Import From Ning imports the contents of your Ning Network Archive into BuddyPress.
See the initial announcement here.
Download the most recent version
Instructions
- Install in your plugins folder and activate. I recommend using the plugin on a fresh WP/BP installation; if running on an installation with existing content, please make a database backup first.
- Download your Ning network export, using the Archiver tool as described here: http://help.ning.com/cgi-bin/ning.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=3796
- Upload the content of your unzipped Ning export (a group of .json files, as well as several directories) to wp-content/ning-files. If this is the first time you’ve used this plugin, you’ll have to create the directory ning-files first.
- Visit the plugin panel at Dashboard > BuddyPress > Import From Ning and follow the instructions
Frequently Asked Questions
- What if I’m not running BuddyPress?
- Version 2.0 of Import From Ning does not support WordPress standalone. Use version 1.1: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/import-from-ning/download/
- What content will Import From Ning import?
- Import From Ning currently imports the following items from a Ning export: members, member profiles, member avatars, members comments (the “wall”), groups, discussions, and blogs. The plugin attempts to recognize inline images and copy them to the BuddyPress installation, so that you don’t lose the images you’ve put in your blog posts.
- What about my images, movies, and music?
- BuddyPress by itself does not currently support photo, movie, or music galleries. The best plugin available for images right now is BuddyPress Album+ , which is in the process of being adapted to support video and audio galleries as well. In the future, I hope to expand this plugin to import content for display with Album+, but in the meantime you can import your multimedia content manually.
- What do I do if I have a gargantuan network?
- The plugin is most reliable when working with relatively small sets of data, though I have tested it with a network import of over 1300 users. There are various safeguards built into Import From Ning, so that if a particular step fails to complete because your hosting environment runs out of memory, you can simply refresh the page to pick up from where you’ve left off.
- What’s with all these new groups?
- In BuddyPress, each forum must be associated with a group. In cases where your Ning discussion thread was not part of a group, Import From Ning creates a group corresponding to the discussion category and places the discussion topic there.
Be a pal
I spent many mornings building this plugin, so that WordPress and BuddyPress users – and especially my friends who are WP/BP consultants – could reap the benefits. If you use this plugin (especially for a paying client!) please consider a donation.
Import from Ning has been downloaded 4,572 times. Are you using this plugin? Consider a donation.
Version history
- 2.0 – July 23, 2010
- Added support for Ning network content
- 1.1 – April 18, 2010
- Switched from copy-and-paste to direct .csv upload
- Added BuddyPress profile field import functionality
- 1.0 – April 16, 2010
- Initial release
Hello. I am running into the same issue the Ozy reported, above (http://teleogistic.net/code/wordpresswordpress-mu/import-from-ning/#comment-34003).
My ning-groups.json does contain one group.
The ning import gets to the page where it says “Import from Ning is now importing your Ning groups.”
The last thing to display on the page is “0) Created group: ”
Looking at the HTML source, the page never finished rendering. It just stopped.
Any ideas?
Jeg har lige set din meddelelse til den nye version af Ning importør plugin, og jeg vil gerne arbejde med dig for at sørge for det virker problemfrit med BuddyPress Media.
In the second step of the upload, I get this:
Fatal error: Call to undefined function xprofile_get_field_id_from_name() in [shortened]/wp-content/plugins/import-from-ning/bp-functions.php on line 1243
Original field name New field name (optional)
Any ideas on what’s happening here?
Hi
I love the plugin – but my members profile pics are not being imported. Only those with gravatars are shown… but nearly everyone has a profile pic, that I downloaded and uploaded to ning-files folder. Am i missing something?
Great plugin – however my users profile pictures are not being imported. I uploaded them to ning-files together with all my -local files. The only profile pics that show up are those with gravatars setup already. Is your plugin supposed to bring over their profile pics – as contained in the /members/ folder after the Ning Export?
Hi Boone
Sorry if this has been answered elsewhere, I have looked!
I’m trying to use your plugin to import a csv file I created (it’s not an export from Ning). I can’t get past the “can’t find a ning-members-local.json” error message. I tried creating an empty file with that name but that hasn’t worked, and I can’t seem to find a sample json file on the net I can look at to create my own.
Any help would be much appreciated!
Thanks
Can anybody help me?
i need help with preloader bar in wordpress!
This is an epic post, maybe I should add this blog to my blogroll?
Hi Boone,
The plugin has worked great for importing users and their posts. But, I am having trouble importing Group Forums. I get this error:
0) Created group: Wordiness
Could not create group forum for Wordiness
Have you seen that before? Any idea of where to start?
Thank you,
Robert
Robert – Many thanks for the link to the JSON debugger. That is extremely handy to have in the toolbox!
I’m afraid I’m not available for extensive troubleshooting on the plugin, but I have been collecting the names of developers who are. If you’d like some contact info, drop me an email: boone at gorg dot es.
I am trying to import my Ning members and blogs from http://bankinnovation.net to http://bankinnovation.biz. I have archived all the files from Ning and uploaded to /bankinnovation.biz/wp/wp-content/ning-files. But I keep getting a the error messag:
Houston, we have a problem
In order to run the importer, you must first use your FTP program to upload the contents of your Ning export into a directory called ning-files in your wp-content directory. The plugin couldn’t find a valid members file at /hsphere/local/home/c324059/bankinnovation.biz/wp/wp-content/ning-files/ning-members-local.json, which probably means that you haven’t uploaded the files to the right place. Upload your unzipped export to the json directory, and try visiting this page again.
If you’re sure that your files are in the right place, then the most likely explanation is that your ning-members-local.json file is invalidly formatted. Contact Ning to ask about getting a new one.
Not sure what I am doing wrong as everything looks good. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!