Q & A Editor Rejections

1. 95

   TeriSilverposted 5 years ago

   Within the last few weeks, the Q & A editor has rejected my answers to people's questions, giving vague reasons for it.  It's getting to the point where I want to turn the whole thing off -- it is a hassle to research the answers only to have them bounced by HP.  If it were once or even twice, I'd  let it go but it's more often now and very annoying.  I think readers would rather have authors tell them SOMETHING, other than not have their questions published at all and feel like they've been ignored -- this is counter productive.  Please, HP, weigh in on this.

   replyreport
   1. 96

      Glenis Rixposted 5 years agoin reply to this

      Well, that’s a surprise. I didn’t know that a Q and A editor exists. I don’t answer all questions - some ask about things that have already been addressed in my article, so whoever is asking the question evidently hasn’t read through the article. Other questions are phrased in such a way that they appear to be set assignment questions posted by people who want me to do their homework, so I don’t always answer those in any depth - it’s above my pay grade and I am not philanthropic enough to spend valuable time dong so.

      replyreport
2. 87

   theraggededgeposted 5 years ago

   Yes, I was getting a lot of that. It makes me just answer questions with a sentence or two. No point wasting time if they are going to delete them.
   
   My notifications have gone awol again now, so I'm not getting them.

   replyreport
   1. 82

      samanthacubbisonposted 5 years agoin reply to this

      Hi guys,
      
      Unlike articles, Q&A does not have a custom response option due to the large quantities that we must approve or deny, so we have an automated response. Please be sure to check that the questions asked, as well as your answers, are within our guidelines: https://hubpages.com/faq/#article-qa-rules.
      
      @TeriSilver, we reject questions that are answered with an "I don't know," or "I'm not familiar." I understand that you're trying to help your readers, but technically it doesn't answer the question. Also, questions that are private in regards to contact information will not be published. From our FAQ:
      "The question and answer must not be purely personal or unrelatable to other readers."
      
      @theraggededge, I can say that a lot of your questions are rejected due to the fact that they are asked by people who are under eighteen, which violates our policy. I would just ignore these questions to save on time and effort. Also, we do not pass Q&As that answers a question with another question, or that are lacking a proper response.

      replyreport
      1. 87

         theraggededgeposted 5 years agoin reply to this

         I didn't know that all under 18 questions are rejected. Why doesn't HP state it clearly on the question form? Or maybe you do now; it's been a long time since I tried asking myself a question.
         
         I just checked one of my articles, which is aimed at teens and there are questions there that are clearly asked by under 18 year olds and they have been approved and even given their own page. So now I'm confused. Should I answer them or not?
         
         Not sure, I understand the 'lacking a proper response' bit. I try to respond 'properly'.

         replyreport
         1. 82

            samanthacubbisonposted 5 years agoin reply to this

            It is included in our general user/publishing policy, which is enforced across all borders.
            
            You had mentioned that sometimes you only answer with a sentence or two. Sometimes, answers do not provide enough information to be deemed useful.

            replyreport
            1. 87

               theraggededgeposted 5 years agoin reply to this

               
               
               
               
               
               
               

               replyreport
      2. 96

         EricDockettposted 5 years agoin reply to this

         I am confused on the under 18 thing. The TOU has always stated that people under 18 can't create a user account, but you wouldn't have to create a user account to ask a question.
         
         Are people under 18 prohibited from using HP altogether, and where does it say that in the TOU?
         
