Ning Helps You Build and Grow an Online Community

• 3 minutes READ

Are you trying to develop a website that is rooted in conversation and social engagement?

The answer might be Ning. The tool is a website builder that’s packed with features designed for building a community. Whether you are building engagement around a niche event or activity or just want to have a place where users can comment and communicate directly, Ning is the website builder that’s based around community.

Here’s a look at how it works:

A Different Kind of Site Builder

Ning is a website builder that’s made for communities that want to communicate with each other. From social sharing to forums and chat, Ning includes a bundle of tools to make it easy for users to interact with each other.

Ning Helps You Build and Grow an Online Community

Ning website communities can be as small as a family or classroom group and expand to hundreds of thousands of online users. There’s a plan – and option – for almost any type of community.

And what’s great about Ning is that it allows you to create your own website with these tools integrated right in. And you don’t need to know a single line of code to design a custom website. Ning is a website builder, so users can start with a template, or theme, and make customizations and adjustments to meet their online needs.

No-Code Email Template Builder

With Postcards Email Builder you can create and edit email templates online without any coding skills! Includes more than 100 components to help you create custom emails templates faster than ever before.

Free Email BuilderFree Email Templates

(It couldn’t be easier to build an online community.)

New Feature: Monetization Tools

One of the most exciting features that sets Ning apart from other website builders is that in addition to community-building tools, it also comes with a robust set of options to help you monetize your website.

Ning Monetization Tools

From bloggers that want to turn a profit to websites that “sell” advice and tutorials, the Ning e-commerce options can help.

Ning’s monetization options include these tools:

  • Ability to collect donations with a donate button right on your website
  • Paid access to content with the ability to choose from options such as price, time period or user group
  • Paid website membership lets you ask for a one-time or recurring membership from website users

All of these tools are built right into every Ning plan. They are perfect for bloggers and content creators, business and niche communities and even nonprofit groups.

Key Features

The key thing that makes Ning easy is that it features drag and drop tools to help you build an online community. Pair that with blog and forum features, ability to download photos and videos to the network and great communication tools, and a Ning website is your go-to website community building tool.

Ning Themes

Other key features include:

  • Ability to use any domain (even if you already have it somewhere else)
  • Member profiles and options with social sign-in available
  • Events module
  • YouTube and Vimeo video integration
  • Real-time activity feed
  • Ability to add custom code if you like
  • Unlimited custom HTML pages
  • Integrated analytics
  • Responsive design that works on any device
  • Plenty of privacy controls and anti-spam protection
  • Robust template library to get started (choose a template based on network type such as a blog, portfolio, education, charity, sports, music and more)

Pricing

Ning plans start at $25 per month and all plans come with a free trial to help you figure out if the website community builder is right for you. (All plans include monetization options.)

Low-Code Website Builders

With Startup App and Slides App you can build unlimited websites using the online website editor which includes ready-made designed and coded elements, templates and themes.

Try Startup App Try Slides AppOther Products

Plans include:

  • Basic ($25/month): Described as an easy way to set up a small network for a classroom, community group, nonprofit or family. Includes two admins, up to 1,000 members and comes with 1GB of storage.
  • Performance ($49/month): Provides more control over community networks with design flexibility and customizations. Includes five admins, up to 10,000 members and comes with 10GB of storage.
  • Ultimate ($99/month): Described as an ideal way to build a custom social experience with lots of bells and whistles, integrations and more bandwidth and storage. Includes 10 admins, up to 100,000 members and comes with 500GB of storage.

Conclusion

Ning is a specialty website builder, perfect for projects where you want to create more of a community than a straight website. The tools are made for social engagement, communication and sharing.

Most website builders don’t include the tools to create a forum, live chats or other social services in the same way that Ning does. If these tools appeal to you, start a free trial and see if it is the right website builder for your online community.

Editorial

An editorial team is a group of authors who publish articles and news on Designmodo.

Posts by Editorial