New Ning Mobile Interface: Now in Ning Labs

[Eric Suesz]

We've been working hard on a brand-new version of your Ning Network's mobile interface. We're happy to say that we're now at a point where we are ready to put this in the Ning Labs section of your dashboard. You can turn it on and off if you want to try it out from there.

We still have some more work to do on this, and we'll keep posting in the Ning Beta Group as we make regular updates. 

Want to provide feedback? 

Join us in the Ning Beta Group, where we will do our best to answer any questions you may have about the new mobile interface. 

What's this all about? 

If this is the first you've heard of this mobile improvement project, check out this discussion for a bit of the back story. It also covers a few FAQs that people have asked us over time. 

[B Wood]

Cool Beans!

Sub tabs run fine on the Ipad! Awesome!

[Scott Bishop]

When will we be able to create our own url's & meta content for our mobile pages like we can with our created "Pages"?

[Denis]

My sincere thanks to the team of developers working on the mobile interface.

I feel very happy today after I succeeded in getting my network's logo to display on the mobile version. Gives me the feeling of owning a brand people can conveniently recognize even on their cellphones. It feels good to look at www.myeeonline.com/m  I am testing using my Samsung Galaxy Note. I am wondering what it looks like on other phones. Planning to do a survey with ten different brands of cellphones probably in one of my classes. Most students hardly sit down to use a PC these days. They want to do everything from their palms on cellphones or tablets.

I have a few questions or let's call them suggestions.

1. Will it be possible to have a cellphone screen icon (my logo for example) that connects directly to our networks?

2. The "my page" mobile version would be much more interesting if members could replace their profile pictures using one saved on their cellphones. Many people have great pictures of themselves on their cellphones. It's one of those things one could do while waiting at the bus stop.

3. The mobile version of Members shows only two display options: 'Show members recently added', 'show members in alphabetical order'. I'd like a third option: 'Show random members'. (An ideal thing would be to have an option which reads: show members with similar profiles. Meaning if the member browsing chooses to look at the members page, he or she sees members that have something in common with him  / her. Sorry. This is just a dream).

4. I was trying to set up pages for the mobile version of my network and found an option for page named HTML. I know what this means but I don't know how it is intended to be used on our mobile networks. Please someone explain it to me.

5. My can't-wait list.

- Chat

- Videos

- Groups

- Events

- Search box (Currently there is a search box for members but none for discussions and blogs).

Have an exciting weekend everyone watching EURO 2012.

[Scott Bishop]

Thanks but that didn't answer my question above. Ning, is my question above in the works?

[Phil McCluskey]

Hi Scott,

We're not working on that right now and don't have immediate plans to develop it. It might be something we look at once the mobile version is a little more feature complete.

Thanks,
Phil

[A-Racing]

Will there be a video application in the future?

[Phil McCluskey]

Hi Akhmed,

Not in the immediate future no; mobile video requires an update to our encoding infrastructure.

Thanks,
Phil

[Steve Cyrkin]

Hi Eric & Co:

The mobile app is getting better by the week, but it is not suitable for acquiring new members—unless I'm setting it up wrong—so I turned it off. There's no intro to the site, blogs and discussions, etc., to draw people in, and images are only inline. An app has to be enticing if it's the default interface. 

For that reason I turned it off on my site for now, but instead of getting the desktop view, I get the mobile "m" configuration from a year or so ago. Could you turn that off please so people searching by phone can get the desktop view?

Now if I've totally missed a way to easily set up the mobile app to draw first time visitors into the site, please excuse me.

BTW...on a different note, wide horizontal images in blogs and discussions get cut off instead of resizing.

Thanks...Steve

[soaringeagle]

draw them in?

they are already in they are on your site are they not/ doesnt your site content draw them in? dont you want them to have a pleasant experience there to see a site that fits theuir phones view?

by forcing phone users to use desktop view your chasing them away

once they are on your site using it they will appreciate whats there and join when they are ready to join

[Steve Cyrkin]

Good question. Our site covers such a large topic that they are unlikely to find what they need through the app—and their isn't a home screen to guide them, or a search function, unless I missed them. Plus the app cuts off larger images, which renders most of them useless.

I'd like to use the app, but right now it just doesn't work for us.

[soaringeagle]

btw ..since activating it i have noticed alot more mobile traffic they are using it..and using it alot

thats drawing them in

[soaringeagle]

since activating the new ning mobile site  i have noticed many photo uploads that dont seem to upload completely

i have dozens that look like this

i know  at least some were uploaded by mobile i assume they all were

whats causing this?