         If so, would that also mean we should delete comments from people who are under 18?

         replyreport
3. 88

   ThePracticalMommyposted 5 years ago

   I just came here to ask the same thing. I am assuming that my questions/answers are being deleted because they are personal, but these questions are being asked on pregnancy/conception hubs, and I have been answering them so that they are relatable to everyone who reads the question. It's super annoying that we first have to edit them before we even can answer them, and then they get deleted anyway.

   replyreport
   1. 82

      samanthacubbisonposted 5 years agoin reply to this

      Hi @ThePracticalMommy, the questions are not being rejected purely for being personal, but also because many contain the same question but with different dates, and the same couple stock answers. Also, directing people back to your article, or making statements that do not necessarily answer the question will usually be rejected.

      replyreport
      1. 88

         ThePracticalMommyposted 5 years agoin reply to this

         So basically I should hide almost all of the questions that come through, because they all ask the same thing (I know they don't bother to read the articles, which is why I redirect them, usually). Is there anyway to mass hide/delete them as they come in?

         replyreport
         1. 82

            samanthacubbisonposted 5 years agoin reply to this

            If you have further advice or bonus infomation to share, those answers would certainly be passable. You can turn Q&A "Off" on the specific articles that you get the most repeat questions.

            replyreport
            1. 93

               robhamptonposted 5 years agoin reply to this

               I am not seeing how I can turn on/off Q&A for specific articles. Anyone know how to do this?

               replyreport
               1. 87

                  theraggededgeposted 5 years agoin reply to this

                  I didn't know you could do that. I'd like to know how.

                  replyreport
                  1. 82

                     samanthacubbisonposted 5 years agoin reply to this

                     Here ya go! https://hubpages.com/faq/#article-qa-disable

                     replyreport
                     1. 96

                        DrMark1961posted 5 years agoin reply to this

                        In choosing that option the capsule disappears. If you have hundreds of hours spent answering questions that may be helpful to other readers, they are gone.
                        That is not a very helpful option.

                        replyreport
                        1. 82

                           samanthacubbisonposted 5 years agoin reply to this

                           Dr.Mark, I totally understand. It is still a relatively new feature, and was mostly designed for people that don't want Q&A at all. I'll pass your feedback along to the team!

                           replyreport
                           1. 96

                              DrMark1961posted 5 years agoin reply to this

                              Thanks, I appreciate it.

                              replyreport
            2. 96

               DrMark1961posted 5 years agoin reply to this

               Is it possible to turn off QandA for new questions but still allow the older questions to be viewed? Some readers will find valuable information in the older questions and I do not want them to disappear by removing the whole capsule.

               replyreport
               1. 96

                  Glenis Rixposted 5 years agoin reply to this

                  Why not simply delete the new questions to which you don’t want to respond? Works for me

                  replyreport
                  1. 96

                     DrMark1961posted 5 years agoin reply to this

                     I usually do this chore on Sunday, and by that time have 30 or 40 questions to go over. Deleting them, when people have been waiting for answers to help their dogs, seems dishonest and not helpful. I would rather have a notification that says "no new questions allowed" or something of the sort.
                     I do not want to close the comment capsule, and if someone really wants to ask a question they can use that.

                     replyreport
4. 96

   Glenis Rixposted 5 years ago

   On your Articles page , click on the Q&A box in the banner. Near the top right of the Q&A page is a small box where you can toggle between enable and disable. If you click to disable no further questions will be allowed but existing questions and answers will still appear on you articles. You can enable again whenever you wish.

   replyreport
   1. 96

      DrMark1961posted 5 years agoin reply to this

      Glenis, have you tried this? When I selected that box all of the older existing questions and answers disappeared.

      replyreport
5. 91

   jansharesposted 5 years ago

   Teri Silver, thanks for this post. I'm finding it annoying, too, and ready to turn it off. I think going automated may be necessary for HP Staff but overkill for the Q&A. The readers are the losers, unfortunately.

   replyreport
6. 61

   paradigmsearchposted 5 years ago

   I've turned off Q&A twice. Only you can decide.

   replyreport
7. 95

   TeriSilverposted 5 years ago

   I am on the FAQ page and am looking everywhere for this "display option" on my article's page to disable the Q & A.  Not happening, where is it exactly?  I am using a Mac with OS High Sierra.

