Site Update -- Maps Capsule, and more

1. STAFF

   pauldeedsposted 13 years ago

   After the longest stretch in memory without an update to the site (nearly 3 weeks), we've just deployed a new release.  The biggest change is the addition of a map capsule, which as the name would suggest allows you to include Google Maps in your hubs, for instance see Livelonger's hub on the Best Vegetarian Restuarants in Orange County.  You can also learn more about the map capsule in the HubPages Learning Center.
   
   Among a whole bevy of small updates, a few notable changes with this release are the addition of a facebook "like" and "tweet this" buttons near the top of your hubs (along with some minor design changes in that area), an optional email notifications when you get new followers (not just new fan mail), and a page to review feedback on your hubs.
   
   As usual, if you notice any problems with the site please let us know.

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      Twenty One Daysposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Paul Deeds = Rock Star.
      (The new design is very easy on the eyes.)

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      cosetteposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      
      
      
      thanks Paul and Hubteam. those map capsules are really neat! the onliest thing that needs tweaking is, when you first add the capsule and fill in an address, your screen goes white and you have to exit out of the editor without saving, but thankfully, the editor saves what you did so far. the second time you fill in the map capsule, it works fine.
      
      other than that, could a new window open when the user clicks 'Get Directions'? currently, it takes them out of HubPages when they do that. if not, that's fine too. thanks!

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         rebekahELLEposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         hi cosette. that happened to me yesterday when I was trying to add a number of locations. it went white and then I couldn't exit. I'll try again this weekend. I had no problem when I only used one location.

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            cosetteposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            oh hi
            
            hmm, interesting. it's a neat thing, i have to say. this site is getting slick!

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               rebekahELLEposted 13 years agoin reply to this

               hey, groovy profile pic.

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      lxxyposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks paul and the rest of the HP code monkeys, and team in general!
      
      Y'all get better and better!
      
      It makes me skip to my lou! (Grant?)
      
      

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         ngurecoposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Ixxy, how do you get that kind of image that look like video? It's very good.

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            lxxyposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            Hi nguereco!
            
            Actually, it's a gif image. Motion. It can be done easily on some older cameras, and newer ones use motion jpeg (like the last episode of the last season of House!)
            
            Anyway, I didn't do it. I found it on SenorGif and uploaded it to my Google Account.
            
            Soo...
            
            http://www.senorgif.com
            
            And how I upload/share...
            
            http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7lvjOGKwM0
            
            Just in case you or anyone has questions.
            
            So, most of all--thanks to all these peoples with this technology for me to play with.

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      Peggy Wposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Wow!  Sounds great!  Will have to try and start adding them to my new travel hubs and will go back and add them to ones already published.  You guys are great!!!

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      vinaymishraposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Loan is very helpful for every person.
      -------------------------------------------------
      Debt Consolidation Advice

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   rebekahELLEposted 13 years ago

   nice, I have just noticed all of these and wondered how long they had been there! I love all the new additions. fun features! thanks.

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   Beth100posted 13 years ago

   Wow, I haven't been on for a few weeks and came across these new updates.  These are great!
   
   Thanks Paul and the HP team!

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   ngurecoposted 13 years ago

   Thank you. I very much appreciate the addition of a Google map capsule.

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   Patty Inglish, MSposted 13 years ago

   Perfect to add Google maps to my city review hubs! Thanks a million!

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   Rafiniposted 13 years ago

   kewl    Thanks HP team for these interesting updates! 
   
   (now, what can I write about to include a google map?  lol)

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   WryLiltposted 13 years ago

   Great updates! Noticed the tweet/like buttons and thought I'd trundle down to the forums to see what I missed. I think these buttons will probably raise our traffic since not everyone goes to the bottom of an article or uses the share button.
   
   I remember someone asking about a google street view capsule so this should keep them happy.
   
   Thanks!

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   travelespressoposted 13 years ago

   Thank you so much.  Maps will be great to add to all my travel hubs.  I'm so excited about this new feature!

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      travelespressoposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Just added two maps to my hubs and they are, like the other capsules, so easy to use!  I'm so happy to have this addition.  Thanks.

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         BRIAN SLATERposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Could you explain how you did this?- thanks

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            travelespressoposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            Click your hubs to edit them in the usual way. 
            Then select the map link (it looks a little bit like a compass) from the usual place you add capsules to a hub. 
            HubPages have also added a "how to" in the learning center I think they said but its very easy to do!  Hope this helps.  Happy mapping!

