Comments on WidgetLaboratory: Questions and Answers after response from Ning's L...

Both parties had issues and dare I say it, valid a...

2008-08-24T06:18:00.000-05:00

Both parties had issues and dare I say it, valid arguments, but the outcome was that 2000 networks who used both WL and Ning in good faith are the real victims. Those network owners should have been given advanced warning so we had a chance to take stock of what we were about to lose and alert our members.

I can't stay without answer...I create http://widg...

2008-08-24T04:35:00.000-05:00

I can't stay without answer...I create http://widgetlab-friends.sixgroups.com/

A friendly Community to help (as we can )WL to survive ...

I'm not from WL...just an happy customer...Until yerteday ,and the Ning's Crime...

In this Community we can share information ,ideas ,and prepare our response...

I need some volonters to help me in this friendly work...

Before I purchased WL products I contacted Ning an...

2008-08-23T14:44:00.000-05:00

Before I purchased WL products I contacted Ning and asked them if the features I was looking for would be available soon. Their response was "it's in the pipeline, but not the near future." So far since I've been a member (since Feb.) they haven't produced a single feature that would enhance my network. Yet, WL has produced numerous products. Not sure how a large company like Ning can only manage to come up with new templates in the last 6 months, while two guys at WL came up with 10+ products.

For me this is a case of Ning not liking the fact that someone (WL) was providing a useful product and making money off it. If WL was actually violating the TOS, why did they wait 9 months to get rid of them??? Why did they promote them and allow them to promote themselves in the forums? It just doesn't add up.

I too am looking for a place to move my network. If WL doesn't come back, I'm gone. Even if Ning were to come out with products similar to WL tomorrow, I'm still leaving. I am not about to invest more money into a company that basically screwed my network and has so little regard for the time and effort I've put into it.

Here's a link I found that might be useful if you are looking to move! http://www.rsitez.com.

Spencer, good luck! I still think you should create your own network! :)

I read Ning's announcement and subsequent clarific...

2008-08-23T13:59:00.000-05:00

I read Ning's announcement and subsequent clarification, and found them both to be utterly uninformative. Ning insists that it is being as open and transparent as possible, and yet it refuses to divulge a single detail regarding the case. This leads me to suspect foul play. Perhaps they simply felt that WidgetLaboratory was making too much money.

Ample Notice, Warnings? — Having personally gone t...

2008-08-23T13:12:00.000-05:00

Ample Notice, Warnings? — Having personally gone through a situation like this, but in the incident in which I was also publicly humiliated with my removal, there was Indeed no Ample Notice nor Warnings as had been headed to..

I am more inclined due to my experience to respectfully more believe WidgetLab more so than ning.. they are bigger, and definitely are looking for more ways to capitalize their network. Social Networks as a stand alone premise is not a Huge Revenue Generator, so as i see it, removing something that could be possible competition would make sense..

Then of course in lieu of anti competitive laws and such like one will need an “excuse” to just remove a competitor from a business site, especially if one may be considering a similar product for yourself and want to protect your members — did this happen in this situation.. I don’t know.. , but this is what happened to me, and this situation does have that similar kind of stink to it.. How does it go.. if it smell like, it must be?

It is easy to believe the big popular guys, because if they say so, it must be so… but one would think that by now, we should know better than that..

WidgetLabs, hopefully all will go well for you, that is is indeed you are being true and upfront.. Also feel free to reach out to me.. Who Knows.. ;)

karen mattonen

I'm so disheartened by the decision to remove WL. ...

2008-08-23T12:30:00.000-05:00

I'm so disheartened by the decision to remove WL. I don't understand all the legalities of this but I do now see the problem of staying and I am already looking for ways to move my site elsewhere.
If they can take out WL just like that then they could do it to anyone at any time. How can you build a business on something as unstable as that?
WL made ning a place where you could monetize your site effectively and now it's all gone - along with the money I invested in products.
I've lost all trust and faith in Ning, I think their actions are an utter disgrace.
Thanks to WL for trying to keep us in the loop as their is very little coming from the Ning camp - again this leads me to trust you more than the guys at Ning too.
I hope that this isn't the end of WL and that some collaboration will again be made available to website owners in the future!

I would imagine that Ning had plans for a 'supertabs & media now' style package and the more popular that WL got, the less need there would have been for using their versions.

What I really don't get is that these products are compatable with Ning - WL have proven that, so why the hell does Ning keep rolling out these lame upgrades with naff blog improvements when we could do with the facilities like WL provided!

Would it really have been so hard for Ning to have partnered with WL so that rigourous testing on these products could have been done before being released across the board?

The whole thing makes no sense to me what-so-ever but I think that it's been handled incredibly badly and has left a bad taste and a sense of distrust in the air.

