2 Little Questions...

1. 86

   Isabella Snowposted 16 years ago

   I know, you've just changed tons of stuff and I shouldn't be asking for more already!
   
   But can you at least tell me how possible these 2 are?
   
   1. With groupings, would it be possible to cross-list hubs in different categories?
   
   2. Would it be possible to make hubs wider than they currently are? Or is that done for a special reason? Cos hubs span exactly 1/2 of my screen and I can't help wondering if widening hubs might be good?
   
   Thanks, Paul!

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2. 86

   Marisa Wrightposted 16 years ago

   Isabella, I had exactly the same thought about the cross-listing yesterday.  Probably the first time I found myself with a hub I could have put in two different places. 
   
   I've wondered why Hubs are skinny, too.  We could do so much more with layout if they were wider.

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3. 86

   Isabella Snowposted 16 years ago

   Paul..? Whaddya think?
   
   You like to see me beg for it, dontcha....?
   
   Being able to cross-group hubs would increase chances of pageviews, wouldnt it?

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4. STAFF

   pauldeedsposted 16 years ago

   Isabella, we already have tags for organizing a hub into multiple groups.  The intent of hub groups was to allow you to string together a series of very related hubs into a series, for instance:
   
   "Grammar Mishaps - I vs. Me"
   "Grammar Mishaps - Toward vs Towards"
   etc.
   
   or
   
   My European Vacation Part 1 - France
   My European Vacation Part 2 - Germany
   etc.
   
   It wasn't really intended as a general way to organize hubs (since tags do exactly that), although I do realize some people use it in that way.
   
   As for the width of the page, a lot of consideration went into the current width.   The most important being that almost 10% of our visitors are still using a resolution of 800x600, so we could not exceed 800 pixels if we went with a fixed width layout.  On top of that, a lot of usability studies seem to suggest that a line length of 4-5" is optimal for text readability so we tried to set the full width of a hub somewhere in that vicinity (although it obviously varies based on your monitor configuarion).  We also considered the standard advertisement dimensions, and tried to make our design adaptable to as many of them as possible.
   
   I don't think you're going to be able to sweet talk me into changing either of these, but you can try if you want.

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   1. 86

      Isabella Snowposted 16 years agoin reply to this

      Well.. most of the fun is in trying, you know.
      
      Ok, I figured page width had something to do with an 800x screen. I'm surprised *most* visitors are still using that size though.. most of my own traffic I get comes from 1020. But ok, I get it!
      
      However..
      
      By groups, I realize the tag thing serves a purpose, but I did mean very specific groupings.
      
      For example - I'd like to have topics on expat info grouped together - but Id also like "how to move a pet to the UK" in my dog tips group.
      
      I didnt mean just randomly grouping for the sake of views....
      
      Another thing would be having my lingerie articles all in 1 group for people who ONLY want to look at lingerie, but also have it in my womens fashion group which includes all of it..
      
      Is my begging futile??

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5. 86

   Isabella Snowposted 16 years ago

   Paul - I was just looking at askmen.com and realized the hubpages width is almost the same as theirs.. which surprised me because I'd never thought of their pages as being narrow.. and then I realized why. They have some kind of colored wallpaper filling up all the extra space, so it gives the feeling like your screen is still filled.
   
   Could you maybe consider filling the white space on hubpages, which takes up 1/2 of my screen, and more on those with bigger monitors, with wallpaper, or just some solid color? Even gray would be cool, I think..
   
   Or was white chosen for the same reasons width was?

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6. 73

   Kenny Wordsmithposted 16 years ago

   Just adding my two-bit to Isabella's request for having a hub in more than one group. It would be useful, methinks!

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7. 66

   darksideposted 16 years ago

   Most pages which have a lot of readable content will be about as wide as HubPages. The difference is they may have a third (or even fourth) column with ads or other links on it.
   
   And they might centre the entire page. So it splits the white space (or whatever colour being used) in half, but on both sides, rather than on one.
   
   Extending the width of the main body of writing works against the writer, as it is more tiring for the reader to read longer string of words. Something that a teacher once told me in Desktop Publishing. Which applied to a printed page, but works the same (if not more so) on a computer screen.
   
   And I'd very much like cross-referenced Groups.

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8. 86

   Isabella Snowposted 16 years ago

   Darkside, the site I'm referring to is set up like hubpages, but to the right is colored space. Thats what Im asking, since I know they dont want to widen the columns. Im just asking if the remaining space to the right can be a color other than white.

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   1. 66

      darksideposted 16 years agoin reply to this

      You actually asked "Would it be possible to make hubs wider than they currently are".

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9. 58

   Mark Knowlesposted 16 years ago

   I disagree about the colored space - I like the white space, although the groupings I agree with. I would like to be able to add my hubs to more than one group for similar reasons.

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10. 86

    Isabella Snowposted 16 years ago

    You're on a Mac, right, Mark? What size screen you got?

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11. 58

    Mark Knowlesposted 16 years ago

    Yes.
    
    2 screens -  one is 1280 x 1024 the other 1680 x 1050
    
    But I think what Paul said earlier was that 10% of users use the narrow screens, not most of them.
    I'm with Isabella on this - wider would be good.

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12. 82

    Whitney05posted 16 years ago

    Maybe centering the content, would give the impression that more of the page is filled.
    
    I, too, like the idea of multiple groupings...

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    1. 75

       Lissieposted 16 years agoin reply to this

       No no please don't - will break it for those us of on 14" laptops - you then have to drag across to read - and I just skip sites that do that !

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       1. 58

          Mark Knowlesposted 16 years agoin reply to this

          There's always one...

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13. 63

    Mishaposted 16 years ago

    I believe 14" laptops have at least 1024x768...

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    1. 82

       Whitney05posted 16 years agoin reply to this

       If that is the case, Misha, Lissie why would centering affect you scrolling? Paul said that the current format is based on an 800x600 screen...
       
       I'm not sure I understand...

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14. 86

    Isabella Snowposted 16 years ago

    Yeah, I did, 7 days ago, and Paul already answered it.
    
    That's not what I asked today.

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15. 0

    ericsomethingposted 16 years ago

    Paul's right about the studies. There were quite a few done on how the eye travels over the printed page (which I assume would also translate into the on-screen page), and that's part of why newspapers settled for a certain column width. For those interested in the background stuff, it was a guy named Edmund Arnold, the granddaddy of newspaper design, that set many of those standards.
    
    Hadn't occurred to me about the screen resolution. Mine's 1280x1020 with a 17" screen, but thinking of changing that 'cause my eyes just aren't what they once were. Wouldn't surprise me any if Mom and Dad have their screen set for something like 800x600 so they can read things.
    
    I do like the idea of multiple groups myself, but it's not like it's a show-stopper or anything. One of my groups ("Out To Lunch") is really a catch-all for random stuff. But don't listen to my organizational ideas. They're kinda different.

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