Finally done with my (hopefully) awesome site ... check it out

[Hadi Hosn]

Hello everyone, finally the time has come for me to share my work on Ning. I have spent many sleepless nights working on this - I have even given up at times but convinced myself to come back to the site and continue. This obviously is not a one man project, I have worked with very smart developers and designers from this site and outside Creators for the more grueling coding and development. Check us out here - www.consultoclock.com

Consult O'clock is a social network for business professionals with the added functionality of 'Jobs' (check out the tab on my network). 

Consult O'clock Jobs (http://consultoclock.com/jobs) is a global online employment platform. Clients can hire independent consultants and use our communities and resources to share, learn and collaborate. Consultants use the social network features to create online profiles and portfolios, submit proposals for jobs, and collaborate and receive payment through the Consult O'clock website for projects they have worked on.

I would appreciate any and all feedback. Also, if you would like to register and play around - even try out the 'bidding' functionality of our Jobs page, go ahead and register, I will approve with no hesitation.

[ATLANTIAN TRAVELER]

looks great, i was able to clearly view intent and was easily digestible. i no longer face any job market my self, i only free lance. and enjoy retirement. by the way so many things you can do with drop down tabs you would be amazed links and imagination is limit with links urls etc.

[Hadi Hosn]

Hi Atlantian traveler, sounds like consultoclock could help you with freelance opportunities. If any of the areas we focus on interest you and you have experience with, then feel free to join and look out for the next job opportunity.

I'm happy with my drop down tabs as they are. Thanks a lot for your feedback.

[BossChicks.com]

it looks very professional! do mind sharing how you were able to get the social media buttons at the very top?

[Hadi Hosn]

I got it from one of SweetPotato's tips here: http://creators.ning.com/forum/topics/insert-social-icons-into-your... and I customised it a little bit to put the buttons up top.

[BossChicks.com]

thank u so much! It worked -> BossChicks.com =)

[Hadi Hosn]

Buttons look good but try to move the social icons to the left - using left padding in your custom code to make sure you don't have the buttons over the Sign up/Sign in tabs.

[Clark P]

Your site looks fantastic!  Now comes the hard work of getting critical mass of members.  With a focused niche I have no doubt you can make it.  :-)

One glitch I noted:  Your "Engage" page does not have the links on it that are available from the drop down menu.  It is blank.  So, for example, if someone actually clicked on "Engage" in your menu rather than one of the drop down options, they are taken to the blank Engage page.  So browsers that don't support the dropdown menus (mobile, etc.) will be unable to navigate to that page.

One suggestion I have that may or may not apply...  If you ever plan to have advertising on your site, I would suggest implementing the ad slots now.  Once you have 10k+ members and then starting introducing ads, a select few members will raise an incredible ruckus of negativity and complaints in your forum.  Ask me how I know.  ;-)

Again, really impressed with your site layout.  Is it based on the new Design Studio or the old design tools?    The three columns (which I prefer) are throwing me off.

Cheers!
/Clark

[Hadi Hosn]

Thanks Clark - coming from an expert in member acquisition, it's great to know that I'm on the right track :-) 

The ads has been something I thought about and I think I have other ideas of revenue generation from the Jobs web app within the site - hopefully if it kicks off and all goes to plan so for now I have decided to stay a bit clear of ads. But I would be easily convinced otherwise, maybe if you ask me again in a week I might have a different view. 

You're absolutely right about the glitch - I changed it just yesterday and failed to notice the main tab. Taken it out now as I did have ideas for an 'Engage' page up front which then links users to blogs, discussions, questions but I've decided to park that for now and focus on other requirements. Thanks for pointing it out.

I had some help from NING designers here, and all the work was done through the Advanced CSS of the new Design Studio.

Yeah agreed now the fun begins and I'm hoping I'll enjoy easy member acquisition over the next few months! Maybe a major press release and I'll have a few hundred joiners overnight! Ahhh it's good to dream.

[Lainie Takawe]

I'm Jealous. It's beautiful and clean! 

[Baqur mehdi]

Hadi Hosn, could you please tell me how u have designed these three Looking forward to get your reply soon. Thanks in advance

[Hadi Hosn]

HI Baqur, the Give Feedback button is from webreep.com - I signed up to the Free membership and was able to customise and include my logo in the survey. Once you finalise your questions, you will then get an HTML code that you will need to add to the NING network custom code.

2. The mailing list is from mailchimp.com - I have an account there and I created a regular text box on my network's homepage and added the HTML code for signing up members to a mailing list (available for free on mailchimp).

3. The slider is from here: http://creators.ning.com/forum/topics/how-to-add-a-slider-to-your

[jeffro mcgee]

wow im impressed was it just like you imagined it? how long did it take to finish? how much help did you pay for. the flash screen is a little to fast for me to read entirely maybe 5 seconds more delay then i can read it.