Is NING really going to close all free accounts/groups?

[Michael J. Morris Zamora]

Rumors about NING Platform closing all free groups/pages is getting stronger by the minute. If such rumor becomes real: Is there an alternate plan to keep us up? Would be a shame if  we lose all this information and contacts. Regards from Puerto Rico!

[Ruud Janssen]

The link is no proof that NING is closing down. I as owner haven't gotten a notice. Maybe a competition is going on and someone wants NING groups to move to the new place.

Where is the proof that NING is changing their policy?

Ruud

[Rachel Fasig]

Go to www.ning.com and click on "An Update from Ning" dated April 16, 2010 in "From the Ning Blog" (for some reason, I'm not able to put the link directly here). The company's announcement is here as well as member responses.

I heard about it from the owner of another Ning art community I am in.

[Oh Boy]

Here is the link (April 16, 2010)

http://blog.ning.com/2010/04/an-update-from-ning.html

================================================
An Update from Ning

Posted by Jason Rosenthal on April 16, 2010 – 3:13 pm

Hi Everyone,

As many of you know, we made a decision yesterday to focus 100% of the company on enhancing the features and services we offer to paying Ning Creators. The tens of thousands of you who already use our paid service represent over 75% of our traffic, and we’ve heard repeatedly from you ways that we can deliver a killer service to help make your Ning Network more effective. Some examples of things we are working on that you’ve asked for include new APIs, a new mobile experience and new advertising and revenue opportunities.

As part of this change, we’ll be phasing out our free service. On May 4, 2010, we will share with you all of the details of our new offering, including features and price points, through a series of blog posts, emails, and conference calls. We recognize that there are many active Ning Networks for teachers, small non-profits, and individuals and its our goal to have a set of product and pricing options that will make sense for all of them. For Ning Creators using our free service who choose to move to another service, we will offer a migration path and time to make that change. We will still continue to allow free trials and test networks on the Ning Platform.

We look forward to talking to you further on May 4th.

[Oh Boy]

Wall Street Journal is reporting "Ning Moves to Phase Out Free Accounts"
4.19.2010

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703594404575192144067...

[Christopher Alvarez]

Mmmm well... that sucks!
I don't know if I want to pay to be part of the group :(
Just in case the group closes or starts charging to be a member I went to the post where all the mail-artist posted their addresses and copied all of them so if the site goes down at least I can still send out art.
If this happens can the group move to another server who can let us stay there for free? Who owns International Union of Mail-Artist? Do we know what their plans are?

Thank you.

[Ruud Janssen]

The IUOMA platform is hosted for free at the NING platform. If they start to charge money for the hosting moving to another free environment could be an option. Saving all content from this platform will be a platform. Platforms that stay alive for longer and without advertising, those always cost money.

Who owns IUOMA? I thought of the concept, but the members form the IUOMA. If some are willing to sponsor the union, that would pay for the hosting if needed. If not, we'll see what happens.

[Ruud Janssen]

news from NING:

An Update from Ning
Posted by Jason Rosenthal on April 16, 2010 – 3:13 pm

Hi Everyone,

As many of you know, we made a decision yesterday to focus 100% of the company on enhancing the features and services we offer to paying Ning Creators. The tens of thousands of you who already use our paid service represent over 75% of our traffic, and we’ve heard repeatedly from you ways that we can deliver a killer service to help make your Ning Network more effective. Some examples of things we are working on that you’ve asked for include new APIs, a new mobile experience and new advertising and revenue opportunities.

As part of this change, we’ll be phasing out our free service. On May 4, 2010, we will share with you all of the details of our new offering, including features and price points, through a series of blog posts, emails, and conference calls. We recognize that there are many active Ning Networks for teachers, small non-profits, and individuals and it’s our goal to have a set of product and pricing options that will make sense for all of them. For Ning Creators using our free service who choose to move to another service, we will offer a migration path and time to make that change. We will still continue to allow free trials and test networks on the Ning Platform.

We look forward to talking to you further on May 4th.

source: www.ning com

[Ruud Janssen]

Going to another place would also mean loosing all the content. An option would be that the once who can afford it sponsor the IUOMA, and the others would have the free access. Depending on the costs that NING asks that could work. If they charge like 10 bucks a month, the IUOMA-members could bring something up maybe? Otherwise I as a created would have to pay to keep this alive.

We will see and wait what happens. On may 4th Ning promissed to communicate. There are also petitions against this decision. Ning might loose a lot of visitors when they pull this through...?

[Katerina Nikoltsou (MomKat)]

We are now 1020 members...
how much could the fee be to keep the website?
We could each pay $1.00...
and should be could for a few years, no?
Hope so...sure would hate to lose all that is here :-(

[Ruud Janssen]

Announcement
In July, we will roll-out three new pricing plans and begin phasing out our free service. Many of you chose the Ning Platform to build your communities because it’s the easiest to use, has the most reliable performance and easily scales to hundreds of thousands of members. Our shift to a paid service model will enable us to focus to a greater degree on enhancing the features, performance and services we offer to our paying Network Creators. You’ll immediately see greater control over your network branding, design and member experience. All three plans offer an incredible value relative to our current premium services offerings.

Ning Mini
The simplest and fastest way to set up a social network for your classroom, community group, small nonprofit or family 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 Ning Pro
The ideal solution for building a comprehensive social experience, including additional features, integration, support and bandwidth
$2.95/month
or $19.95/year* (save 44%) $19.95/month
or $199.95/year* (save 16%) $49.95/month
or $499.95/year* (save 17%)
Up to 150 members Unlimited members Unlimited members
Full control over your branding and member experience Full control over your branding and member experience
Features include blogs, photos, forum and video embeds Full feature set including events, groups, chat, pages and Ning Apps Full feature set plus video and music uploads and branded players
Simple customization options Advanced customization options including CSS, Javascript and the Language Editor Advanced customization options, plus the API access upgrade when launched
Includes run your own ads Includes run your own ads, use your own domain and remove Ning links Includes run your own ads, use your own domain, remove Ning links and add storage and bandwidth
Community-based support Help Center support Premium support

* One-time annual pricing
For full comparison of the three plans, click here.

Features You’ve Been Asking For
For Ning Pro and Ning Plus customers, we are excited to deliver a number of new features that give you greater control:

•Replace the Ning ID with your custom network ID
•Remove all Ning branding
•Up to 25 text boxes and 25 RSS feeds on your home page
•Text boxes in the header and footer
•Member statistics
•Controls to hide invite, share, Facebook or Twitter links, turn off private messaging and strengthen member verification
Even better? Once we launch these new packages, we’ll begin to add the features and options that are most important to you, including API access; sign-in with Facebook, Twitter or your own authentication system (a.k.a. single sign-in); and a way to charge members for joining your Ning Network.

Your Content and Data
When we launch the new pricing plans in July, we will add an automated content export option to the manage page of each Ning Network. You will have 30 days after the launch to choose one of the three new plans or export your content.

Timeline
•May 4: Announce new suite of premium offerings
•July: Launch new packages and notify all Network Creators via email and announcement banner.
•Launch + 30 days: Grace period for existing Ning Networks to purchase one of the pricing plans.
Frequently Asked Questions

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

[Ruud Janssen]

Since the problems are serious, I started a group about this subject. Will see if members join in and want to discuss options.