   replyreport
   1. 96

      DrMark1961posted 5 years agoin reply to this

      Just go to your account page, find QandA on the right corner, click on it,  and then you will see a pause button right near the top of the page.
      You can turn it off for each article too by editing the article.

      replyreport
8. 95

   TeriSilverposted 5 years ago

   I see the pause button but that will turn it off for all articles, right?  I want to turn it off for a specific article but there's no place in the article (that I've found yet) that lets me do that.

   replyreport
9. 95

   TeriSilverposted 5 years ago

   Wait, wait ... I found it.  Kind of hidden but hopefully, this will work. It's an article on old cartoons, and it's gotten very tedious to try and find shorts that people describe with vague terms from memories that are 40 years old, or more.  Too bad, really but it's gotten to this ... thanks!

   replyreport
10. 95

    TeriSilverposted 5 years ago

    But yes, the problem is, all the other questions are now gone, ah well ...

    replyreport
    1. 96

       DrMark1961posted 5 years agoin reply to this

       Yes, it seems like a lot of good work is gone to waste.

       replyreport
11. 91

    jansharesposted 5 years ago

    Okay, it's done. I turned off the Q&A on my most popular article. Hate to do it if the bot picks up one little typo that I missed, it's canned. So I'm taking a break from carefully crafting answers to reader's questions on this particular article. This way, I won't feel guilty for ignoring or deleting the readers' queries, or HP not publishing them. Awkward.
    
    Also, when we get the dreaded email, there's no link back to the defective Q&A so we can fix it. Or am I missing something?

    replyreport
    1. 96

       DrMark1961posted 5 years agoin reply to this

       When I tried to reply it also came back as a dead link. I forwarded the same email to other members of the HP team and received a response. (Not the one I wanted, so I have turned off a lot more of the QandA sections on other articles, but it was a response.)

       replyreport
       1. 91

          jansharesposted 5 years agoin reply to this

          Thanks, DrMark.

          replyreport
          1. 96

             DrMark1961posted 5 years agoin reply to this

             You´re welcome. I have seen the work that you put into your answers and it is hard to know if it is worth the effort. I have started writing on a QandA website for this reason.

             replyreport
             1. 91

                jansharesposted 5 years agoin reply to this

                Thanks, Mark. I think about that a lot now. I treat my readers that same as I treat clients in my office who pay me. Maybe you're right, I need to rethink the work I'm putting in online for free, especially if it goes nowhere when it doesn't quite fit the Q&A guidelines.

                replyreport
    2. 82

       samanthacubbisonposted 5 years agoin reply to this

       janshares, just to let you know, there are no bots involved in our Q&A assessment process! They are all reviewed by real-life human beings. I doubt your Q&As are being rejected due to one or two little grammar mistakes, because if the answers are adequate, we will just do a quick edit before approving them. If you want some direct feedback for more clarity, shoot me an email or something!

       replyreport
       1. 61

          paradigmsearchposted 5 years agoin reply to this

          Sam, how would you like a long rambling conversation? I've been where you're at. I lived in SF for 10 years; well, 5 or whatever, then moved slightly east. Not just location, but vocation; been there and have done that.

          replyreport
          1. 82

             samanthacubbisonposted 5 years agoin reply to this

             Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure "participate in rambling conversations" isn't part of my job description. But good for you, following your dreams and whatnot!

             replyreport
             1. 61

                paradigmsearchposted 5 years agoin reply to this

                It has been a long road: https://www.websitewithnoname.com/p/about-athor.html I am pretty much winding down now. I have a lot of life experience, all someone has to do is ask.

                replyreport
             2. 96

                DrMark1961posted 5 years agoin reply to this

                Wait a minute, I thought I read that in your job description in the "New and Improved Team" that came in my email last week.

                replyreport
                1. 61

                   paradigmsearchposted 5 years agoin reply to this

                   I read that, too.

                   replyreport
       2. 91

          jansharesposted 5 years agoin reply to this

          Will do, Sam. Thanks.

          replyreport