My word, I did not know about these ever-so-convenient tricks! Why, Simone, you truly are magnificent. Someone should give you a raise.

Five Fixes and Features Unknown to Most Hubbers

Knowing about these things can make your online life MUCH easier

Over the years, I have come to learn about a lot of quick fixes that make Hubbing (and online content creation in general) much easier.

Here are five simple tips and tricks that can make you a stronger, more efficient Hubber:

1. Compose your Hubs in a Word document to utilize its grammar check feature before transferring your copy to the HubTool. Should you be editing your Hubs alone, it can help you catch a lot of mistakes that would otherwise slip by.
2. By using the Command-F or Control-F keyboard shortcut and typing in a key word or phrase on our FAQ page, you can quickly find information on pretty much any HubPages feature or policy you can imagine (HubPages staff constantly adds more answers... plus we refer to the FAQ all the time when answering your questions!)
3. Not sure if your reports (i.e. flags) are accurate? Your reporting accuracy is shown at the top of this very newsletter, along with your top Hub stats. If they're not, check out our reporting guide to see what actually runs against our publishing standards.
4. Finding out why a newly-published Hub was not Featured is surprisingly easy. Just visit our quality rating scale (which is used by those rating your Hub) and see what elements of a Hub rated eight or above are missing from your Hub (though know that our minimum quality rating is actually below eight).
5. Providing proper citations for images (that you have the right to use) is embarrassingly easy should you utilize Wikimedia Commons images and their citation templates (more on that in the Pro Tips below).

BONUS TIP! Should you want to get credit for introducing people to HubPages through our referral program (meant for offsite use mind you- notonsite use), don't bother with inserting weird codes into your URLs.  Just scroll down to the bottom of any page on HubPages, click on the "link to this page" text in the footer, choose a referral tracker (should you have created multiple types), and copy the resulting URL.

Happy Hubbing,

Simone Smith

Simone Haruko Smith
Community & Marketing Manager

Look for this icon!

How to Use Wikimedia Commons' Image Citation Templates

In addition to hosting and making available a large body of Creative Commons and Public Domain images, Wikimedia Commons provides an incredibly convenient overlay window providing a template for image citations. Here is how to access and use it:

1. Visit Wikimedia Commons
2. Search for an image by typing a keyword into the search box at the top right hand corner of the page
3. Select an image you find to be interesting
4. Click on the globe / "Use this file on the web" icon to the right of the image
5. Use the "File URL" text to import the image into the Photo Capsule
6. Use the "Page URL" text for the "source URL" text field of the Photo Capsule
7. Use the "Attribution" text as a template for your attribution for the "Name of source" field of the Photo Capsule

Now, our Photo Capsule isn't perfect, and sometimes Wikimedia Commons attributions are so long, they get truncated in our "Souce" box. Most Hubbers just trim it down to the essentials. Here is how we would trim down the attribution associated with this kitten image:

1. BEFORE: By Krzysztof P. Jasiutowicz (Kpjas) (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-2.5 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5), GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], via Wikimedia Commons
2. AFTER: By Krzysztof P. Jasiutowicz (Kpjas), CC-BY-SA-2.5, GFDL, or CC-BY-SA-3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Ideally, Creative Commons citations include links to the original author, the author's profile, and each license. You can do this from the Text Capsule, but most agree that clear indication of the author and licenses (even if abbreviated), plus a link to the source where the licenses can be reviewed in greater detail is sufficient.

For more tips on finding and using others' images, stop by our comprehensive Learning Center guide
http://hubpages.com/learningcenter/legal-image-use

This Week's Rising Stars

One of the rarest Accolades on HubPages is the Rising Star Accolade, awarded to new Hubbers who have won the weekly Rising Star competition.

You can find and vote for each week's Rising Star nominees (a total of eighteen Hubs featured across three different Topic Pages) by visiting the Forums and finding the week's featured Topics.

