Is absence of EC banners a technical fault?

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   LongTimeMotherposted 8 years ago

   Hi Matt. When HP moved all subdomains back to the main domain, I expected EC banners would be restored to hubs that previously held them (before choosing to opt out of EC and keep all hubs within subdomains.) So far, no sign of them.
   
   Is this a technical issue? Banners used to be restored, but haven't been since the big change. Is there something you could be doing to update ECs now that we are all forced to have our hubs appear alongside everyone else's?

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      Christy Kirwanposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Hi LTM,
      
      Being opted in and having your Hubs selected as EC are not the same thing. If you opted out of EC before the subdomain move, your Hubs will all have to be manually re-reviewed as EC candidates. This may take some time.
      
      I should add that this is not intended as a punishment or to indicate that HubPages no longer considers your writing worthy. It's simply that EC Hubs are periodically reevaluated anyway, and this was the most convenient time for us to re-review that subset of Hubs.

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         LongTimeMotherposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         Hi Christy. I've read this a few times, but still can't make sense of it. Sorry. Please try and explain it to me again. Here's what confuses me ...
         
         "Being opted in and having your Hubs selected as EC are not the same thing." Okay, I get that bit. However I had many EC hubs in the past, so I don't want you thinking I just expect to get ECs without merit.
         
         
         "If you opted out of EC before the subdomain move, your Hubs will all have to be manually re-reviewed as EC candidates." Now this bit makes it sound as though you know I had ECs before, otherwise they wouldn't be 're-reviewed'. Unless you're thinking they may have been reviewed at some time but found unworthy ... in which case I'd hardly have posted my original question. But let's continue.
         
         "This may take some time." Would it speed up the process if I was to send you a screenshot, taken when the EC banners were in place?
         
         But then you say:
         
         "I should add that this is not intended as a punishment or to indicate that HubPages no longer considers your writing worthy. It's simply that EC Hubs are periodically reevaluated anyway, and this was the most convenient time for us to re-review that subset of Hubs."
         
         So what does this mean?
         
         When was the most convenient time for you to "re-review that subset of Hubs"?
         
         And which subset of Hubs?
         
         Are my hubs the subset you refer to? And if they are and were re-reviewed, why would they need re-reviewing again? Surely if you'd already re-reviewed them (whenever 'this' time was) and decided they were not longer worthy of EC, you'd just be telling me.
         
         Seems a lot simpler and more effective to simply say 'We changed our minds about giving you ECs on all those hubs' if that was the case, instead of re-reviewing a re-review.
         
         So, please start afresh and give me a reply I can understand. Thanks.

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            jansharesposted 8 years agoin reply to this

            +1

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         2. 93

            Christy Kirwanposted 8 years agoin reply to this

            I'm assuming you've previously had EC Hubs because you say so in your opening post and because I've seen a number of your Hubs and know you do quality work.
            
            However, EC status is not and has never been permanent. Hubbers who were still opted out when we removed the opt-out option will need to have their Hubs reevaluated to ensure that they comply with all the new standards including product guidelines, etc. Our corpus of EC Hubs are constantly being rechecked to ensure that they remain EC-worthy, but for those who have opted out, those Hubs have not been reviewed by an editor for potentially 6 months or longer, so they will need to be re-reviewed.

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               LongTimeMotherposted 8 years agoin reply to this

               Much clearer, Christy. Thank you.
               
               Is the process of re-reviewing formerly opted-out hubs under way? I have looked at profile pages of a number of other opted-out hubbers who also still show no ECs.
               
               I understand 'Our corpus of EC Hubs are constantly being rechecked to ensure that they remain EC-worthy', but no mention of whether or not the rest of us are currently being re-reviewed. Do you have an estimated timeframe for this process?

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               1. 93

                  Christy Kirwanposted 8 years agoin reply to this

                  Yes, your Hubs are currently in the queue for review (I'm not sure how priority is determined, so some Hubs will probably be reviewed more quickly than others). I can't say how long reevaluation will take. Please be patient with us. We're still doing a lot of follow-up work associated with the move to HubPages.com and we'll do our best to get to them quickly.

