Capstone Hubs program

1. 60

   Jason Menayanposted 16 years ago

   Hi everyone,
   
   Those who read through the newsletter read about the new Capstone Hubs program, which is really an adjunct to the Flagship Hubs program (in fact, uses the same contract). In this case, however, you:
   * get to choose your topic
   * need to publish at least 15 Hubs on the same topic
   * then get paid $25 when you publish a "Capstone Hub" that links to and wraps up the entire series of Hubs
   * (an optional $15 traffic bonus, similar to that for Flagship Hubs)
   
   The specifics of the requirements are laid out here:
   Capstone Hubs Program
   
   That doc includes steps you have to take to get started.

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   Stacie Naczelnikposted 16 years ago

   Jason, I love this idea, but have a question.
   
   The list of topic areas has "specific consumer products" with an example of "underwater digital cameras" for that category.  Does this mean we can choose more specific topics within the other categories as well?
   
   So, for health and diet, we could do "Electronic Heart Rate Monitors" or for automotive "Hybrid Cars"?
   
   Thanks!

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   amy janeposted 16 years ago

   I love this idea too! I like that it is a bit more flexible than Flagships on time - at your leisure works much better for me than 7 days!
   Thanks - I'm looking forward to getting started

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   Jason Menayanposted 16 years ago

   Hi Stacie -
   
   Yes, by all means. That was just to illustrate the level of specificity we're looking for. Both of your examples are specific enough and would do great as a series for the Capstone Hubs program.

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   mroconnellposted 16 years ago

   I'm very excited to start working on some of these although they seem a little heftier in scope than flagships.  I'll just have to push a little extra!  And I can stretch it out over a month if I need to.
   
   I know it's not supposed to be retroactive for the capstone itself, but can a person make a capstone series that includes a few titles already written?  For example, if I wanted to make a capstone series on vineyards and wine, could I include the hubs I've already written about wine? Or would I have to make 15 additional hubs?  In the end, I'm sure I could link to all 17 if that were the case, but I was curious.

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      Whitney05posted 16 years agoin reply to this

      I've asked Jason about this, and he said it would need to be an additional 15 hubs, even if you already have a series going or if you have a few hubs that you could make into a series. It's basically 15 new hubs.

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   Inspirepubposted 16 years ago

   I'd be interested in the answer to this one, too.
   
   Most of us with more than 50 Hubs have already written at least 2-5 Hubs on any topic we enjoy writing about. Why leave some of the best stuff out of the Capstone Hub set just because it was written "too early"?
   
   Jenny
   
   P.S. I agree this seems like a lot more work. To write a flagship Hub might take as much time as writing 2-4 regular Hubs, but this program requires writing 16 Hubs instead of one - four to eight times the work - for the same money. Was it intended to be an equivalent program? Or was the differential deliberate?

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   mroconnellposted 16 years ago

   I'm bumping this because hubstaff is usually pretty fast to reply and I think the question may have gone under the radar.  If it's still undecided, I understand.  I find myself sometimes abstaining from writing a hub because I haven't gotten it approved as the foundation for a capstone yet and I plan on maybe doing that.
   
   It might make more sense to let writers group any fifteen foundation hubs (written or unwritten) and force them to get approval for the capstone alone.  The best way to go is still to get it all preapproved so you don't "waste" any time.  But it also doesn't discourage us from writing fun hubs that we want to write now now now.  Does that make sense?

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   Jason Menayanposted 16 years ago

   Hi all -
   
   Yes, Whitney is correct. We would need 15 new Hubs on the subject, but please contact us first (i.e. please don't just continue on the series without getting approval first).
   
   We can not apply Capstone Hub status retroactively to Hubs; however, you can add your 15 Hubs to a series that had already started. So, if you had already published 7 Hubs on underwater digital cameras, and had then gotten approval for us on a Capstone Hub series on underwater digital cameras, you would have to publish at least 15 more Hubs (or a total of 22 Hubs) to then be eligible to publish a Capstone Hub on the subject for payment.
   
   Inspirepub - I emailed you about another matter a few hours ago (the newsletter profile). Please let me know if you didn't receive it!
   
   - Jason

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   Inspirepubposted 16 years ago

   I got it - thanks, Jason.

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    darksideposted 16 years ago

    What do we call the hubs under the Capstone? Caplets? Cappebbles?

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       Om Paramapoonyaposted 16 years agoin reply to this

       I like "Cappebbles"!