I for one won't be staying with Ning after this and it's a shame because as a whole, they supplied a great service - but I'm too damn nervous to build a business on a platform that can be whipped away from me in a heartbeat and frankly I don't trust Ning now - that was violated by their actions!

EG & MS - I could do with some help to get a site up and running away from Ning with similar functionability as was available on Ning. If you need a site to work with as an example of what can be achieved without Ning - then please let me know, I'd be only to happy to play guinea pig to that one!

Failing that - if you could recommend a good site builder then again, please let me know. I feel the time has come to fly this baby on my own!

Since Ning allowed and often promoted WL, are they...

2008-08-23T10:38:00.000-05:00

Since Ning allowed and often promoted WL, are they not guilty
of violating their own TOS?
I really think this is a case of
taking their ball and going home.
They can't stand someone else getting
great reviews. It's their own fault.
If they'd given NCs what they asked
for in the first place, this would not be happening.

Baseball,Well said. It is OUR code. I'm waiting fo...

2008-08-23T09:30:00.000-05:00

Baseball,

Well said. It is OUR code.

I'm waiting for the fog to lift but I will say that Spencer, you have been more than forthright and creative.

I trust Ning will see that this is win-win and do the right thing before its too late. if not, I too will consider an appropriate response.

Me wonders if this did get, all too personal????

But only good things to say about WL.

Hey, I'm just one guy helping out thousands of teachers from around the world. No profit motive and forking out the cash myself. But I like the best (I'm Swiss after all) and WL convinced me of that.

David

Maybe you guys could find some coöperation with so...

2008-08-23T04:29:00.000-05:00

Maybe you guys could find some coöperation with socialgo.com and create something really really awesome...

But i suggest before you guys start anything, MAKE GOOD and CLEAR agreements (LOL!!!)

Didn't thish ave to do with their 'unexpected DOWN...

2008-08-23T03:54:00.000-05:00

Didn't thish ave to do with their 'unexpected DOWNTIME' from last thursday'??? Maybe i am paranoid or something but its very coincidential ;-)
Zohra

This decision is extremely infuriating, unprofessi...

2008-08-23T02:24:00.000-05:00

This decision is extremely infuriating, unprofessional, unethical and damaging. The loss of content, code, time and money across networks is staggering.

As a premium member, I pay to own my code as written in the TOS.

Whether I personally wrote the code or bought code from a third party, it is still my code. If there is a problem with any code I use that violates the TOS, then ethically, Ning should address that problem with ME.

If Ning has a problem with a particular company, then that is between the company and Ning. Having a dispute with WL over a particular matter does not give license for Ning to remove MY content and MY code.

Say you rent an apartment, and you go out and buy a Whirlpool water filter to attach to your kitchen sink faucet. Later the landlord gets into a dispute with Whirlpool over their dish washers. Because the landlord has a dispute with Whirlpool, does that give him license to seize your water filter?

I find it hard to believe that ALL code WL sold violated the TOS, therefore it is unethical for Ning to remove ALL code that WL provided. I own the products I paid for, not WL.

Furthermore, the Ning hosted websites (Developers & Network Creators) are littered with recommendations for WL products.

Wow, this is full scale intense..Technology Insigh...

2008-08-23T00:06:00.000-05:00

Wow, this is full scale intense..
Technology Insight

As the hours trick by, this action becomes more un...

2008-08-22T23:44:00.000-05:00

As the hours trick by, this action becomes more unsettling.
We used WL's to fill in the holes of functionality Ning did not provide. This is not a slam against Ning, its a big world and they have development priorities, as I do. WL filled that hole with great products and support. Even when I misunderstood something, they fixed it for me. Ive use their product on a number of sites. A win win for everyone. They were always professional, supportive and went the extra mile.
Then Nings Black Friday. I only heard my site was crashed from a member. Then I find pages of data, my estore, all lost, gone. Tabs are hanging in the air, links going nowhere.
When I try to patch the site, the stmp access is blocked? So now I sit with hundreds of hours of work gone; not by a server crash, but by a comapny who considers my sites insignificant. So they decided to pull the plug to wash my content down the drain.
The money I spent with WL, not an issue. They gave me that & more.
Its the way Ning acted, with total disregard for thousands of sites. There is no excuse we could have NOT be warned of a possible problem, to take care of our data. But they are more concerned with covering their legal back.
I am not hopeful the will reach an understanding and restore WL and our networks.
So do I let myself open for this to happen again.
No, my search begins for a vendor who respects their customers. This was not my fight, but I became collateral damage.

I had a problem on my network and they said that i...

2008-08-22T23:33:00.000-05:00

I had a problem on my network and they said that it's WL fault and they told me to remove WL widget and I did after that they said WL was NOT the problem.