Regarding “follow" and "comment” options for non hubbers

1. 81

   Farah N Huqposted 3 years ago

   Can people outside the HubPages community follow our work directly in HubPages?
   It would’ve been nice if we had an option for it including a comment section for regular readers with the approval option being in the hands of the author.
   Would love to hear your thoughts on this…

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2. 83

   Jodahposted 3 years ago

   Farah, before the niche sites were moved to the Maven format (and Discover) we were able to freely comment on everything. Authors did have the option however of disabling comments on individual hubs, setting them to need approval, or unmoderated and allowing all comments. People outside HubPages could also read our articles and leave comments, but there was no option for them to follow anyone. Hopefully, comments on the niche sites and Discover will be restored eventually (was supposed to happen in the 2nd quarter this year but didn't).

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   1. 81

      Farah N Huqposted 3 years agoin reply to this

      Thank you for the information, John. Yes, I have just seen a separate thread discussing the comment section. Good to know HubPages is looking forward to fixing the issue.
      If readers could follow our published work directly, wouldn’t that increase the number of views for HubPages? Plus the readers could also come back to read a new hub as soon as it gets published if they got a notification for it. I am sure many of the established hubbers have fans who would like that option to be there. Just a thought! Anyway, thank you for the clarification, John. Stay blessed!

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3. 81

   Brenda Arledgeposted 3 years ago

   It would be wonderful if outside people could read, Follow and comment.
   So many people that read my work though..get upset with the ads that jump up in their way as they read my work.

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   1. 81

      Farah N Huqposted 3 years agoin reply to this

      I agree with you, Brenda. I wonder if HubPages has given a thought to it. I see no benefit in restricting comments and followers. The bigger the number the better, as long as we can have the power to moderate these. Unless you can tie the floating mass of readers, they will eventually drift away...and yes, the ads popping up in between rhyming lines can be extremely distracting. They should at least let the authors decide where they want to place these ads.

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      1. 84

         bravewarriorposted 3 years agoin reply to this

         Comments were disabled about a year ago. HP authors have discovered a workaround by going thru their feed in order to comment. However, outside readers do not have access to the "back door". There have been many forums and even articles written about our dismay in losing the comment button. HP/Maven/Arena doesn't seem to be in a hurry to restore this communication tool.

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         1. 81

            Farah N Huqposted 3 years agoin reply to this

            I believe HubPages should put more focus in building interaction between the writers and readers for its own benefits.

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            1. 84

               bravewarriorposted 3 years agoin reply to this

               Many of us feel the same as you, Farah. However, HP is more focused on revenue by way of the ads that appear on each of our niche site articles.

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4. 81

   Farah N Huqposted 3 years ago

   Well, this can be easily done in addition to the ads. The ads can stay but letting the authors format the placement of these ads will surely improve the reading experience for the readers. These ads are there to draw the attention of the readers. No readers would only mount to no ads and less revenue from this line in future.

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5. 84

   bravewarriorposted 3 years ago

   I wouldn't hold my breath, Farah. HP controls the placement of ads. We have no access to that when creating our posts. We never have.

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   1. 81

      Farah N Huqposted 3 years agoin reply to this

      Yes, I clearly got that point but I just hope HP would take these issues into consideration. No harm in doing that I suppose.

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6. 79

   MariaMontgomeryposted 3 years ago

   I post links to my articles on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Then those readers go to HP, read the article, and they can't comment. So frustrating. Another thing is that HP allows us to have buttons for FB & Twitter, but not Insta. Does anyone know why that is?

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   1. 81

      Farah N Huqposted 3 years agoin reply to this

      Exactly! Even I wonder about this. If we can pin our hubs in Pinterest then why can’t we do that in Instagram? Yes, the readers feel less connected when they find a comment section being there with quite a few comments and yet they cannot post a comment without going through the trouble of signing up for a membership. They no longer find the interest to click on the links again. Sad facts.

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   2. 84

      bravewarriorposted 3 years agoin reply to this

      Maria, when the share buttons were first made available there was no Instagram. Apparently, they've not been updated to meet with today's social media options.

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