For all those who have been awaiting information regarding the future of Catholic Recovery: It appears that we will survive on into the future! Ning has announced new pricing plans in the aftermath of their decision to phase out all free networks. Upon preliminary review, it appears to be affordable. There may be some changes to various features, such as photo and video uploading, but the basic things people use will remain. Members and interested readers will be kept posted in the “Site info” forums of CR about any changes. Details need to be examined, but we’re not going anywhere!

Please see the following articles:

Announcement of new pricing plans

(Via About Ning.)

Introducing Ning Pro, Ning Plus and Ning Mini

(Via Ning Blog.)

FAQs

(Via About Ning.)

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

This is an edited version of an email sent out to all members of Catholic Recovery on April 18th concerning the possible shutting down of CR:

Ning, the company that provides the technology and templates for the creation and maintenance of this and other Ning social networks, will be announcing a new pricing structure as of May 4th and will no longer be hosting any free sites.

There will be at least a 10 week grace period for Network Creators to assess the new pricing policy. After that period, Network Creators will have to pay to keep their network going. The current fees for maintaining a Ning network do not seem all that large, and indications are that Ning may be flexible in its pricing options due to Network size, etc. However, due to the economic situation, I cannot guarantee continued support beyond the 10 week (or so) grace period until I see these pricing options. I will do my best to evaluate them and see how they fit into my budget, but there may be a need to involve financial assistance from willing members. This does NOT mean that you will have to pay to become or remain a member. Membership will always be free. It only means that I will accept assistance from any member willing to provide it.

Several members have come forward with alternative hosting options, so some help may be on the way. Sufficient to say, this network will be around through the Summer of 2010, at least. Afterward, if the new pricing structure is unaffordable, or we cannot find a new host, the site will probably shut down.

Now would be a good time to recruit new members or try to increase the site’s activity!

From the Ning Blog:

Ning Blog » Mythbusters: Three Things We Aren’t Doing on May 4

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

NOTE: This post is now basically obsolete. Please see Good News on the Future of the Catholic Recovery Social Network!

I just posted this in an email to all network members, as well as on the Facebook Page and Group locations. Just including it in a post here (slightly edited) in case emails have changed.

Dear CR members:

I have just learned that Ning, the company that provides the technology and templates for the creation and maintenance of this and other Ning social networks, will be shutting down all free sites as of May 4th.

After that date, Network Creators will have to pay to keep their network going. I am not sure that I can do that at this point in time. The current fees for maintaining a Ning network (listed in the Mashable article below) do not seem all that large, but indications are that those costs will be rising for those interested in paying. Due to the economic situation, I cannot guarantee continued support beyond that date.

So as it stands now, I am not interested in paying, so unless there is a change in Ning policy, the Catholic Recovery Network will close on or after May 4th.

If you are on Facebook, CR has a Group and a Fan Page. If you’d like, we can continue there. Just type in the Facebook search box “Catholic Recovery” to find the Page, or “Catholics in Recovery (Alcohol and Addictions)” to find the Group. There is an issue with anonymity. Although FB was strict about it in the past, they do not seem to be that way now: you CAN create another profile for anonymous purposes. Perhaps if you’d like to continue on FB, you can re-create your CR username there. This may not be a change in policy, just that they may no longer be able to police the 350-400 million members.

There are always my blogs: http://sobercatholic.blogspot.com and http://the-four-last-things.blogspot.com where people can meet up in the comment section. I think there are “social networking” type widgets and add-ons that I can install to establish more of a community there. I do not make any money off of either blog, I used to run Google Ads, but canceled them when I wasn’t able to control the content. I may add Catholic advertisement soon.

If you have any questions, comments or suggestions: feel free to contact me thru CR or thru this blog.

Here is additional info:
Ning blog article on the closing of free social networks:

Ning Blog » An Update from Ning

Mashable article on the Ning system shutting down free social networks:

Ning: Failures, Lessons and Six Alternatives

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

The Catholics in Recovery forums have been “redesigned”. I basically combined a few to tidy things up and make them seem less unwieldy.

The “Twelve Steps” forum was moved to the “Recovery Meeting Room” forum, “Devotion Discussion” has been combined with “Saints”. “Food Addictions” and “Gambling Addictions” were eliminated due to historical inactivity, any discussions were moved to different forums.

The “Member’s Blog’s” forum was also eliminated, with the posts moved elsewhere, also because of inactivity. In its place I created a new Group, entitled “Online Community”. I did this because a Group may be a better and more targeted venue for those members who have Catholic and recovery-related blogs.

Some other minor tweaks, but the above are the only major ones. If you started a discussion or replied to any that had been moved, you can see where they are now when you go to your Profile Page and look under “My Discussions”.

Stop by sometime soon and participate! Click here: Catholics in Recovery.

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)