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Manny Hernandez, Network Creator and Guide here on Creators, is up for a ShortyAward for his network, Tudiabetes. Shorty Awards honor the best producers of real-time, short form content on Twitter.Let's help out a fellow Network Creator and vote! Tudiabetes, a "community of people touched by diabetes", is currently in 4th position in the health category. To vote, just tweet:I nominate @tudiabetes for a Shorty Award in #health because...(add reason here)Visit Tudiabetes.org to see the amazing work Manny has done so far then add your reason in the tweet. You can do this on Twitter.com, with any Twitter client, or using the voting box on Shortyawards.com.

Welcome to the second in a series of Ning Creators blog posts focusing on simple design tricks you can use on your network.

Trick #2: Centering the Navigation

The following code, used on Carmen Electra's official community, will center your network's navigation area in all web browsers.

To do this, just visit the "Appearance" area inside the "Manage" tab, then paste the following CSS snippet inside the "Advanced" section (underneath any other code that may already be there):

#xg_navigation ul {text-align: center;margin: 0 auto;}#xg_navigation ul li {display: -moz-inline-box; /* inline-block for earlier versions of FF */-moz-box-orient: vertical; /* inline-block for earlier versions of FF */display: inline-block;vertical-align: middle;*display: inline; /* ie7+ hack */*vertical-align: auto; /* ie7+ hack */text-align: left;float: none;}#xg_navigation ul li a {display: inline;}

When you're done, click the "Save" button. Your navigation should now be centered. Enjoy!

Hi everyone!

Since there's an active discussion on critiquing each others Ning Networks, here is a web page on hints for critiquing a site -- http://www.digital-web.com/articles/web_design_critique/ -- okay, it's on slightly different subject (actual HTML design rather than Ning Networks) but it's still pretty useful. I'll highlight the major points here:[NOTE THAT THE FOLLOWING TEXT IS FROM THE ABOVE LINK, PARAPHRASED IN THE CONTEXT FOR PEOPLE CRITIQUING NING NETWORKS. THAT SAID, I PRETTY MUCH AGREE. :) ]

Asking for an opinion

The more experienced a designer is, the less s/he's likely to ask people for opinions on her designs. After all, everyone else that hangs out on a list or message board is less experienced than you are, right?

When you are offering up your wares for the world to rip into, it can help to be as specific as possible about what you want them to look at. Here are some suggestions:

- Clearly state what the objective of the site or page is.

- Be specific about what you want comments on - and hope that people will read that before they start offering opinions.Taking it

It can be hard to take criticism, but as I've already said, sometimes it can be tremendously useful. While the tendency may be to listen only to people whom you know and perhaps whose work you admire, this can often shut you off from those out-of-nowhere responses that really make you think.

First of all though, I do tend to listen far more carefully to the opinions of people whose work I admire--that's just natural.

Also, I do tend to discount the type of opinion which says something along the lines of "I don't like your design at all, it's just not my style." (Even worse is that very helpful "your design sucks".) That's not really the point--everyone has his or her preferred styles, or colors, but a decently educated eye can tell the difference between good and bad design.

On the flip side, not all positive feedback is useful either. "I just love everything you do!" is not too in-depth or constructive... it's flattering for sure, but is it useful?

The best type of criticism tends to be very specific, in my opinion. Comments such as "the use of the navigation can be more user-friendly if arranged such a way" or "the color contrast would be better if." etc. are specific and critical without being negative.

When asked for an opinionTaking criticism can be tough, but often dishing it out can be harder. I don't think that anyone wants to hurt someone's feelings; but then again, what can one do when confronted with a design you can't stand? Do you lie? Well...it depends.

Beware of newbies

First of all, consider the source. Is it someone who is seriously considering becoming a professional web designer [or a hardcore Ning user -Ern] --or perhaps someone who already calls himself a pro? If so, then I think that you should be as tough on them as any of their clients might be. On the other hand, if it were someone who is doing this as a hobby, or just starting out, you would probably want to be much gentler.

If you see something positive, it might be good to emphasize this first--especially if you see some kind of potential. Perhaps their designs are way too busy and cluttered (a common problem for beginner-type pages) but perhaps their use of color is unique; then you can latch onto that.

When there's some more potential:

Mentoring

If the person is asking for a critique, and you think their work is worth offering opinions about, then it's a different story. At which point, if you have any experience yourself (and the other party respects your opinions), it's a chance to become a mentor. This can be a truly rewarding experience. It can be a joy to see someone blossom as they absorb the criticism they receive.If the person is not being specific, as is detailed in the above section, ask them those questions. Who is the intended audience? Unless the work in question is a pure for-fun piece, it doesn't necessarily matter how beautiful it is--it also has to be practical. Consider your "student's" goals--are they doing this just for fun, or do they want to make a living at it? Maybe they are very good at doing sites with lots of complicated decorative elements, but if they're aiming for business clients perhaps they'd appreciate some tips on how to make more "boring" sites. And so on.

