Gifts Are Now Live On Site!

[misswings]

Gifts are small graphics which can be purchased and given to other members of a Ning Network and appear on a members comment wall, Latest Activity feed, and in their own gifts box on the profile page.

New members will be given 100 credits per Ning ID to get started, so members can start giving gifts the next time they sign in. All current members have 100 points to use!

To buy someone a gift, just click on the "Give a Gift" link. You can find this link in the Gifts box on any My Page. From here, you can pick a gift, enter a personalized message, and choose the privacy settings of the gift.

Any revenue generated from our communities virtual gifts goes towards site maintenance and monthly expenses to keep our site free of advertisements.

Thanks and enjoy the Gifts

[Barb]

how do you "purchase" more credits?

[misswings]

This new gift feature is really getting a flurry of discussions going on many ning support forums... both good and bad reviews. While this gift feature is all NEW and still in early stages who knows how its going to go or how it may change. Here is what I've found on a support forum on getting more credits for gifts....

Purchasing credits for Gifts

When you give a gift on a Ning Network you'll use credits that you have purchased from PayPal. Each gift costs 75 credits and credits can be bought in 100 credit increments.

To purchase credits sign in to your account on a Ning Network and click on Settings on the right hand side of the Main Page. Scroll to the bottom of the Settings page to the Account Balance section. The Account Balance section will show the number of credits currently available as well as a link to "Buy credits".

In the Gift Store, the credit balance will show at the bottom of the page below the message box. If you don’t have enough credits to purchase a gift, don't worry, click "Send Gift" and a light box will appear prompting you to buy more credits. Once you've purchased credits from PayPal you'll be taken back to the Ning Network where your gift will be sent. When you give a gift your credits will be deducted and the balance will reflect the remaining amount of credits available.

To purchase credits you'll need a PayPal account. If you don't already have one you can sign up for a PayPal account for free. If you've already signed up for a PayPal account use your PayPal account information to sign in.

Anyway as things stand now the gifts are only available through purchasing and they are not earned by simply using the site or participation. I've got some mixed feelings on it also, but since donations are so limited this is just another way of keeping our network ad free and it's still cheaper than many dating sites memberships or these photo rating sites!

Also premium Ning networks get NEW features and updates before the free sites.

[Barb]

yeah sounds like a good way to "generate" donations. I know you n Chase use the money to pay for bandwidth etc and to donate to lots of "causes" that support the Troops n Families. I'm all for having people donate a few dollars even $5.00 goes a long way if a few donate $5.00!

[misswings]

Well any monies gifted here goes to our monthly dues to keep MilClub on a premium status and ad free, and yes there are limits on bandwidth when it comes to our photo galleries and videos...so there will come a time bandwidth will be exceeded and we'll need to purchase more monthly bandwidth as we grow. Not many realize what goes on behind the networks pages.

Also if you really care about a cause, a site and your friends on board I don't think cost should be a concern. If it is then those members don't have to participate in using the gift store section, or just use the free gifts offered.

Thanks Barb. (((hugs)))

[misswings]

We can also add custom gifts to the sites gift store, so anyone with some gift ideas you'd like to see please email them to: [e-mail]

They must be of "icon" size though! (64x64)