Forum Activity for @strumelia

The "Critically Important" Profile Landing Page

Ning To Jamroom


Oops sorry- actually my site is public, but I had my personal page set to be viewable only to members. I just reset that to public so you can see it now:
http://mountaindulcimer.ning.com/profile/Strumelia

Yes it is full of lots of stuff and elements. But my members love that aspect of our site...every page is like a treasure chest. My 4000+ members are mostly over 55...many are in their 70s or 80s. They have a hard time navigating around and noticing tabs and menus. Any time I can just present them with various appetizers all on one platter, it helps them find their way around.

But yes I hear you Brian and I'm sure there will be a little bit of streamlining and modernizing somewhere in my future. Hopefully not too much.
updated by @strumelia: 12/29/14 09:23:54AM

Important questions about Ning "Groups"

Ning To Jamroom

This is the problem I'm having, to think and communicate in such different ways --while having to use the same words yet the words have whole different meanings now.
updated by @strumelia: 12/29/14 09:23:54AM

The "Critically Important" Profile Landing Page

Ning To Jamroom

Yes, Ken did not mean 'landing page' in the sense of "Enter the site through clicking on this little picture of a door"...lol. ;D
See my own profile page (personal page) on my ning:
http://mountaindulcimer.ning.com/profile/Strumelia

On the right are things that are always seen on every page of the site.
in the middle is my timeline/activity feed. It shows things I have done or posted, and also my 'friends'. Also my photos, my videos, my personal Comment Wall, and About myself. On the left are other things like my Friends List, the Groups I belong to, my Discussions...

Any of these elements can be arranged differently/left/right/middle, one column or three...but the POINT is: that a SAMPLING of all these things is right there up front, visible and interesting, on my single personal page. They are not 'hidden' so you can only see them by clicking back and forth between TABs. Thus the person's personal "profile page" does not look EMPTY when you go to check the person out on the site. Hope this helps?
updated by @strumelia: 12/29/14 09:23:54AM

yikes multiple problems

Ning To Jamroom

Rather than overlaying semitransparent text onto the photo thumbnails (my members are older and can't see that stuff very well)- maybe just set it so the text hotlink only shows a certain number of characters and after that it gets clipped, or an elipse... but the link is still complete and functional?
updated by @strumelia: 12/29/14 09:23:54AM

Important questions about Ning "Groups"

Ning To Jamroom

Yes, in Ning 2.0, there is a discussion forum within each Group, and then there is a general site-wide Forum area, which can have categories...and each category contains various discussion threads.
The individual member does not actually have their own forum on their personal page- but their personal page has LINKS TO any discussions they have created or posted in, either in groups or on the main site forums.

"- site level Forum
- profile level group discussions"

Yes to the above. But the confusion always occurs for me because in Ning, the word 'profile' always refers to an individual member's personal page (their "profile page"). in JR the term profile means something totally different. So for me, coming from ning, I would label more like:
- site level Forum with categories and discussions
- Group discussions

I only mention this because these big differences in terminology (profiles, users, members, private notes, messages, galleries...) and it's actually the many differences in terminology are what is preventing me from really understanding and grasping the platform structure, and surely will for other ning newcomers. I know you have explained it, but it keeps flying over my head and I may need an actual visual chart/tree. I want to actually bring this up in it's own thread soon because I think it's important for future Ning customers coming here.
updated by @strumelia: 12/29/14 09:23:54AM

yikes multiple problems

Ning To Jamroom

Don't worry SE- I'm waiting on the same thing. We'll get our regular forums back in all their former glory! Just gotta get one thing attended to at a time.

Hey Brian- Thanks so much for making the main photo/images section into a nice grid showing all members' photos- it's sooo much nicer and more efficient for browsing now!
updated by @strumelia: 12/29/14 09:23:54AM

migration preperation incremental migration and larger sites tips

Ning To Jamroom

I find that a few minutes of playing my banjo or my Cretan Lyra help ease the stress.
updated by @strumelia: 12/29/14 09:23:54AM

Upgrading from existing “Ning” Pages and Discussions modules

Ning To Jamroom

It certainly does help! Thank you for explaining. The differences in TERMINOLGY (what things are called) between Ning and JR features and structure has caused much additional confusion for me, and I'm sure will for others as well. I'm trying hard though, and am catching on slooowly.
updated by @strumelia: 12/29/14 09:23:54AM

migration preperation incremental migration and larger sites tips

Ning To Jamroom

Good advice Soaring about doing the incremental rather than replacing with a whole new archive.
updated by @strumelia: 12/29/14 09:23:54AM

Upgrading from existing “Ning” Pages and Discussions modules

Ning To Jamroom

OK, thanks, this is important stuff and will apply to just about any ning customer who migrates here I will wait til you discuss it with Paul.

I don't see "Profile Forum" listed amongst my currently installed modules.

I imagine all of us ningers will need that module if we have a Forums feature in our Nings (aside from the discussions we all have inside our various Groups). The vast majority of all ning networks currently DO have a strong working Forum feature containing categories and discussions threads within those categories. Here is mine:
http://mountaindulcimer.ning.com/forum
Note that these are not forums or discussions that are within Groups. Our Group forums are separate. I know it may seem redundant, but it's quite useful- some members hesitate joining any Groups and need to get their feet wet in the general site areas at first. It's also great and useful to have general forums that address issues related to ALL members, as opposed to only those in a particular focused-subject Group. Again it relates to the "we/social community" concept.
I know these seemingly complex structures are not what JR people are used to, and we all SO MUCH appreciate your team working so hard to accommodate us 'needy' Ning people. And I'm thinking the end result is going to be spectacular- far better than Ning.
updated by @strumelia: 12/29/14 09:23:54AM