Explore Hubs Page: Popular Hubs

1. 91

   Jodahposted 7 years ago

   When you go to the "Explore: Hubs" page it automatically defaults to "Popular Hubs". The same five or so always seem to appear including; "Five ways to Tell if Your Car Battery is Dying", "The Military Diet" etc, which are fine, but one that turns my stomach and I can't see would be attractive to most new visitors to the site is "Snot and Mucus Decoded: The Meaning of Snot Colors". Admittedly it is an Editor's Choice hub and has over 800 comments so undoubtedly it is popular. I just feel the hubs listed here should be changed at least weekly. What do others think?

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      tsmogposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      Even though rarely do I venture there as much, I observe the same. A very valid point Jodah. Also, I really do not like that only 5 hubs are shown. It does leap to 10 Hubs after one selects two more subcategories.
      
      I presume it is only 5 Hubs today because of design aimed at Mobile Views or what will appear on a smart phone or tablet. At least if not signed in one does not see Q&A or Discussions (Forums). Some of those I think would repel an internet explorer . . . I dun'no.

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      1. 91

         Jodahposted 7 years agoin reply to this

         I try to avoid venturing there as much as possible also. Occasionally I do just to see if there has been any changes, but alas.. no. Very unappealing and I agree that five does not seem enough.

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   2. 86

      moonlakeposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      I feel the same way you do the hubs are fine, but they should rotate them with the top hub of different subjects. Right now maybe top holiday hubs. Just so it's not constantly the same ones.

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         Jodahposted 7 years agoin reply to this

         Good idea Moonlake, to show holiday or seasonal hubs at various times of the year. As long as they change regularly.

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         1. 0

            Bronwyn Joy Ellioposted 7 years agoin reply to this

            +1

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      TIMETRAVELER2posted 7 years agoin reply to this

      Hopefully the team sees these comments, because they are spot on.

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      bravewarriorposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      I rarely, if ever, go to that section. However, if I were a new visitor, I'd want to see some variety. Why come back if the same hubs are featured over and over again? With thousands of writers on this site, surely HP wouldn't run out of articles to rotate and give some exposure.

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      Jackie Lynnleyposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      I totally agree with you; to see the same ones over and over again, it is like someone is asleep on the job. Not too surprised at that though. lol

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      Sherry Hewinsposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      Yep, totally boring.  I wish they would maybe rotate the top 200, or al least have more you could scroll to.

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2. 92

   Phyllis Doyleposted 7 years ago

   I agree with you, Jodah.

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      Jodahposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      Thank you Phyllis.

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   Venkatachari Mposted 7 years ago

   I also agree with you Jodah, it is very much sickening to see the same hubs there since months. There should be some variety for the visitors.

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   1. 91

      Jodahposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks Venkat.

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4. 0

   Bronwyn Joy Ellioposted 7 years ago

   When I first wrote here five years ago, that page used to change, like our profiles. Maybe the HP team need to go back to the future.

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      Jodahposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      Yes Bronwyn maybe they do. This current set-up is quite a new innovation..if that is the right word.

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         clivewilliamsposted 7 years agoin reply to this

         its quite annoying to see the same hubs when you explore

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5. 77

   Helga Silvaposted 7 years ago

   I agree with everyone. Same hubs every day is becoming boring. They need to make some changes.

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6. 86

   tillsontitanposted 7 years ago

   I totally agree. It is boring and a bit insulting to think there are so few popular hubs!

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      DrMark1961posted 7 years agoin reply to this

      I definitely agree on the insulting part. I sent an email to the team at hubpages and asked why the dog health section only showed a few hubs, and always the same ones. I was told that only those hubs were good enough to make the grade.
      So, if your dog does not have diarrhea HP has nothing to offer you. The rest of us cannot help your dog.

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      1. 92

         LongTimeMotherposted 7 years agoin reply to this

         What would you know, Mark? You're only a vet. lol.
         
         Yes, sure, there are many of us who are grateful for your professional advice when it comes to caring for our dogs ... but what would we know? Those of us who turn to vets for advice about dog health are clearly not in a position to assess hubs that are 'good enough'.
         
         Oh, you poor man. You must be pulling your hair out with frustration.

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            DrMark1961posted 7 years agoin reply to this

            I do not want to whine about it but I spend a lot of hours writing health hubs to help people with dogs. When the HP team told me that they were not good enough to post on those pages since they were not as popular, I did feel it was not right.
            
            One of that reasons I started the new web page.

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               Jackie Lynnleyposted 7 years agoin reply to this

               I can understand that.

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   jackclee lmposted 7 years ago

   Totally agree. There are a few improvements that HubPages could use and that is one of them. As any new reader to HubPages, I would imagine they may be confused a bit about what HubPages is about. Some better promotions and any help in getting the best of HubPages out there is welcomed. Starting with the Home Page...

