So Hubpages destroys my article - again

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   TessSchlesingerposted 4 years ago

   So now hubpage pro goes and ruins my article. They remove the first picture which is what draws the traffic to my article.
   
   This is how it works. I know this because I used to get 1.5 million views on posts in the early days of G+ And I did that often enough (2 or 3 times a week over a two year period) to understand just how powerful that first picture is.
   
   When a link is posted on other sites, it's not the title that draws readers to click on it. It is the photograph.
   
   So Hubpages removes completely a picture that I took a long time to find because it had a girl with emerald green eyes, and it was a stunning picture.
   
   I can give HP a 100% guarantee that the article will now disappear into oblivion.
   
   Please can someone from hubpages explain \why you actually think that removing the photo will improve my traffic.
   
   Let me explain to the editors how this works.
   
   When a site like pinterest links to my article, the first picture comes up. If the picture is lovely, people click on it. If the picture is not lovely, they don't click on it. It has very little to do with the title of the article. People will always go for the most  beautiful picture.
   
   You have made the second picture (which is awful) now the picture that will show in all the places where the links are.
   
   Please can you tell me why you would remove a photo that has a girl with green eyes and a caption that tells what the article is about? Why would you do that? Why would you destroy what has been working for years?
   

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      samanthacubbisonposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      Hello Tess,
      
      The image has been removed because it is currently being basic edited. You should have gotten an email. It is not done yet, and your editor is currently working on a new photo. The old photo was removed because the text added at the top of the photo wasn't really visible in a preview thumbnail. So your editor will probably add some text overlay to a similar image.
      
      As our editors put a lot of effort into their work, please email us before making any big changes so we can find the best solution and avoid moving it back to HubPages. Similarly, if you do not wish to have your articles touched at all from now on, you can always move them back to HubPages.
      
      Best,
      
      Samantha

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         TessSchlesingerposted 4 years agoin reply to this

         Your editors removed every single photo of mine and substituted the most unattractive awful photos. I am able to remove the text from the top and put it on the bottom. It's not a problem.
         
         Basically you're threatening me. You're saying that if your work is substandard, I have to put up with it and I have to change an article that has been doing very well for four or five years.
         
         I have qualifications in colour, in photography, in fashion design, in interior design, and I know how to make things beautiful. Your editor might know more about SEO than I do, but she does not know what visually appeals. I do.
         
         I have unpublished it to have a look at what was done, but if you honestly believe that your version will get more traffic, then clearly, my work isn't good enough.
         
         I understand the threat, but this is not a matter of my article wasn't working. This is a case of your destroying my article. You could just have asked me nicely to remove the print on top.

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            samanthacubbisonposted 4 years agoin reply to this

            I understand your concern with the photos. You do not need to put up with anything, we only ask that you email us before making any outstanding changes. We want to collaborate with authors and find common ground.
            
            You have the right to do as you please with your article, but please know that my intention was to help you find the best solution.

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               TessSchlesingerposted 4 years agoin reply to this

               How would you help my article? It is already on the top of Google?
               
               From long experience, everytime I get an edit from hubpages, my traffic goes down. It has never ever gone up.
               
               My only concern is traffic.
               
               As no positive traffic ever comes from your edits, I need to know what other possible purpose can be had for editing my work in a way that gets it less traffic.

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            OldRosesposted 4 years agoin reply to this

            Tess, I have had similar problems with the editors because, like you, I have expertise that they lack.  They totally destroyed one of my articles, both photos and text.  I simply reverted it and emailed them telling them in detail how the changes they made were total nonsense from a horticultural point of view (I teach gardening).  My version of the article remains on Dengarden.  The important thing, as Samantha says, is communication.  Let the editors finish their destruction, then fix what needs to be fixed  and email them detailing why what they did was wrong and how you are correcting it. 
            
            We experts must always keep in mind that the editors who work on our articles are experts in their fields, not ours.  What looks "wrong" to them in their world, is "correct" to us in our worlds.  We need to educate them about our fields as much as they need to educate us about grammar, SEO, etc.

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               MizBejabbersposted 4 years agoin reply to this

               OldRoses, I'm not so sure that their editors are "experts" in their fields. I had an editor edit some text in an article of mine. They didn't like a mathematical statement of location for an outside staircase that is at the front entrance of my house. The editor's cutesy edit relocated the staircase to several feet behind the house, although the photo shows the exact location of the staircase. I AM an editor of 33 years, so I know of what I speak. I put the text back as I had it and explained to them why I did it.
               As far as putting Tess's article back on HubPages, I find that my articles do better there. To move one to a niche site is subjecting it to a quick painful death.

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                  OldRosesposted 4 years agoin reply to this

                  When the niche sites were created and HP staff were moving the best hubs to them, they moved my best performing hub.  It promptly tanked.  It didn't regain its traffic for 2-3 years.  Needless to say, I was hysterical. But as the niche sites started to gain traffic, I started moving the rest of my hubs to them.  I have noticed that my hubs that are still on HubPages have very little traffic.  The moment I move them to a niche site, they immediately gain significant traffic.  At the rate of 1 hub every 2 weeks, I should have the last of my hubs moved in about 6 months.

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                     TessSchlesingerposted 4 years agoin reply to this

                     And at this point, I couldn't be bothered. I actually haven't written much for hubpages over the last few years. They won't provide a block button so that I can block the kind of people I don't want to speak to.
                     
                     And I haven't benefited from any of their editing.
                     
                     There has to be more profitable ways of using one's writing skills.

