What has happened to the share buttons?

1. 99

   L.M. Hoslerposted 9 years ago

   The share buttons seem to be missing from hubs. Anyone else having this problem?

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   1. 47

      Writer Foxposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      They are playing hide-and-seek.

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   2. 0

      Christy Kirwanposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Hi L.M.,
      
      Marina has addressed this in her previous post. There are a small percentage of monitor dimensions that are no longer widely supported that which will be too narrow to see the share buttons without zooming out. But the vast majority of your readers will still see them as usual.

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      1. 47

         Writer Foxposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         So, HP doesn't care if the share buttons and some of the ads cannot be viewed on laptops, Tablets, 17" and 22" monitors?  The old design didn't ignore those monitors:
         
         http://blog.hubpages.com/2014/06/12/the … s-are-live

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      2. 99

         L.M. Hoslerposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         Sounds like you are fixing something that wasn't broken and now doesn't work. Please consider changing back.  How many readers what to spend time looking for a share button so simply won't share an article, which means less traffic for HubPages & writers.

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   3. 72

      Matthew Meyerposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      We added an FAQ entry related to the social media buttons.
      It can be found here.
      http://hubpages.com/faq/#social-sharing-buttons

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   4. 65

      breakfastpopposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Is it asking too much to put the share buttons back so that all computers show them? I can't run out and replace my computers as HP suggests.

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      1. 85

         Jayne Lancerposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         We apparently don't need the shares of the 5.9% of visitors who have a screen resolution of less than 1100 pixels wide. Nor those who have a larger screen resolution but zoom in because of less than good eyesight.

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2. 68

   Sue Adamsposted 9 years ago

   Christy, it appears that what you are saying is incorrect. And I quote you:
   
   "There are a small percentage of monitor dimensions that are no longer widely supported which will be too narrow to see the share buttons without zooming out."
   
   From the posts here and on all other related forum threads, the vast majority of currently used monitors and devices do NOT support the new layout for the share buttons. Why change something that worked well and make it not work anymore? Are you guys crazy or what?

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   1. 0

      Christy Kirwanposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Sue, only 5% of all readers have monitor dimensions that will prevent them from seeing the social sharing buttons, and those resolutions are no longer sold, so that number will only decrease over time.

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      1. 47

         Writer Foxposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         According to these reports and many, many others, sales of laptops and Tablets are on the increase and that is expected to continue at least until 2019:
         
         http://www.pcr-online.biz/news/read/lap … row/035598
         
         http://www.forbes.com/sites/louiscolumb … martphones
         
         http://www.statista.com/statistics/2725 … esktop-pcs

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      2. 53

         janderson99posted 9 years agoin reply to this

         Why not simply put the sharing buttons to the right of
         "Updated on April 8, 2015" for BOTH PC and Mobile. Sharing is REALLY important for HP. Surely there is a simple solution to loading issues [Maybe the pain is worth it] - the baby is being dumped with the bathwater. Please put the share buttons back up front and obvious! Most of HP competitors have share buttons upfront - Ehow, Howstuffworks, etc.
         
         See how well they fit!
         
         

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         1. 53

            janderson99posted 9 years agoin reply to this

            If loading time for the buttons is an issue, then why not make it a 2-stage process. Display an image button that opens a pop-up or creates a dynamic insertion, containing the active buttons for Facebook, Twitter etc. There is a button on the mobile version "\/" that already does this for "More hubs by this author", so overheads must be OK.
            
            

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      3. 68

         Sue Adamsposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         I do not know where you get your figures from. Listen to us. the majority of our replies to the disappearance of the share buttons indicate that we cannot find the share buttons on our equipment. I bought my new laptop 3 months ago and my android tablet 6 months ago. How often is the public expected to throw away equipment that works perfectly well to comply with new, "predicted" industry standards?
         
         And more importantly, why do you want to lose all those potential shares while waiting for the world to throw away their equipment and buy more new gadgets? I don't understand. Why can't you make it work for all devices like Janderson suggests. That way our readers who don't have brand new equipment can keep sharing our hubs. If you persist on this course, HP is going to lose a hell of a lot of social media traffic. Is that really what you guys want?

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         1. 84

            Marina Lazarevicposted 9 years agoin reply to this

            Please see: http://www.w3counter.com/globalstats.php
            
            Our buttons are visible on all desktop screen resolutions listed there except for one, 1024x768, which represents 5.9% of page views. If you go back a few months, you'll see that the market share for the 1024x768 px screen has been declining and countless other studies support this. Moreover, the stats Christy and I have been referencing come from Google Analytics, the most reliable data source to use when designing for the HubPages audience.

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      4. 99

         L.M. Hoslerposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         I found the share buttons when I zoomed out. My problem and maybe some other people's problem is that I keep my settings zoomed higher due to poor eyesight so that is why I had trouble finding the buttons.

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      5. 53

         janderson99posted 9 years agoin reply to this

         @Christy, it is more like 55-65% because there are NO share buttons AT ALL on mobile devices which account for more than half of HP's traffic.

