editors choice

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   Danette Wattposted 10 years ago

   I see that one of my hubs was named Editor's Choice. But I don't see any notice of that to the 'outside world" - that is, I only see a tag next to the hub's title in my account. I'll certainly promote in on my FB page but you'd think it would get a gold star or something next to the title on my page...
   
   Am I missing something?

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2. STAFF

   Paul Edmondsonposted 10 years ago

   In the posts we made on EC, we said that we are selecting them now, but haven't completed how they will be displayed.  Making them distinguishable is in the works.

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      jansharesposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      With all due respect, do you mean posts in subsequent forum threads after roll out? I hadn't realized that, Paul, and I believe others are still a little confused, as is the OP. All it says in the LC and FAQ is that it will take time to pick them all. It states that ECs will receive special social exposure on hubpages.com mentioning nothing about "making them distinguishable is in the works." Maybe that line could be added to the EC descriptions in the LC and FAQ. It would cut down on confusion of hubbers as to where their EC hubs are displayed. It also may give hubbers more reason to decide about opting in or out until the kinks are worked out.

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         Marina Lazarevicposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Robin posted an EC FAQ in the blog today - please check it out!

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            Lifefusionposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            Thank you for the information.

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            Lifefusionposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            Thank you for the information.

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            Writer Foxposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            Why is HP discouraging the use of referral links to sign up for HubPages in Hubs?

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               Marina Lazarevicposted 10 years agoin reply to this

               A few reasons:
               
               -The referral trackers are intended to be used outside of HubPages: http://hubpages.com/faq/#affiliate
               -The referral trackers on Hubs rarely convert into sign ups
               -Referral trackers are unrelated to the Hub's content
               -They contribute to an inconsistent design from Hub to Hub - everyone formats them differently

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                  Lifefusionposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                  Good to know. I would assume that conversions may be improved if you use them on the correct context. For example; if your hub is about ways to make money online and Hubpages is on the list, then speaking on referrals would fit perfectly.

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                  Writer Foxposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                  HP puts two links on each of my Hubs to sign up for HubPages:
                  1. one on the top menu bar "Join Now"
                  2. and this on the floating ad that follows a visitor all the way down my Hub:
                     "Want an audience? HubPages receives over 32 million visitors every month. Join today."
                  
                  Both of those links are followed links and unrelated to my Hub.
                  
                  When I include my referral link, I at least use a NoFollow link.  I don't see a reason to remove my referral link so long as HP is displaying two followed links on my Hubs  in advertisements for people to join, which is against Google's Webmaster Guidelines.

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         jansharesposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Thank you, Marina (and Robin) for taking time to incorporate issues raised regarding EC hub confusion.

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   relacheposted 10 years ago

   I don't mind having editor's choice hubs, but I don't want them highlighted for all the scrapers and rip-off artists.

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      Cardisaposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I agree with Relache. I think it would be a bad idea to have these hubs displayed publicly.

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      Alison Grahamposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I don't know if it would be possible, but I think that for EC hubs that have been designated so because they have been deemed to be 'prime real-estate' for hubpages and on the hubpages domain, that hubpages should give some help with protecting copyright, detecting scraped/copied hubs and taking action on it when detected.

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      lobobrandonposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Well, they are already on display for the world to see. I'm not going to specify how exactly but if you look just above the title of your hubs you'd get a clue. Don't want to make it easy for scrapers.

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         Lifefusionposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         I still see this as more of a positive. There are services available online to protect your content. Google "content protection services for writers." You may in fact have to deal with a situation in which someone has plagiarized your content, but then you just have to fight it. Like I mentioned before you are going to be just as (if not more) vulnerable if you rank one on google for any keywords, but would you want Google to move you down on the ranking so it's less likely your content gets stolen? Personally I feel like if someone produces quality content that someone else at the very least is going to take the idea of the content. If someone does steal my content then I am going to fight it. Until then I am going keep writing and not let the thought of what might happen destroy my hubs/articles chances at exposure. Editors Choice is a good thing for you even if it is the status is shared publically.

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4. 83

   Lifefusionposted 10 years ago

   I understand the concern that someone might steal your intellectual property, but it seems that you are complaining about having a hub chosen as editors choice. I assume it will make it easier for the scum out there to find prime content to rip off, but this can already be done anyway. I would think that a goal for any Hubber/Writer would be to gain as much traffic as possible. We do keyword research, and build links to increase SEO. I see some are you are saying you don't want EC hubs to be public...this is like saying you wouldn't want to be on page one of Google for your keywords. There are always going to be thieves out there and they are going to find what is popular through various methods, but is it really a good idea to avoid making your hub more popular for fear of having them copied. I am not familiar with methods to protect content, but I feel like since we own the content it should be up to us to protect it. This has inspired me to explore the subject of intellectual property protection. I will do a little research and hopefully develop a good system of protecting my content, but I hope that my EC hub is highlighted publicly and I get a ton of exposure.

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5. 83

   Lifefusionposted 10 years ago

   Excuse my bad grammar

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6. 81

   brblogposted 10 years ago

   I have three hubs that received the Editor's Choice designation and I found them featured on their respective topic pages (whatever topic/sub-topic/sub-sub-topic I chose for them at the time of their creation). There are a lot of Hubs featured on those pages and there are multiple pages but being an Editor's Choice seems to have movee them into the first few of those pages. In the sub-topic that my three hubs exist (all are in the same sub-topic) there are 888 articles. Two of mine are on page one and one is on page two. Not really sure if that is because they have the Editor's Choice designation or not - just my guess.

