Waiting for the Comment System Button

1. 72

   Miebakagh57posted 2 years ago

   Is the comment system button to be restored to hubpages.discover.com? And, how long should witers at hubpages patiently wait for the restoration?
   Given the fact that it’s restoration to hubpages.discover.com is a priority in the minds of many writers here.
   We all expect it to be. Forget the comment icon on the old hubpages site, which is now a trash bin for unperforming articles.
   HubPages, in it’s characteristic manners created the dot discover site, to compesate for stories that are not suitable for the niche websites.
   The comment system seems to go for these niche dormains step by step. AxeleAddict, WanderWisdom, LetterPile, and Delishably are just few sites showcasing the comment icon.
   But that did not satisfy us writers. If you are observing, you will notice the frequent discussions of the issue under various headings. That prompt me to write team@hubpages See my mail and Matt’s response below.
   
   Attention: Matt Wells:
   
   I believe the comment button system has
   ever become challenging.
   Time and again, many things and very
   challenging has been said on it. Hubpages promises right from Samartha
   Cubbison is being fulfil on the niche sites. But the pivotal challenge
   from many writers focus on hubpages, that old site. I also believe
   that Hubpages will later pick another niche website and pin the
   comment icon there. Why not make HubPages' discover.com the next
   prority before other niches else? That will end the many questions,
   because articles on HP are dead.
   Much thanks.
   MiebakaghFiberesima.
   
   Hello,
   
   I understand the frustration. We are working on making the commenting feature and the overall HubPages experience better for authors. 
   
   Thanks,
   Matt
   Team HubPages
   
   Your thoughts? Discussions?

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   1. 80

      Shing Arayaposted 2 years agoin reply to this

      Yes I noticed it was gone. Hopefully will be restored soon

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   2. 80

      alahiker28posted 23 months agoin reply to this

      Can you give us writers a timeline on reestablishing comments? Btw, an article posted about this issue had a poll and over 60% of those who read that particular article wanted comments back.

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      1. STAFF

         Matt Wellsposted 23 months agoin reply to this

         We do not have a timeline at the moment. Commenting is enabled on the following sites, but, at the moment, users will not get any comment notifications.
         
         https://axleaddict.com/
         https://wanderwisdom.com/
         https://letterpile.com/
         https://soapboxie.com/
         https://delishably.com/
         https://pairedlife.com/
         
         The comment box is below the recommended for you section. The easiest way to find it is to keyword search the word comments. It’s the second occurrence of the word comments in the article unless that word appears in the body of the article.

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2. 82

   Brenda Arledgeposted 2 years ago

   Been there...done that.  Same old same old.
   
   I no longer care about restoring comments. 
   
   It's just too much to hope for.. well, that and the idea that our work will ever be showcased the way it should be...
   Without being broken apart with ads

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3. 95

   eugbugposted 2 years ago

   On the subject of Showcasing, Dengarden seems to be one of the few sites that's promoted on Facebook and Pinterest. I guess like with other things, there just aren't the staff to do promoting? Maybe HP could turn convert their boards on Pinterest into shared boards, so we can pin on them ourselves and benefit from their greater number of followers?

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4. 94

   jansharesposted 2 years ago

   Thanks for trying, Miebakagh but this response still sounds like a general acknowledgement of the issue without a commitment or timeline to making the commenting challenge a priority. Have a blessed Sunday.

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   1. 83

      bravewarriorposted 2 years agoin reply to this

      +1. Yep, you're right, Jan!

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5. 83

   Farah N Huqposted 2 years ago

   All my Hubs are in LetterPile but I haven’t received a single comment since the comment option was restored. Maybe it’s because by the time the articles move to the niche sites we are all done discussing them in the forum. The comment option should be there right after a hub gets published, like it was before. There should also be a “like" button as not everyone who likes a hub might want to leave a comment. We can introduce privacy settings for these “comment” and “like” options as well as “public” and “Hubbers only” or keep the options disabled depending on what we want. We should have the option to block spammers from viewing our Hubs instead of having to report one every time we spot one. As a writer, I want feedback and interaction while at the same time I want to have control over my privacy and keep these interactions private or public as per my wish.

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   1. 83

      bravewarriorposted 2 years agoin reply to this

      We used to have a Like button, many years ago, Farah. They took that away long before disabling comments. It would be nice to have both those features restored.

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6. 72

   Miebakagh57posted 2 years ago

   The most vital question is, will the comment  system, and all its old features ever be restored?

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   1. 83

      bravewarriorposted 2 years agoin reply to this

      That seems to be the million dollar question, Miebakagh. Other sites have comment systems in place that are easy to navigate as they once were on HP. However, I don't seem to get notifications when I comment on those other sites. Without notification, it almost seems pointless to offer a commenting system at all.

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      1. 72

         Miebakagh57posted 2 years agoin reply to this

         Perhaps, there's an improvement on such sites these days as the years pass on.

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7. 83

   FatFreddysCatposted 2 years ago

   I don't particularly miss comments. Most of the comments I got were either spam, nonsensical, or asking a question that was clearly answered in the article itself, if the commenter had bothered to actually read it.
   
   Back when the satire site The Onion still produced a print edition, there used to be a disclaimer on their "opinion" page that said something to the effect of "The Onion is a one-way conduit of information that does not encourage or acknowledge letters or comments from its readers." That's the way to do it!

