Howdy everyone,

When I became the webmaster for the Apple Corps of Dallas, I had tons of ideas that I wanted to do. For those of you that visit our homepage on a regular basis, you’ve probably seen it evolve quite a bit over the last few years.

One thing I wanted to do was create a social section where we could post topics, things we find on the Internet, and ask questions. I came across Ning and was pretty thrilled with everything that they offered and all they asked was for a spot to place a Google Ad. However, all good things come to end eventually and Ning decided they would drop the Google Ad but at a cost to us as users. While looking into the offered paid plans, I saw that our current use of Ning would cost us $20 a month. They had a cheaper $20 a year plan, but would be greatly held back in the number of members, bandwidth, and features that we could utilize.

I don’t like limitations so I started to look for alternatives. I came across a few that would require a lot of work and even upgrade our server at http://www.acd.us. Then, while at school, I found out the Dallas WordPress User Group meets at the Art Institute of Dallas. Our website has had a WordPress section for just a few months now but then I found out I could turn it into a social network just like Ning for free. I fell in love with how easy it was to create a social group on our own domain and with our own terms. How wonderful!

So, in August, Ning will go away completely and we will carry on at our own space. Visit http://www.social.acd.us and join in on our special interest groups as you would at our meetings and our forums are just like our own personal bulletin boards that you can post on.

The Apple Corps of Dallas thrives on contributions from its members. If you come across something interesting, we encourage you to share it with us. If you need help, post your question on our space. Your articles help us grow.

I hope that you will join me in growing this new section,

John Jones
Webmaster and President of ACD