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                  TessSchlesingerposted 4 years agoin reply to this

                  Thank you. I'll take that option. I have removed mine from publication at this time until I can correct it. If it goes back to hubpages, so be it.
                  
                  I fail to understand the use of editors at this point. They only appear to correct and edit my articles which are already at the top of Google, and why would you want to edit articles on the top of Google? They aren't going to get anymore traffic.
                  
                  In fact, every single article that they have touched 'professionally edited' has lost traffic.
                  
                  My understanding was that editors were originally employed in order to correct the English of the bad writing on G+. Nothing like that has happened. Instead they are correcting people who are already professional writers (and editors), and it really is just a matter of opinion now. They also correct pieces that are already doing well. And, I for one, have never seen an increase in my traffic as a result of their edits.
                  
                  What they have not done is go over the thousands of articles on hubpages that actually need editing and could possibly get more traffic if SEO were applied.
                  
                  That's what they should be doing.

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               samanthacubbisonposted 4 years agoin reply to this

               We prefer that you email us before making any changes, rather than afterward. Though we do appreciate the communication.

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               TessSchlesingerposted 4 years agoin reply to this

               Oh, I've probably handled this completely the wrong way. I just unpublished the piece and am now looking for alternatives.
               
               I actually went to look at the writing of this particular editor. As someone who actually worked for two publishing houses in London as an editor, I could pretty much edit her piece as well. If she understood English the way it ought to be written, then she wouldn't have used the wording she did.
               
               A lot of my English was corrected. Examples are "I used an olive-green in order.." She removed the 'an' and I understand that. However, mine is not incorrect - just a more formal English, and the way we speak in colonial English.

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         TessSchlesingerposted 4 years agoin reply to this

         I've unpublished it, and for all I care, it can remain unpublished.
         
         I also don't like saying that I did something in order to look good and your editor changes it to say that I did it in order to feel confident.
         
         I have never felt a moment's inadequacy in my life. I did it to LOOK good, not FEEL good. There is a difference.
         
         In any event, I don't much care about word edits. I do care about the pictures.

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         eugbugposted 4 years agoin reply to this

         Samantha, If I can hijack this post, and it's relevant to photos and resolving text in them, there's an ongoing problem zooming images. I've brought it up several times and Matt acknowledged it, but you haven't got around to remedying it yet. I'll see if I can track down the link to my post describing the problem.
         
         Edit: Here it is. Basically the problem is that even if an image is loaded at the max displayable HubPages resolution (1040 pixels wide), on mobile devices, double tapping or doing the two finger thing doesn't resolve the max resolution, and it's limited to 520 pixels wide. On desktop it's possible to view the full 1040 pixels by a convoluted means. If an image contains diagrams or tables with text, the text can and up blurred and illegible. Ideally greater than 1040 pixels would have storage implications for you (but this wouldn't be the case if we compressed images beforehand and maintained resolution).
         
         https://hubpages.com/community/forum/34 … ot-working

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   theraggededgeposted 4 years ago

   Just put the photo back, Tess. I've reverted HubPro edits in the past.

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      TessSchlesingerposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      The problem is that I no longer have that photo. I took the photo from a facebook link. You can see the difference above. I can't even see what they've changed.
      
      But thank you, yes, I will add the photo back again. I truly don't understand why someone would delete it.

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         Sue Adamsposted 4 years agoin reply to this

         You can find the photo in your https://hubpages.com/my/photos/gallery
         Download it, change, move or enlarge the text and re-upload it to your article.

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   psycheskinnerposted 4 years ago

   If hubpages 'appreciates communication' perhaps they should wait for a reply before starting to edit a hub a high-traffic. That would allow the author to express what is important in the hub or their desire for it not to be extensively edited--which might save an editor a lot of wasted time.   I also think that changes that attribute statements or feelings to the author should require prior approval.

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      TessSchlesingerposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      I agree. If they had such a problem with my photos, they could simply have emailed me, and I would have fixed them. It's very simply work in any image editor. I am actually surprised that the editors don't know how to use an image editor.
      
      I also don't buy the general statement that they're correcting grammar, etc. When someone has been on a niche site for two years or however many years, grammar is hardly the problem.

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   vrdmposted 4 years ago

   I'm with you Tess. I think they interfere far too much for far too nonsensical reasons.

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      TessSchlesingerposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      Yup.
      
      I think they're doing the wrong work.
      
      They should be focusing on the thousands of pieces that are NOT on niche sites and trying to fix them up.
      
      What's the point of 'fixing' up articles that are already on niche sites and performing well?
      
      I truly don't get that.

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   Solarasposted 4 years ago

   I feel your pain Tess, which is why I put very limited effort into finding good images anymore. I know that no matter how appropriate, beautiful or unique the image is, it will be changed out in preference for someone's neighbor's new pickup from the pound. I am aware that one puppy was used to populate all of the images on at least 3 different articles by different authors. Why?

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      TessSchlesingerposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      Clearly editors don't realize just how visual the internet is. And, at this point, with all due respect to the editors, I do not for one moment believe changing one or two minor words has anything to do with SEO.

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         Dolores Monetposted 4 years agoin reply to this

         Tess, I agree with you on the visual aspect. Many times when I do a Google search, I hit Google images because the picture will show me what I am looking for (usually how to information for home, furniture re-dos, or sewing projects). So I locate what I want to read by searching images.

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            TessSchlesingerposted 4 years agoin reply to this

            So do I. If I battle to find something, I click on Google images. It's much easier to find what I'm looking for through images. It is also why I take so much care with the photos I put in. Probably why I get so upset as well.

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