Unfeatured Hub

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   William F. Torpeyposted 8 years ago

   HubPages has unfeatured my hub titled "History Often Depends on Who Writes It" obviously because of links they allege are unrelated to the topic. I vehemently disagree with that assessment. I therefore will not unlink it. In fact I've added a similar link that I should have included in the hub. I believe I understand why they think the links are unrelated, but the fact is that any new reader would wonder why I mention the names of Bing Crosby and Errol Flynn. These two links are necessary for any reader to understand who these people are and why link their names to this hub. HubPages should review their decision, approve of the links and feature the hub (It has been featured for years!)

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      theraggededgeposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      It seems to be policy that Hubpages wants articles to be complete, i.e. not depend on the reader leaving the site for vital information. Can't you add the relevant details to your hub?

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      1. 77

         jackclee lmposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         Don't take it personally. HP regularly will unfeature hubs due to lack of traffic. All you need to do is edit it with a small change and save. It will become featured again in a day.

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         1. 71

            William F. Torpeyposted 8 years agoin reply to this

            Thanks for commenting, jackclee. I have made edits on other hubs that thus became featured, but when I edited my "History" hub by adding the Errol Flynn link the hub remained unfeatured -- as it remains today. (See my response to theraggededge below.)

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      2. 71

         William F. Torpeyposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks for your response, theraggededge. No, I can't add the relevant details to the hub. When I wrote this piece in 1999 I believe virtually everyone reading it would know all about Bing Crosby and Errol Flynn. But that was 17 years ago. I don't think many young people today would know much -- if anything -- about these well known celebrities. That's why the links are appropriate (and necessary.) To add the relative details about Bing Crosby and Errol Flynn would absolutely be off topic.

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2. 0

   calculus-geometryposted 8 years ago

   Here's the problem, the hub has seven external links, six of which HubPages probably considers low-quality/promotional/irrelevant
   
   Amazon - overly promotional and irrelevant by HP's definition
   
   personal blog #1 - promotional
   
   wikianswers - low-quality and irrelevant
   
   personal blog #2 - promotional
   
   wikipedia - probably fine
   
   your HP profile - irrelevant
   
   thehour - promotional because you made it explicit that you have a connection to the website and linked to its homepage rather than citing a specific article.  if you want to promote your other web endeavors you can't  be  so overt about it. i've seen many hubbers getting away with it because they do it cleverly.
   
   HP is allergic to anything that even seems promotional and it's a losing game to try to convince the mods your links aren't self-serving.  I got a few "your hub has been snipped" emails referencing the snipped links as my personal sites and not one of them was a site  of mine!
   
   Best of luck with it whatever you decide to do with it.

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3. 71

   William F. Torpeyposted 8 years ago

   Thank you very much calculus-geometry for your thoughtful response to my question. I understand completely that HubPages thinks my links are self-promotion --- but the 7 links you refer to are, I believe, necessary for any reader today to know what I'm writing about. The content of this hub was written 17 years ago so I am sure the majority of young readers will not understand what I'm writing about without the help of the link. Bing Crosby, for instance, was the most popular singer/actor/entertainer of his era, but I can assure you (and HubPages) that many readers today will not understand my reference to him without my link explaining who Crosby was. I am not interested in making pennies on HubPages so I assure you (and HubPages) that the links I've used are for information -- not promotion.

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   1. 0

      calculus-geometryposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      It looks like you took out some of the links I pointed out.  Did it pass?

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      1. 71

         William F. Torpeyposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         While I made a few changes on my links to assuage HubPages, calculus-geometry I think my original links to my blog better served the reader than the link I replaced it with from Wikipedia. Nevertheless the hub has been featured again. Thank you for your help and your interest.

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4. 0

   Will Apseposted 8 years ago

   The editors are terribly hard working, you know, and conditions are not always perfect....
   
   

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5. 71

   William F. Torpeyposted 8 years ago

   I'm sure the editors are hard working, will apse. I understand why they might have thought my links were promotional (more often than not such links are overly promotional.) But it would make more sense for the editors to discuss the issue with the writer before jumping to conclusions. Anyone who reads my hub (written long before it appeared on HubPages) would not understand my concluding sentence unless they knew who Errol Flynn and Bing Crosby were and why I made reference to them. The links are there to provide the reader with important information --- not for purposes of promotion. Incidentally, I see the symbol that the hub is being looked at. I trust the editors will make the right decision.

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