short url for hub

1. 76

   CatherineGiordanoposted 9 years ago

   I've been using the short url from the hub metrics page to link to my hubs on my blogs.  Yesterday, I discovered that they did not work.  I thought they worked like bit.ly and tiny.url.  I just did a HP search and here is the explanation I found: "Short URL is an abbreviated URL that expands to the full Hub link, if you'd like to use it on Twitter or other sites that demand short link URLs."  Now I am totally confused.  I gave the short urls to someone to put in her newsletter and when I got the newsletter and clicked on them, they did not work. then I checked my blogs and they were not working either. Can someone please explain what is going on?

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   1. 76

      CatherineGiordanoposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      More insanity.  I went to the list I keep in word and one of the urls that would not work from word, worked when I pasted it into the google bbrowser and clicked "search".  Another one failed in both places.

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      1. 76

         CatherineGiordanoposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         I think the one that worked with google search worked because it was cached.

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2. 60

   LindaSmith1posted 9 years ago

   I just tried one on twitter and all it does is show the short URL.  When clicked on, you get page not found.
   
   Catherine: When you create a new hub, you are shown the long and short URL which I am not sure if it is the same in the Stats box.  Copy those URLs and stash them in your computer.  Once we publish, that information disappears.

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   1. 67

      relacheposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      @CatherineGiordano, Linda does not know how to find her Hub URLs.   That information most certainly does not disappear once a Hub is published.
      
      The long URLs are right there plain on the dashboard, linked to each Hub title. 
      
      The shortened URLs can each be found in the HubMetric tab inside each individual Hubs stats.

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      1. 76

         CatherineGiordanoposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks relache.  I knowhow to find the short url in Hub Metrics and that is the url I ws using.

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3. 60

   LindaSmith1posted 9 years ago

   Apparently my answer was not read correctly.  I know how to find my URL.  The short URL in Hub Metrics are not working.  When you do a new hub, you are shown the long and short url which I what I said to copy and save.  I also said that I am  not sure if the short url given when you do the new hub is the same as the one in Metrics box.   The box that comes up when you first publish, with long and short URL does not appear again.
   
   I also sent message about the short url that is located in stats box is not working.

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4. 76

   CatherineGiordanoposted 9 years ago

   I noticed the short url when I publish, but not the long url. to get the long url , I click on the hub in my account list and then copy it from the browser.  That works, but I'm going to double check again.  I was going to write a hub yesterday, instead I spent the day fixing the links in my blogs. How many views have I lost because the url does not work.

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5. 76

   CatherineGiordanoposted 9 years ago

   I think the letters "me" in the link might be a tip off. Do the links only work from the author's computer? I put them into WORE and they worked from there so I thought they were good to use.

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6. 76

   CatherineGiordanoposted 9 years ago

   Now I am flummoxed.  I just checked the short urls that I pasted into a word doc and they don't work either.  I'm sure they worked in the past. Has something changed at HP? Thamks for letting me know, Linda, that you experienced the same problem.

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7. 60

   LindaSmith1posted 9 years ago

   Catherine: Mine are not working.  I sent message to HP.    There were issues with long and short URLs recently among other bugs with photos, etc.    I have never had this problem in the past or the other ones we have had in past few weeks since I joined.  I tried short URL in various browsers and got same thing.  Hopefully, it will be fixed soon.

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   1. 76

      CatherineGiordanoposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      How do you send a message to HP? I couldn't figure out how to do it. I assume they know about the problem from those of you who have sent messages, but I want to let them now how disappointed I am.  I wish I had thought to come to the forum as soon as I noticed the problem, but I just panicked and assumed it was my fault.

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8. 60

   LindaSmith1posted 9 years ago

   Don't toss them Catherine.   There is some type of configuration issue going on.

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   1. 76

      CatherineGiordanoposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Thank you for letting me know this is a HP bug. Unfortunately I wasted most of my day yesterday changing every link I could find and wondering why I never noticed that they did not work before.  There seems to be one problem after another with HP these days. I'm only on the site 4 months, so maybe everything worked smoothly before the Squiddo mashup, but it's very disheartening to a new user who thinks the problems are her fault.

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9. 60

   LindaSmith1posted 9 years ago

   Weird is all I can say.  HP will get it fixed.

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10. 60

    LindaSmith1posted 9 years ago

    I have been here 3 years and have never seen the issues we have been seeing.  Once in awhile the site is down for maintenance, but even that does not last long.
    
    I have spent hours just trying to get a hub finished.  Then go back to find images are gone.

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    1. 76

       CatherineGiordanoposted 9 years agoin reply to this

       Here is what burns me up. A very well known editor liked my Naughty Grammarian and Lipogram hubs and told me she was going to link to them in her newsletter.  I waited a whole month for her newsletter and the views it would bring me.  Yesterday her newsletter comes out AND THE LINKS DON'T WORK. I am crushed. Also furious. Because I am new, I just assumed it was my mistake.

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    2. 76

       CatherineGiordanoposted 9 years agoin reply to this

       Here is what burns me up. A very well known editor liked my Naughty Grammarian and Lipogram hubs and told me she was going to link to them in her newsletter.  I waited a whole month for her newsletter and the views it would bring me.  Yesterday her newsletter comes out AND THE LINKS DON'T WORK. I am crushed. Also furious. Because I am new, I just assumed it was my mistake.

