Social networks and websites for clubs

[SuzyQBC]

Thanks to my webmaster adventures, I'm asked from time to time for help on building websites. Most clubs want something that is very easy to administer and allows visitors/members to contribute.

Ning.com is a great social network that I've come across recently. The basic system is free to use and allows members to post photos, blogs, videos, start discussions, chat. Paid premium services allow the network owner to remove the automatic Google Adwords box (on the right side of the page - this is how Ning makes some money on the free sites), add more storage, point a domain name to the space (most domain registrars have a free pointing service already), remove Ning promotional links. Myself, I've started using Ning as a social network for my genealogy websites and as you see here, the NorthCoastBCOnline.com site. I'm also a member in several other Ning sites.

At the moment, Ning doesn't offer everything that I'd like it to do, but there's room to improve down the road. The learning curve for setting up a content management system (CMS) Ning site is shorter, compared to say a Joomla, or Mambo. The biggest drawbacks would be the space issue and the fact that it's not installed in my main site, it's a separate identity. But the space issue is awhile off, and the two-site issue wouldn't be a problem for most clubs. Best of all, search engines love sites like Ning because they are easy to index, and are usually rich with frequently updated content.

Mambo and Joomla are among the current most popular CMS/membership sites. But they don't come for free. It's a matter of finding a great website hosting business that offers the plug-in and setting it up. I've tried setting up both Mambo and Joomla as part of my genealogy sites, and I found it quite labour intensive. With all the other projects I've got going right now, Ning fills that niche very nicely. Plus with Mambo and Joomla, you want to keep an ear out regarding software updates fixes for bugs & hacks. Hosting companies will usually allow you upgrade the software when there's a major upgrade available. But they can sometimes be slow in showing the available upgrade. Networks like Ning (or Wordpress, Blogger, Facebook, MySpace, etc.) are always focused on fixing bugs & hacks immediately as it is their lifeblood.

Clubs could also use Wordpress.com or Blogger.com as a free site. The drawbacks from this is the limited feedback options from visitors - it's a blogging tool, rather than a CMS. It doesn't really lend itself to a membership site, unless a club is to sign up with a hosting plan that offers Wordpress plug-ins. Then a club could build a site that includes a Wordpress blog, and say a photo gallery, a video gallery, and all these can be (with some work) combined with some simple web design into a website.

Clubs could also build a page on Facebook.com - it's a group page where Facebook members can join as a fan & depending on options set can start discussions, post photos & videos, post event news... While I haven't yet checked into it, search engines are not allowed to index some parts of Facebook, which can make info on it harder to find on the 'net. In my opinion Facebook lends itself more as a promotional tool for a mainstream website.

Google also offers free webspace, but I haven't tried it out so far to see what it does offer. I imagine you could link a Google webspace to Google Docs so you can share documents among registered users. It takes away the need for wordprocessor and spreadsheet software. Plus your documents are stored online so if your hard drive is fried, your documents are still safe. You could even combine it with Google GMail & chat.

There are several other websites that have built online software strictly for the promotion of clubs. I haven't done research into them so far. I'll leave that for another blog in the future.