Nov. 9: Ning Virtual Gifts: Pick a price and category

[Ning]

One of the things that makes Ning Virtual Gifts unique is that as Network Creators, you can customize the Gift Store to make it just right for your Ning Network. From the get-go, you've been able to upload your own original gifts, as well as feature or remove gifts from the Gift Store. Today, we're offering two more ways to customize the Gifts feature on your Ning Network:

1. You can now price gifts at 25, 50, 75, 100, 200, or 500 credits, which is equivalent to anywhere from $.50 to $10.
2. You'll be able to rename Gift Categories to whatever best fits the context of your Ning Network.

With variable pricing, you can now choose from a wide range of prices, enabling you to offer members more choice around selecting, purchasing and sending gifts. And through custom category naming, you have a new way to encourage member interaction – giving gifts to show appreciation, friendship, even self-expression – all within the inherent context of your Ning Network.

Choose the price for your custom gifts

When you upload a custom gift to the Gift Store you'll be able to set a price that matches the offering. Want to charge more for a killer set of turntables than for a microphone? Now you can. From the Manage Gifts page, select "Upload a Custom Gift." To set the price, just click the dropdown menu next to "Price":

You can choose from 25, 50, 75, 100, 200, or 500 credits.

Rename Gift Categories

In addition to naming your price for custom gifts, you'll also be able to rename Gift Categories. To do so, select "Update the Gift Store" from the Manage Gifts page. On the left side of the page, click the Gift Category you'd like to rename. You'll see a pencil next to the category name — click this to rename the category to whatever you like:

This is also the place to reset the category name to its default.

And that's it! As a side note, if you're interested in uploading a custom gift to the Gift Store, make sure to check out our screencast here.

[Susan]

Hey Ryan!

Gifts you've already uploaded will still be priced at 75 credits. If you're looking to change the price on those I'd suggest removing the previously uploaded gift so you can upload it again with a new price. To remove a gift head to Manage -> Gifts -> Update the Gift Store, choose the gift and click the "Remove" link.

~Susan

[The PL Team (d&e)]

To elaborate, correct me if I'm wrong but when he deletes a gift, it will also be deleted from the pages of all previous recipients of that gift right?

[Susan]

Removing a gift from the Gift Store won't remove it from the page of a member who has already received it. You can safely make changes to the Gift Store without effecting gifts given prior to any changes you might make. :)

~Susan

[M]

I knew this would come out sooner or later :] Thanks!

[FedMedic]

Ok, so this change hasn't happened yet, right?

Oh, and if I'm reading the above correctly, we won't have the option of setting free gifts yet, right?

LOL! I think I'm done with the questions now.

Cheers,
Fed

[Travis]

Dumb question: why can we not create custom gifts that are free to send? This could be a great promotional/branding tool...

[Garfield Creator]

Not dumb at all but if it is I will add my dumb question to it. Why can't we as Network Creators bestow gifts (that we don't have to pay for) to members we want to reward for their activity? This could expand to being able to reward with trophies or levels of accomplishment badges.

[Travis]

Yep. I asked the same thing back when this feature was announced.

[The PL Team (d&e)]

Thats fantastic folks!

[Amit S]

I second ryan's suggestion - Just give an NC the ability to set freebies up to a point. Like 10 freebies maximum. And only customs should be freebies.

[NimrodH]

Our team is working through several ideas on enabling NCs to create custom gifts for their networks. We are trying to strike a balance between the larger gifting volume that free gifts create, and the deeper engagement that paid gifts convey to both the giver and the receiver. Setting a limit on the number of free custom gifts per network is one of the solutions we're considering.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on ways of striking this balance and plan to release some form of free gift support soon.

[NimrodH]

Very good point. I'll see what we can do to address this. Thanks Ryan.