Questionable hub appearance

1. 96

   wildernessposted 14 years ago

   I have written all my hubs with my font size set to 22 and wonder now that with a more normal size they will not have the neat appearance that I designed into them.
   
   Can I get a few opinions on the appearance of this hub, along with the font size you are using on your browser?  I realize that the google ads alongside the first text box is not placed properly and that large photos are not usually used at the top.  I felt the top photos made a better "read" for the viewer, and simply ran out of room for the side ads, so accepted them where they came in.
   
   I am not asking for content, grammer, or spelling critique (though it is always welcome) as it is a long hub and of little interest to most people - I'm mostly concerned with the general appearance.
   
   Thanks

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   1. 80

      psycheskinnerposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      In my browser your font size looks the same as the default size on every other hub. But I just chose a hub at random, did you have a particular one in mind?

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      1. 96

         wildernessposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         Doh!  Slaps forehead.  Sorry - I copied, but did not paste it.  Sorry.
         
         http://hubpages.com/hub/Sun-Room-Makeov … -Project-2

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      2. 96

         wildernessposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         Yes, I would assume you would see no difference in size no matter what size I used on my own browser. However, changing the browser font size changes the length of text boxes by putting more letters on each line.  Some of my hubs had, I thought, a negative effect, some no effect as they did not have as many photos or ads alongside the text capsule.

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   2. 85

      Marisa Wrightposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Your Hubs all look normal to me!  Where are you "setting" your font?
      
      I know you're not asking about content but this Hub is crying out for a good edit.  Right now it reminds me of a neighbour rambling on about his renovation and my eyes glazing over...
      
      Every second sentence needs unnecessary words cut, or should be deleted altogether.  For instance, "I wanted the window to the kitchen gone - I decided to keep the one above the sink to enhance the kitchen, but the other had to go" should be, "I decided to keep the window above the sink to enhance the kitchen, but the other window had to go".
      
      You may think writing in a "chatty" style makes it more approachable, but it has the opposite effect in an informational Hub, because it swamps the useful information and just becomes annoying.
      
      You could do a lot to make it easier to follow - for instance, your list of objectives should be a bulleted list.

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      1. 96

         wildernessposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks, Marisa, for your help.  I didn't really expect anyone to actually read that long hub, but you did and I appreciate your criticism - I think it is well taken. 
         
         This is one of my earlier efforts and undoubtedly needs some editing.  It has been about a month since I wrote it and I find that for me it works best to let my hubs sit for a little while and only then go back and re-read and edit them.
         
         I'm still awfully new to this whole writing gig and am still experimenting with styles of writing - the result is that I do a lot of editing.  So much so that I sometimes cringe as I read what is in front of me, just as I did when I read your quote from my own hub.  Thanks again.

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         1. 85

            Marisa Wrightposted 14 years agoin reply to this

            Wilderness, the writer who does no editing is a bad writer, so you're doing fine!  Even experienced writers rarely put a perfect sentence on the page first time around.
            
            I have met a few writers who do no editing - without exception, they've been awful writers with a misplaced pride in their verbal diarrhoea!   
            
            It might be a good idea to write your Hubs in Word, then let them "sit" for a while before putting the red pen over them, before you even publish?  That would save you a lot of time trying to create a good layout around text that's going to look completely different later on.

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            1. 96

               wildernessposted 14 years agoin reply to this

               I fully expect that later, with some experience and knowledge under my belt, I will write and let sit for a while before publishing.  Right now, though, my main thrust is to learn as much as possible about the "biz".  Keyword usage, SEO, public response - all these kind of things matter a great deal and it won't matter how well a hub is written if no one sees it or doesn't like the subject.  So for now I go ahead and publish and watch the responses from google and HP and try to learn even as I realize I need to edit and should probably even remove some of the earlier hubs.  That's life.
               
               Your experiment;  I'm not making myself clear.  I went to your hub on carpal tunnel - there is a picture of a mouse flushed to the side of the first text capsule.  It is quite a bit shorter than the text, with the text wrapping around the bottom of it.  If, however, I change my font size to 10 the text capsule is about 1/2 the length of the photo and there is a large white space at the bottom of the text before the next capsule starts.  It is not a matter of what HP does; it is a matter of how I instruct my own computer to display the written word. 
               
               Another example is the hubmetrics box.  It took me forever to understand what I was seeing there because I made the letters too large.  To me it looks something like this:
               
               word count          760
               ?  Revenue Potential
               $$$                                                                    ?
                                                                                     Incoming links
               *                                                                        ?
                                                                                     View Duration
               
               and so on on down the box.  In fact it was when I figured out the box was what set off the light bulb as to what font size was doing.  The width of that hubmetrics box simply isn't wide enough to accommodate the spaces and letters used when they are twice as wide as they should be and therefore wraps them into the next line.

