Sharing Ning Sites with Digg, StumbleUpon, and other Social Media Sites - iFrame Issue - Corrected

[Jen]

I'm concerned about the relatively new, toolbar interface that the Social Media Sites are using. When calling our Ning Sites, the Digg or StumbleUpon page is embedded in an iframe - - which of course will not work with a Ning Network.

Is there any way around this? It's a real killer when trying to promote a Ning Network via some of the best channels - - viral marketing.

Tonight I wrote an Article (Blog) for people who've never heard of a way to create their own Social Network. In fact "Team Ning", this is an ad for Ning, not just getting traffic back to the Ning Directory. :-) So, I write the article and move forward with my Diggs, StumbleUpons, etc... I forgot about the iframe issue. It's a real disadvantage for Ning Network Creators.

If there is anyway around this? Or, if not, please add this to the future possibilities of improvements to the Ning platform. It would truly be appreciated.

Thanks!
Jen

Below is the screen shot, and the Digg article link, to see first hand the issue that the Digg Reader will experience:
Learn How To Create Your Own Social Network Community, Free

If you actually want to read the article, you can find it here:
Direct Link to Article - Learn How To Create Your Own Social Networ...

I think most of us in this Arena, completely forgot - - so many people have no clue that they can create their own Social Network. I realize most of us don't necessarily want to spread the news on that. But, I can't help but think about all the Groups who could really gain so much more support via a Ning Social Network. And, plus, my objectives are different than most Ning Network Creators, seeing that I promote Ning Networks. ;-)

[alice]

We're experiencing similar problems with our site. Ning has told us that they're aware of this issue but I don't think they understand how serious this problem really.

Ning, if you are listening, and I'm sure you are - this iframe issue not only hinders your Creators from spreading their content and bringing in viral traffic, it also creates problems for rich media display ads. Per our ad network, we're missing out on 30% of our ad revenue, as well. The rich media ads should load using the javascript method vs an iframe or they come out all wrong (ads lay on top of each other or are pushed down).

What I need to know is if this problem will be fixed through Ning in the immediate future or if this can be fixed through CSS using a developer. Our outsourced programmer has already told us that this is a Ning issue and not something he can fix on the back-end. Please advise ASAP. Thank you.

[Phil McCluskey]

Hi Jen and Alice,

A couple of things to note:

Jen, the message that you see in the screenshot is specifically because you're the NC and you're signed into your network. If you sign out or try with a different browser, you'll see that the Digg link takes you straight to your network. None of your members or visitors will see that page.

Alice: this isn't something that an external developer can change. We don't have any plans to change frame busting on Ning networks, but we are looking to make a change that ensures that when we break an external frame, that your members or visitors end up on the specific page in the network that was framed; right now they land on the main network page. I'm not sure what the connection is with your ad network, unless they are trying to embed your network in an ad. Can you explain a bit more? It sounds like that's a separate issue.

Thanks,
Phil

[Jen]

Hey Phil!
FANTASTIC! I really appreciate your response, and especially the message. Although this sounds vaguely familiar - - for the moment, I had no clue. Thanks so much for clearing this up.
Best Regards,
Jen

[Jen]

Hi Phil,
I think when you and Alice have completed your conversation, we should close this discussion. If you see that it's time, before I do, please close it.
Best,
Jen

[alice]

Our ad network has explained to us that they will not serve up an ad if it detects an iframe. This means we're losing out on all of our expandable advertising, which accounts for 30% of my revenue. We must use javascript or the ad won't be served.
Can you please help?

[alice]

Hi Phil,

Just following up with you on this issue - have you found a way so that when the iframe busts the visitor stays on that framed page (instead of the main network page)? This is a continuing issue for us and one that's really effecting our traffic..

[Evan]

Hey Alice!

We're planning to do just that, starting sometime next week.

/Evan
Ning Product Manager

[Phil McCluskey]

Hi Alice,

Just to follow up; this was fixed in our most recent release. You can read a bit more about it here.

[Eugene]

You guys are the bomb! Thanks so much for fixing this. I know the effects of this change will not only benefit our network, but many others as well.

Now people will get direct access to our links through Digg, Reddit, Stumbleupon, Google Images, Yahoo images, just to name a few. Instead of getting directed to our main page, they will break out of the frame and go to the intended content page. This will allow people the option to see the content, give it a thumbs up, and help make content go further viral. Bottom line: this is HUGE. Thanks so much Phil, Evan, Laura, and everyone at Ning!

[Martin de Goede]

How about adding LinkedIn to the sites that are accepted.
We use several RSS feeds to promote our NING site on Linked In.
I am sure we lose a lot of visitors because of this issue.

[Jen]

What happened?! It's doing it again. I wondered why we haven't had many Stumblers in the past 24-36 hours. Is it just me?

[Eugene]

Hey Jen. After your message I checked to see if our links were redirecting to our homepage, but we cannot duplicate the error. I checked digg and google images and things are working fine on our site.

You are logged out of your Ning site when you check the links? Otherwise, you'll see the pink toolbar on top...