HubPro Beta

1. 94

   Barack Jamesposted 8 years ago

   Have you read about HubPro Beta (http://blog.hubpages.com/2014/07/introd … bpro-beta/)?? I believe this is one huge step to make HP the best pool of information online ---- what's your take?

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      galleryofgraceposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      I disagree 100% with this Hub Pro Beta!  It's for hubs that are getting good traffic. This is a waste of time. Why not work on hubs that need traffic and thereby improve Hub pages..
      
      If it ain't broke- don't fix it! Another example of backwards thinking.

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      1. 93

         Jayne Lancerposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         Another reason I've opted out--the last thing I want is my best performing hubs being 'improved'.

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2. 96

   FatFreddysCatposted 8 years ago

   I am not sure that I like the idea of HP staffers randomly going into my Hubs and making changes to them. I'm not trying to sound arrogant, but I like my Hubs just the way they are and I stand behind all of the information/opinions in them.

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      fpherj48posted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Keith.....I have a very similar opinion on this.  I'm not able to make a decision on whether to go for it or opt out.  I have a fair number of questions I need answers to before I can make an informed decision.  I found the simple details about this, incomplete.  As usual, so much is kept from us.....this is never a good thing.  Transparency is one of the hugest issues here, although we've learned to grin and bear it.... not a one of us likes it.
      Why can it not be possible for the editing to be in the form of the "editor's suggestions" in terms of our particular hub(s) and presented to us, leaving the decision to accept or reject, use in part or in total?
      Once our hubs are altered by Editors, how accepting is HP that we simply don't like or approve of the changes and go back into our hubs to RE-edit our own hubs?
      Bottom line....."Fabulous" writing or something less.....my hubs are like my "babies."   (laugh if you must).  In all my years of mothering, I never once turned my babies over to strangers to care for.
      It's impressive that as Christy says.....HubTeam was very selective in choosing the 7 very best editors out of 150 applicants.  Fine and dandy.  This fact in itself doesn't help me with my concerns.

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      1. 95

         Christy Kirwanposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         Hi fpherj48,
         
         Robin and Paul Edmondson are answering questions and responding to comments in this thread: http://hubpages.com/forum/topic/123534
         
         It's possible they may have already addressed some of your concerns there. We're doing our best to be as clear and open with Hubbers as possible about this new service. The work of our writers is the lifeblood of HubPages, and Hubbers will have the ultimate say in which changes are kept and which are reverted.

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            fpherj48posted 8 years agoin reply to this

            Well...."THANK YOU," Christy.   First personal and direct response I've received since Simone left us.  I appreciate this info which will help me immensely in my decision-making process.  I'm on my way to the site.

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3. 94

   Barack Jamesposted 8 years ago

   If this approach will impact positively my hubscores; hubber score; views and earnings; no big deal...

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4. 75

   Barbara Kayposted 8 years ago

   Having someone else edit my hubs makes me a bit nervous. How professional are the editors??? I don't know how I feel about it.

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   1. 95

      Christy Kirwanposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Hi Barbara,
      
      We were very selective with the editors we hired. They each have postgraduate degrees and many years of experience in the editing industry. We care deeply about the work of Hubbers and it was very important to us that each of our editors be highly qualified and extremely professional. Out of 150 applicants, we chose only 7 of the very best.

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      1. 94

         Barack Jamesposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         Christy! Thank you for coming out and clarifying this HubPro Beta issue

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      2. 75

         Barbara Kayposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         Kristy, That sounds excellent. I already opted out, but I will probably opt back in 60 days from now. Thanks for the clarification.

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5. 94

   Barack Jamesposted 8 years ago

   It's good they offered an option to opt out and your hubs can't be edited without your consent; lets wait and see where this will end:)

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6. 82

   Kennedi Brownposted 8 years ago

   I think it's fantastic! As a prolific writer AND reader I know how important good editing is when it comes to reader experience. The majority of bad reviews for books I've noticed will mention bad editing as the main reason they just couldn't get into it. This is definitely going to improve Hubpages' image and make sure people don't gloss over it in the search results because they've read badly edited articles in the past.

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7. 56

   sunilkunnoth2012posted 8 years ago

   This is a welcome decision and sure to help us.  They will definitely pass the job to highly professionals. So nothing to worry about it. Through this process we can learn some editing techniques, find our where we go wrong and ultimately correct ourselves.  It is a learning process as well for all hubbers. So let's click the deal!

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8. 94

   Barack Jamesposted 8 years ago

   Absolutely Sunilkunnoth, they have to hire only the best professionals for the editing job; they understand very well the cost of hiring incompetent editors to work on hubs; and they have to be trained thoroughly specifically to edit on HP.

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9. 85

   ronbergeronposted 8 years ago

   I'm perfectly happy to have someone proofread and perhaps make recommendations for changes, but I don't like the thought of someone changing what I've written. I'd be OK with it if I had the final say whether or not to allow the recommended changes. It isn't clear that this is the case.

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   1. 95

      Christy Kirwanposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Hi Ron,
      
      If your Hubs are edited, you will receive a "before" and "after" version for comparison once the editor has finished his/her work. Once the edits have been completed, you can always revert any changes you are unhappy with.

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      1. 85

         ronbergeronposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         So rather than accept proposed changes before they're published, we'd have to revert unacceptable changes after they've already been made? I think I'll sit this one out. It probably doesn't really matter anyway since I don't have the high-volume hubs that the program is likely to target.

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    Baby-Boomer-58posted 8 years ago

    The new editors have my sympathy. I stopped editing the work of new authors (for book publication) after discovering just how precious and protective writers can be. Yes, eventually they would agree the changes greatly enhanced their work, but I grew tired of having to explain each change in great detail - and waiting while they mourned the passing of a poorly constructed piece they believed was perfect.
    
    "Nobody ever complained about it before," the precious writer wails. Yet their friends and family were the only people who had read their work before they submitted it for publication.
    
    Of course friends and family will say your writing is great. Their role is to be supportive. And to be honest, unless they have direct experience and knowledge, there's every chance they wouldn't see the actual mistakes or options for improvement.
    
    Good luck to the editors.

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       Marisa Wrightposted 8 years agoin reply to this

       +1

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    Lisa HWposted 8 years ago

    I'd think as long as people know they're professional, experienced, people from the editing industry (rather than, say, over-zealous other Hubbers who always did well in English; like at least one certain other site I can think of), they'd be happy to have editors on here.
    
    Of course, I don't really understand "attached to the writing".  My thing is that if I throw something out there on the Internet I pretty much don't care all that much about it in the first place.   If there's a thing or two I do care about they can always be moved if I don't want them changed.  I don't get what the big deal is (again, as long as the editors are professionals).

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12. 59

    Nicole Pellegriniposted 8 years ago

    I'm fairly new to Hubpages, but not new to online writing, and I for one really love the idea of HubPro! I very much welcome the input and suggestions of professional editors and would love to be part of the beta program.
    
    A few years ago I wrote for Demand Studios and learned more from the editorial comments and critiques I received there than from anywhere else I've published online. Editing is about improving our work, and being a good writer means not being so precious about our words that we refuse external input. How many professional authors had great early novels, and then when they got famous they rewrote their contracts so their words could not be edited - and their books went downhill?
    
    As long as we are able to change things back if an editor does not get specific facts about a topic I do have expert knowledge of, I have no problems with it. This seems a much better way to improve overall site quality and search engine ranking than the desperate measures some other content platforms have employed of late.

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