If I'd Known More About HubPages, I'd Have Moved Years Ago!

1. 94

   Kylyssaposted 10 years ago

   I'm very timid when it comes to change if the change is not one of my own choosing, even if it is good change.  Moving to HubPages was an upsetting experience for me, mainly because I felt the place we moved from would find a way to mess it up or that HP would treat us like illegal aliens.
   
   Only a few things were messed up from the other end and only in a very minor way and most Hubbers are very welcoming and friendly.  Most importantly, HP management is responsive, courteous, helpful, and working to make the site the best it can be.
   
   I am a bit bothered that a very few Hubbers seem to think that we, the writers, ruined the last site we were on and now we're here to ruin HubPages.  However, I have confidence that time will show them we're more similar to them than they think.  We just happened across a different writing platform than they did when we were looking for one or were intimidated by signing up for Adsense or had some other innocent reason for not choosing HubPages.  We're just people who want to write and to be heard.  Oh, and to maybe make a little bit of money off it.
   
   Anyway, back to what's so nice about HubPages.
   
   * The staff and (correct me if I'm wrong) the owners are responsive, courteous, helpful, and involved!
   * Hubbers are valued as contributors to the site!
   * Hubbers are treated like adults and writers.
   * The rules are logical and can be easily found. 
   * HP values and uses Hubbers' abilities as thinking humans as shown by the Hub Hopping system.
   * HP tells me what's wrong with my Hubs so I can fix them.
   * I can click a button and check for broken links rather than having to do it manually.
   * Bug reports result in quick action.
   * Plagiarism isn't tolerated.
   * As I look around at how things work and how the site runs, I see things that are both ethical and sensible.
   * The very few things I find annoying about the site are Google's fault, not HubPages'.
   
   I could probably list a dozen more things if I thought about it but I have to go help someone make a music video and I'm not even dressed yet.
   
   Thank you Hubbers and HubPages' staff and owners!

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   1. 83

      Jayne Lancerposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I'm really glad to hear that you're liking it here. I also hate forced changes, so I fully appreciate your reservations.
      
      I actually published a lens on Squidoo and a hub on HubPages for the first time four years ago. What swayed me towards HubPages was the community and its response to my hub: comments on the day of publication and a nomination for what was called a HubNugget. A great honour. My lens, however, just sat there completely ignored and didn't even gain recognition from Google, so I decided not to bother with Squidoo. Maybe I'd have found success there if I'd stuck to it.
      
      Of course, after Panda struck in 2011, HubPages didn't work for me at all, just as it didn't for many other hubbers, so I helped a friend set up a website, experimented with various blogs, took a few writing courses and workshops, and have now returned to HubPages only to find it works better than ever!
      
      
      
      This really is saddening. I think I know one of the hubbers you're referring to. I think the best thing to do if you notice a hubber attempting to initiate a smear campaign in the forums against transferred Squidoo accounts is hit the report button.

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   2. 84

      NateB11posted 10 years agoin reply to this

      It's the best site of its kind on the Web, as far as I'm concerned. I'm glad you're here and I'm glad all the lensmasters are here. I think the migration of lenses was a great idea and I can see why it was done.

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   3. 79

      joanhallposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I'm loving these features too, Kylyssa.
      
      For most of my time on Squidoo, I didn't have much to complain about.  I mostly ignored the push for more and more sales lenses.
      
      It was only at the very end when the robot filters started locking some of my most informational and original lenses that I realized I had to leave the platform (if humans had been used for the review process, I'm sure those lockings would not have happened).  I was a couple weeks into my personal migration when Squidoo announced it was going belly up.
      
      So I'm a big fan of the human involvement in ensuring hub quality.  And the system checking for broken links for me is so sweet.
      
      On the issue of Squids being viewed as potentially degrading HubPages, I figure that with time people will be able to see the quality of writing that some of the Squids are bringing, especially after the grace period ends and any really undesired lenshubs disappear.

