Feature Suggestion

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  1. DzyMsLizzy profile image86
    DzyMsLizzyposted 12 years ago

    Okay, to start with, the features in the capsules we have are already pretty awesome, and my hat is off to the programmers for coming up with all these utilities.

    There is one additional feature that would be on my wish list, and that would be the option to "drag and drop" photo and map capsules into any position within/next to any other capsule.

    For example, when writing a "how to" article, it would be super-deluxe if the accompanying illustration could be dropped exactly next to the particular block of text to which it applies, instead of just landing at the top of or below that text capsule.
    Sometimes, cutting and pasting text into new capsules of their own in an attempt to accomplish this results in strange-looking divisions and very short capsules with a lot of empty space where the next-door photo ends and the next text capsule begins.

    I know that might be a headache for the programmers, but it is just a suggestion; a wish-list item, not a complaint.  Thanks!

    1. Marisa Wright profile image87
      Marisa Wrightposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      MsLizzy, such a feature is totally unnecessary, if you understand how capsules work.  I suspect maybe you haven't quite mastered that yet, which is why you're struggling.

      When you add a photo or map capsule and you want to show it half width next to a text capsule, the first thing to do is make it half width.  If it's right at the end of your Hub, you may have to hit the "up" arrow once, so the right arrow appears.

      Once you've done that, you can go to the "drag and drop" section in the right sidebar, and drag and drop the various sections exactly where you want them to go.

      1. DzyMsLizzy profile image86
        DzyMsLizzyposted 12 years agoin reply to this

        Actually, Marisa, I have mastered that technique, and use it all the time.  However, it does not allow precise control over where the photo capsule appears.  It will invariably bounce right to the very top, under the sub head, of any given text capsule at which that "up arrow" is aimed.....and that is not necessarily immediately to the right of the relevant portion of the text.
        I have also tried chopping up the text into shorter capsules to try and make that placement happen, and as I mentioned, that usually results in very oddball spacing between text capsules, with a large gap beneath the text/photo capsules, and above the subsequent text capsule.

  2. profile image0
    The Writers Dogposted 12 years ago

    Hi DzyMsLizy. That is a great idea. I would vote for it.

  3. Aficionada profile image78
    Aficionadaposted 12 years ago

    MsLizzy,
    It sounds like you mean something like a wrap-around feature, so that if the text relating to a photo is in the middle part of a capsule, you could move the picture to the right side of the middle part of the capsule, and the text in the capsule would wrap at the top and the bottom, filling in the column above and below the picture.

    If the engineers can do it, more power to them!  Until that happens, though, it probably will just require what you have mentioned about cutting and pasting the text into separate capsules.  But who knows - maybe it can happen!

    1. DzyMsLizzy profile image86
      DzyMsLizzyposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Afficionada--
        Yes, something more on the order of text-wrapping is much closer to what I am trying to accomplish.  wink

      1. Marisa Wright profile image87
        Marisa Wrightposted 12 years agoin reply to this

        Well spotted, Aficionada.  Text-wrapping is exactly what you're talking about Ms Lizzy.

        To get a photo appearing exactly where I want it, I simply make the text the same length as the photo. I've never had much difficulty doing that - the only time it goes haywire is if it's near the top of the hub,and an ad is added by HP.

        1. wilderness profile image95
          wildernessposted 12 years agoin reply to this

          That's how I work it as well, whether it be a photo, amazon capsule or an ebay one.  Match the text length to the capsule length or make it longer, whereupon it will wrap.

          Quite often that means breaking up a text capsule into several capsules, and "adjusting" the length of each individually.  I occasionally have trouble with white space at the end of a text capsule, but editing and deleting any line feeds solves it easily enough.

          1. Marisa Wright profile image87
            Marisa Wrightposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            Yes, I think people don't always realize they've managed to create several lines of blank space at the end of the capsule - you just have to remember to delete them.

        2. DzyMsLizzy profile image86
          DzyMsLizzyposted 12 years agoin reply to this

          Ah--ok, then, Marisa..I guess there's my difficulty.  I usually write first, and then find, create or take the photo or draw the picture I need to illustrate my point.  So it's never the same size as the block of text.  In my current under-construction hub, some of the illustrations are unavoidably quite thin from top-to-bottom.  They are drawings, and because they are drawn to full-scale of their actual counterparts, there is not much height to them.  Even as they do appear here, magnified via being scanned in, they are still much smaller than a photo would be.

          Thank you all, however, for your insight and input.  I think I might be able to shuffle things a bit better at this point.....