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   1. 95

      PaulGoodman67posted 2 years agoin reply to this

      I don't miss them much either.
      
      The people who miss comments the most seem to be HP writers who used them as a social tool. It's understandable that they might be upset at how things have developed, given that HP used to promote itself as a "community" all the time. I don't really hear HP using that word so much nowadays.

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      1. 72

         Miebakagh57posted 2 years agoin reply to this

         Neither have I heard the word 'community' these past some months.                                               But, it's frequently used in Samartha Cubbison days, before she left hubpages for another green pasture. Hubpages was at it's best in those days.                                                 Then, later, I read a story to the effect that the community is 'dead'. The writer, I think with the user name (bw)? is here. Own up!

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         1. 83

            bravewarriorposted 2 years agoin reply to this

            Miebakagh, I wrote that article in December 2020 when comments were first disabled. It's called HubPages 3.0: Death of a Community. That article garnered 314 comments!
            
            I have no problem owning up, Miebakagh!

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            1. 72

               Miebakagh57posted 2 years agoin reply to this

               Now, my memory is greener.                                       But did you noticed the initials of the author I quest as (bw)? You may not have had problem oweing up, but my memory generated some doubts.                                         These days, the commenting question has genrated two schools of those. We have those expecting the system to be restored sooner than later. The other school regard the system as a forgone conclusion.

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                  bravewarriorposted 2 years agoin reply to this

                  Yes, I noticed, Miebakagh. I also knew it was my article to which you referred with or without the initials hint.

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         2. 95

            PaulGoodman67posted 2 years agoin reply to this

            Samantha was the tail-end really. If you look at material from 12 years ago, the community aspect was promoted heavily by Paul and Simone.
            
            It was really Google that killed the concept. You can't really have a completely open community platform if the search engines are punishing the site for any low quality articles.
            
            Google's approach meant that writers now have to be vetted and edited and HP can't just have an open door policy regarding publishing everything.
            
            That said, I do think there could still be more of a rapport and better communications than now exists. For instance, official announcements now seem to happen less than once/year, HP don't even blow their own trumpet anymore, which is not good.

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8. 92

   EricDockettposted 2 years ago

   I miss comments only to the extent that they helped a few readers and may have had some SEO benefit. Otherwise, I am perfectly happy without them.
   
   I'd rather see staff spend their time on more important things like ways to increase traffic and earnings.

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   1. 99

      DrMark1961posted 2 years agoin reply to this

      Helping readers=SEO benefit=increased traffic=increased earnings

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      1. 92

         EricDockettposted 2 years agoin reply to this

         In general, I totally agree with that. The way comments were previously implemented that was certainly true.
         
         However, HP appears to have moved to a third-party content management solution. This means a few things that are not good for readers or SEO (in my opinion).
         
         For one thing, comments are no longer indexable. I believe there are ways to do that, but from what I see that's not what is happening on HP.
         
         In fact, old articles with comments appear to have those comments absorbed into the new system. That means a reduction in searchable content on the page,  less traffic and less earnings.
         
         So, say goodbye to any search traffic coming from comments if PetHelpful ever switches to this new system. I am dreading that myself. I am wondering if the sites that have rolled out comments so far have seen a drop.
         
         A third-party comment system is one more thing to load on the page, which slows it down. We know page load time is a ranking factor.
         
         This is all based on testing I've done with AxelAddict. If Matt or someone wants to tell me where I'm wrong I will be happy to hear it.
         
         And comments can't help readers if they can't find them, and if the system for leaving a comment is confusing and frustrating. Or if the writer never knows they have a comment to respond to.
         
         I know people want to be social, but these are more important things that require consideration. HubPages is trying to keep people happy, but my worry is that by doing so they are going to shoot themselves in the foot.
         
         So, I think we need to move on. The way comments are headed here I'd rather we go without them.

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            DrMark1961posted 2 years agoin reply to this

            I have to agree with that. If the comments are added again and they are set up the way it is now I would just as soon not worry about them. I was referring to the old system where we found out about them and replied.

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            1. 95

               PaulGoodman67posted 2 years agoin reply to this

               I would have spent my entire time operating as a free helpdesk, if I'd responded fully to all the DIY questions I received via the comments. They were almost all specific to someone's individual situation, rather than general.
               
               I never wanted to do that, I see my main role here as a writer (with some editing, too, of course).
               
               That said, the vast majority of the comments received were throwaway ("thanks for the info" etc.), or abusive crap from bored adolescents, or just plain spam.
               
               The only use of comments for me were really:
               1. Highlighting mistakes that I or an HP editor had made, requiring correction.
               2. Implying information gaps that I could fill, either by extending an existing article, or by writing a new one. Sometimes it might be answering a simple question, for sure, but other times it was a bigger thing.
               
               Many of the people complaining in the forums appear to have communicated mainly with other hubbers. Almost all my comments came from random internet searchers.

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      2. 72

         Miebakagh57posted 2 years agoin reply to this

         Good God, I like the idea.

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9. 89

   Jodahposted 23 months ago

   Unless they are returned to the original format, continuing to restore comments is just a waste of time. Even those who miss them badly can’t be bothered to use them as they are now on the niche sites they have been reintroduced to. Let’s just move on.

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