Writing for HUB has become very frustrating

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  1. endenfin profile image61
    endenfinposted 8 years ago

    Lately I have noticed how most of my articles that have been there for a long time, are being marked as not featured. And even after trying to "fix" them they are placed in the same stage over and over again. Considering the kind of "pay" we get for our effort, it seems kind of funny that they have become so picky, demanding so much perfection. Let's be honest here: HUB makes money out of our articles, and the only satisfaction we get is to be recognized. I write for other publication with less aggraviation and more money, and lately I have started erasing my articles from here. I don't know who handles editing, but they shouldn't be targeting writers who have been here for a while, being loyal to HUB. I spoke to other writers about it and it seems that I am not the only one being affected by this. I would say this is a perfect combination for losing writers: Frustration, pressure and bad pay. What do you think? And I hope I won't get "fired" because I am expressing myself, you never know right?

    1. classicalgeek profile image81
      classicalgeekposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Let me be clear: I am in no way opposed to making my articles better. I'm happy to do it, because if HubPages thinks they have discovered the secret to having Google like your articles, great. What I object to is being given the "not featured - quality" symbol without any hint of what that particular approver didn't care for. I've reworked articles dozens of times over without any feedback other than "no." Give me the reason it's not featured and I'll happily jump through hoops to fix it. But I have to say that it's pretty frustrating to edit an article upwards of twenty times and keep getting rejections with no clue as to why. If they don't like a particular picture, or a particular link, or they are not following my logic to see how a particular product is related to the article, well, that can be easily addressed with very little effort. (E.g. 6 relevant products in a 2600-word article, with eleven accompanying pictures, two polls, one outgoing link to a related article, and two videos, doesn't seem like overkill. I finally gave up and moved the article to a different platform that would accept it as is.)

      1. Writer Fox profile image31
        Writer Foxposted 8 years agoin reply to this

        All you have to do to find out why it isn't featured is send an email:
        team at hubpages dot com

        Usually, people can figure out why an article is denied by reading the warnings on a Hub when viewing in the 'edit' mode.  You can also post a link to it on the forum by following the instructions on the email HP sent to you.

        1. Venkatachari M profile image87
          Venkatachari Mposted 8 years agoin reply to this

          I do not think there is any email sent for not featured hubs. Do you? I will come to know of it only when I log in to my account statistics. Isn't it?
          Regarding, not featured hubs, you are right that we can know some of the points in our editing mode itself. I do not find any difficulty in discovering the reason often. So, I am not worried about non-featured hubs.
          The problem is only regarding scoring. How do they evaluate and score it?

        2. greenmind profile image93
          greenmindposted 8 years agoin reply to this

          Agree with Writer Fox. Recent upgrades to editing mode spell out issues and suggest fixes.
          That said, HP can be pretty arbitrary about the hubs it decides to unpublish.

    2. MarieLB profile image75
      MarieLBposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      I am only learning still, but for the last 8 months or so I have done my best to write quality articles.  I have read, studied, researched and rewritten in an effort to do so.

      To date, my articles are still featured, but my Hubber Score keeps going down, down, down, even when the views move upward.

      To say I am frustrated is an understatement.  There is so little personalised feedback from HP. One is left to flounder until by chance one hits the required target, and then that target is shifted again. . . . 

      I love the community here, I love reading, I love writing, I love learning. . . .but this frustration is killing the motivation in me.

      Thank you all for sharing.

      1. Venkatachari M profile image87
        Venkatachari Mposted 8 years agoin reply to this

        Yes, Marie. I am also frustrated at the scores. When HUbPages tells, they do not weigh number of views as criterion, then quality of my hubs is good. Why my scores are so low as compared to 2 months back. My hubber score was 90 and now it is only in between 65 to 69. What happened to quality during this period?

        1. MarieLB profile image75
          MarieLBposted 8 years agoin reply to this

          Same here V.M.   I was up to 88 and was - I have to admit - wanting to reach the magic "90" mark.  Instead, the profile number went down to 84 within 4-6 days or so. 

          It is difficult not to have a hissy fit and say, why bother?

          Unfortunately for me, I have not yet learnt to let things be.  As I said somewhere else, I just have to strive to move forward, I love the learning and I love the race.

          I find myself being disappointed at the lack of personalized feedback.  I was never chosen for any kind of editing, so I feel that I am staggering in the dark.

          1. Venkatachari M profile image87
            Venkatachari Mposted 8 years agoin reply to this

            See, we can only put up our complaints. But if nobody hears or solves them, it does not mean that we should fret and fume or feel depressed outright. All these things affect only our health. So, better learn to let things be as they happen after some stage. But don't lose hope. There will be light somewhere in the darkness.

    3. peachpurple profile image81
      peachpurpleposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      I don't stress myself with unfeature hub. I just can't get each everyone of them featured. Maybe out of 12, i can get 8 of them featured. As for the rest, i leave them alone

      1. Venkatachari M profile image87
        Venkatachari Mposted 8 years agoin reply to this

        Peachy, I am also not worried about unfeatured content. Because, I can make it edited and again featured. You also can get them featured with some small edits. You can add some more unutilised capsules also while doing so. Why leave them unfeatured? Don't give. That is the spirit one should keep.

