Moderation Help: Violation - Substandard, Purely Personal, or Watermarked/Pixelated Photos

If you have just joined HubPages and received an email saying that one of your Hubs does not meet our publishing standards, don't worry. It can take a little bit of time to figure out how HubPages works. Since you are already in the Learning Center, you obviously want to improve your Hub creation skills, and we have all the resources for you to do that.

In order for a Hub to be up to the HubPages standard, it needs to abide by a few rules. If a Hub is moderated as substandard, watermarked, or purely personal, it could contain one or more of the following:

• It is empty or nearly empty
• It is written with awkward or difficult-to-read formatting or IN ALL CAPS
• It has broken links, broken images, or missing videos
• There is poor spelling or grammar that interferes with readability or credibility
• It contributes nothing new to a heavily saturated topic
• There are links to sites that are difficult to navigate
• It promotes or links to dubious products or offers (e.g. 'watch TV on your PC')
• It has an Amazon, eBay, RSS, or Link Capsule as the first full width capsule
• It contains an image that is pixelated (blurry or block-like) or has a clear watermark
• It is only purely personal content. A Hub should be interesting, useful, and understandable to people who do not know you.

If you received a specific email stating your Hub is substandard or short, it could mean:

• You have written an empty or short Hub
• There is poor spelling or grammar that interferes with the readability/credibility of the Hub
• Your Hub has awkward or difficult-to-read formatting, or is written in ALL CAPS
• Your Hub has a Link, RSS, Amazon, or eBay Capsule as the first full-width capsule in the Hub
• Your Hub has broken links or missing videos

HubPages is not a traditional blog site, where you publish journal-type entries. Hubs can contain some personal content, but should be interesting, useful, and easily understandable to someone who does not know you personally.

We recommend writing personal reflections on your blog and writing on evergreen topics on HubPages. Evergreen topics are relevant to a wide range of people and will be relevant for years. If you have written a purely personal Hub, we ask that you change it to make it relevant to anyone coming to the site.

Watermarked or pixelated images and videos on a Hub take away an author's credibility. Importing images that are either original or legally acquired tells your audience that you care about your topic. Images that are low resolution, grainy, or pixelated detract from the aesthetic appeal of a Hub and are prohibited. For the same reason, images or videos that contain prominent watermarks are also prohibited. This rule applies even if they are your own photos or videos, or photos or videos that you have the legal right to use.

If you have watermarked or pixelated images in your Hub, your Hub can be unpublished. Fortunately, this is an easy fix. We have two recommendations:

1. Simply remove the offending photograph. If you remove the photo, we suggest replacing it with an original or legally attributed photo. For more information, we have created a great Learning Center entry on legally using photos on HubPages.
2. You can also try shrinking the display width of pixelated images to make the image more clear, either by editing the Photo Capsule or by moving the capsule using the right arrow so that it displays at half width.

If you receive an email that your Hub has been unpublished, you have an opportunity to edit it and make it compliant with our Terms of Use. In order to have your Hub republished, you will need to improve the quality of your Hub such that it no longer violates any of the above standards.

When you are ready to have HubPages review it, click the "Submit for Publication" button. We will review your Hub and, if appropriate, republish it. If your Hub is republished, you will receive an email letting you know. This process can take up to 72 hours. Please remember, Hubs without substantial improvement will not be republished, and we will be monitoring any changes made to Hubs after republication.

Thank you for being a valuable member of the HubPages community!