SUGGESTION: Custom HTML?

1. 59

   smeyerzposted 11 years ago

   I really don't see why this wasn't implemented. Makes it so much harder to make Hubs unique.

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   1. 89

      WryLiltposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      The point of hubs is NOT to be unique. That way they look the same and are easier on the eyes - they've been developed by the team to have the most visual appeal and attract the most advert clicks.
      
      If you look at sites like Squidoo, where colors and other fancy things are allowed, some of the articles look so ugly and big and in your face and hideously overdone.

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      1. 59

         smeyerzposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         But then, graphic designers like me feel extremely limited. For example, I was trying to post song tracks for my music reviews, and instead of just posting a simple soundcloud or spotify widget, I had to settle for a Youtube video.

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         1. 89

            WryLiltposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            That's what happens when you post content on someone elses site.

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            1. 59

               smeyerzposted 11 years agoin reply to this

               Sites like Blogger or Weebly don't limit it that severely.

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               1. 89

                  WryLiltposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                  Blogger abd Weebly don't take a share of your impressions, so do not have a vested interest in what you write.

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               2. 84

                  Marisa Wrightposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                  Blogger and Weebly are blogging platforms - i.e., places where you create your own, stand-alone blog.  It doesn't matter if your Blogger blog looks completely different from its neighbour.
                  
                  HubPages is an online magazine, so it's important the entire site has a consistent look and feel (as a graphic designer I'm sure you appreciate that point).

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                  1. 59

                     smeyerzposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                     I do appreciate that, but MOST people would have the sense to make it blend in with the rest of the site. The things I would use the custom HTML feature for would be things like music players ect. which would not hurt the overall appearance.

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                     1. 89

                        WryLiltposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                        You would. Spammers and spinners wouldn't.

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                     2. 84

                        Marisa Wrightposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                        You think?   You (presumably) have good taste, because you're a graphic designer.   Just think of MySpace, and tell me the average person won't make a hash of it...
                        
                        And by the way, there's very little difference between getting readership on your HubPages sub-domain and getting traffic on your own blog.  Once upon a time, publishing on a rev-sharing site like HP did give you a significant edge over your own blog.    Post-Panda, those days are over - and in fact, there's some evidence the reverse is true.  Google doesn't like "content farms"
                        
                        Get yourself a self-hosted Wordpress blog, choose a theme that's got built-in SEO (or use a plugin), and create lots of good content.  If you can't afford that, use Blogger or Weebly.

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                        1. 59

                           smeyerzposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                           The Hubpages community is nice though, and its one of my main reasons of staying with Hubpages. They give you motivation to do more, and better.

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                           1. 84

                              Marisa Wrightposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                              That's a different subject.  I agree with you - I rarely write Hubs any more, but I regard the HubPages forum as my online community.   
                              
                              However the community is too small to make money from.  It's purely for networking with other writers.

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                     3. 75

                        jacharlessposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                        Most featured elements of HP are integrated over jQuery and X- or D- HTML. So, items like polls, slide-shows, videos -even a music player- require special handling. Generally speaking, the WYSIWYG is for basic textual look-feel and not extreme alterations or integrations.
                        
                        Even though HTML5 is leaning toward a 'canvas' based design environment {and buggy as all heck, mind you} for mobile and apps, it would not make sense to implement controls to that degree. Besides, the HP toolbox is for writing, not design. The "HP Dozen" handle the UX/UI portion, as they should.
                        
                        Blogger, Wix, Weebly, Wordpress -even Joomla and Drupal- are dependent or independent CMS platforms, where HubPages is not.
                        
                        James.

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                        1. 59

                           smeyerzposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                           Which is why I probably will end up using Drupal in the future. Will see how Hubpages turns out.

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                           1. 75

                              jacharlessposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                              My suggestion, if you plan to go that direction, is Ruby on Rails, similar to the original Twitter platform and Tumblr. Dru7 has many issues -much like the Dolphin environment, because it is open-source. Too many hands spoiling the soup. Best approach is to hash your own custom CMS and save the prefab CMS headaches for the other guy. It is not all that complicated to build, especially for an ezine or audio-video site.
                              
                              Good hunting!
                              James.

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2. 72

   relacheposted 11 years ago

   I disagree somewhat with WryLilt's statement that Hubs are not supposed to be unique. 
   
   Hubs actually are supposed to be unique but the owners/developers here want unique written content and photographs, not page designs/looks/colors.  Admin would be the first to say that there are plenty of other sites that allow all the things you have been asking for (like why not just develop your own web site?), and that you should go to those sites if those are the sorts of features you really want.

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   1. 89

      WryLiltposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      You always say things better than me I did suggest on ANOTHER of his suggestion threads that the OP get a website but he doesn't have the time. He'd rather spend it making suggestions that will never happen in the forums

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      1. 59

         smeyerzposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         You don't seem to realize how much time is needed to make a website, optimizing it for search engines, and making it so it gets to the top of Google, even with the help of  CMS. Right now, I love Hubpages and would prefer to stick with it even though it has its faults.

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         1. 89

            WryLiltposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            I do realise.- I think at last count I had about 20 websites - that doesn't include my blogger crap.
            
            Squidoo lets you use HTML and has managed to ride out most algo changes for the last few years. Why not go there?

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            1. 59

               smeyerzposted 11 years agoin reply to this

               Because I have used Squidoo and I have decided that I like Hubpages better even with all its faults.

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         2. 0

            calculus-geometryposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            It's a simple trade off.  If you want the ease of publishing on HP's platform, you have to live with their restrictions.  If you want the freedom and customizability of your own site, you have work more to develop and promote it.  Pick your poison, as they say.

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3. 75

   MickiSposted 11 years ago

   Thanks for another suggestion, smeyerz.
   
   As was pointed out by several experienced members, we limit the control in order to maintain consistency across over 1.1M Hubs from 140k+ writers writing in 26 different subjects.
   
   Although you may have great design sense and taste, as Marisa pointed out, most people don't. One area where the inmates should not run the asylum.

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   1. 94

      Sue Adamsposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Yeah, a lunatic asylum with 140K inmates slaving for about 20 staff.

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