    4. Denmarkguy profile image82
      Denmarkguyposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Whereas I agree that these are frustrating experiences, perhaps we need to look beyond HubPages to the broader issue that the idea of "revenue sharing" has been a shrinking part of the web for some time... no matter where we take them, or what we take there, "the web" (aka advertising buyers) do not find that our content has as much "value" as it did, even five years ago. And with a greater and greater proportion of overall web page views being made by mobile devices (with less available "real estate" for ads), this trend is unlikely to change.

      From my perspective, power to HubPages for keeping this ship "sailing" in an environment where the likes of Squidoo, Yahoo Contributors and a host of smaller "players" have quite simply folded up their tents and gone home. Bottom line, they can't pay US anymore than THEY get paid... Once upon a time "one page view" might have been worth a penny on the web; today it is worth only a tiny fraction of that.

  2. Kathleen Cochran profile image80
    Kathleen Cochranposted 8 years ago

    You are not imagining things.  When I joined four years ago, HP boasted more than 200,000 writers.  I think we are currently below 100,000.  I'm here and I'm staying for the same reasons I joined in the first place.  But I've always said HP's business model must be: The beatings will continue until morale improves. 

    They are making money and apparently will continue to even with fewer writers.  This is what corporate America has learned from the economic crash of the past years.

    Good luck and I hope you stay.

    1. fpherj48 profile image60
      fpherj48posted 8 years ago

      Lizzie....No need to panic.  You're not imagining things at all.  Whenever posts, hubs or questions with this same sad lament arise, my only thought is, "Welcome to Hubpages."   I see you're here 2 years now and that's about the time most of us begin to scratch our heads, take a good look at our stats and ask, "Remind me again, WHY am I here?"
      As far as I've been able to tell, most of the responses we get to these concerns are comments from each writer with their best "guess."
      Sure, all the rules are in black and white and should be easy to learn.  Suggestions, advice and help come out of the wood work.  Your talent and enthusiasm is in top condition and your efforts are herculean.

      Well, there's this god that rules over all (which includes hubpages of course)  This god's name is google.
      If you are familiar with or know anything about THE GOD......well, google is His star student.  Any more questions?

    2. chateaudumer profile image82
      chateaudumerposted 8 years ago

      I can relate and identify with the sentiments of this article. I have given up writing new hubs and just concentrate on my blogs. Good Day to All hubbers all over the world. Happy Memorial Day also.

    3. lisavanvorst profile image63
      lisavanvorstposted 8 years ago

      Yes it is frustrating. More than half of my older hubs are labeled as not featured or they have that dreaded red skull in front of them. Sure I could go through each one and fix to the hubpage editors are satisfied, but no I would rather write new ones. I may just search different writer's sites. I have not made one penny and its been two years since I joined.

      1. jefitzgerald40 profile image59
        jefitzgerald40posted 8 years agoin reply to this

        What "age" were the hubs when they started getting un-featured?

      2. TIMETRAVELER2 profile image84
        TIMETRAVELER2posted 8 years agoin reply to this

        Lisa:

        I just took a look at your profile, and can clearly see what your problems are and why you have so many unfeatured hubs and are doing poorly financially.

        First, you are writing mostly poetry and short stories.  These are not the types of writings that do well on the internet, and rarely make money.  Often they are too short and too personal.

        Second, the few articles you have written have some spelling errors, are more like blogs than articles, lack focus, don't have enough photos and the ones you have are not captioned and credited, are not written in short paragraphs, but rather as capsules that have one very long paragraph within them.

        For example, your article about raising children only skims the surface of this topic, is extremely personalized and loses its focus at the end when it talks about how nice it is to be grandparents.

        If you continue writing this way, your chances of success here will continue to be slim.

        If I were you, I would remove all fictional works and then correct the few articles you have by narrowing the topics, adding photos, depersonalizing them and making them longer.

        You have to remember that readers don't care about what you think or feel.  They want information that will help them and answer questions they may have.

        That article about raising kids can be broken down into different articles that give people advice and help about raising children of different ages, what works, what does not work, etc.

        You really need to take the time to read the learning center information and also read articles from writers who have been successful here such as Writer Fox, Patty English, Relache and Marisa Wright.

        These people get tons of views and make good money here because they follow the guidelines, produce quality work and give readers what they want.

        So, there's your answer.  This may seem a bit brutal, but you clearly want to do well here and do not understand why this is not happening for you.  Now you know.

    4. Solaras profile image95
      Solarasposted 8 years ago

      I feel your pain.  I have an article that went unfeatured for quality, which at first was understandable. I had not touched it in a while and it had multiple Amazon product capsules from the old days that let you add more than one product per capsule.  Fixed those and now it has 1800 words, all other boxes are check, it averages 20 views per day and makes a sale or two a month, but can't get past QAP.

