There is only one way to join a Private group now. I invariably get 2 or 3 emails a month begging me to let a member into a group. My latest just said "Please"!! I cannot short circuit the process. There is only one way to join a private group and that is by clicking on the link in the text that says "Click here to request access. Ning has changed the procedure. It no longer matters whether you have an invitation or not. With an invitation you used to be able to just go and start using the private group. This no longer is the case. Now You have to go through this process whether you were invited or not and neither the Administrator nor the Owner of the site can personally short circuit the process. Once you click the link, the request will be sent to myself and the Owner. Whichever one of us sees it first will OK it and you will be notified. This was changed because members can invite others and I guess on other sites this was a problem because it would leave the administrator out of the loop. While the old way worked fine for us it obviously didn't for other sites in the Ning Family. Below is the process and even a link to a picture of a group start page.
THIS IS THE ONLY WAY TO JOIN A PRIVATE GROUP NOW!
To join a private group: When you you go to that groups page it automatically pops up instructions to request to join.
Here is pic http://www.ning.com/help/rnt/rnw/img/enduser/knowledgebase/privategroupwithmembermod.jpg
Says members must be approved. and in also says "click here to request access"
They have to join Times Past first. or will not see anything.. Only members of Times Past can request to join a private group.
More info here http://www.ning.com/help/cgi-bin/ning.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=2762
Some members see it immediately while others completely miss it. I have requested NING to distinguish the link more, but for now we have to live with it the way it is. I am sorry that it has inconvenienced some of you but the matter is out of my hands. ----------------- Rick (Administrator)
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