Current status of the Ning Platform is always available on the Ning Status Blog.

Switching from private to public

We've made the decision to switch our community from private to public, however there are a number of issues we need to navigate around to make this happen.

 

Firstly the current discussions and content created by members were made in the knowledge that the information ws only being shared by members (We have some groups for post-natal depression & other sensitive topics) - would we need to archive everything?  Is this possible?  And is this advisable?

 

Can public groups be switched to private?

 

Or instead (and what we'd prefer) is there a way to make all of the forum and groups private but the pages with our about us, advertising etc public?

 

How have other communities got around this issue?

 

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  • Thanks for your reply, we currently have the home page visibile but we'd love to be able to have our articles and other info visible too, without exposing the private conversations. Just wondering about the possibilities.

    • I am trying to figure out that very same thing.  My members don't want their names and topics shown on the Main page.  My site is private and had just the main page showing but even that is too much information.  Yet I want to have some information rather than just the sign in page which is what I have reverted back to now.  My site shows up in Google with high rankings but that won't happen once they crawl again and all I have is a sign up page.  I tried to create a splash page, and I did so, but then that messes up the current Main page.  UGH

  • The only way i have managed to get arround this feature less website to achieve your required - private/ public pages is to make members MODERATORS, with limited access to parts of the site you want them to share - this has a major downfall as it then makes the parts of the site you allow thme to access more like a Wiki pages with the EDIT button giving them total access to the content. In some ways as a shared social network this could have its benefits.

     

    On the other hand this idea really SUCKS as you have to be able to manage every member, this sucks as Ning does not have sufficent membership controls to be able to do this...

    so until Ning resolves this as a PROBLEM there are no work arounds.

     

    I too have a private site, but would like public access to many of the pages not just to the front page. As a members only CLUB I would like to be able to manage members according to their contributions to the site, like DO they USE the site - unformatunalty Ning doesn provide any Member Management/ analytics other than looking on each members home page to see if they use the site and then its only very basic information. Why cant we download any Member data that includes their number of postings or group membership in a EXCEL spread sheet so you can monitor your own sites usage I dont know

     

    but until Ning sorts out Membership Controls - we are stuck with what we have got.

     

    the irony is that we now pay for this!!!!! 

     

    and worst of all members who use our sites get it all for FREE!

    • Thanks for the replies Donna and Seymor

       

      Switching members to moderators could be an option but with nearly 3500 members it would be a nightmare to make happen and I think moderators are able to access/see things like email addresses in the sign up info etc. which could create a whole new set of problems of its own... 

       

      Would love ning to have a look at making 'pages' public.

  • I would like the option for members to share their own content i.e. blog posts, photos and videos, without sharing everything on the site.

    I thought I had the solution of making all tabs visible to members only apart from those and then having people set their individual privacy settings to suit themselves. However on those items, individual privacy settings only allow for sharing with anyone, friends or just me. No setting for members. I also see the value in being able to change default pricacy settings network wide if changes like this were to be made.

    • Thanks for your reply Kiri, it looks like there are quite a few people who would like to see more flexibility in privacy settings for all apsects of the site. 

       

      For my site the members are ok with sharing everything with each other its just the switch to completley public and searchable by google that is the concern for them.

      • It is the same with my members.  We just took a vote and we will open our Main Page to the public after the holidays.  We will continue to have it open for a couple of months to see if membership improves.  My AITM members and myself prefer a small network and we "all" savor our privacy.  After all, we're paying for it:-)

         

        Thanks For Bringing This Topic Up!

        Cautious

        • Thanks for your reply Cautious, as you say 'we're paying for it'. Attracting advertisers while looking after my members is the balance I'm hoping to achieve!  Our community needs both happy members and financial sustainablity to survive. 

           

          Opening your homepage will work well I think in attracting new people. You can set your activity feed to only show a small number of selected things to help keep people's privacy too.  Good luck!

          • Thanks so very much Peace for replying.  I will look into what you mentioned about selecting only a small number of selected things.  I had no idea we could do this.  I guess that's what I get for remaining "totally" private, lol:-)

             

            Thanks Again!

            Cautious

            • You're welcome!  It sounds like you have a lovely community!

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