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11. 60

    LindaSmith1posted 9 years ago

    Catherine:  So you don't miss out on the newsletter, try bitly which is a way to take a long url and shorten it.

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       psycheskinnerposted 9 years agoin reply to this

       It is too late for her not to miss out, that newsletter has gone out with the glitched links.

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       1. 76

          CatherineGiordanoposted 9 years agoin reply to this

          It's even worse than that.  I have ruined my credibility with this editor. I doubt that she will want to link to me again. Links that don't work embarrass her. Readers will be wasting her time sending her emails saying that the links don't work. And I wasted her time with my emails also. I embarrassed myself.

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    2. 76

       CatherineGiordanoposted 9 years agoin reply to this

       It's too late.  The newsletter went out.  I discovered the problem with the url about 6 hours after the date on the email the editor sends to subscribers.  I sent her an email back with the long urls.  She has not responded.  I don't even know if she has seen my email.  I just sent her another email telling her the url is not wrong  It is a technical issue at HP. Unless she wants to send an addendum to her subscribers WHENEVER this problem gets fixed, the opportunity is gone.
       
       I'm testing the long links which I put into my blog posts yesterday to see if at least they work.

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12. 60

    LindaSmith1posted 9 years ago

    team@hubpages.com

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    1. 76

       CatherineGiordanoposted 9 years agoin reply to this

       Thanks Linda.

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13. 60

    LindaSmith1posted 9 years ago

    You are welcome Catherine.

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14. 88

    Kylyssaposted 9 years ago

    Anyone who has been around a bit will know that bugs and glitches are common things and that you didn't do anything to cause the problem.  I'm curious as to why you'd want to give a publication shortened links to your articles in the first place.  In my experience, most publications prefer full-length URLs.  I believe they think it affects reader trust.
    
    I've had very few clients who were that unforgiving of things out of my control and they were such high maintenance people it was a blessing to lose them.

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    1. 76

       CatherineGiordanoposted 9 years agoin reply to this

       Thanks Kylissa. This editor always uses tiny.url links. In my blogs, I don't show links. Instead, I create a hyperlink so the reader clicks on text. I just got in the habit of using the short urls.  I kept them in a list in WORD for quick access.  I didn't think it mattered which one I used. I will never use short urls again, although some people said in the forum that the long ones weren't working wither.

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    2. 76

       CatherineGiordanoposted 9 years agoin reply to this

       Kylissa: Maybe the editor will forgive me; maybe not.  I'm upset because, as a beginner, this was a big deal to me. I don't get picked up that often. 1000's of people would see my link with the editor's recommendation.  If the link didn't work, they'd just move on. Maybe there was a person who would have seen that link who would have used it in her publication, or even better, asked me to write for her. It was an opportunity to be exposed to a whole new audience who would have never found me except for this link. The only benefit I can get now is if there are people who don't get around to reading the newsletter until after the glitch is fixed. Maybe no one even wants to click on it. I'll never know.

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       1. 76

          CatherineGiordanoposted 9 years agoin reply to this

          Still not fixed.  I just tried a test. The newsletter in question does not go to the general public. It is written for writers and the writing industry by a woman whose profession is editing.  So when I said "editor", I meant a person who does editing who is also a publisher of a newsletter

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          1. 88

             Kylyssaposted 9 years agoin reply to this

             Since she's a professional editor and the newsletter goes out to writers and editors, it's quite likely everyone involved will understand.  I don't think you can make it six months in digital publishing without bumping into some kind of glitch.
             
             Also, this opportunity may be your first but it won't be your last.  I read through a few of your hubs and I'd bet that once those articles age a bit you'll get more such offers.  Just keep creating material of the same quality and opportunities will keep popping up. 
             
             That said, I understand your worry quite well.  I still get worried when there's some kind of issue when such an opportunity presents itself.  "Don't worry" may well be the most useless phrase in the English language.

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             1. 76

                CatherineGiordanoposted 9 years agoin reply to this

                Kylissa, Thank you so much for your last comment.  I was just coming to the same conclusion myself--something along the lines of : "Stop crying over spilled milk. Get over it and move on."  Thank you for your compliments on my hubs. I do try to make them as good as something I would see in a print magazine.

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15. 60

    LindaSmith1posted 9 years ago

    Reply from HP:  http://hubpages.com/forum/post/2648285

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16. 0

    robertzimmerman2posted 9 years ago

    Anyway, I learned something and I just tried two of the short links from two of my hubs and they both worked.
    
    The test was only to put them into the address bar of a new tab and it took a second to resole but they both worked.

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17. 88

    Jodahposted 9 years ago

    Most of these issues seem to have only been occurring since the Squidoo transfer, so it is probably to do with the influx of new hubs and the change to a new server. I have been here almost five years and never experienced this many issues in such a short period.

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    1. 76

       CatherineGiordanoposted 9 years agoin reply to this

       I sent an email to HP because I was so upset. Matt wrote back.  He said all the issue had nothing to do with Squiddo. My experience is that my first month or so everything worked fine, then I started hearing about the Squiddo merger, and then all the problems started to happen, and  came to the same conclusion as you.

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    2. 76

       CatherineGiordanoposted 9 years agoin reply to this

       P.S. My links are working now. and the editor said she would include my information in her newsletter again next month.

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