          1. Marisa Wright profile image87
            Marisa Wrightposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            That's why it's a good reason to write your text in multiple text capsules to begin with.   I do the same as you, but because I have only a paragraph or two in each capsule, it's easy to cut a bit of text off the end of one and add it to the next (or vice versa), to fit the photos.  I do sometimes end up with a text capsule that's only two lines long, but c'est la vie!

            1. DzyMsLizzy profile image86
              DzyMsLizzyposted 12 years agoin reply to this

              Thanks, Marisa--
                I do use multiple text capsules, but I guess I'll have to use even more of them.  Sometimes, I have sub-heads under the sub-heads...and those I've usually put within the main sub-head text capsule.  I guess I'll have to start breaking them out into their own blocks of text...  neutral

              1. Marisa Wright profile image87
                Marisa Wrightposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                Bear in mind also, that you don't have to give a text capsule a sub-head at all, if you don't want to. 

                BTW I just took a look at your "Cook and Season" Hub.  I suggest you change your Amazon technique if you want to make sales.  Random items tacked on to the end of a Hub hardly ever sell.

                The way to make Amazon sales is to put the idea into the reader's head, then immediately offer them the chance to buy.

                If you want to make Amazon sales on this particular Hub, for instance, you need an Amazon ad for a steamer immediately next to the paragraph on Steaming (which of course means the Steaming para needs to be in its own capsule, and you may need to vary the wording to make it the same length or longer than the ad).  Then perhaps an ad for a garlic press next to the garlic - but you should add a few words on why it's best to use fresh garlic and press it.  An ad for a pastry brush next to the mention of the pastry brush - are you getting the idea?

                1. DzyMsLizzy profile image86
                  DzyMsLizzyposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                  Thanks, Marisa, for taking that extra time.  I appreciate your input.  I suppose I was following "The Golden Rule;" as in,  when I am reading something, it irks me no end to have ads thrust in my face all the way through an article, that's why I tend to relegate them to the end...I don't like it done to me, so was avoiding doing it to my readers.     ..  But I see your point, and you are oh, so correct--I've had the Amazon affiliate stuff for almost a year, and have earned exactly nothing up until a couple of months ago, yet I'm still very far below their payout threshhold.  ::: sigh :::   (Also, I see what you mean about that particular hub vis-a-vis related products.  .. however, that kind of hub is in my minority.  Most of what I write about more reasonably prompts ads for books, not gadgets.)

                  Apparently, I have a LOT of re-working and re-organizing to do... in my "spare" time...  roll   
                  Thanks again for all your time and advice.  I'll get to it...I'm just not Ms. Speedy anymore at my age...  sad

                  1. wilderness profile image95
                    wildernessposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                    I'll add a tiny bit to Marisa's comment, here Dzy.  I have gone so far as to break up a bulleted list in the middle, or with just a couple of bullets, into different text capsules.  The reader can't see it (although a hubber can tell because we know how HP capsules work) and it lets me put Amazon capsules right next to particular bullets.

                    My latest hub, about sci-fi books for kids (this month's contest entry!) kind of looks like 3 capsules, but actually has 11 just so the amazon capsules fit into it correctly. 

                    Like Marisa says, this seems to be the most effective method of selling amazon or ebay.  Get that ad in front of them while they are thinking about it, not after the thought has passed.  It will take some time to play with the appearance like this, but it is time well spent.

                  2. Marisa Wright profile image87
                    Marisa Wrightposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                    ...and I'm not suggesting you do that. Because Amazon ads need to be directly related to the text, you'll find that you can only use Amazon ads sparingly. And I'd recommend you show only one or two products each time.   So they won't be thrust in the readers face "all the way through" an article, only at points where they're totally relevant, which no reader could find objectionable.

                    So for instance, in the Hub I used as an example, you would only have three, or possibly four, Amazon ads in the entire Hub.  And far from being intrusive, I find an occasional Amazon or eBay ad gives some relief from solid blocks of text. Especially if I add a useful description to the item.

  4. DzyMsLizzy profile image86
    DzyMsLizzyposted 12 years ago

    OK--I just went into a hub to re-arrange some items per Marisa's suggestions, and ran into a different issue.

    Is there a problem with the Amazon utility now?  I am experiencing a lot of trouble with the "preview results" feature not working, and the finished capsules being invisible. 
    This link is NOT intended for "promoting" my article, but merely a link to the particular hub in which I most recently had this problem:
    http://dzymslizzy.hubpages.com/hub/Anim … r-Children

    Only the "Orlando" books capsule is showing.  The others did not show up either on preview or on "done editing."

    Thanks, folks...sorry I'm being so high-maintenance...  sad

 
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