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               1. 85

                  Marisa Wrightposted 14 years agoin reply to this

                  So you're not asking about how your readers see the Hub, you're asking about how to change the settings on Firefox on your own PC, so you can see what they will see?
                  
                  - Go into "Options" then "Content"
                  - Choose "Advanced" under "Fonts and Colours"
                  - Tick the box that says "allow pages to choose their own fonts"

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                  1. 96

                     wildernessposted 14 years agoin reply to this

                     'bangs head on wall'  I think I need a communications class!  Marisa, that box is already checked.  I don't know if my setting the font size to 22 overrides it or just what, but I can reset the font size to the default when I write my hubs.  But only if I know what the default is, and I've long forgotten that number.  I figure that most people won't change the default so that is probably what I should use to see what they will see - I just don't know what that is!
                     
                     On a different note, I wonder if it would behoove all of us not to try and end a text capsule even with a flushed photo or amazon capsule because all people won't see it the same way.  Rather we should perhaps wrap the text under the photo in most cases.

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                     1. 85

                        Marisa Wrightposted 14 years agoin reply to this

                        Wilderness, remember that many people will be using a browser without a fixed font.  Design your Hubs for those people, not for the small number of people who might know how to set their font size. 
                        
                        I didn't even know I could set my font size in Firefox!  It's silly that there's no button to reset everything to "default".
                        
                        I've never changed mine and the font says Times New Roman 16.  If I go into Advanced I can see "Serif 16", Sans serif is set at "Arial" and Monospace is "Courier New 13".

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                        1. 96

                           wildernessposted 14 years agoin reply to this

                           It really is silly not to have a "default" button, but if it does I can't find it.
                           
                           And thanks for the information.  I had very tentatively decided that the default was 16 as it looks about like my sons.  Unfortunately he lives 1/2 mile away and I could never be sure I was remembering the appearance of different screens correctly.  I will now set it to 16 when I write and have a reasonable hope that most readers will see it that way.
                           
                           My advanced settings say the same thing except that the "Serif 16" is "Serif 22".  I do it that way so that I can read without eyestrain or digging out my glasses but had never considered the consequences to the visual appearance I was trying to accomplish.
                           
                           Thanks again, Marisa.  You've been a great help.

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2. 85

   DzyMsLizzyposted 14 years ago

   I have noticed that HP does not respect any individuality, and trying to get a particular formatting to 'play' with the space on the page (particularly with poetry!) is nigh on to impossible.
   
   Likewise with font sizes.   You seem to be limited to the 'normal' 'paragraph' or 'heading' options.    None of these are to my particular liking.
   
   However, I've had slightly better results when writing my piece first in MS Word, then copy/pasting it into the HP text capsule.
   
   Best wishes!

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   1. 85

      Marisa Wrightposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Lizzy, HP does not respect individuality because it wants to maintain a consistent, professional look for the whole site.  It would be nice to have more bells and whistles, but you have to remember that not all writers have good taste, and if we had total freedom to design Hubs any way we pleased, it would look like MySpace!
      
      You can play with the format by using the formatting in the toolbar of the text capsule. If you use one of the "heading" formats (I forget which one) for your whole poem, it will be in single spacing.
      
      Be sure to split your text up into several capsules, then you'll find you can play with the layout much more easily.

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      1. 85

         DzyMsLizzyposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         ???  Do I understand you correctly that if you were to put each stanza in a NEW text capsule....  It would format more correctly???? 
         
         I play a LOT with the line breaks..that is where I run into the most trouble...because it is intended to be a visual break to emphasize the change of thought in the text.... 
         
         The thing that frustrates me the most, is if I find a typo after the fact  (a trick my eyes play on me sometimes, no matter how careful I've tried to be), and have to go back and edit, that instantly undoes all my careful formatting, and slams everything right back against the left margin!
         
         I guess I'll have to keep playing with stuff.  The more I learn, the more technical it seems to get--and I'm no techie.  I am a creative type, & don't like messing with technical background stuff--I prefer 'wysiwig' editors.  ;-)

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         1. 85

            Marisa Wrightposted 14 years agoin reply to this

            Lizzy, there is no "technical background stuff" on HubPages! However it doesn't offer as many formatting options as a word processor, so you have to get creative with what's there.
            
            If you look in the toolbar of the text capsule, there is a drop down box showing the available text formats.  I find it's not worth trying to use "preformatted" - just work with HubPages' set formats and you'll do better.
            
            Heading 4 will give you single spacing between lines. Then you just add an extra white line where you need one.
            
            Using the "quote" feature (click the quotation mark) will give you indented text.
            
            What other formatting did you want in your poems?

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            1. 85

               DzyMsLizzyposted 14 years agoin reply to this

               Take a look at this poem, for an example of what I mean.  This is NOT at all easy to do in HP.
               
               http://hubpages.com/hub/Cats-Must-Run-Free

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               1. 85

                  Marisa Wrightposted 14 years agoin reply to this

                  Ah, I see.
                  