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   4. 82

      Marketing Meritposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Hi Kylyssa...and welcome to Hubpages!   It is human nature not to like change, so your feelings are perfectly natural. As an aside, I also had some lenses on Squidoo, but personally found the Hubpages layout far easier to use.
      
      
      I personally don't believe this to be true. We've had to overcome some difficult times here also and hence, some Hubbers may be fearing the worst. The world is full of 'cup half-full' and 'cup half' empty' people. Hubpages is no different in this regard.
      
      Where I believe some negativity and concern arises, is that there appears to have been considerably more commercially driven content on Squidoo, than there was on Hubpages. Historically, both sites were very similar in this regard. However, I believe HP staff were far quicker to respond to its elimination. As I've published content on both, I can honestly say that, some of the lenses I published on Squidoo, would not have made it onto Hubpages.
      
      Even up to fairly recently, there were WSO's being sold on the Warrior Forum, promoting Squidoo as a platform for excessively promoting affiliate links, with very little original content included. Nevertheless, it is unethical to conclude that all Squids adopted the same standards.
      
      Ignore the naysayers and just concentrate on producing quality hubs.
      
      
      That was a big advantage of Squidoo.
      
      
      Yes, that would be nice for us all!
      
      I'm not too sure that I entirely agree with you on this! Nonetheless, survival does presently necessitate sites being receptive to Google's forever expanding, and forever changing, rules and algorithms.
      
      There are many things on HP that irk me, such as the delay in publishing, the disabling of ads and what I personally consider to be, the over-sensitivity as regards nudity and any topics that might entail you mentioning the word S-E-X!!
      
      However, if you don't have any of your own websites, it is a cheap means of publishing and hopefully, generating a modest income.
      Best of luck!

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      1. 94

         Kylyssaposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         I don't mind the delay in publishing  I've had print articles take four years to get published; a few days or weeks is nothing.
         
         The S-E-X problem is due to Google Adsense's policies regarding such topics.  I have a lenshub that mentions lgbt teen homelessness and has the ads disabled on it.  That irks me because the exact article is literally in a chapter on homelessness in a textbook for 11 to 13 year old children, but it's an Adsense issue.  Since the main value of that lenshub to me is its ability to educate, I don't mind shutting off the ads.  And with the 301 redirect, the link to the lens in the supplemental educational materials will still bring kids to the article.

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   5. 80

      LuisEGonzalezposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      HP might not be perfect (actually it is not) but as sites go , it is one of the best that I have seen. Sure there are some rules that bother the @#%&* out of some of us like the hubber scores, but if you pay attention, the staff is trying to do what is best for the entire site and if they get it right everybody benefits. Glad you find the site to your liking and keep writing . Soon you might see that everything works out in the end.

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2. 81

   dwelburnposted 10 years ago

   Yes I have not found a better place to write than HubPages. You've done a great job of highlighting what's good about it. I agree fully. And welcome here btw.

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3. 69

   taiwokareemposted 10 years ago

   Adaptation to change is a very important factor in the survival of an individual. I think HubPages has done well to accommodate the influx of newcomers. I pity the HubPages team because its not going to be easy to transform what might be thousands of lenses into Hubs but Hubpages is a great website overall. You don't have to let others judge you. You define your standard

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   1. 83

      Solarasposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Indeed - I find that the Squidoo transfers are offering valuable suggestions to improve the site and everyone's ability to prosper from it, and the HP team is ready and willing to act on the best suggestions.  They must be very busy indeed.

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4. 71

   Mamabyrdposted 10 years ago

   Hello Kylyssa I've also really enjoyed the transition to Hubpages I was worried sick that I would hate it over here. Now I only wish I had some free time to fix my old lenses. I'm anxious to learn the Hub layout so I can get them up to par.