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7. 85

   lovebuglenaposted 10 years ago

   If a hub is picked as Editors Choice I think that should be displayed on the hub itself so that viewers/readers can see it. There is no harm in that as even if that is not displayed on a hub it can still be stolen and used elsewhere.

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      psycheskinnerposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      The point is that plagiarisers target anything that looks high traffic.  So they may gravitate to ECs if they are made visible.

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         Lifefusionposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         And again I say, do you want to keep your hubs from becoming high traffic? There are much more efficient ways for the the thieves to steal your content; such as search engine top list skimmer programs. EC will not directly corrilate into good search engine ranking and that is what content stealers are really looking for.

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            psycheskinnerposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            And my point is still that I don't want it to be obvious which of my hubs is high traffic.  Because those ones get scraped.  There may be easier ways, but why give them even more clues?  Especially to those scammers that actually join hubpages and seem to follow which hubs are mentioned on the forums as doing well. (Or if not, it's a hell of a coincidence).

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8. 82

   psycheskinnerposted 10 years ago

   If EC is such a big deal, could you please make explicit what it takes to be selected?
   
   Otherwise it is just a case of star-bellied sneetches.

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      Robinposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      All it will cost you is ten dollars eaches!  I so love that book.  Here's a link to the EC guidelines.  Thanks for adding more info, Danette!  We will be posting a blog post shortly with an update of EC Hubs. 

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9. 81

   Danette Wattposted 10 years ago

   Gee, psyceskinner, I hope you aren't calling those whose hubs got EC "star-bellied sneetches" - whatever that is.  I certainly don't consider myself to be anything but a hard-worker who does the best she can to produce quality hubs and other writing around the internet.
   
   I see that my hub got into the front page (I think it's the only page) of that topic but I've had other hubs long ago that were on the front page of their topic pages before EC came around.
   
   I think a "banner" at the top of the hub stating it's an Editor's Choice would be the minimum. At least then those who saw that hub would see this little accolade. Because otherwise, there's no one who knows except me, HPs and those I choose to share the news with.
   
   In my opinion, whether a hub is stellar or a hub is pure crap won't matter one bit to those who troll the internet plagiarizing from others. They're just looking for a quick steal.

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      Lifefusionposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Well said

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10. 81

    Danette Wattposted 10 years ago

    Here's what I found when I was looking for info on EC after I noticed the designation next to my hub. But let me say that I was surprised to have gotten this b/c
    1. I have other hubs that I feel are of equal quality and
    2. most of what HP does regarding accolades and designating something featured or Hub of the Day seems so arbitrary
    
    http://blog.hubpages.com/2013/08/announ … oice-hubs/
    
    Want your Hubs to have an Editor’s Choice designation and be showcased on HubPages.com?  Here are a few criteria to shoot for:
    
        Write high-quality Hubs.  Check out our Learning Center entry on Stellar Hubs for guidance.
        Follow our HubPages Style Guide.
        Make sure your Hub has passed the Quality Assessment Process.  Again, passing the QAP doesn’t automatically move you into the Editor’s Choice bucket.  Hubs will have to be of even higher quality to make the cut.   Shoot for that 8, 9, or 10 on the quality scale.
        Remove any promotional links or links to websites that aren’t high quality. Linking should be natural and every link should benefit your reader; the intent of your Hub is considered during the evaluation process.
        Use the Grouping feature on HubPages instead of including large blocks of links to your own Hubs.
        Only include relevant and useful Amazon and eBay products and limit their number.
        If you are writing on a topic that is already extensively covered online, be sure to go above and beyond the best articles on the web.  Rewording the same content won’t cut it.
        Titles should be descriptive and concise.
        Proofread:  Grammar and spelling should be perfect.
        Use high-quality images that are either original or legally used and attributed.
        Please note:  all of the above criteria are not mandatory for an Editor’s Choice designation, but you increase your chances of your Hub becoming Editor’s Choice if you implement these suggestions.
    
    For more information, please visit our FAQ.

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       lovebuglenaposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       I was surprised that my hub that had the most traffic and great content and plenty of comments was not chosen as an EC hub. It certainly seems worthy of it. Now the hub that was actually chosen as the EC hub surpassed that other hub in terms of views, which I never expected. That's a good thing of course. Still, I wish the other hub was chosen as EC as well. Wonder what the exact criteria is that qualifies a hub as EC...and not another hub that seems equally worthy of the EC title.

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          Lifefusionposted 10 years agoin reply to this

          I would be interested in that information as well.

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    jansharesposted 10 years ago

    This is why I opted out. It was not clear then and still unclear now.

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12. 0

    Scott P Williamsposted 10 years ago

    Go to "profile" or "my profile" and then to "edit profile" then scroll to the bottom of the page and select who can see your accolades.

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13. 82

    Mark Ewbieposted 10 years ago

    I think it would be great if EC hubs and their writers were awarded a badge of excellence.
    
    Something like a large cartoon bunny would be nice. The better the hub and the writer the bigger and brighter the bunny.
    
    For those of us such as myself who continually write second-rate boring crap we could have a smaller bunny, perhaps in drab colors, just so we don't feel too disappointed.

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       Jenn-Anneposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       +1 LOL!!!

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       PegCole17posted 10 years agoin reply to this

       Perhaps just a stick-man bunny for you, Mark.
       

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          Patkayposted 10 years agoin reply to this

          Ooh, I like watching stick men fights.
          

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       SmartAndFunposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       On EC hubs, the bunnies should have a yellow star on their bellies, like the sneetches.

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