      It's is an informative product review with some good information in it.  If  I have to move it, so be it.

      1. DrMark1961 profile image97
        DrMark1961posted 8 years agoin reply to this

        Why dont you post a link to this and see if you can get any helpful suggestions? (I have also had some hubs unfeatured since my hubber score went down. They are all for traffic, which I can understand, and I have just left them like they are since they are better off being dead.)

        1. Solaras profile image95
          Solarasposted 8 years agoin reply to this

          Thanks Dr. Mark - I will throw it to the wolves for some good feedback!

          1. Solaras profile image95
            Solarasposted 8 years agoin reply to this

            Whoops - it just got featured again lol.

            1. TheDragonBringer profile image91
              TheDragonBringerposted 8 years agoin reply to this

              +1

    5. Pearldiver profile image67
      Pearldiverposted 8 years ago

      Oh ouch... After being offsite here for nearly 2 years (partially out of similar frustrations), I have noticed and now truly understand that the more things change... the more they stay the same!
      Although now, I have soooo much work to do with my hubs that it will probably take me another 2 years to work out how I can tweak and apply my past featured poetry hubs to the wonderment of 'creative snake oil selling' or 'how to fix a 5 year olds stutter by reciting verse'  smile
      But hey... it's nice to see some of the originals still endure and remain, perhaps if only for an answer to that soul searching question - Why?

    6. Fiona Jean Mckay profile image91
      Fiona Jean Mckayposted 8 years ago

      Hi there,

      When your hub is in edit mode, on the top left-hand of the screen there are some "goals" to reach - 1 photo, 750 words, etc. What I do is to make sure that I always meet all of those goals and I have never had a problem getting my hubs featured. Perhaps that may help for you.

      Good luck!

      1. Pearldiver profile image67
        Pearldiverposted 8 years agoin reply to this

        Cheers for that Fiona Jean... nice to meet you btw

        1. Fiona Jean Mckay profile image91
          Fiona Jean Mckayposted 8 years agoin reply to this

          Nice to meet you too Pearldiver

    7. Nadine May profile image70
      Nadine Mayposted 8 years ago

      I have had the same experience with a few of my older articles. Plenty words, images and videos, so some I re-edit by added a paragraph or a poll.  I might have included to many self promoting links in one hub, but even after I removed these, they are still marked as not featured material. Maybe it takes a while before they are again seen as featured material? I did my best and left it at that.

      1. Pearldiver profile image67
        Pearldiverposted 8 years agoin reply to this

        I think perhaps that is exactly what frustrates the majority of us who have gone through this culling process... we have always done our best at what we have published, we aren't dummies and as such, generally take it personally when all our efforts over a great deal of time in developing our own brand known for quality along side that of HP's branding leverage is effectively thrown out the window without so much as a by your leave.
        It's not all about Google, though that's very much a convenient sell it's about people and their ability to communicate effectively, professionally and genuinely. Prior to one or two 'negative' changes, HP had that attraction going for it with the whole community during the initial growing period.

      2. Solaras profile image95
        Solarasposted 8 years agoin reply to this

        Removing a link got mine featured again.

        1. Jean Bakula profile image93
          Jean Bakulaposted 8 years agoin reply to this

          It's the indiscriminate way they decide to not feature hubs that gets so frustrating. I find that usually you only need to write one new sentence, or add a new picture, something small like that, to get it featured again. Or when you are in edit mode, you will be told what exactly you did wrong, if you committed the sin of having a You Tube video taken down, or if you have a link to a hub you wrote years ago and forgot you deleted it a few months ago.

          Most of my hubs are old, and have been sitting for about 2 years. But the information in them doesn't change much. So it's not worth it to go back and fix all those old hubs. If it's old, and the administration hasn't bothered you, don't touch it, even it's to make it better. You'll end up in the featured/unfeatured Merry Go Round forever.

          1. Solaras profile image95
            Solarasposted 8 years agoin reply to this

            LOL  - that was what got me unfeatured in the first place.  I wanted to spruce it up, then down the drain it went.  I removed a bunch of stuff, only one of the ones I removed had brought me a sale, but it was a good thing for the customer, and now they won't know about it.  TS for the reader.

            1. Jean Bakula profile image93
              Jean Bakulaposted 8 years agoin reply to this

              Hi Solaras,
              It's really annoying when you try to fix up a hub, it had a good score, then it gets lower after you "fix" it. I'm sorry you experienced the same thing. I tried very hard building my own blog for about two years, and had nothing to show for it except carpal tunnel syndrome. At least we have an audience at HP, even if it's a small one. I don't know of any other successful writer's sites now, do you? About three years ago, everyone said Wizzley.com was the next, best thing. But only a handful of writers have been successful there, and have written hundreds of articles. I was accepted there, and also wrote enough to be accepted on Infobarrel. But if you think traffic is bad here, it's terrible there. You are lucky if 50 people read your piece in a year. I am slowly moving pieces back here. I don't make much, but at least my work gets seen enough that I get orders for what I do.