This week's nominees hail from the Politics and Social Issues, Gender and Relationships, and Pets and Animals Topics. The winning Hubs can be enjoyed below. Should you have yet to do your good deed of the day, swing by one of them and leave the author an encouraging comment!

Simone

The Drug War in Guatemala

This is the President Molina's bold approach to the issue of poverty and the drug wars. I visited Guatemala in 2008, to study Absolute Poverty, so I find this resolution plausible in light of things

College Dorms: Do Residents Have the Right to a Safe Learning Environment?

An area where reform is needed to protect students and keep dangerous weapons off campus.

When Culture and Civilization Collide: South Africa’s So – called Outdated Traditions

A futuristic look at ancient advance. Journeying back to godhead even as African tradition shatters under the weight of civilization. Documenting 3 traditions that still uphold the concept of Ubuntu.

Improve Your Marriage Using a Solution-Focused Approach

Expression of feelings of love, affection and self-disclosure are aspects of marital intimacy. However, many marriages go through periods where couples experience difficulties in their relationship.

Ten Things To Do Together In A Long Distance Relationship

Being together while you are apart is hard. These are a few of the most successful things my husband and I did together when we were living in 2 different countries.

Friends with benefits: Does it actually work?

If you're not in a relationship and have no plans to be wouldn't the friends with benefits idea be the perfect solution? You might think so but first there are some things you need to consider...

Establish a Nest Box Trail for Bluebirds

Establishing a bluebird trail is a good way to learn about bluebirds and to help the species thrive. Bluebirds are very selective about where they nest, and nest box trails help give bluebirds a home.

Human Foods That Are Bad For Dogs

Take a moment to make sure the foods you share with your dog can't harm him.

Is it Safe to Feed Dogs Raw Eggs?

It’s perfectly safe to feed your dog several raw eggs a week. Raw eggs are full of vitamins, calcium and protein. Always buy organic eggs to limit antibiotics and chemicals. Your dog will love them!

midget38, From Singapore, 426 Fans, 149 Hubs, Joined 11 months ago

Janine Huldie Interviews Midget38

An exchange with a poet, English teacher, and lifestyle writer

How did you get started on HubPages?

After finding out that writing was something that I truly wanted to do, I started looking around for good writing sites where I could share my work, and thus came across HubPages, which provides a great writing platform!

You were an English teacher. How has that helped in cultivating your writing?

The organizational, vocabulary, and grammatical skills that are a part of teaching and learning English go hand in hand with writing, so that has helped me in writing articles for HubPages. Knowing elements of poetry such as the use of metaphor and personification has also helped in the writing of poetry. In addition, I have learned much from other poets and writers.

I notice you have a very unique and diverse writing style. Sometimes you write amazing poetry. Other times, you write about pets and the trials and tribulations of a being a pet owner. And yet other times, you write very intriguing short stories. And still other times you are writing about your love of music? Which of these do you find the most enjoyable to write and share? Is it just one of more than one?

I guess all of them! I was teaching Language and music in a secondary school, and my dad being a musician has also developed in me a love for music, knowing more and writing about it as a way to share my love for it.

What have you learned from writing on HubPages? Do you have any advice for new Hubbers or shout outs to other Hubbers?

I have learned a lot on a myriad of subjects, ranging from poetry to recipes, thanks to the work of many wonderful Hubbers! I now have a collection of these to use.

Writing on HubPages has taught me about the wise use of social media and the importance of integrity. We do not want to have our work plagiarized, so proper accreditation of photos and sources is also important. So is discipline. Keeping to a regular publishing schedule helps a lot as an article writer.

Personally, I have also found that using timers and keeping to time an extremely useful way of making sure articles are written on time.

Becoming a Hubber would have been a difficult transition without wonderful Hubbers like yourself, Sunshine 625, Daisy Mariposa... there are so many! I think a better approach would be to thank every Hubber that has come by to read my Hubs. It has really meant a lot and I’m grateful for each one.