Bidding a Fond Farewell to Hub of the Day

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   Christy Kirwanposted 8 years ago

   Today it is my sad duty to announce that we're retiring Hub of the Day.
   
   Site selection is proving to be a more rewarding form of recognition that benefits more Hubbers at once, so it's where our current priorities lie. We don't have time to continue selecting Hubs and maintaining the code base for Hub of the Day at present. We intend to launch the remaining sites on our list as quickly as possible in order to allow us to go deeper in the selection process and make another pass at the Hubs we haven't yet examined for inclusion.
   
   Since Hub of the Day still represents an extremely high standard of achievement for those who have been selected, we are adding past Hubs of the Day to a priority selection queue to be looked at by staff for inclusion in sites now, regardless of traffic.
   
   We hate making the tough calls to get rid of features like Hub of the Day, but we do believe it's in the best interest of HubPages and Hubbers to focus our attention on new features and projects that will help and reward as many writers as possible. Thanks for your understanding and for sticking with us through this wild ride.

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      sallybeaposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Hi Christy
      Whilst I appreciate the work which went into selection of Hub of the day, they served a duel purpose, which was that having been awarded a hub of the day, it made it possible for the selected writers to earn a possible financial reward from them through a lucky dip draw once a month.
      Will some of the competitions held in previous be re-instated once the major changes have been completed.

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         Christy Kirwanposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         Hi Sally,
         
         I think you are thinking of the Editor's Choice bonus pool, which ended at the end of December 2015. That was always planned as a one-year promotion only.

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            sallybeaposted 8 years agoin reply to this

            Oops, my mistake.

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      RTalloniposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      This is likely a very good thing.  Don't get me wrong, I very much appreciated the awards I received, but there are several reasons the decision is in the best interest of the site.

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      NateB11posted 7 years agoin reply to this

      Good move. I think niche sites are a higher priority, no doubt.

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   paradigmsearchposted 8 years ago

   I self-inflicted a snip on my HOTD hub title. And I did a bunch of other stuff. And I threw out the worst of the comments.

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   jansharesposted 8 years ago

   I had a feeling this was coming a few weeks ago when I posted a forum after they had disappeared for about a week. Although HOTD had become a signature part of HP, it's probably time for it to go. It makes sense with all the changes. Good move.

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   paradigmsearchposted 8 years ago

   Me thinks a flurry of editing activity is taking place as we speak.
   
   "...we are adding past Hubs of the Day to a priority selection queue to be looked at by staff for inclusion in sites now, regardless of traffic."

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   WryLiltposted 8 years ago

   I've never managed to win one, so it'll serve as a way to make those of us who didn't, more jealous of those lucky ones who did. Haha!

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   Sherry Hewinsposted 8 years ago

   Having a Hub of the Day used to be very exiting, and was good for a big traffic bump, even if it was almost all from HP members, and very short-lived. In recent times, having a hub selected as HOTD barely made a ripple in traffic (for me anyway), probably because people had to click over to the feed to even see it.
   
   So, it was fun while it lasted, but I think it's outlived it's usefulness.

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      Jean Bakulaposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      I barely ever looked at them, and never had one either. Fine with me. It does sound counterproductive as you make all the niche sites.

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   Glenn Stokposted 8 years ago

   Now I became curious. So I checked two of my hubs that were once selected as HOTD and I see that both were already selected and moved to a niche site. Thanks for the priority on those. Overall, I'm very pleased with the higher view counts I'm getting with one hub in particular on a niche site that doubled both HP Ad revenue and Amazon sales.

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   FatFreddysCatposted 8 years ago

   I've had two Hubs of the Day since I've been here and so far neither one of them has been selected for a niche site. ...so hey, thanks for nothin'. (*kicks rock*)

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      paradigmsearchposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      I updated my one-and-only HOTD yesterday to make it be all that it can be, bread cast upon the waters... Now it's back to updating my other masterpieces. Interesting times, they do keep us busy around here.

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      Christy Kirwanposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      We have over a thousand Hubs in the priority queue to review, so the process will likely be complete by the end of next week.

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   JJ McHaleposted 8 years ago

   I have very recently joined this writer's site.  Perhaps my opinion holds no weight due to my newness but I must comment nonetheless. In the several hours I have browsed this site in hopes to get a "feel" of things, I've mostly come to the conclusion that I made a mistake in joining.  Now I am determining whether to remain and extend the effort or just bail before sailing a disappointing journey.
   