              I think you need to be extremely computer literate to make money on your own blog, and I'm just not that good. I can't figure out how to monetize a blog enough, and my style of writing is sort of instructional, so I don't get a lot of feedback. I want to take a creative writing course to learn how to make up characters and develop them, because I do love to write.

    8. Sabre1000 profile image79
      Sabre1000posted 8 years ago

      I just updated a HUB, my 5th most popular one.
      Added new content.
      Next day it was Unfeatured.
      Go figure.

    9. Sabre1000 profile image79
      Sabre1000posted 8 years ago

      Okay....I am DONE updating Hubs here.
      I updated two, added new content and they were both prompted Unfeatured.
      One had an Hub Rank of 80 and was quite popular before I updated it.
      It even had all the little boxes up in the right hand corner ticked.
      So if it is an 80, in good shape according to HP's stats and I add new content and they STILL unfeature it...I quit.
      I can work on blogs and not have to put up with this crap.

    10. sunilkunnoth2012 profile image60
      sunilkunnoth2012posted 8 years ago

      You are right things are not in a good shape here. I don't know what's going wrong with HP.  All the things we face nowadays is of a frustration-type.  Less traffic, less earnings, dropping author score as well hub score, falling of our well written hub into the NF category, etc.  On earnings, I suffered the worst this month since last two years. Why all such mess? Is there anybody here to hear us and address our concerns?  If they remain mute, I am sure writers will quit this platform and go for other green pastures. And finally HP may collapse!  I hope and pray for some positive changes to take place soon here.

    11. ALL4JESUS profile image73
      ALL4JESUSposted 8 years ago

      I have been here for some time and I have seen the beatings, been pretty bruised, but I have to say the HP team has been terrific. This is a new venture and Google is trying to find its way as is the management of HP.

      If we step back and look at the responsiveness of the HP team, look at the edit tools we have available here, this remains a quality site.

      If our scores drop below the magical 85, we need to take note and fix the content issues.

      Taking responsibility, reviewing the hubs that are not featured is really a job duty that we must all own up to.

      I like the new quality features but oh, my, it is a great deal of work, but all good things demand our time and energy.

      Kudos to HP management and team. Shame on Google for not providing transparency to HP and the HP authors here.

      Google has a mantra of do no harm and yet this lack of transparency is causing angst among writers and giving the internet a red mark.

      Today I read where a YouTube video literally pays its artist minimum wage if viewed 158,000 times. How many of us here have hubs that have even paid us minimum wage? Google needs to recognize the efforts of writers and be open about the content that will make money. I would like to contribute more, but the roadmap keeps changing - this change is made by Google and HP is just trying to adjust to the new internet highway that Google is building. Like all roadways, way finder signs are needed and Google needs to catch up and provide the way finder signs to major contributors such as HP. This cloak of secrecy is doing harm, I believe is doing harm as noted by the few comments written here. If we are frustrated, how many more of us are out there standing in the shadows not speaking up?

      The only thing HP has not done which I see lacking is a partnership with a better spell checker and a grammar checker. This is sometimes the essence of the quality scores not just for those where English is a second language but also for busy professionals who want to contribute but time is limited and an in-house editor is simply not feasible.

    12. Pearldiver profile image67
      Pearldiverposted 8 years ago

      @ ALL4JESUS
      You've made some excellent points, one certainly can not rule out the intention to drive more to YouTube, while looking down shuffling their feet addressing the article market.

    13. lisavanvorst profile image63
      lisavanvorstposted 8 years ago

      I feel as you do.  I have been on hubpages since 2013, made no money and most of my hubs are unfeatured. I am not going to fix something that is not broken. So I will not re-do my old hubs. I guess I will just continue to write new ones.

      1. TIMETRAVELER2 profile image84
        TIMETRAVELER2posted 8 years agoin reply to this

        Lisa:

        If your hubs are mostly unfeatured, there are reasons, and you need to find out what they are.  If you don't correct your problems, you will continue to make them.

        Contact the team by email and ask them what you are doing wrong.  Why are your articles being unfeatured?  Is it for

        poor grammar
        poor sentence structure
        spammy elements
        wrong links
        too many links
        plagiarism
        length
        poor spelling
        misplaced ads
        too many ads
        titles that do not match content
        content that only regurgitates what people can find elsewhere on the web
        spun content

        This is a good list for you to start from and you may find your answers there.  I'm going to take a look at one of your articles and give you some clues.  Be back shortly.

        1. endenfin profile image61
          endenfinposted 8 years agoin reply to this

          ok thank you!

          1. endenfin profile image61
            endenfinposted 8 years agoin reply to this

            oops you meant Lisa sorry!

    14. erorantes profile image47
      erorantesposted 8 years ago

      You are good. I like your hub about the baking soda. It is true. Baking soda cures everything. Thanks to the scientists who made it.  I believe. You need to go back and read the learning center with hub pages. Some times when writers work for two companies. They have two different instructions of what they spect as a writer for them. You need to follow hubpages instructions. Good luck to you my dear.

