air platform, meaning that it should work just the same on Windows, Mac or Linux. You'll need to install Adobe Air on your computer, but that's a quick process. More than 100 million people have already installed Air.

When the Ning Network Archiver goes live, you'll see a new "Archive Content" icon on your Manage page (in the "And More…" section). Clicking on the icon will take you to the new Archive Content Manage page, where we'll provide an overview of the application, as well as installation instructions. Once you've installed the application, you simply need to enter your Network Creator credentials and network URL to kick off the download process.



For more information, check out the FAQs in our Help Center.

[Evan]

Hey Ron!

For many reasons — performance, security, etc. — this feature is solely available to the Network Creator.

/Evan
Ning Product Manager

[Emmanuel Ace]

Anyone can game me the link to downlaod .json

having a little problem with it

[Patrick Chappelle]

Head to your "Manage" page, scroll to the bottom row of controls and you will find the link to the archival tool at the end of the row, to the right. Follow the directions. There's an image of the process above if you're still uncertain how to progress.

[Emmanuel Ace]

I know that i mean like after musics are downloaded
It's gonna be like ning-musics.json
The problem is that my computer don't have a program associated with .json

[Lisa]

You should be able to open up your JSON files with a text editing application such as Notepad or TextEdit. You can learn more about a .json file here.

-Lisa

[Patrick Chappelle]

hey lisa. a fellow nc is asking me how can she open her audio and video files. is that possible?

[Lisa]

The content archiver allows you to download your media files to your computer. Once you have saved these media files, you should be able to open them with an application that plays audio or video files. Make sure that you are using an application that is compatible with your media files' formats.

[Patrick Chappelle]

thank you for the prompt response and info lisa.

[Lisa]

Hi John!

Are you using your Network Creator email address to sign in to the Archiver? You'll need to make sure you have the full URL of your Ning Network, email address, and password entered correctly in order to begin the archive process. If you continue to run into difficulties signing in to the Archiver application, then please contact the Help Center from the email address that you're using to sign in.

-Lisa

[Patrick Chappelle]

i used my ning url rather than my own and it works fine.

[Miss J.]

Will this download content such as forum topics, replies? Comments?

[Evan]

Hey VI!

Yup, it sure will. It will download your 10,000 most recent content items for any feature (like forum discussions), including up to 200 comments (or replies) on each item.

/Evan
Ning Product Manager