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         1. 84

            Marina Lazarevicposted 9 years agoin reply to this

            This isn't accurate. There are built-in social sharing buttons on mobile  browsers. In fact, much of the social traffic we get now is via mobile devices, indicating that those buttons are being used. Whether social sharing could be made better on mobile by placing buttons on the site itself is a different question.

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            1. 53

               janderson99posted 9 years agoin reply to this

               I disagree, the so-called buttons are hidden away and can only be accessed a menu ("3 dots") etc. There are NO social media buttons directly in your face on the mobile HP version. I have a modern smartphone that has NO buttons and NO 3 dots => no sharing possible. Why not allow everyone to share the wonderful HP content easily and simply? Image how much extra sharing would occur, to boost the numbers you state, if everyone could share easily (up 300% WOW). Surely this is an obvious need and doable.

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               1. 84

                  Marina Lazarevicposted 9 years agoin reply to this

                  Yes, I agree that the buttons are not in your face on mobile. You initially said they don't exist at all. Sorry, I used to be on the debate team.
                  
                  I understand that there are benefits to having the buttons on the mobile site itself, which is why I said we would consider it.

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                  1. 68

                     Colin Quartermainposted 9 years agoin reply to this

                     If you add up the % on the w3counter for those above 1100 pixels it comes to 46.65%
                     
                     I checked my 2 home PCs and a couple at work, with all being 1024 or below, and I know its a really small sample size, but I wouldn't say the lack of social buttons is going to be a problem for a small minority
                     
                     (Of course at the same time, historically relatively few articles I have written here and elsewhere are shared socially anyway)

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                  2. 74

                     stricktlydatingposted 9 years agoin reply to this

                     I couldn't see any share buttons on my Windows phone using desktop mode after the latest page change, there was no longer a way I could share my Hubs with my Hubpages followers, so I upgraded to an Iphone 6. No change, I can share by copy/paste long URL link on Twitter (Which I don't like to do, I preferred the shorter URL's) and it is tedious. I don't see the 3 dots on the page to share in desktop or mobile mode and now I also cannot edit text capsules on my iPhone. The share buttons also no longer work on my android tablet. I have no problem viewing share buttons and sharing articles from other sites, just here   Because I create articles I want others to share this is so disappointing. My stats have been affected almost by half since this change and I find myself checking out these forums daily hoping one day our share buttons will have been restored so that they can be viewed on tablets and mobile phones (Where over 75% of my page views come from).  I'm glad other Hubbers are also sharing their hopes of these buttons being put back on the page for all readers to use.

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   2. 65

      breakfastpopposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Are you saying I and others have to buy new computers in order to share our hubs! This is outrageous.

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   3. 60

      The Examiner-1posted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Sue,
      I have a desktop and I checked when I read this question but I had no prblem seeing the share button. Perhaps it is the mobile computers which have the problem.

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   4. 65

      breakfastpopposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      I have a Mac desktop and I can't see the share buttons except for Twitter. Surely, this can be fixed.

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3. 55

   paradigm searchposted 9 years ago

   Christy,
   
   CNN has just reported pitchfork sales have suddenly started increasing worldwide. Keep the new left side buttons, just add the old right side buttons back as a second set.
   
   edit: Or do janderson99's idea as the second set, probably even better.

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4. 68

   lovebuglenaposted 9 years ago

   sometimes it seems it takes a bit for them to load.

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5. 60

   LindaSmith1posted 9 years ago

   When I click on hubs, I see share buttons on left side of hubs. Load time is good.  I am using Chrome on Toshiba laptop. Satellite S855

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   1. 85

      jansharesposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      +1

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6. 85

   jansharesposted 9 years ago

   Someone probably offered this already to HP staff but I wanted to reiterate that one of the sites I subscribe to (counseling related) has the share buttons on the side and at the bottom of the article. Is this too costly for HP? It would certainly solve problems with mobile. It's the fashion-forward thing to do if you can click on the colorful buttons rather than use to built-in share on your device. Just sayin'

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7. 79

   Stacie Lposted 9 years ago

   I think I'll stop "sharing" since more hubs are being shared by thieves. I found another copied today on a foreign site. I am not hopeful that it will be taken down...sigh.

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8. 69

   Supuni Fernandoposted 9 years ago

   I thought they were on the left instead of right.

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9. 72

   Kierstin Gunsbergposted 9 years ago

   I guess this is old news but I'm really missing the share button my mobile device

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10. 68

    Sue Adamsposted 9 years ago

    Well, Marina,
    The missing share buttons saga has been going on for over two weeks now. HP has lost many potential readers' shares because of it.
    
    
    
    Why not kill 2 birds with one stone:
    Replace the first ad in the sidebar, which sells the same product as the top ad, with horizontal share buttons?

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11. 69

    Glorymillerposted 9 years ago

    I agree that duplicate ads serve no real purpose other than to waste space and make a page look spammy.  I'm not real happy with all the extra stuff that is being piled on at the bottom of my pages, too, how my guest book is separated from the rest of my page by ads, by a "see also" section that has nothing to do with my page, a recommended hubs section, ( I thought the "related hubs" on the side bar served that purpose) usually some video ad that likes to auto play (but that is probably a setting on my browser that needs tweaked, but still it's irritating).   I would love to see all that clutter at the bottom moved to the side bar, or at least moved down below my guest book.

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