Changes to author bio

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   Natalie Cooksonposted 6 years ago

   I've had an article edited to move to a niche site and an author bio has been added, but I'm pretty sure it's not one I've written.  The author bio I did have seems to have disappeared and the other articles that it was included on now have the new bio.  Not a big deal, but I didn't realise the author bios could be amended by an editor as well as the article.  (I just mean the bio that's added to articles, not the one on my profile).  I had written one that was relevant to specific articles but that now seems to have been replaced with a more general one with info taken from the profile.

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      psycheskinnerposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      Whether or not something has gone wrong with it, you can set which bios go with which articles from your account.  So you can assign one, or write a new one, for that hub.

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   2. 77

      TIMETRAVELER2posted 6 years agoin reply to this

      I have had summaries changed by editors from time to time, but not bios, but the changes have always been good ones.  On the other hand, this may be a glitch, so you may want to contact the team about it.

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   3. 83

      Robinposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      Hi, Natalie.  We do add author bios to specific articles.  We are hearing more and more how important they are.  Google looks at Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness (EAT) when they are assessing quality, and a specific author bio helps build this trust and authority.  Ideally, your author bio will be very specific to the article. In fact, we have removed very general bios.  For example, if you are writing about a specific issue with your car and your bio says you love long walks on the beach, we might remove it.  In some cases, bios that are too general and tangential can cause your reader to lose trust in your content.  In your case, I would recommend editing this bio and adding one that is specific to why you are qualified to write about herbal teas that help you sleep.  I will discuss this in our next editing meeting and with the specific editor.  Thanks for bringing it up!
      
      As for the bio being shown on other articles, I'm not sure what happened there, and I will get to the bottom of it. A new bio shouldn't transfer to other articles.  When we edit a bio, all of the articles with this bio are updated.  We edit existing bios when there is a typo or grammar mistake.  When a new bio is created, it should only be shown on the one article.  On my end, I don't see a bio on this article when it was written.  Do you think you added a bio to the article before it was edited?   
      
      Just as a side note, when we add a bio, we pull the information from your profile page or from information in the article. 
      
      Thanks!

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      1. 82

         Natalie Cooksonposted 6 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks, I didn't add a bio to this article so I presume that's why one was added by an editor.  Bit odd that's it's replaced the bios on other articles though!

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            psycheskinnerposted 6 years agoin reply to this

            Indeed, it seems to me that editor-added bios should be tied only the the article being edited.

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            Robinposted 6 years agoin reply to this

            That is odd and not intended!  I will talk to our engineering team.  Sorry about the inconvenience!

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   Natalie Cooksonposted 6 years ago

   The odd thing is the one that I had assigned to certain articles has been replaced with one I didn't write, so if I want to use that one I'd have to write it again!

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      psycheskinnerposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      That is weird. You can probably find the old one in Google cache or the wayback machine and post it back in.

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3. 82

   Natalie Cooksonposted 6 years ago

   I've just had a look back at what they've edited and it does state that an author bio has been added or edited, but I think they must have added my existing one then edited it rather than just adding a new one as the previous articles that used that bio now also have the new one.

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      Marisa Wrightposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      I'm surprised they have edited a bio, I would object to that if they did it to me!   
      
      There is absolutely nothing to stop you changing the bio to what YOU want. It belongs to you, and you won't be penalized for it.

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4. 82

   Natalie Cooksonposted 6 years ago

   It does say in the edit notes to feel free to change the bio so I presume they just added it because I hadn't added one to this particular article.  It's just a bit confusing that they seem to have rewritten an existing bio that was used on other articles rather than adding it as a new one.

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      Marisa Wrightposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      This is a good opportunity to go to the bio section and make sure you've allocated a bio to all your Hubs.

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5. 83

   Robinposted 6 years ago

   I looked into it, and it was an editor error.  I'll make sure it doesn't happen again.  I'm really sorry for the inconvenience, and I appreciate you posting this issue so we make sure it doesn't happen to others.  Did you update your bio to be more specific?? 

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   1. 82

      Natalie Cooksonposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      Not yet, but I plan to.

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