   I have surmised you, Christy, are a member of the administration by your post here.  I would seriously wonder who, on your staff oversees the work being posted and published on this site.  While I have read some incredibly wonderful work and recognize there is rich talent to be appreciated, there seems to be even more rubbish.  I can't help but be appalled at the preposterous assumption of so many here who are somehow deluded that they are "writers."  Fact in point?  It appears a few are using this site to set up their own personal church. complete with pulpit for preaching only. All terribly illiterate. You allow this?
   Do you not feel a responsibility to your prolific writers and the venue herein?
   Thank you for the privilege to express my opinion.  JJ.

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      Jason Marovichposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      It appears you've been perusing the forums, sir.  Those have nothing to do with published works here.

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         RTalloniposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         

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         JJ McHaleposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         Jason,  Thank you for responding.  "Nothing to do with published works here?"   They are members of HP and writers.  Some of the same members who write published works here.  Their words & attitudes are what stand out.  I am curious why the administration tolerates what brings the site down.   Of course they have to do with the big picture here.
         Apparently everyone merely tolerates this.  It's a shame.  This activity takes away from the wonderful, prolific works of the truly talented people.

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            Jason Marovichposted 7 years agoin reply to this

            Where forums are concerned, I assume admin treads carefully on free speech.  I get what you're saying.  Personally, I wouldn't want my niche works on a topic confused with a heap of controversial forum posts about something unrelated.  I'd find another place or pseudonym for that if I felt so moved.  But then, not everyone feels that way, obviously.
            
            All that being said, search engines, our most beneficial source of traffic on HP, don't seem to factor in forum posts toward the algorithm that defines quality various niche pages.
            
            Why does HP allow religious and political threads that border sometimes on the bizarre or incendiary?  Probably because it just isn't a priority to be in the censorship business unless words are reported and then noted as against TOS.  Yes, it's their site but they've lent their site to others freely, even those with strong views and opinions.

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      Christy Kirwanposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      Hi JJ,
      
      This is a complicated question. HubPages, by nature, is a user-generated content platform, meaning anyone can publish here.
      
      We do have quality controls in the sense that there are subjects we don't allow (weapons sales, breaking the law, pornography, encouraging gambling, selling cigarettes, etc), and in the sense that all articles must be in English, not spam, of a certain length, and must pass our basic level of quality control to be published and Featured on the site.
      
      We also provide a lot of guidance in the Learning Center about the types of articles that tend to be most successful and what to shoot for.
      
      But each writer is responsible for his or her own success on the site, so we intentionally try to allow as much creative freedom as possible, insofar as we believe it isn't penalizing the site as a whole.
      
      We want writers to have more freedom to find out what works for their readers and for the particular subject they're writing about.

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         JJ McHaleposted 7 years agoin reply to this

         Christy,  I appreciate your thoughtful reply.  I will stand in correction of my curiosity.  Your explanation is understandable.  I would like to add that I hope to have a positive experience here while contributing. Thank you  JJ. 

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    GiftsByDianaposted 8 years ago

    I never gave them much thought and don't think that I ever read one so it's no big deal to me.
    Thanks for the update though 

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    VirginiaLynneposted 8 years ago

    I've had a number of HOTD, two in the last few months which surprised me.  The recognition was always nice but I would much prefer that energies were focused on evaluating hubs for the new sites.  I'm quite concerned that the majority of my high performing hubs are all on one topic--how to write essays--and I'm not sure there is a site geared for that.  I'm also concerned that some very high-quality hubs haven't been chosen for a site, even though they fit one.  I'm busy trying to eliminate all product links and revising a couple of sites a day.  I'm concerned about what will happen to hubs left on the main HubPages site--will these lose traffic because they are stuck with low-quality work?

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       Christy Kirwanposted 7 years agoin reply to this

       We have an education site in the works, which is probably where that style of Hub will end up finding a home. Don't forget, we've only made the first pass with launched sites, and traffic is a factor in the selection process currently. It's likely your Hubs simply haven't been reviewed yet.

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    agilitymachposted 7 years ago

    I understand getting rid of the HOTD.  It is time with the new niche sites.  This is totally self-serving, but will we lose our accolade and little "award" icon on our HOTDs?  I only have two (I think), but I don't have many writing awards from recent years.  It's kinda fun to see them when I pop into those Hubs for editing.

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       Christy Kirwanposted 7 years agoin reply to this

       Yes, both will go away. We did consider keeping them, and would have liked to, but the accolade had a fair amount of code involved in that it displayed the most recent HOTD when clicked and it just wasn't feasible to maintain while the program is no longer active.

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          agilitymachposted 7 years agoin reply to this

          Well poo.  I understand though.  Thanks for responding!

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    Thelma Albertsposted 7 years ago

    Well, I understand that you have to do that. It´s just a pity that one of my hubs will not be selected for HOTD. Anyway, I think it´s time to create something new like the vertical niche of hubs. Happy Mother´s Day to all mothers here at HP.

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