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      Millionaire Tipsposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      LTM, are you saying that you had EC banners on hubs while they were in your subdomain, but they are now missing since the switchover to the main domain?

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      1. 92

         LongTimeMotherposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         Hi MT. No, there was no such thing as an EC banner on hubs within our subdomains.
         
         I had multiple EC hubs but their traffic dropped, so I moved them back to my subdomain. Now they are no longer in my subdomain, I'm puzzled why they're not reinstated as EC.
         
         Before the big 'move', hubbers reported their ECs were being automatically reinstated as soon as they opted back in to the EC program.

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   3. 94

      PegCole17posted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Some of mine still have the banner. However, several of mine have lost the accolade as a result of low traffic and losing featured status. After some creative attempts at updating and sharing them, not all of them return to EC status once featured again.
      
      Should I presume that they no longer meet the criteria as Editor's Choice? Is the team is waiting to see if they gain enough traffic to remain EC? It seems to me that traffic is not a criteria that determines if a hub is quality writing.

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   DrMark1961posted 8 years ago

   I used to have about 25 of these but I opted out. Since I am now back in, I have 0 of them.

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      LongTimeMotherposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Hi Mark. Me too. Now that we are forced to play on an 'even playing field', it only seems fair to provide us all with the potential for EC banners. Presumably there's technology that takes care of that ...

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   jansharesposted 8 years ago

   Hi LTM. You and DrMark1961 brought up the status of ECs in light of the switch, in the following forum:
   
   http://hubpages.com/forum/topic/133740
   
   It looks to me that EC status, along with banners, is nullified and we're all the same now under one domain. It also makes me wonder if we are all now eligible for HOTD?

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   1. 92

      LongTimeMotherposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Hi, Jan. Yes we did, but weeks have passed and it still hasn't been resolved. Which is why I am wondering if it is now a technical issue.
      
      Matt will know.

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      1. 93

         jansharesposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         Yup. It's so hard to tell glitches from actual changes these days. I hope we can get definitive answers this time. Seems that staff aren't addressing issues that have come up as a result of the domain change.

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   DrMark1961posted 8 years ago

   Sorry I was interrupted in that last post. I already contacted the team at HP about this. My reply was:
   
   We have removed the option to opt out of Editor's Choice now that all Hubs are already on the main HubPages domain since the EC Program will no longer require a URL change (which was the main concern for most Hubbers who did not wish to participate). So, you are already opted back in.
   
   Please let us know if you have any more questions.
   
   Thanks,
   Christy Kirwan
   Team HubPages
   
   Not a lot of help, is it? Maybe you will get a more useful reply.

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      LongTimeMotherposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Well I take that as being confirmation there's a technical glitch of some kind, Mark.
      
      We know for a fact that opting back in used to reinstate ECs, and now it hasn't. So that's a definite problem.
      
      I haven't dropped the standard of my previous EC hubs, and I'm certain you haven't either. In fact, some of mine still have their HOTD marks, yet they're not EC.
      
      So, as per Christy's instruction, I think we can safely say this thread is our way of asking more questions.

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   Mark Ewbieposted 8 years ago

   We are all EC now.  I am proud that all my Hubs are representing the flag of proper writing promoted by the HubPages writing site.
   
   Indeed, this very morning after a brief altercation with a policeman, I explained to him that my curious behaviour was down to me being a writer.  While he continued to punch me I told him the website address and how I had once won an accolade.
   
   He is probably checking my articles as from my cell window it appears he has gone home.

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      LongTimeMotherposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Oh, how you tempt me to go off-topic, Mr Ewbie. You deserve more than one accolade.

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         Mark Ewbieposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         Ah apologies for wandering from the path.  In my defence I did start by saying we are all EC now.  ie. I don't think EC is a thing any more.

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         1. 92

            LongTimeMotherposted 8 years agoin reply to this

            I hate to hit you with this news when you are already battered and bruised, my friend, but EC is still around. It is just subdomains that hit the dust.
            
            Without subdomains, we are all EC candidates - in theory. lol. 
            
            Take a look at a few profile pages and you'll see EC banners. Just don't look at mine. None there!

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               jansharesposted 8 years agoin reply to this

               LTM, glad you received clarification. Please excuse my incorrect assumption.

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