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   lorlie6posted 13 years ago

   I absolutely love the updates, Paul, thanks team!

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    WryLiltposted 13 years ago

    Update: Added maps to my travel capsules - awesome! However the map capsule decided to not let the search button work. However going out of edit mode then going back in fixed this problem and it's possible to pinpoint a state or country instead of just an address which is great.
    
    Love the like button because you don't have to leave HP to use it!
    
    Edit: Could we have some way of tracking how many "likes" we've gotten on our account page? Please please please?

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    Mutiny92posted 13 years ago

    wow!  Thanks!

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    kerrygposted 13 years ago

    Ooh, awesome! Going to go experiment with the map capsule on some of my travel hubs!
    
    Speaking of that, any chance we'll be able to get filtering by tag back as an option on our statistics page? I miss it.

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    Research Analystposted 13 years ago

    Including Google maps is a great feature, I like all the updates, and the like this/tweet this buttons are awesome!!!

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    Hauntyposted 13 years ago

    Thanks for the update. The site is getting better and better. Why are you doing this? lol

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    Katerraposted 13 years ago

    I'm working on some city site seeing reviews. This feature will be very useful for my hub readers.

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    Ohmaposted 13 years ago

    Great new features but I was wondering if there was a way to include an existing google map like the Hubtrail map?

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    charlemontposted 13 years ago

    I've just refreshed my Hubs page and my first impression was: "where has the HP gone?" It somewhat differs from previous design. At least the upper part of My Account Now there's a Feedback button under Statistics. I love the calm color scheme of the background.

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    cupid51posted 13 years ago

    These are very useful updates, thanks Paul!

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    Money Glitchposted 13 years ago

    Whoopee, this is exciting.  I know that readers had the ability to share our articles, however, I think seeing that Tweet & Facebook caption is going to make them more prone to sharing articles they like.  Numerous readers have commented on my hubs that a family or friend member should read an article.  Now all they have to do is push the button... and oooh lala more traffic.
    
    Woo Hoo, thanks HP!    

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    Cagsilposted 13 years ago

    Interesting changes. Looks a little strange, but I guess one can get use to it.
    
    The maps capsule is pretty cool and I look forward to checking it out.
    
    Thank you Staff.

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    Jane@CMposted 13 years ago

    WOWSOME!  I love maps

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    jasonyccposted 13 years ago

    Thank you. HP never stop improving and that's great! Google maps will be really useful in my Holiday hubs. Thumbs up.

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    Simple Timposted 13 years ago

    Awesome new layout too team hubpages! I like that the facebook and twitter buttons are on the top of the page!

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    Anamika Sposted 13 years ago

    Great Changes! I absolutely love the new HubPages layout and facebook like and tweet buttons on the Hubs. I am sure that it would help in getting more visitors to hubs! Thanks.. HubPages Team! It is a pleasure to be in this Site.

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    2uesdayposted 13 years ago

    Thank you - for this fantastic addition to the capsules that we use to create our pages.
    
    Lots of potential in this for travel hubs etc. I am sure that with time and a bit of practice it will become very useful in creating hubs. I can see it will be a popular feature for visitors to our pages too.
    
    This is a great addiiton to the HubPages creation tools, hot on the heels of the handy keyword feature in our statics for hubs.
    Thank you team.

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    freecampingaussieposted 13 years ago

    Love the new map available also the twitter & face book section, It will make the hubs even better !

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    EmmaMeduposted 13 years ago

    This is great news! Map is a very useful part of traveling hubs or the ones describing anything that has to do with any kind of location (restaurants, galleries,...).
    
    I always find exciting changes here on HubPages.
    
    I also like the twitter button, which was not awailable before.

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    Sufidreamerposted 13 years ago

    Nice one - I am going to put some of those in my Greece Hubs later.
    
    Thanks for that!

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    tonymac04posted 13 years ago

    Great new features. Thanks for the maps capsule especially. Will use that in due course. Congrats - HubPages is simply the best!

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    tonymac04posted 13 years ago

    Have just added a map to my Hub on Cape Town images and it's really awesome!
    I love this new feature and will in due course update as many Hubs as possible with it. Really great new feature!

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    Princessaposted 13 years ago

    This is great I'll be usingthis feature.  I have a lot of travel hubs that will benefit from this new add.
    Thank you for always working to improve our experience hubbing!

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    brettbposted 13 years ago

    Thanks for the updates! I'll have to think of some map related hubs.
    