    15. endenfin profile image61
      endenfinposted 8 years ago

      When I posted what was on my mind, I never expected to receive so many replies. I still feel frustrated, however from something bad there is always something good coming out. I suddenly realized that despite all our frustration we have come together to protest for a good cause. The way I see it is that we are all brothers and sisters sharing one passion: writing. We all contribute with something new to our readers, and whatever the Corporate giant thinks is purely commercial. We, instead, are here in a mission and that is to touch every reader's mind, to share with them our experiences and knowledge, and to be a part of that relaxing moment when they read our articles. Not everything is about the big bucks you know? Not everything is correcting our articles to fit a "commercial" need. So, be proud of what you do! Score or no score, we have something they don't and that is talent. We are here in a mission so let's not let anybody bring us down. I believe that when we put our heart in a Hub somewhere, someone will be touched by it, and really that's all it matters. I'm glad I posted my "complaint" because otherwise  I would have never known what a wonderful group of people share their articles here. Line by line, I will continue to write here, I don't care if they unfeature my hubs, I do it because I love it, the rest? It is up to my readers. I read a hub of everyone who responded to my post, and I am proud to be among you all. Thank you, I really appreciate you guys and if I found any other good site to write for, I will let you know

    16. endenfin profile image61
      endenfinposted 8 years ago

      After my last post I tried to add some informative links to my Acuppression hub which was already unfeatured Not even 10 minutes later I received an email stating my hub was "spammy" and to remove any advertising. There is nothing like that since the links are similar to Wikipedia which is purely informative. However, for a moment I felt like I was dealing with someone who cannot really understand English. You know how some companies have their customer service overseas because is cheaper? Well maybe they don t edit the Hubs here anymore, maybe this is done somewhere else and they just follow a pre made pattern something like the screens some customer service have to read over and over. I feel  missunderstood and totally frustrated now. These people are awful!

      1. Solaras profile image95
        Solarasposted 8 years agoin reply to this

        Go ahead and delete the links.  Apparently you need to provide the information yourself.  I had a hub with a useful link or two, but had to delete them or the article would remain unpublished. TS for the reader, but you need to get the reader, so give them the info without a link.

        1. endenfin profile image61
          endenfinposted 8 years agoin reply to this

          Thank you for the advise you were right! But it s strange too. I added links because my hub didn t have any, without making any other changes. Big mistake! My hub went from unfeatured because of traffic to unfeatured because of quality, so before I decided to "quit" I removed the links and Oh my God! They featured it again and my score went up! I am CONFUSED and my head is spinning. No logical explanation for this!

          1. TIMETRAVELER2 profile image84
            TIMETRAVELER2posted 8 years agoin reply to this

            Links are very tricky because they must directly relate to what you are writing about and also come from credible sources.  Furthermore it is never a good idea to have more than two or three in any article you write.

            You should also know that photos are links, also.

        2. TIMETRAVELER2 profile image84
          TIMETRAVELER2posted 8 years agoin reply to this

          Wikipedia is not a good source for links because its information can come from any source and is not verified. Google does not like such links, so I would avoid them.

    17. lisavanvorst profile image63
      lisavanvorstposted 8 years ago

      Actually TimeTraveler2, I feel you are a bit harsh with your comments. You are entitled to your opinion and maybe you are right. However, I write from my heart and although I am not making money on this site; I do enjoy the comments my fellow writers put and I enjoy commenting on other hubs. If I wanted an English lesson on spelling and grammar I would go back to school or consult an expert, not someone else that writes on this site.

      1. TIMETRAVELER2 profile image84
        TIMETRAVELER2posted 8 years agoin reply to this

        I was not the one complaining about unfeatured hubs.  You seemed to be searching for answers, and I tried to give them to you.  I actually am professionally trained as an English teacher, so I feel qualified to offer this type of help.

        Sorry if I stepped on your toes, but my intentions were good ones.  Every piece of advice I gave you is one that has been given to me over time that I have graciously accepted and used in my work.  As a result, it is much better than when I started.

        I know you are writing from your heart, and there is nothing wrong with that if that is all you want to do, but    if don't be unhappy with HP because they are telling you to do more.  They are in business to make money.  You basically work for them and thus must dance to their tune or pay the consequences.

        You always have a choice, just like the rest of us do.  I was only trying to help you make the right one.

        1. MarieLB profile image75
          MarieLBposted 8 years agoin reply to this

          @TimeTraveler2

          Any time you feel like dissecting one of my articles, please feel free.  This is exactly what I miss with HP.  I would love to get feedback I can relate to and put to use.

          I have one question.  If a photo is considered a link, and if we are only allowed 2-3 links in an article, then that means no links at all.  Surely 2-3 photos are a must in a say. . . .1500 word article?

