Regarding Comments

1. 86

   Misbah786posted 15 months ago

   Hello Beautiful Souls,
   
   Is it possible to include a link to a forum post in our articles like this?
   
   
   
   
   I believe it may cause difficulties in getting the article featured or moving it to a network site, but I believe it will remain published. Of course, we can remove the link any time we want to, but it would be easier for the readers to make comments immediately after reading it rather than first reading and then looking for places to make comments (such as forums or emails, for example). What are your thoughts?

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   1. 90

      Jodahposted 15 months agoin reply to this

      That may be worth a try, Misbah. At least until the comment problem is sorted. Good thinking on your part.

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      1. 86

         Misbah786posted 15 months agoin reply to this

         Thank you so much, John
         Blessings always!

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   2. 90

      Jodahposted 15 months agoin reply to this

      Here is an idea. You could create a “comment” capsule on your article as you suggest but instead of leaving a link to the forum i have another idea.
      
      If readers email the author their comment they can copy it and paste it in the capsule. I know it would be more time consuming, but it could be a temporary work around. What do you think?

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      1. 86

         Misbah786posted 15 months agoin reply to this

         This is an excellent idea, John, but I have one concern: Can the comments prevent the article from passing the QAP test?  Do you think the editors can ask us to delete the capsule?
         For example, when I leave comments, I always include my best wishes and blessings. Editors, I believe, will consider the comment capsule to be the part of the piece and can question it. After all, it's HP, and anything can happen at any time.
         What do you think?

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         1. 90

            Jodahposted 15 months agoin reply to this

            I think we collect the comments and wait maybe a week before inserting them in the capsule, that gives the article time to pass QAP. Then the author just reply to all in one post e.g. thank you Misbah, Pamela, Kyler etc for reading and commenting on my article. … and answer any that have questions..then finish off with “blessings, have a great day” whatever.
            If more comments come later you can add them.
            HubPages probably won’t even check it, but if they do and say anything you can delete the capsule then. At least people will be able to see their comments were received and acknowledged.
            My only problem is that they won’t be notified when you do add the comments capsule unless you say so in a forum or tell them by email.
            
            It also may be difficult for an article like Bill’s mailbag that gets hundreds of comments to put them all in one capsule.

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            1. 86

               Misbah786posted 15 months agoin reply to this

               John, I think this is a great idea. We can do it. Waiting for a week or so before adding the comment capsules sounds brilliant. Yes, you are right; people like Mr. Bill, who receives hundreds of comments on their articles, cannot put all the comments into a single capsule, so it is tough for them. I think we can notify people via email replies that their comments will be displayed once the article passes the QAP.
               Let's give this a try.
               Blessings to you!!

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               1. 97

                  EricDockettposted 15 months agoin reply to this

                  I hate that I have to keep being the wet blanket here, but it seems like you all aren't thinking through the repercussions of your ideas.
                  
                  Any time you add unrelated content to an article, you are damaging your article. That means content like "Nice article" or "Well done." or "Blessings, have a great day,"
                  
                  These things get a pass when they are in the comments section. If you copy and paste them into the body of your article, these comments will dilute the focus of the article, hurt your potential for search traffic, and eventually harm the entire site.
                  
                  If editors see it, they will remove it.
                  
                  On the other hand, if you are thinking of including actual questions or critiques from readers, this can be a fantastic idea. Related content in a "FAQ" or "People Also Ask" section will strengthen your article and make it better.
                  
                  It is a little alarming that some people seem to be trying to find ways to subvert the HP publishing policies, potentially create problems with the niche sites, and make more work for the editors just to get social interaction back.
                  
                  It is probably a good idea to check with HP before doing anything.

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                  1. 90

                     Jodahposted 15 months agoin reply to this

                     I appreciate your concerns Eric. It is disappointing that we have to keep trying to think up ways to interact and comment on each other’s articles. Originally we were assured that comments would be enabled on the niche sites no later than June 2021, that didn’t happen, but at least we were able to comment if we caught an article as soon as it was published or if it appeared on our feed.
                     Even that was removed when commenting was introduced to AxleAddict..but that commenting feature is useless as no one receives notification a comment has been made. Hopefully, that will be fixed before commenting is restored anywhere else..but who knows how long that will take. If HP at least restores the commenting via the feed until it is successfully rolled out on l niche sites and Discover, we will l stop trying to find ways around it.

