Hello Ning Lovers,
We’re glad you guys are as excited as we are about the recent launch of our application on Ning’s social networks. Thanks for bearing with us in the launch. We had a couple bugs, inevitably, but its all cleared up Here were some of the problems reported that have been fixed:

- All of the product images and default profile images are now displaying in all browsers
- You can share your products with the ‘Share’ link located right in the application
- The ‘Get this App’ link is working, so all your buddies can get their own stores too.

We hope this helps. Please let us know if you have any other feedback for us about the Ning application. Thanks!

A couple of months ago Facebook launched a new version of their site. To keep up with the changes, we updated our Facebook Shopit Application. Since then, many of our users have been a tiny bit confused about how things work with the new Facebook. So here are a couple tips for all of you to hopefully get a better grip on what you can do with Shopit on the new Facebook.

The Facebook Publisher enables you to publish content— such as photos, links, and videos—directly to your Wall. In Shopit terms, the newest items you’re selling on Shopit, latest sales, new product commercials, and so on. You can add content to your own profile or to a friends’!

The Tabbed Profile is the new display of your profile. Now you’re in control of the information you want your friends to see. You can add your Shopit store to the new Boxes, Info, and Wall Tabs.
The Boxes Tab is where the majority of the applications you add to your Facebook will show up. Initially, this is where your Shopit store will display once added.
The Info Tab shows information about you that doesn’t change frequently. Include your Shopit store directly to your Info Tab, so it will always display on your profile.
The Wall Tab displays information both by you (that you publish) and about you (that others publish). Add your Shopit store to display your products for all your potential buyers to see. Keep your wall updated with your hottest items and best deals.

If your Shopit Store isn’t showing up on your profile, there’s an easy answer. Under your application settings, click “edit” next to the Shopit Application. A small dialog box will appear with three tabs. Click the “Profile” tab and make sure it says “Box: Added”. If it says “Box: Available” then be sure to click “Add” so that your Shopit store appears on your profile.  That’s it!

One more tip: Once you’ve added the application to your profile, it doesn’t automatically show up on your Wall Tab. Where it does show up? In your Boxes Tab. If you go there, and click on the little pencil looking icon you will see a menu pop up, giving you the option to move it to your Wall Tab.

We hope this helps! Please message us if you have any more questions.

-Guy

The Shopit Intern

That’s right… We’re pleased to announce that the Shopit Store application is now available to all 500,000 of Ning’s social networks. Haven’t heard of Ning? They are behind the scenes of this white-label social network platform, providing the functionality for users to create and customize their own social networks. Giving users the freedom to build any type of social network has lead to a profound and diverse range of new online communities.

Musicians like 50Cent and T.I. have jumped on board creating their own social networks, ThisIs50 and T.I. community. Mom’s across the world are joining networks created just for them; like Navy Moms and Twitter Moms. From athletes, bloggers, video channels, journalists, students, educators, parents, craft hobbyists, alumni, and interest groups, any user is sure to find a place that’s just for them. If not, then create one; it can be about anything your little heart desires.

Commerce enabling these communities means buying and selling without ever have to leave the page. Talk about convenience! Maybe you’re a member of the Cute Dog Clothes social network? Sell your bling collars to buyers right from your profile page. Chatting with fellow sneakers addicts about the latest kicks? Sell Nike’s new AirMax to your friends with a click of a button. The possibilities are endless.

We’re excited to be a part of Ning’s OpenSocial applications. And we couldn’t have done it, or done it so well :), without the help of the diligent Ning team! Shout-outs to Jinen Kamdar, Will Jelliffe, Ernie Hsiung, Kyle Ford. Thanks for your help guys!

The Shopit application that has become so popular with Facebook and MySpace is now available on the hi5 networks. I am a computer science student at the University of California, Los Angeles interning at Shopit and have been working over the past several weeks to bring this application to a true OpenSocial environment. OpenSocial initially had some stumbles but has now shown that it is capable of hosting robust and unique application experiences with easy portability.
The application provides users with a dashboard to view all the current incoming or outgoing orders, see the latest products, add or remove products, and even make purchases from start to finish all from within the hi5 network. This combination offers both a easy and friendly interface as well as a viral market for both buyers and sellers.
The biggest feature of any social application is sharing and with the Shopit application it is as easy as clicking share, selecting your friends, and watching your business spread. You can just as easily let your friends know when you’ve found a great deal. Save money on the products you need just by watching your notifications in hi5.
As an intern in a continuing learning experience I have found the development and testing of this application to be exciting. I was able to watch the power of the sharing features grow as I built them beneath my fingertips. The hi5 API is becoming more and more complete ever day as it moves towards OpenSocial 0.8 and a more finalized REST interface. Although I’m still awaiting a PHP client library.
Anyway, I hope everyone enjoys the application and finds those great deals. I will be heading off to explore Europe in my first backpacking experience next week. Thanks for your interest in my efforts. I’d also like to give a big thanks to Sameer and Eric, and the rest of the hi5 team for their continued help.

-Matt Snider

Ghosts and ghouls and all things scary have just a couple weeks left to perfect their costumes, pimp their graveyards, and craft their brews. So make sure you’ve got all your spooky garb, sweet stuff and eerie furnishings listed on Shopit. Get creative! You never know who’ll want to wear your homemade hamburger costume this year. And be sure to add keywords to help buyers find your items quick and easy, like ‘Halloween, Costume, Giant Hamburger’ And if you’re shopping for some last minute stuff, you can’t go wrong with the Shopit Halloween stores. Here are few with ideas for this holidays’ shopping: