JAMROOM
Site Description
http://fotmd.com
My site for players of the Appalachian Dulcimer (a traditional American musical instrument) was started on Ning in 2009. Over six years my site grew in members numbers and scope, yet Ning did not grow along with it, and in fact had intentionally turned its back on its customers. Even their supposed 'upgrade' platform was abandoned before it was completed. The writing was on the wall- I was facing a dead end for my site, and knew I'd be letting down all my members if I did nothing. I looked into several alternative platforms, and even built a test network on one of them, but nothing seemed to be the right fit for my community.
I read some posts from someone who had moved from Ning to Jamroom, but being a total non-coder I was afraid I'd be in way over my head. However, upon actually contacting the Jamroom Team, their immediate, personable, and supportive responses reassured me that with help from them and other Jamroom members in the JR support forum, even someone like me would be able to learn, customize, and maintain my network on the Jamroom platform if I stuck with it. The developers at Jamroom had built some amazing modules and tools for bringing in Ning site content. There seemed to be no end to their patience and helpfulness. I decided to give Jamroom my best try.
It took me longer than it would have taken an experienced coder, and I did need help with some aspects...but my new community home was built and my entire social network was imported from my Ning site- several thousand members with their profile pages, avatars and comments... and all their videos, music clips, discussion forums, Groups, Events, and Photos.
My new site is now live and feels like a breath of fresh air! So flexible, modern, powerful, and super fast on Jamroom's own servers. I can change or control just about anything I want- a huge contrast to having so little true admin power on my old Ning network. Jamroom's support Team is THE best to be found anywhere. Absolutely top notch.
I could not be happier with my choice of Jamroom- my members and I can now look forward to a bright and stable future in our new online home.
-Strumelia
Friends of the Mountain Dulcimer
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