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                     1. 86

                        Misbah786posted 15 months agoin reply to this

                        Agreed +

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                  2. 86

                     Misbah786posted 15 months agoin reply to this

                     I understand your concerns,  Eric. I wish HP also value our concerns. The writers are the community. They should understand how their disastrous update has damaged the liveliness of our community and the site's performance.
                     Peace and Blessings!

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                     1. 97

                        EricDockettposted 15 months agoin reply to this

                        They do value your concerns and they do understand. This is why they are putting in time and effort to bring back a comments section that isn't shared across all of the other Arena Group sites. This is time they could be spending on more important things, like finding ways to increase revenue.
                        
                        While the writers are the community, it is only a small percentage of writers that take part in the social side of HubPages. The community also includes people who write here for a side income, people who never interact with anyone, and people who couldn't care less about the comments.
                        
                        The community is everyone.

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                        1. 86

                           Misbah786posted 15 months agoin reply to this

                           I greatly appreciate your honesty

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2. 84

   Farah N Huqposted 15 months ago

   Wow, brilliant idea, Misbah! I just tried and it seems to work! Thank you so much!!!

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   1. 86

      Misbah786posted 15 months agoin reply to this

      Oh, yes, I just saw it. Interestingly, your piece is on LetterPile. This indicates that it is functional. However, we will have to wait and see if HP asks you to remove it or not. I'm delighted it works.
      
      Thank you so much, Farah.
      Stay blessed!!

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3. 81

   bhattucposted 15 months ago

   Good idea, it would work.

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   1. 86

      Misbah786posted 15 months agoin reply to this

      Thank you, Sir.
      Stay Blessed!

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4. 84

   Farah N Huqposted 15 months ago

   Oh yes, that is there! However, it’s just 1 article and the comments are all for the poem in particular. It is no offensive link. Hopefully they won’t remove it. Thank you once again for this wonderful idea! I was feeling bad that this is going to be the only article that won’t have the comments. Your idea has solved the problem now. My blessing for you too, Misbah!

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   1. 86

      Misbah786posted 15 months agoin reply to this

      Glad I could help. 

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5. 83

   surovi99posted 15 months ago

   Wonderful idea, Misbah! Loved it.

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      Misbah786posted 15 months agoin reply to this

      Thank you so much, Rosina
      Blessings to you!

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6. 81

   Brenda Arledgeposted 15 months ago

   Misbah
   I'm kinda lost.
   Where & how are you posting this.
   
   Is it after you post article ?
   Then you post forum with name of article & comments?

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   1. 86

      Misbah786posted 15 months agoin reply to this

      Brenda, first write an article, then add an Extra capsule and title it "Comments." Create a forum post and paste the link to that forum post into the comments capsule. This, I believe, will be a more convenient way to make comments.
      Blessings and Love!

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      1. 91

         bravewarriorposted 15 months agoin reply to this

         Brilliant idea, Misbah! Let's hope HP Staff doesn't flag/punish anyone who employs this tactic. Once they discovered we found a workaround by way of our feed, the ability to comment there was eradicated. I don't know why they are so hell-bent to sever communication within our community!

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         1. 86

            Misbah786posted 15 months agoin reply to this

            Shauna, Let's simply keep our spirits up. However, I believe that doing this for every article can cause havoc on forums. Lol!
            It could be something wonderful or something bad. Let's only hope for the best.
            
            Sending Blessings to you

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7. 89

   boxelderredposted 15 months ago

   It’s somewhat cumbersome, but it does appear to work as a near-term workaround.  This could be useful for Brenda’s weekly prompts.  Brenda - to see it employed check out Farah’s most recent article, which is in her profile and now on Letterpile.

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   1. 86

      Misbah786posted 15 months agoin reply to this

      Thank you so much, Greg. I agree with you.
      Blessings always!