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       mroconnellposted 16 years agoin reply to this

       Foundation hubs?  Cornerstones?  Foothubs?  Ultimately, you want to change the word cap and keep the word stone.  Cap is a direct reference to the fact that the capstone sits atop a lot of other hubs like a hat/top or reCAPitulating them.  The stone shouldn't change.

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    darksideposted 16 years ago

    Is it alright if we have an Amazon Capsule instead of the eBay Capsule?

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       Jason Menayanposted 16 years agoin reply to this

       It should be an eBay Capsule because, since that's an auction site, the entries will constantly be changing. (Amazon's entries are considerably more static) With this requirement, we want something dynamic that keeps the Hub fresh automatically.
       
       But, of course, this doesn't preclude you from adding an Amazon Capsule if you like. Those are just the minimum requirements.

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          darksideposted 16 years agoin reply to this

          I gotcha.
          
          Hence the choice between the RSS and the eBay capsules.

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    LisaGposted 16 years ago

    I am particularly interested in this Capstone Hub series.  But I need to ask a question.  How does the RSS feed work? I have never been quite clear on this.

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       Inspirepubposted 16 years agoin reply to this

       http://hubpages.com/hub/How-To-Use-An-RSS-Feed

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    Karen Ellisposted 16 years ago

    Can someone list the 10 search engines that are referenced by both of these hub programs in order to receive the bonus.  Thanks.

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       Stacie Naczelnikposted 16 years agoin reply to this

       It isn't a specific list of search engines.  I think you referring to: "getting at least 10 page views from each of 10 non-HubPages sources."
       
       This means you need to promote your hubs.  You can view the stats to see where you care getting views from, and if there are at least ten views from ten different sources, you can qualify for the bonus.
       
       For example, my flagship huh How to Make Paper - An Illustrated Step-by-Step Guide, has page views from different google search engines, searchyahoo, aolsearch, and different blogs.  I've also gotten traffic from facebook links, etc.
       
       Does this help?  If it wasn't what you meant, please let me know.

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    Karen Ellisposted 16 years ago

    Yes Stacie,
    That is exactly what I meant.  I just thought it was a specipic 10 different search engines.
    I'm still learning so much about all of this, but I would like to try one of the capstone hubs as soon as I have figured how to impement all of the required details.
    Thanks for your help.

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    LisaGposted 16 years ago

    Thanks Inspirepub.

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    adrienne2posted 16 years ago

    Ok now I have a question. This is the first I am learning about the bonus -- is the bonus automatically put into your google account? And how does one qualify for the flagship program?

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17. STAFF

    pauldeedsposted 16 years ago

    The payment for Capstone or Flagship Hubs is made with Paypal.  You can find that, and a wealth of other information about the program here:
    
    http://hubpages.com/help/capstone-hubs

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       adrienne2posted 16 years agoin reply to this

       thank you. for your help.

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       crashcromwellposted 16 years agoin reply to this

       I've sent a couple of emails seeking a copy of the contract, so I can see if this is something I can do. I haven't gotten a response, which leads me to wonder if perhaps I do not qualify for the program, or if y'all are just overly busy?

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          darksideposted 16 years agoin reply to this

          Maddie had a week off work and I guess she's been playing catch up.

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    ProCWposted 16 years ago

    Sounds great! Would it be possible to include the same types of benefits on hubpages.com too?
    
    
    Look deep into the water. Just kidding.

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    Uninvited Writerposted 16 years ago

    Do the different Google's count as different sources? I get hits from Google.co.nz, Google.co.uk., and Google.cn among others.

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    Lissieposted 16 years ago

    They do for flagship hubs! Of course the co.nz ones should could double but thats just cause Im a kiwi

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    thranaxposted 16 years ago

    Great idea, i love it

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    aidenofthetowerposted 16 years ago

    I am a little confused as to how one knows where the hits for each hub are coming from...I could just be missing something...but I know how much traffic each hub gets and where all my hubs get there traffic from. Just not sure where each specific hub gets its traffic, which would be important for requesting the $15. Do I need to figure out how to add a program to keep track of my traffic?
    
    Thanks in advance for the help!

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23. STAFF

    pauldeedsposted 16 years ago

    If you click the view stats button at the top of your hub it will show you the top 12 traffic sources (once sufficient data has been gathered).  As soon as you reach the required level for the capstone hub just let us know and we'll pay you the bonus (it has to be within 30 days of first being published).

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    aidenofthetowerposted 16 years ago

    Thanks Paul...that is what I needed. I have some great ideas that I have started talking with Maddie about and am very excited about the whole thing....
    