                  Unfortunately HP doesn't make it easy to do unusual layouts.  That's not surprising:  remember, HubPages is designed for writers to produce "content rich" articles with the aim of making money.
                  
                  HubPages welcomes creative writers but they, generally, contribute very little to the site's income.  Poetry, especially, earns very poorly on the internet.  So there's no incentive for the site to invest dollars into programming to create complex formatting options which the average article writer doesn't need.

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                  1. 61

                     Lisa HWposted 14 years agoin reply to this

                     Something you could do (although you have to be careful about fonts and colors, or else it won't come out clear in the end), would be to create your poem, the way you want it to look, in the paint program and save it as a picture.  Then you could add a picture capsule and post the poem that way.  Sometimes you may have to play with it to get it to look good. 
                     
                     Of course, the problem with that is you wouldn't have any text capsule.  I don't really see what difference that would make if readers are going to see the same poem (same amount of words) in a text capsule versus picture.  Maybe there's something I'm not seeing, though.
                     
                     (I did that kind of thing on a "domestic abuse" Hub.  I didn't fuss with it, because the point of the Hub wasn't really the poem; but if you were to look you'd see how it this kind of thing has potential (if you just play with it a little bit).  I've done it on other Hubs and the image has come out better, but I can't even recall which ones have that kind of thing right now.  )

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   2. 83

      rebekahELLEposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      there is a lot of individuality here. you can find it on numerous hubs. I can think of a few hubbers off the top of my head without posting links where they exercise creative individuality.
      
      take a look at
      
      chris A ~ any of his hubs ~ he has some poetry hubs also.
      
      you can break up your texts with new capsules, photos, lines.
      
      another to check out for creativity is
      
      green lotus
      she has a hub about http://hubpages.com/hub/how_to_make_photo_divider_bars

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3. 67

   Flightkeeperposted 14 years ago

   I thought your hub looked fine Wilderness until you get to the end when you had more pictures than text.  You might want to break up the text with text boxes to highlight your main points and even out the columns.

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   1. 96

      wildernessposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      'pounces on the monitor'  And that is the information I'm looking for!  Quick, flightkeeper, what font size are you using, particularly if you're using firefox with it's original, default setting?
      
      What has happened is that when I design the hub with a much larger font it looks good, with text and pics lining up at the bottom or the photo capsule being the shorter of the two.  As you note, though, a different font size results in a different size of each letter with more or less letters per line and more or less lines of text in the capsule.  This can result in the photo capsules being longer than the text capsule as the photo's do not change size with a change in font size.

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      1. 67

         Flightkeeperposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         Wilderness, I really don't do anything different.  But you can use text capsules effectively to break up the layout so that it is more soothing to the eye and readable.  Instead of one continuous text capsule, use several different text capsules with an appropriate subheading.  There are two advantages to this (1) it breaks up your text so the layout is better and inviting to read because it's more descriptive (2) the breaks in capsules allow for more adsense ads so there are more opportunities for you to get clicks and earn money. 
         
         I hope that made sense.

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      2. 85

         Marisa Wrightposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         I use Firefox and I experimented with trying to paste "preformatted" text into a text capsule. No matter what size font I use, it reverts to the standard HubPages size when saved. How are you "using" a different font size, Wilderness?
         
         I'd also be interested to know why you want a different font size.  The bottom line is, if your text is looking too indigestible in the default font, your paragraphs are too long.
         
         Like Flightkeeper said, split your text up into separate text capsules - if I have a lot of photos, I'll often have a separate text capsule for every paragraph.

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4. 72

   Hauntyposted 14 years ago

   ˙ɯǝɥʇ pɐǝɹ oʇ uǝǝɹɔs ɹǝʇndɯoɔ ɹıǝɥʇ dılɟ oʇ ǝʌɐɥ ǝldoǝd os `uʍop ǝpısdn sqnɥ ɹnoʎ ǝʇıɹʍ ˙ɐǝpı uɐ ǝʌɐɥ ı

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   1. 85

      DzyMsLizzyposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      ROFLMAO!  That is funny!!  (How'd you do that???  LOL)

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5. 67

   Flightkeeperposted 14 years ago

   @ Haunty

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6. 61

   Lisa HWposted 14 years ago

   I find HubPages looks more neat, clean (smaller-looking letters), and "professional" if I view using IE.  Viewing using Firefox makes it look "bigger", bolder, clunkier, and less neat-and-professional-looking.

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   1. 96

      wildernessposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      You might try either resetting the font size or zooming in or out.  At least if I am reading what you're saying.....

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      1. 85

         Marisa Wrightposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         Sounds like Lisa needs to do this too:
         
         
         
         - Go into "Options" then "Content"
         - Choose "Advanced" under "Fonts and Colours"
         - Tick the box that says "allow pages to choose their own fonts"

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