          1. lbrummer profile image96
            lbrummerposted 8 years agoin reply to this

            Marie
            If I'm not mistaken I believe that the rule is that you can't have more than 2 links "to the same site" in an article.  You could have 10, or more, links as long as only two of them were sending you to the same site. A photo could possibly be from the same site as another link and you'd have to count it as one of  the two links permitted.

          2. TIMETRAVELER2 profile image84
            TIMETRAVELER2posted 8 years agoin reply to this

            Photo links do not count against you as long as there are not more than two of them from a single source.  However there are some sources you can do this with, especially if you are using your own photos.  The learning center addresses this issue and I think it is important for people to read it.

            With this comment you have restored my faith in people, and I thank you for that.

            The only way we improve is by learning what our mistakes are and then trying to correct them, but it is very hard for us to see them ourselves.  This is why, at least I think this is why, people ask for help.

            I have a hard time understanding those who say they want to learn but when you try to teach them they take it personally.  There is absolutely nothing personal in constructive criticism, but if you can't handle it, you shouldn't ask for it!

            1. MarieLB profile image75
              MarieLBposted 8 years agoin reply to this

              @TimeTraveler2,
              It is possible that the person in question was in one of those troughs that we sometimes get into and maybe feeling more fragile than usual.

              I have been thinking for quite some time that we could create our own Editor's Remarks Group here, and I stress, this is not in competition with HP, but ADDITIONAL to and can only lead to better articles, where every one wins.

              I am not on par with the likes of you and others who are skilled and experienced, but my English is pretty good most times, and I have offered this kind of service to a couple of others, in private.

              I wonder whether there are others who would be willing to put up their hand for such a group?!

              What do you think TimeTraveler2, could this work?  EG: Two Lists of people who would be prepared to participate.  One list of writers who are still on shaky writing ground, and one of those who are prepared to read and add suggestions [teacher role].  Some could well be in both lists.

              What do you think?

            2. MarieLB profile image75
              MarieLBposted 8 years agoin reply to this

              Thank you for clarifying, Timetraveler2

              I have two problems with knowing the rules. 

              1..Time to read and re-read and to fit in everything else in my life! smile

              2..Bad short-term memory - result of a medical condition - which means that even after reading the rules I have to go read them again and again!! 

              Yet another source of frustration, but I am too old, or perhaps too stubborn to give up! smile

              1. Venkatachari M profile image87
                Venkatachari Mposted 8 years agoin reply to this

                You say you are too old and I am here with 63+ and there is Nellianna and Billy Buck and others more older than me. So, nothing is old. But adjustment is one concern which drags every person. I am also a very forgetting person since long.

                1. MarieLB profile image75
                  MarieLBposted 8 years agoin reply to this

                  Ha!Ha! V.M.,
                  I hope you forgive me shortening your name.  It is the result of sending SMS msgs and writing on facebook!

                  I wont compete for who is oldest or who is youngest, but I will tell you a little true story.  When I was young, I always seemed to be the youngest of my circle.

                  For the last 20 years or so, I seem to be the oldest of my circle way too often LOL!!

                  The problem I have with forgetting [ or rather the recall ] is due to some damage to my brain, and really I guess my brain would have served me well if I would accept retirement with good grace and just potter in the kitchen or in the garden, but unfortunately I do not have that kind of wisdom.  I still yearn to learn, to do new things, and to succeed.

                  That is why I get frustrated, cause I am not yet ready to sit and whittle my days away!!  Ha!Ha!!

                  1. Venkatachari M profile image87
                    Venkatachari Mposted 8 years agoin reply to this

                    I don't mind shortening my name. It is okay.
                    Now, coming to age, it depends on one's thinking also. If you always think you are older, it may affect your health also. So, don't think like that. One fun fact is, my wife was youngest among her 10 siblings. And even after reaching the age of 50, she always used to think as youngest herself even with her sons who treated her as their sister.
                    Regarding damage to brain, you may can't avoid it. But again, I repeat that you should not tell again and again that your brain is damaged. It makes bad effect on your health.
                    So, be trying to feel young and normal and ignore strain and frustrations for your own happiness. My blessings to you.

          3. Venkatachari M profile image87
            Venkatachari Mposted 8 years agoin reply to this

            MarieLB, photos can be had from free image sites and wikimedia commons images when you don't have your own. Why do you get them through other links? That way you can have many photos.

      2. MarieLB profile image75
        MarieLBposted 8 years agoin reply to this
      3. moonlake profile image83
        moonlakeposted 8 years agoin reply to this

        .I feel no one should give advice on a hub if the Hubber hasn't ask for it. I think it can be very embarrassing for Hubbers and unkind. If a Hubber wants the advice, that’s ok or if it’s done by private mail.

        1. TIMETRAVELER2 profile image84
          TIMETRAVELER2posted 8 years agoin reply to this

          People who come onto the forums bemoaning the fact that they are having problems and don't know what to do about them are indicating that they want answers and want to have things improve for them.

          Constructive criticism is not personal and should never be taken as an embarrassment.  Also, there is nothing unkind about it.  In fact, people pay good money to have professionals evaluate their work...so when help is being given at no charge from someone who knows what they are talking about, it should be welcomed because it not only helps the person who needs it, but also can help others who view it so that t they can use the information to improve their own work.