    I have just a few more questions and here might be the best place to get them answered.
    
    -I believe I read the answer to it, but want to double check-Writers will still make the same revenue percentages on Capstone hubs and their under hubs?
    
    -If I publish pictures on my 15 hubs and my capstone hub are those pictures then yours or can I use them for other things on the net?
    
    -How long do we actually have? I know that flagship hubs are only seven days and the contract doesn't have a limit on how many days for the capstone program...
    
    -Do we publish our 15 hubs and then leave the capstone hub unpublished till approved, or should all the hubs be left unpublished till approved?
    
    -What kind of limit do you have on the capstone program? With the Flagship program you are only doing 30 a month...are we going to come up with great ideas for the capstone program and find that we can't do them because of a limit? Is their a personal limit per person (only one or two a month?)
    
    Thanks to anyone who can answer my questions!

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    monitorposted 16 years ago

    Are there any Capstones published yet? Love to see what one looks like.
    
    Monitor.

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       Whitney05posted 16 years agoin reply to this

       I want to say that darkside is working on a series on greek philosophers as a part of the capstone program, but I could be wrong.

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          darksideposted 16 years agoin reply to this

          Yes, I certainly am!

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    jimmythejockposted 16 years ago

    I am working on a set of hubs based on world war 2 battles for the capstone hub programme....jimmy

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       darksideposted 16 years agoin reply to this

       Interesting stuff!
       
       I've been reading a lot about World War II recently. I bought a BIG book about it. Big enough that if you could have hit Hitler with it you would have ended WW2.
       
       So I shall have to have wander over and read through your growing hub collection.

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    monitorposted 16 years ago

    Thanks you for your feedback. What I was looking for was a published capstone but maybe nothing yet. I seem to recall a couple of capstone like hubs people just did on their own. They were not on one subject but more a summary of all hubs that the hubber had published to date. They were cool but I can't seem to stumble over one again and didn't bookmark them. Seen anything like that out there in hubland?

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       Whitney05posted 16 years agoin reply to this

       Darkside, I've been watching you. lol I can't wait to see what your's and Jimmy's final capstone looks like.
       
       
       
       I have several capstone-like hubs, but none are from the capstone program, and I don't think they even follow the official capstone rules.
       
       http://hubpages.com/hub/Caring-for-Leopard-Geckos
       http://hubpages.com/hub/Caring-for-Reptiles
       http://hubpages.com/hub/Caring-for-Dogs-and-Puppies
       http://hubpages.com/hub/Dog-Training-Tips-and-Help
       http://hubpages.com/hub/Caring-for-Small-Animals
       http://hubpages.com/hub/Money-Business-Tips
       http://hubpages.com/hub/Game-Tips-Cheats-and-Reviews
       
       This one's a little different, but it still has links to all the hubs I've written about pet rats: http://hubpages.com/hub/Caring-for-Pet-Rats

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    monitorposted 16 years ago

    Whitney05, you are such a help. That is EXACTLY what I was looking for. Thank you for being so patient and taking the time to answer my question.
    
    Your fan
    Monitor.

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    crashcromwellposted 16 years ago

    Well all right. I guess everyone's entitled to a vacation. I'll just wait patiently for Ms. Maddie to drop by.

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    Lissieposted 15 years ago

    Did anyone finish their capstone series: it would be cool to sed the final hub: post your's here!

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       Whitney05posted 15 years agoin reply to this

       I think that darkside finished his about  greek philosophers.
       http://hubpages.com/hub/greek-philosophy

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    crashcromwellposted 15 years ago

    I wrote a few times looking for details and never did get a response.

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       Maddie Ruudposted 15 years agoin reply to this

       I didn't remember ever having received just a request from you, so I just did a quick search of the team email box, and -- nothing!  Not sure why it didn't come through, but take a look at the overview of the capstone program and shoot your proposed topics over to me, and we'll see what we can do!

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    oxymoronposted 15 years ago

    It's interesting to be here, and seems to be good system

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    topstuffposted 15 years ago

    Awesome

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    Reg Brittainposted 15 years ago

    It seems to me a couple dozen capstone series could make a nice income stream for the hubber who writes them.
    
    

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       darksideposted 15 years agoin reply to this

       384 well written hubs should do well whether they're capstone or not.

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    JYOTI KOTHARIposted 15 years ago

    Who has written 384 hubs?
      Jyoti Kothari

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    Julie-Ann Amosposted 15 years ago

    My series isn't finished yet Lissie sorry

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