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8. 95

   Peggy Wposted 15 months ago

   Hi Misbah,
   
   I think somewhere in the rules it is written that we are not to use links to our own articles.  So I would be wary of doing that.  You certainly do not want to be banned from writing on this site.  Why not send an inquiry to the HubPages staff to get clarification on this?

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   1. 91

      bravewarriorposted 15 months agoin reply to this

      Peggy, I was just thinking the same thing once I put more thought into Misbah's (brilliant) suggestion as a workaround. Another issue would be HP flagging the article as spammy, rendering it unfeatured.

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      1. 86

         Misbah786posted 15 months agoin reply to this

         That's what I said to Farah above. However, her piece remained on LetterPile after adding the link.  I believe HP editors do take some time to review what has been modified in the article. In addition, I believe the editors have a day off on Saturday. I believe I can send them an email to inquire whether it is possible or not.
         
         Thank you so much Peggy and Shauna. Much appreciated!
         
         Blessings!

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         1. 91

            bravewarriorposted 15 months agoin reply to this

            The simple solution would be for HP to reinstate the ability to comment via feed. Why in the world did they take that away?????

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            1. 86

               Misbah786posted 15 months agoin reply to this

               This is the most challenging question for HP staff to answer... Lol!

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9. 97

   EricDockettposted 15 months ago

   This isn't a great idea if your articles are moved to niche sites. Bunches of links from a niche site back to the HP domain would harm rankings for the entire site. That is why we are not supposed to link from niche site articles back to HubPages articles.
   
   If you are going to do this (after HP approves) I would hope you'd create your forum/comments threads over in the appropriate topical forum. There are topical forums for every HP topic, including poetry and creative writing.
   
   Ideally, HP could move the topical forums to the same domain as their corresponding niche. Then, readers and writers could interact and link all they want without any negative outcomes.
   
   I'm sure that would be a project, but I wonder if it would be easier for HP to redirect the topical forums to their niche site rather than get this comments business straightened out.
   
   Would a forum to share links, be social, and talk about whatever you social people talk about work? Or does it have to be a comments section?

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   1. 91

      bravewarriorposted 15 months agoin reply to this

      Eric, Brenda Arledge actually suggested in another forum that forums be opened up for links to the series-type articles as a vehicle to comment. That probably makes more sense than including a link to a comment forum in an article. Those article(s) will eventually be flagged as spammy and/or violating HP protocol.

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      1. 97

         EricDockettposted 15 months agoin reply to this

         Agreed. Linking from the forum to the niche site makes a lot more sense.
         
         Maybe a little off topic, but I'd still like to see the topical forums moved to their appropriate niche sites some day. I think that would be a great way to build communities around each niche site and bring in readers. It was discussed when the niche sites first launched but I suspect it would be a major project.

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         1. 86

            Misbah786posted 15 months agoin reply to this

            Still, I believe that not every reader will go out of their way to discover the appropriate forum for every article. This will tire the readers.

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         2. 91

            bravewarriorposted 15 months agoin reply to this

            I like that idea, Eric. Would that enable non-HP members to participate?
            
            Doing what you propose would also eliminate the uncertainty of which forum  topics to target when posing a question or thought.

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            1. 97

               EricDockettposted 15 months agoin reply to this

               That would be my hope that people would gather just to participate in the forums. Maybe they could have separate sign up to make it easier to register.
               
               For example, Pethelpful might have forums to discuss dogs, cats, fish, etc, which might attract a community of people who are just interested in participating in the forum. HP writers could jump into discussions and offer advice, maybe direct people to our articles if they are helpful. People could go to our profiles are read some of our articles if they wanted.
               
               Some forum members might even decide to write articles, eventually.
               
               This seems like a great way to build a community around each niche site and have a recurring readership that's not reliant on search.
               
               It would also be a way for people who are interested in creative writing to have a central meeting hub to interact and have discussions. Because the forums would be on the same domain as the niche site, they could share links all they wanted.
               
               But, like I said, HP talked about it long ago but never put it into action.

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         3. 90

            Jodahposted 15 months agoin reply to this

            This sounds like a great idea if it is possible. Especially if it was considered before.

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   2. 86

      Misbah786posted 15 months agoin reply to this

      I agree with you, Eric. A lot of links from a niche site back to the HP domain can harm the site's overall rankings.
      