          It would be different if that assistance was mean spirited, but that rarely is the case here on HP.

          Here's the point:  Would you rather have people lie to you and tell you you are doing a great job and that HP is being unfair to you (which is causing your work to become unfeatured, losing you money and views), or would you rather have someone evaluate your work fairly and honestly so that you can improve it, have it become featured, allow it to be read by more people and possibly earn some money from it?

          What I think is unkind is to let people continue to think that their failures are somehow not their own fault and let them just keep suffering from them. 

          My personal view is that if you do not want help and do not want to improve, stop complaining about your situation.  That kind of negativity damages the entire site and makes people who don't take the time to read the posts of complainers that HP is unfair to some of its writers.

          They have their faults, no question, but they have the right to unfeature articles that are not well written or are not performing.  We all agreed to let them do that when we signed on, and we shouldn't complain when they follow through.

          We are all adults here, and we should act like it!

          1. Venkatachari M profile image87
            Venkatachari Mposted 8 years agoin reply to this

            I agree with you cent percent, Time Traveller. Complaining about things is not a good habit. We should try to locate and realise the faults and circumstances leading to the problem and fix it. If good people like you come out with some suggestions, it can be of much help to us. We should try to improve the name of our site and not indulge in defaming it. Thanks for your great attitude.

      4. Fiona Jean Mckay profile image91
        Fiona Jean Mckayposted 8 years agoin reply to this

        Just to jump in and give my two cent's worth. Lisa, I realize that you write from the heart but I really think that Timetraveller was trying to help you. Quite frankly, I found your comment, "If I wanted an English lesson on spelling and grammar I would go back to school or consult an expert, not someone else that writes on this site." extremely rude. I had a look over your hubs and see that you do a lot of creative writing. I imagine that at some stage you would enjoy having your work published and I really do think that you will have to be able to handle criticism better if that is the case. Whilst I do not consider myself an expert on grammar, I do actually make a living writing and I can tell you that it is a lot easier out there for me because there are so few people who actually bother with proper grammar.  I welcome constructive criticism when it is offered.

        To say that you would "go to an expert and "not someone who writes on this site" is really insulting to the rest of us in general. Perhaps you do not care about good grammar, etc. but I happen to take pride in polishing my hubs so that they are informative and generally well-written.

        In the real world, presentation matters and clearly, if you have no hubs featured and have made no money here, you have not done your homework. That's all good and well, but don't go around insulting those of us  who actually do have all our hubs featured and who do make the effort to improve our language skills.

        1. TIMETRAVELER2 profile image84
          TIMETRAVELER2posted 8 years agoin reply to this

          +1  Couldn't have said it better myself!

          1. Venkatachari M profile image87
            Venkatachari Mposted 8 years agoin reply to this

            Good Fiona Jean, you have explained it wonderfully. I appreciate you and Time.

            1. TIMETRAVELER2 profile image84
              TIMETRAVELER2posted 8 years agoin reply to this

              And I appreciate both of you and others like you who are realistic enough to understand what people need to do to be able to succeed and bring this site back to its former glory.

              Excuses such as "I know my grammar and spelling aren't good", "I just ignore this or that and write what I want to write" or my favorite, "I just want to write my heart" are just that...excuses.

              The truth is that it does no good to write if you do not have the basic ability to do so or if your work is not good enough or competitive enough to be well ranked by Google and for people to want to read.

              It's a tough world on the net these days, so coming onto a site like this and doing a half assed job drags all of us down.  It shows a blatant disrespect for writers who really are working hard to improve and achieve.

              People with such attitudes and abilities would do best to write in personal journals or create blogs.  This is not the place for them, and the statistics they are complaining about are proof of that.

    18. Gyyrus profile image61
      Gyyrusposted 8 years ago

      Thanks for the heads up, i just started today so i have no idea what any of this is like. i just want to make some extra money.

      1. MarieLB profile image75
        MarieLBposted 8 years agoin reply to this

        Hi Gyyrus, This may seem like a "whinge-a-ton" as we say here downunder, but the thing to keep in mind is, that there are many here that have been with HP for several years.  I guess that tells you and me, that there is something very good here, despite our complaints.

        Welcome and let us hope that soon you will feel the good vibes that keep us tied to this place!

    19. Geniusknight profile image66
      Geniusknightposted 8 years ago

      Hi Lizzie, Hubpages was recently hit by a new Google update and its traffic and ranking ran down the drain because of all type of mixed content present on Hubs, So one way to get the traffic and ranking back is to improve the content and thus they are removing (unfeaturing) articles which are no longer getting any traffic but are constantly fed to Google crawlers. It has a direct impact on earnings as traffic is taking a toll, that's why they are on a content improvement drive for all hubs to bring back the traffic from Google. Meanwhile other sites might look good because they haven't lost their rankings or are still growing. Hope Hubpages will spring back again soon in late 2015 or earlier.