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5. 84

   Linda BookLadyposted 10 years ago

   I too love HubPages... the interface is responsive and easy to work with and the people here are friendly, professional and refreshing. There are options on what to do on the site - hop hubs, forum, answer questions, work on hubs... I like that it is multi-dimensional in that way.
   
   Of course, what I'm doing most these days is editing lens-hubs. I have a lot more work to do. I love that violations and broken links are clearly marked and that the expectations for an outstanding hub are clear. The little check boxes in the top-right of the hub tool are fantastic and motivational.
   
   I'm concerned about the hubber score and the hub scores because I don't know how they work. Does one have to spend hours on the site daily doing a variety of activities to get a good hubber score? Or is it based on the hub scores at all?
   
   Well, it's a mystery to me.
   
   Nice site though... I'm happy to be here.

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   1. 83

      Jayne Lancerposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      As far as I know, that's a mystery to us all, so don't worry about it. Apparently, your hubber score could improve with more activity within the community, but I don't see much evidence of it where my own score is concerned.

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      1. 82

         Marketing Meritposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Very true!

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6. 84

   ecogrannyposted 10 years ago

   Hear hear! The HubTool is SO easy to use. I spend more time writing, or mostly at this stage revising from Squidoo-format to Hub-format, than I do waiting for spinning icons going nowhere. What a time saver!
   
   The Learning Center is fabulous! Everything we need to know is there, if we are patient enough to keep looking until we find it.
   
   The community has been nothing but warm and inviting, so far as I can see. From the first day, I've felt warm hands and minds reaching out.
   
   It's wonderfully refreshing to see Paul Edmondson chiming in to forum threads where his expertise is needed. Such responsiveness!
   
   Thank you to all the Hubbers who have helped to make this transition such a pleasant one.

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   1. 76

      Lionrhodposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      When I learned that Paul was in fact, the owner of HP I was astonished. It is so very rare for the owner of a large company like this to get involved in the little day-to-day stuff: keeping us Hubbers educated and informed and such,
      
      That pretty much said everything to me - a company where the CEO/owner cares enough to interact with and help us small fry? SOLD! 
      
      In "real life" I work at a restaurant that is one of three in the chain, with perhaps 50-75 employees and subcontractors each. In 20 years of working there, I haven't once (to my knowledge) been contacted by a single one of the owners.

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         Writer Foxposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Actually, there are three co-founders of HubPages.  You may read about them here:
         http://hubpages.com/about/team
         
         The company is privately held and has an undisclosed number of shareholders, which includes some of the venture capital investors along the way.  The shareholders actually 'own' the company.
         
         But, you are right that there is usually very good communication between the staff and the writers on HP.

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   2. 94

      Kylyssaposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      The level of owner involvement is almost surreal.
      
      I love the interface, too.  Editing is way faster and the built-in tools are nice.  I am taking my time getting to it, but I have a novel I was serializing on Squidoo that made the move.  I'm really looking forward to publishing new chapters.  The bug in the text modules that turned the punctuation into code on big hunks of text whenever one reopened a module to fix a typo does not exist on HubPages!  I can use ellipses to my heart's content now, too!  I'll go back and replace all of the dashes I used in their stead.
      
      It will take me a while to get to it as it will take a good chunk of time to edit and tweak a 40,000 word Hub and it seems a good idea to do it in one go.  But it's going to be so darned easy to add to once I get it tweaked.  It already looks great on roommie's tablet, too.  Can you tell I'm excited!

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7. 76

   Lionrhodposted 10 years ago

   As another refugee from Squidoo, I'm finding myself thus far quite pleased. I haven't yet had to deal with many (if any) of the staff, but the majority of users seem to be intelligent, well reasoned and polite.
   
   One thing I DO NOT miss is the push on Squidoo for more Amazon ads and commercialization.
   
   On the other hand, what I DO miss from Squidoo is the regular tips on how to write better articles. If that exists here, I haven't yet found it.
   
