In July 2010 Ning stopped offering an entirely free service. Existing and new customers can now choose from a more-limited-than-the-free-service for $5/month, a mid-level plan with extra functions for $200/year, and a premium service. Some existing users opted to move their sites to grou.ps, which offered both free hosting and an automated process to move a Ning site to the new service.
Programmatic Details
Many of the same principles apply to using Ning as they do for Meetup, including welcoming your members, taking advantage of the tools to enable the most connection and sharing amongst members, and so on. To review the insights about Meetup, visit the wiki section titled Using Meetup.
Case Studies
Groups Using Ning examples:
- Seattle, WA, USA – Sarah
- Warsaw, Poland – Kris
Available Resources
There’s a group on Ning to help those new to the platform explore and learn. Visit the group, join, and start trying it out at:
http://theningfordummies.ning.com/