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8. 96

   cat on a soapboxposted 7 years ago

   I agree that they should be changed often or at least rotated among a new mix of popular hubs. As it stands, where's the incentive to check them out when it's the same old stuff?

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9. 0

   calculus-geometryposted 7 years ago

   Most people visiting HubPages land on a hub via a direct link from social media or a search engine, and they are not likely to visit the front page as there are many click out options on the hubs (ads, links to related hubs).  Still, for the minority who do reach the home page, it is better to show them the Best or Popular hubs than the Latest.  Most won't notice the selection is static because they are not likely to visit the front page repeatedly.
   
   The Best list varies a lot more week to week in my observation so perhaps that would be a better default tab.

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   1. 91

      Jodahposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      They either need to rotate it like the "Best" hub page, or swap it for the "Best" page. Besides anything chosen as the best should be better than most popular shouldn't it...though..?

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      DrMark1961posted 7 years agoin reply to this

      Yes, the majority do come in through search engines, but a few do look at these front pages, and if they do show up more than once, should the page always be the same? That is the best way to make sure that the visitor does not bookmark HP and never comes back again. 
      
      And if it changed, it should be more than just the first five best. Otherwise it will just be the same thing, over and over, ad nauseum.

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         Jean Bakulaposted 7 years agoin reply to this

         If the five changed every day, that would be a good thing for people checking out the site, but I don't know how much work it takes (probably a lot). I never even look at the first page, I have HP set as a favorite and log into my own page.

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         Sherry Hewinsposted 7 years agoin reply to this

         It I could ever see anything I hadn't seen before by going to that page, maybe I would go to it more often.

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            Jodahposted 7 years agoin reply to this

            The issue has been resolved Sherry, they have finally changed the hubs featured on those pages.

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    Protaskerposted 7 years ago

    Do the "popular" hubs ever get rotated, so there is new content on that page once in a while? It's kind of stale when the same pages keep showing up, it tells searchers, there's nothing new here.

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       Jodahposted 7 years agoin reply to this

       That's exactly my point Protasker. I haven't seen the hubs spotlighted on the "Popular Hubs" page change at all. If it does rotate I haven't noticed it as every time I have checked in the last two weeks it has been the same.

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          Jean Bakulaposted 7 years agoin reply to this

          I agree about a rotation. I'd like to be exposed to as many people's work as I can. I notice when I change the six hubs we are allowed to highlight on our profile page, the views on those hubs always go up. I try to change them every week.

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             Jean Bakulaposted 7 years agoin reply to this

             Also, the hub advertised under my comment is six years ago. Why doesn't the administration file the old comments somewhere else? I often begin to answer or comment, them realize it's a thread that's from 3-6 years old.

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                Jodahposted 7 years agoin reply to this

                Yes Jean, I agree.

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             Jodahposted 7 years agoin reply to this

             I experience the same thing Jean, and change mine regularly.

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    makingamarkposted 7 years ago

    You seem to have started this thread twice - and I commented in the other one
    
    Here goes again....
    
    The problem with Popular Hubs is that it would appear HubPages has never ever got around to changing the algorithm so that it takes into account when the hub was made, when it was last updated - and when it got the big peak in traffic which means it's always on top of the popular list.
    
    If they eliminated any factors which reference traffic more than one year old you'd probably see a very different popular list for various categories. That would certainly be the case for a number in categories I post where extremely old hubs are the most popular.
    
    After all Google only counts certain factors (like traffic peaks) for 6 months - and then it ignores them.
    
    Ask anybody who has ever had a popular blog post on a topic and how it can ride very high for several months - and then sink like a stone.

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    1. 91

       Jodahposted 7 years agoin reply to this

       Thanks for your reply. Well HP need to "get around to" changing the algorithm for popular hub. Surely there is more than these five hubs that are classed as popular.

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12. 91

    Jodahposted 7 years ago

    Wow! I just checked the "popular hubs" page and all five listed have changed. Maybe HP staff did read this forum thread. Good news anyway.

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       DrMark1961posted 7 years agoin reply to this

       That is good news. The sections that I was complaining about have been changed too! It may not make a difference to me personally, but if someone does come in and wants to look at the hubs available, it sure gives them a lot to look through.
       Good job, HP staff.

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    Farawaytreeposted 7 years ago

    YES!!!!!! PLEASE change it

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14. 86

    RJ Schwartzposted 7 years ago

    Absolutely agree with you Jodah - I'm turned off by the lack of variety and agree that it should be randomized (with some boundaries of course - a certain criteria for minimum quality perhaps) - the fact that these have so many comments is probably because they are on the front page.

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15. 83

    Jeramey Conradposted 7 years ago

    I agree with most of the above.
    
    If the idea of Hubbers is that we are writing "magazine-style" in-depth pieces and not blog-style, then shouldn't HP itself be like a magazine?
    
    Most magazines I know of change the cover every month or even week. And the landing page is like the cover with 5 headlines (cover stories) on it. Might be a tad boring to the casual visitor on their second click here. Makes it look like a dead site.

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