We had our second craft trade day the other day. The people in the group are just fantastic and I really enjoy the whole idea and the community and everything. But I’m having a huge problem with the limitations of Ning. The same things that make Ning perfect for LA Bloggers Live and LA Angst are the things that make it so hard for Crafts.
Ning has created an incredibly adaptable setup. They make it super easy to select pre-made components and slide them in and out of your design. You can choose to allow your members to have their own blogs and pull the feeds to the front page. You can have a forum. I have both of those going on Crafts. But because I don’t know how to code well enough, I’m afraid to really dip into the code and try and change things up. I know it’s possible because some of the other sites are doing great things. It’s like – so close, yet so far away. But even if I did know how to code really well, I don’t think I could get the functionality I want for Crafts.
What I need is something more friendly for the members to see what is going on on trade days. A main page where all the items are displayed as thumbnails and you can ask for a trade just by clicking. After a trade is accepted, the thumbnails would disappear so others wouldn’t think they were still available but the member’s page would keep the photos so they have a catalog history of what they’ve put on the site. The forums seem to be confusing people on Ning instead of making it easier. And the photo page is buried a few clicks away.
Overall, I’m happy with Ning for my other projects. Just not for Crafts. I feel like if I can’t get the functionality where it needs to be, there isn’t much point in continuing to frustrate the members. I’m not sure what to do at this point.
Not to heighten your frustration, but the confusion of the site is the main reason I haven’t joined Trade-a-Craft yet. I don’t know what to suggest as a solution (though I suspect using a different base site would help matters), but I do think it’s a worthwhile project. Please don’t give up on it entirely.
countrymouse – i hear you. i won’t shut it down just yet. i hope to find some help.
I hope you won’t shut it down until you have a new place for us to go.
jane – not a chance.
Yeah, I think it’s really a GREAT idea…but I’m with you, I think there needs to be a different/better functionality.
Unfortunately, I’m not codey enough to help with that. I think Ning is great for almost every aspect of Crafts except for trade day itself…
Will continue to think on it! But you’ve done a great thing there…all great things require a little tweaking at first.
I am incredibly frustrated that the first LA Bloggers live is on the same night as one of the many, many graduations I am covering for the newspaper (feel crappy? Cover those feelings with BUSYNESS, the new wonder drug. Plus I need the dough for BlogHer). I am considering cancelling that one…I would LOVE to be at the reading.