    One annoyance I get a lot in IE is that sometimes when you add photos they don't actually upload, the Ajax egg timer thing just spins around. I don't seem to get it in Mozilla.

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       charlemontposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       One more reason to quit using IE in favor of Firefox

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          BRIAN SLATERposted 13 years agoin reply to this

          I still get the egg timer thingy sometimes and i use Firefox.

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          brettbposted 13 years agoin reply to this

          Firefox is much better for Hubpages, but I like to use my different Hubpages ID's in different browsers.
          
          The problem is that sites like InfoBarrel don't work properly in Firefox (not that I'd ever consider writing for InfoBarrel lol).

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    BRIAN SLATERposted 13 years ago

    Changes for the better.

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    agvulpesposted 13 years ago

    As 'they' say 'best thing since sliced bread' Now all we need is something that will write our Hubs for us!  Any ideas? lol

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    BRIAN SLATERposted 13 years ago

    thankyou

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    rebekahELLEposted 13 years ago

    the map capsule is wonderful!! exciting to see how easy it is to use. it will really help on the travel hubs! thanks so much.
    
    also nice to see Feedback info on our individual hubs.

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    Mike Lickteigposted 13 years ago

    Some nice additions and I will enjoy using them.  Some hubs I have written in the past will really be enhanced with a map, and I am looking forward to adding them.  Thanks.

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    ethel smithposted 13 years ago

    I really like the map addition. It saves all the searching for maps especially in travel hubs. I have only updated my Cyprus Hub for now but I am going to set about amending all the other ones. Thanx

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    cocopremeposted 13 years ago

    The maps capsule will be great for travel hubs.  I like the hub feedback as well.  I have been wondering about which hubs where receiving feedback.  Great additions!

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    liljen23posted 13 years ago

    Like the updates.. Thanks HP Team!!

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    DzyMsLizzyposted 13 years ago

    Yay!  The map feature is great!  I've just added it to one of my hubs, and plan to add it to another. 
    
    Also like the less cumbersome 'share' links.
    
    Thanks!

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    elayne001posted 13 years ago

    Maps are a great addition. I have a few ideas in mind . . . better get busy.

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    ns1209posted 13 years ago

    The maps is great if you have travel or places hubs.  Also I think the new facebook and twitter buttons are really good and could lead to more traffic! 
    
    Thanks for these updates and improving the site!

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    DC Researchposted 13 years ago

    It's great to see updates happening constantly on Hubpages.  Makes me trust that you guys are up to date to keep up with the changing internet environment and staying competitive.

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    DzyMsLizzyposted 13 years ago

    OK--just found a minor glitch with the new 'share' button, which should be easily fixable by the web gurus behind the scenes at HP:
    
    When you click on 'tweet this,' instead of opening Twitter in a new window, it changes the browser page to Twitter, taking you clean [i]out of[/i/ Hub Pages.
    
    This makes it unnecessarily time-consuming to navigate back and forth to promote several articles at a sitting.
    
    If this could be addressed, it would make the new 'share' utility really super-deluxe!
    
    Thanks for listening!

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       DzyMsLizzyposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       (not sure how the html formatting went wrong, there....)  sorry 'bout that...

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    Purple Perlposted 13 years ago

    I love the new hub tool-maps! Already had fun implementing a map with hot spots in my old hub on Bangalore city. Many thanks!

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    Carolina Creteposted 13 years ago

    I love the Google map capsule too - great for travel hubs. Well done!

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    theirishobserver.posted 13 years ago

    The map is a God send - I have added it to a number of my hubs and in particular to my hubtrails hub on Dublin and it gives a sense of where everything is....great work

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    brettbposted 13 years ago

    One other site update I'd like to see is the whitespace removed if Google can't find any ads for a particular hub.
    
    This is quite common on Hubs that have content that Google finds a bit hmmmmm, but is not itself against their terms & conditions. I've seen this happen a lot with Hubs with sexy photos or hubs about legitimate topics such as giving massages.
    
    I guess I should clean up my act, but it is *very* difficult to work out exactly why Google doesn't like a certain page.
    
    Maybe you could put in a generic Amazon best sellers alternative ad or something? The thing about these "dodgy" hubs is that they often get A LOT of traffic, so it would be good to monetise them somehow instead of leaving empty space.

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    ScientificGearposted 13 years ago

    Awesome! Now we can see our Hubs feedback all in one page, and the email notification for new followers is equally great!Hmm, I may find future use for the Google maps capsule.
    
    Thanks HP team!

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