      I'll send them an email to find out what they think about this idea. There is no doubt that it is a challenging and complex situation for readers, writers, and the HP staff as well. But we have to find a way out. Many writers, including myself, are simply not publishing anything because there's no joy and excitement. I know it doesn't matter to some people, but many members of our community (including me) like exchanging thoughts via comments on each others' articles.
      
      Blessings to you!

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10. 84

    Farah N Huqposted 15 months ago

    Erm, does that mean I should remove the link?

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    1. 97

       EricDockettposted 15 months agoin reply to this

       If you have linked from an article on a niche site to the HubPages forum that is harmful for your page and the site.
       
       To be clear, its not like you've doomed the site. One or two people doing it isn't going to cause a problem. But if it becomes routine for people to try to sneak these links in it will eventually hurt the site. Editors will probably remove them if they spot them.
       
       Again, this is why we are not allowed to link from the niche sites back to HP articles.
       
       Probably not such a big deal on a site like Letterpile, but on one of niche site that relies on search traffic this is no good.
       
       So, do you think you should remove the link?

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       1. 91

          bravewarriorposted 15 months agoin reply to this

          +1000 Doing so can harm all of us and perhaps get the writers who use this tactic banned from HP.

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    2. 86

       Misbah786posted 15 months agoin reply to this

       When we edit our articles, HP editors revise them. After revising, they send us an email that says something like, "Congratulations, we have revised your article..."
       Have you received any such email? It will most likely take them one or two days to revise, but as it's Saturday, I believe the editors will be taking the day off. If you haven't received it yet, I think you should remove it for now. I believe, we should wait and see how they respond to my email regarding this idea.

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11. 86

    Misbah786posted 15 months ago

    I believe we can take a break here. I emailed Team @ HubPages. Let's wait for their response. For the time being, I think I can agree with Eric that this idea has the possibility to trigger some difficulties. It's interesting and funny how my brilliant plan devolved into a flop. Lol!
    Let's wait and see what HP responds.
    Blessings and Best wishes to all

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12. 84

    Farah N Huqposted 15 months ago

    But I want to keep my access to the beautiful comments.

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    1. 86

       Misbah786posted 15 months agoin reply to this

       Farah, I understand. After all, many of us are here because of the wonderful community, and the love and support of fellow authors who have become like family to us now means a lot. I respect your feelings.
       Lots of Blessings and love to you, dear friend

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13. 84

    Farah N Huqposted 15 months ago

    I hope HP respects my feelings too

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14. 86

    Misbah786posted 15 months ago

    I'm hoping that the HubPages Team will find a solution to this problem as soon as possible. I hope they can understand that our community's vibrancy is extremely important to us.
    Best wishes to all!

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15. 84

    Farah N Huqposted 15 months ago

    I have removed the link

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    1. 90

       Jodahposted 15 months agoin reply to this

       It is a shame you had to do that, Farah. At least you proved it could be done. Let us be optimistic and see what HP staff come up with. At least they know how concerned we are to find a solution.

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16. 81

    Brenda Arledgeposted 15 months ago

    Guess I need to rethink how to handle the eord prompt series, because we don't need anyone getting banned for posting a link to their response.
    
    Come on Hubpages ...
    Can you send me a glimmer of light.
    
    Thanks.

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17. 86

    Misbah786posted 15 months ago

    Hi Everyone,
    As I promised that I will notify everyone about the email response I sent to the HubPages team regarding the idea in this forum post. They responded, and unfortunately, this is not something we are permitted to do.
    Best wishes to everyone!
    
    
    

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18. 90

    Jodahposted 15 months ago

    Not good news is it? The response that we can’t comment here but comments will be restored at Discover and the other niche sites at a future time isn’t very satisfying.
    
    Get those thinking caps on guys.

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    1. 86

       Misbah786posted 15 months agoin reply to this

       Yes, it’s not a good news. It's even more upsetting that we don't know whether the future is near or far.

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19. 81

    Brenda Arledgeposted 15 months ago

    This is so true...the community is everyone.

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    1. 86

       Misbah786posted 15 months agoin reply to this

       +
       

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