      1. endenfin profile image61
        endenfinposted 8 years agoin reply to this

        Thank you!

    20. endenfin profile image61
      endenfinposted 8 years ago

      After working on my hubs, the ones unfeatured, I can happily say that they are all featured again. I don't know until when though lol but they are all back in track. I guess they just got tired of me sending them back over and over again after the corrections. Whatever it was, it worked! But honestly, it would have been so much easier if they would have just told me what was wrong in the first place.

      1. MarieLB profile image75
        MarieLBposted 8 years agoin reply to this

        Glad to hear it.  It is satisfying, isn't it?

        Like you, I think it would save us much frustration if they were to validate their markings, however, it tells you that despite that, you did it. 

        Great news!

      2. classicalgeek profile image81
        classicalgeekposted 8 years agoin reply to this

        +1

    21. Pearldiver profile image67
      Pearldiverposted 8 years ago

      Well after today I would expect ALL my 90+ hubs to be 'unfeatured' for traffic - This is the first day in over 6 years that I have had absolutely Zero traffic! Clearly the majority of my backlinks do not go to my hubs... it's going to be an interesting and time consuming exercise checking how many of them have been pirated away from their intended destinations. This is a first for me (zero views) anywhere, so I will zealously pursue any party I find who has redirected my links.  sad

      1. justholidays profile image66
        justholidaysposted 8 years agoin reply to this

        Not sure your links have been redirected to somewhere else. My stats show a big zero for all my Hubs. Yesterday they were half what they are usually, today they're nowhere.

        I don't really mind since I plan on cancelling this account just like I did with my 7+ year old account on HubPages.

        But I know for sure it is certainly a problem for those who stay and keep writing on here. Though it might just be a temporary glitch?

        Good luck with your next stats.

        1. Barbara Kay profile image73
          Barbara Kayposted 8 years agoin reply to this

          The stats aren't working today. Everyone has 0.

        2. IzzyM profile image86
          IzzyMposted 8 years agoin reply to this

          It's a stats problem. Check Google analytics. My traffic is healthy even though the stats say zero traffic.

          Here's a link to Analytics Real Time. Hopefully you'll see your own stats and not mine!

          https://www.google.com/analytics/web/#r … .type%3D1/

          1. paradigm search profile image54
            paradigm searchposted 8 years agoin reply to this

            Yep, that's your own personal link. lol

            I got:

            "Security problem. Please try reloading the page. We cannot verify your account credentials. Please verify your account information, then sign in again."

            1. IzzyM profile image86
              IzzyMposted 8 years agoin reply to this

              Ah nae luck, Para!
              Unfortunately, I have no way of knowing if you are kidding or not.

              1. paradigm search profile image54
                paradigm searchposted 8 years agoin reply to this

                I'm telling the truth. I'd delete the critter.

    22. EstherHDS profile image60
      EstherHDSposted 8 years ago

      I totally agree upon your point!
      I've written my first Hub and got a lot of positive reactions. Unfortunately, every time my Hub is unpublished because 'it is not conform the HubPages' Quality Assessment Process'. However, I'm so sure I do the best I can to write a great, informative and true article. So, what else should I change? I really don't know anymore..

    23. mattforte profile image88
      mattforteposted 8 years ago

      Let's be clear.

      HubPages is a content farm.
      There is a TON of piss poor content, which makes HP look bad.
      There is a TON of mediocre, useless content; this is probably the bulk of the site - the problem is that most people who've written this content think it's great stuff...but it really isn't contributing anything to the internet.
      There is a TINY bit of great content. Stuff that is Google worthy, stuff that will get the attention of Googlers, and stuff that isn't just regurgitated, rewritten crap.

      I have a small number of articles (Because I never did one of those stupid "30 In 30" things that exist for the sole purpose of pumping out garbage. Many are not nearly as up to date as they should be, a few have been half-edited and need a lot of work. I only edit my stuff every 6 months or so.
      More than half my stuff is featured 24/7, and I get paid regularly.
      One of my hubs gets used in classrooms in a certain region. One of them is #1 on Google for a popular (albeit region specific) set of search terms. Those two hubs alone were written years ago, haven't been edited in years, and bring in about $15 a month.

      If your stuff is getting unfeatured, there is a reason. It isn't some random event based on the planetary alignment.

      1. mattforte profile image88
        mattforteposted 8 years agoin reply to this

        Looks like that cleared everything up. Glad to have been of service.

    24. lovebuglena profile image85
      lovebuglenaposted 8 years ago

      I get when hubs become unfeatured due to poor quality... but hubs being unfeatured due to not getting enough traffic is just wrong. That should not be happening.

      1. Barbara Kay profile image73
        Barbara Kayposted 8 years agoin reply to this

        I agree. I am in the process of moving my low traffic hubs to a blog. A new venue might be the answer for them.

    25. passionatelearnr profile image87
      passionatelearnrposted 8 years ago

      i think you need to know the real reason why these hubs go unfeatured.send them an email.

     
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