NING Networks no longer free

[Tony]

The new pricing for NING networks can be found here:

http://about.ning.com/announcement/

So where to from here?

We have some time, firstly let's follow a path of elimination of the major choices.

1 - Stay at NING (roughly $200 per year), not sure about price indexing ?

2 - Move (using the automated content exporter when it becomes available) to a FREE newtork hosting service or cheaper alternative?

Kind Regards,
Tony

[CrystalClear2313]

I say lets stay and pay the fee! At the end like Tony said we probably end up with the same problem in the future.
L&L

[Tony]

It is the only one that allows uploaded videos, NING plus supports imbedded videos. This is the preferred method. Any uploaded videos will still be visual after the swap. Here at SoE imbedd videos is encouraged as opposed to uploaded videos.

paTricia T. said:

I'm not sure if I am reading this correctly. Is the Pro plan the only one that allows videos?

[Tony]

As mentioned earlier, the option of a free site could eventually lead to us being back in the same situation. How long would it remain free? As for the options Simone, luckily NING has put them side by side

http://about.ning.com/announcement/plans.php

Simone said:

Do whatever is best. Yeah, what's $200 a year for all our members? Its not much about $16 per month... Even if only half the number of members are active on this site, (1250) it's only 16 cents per person for the year. I would make the donation optional though, and not a requirement for membership. If the donations end up being more than we need, we can donate the money to charities. It would be one way for us to give something back for all that we have gained. And if we could get an accounting of the money and where it is going, that would be great.

Maybe Tony could do a breakdown of the options and fees and post a poll that we could vote on?

If we choose to go with one of the free sites, I'm fine with that too because I'm sort of upset with Ning about the whole thing... of course they know that people don't usually like change or don't want to do the work to switch or lose their members because of a switch. but on the other hand NING makes out on this one plus they make money off of advertising. They are probably making enough money already... do they really need to do this? I Just don't like throwing money out the window when you can get something for free. When I looked at the free one I thought it was similar... true, we could end up doing the same thing sometime down the road with another site.

[Simmy]

I'm also really annoyed with NING for wanting to charge now, but as Tony said, if we move to a free one, sooner or later they will decide to charge for it.
So my vote is for staying here and pay for the NING PLUS.
(I don't think there's a need for the NING PRO. But then I have no idea if extra bandwidth is needed for a network like this.)

[ૐ Daisy ૐ]

Ditto

Simmy said:

Tony, I'm easy going. We can stay and I'll pay my part or we can move to a free network hosting. I'll be happy either way, as long as we stay together! :)

[ૐ Daisy ૐ]

Ditto

Ullan said:

A sticky situation, that's for certain.

In my humble opinion, $200/year should not pose an issue. Considering the number of members we currently have, if everyone donates $1, we're good for a while. Even if not, I'm sure we can find several people willing to donate something closer to $10 to finance a single year of the network.

On the other hand, this community has moved in the past through different services before ending up at Ning for a while. Perhaps it is time to, once more, move on.

The decision is yours Tony, and I'm sure you'll make the right one.

[ૐ Daisy ૐ]

AWEEEEEEE Besimi..your devotion and sweet heart literally brings tears to my eyes.. I love you!

Besimi said:

SAVIORS OF EARTH ,WILL GO ON DEFINITELY !!!!!! ,NO QUESTION ABOUT IT :):):).

But wich Plan ,do we choose : Ning Plus ($200) or Ning Pro ($500).
--- If Ning Pro ,I pay $300 myself and for the rest You guys could help.
--- If Ning Plus ,I pay for it All myself. ...Definitely.


Ning Plus
The tools and features you need to build and grow a branded social network with high engagement – an incredible value at a great price ...$19.95/month
or $199.95/year* (save 16%) - Full feature set including events, groups, chat, pages and Ning AppsHelp Center support
..............................................................................Help Center support

Ning Pro
The ideal solution for building a comprehensive social experience, including additional features, integration, support and bandwidth
$49.95/month
or $499.95/year* (save 17%) - Full feature set plus video and music uploads and branded players
..............................................................................Premium support

[Trudy]

I leave the decision to Tony and Besimi. Plus or Pro, they know what it takes to keep this site optimally.
But I wanted to let you know ...
I LOVE YOU ALL SoE ... from the bottom of my heart and I'm damn proud of being a member of SoE :)))

Namaste xxx

[buddha boy]

move to a free provider there must be tons of them out there,i like this website i have been a part of it from the begining but i wouldnt be able to pay a fee,i cant pay my bills already

[Vaddix]

What would moving the site entail? Would the site function the exact same way in a free domain? Would we all still have accounts? if not would we all have to move to the new domain? This would cause quite a lot of hassle and a possible loss in traffic and members due to confusion.

If we were to move to a free domain im sure the tool set will be very limited. Not like what we have now with a robust blog and forum section, as well as personal profile. We would have to find one similar in function and layout, with the ability to work in all browsers, post links videos pictures and blogs. Is there even a free domian out their that offers all of this? Most likley. Can their servers handle our traffic? that's something we would have to look into.

I dont know about you guys, i love the ning network, i love how this site functions, but i feel betrayed by ning, If met the director or ceo of ning id give them a big fat middle finger.
They could have made money off of charging for custom layouts, or tool-sets instead of taking the free networks option completely away.

[simpleman]

I suggest keeping the ning site. A transfer will only cause confusion and disruption. I think there are enough members willing to put money in the hat and Besimi is willing to pay for it all (thanks Besimi). As far as video uploads go, I think embeding the videos will work fine. There will be sites like youtube to host our videos.

[ૐ Daisy ૐ]

PaTricia. You are so beautiful inside and out.. And i tear up with you..lol.. with that being said..i too would pitch in the 5$ monthly..so there's 2 ppl.. ...

paTricia T. said:

It is really ok that we have to pay a fee. :o) And I have no anger to Ning because they must pay their bills too. I will honor what ever decision Tony makes for SOE ...it only took me a year to find it from the first launch, LOL, I'm sure it wouldn't be so long into the second. :o) Just kidding! But I also do highly support staying here with the embedded video deal....what $200. per year. I think that is a respectable price. The internet is changing and we must change with it.
I understand too well the hard times many people are having financially...this is the first time in my life I have been somewhat financially stable. So I REALLY get that...and please there is no shame in not having the funds to support this. We all bring an enormous amount of wealth in other ways. Buddha Boy...you gave the gift of smiles to so many people this week with the animal videos. That is priceless my friend! (oh crap, I'm tearing up) So you get my point.
Here is another way we can get the money....
An area where people can advertise themselves. For example: I am a writer with books to sell and websites to advertise. If I pay $5. per month then that is already 1/4th of the monthly cost. I am positive there are many of you out there that would also like to have a place to advertise your self. It would only take FOUR PEOPLE to cover this monthly fee.

What'cha think???