   And at least while I was in Rocket Squids, I found the weekly challenges invaluable. Sometimes it prompted me to write out of my genre (which may or may not be a good thing) but it always helped me stretch my imagination of what I could or couldn't do or say as a writer. I'd love to see HP get a similar program going, both for newbies and for seasoned writers.

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8. 73

   Chocolatealchemyposted 10 years ago

   I'm so glad you wrote this - because I feel the same way - HubPages is a lovely place to be - and we're all learning lots of new stuff again.
   
   Change is my worst thing; but I've realized we need it to grow and not get complacent about the things we do.

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9. 0

   Donna Cookposted 10 years ago

   I'm a reasonably happy camper now that I've started writing and revising articles. Once I have an AdSense account, I'll post articles elsewhere. I'm not going to be dependent on just one site again.

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10. 84

    Linda BookLadyposted 10 years ago

    I'm excited that there's a creative writing community here on HubPages for those of us who write fiction or poetry. I haven't decided what I'd like to post yet... too busy editing my lens-hubs. But eventually I may post some of my stories here.

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    1. 84

       Marisa Wrightposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       Just be aware that although HubPages welcomes fiction and poetry, you'll get very few readers outside of the HubPages community - and that means those Hubs will probably end up unFeatured (which means they're invisible to anyone unless you send them the link). 
       
       There is a way to get more readership for your poetry Hubs, this Hub explains how:
       
       http://cardisa.hubpages.com/hub/SEO-Tip … nd-Fiction
       
       The only other suggestion I'd make is that when writing a poetry Hub, think of your Hubs as anthologies, not individual poems:  group poems on a similar theme together, and publish them in one Hub.

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          Writer Foxposted 10 years agoin reply to this

          Not true.  My poetry Hubs have received over 153,000 views in the past 12 months, all sent from search engines. 
          
          You can read my SEO Tutorial Hub to see how to accomplish this.

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       2. 84

          Linda BookLadyposted 10 years agoin reply to this

          If I post any creative writing, it won't be for the money. It is just a creative outlet and a way to advertise my books.

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    2. 85

       rebekahELLEposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       HubPages has a very talented and supportive community of creative writers.  You will find a wealth of very fine writing if you search the Books, Literature, Writing topics and go into the writing sub-topics.
       And yes, your creative writing can certainly be found on search engines!

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11. 67

    justholidaysposted 10 years ago

    Kylyssa
    
    I like HubPages a lot and am on here for many years with another account.
    
    However, you'd be glad to have moved now and not faced the different Google slaps HP faced nor the failure of your native accounts once transfered to subdomains. Some never recovered...
    
    It's better to have arrived on HP now than years ago

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12. 47

    pateludayposted 10 years ago

    I was quizzed by the blocking system and QAP at Squidoo. Squids blocked for no reason. They were extremely stubborn. All these platforms are populated most by amateurs writers some may not be able to go Stellar. Harsh yardsticks should be avoided if performance is satisfactory.    At Hub Pages you get a prompt warning which is very helpful.
    
    I am learning here at Hub Pages and it is a good experience. The automated QAPs will not be picture perfect but nevertheless they have to be there since it is not possible to do everything manually.   Best Wishes to all.

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13. 60

    deathwalk60posted 10 years ago

    I love all people from Squidoo.  You bring new insights and new experiences to HubPages.  I look forward in reading each new Hub that you write and commenting on them.  I learn from each person, who I read.  I had never heard from Squidoo site until I heard that it was going to merge with HubPages.  I got excited and said, "New blood, new projects for me to read, new ideas, for me to study, new people for me to learn from."  I welcome you and all to HubPages.

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    1. 76

       Lionrhodposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       Thank you so much. In the same way I'm looking forward to meeting the Hub Pages community and seeing what they've got going on. And eventually starting to feel like I'm part of it. I very much want to be a Hubber instead of an ex-Squid. Face it --good writing is good writing no matter what platform it comes from.
       
       I so very much appreciate the warm welcome.

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