The date when a hub is published to be placed on the hub

1. 89

   Cardisaposted 12 years ago

   I know it seems that I am always starting something new but please forgive me, it's just how my mind works. As a matter of fact I have been holding back some of my ideas.
   
   Anyway. Is it possible to have the date on the hub beside our name under the title? The published date would be fine. I think this would help along our cause when filing a complaint against scrapers and thieves.
   
   What o you think?

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   1. 87

      TheMagicianposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I think that'd be useful. I also think it'd be a nice addition because a lot of people searching for articles like to know the date it was posted. I, and many others, will leave an article to search for another that I'd feel is more "up to date" if I can't find a date posted on the article anywhere.

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      1. 89

         Cardisaposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks, TheMagician. I also prefer reading more recent articles. So that would allow persons to get a feel of when the article was published. I usually have to go to the comments to get an idea of that.

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         1. 82

            mary615posted 12 years agoin reply to this

            I agree!  I'd love to know when the Hub was published.  An old Hub will resurface, and I'll wonder if I've read it and maybe commented.  I'll go to it and discover it's old and yes, I have read and commented ages ago.  Let's do this!

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   2. 61

      SunSevenposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      BAD Idea

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   3. 85

      Marisa Wrightposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      No, no, no, no, no!
      
      I have Hubs about dancing which are as relevant today as they were three years ago.  I'd hate someone to open the Hub, see it was written in 2009 and think "that's out of date".
      
      I've never had a problem filing a DMCA.  If I did, I could always ask the HubPages team for backup as they have evidence when the Hub was published.  But if you want to show a date, why not put a copyright statement with a date at the end of the hub yourself?

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2. 83

   rebekahELLEposted 12 years ago

   This has been brought up before in the forums. Some people simply add the date at the top of their text. Some writers don't want the date showing on the article. And it's listed on hub stats and our account page.
   You can also check comments, if there are any, and generally get an idea of when it was published.
   
   I know of a few writers that add their byline and date at the beginning of each hub.

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3. 75

   Reality Bytesposted 12 years ago

   I do not want the date on any of my hubs!  I try to publish hubs which will stand the test of time.  I do not want a reader to leave my hub for a more "recent" article.
   
   Easy enough to add a date to the hub if wanted?

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   1. 94

      wildernessposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      +1  I completely agree - I shoot for evergreen hubs that I hope will bring in traffic for a decade to come.  Far too many readers will simply leave if they see that a hub was written even a year or two ago.

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   2. 69

      Michael Willisposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I also agree. I have hubs that last more than a short time frame. A date posted on them could hurt them.
      It is easy enough for those wanting a date on their hubs to just add it themselves in the hubs.

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4. 82

   mary615posted 12 years ago

   Looks like we have a good discussion going on here, and that's good!  It is a good point for those of us who like to write "evergreen" articles.  Maybe that is not a good idea to date the Hub.  I'm rethinking the whole subject.  The author could just put the date on the Hub if they like.

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5. 61

   Randy Godwinposted 12 years ago

   Nope!  I vote no to the idea also.  If I'm seriously interested in a subject I will always check several sources for the most accurate info.  As others have stated here, one can always add the date somewhere in the hub or simply check the stats. 
   
   
   
   
                            

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6. 89

   Cardisaposted 12 years ago

   Thanks guys, I was considering the plagiarism aspect of it since many of us have had stuff stolen. In one instance my hub was stolen within a couple hours of it being published. It took a while for Google to do something even after I filed the DMCA complaint. I think maybe the site had other complaints against it why my stuff was eventually removed.
   
   However I do understand the evergreen issue with placing the date there.

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   1. 69

      Michael Willisposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I seem to remember a discussion on this once where someone said their is some sort of "digital stamp" when a hub is published. Not sure if it is on the hubpages side or google.  But, it was stated that their is a way to know which article is the original, at time of publication.

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      1. 89

         Cardisaposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks Michael. I think someone is targeting me for even hubs that are not keyword dense or getting any traffic are being stolen. I am up to my neck.
         
         I am tired of filing complaints!

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         1. 69

            Michael Willisposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            I went through that a little over a year ago from a person who was stealing from me as well as others on another website. Where the stolen articles were on a ligitimate site, I was able to get the stolen copies taken down quickly. The other one, I outranked that site for a particular hub stolen, so there was nothing else I could do but wait until Google finally unindexed that piece after I filed a complaint through Google.
            It is frustrating!!!

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            1. 89

               Cardisaposted 12 years agoin reply to this

               I thought I was the last person scrapers would steal from since most of my hubs are keyword hubs but just general articles. But these scrapers take anything that sounds good.

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7. 72

   relacheposted 12 years ago

   I DO NOT want a publish date on Hubs.  Having that info private is better for defending against thieves, and works better for evergreen content.

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   1. 89

      Cardisaposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Relache, I thought the date would actually help but as you point out and some others it wont. I am just frustrated with the scrapers.

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8. 87

   TheMagicianposted 12 years ago

   Now that I've read some of the counter arguments, I can see why it'd be best to maybe leave off the dates on the hubs. Hmm.

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9. 0

   Arlene V. Pomaposted 12 years ago

   If the Hub has comments, that alone would tell you how old it is.  I wouldn't want my Hubs dated.  If they were, some readers would probably move on because they would be turned off by an older, dated Hub.  When you do research, you want current information, and even if you kept your Hubs updated, people would still rely on that date.  I like the idea of editing my Hubs, and that's enough.

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10. 78

    Greekgeekposted 12 years ago

    Note that Google's algorithm lists the date on articles that have dates on them. I doubt one can fool Google by putting a more recent date on an article and changing nothing else, but it's going to slap that "first published" date on search results if you list it.
    
    Google also favors more recently-published articles over old ones...normally. I wonder if it's smart enough to favor the first publication of duplicate content.

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11. 89

    Cardisaposted 12 years ago

    I am glad I posted this suggestion because I really learned a lot today. Thank you all for the feedback and I can now see the reason why it would not be a good idea.
    
    I really appreciate all the comments.

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    1. 83

       rebekahELLEposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       I think dates are relevant for certain topics, and Google likes the freshest content with 'news' related articles, but personally I don't think it's beneficial for many of the writers here. Anyone writing evergreen content can easily update with fresh content, rather than posting a date.

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       1. 89

          Cardisaposted 12 years agoin reply to this

          Thanks RebekaELLE, really appreciate all of the comments. It helps to clarify things. Just got to trust the system.

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