Hope this helps.- E

The buzz word for 2010 will be Micro-Localized Social Networking. Spacial relativity will become less and less a factor in determining social borders. A new world order will begin to emerge within two years.According to Nielsen Online, 2009 saw exponential growth of social media. Twitter alone grew 1,382% registering more than 7 million unique US visitors in the month of February alone. Meanwhile, MySpace users continued the migration to Facebook. What will social media look like in 2010?Next year, "social media will get even more popular, more mobile, and more exclusive" — at least, that's what David Armano's thinks, author of Six Social Media Trends for 2010.I believe the boutique social media phenomenon that Ning has enabled will surpass all other social media providers combined. Due to the ability of Ning users to create their own social media experience based around what ever passion they share with others. When I last checked, in November 2009, Ning users have created 1.5 million social networks with a combined 37million unique users; growing at a rate of 12 million new users every month.I believe the tasks Ning made possible for us to undertake will have a tangible lasting impact on the evolution of the human experience.

Here's a handy way to load Ning Creators from your iPhone's home screen as a fullscreen standalone app (rather than a window within Safari):1. Visit https://creators.ning.com/fullscreen.html from Safari on your iPhone. You'll immediately be redirected to the iPhone version of Ning Creators.2. Click the back button in Safari and you'll go to a blank white page. Don't panic, this is normal.3. From this blank white page, press the "+" button at the bottom of the screen and choose the "Add to Home Screen" option. You'll see a preview of the Ning Creators icon and an option to edit the name. You can leave things as they are, then click the "Add" button in the upper-right corner.4. All done. You can now click the newly-added home screen icon to experience Ning Creators as a fullscreen standalone app.Enjoy!

Welcome to the first in a series of Ning Creators blog posts focusing on simple design tricks you can use on your network.Trick #1: Adding an Arrow Indicator to Navigation DropdownsThe pulldown menus created by our Tab Manager feature are extremely popular, however some Network Creators have expressed interest in displaying an arrow indicator next to tabs that have a dropdown menu (to make it clear to members that there's more content inside that tab). You can see this in action on Enrique Iglesias' official social network.To achieve this effect, visit the "Manage" tab, then the "Analytics" section. Paste in the following snippet underneath anything else that may already exist (don't delete anything):<script type="text/javascript">if (typeof(x$) != 'undefined') {//Adding "dropdown" class to nav tabs that have subtabsx$("li.xg_subtab[dojotype='SubTabHover']").addClass("dropdown");}</script>Save the changes. Now visit the "Manage" tab again, followed by the "Appearance" section. Click on the "Advanced" tab.If you have a light background color on your network, add the following code underneath anything else that may already exist (don't delete anything):.dropdown {padding-right:5px;background:url(https://static.ning.com/creators/design/black-arrow.png) no-repeat right center;}If you have a dark background color on your network, add the following code underneath anything else that may already exist (don't delete anything):.dropdown {padding-right:5px;background:url(https://static.ning.com/creators/design/white-arrow.png) no-repeat right center;}Save the changes. You're all set. You can adjust the "5px" number above to tweak the spacing that appears to the left of the arrow, and if you want to use a different arrow image or support legacy web browsers, you can create a new image with an image editing program, then swap out the existing black-arrow.png or white-arrow.png URL with your custom image's URL.Note that this technique works best on themes in which tabs don't have a separate background color when selected, though certainly feel free to experiment. Happy dropdowning!

Finding the right ads to post is easy... if you know where to find the advertisers. To help save you some time, or maybe give more work then you were expecting, here is a list of 232 Affiliate Ad Networks. I personally have experience as an Advertiser on Commission Junction and multiple internal affiliate programs for my employer. As a part-time affiliate publisher in my free time, I get links to monetize my personal sites and Ning Networks from Commission Junction, LinkShare, PepperJam, Amazon Associates.

Links to apply to all of these networks plus reviews and opinions from other affiliate marketers on which is the best programs or ad networks to work with, I find OfferVault to be extremely thorough. That site will also help you find which network the company you want to promote is found on and where they are paying the most.

Find more revenue ideas for your Ning, join the Making Money with Our Nings Group

I personally prefer the convenience of working with the networks, but remember, companies with internal affiliate programs pay more then those that are listed on ad networks. The ad networks will charge an extra 20 - 30% fee to the advertisers on top of your commission per transaction. So that means if you can partner directly with the company you can earn 20 - 30% more.

Website Hosting Affiliates earn $90 - $150 per sale, among the most profitable type of ad you can run. Often retail affiliate programs only provide a 10 - 30% commission; average sale less then $100. But don't be discouraged by smaller commissions per transaction, a popular retailer, especially one your audience is interested in, can generate significant traffic and commissions, from your members online shopping.

Strategy Tip:One idea that plays on affiliate ads is to start a page for Member Discounts. Collect the best coupons and special offers you can find then keep your members updated with online savings to help them pinch their pennies. Not only will this strategy ad valaue to your network's content, it will give your members another reason to return frequently to check out the latest deal that you have uncovered.
If anyone finds a great printable coupon affiliate program. Please write a review, as I am in the search for the best places to find that type of offer to run.Happy Ninging,ben