How can Hubpages improve?

1. 74

   frogdroppingposted 14 years ago

   Just wondering. So much ill will abounds in the forum, largely related to a couple of the sub forums.
   
   That aside, what would improve your hubpages experience? And no one can say 'shut down the forum' because we'd lose a principle platform for helping each other in many ways - not least the community development. If you don't like a TV channel, you don't watch it.
   
   Remember - first and foremost HubPages is a business - it's not been put here for our benefit alone
   
   I'd like to see an improvement on tackling spam - though there are clear signs that HP deal with it as swiftly as possible. And some way on incorporating the Learning Centre into a must-access aspect of the site for new users.
   
   Of course I'm not a software engineer so I couldn't begin to imagine how they'd fix that one. But I'm only wishing

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   1. 0

      Whikatposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      This may sound silly and I am unsure if it could be done, but after seeing someone get banned and falsely accused of a personal attack by a baiter
      
      I was wondering if it may be best to limit everyone to be able to report just one personal attack a year. I was thinking that maybe people would think twice before falsely reporting and getting someone banned if they only had the ability to get someone banned once a year.
      
      It may lessen the battles and assaults on the forum. The baiter's and haters may not be so inclined to bait for an attack if they have already used up their one report of personal attack.
      
      It might even have the ability to make it less fun for trolls and sock puppets.
      
      Just a thought, not sure if it would help or is possible to implement.

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   2. 72

      livewithrichardposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      I think that's the biggest problem here which hardly affects us other than a disruption of our ongoing conversations.
      
      If we could educate some of our fellow hubbers on the importance of not responding to spam posts our moderators could easily remove them once flagged.
      
      Another option would be to not allow new users to create new threads until they meet a set requirement like publishing a hub. If they need help they can always do a search for a topic that's surely been answered a dozen or so times.  At the very least, do not allow non published members to post threads to specific categories.

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   3. 60

      Gypsysilkposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      I am very new to this ,and really dont know a lot of what i am doing ,but I am on another commmunity site that has had a lot of members that have been cloned and they leave abuse on the followers list so it causes a lot of unrest ,it also took awhile before this was figured out by the members ,but once we realised what was happening we contacted the site s managment and the person was removed ,but it is not done swiftly enough .I hope that this site does not suffer from the same thing

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2. 93

   Susana Sposted 14 years ago

   I would like the ability to remove spam myself. Yesterday I spent quite a bit of time flagging it all and the profiles - I would have been happier if I could just simply hit delete! Of course, for those posts/profiles that I'm not sure about I would still want to flag it for review, but the obvious stuff I want it gone!
   
   I think if spammers see that their posts and profiles are removed straight away they would be less likely to come back with another ID.
   
   I'm sure HP could afford to hire a few more mods on UK time

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   1. 0

      EmpressFelicityposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Definitely agree.
      
      How about hiring a couple of us to do the Saturday and Sunday morning (UK time) shifts - that would be great.
      
      Have to admit though, that while I'd be quite happy to earn $0.01 per "deletion" as a human spam killer, I wouldn't want to moderate anything else on here.  That would require that I actually had to read all those religious forum "debates". No thanks.{{{{{{{shudder}}}}}}}.

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3. 74

   frogdroppingposted 14 years ago

   I'm with you Susana. I don't let personal opinion get in the way. Spam is spam. HP could reimburse us by way of 100% revenue
   
   That would make us hub harder too ... no?!

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   1. 93

      Susana Sposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Now there's a plan, lol! We could be called HubBouncers

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4. 74

   frogdroppingposted 14 years ago

   Empress - I'd have absolutely no issue with doing a job I was being paid to do. None. If it meant forum trawling and helping bring a sense of fairness, I'm square with that.

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5. 0

   ryankettposted 14 years ago

   An additional revenue stream to compensate for the effective loss of eBay and the ineffectiveness/liability of Kontera.
   
   Plus a means of promoting Amazon products to UK surfers (which they already have in their sights for the future I believe).
   
   I would also love to have a 'flag weekend' or something, where every hubpages member of staff works overtime whilst us hubbers take a break from hubbing to scour the site for crap. Maybe the best 3 flaggers of the weekend can take a prize or something, $200 for first, $100 for second, $50 for third, or similar.
   
   If we make the staff (even Deeds and Edmondson) work overtime, then we could all justify it by having a major hunt... it would be for our good and their good...
   
   Those 3 are all I have really. Maybe a few more contests, and more titles in the title finder (perhaps complete long string titles), thats about it.

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6. 0

   ryankettposted 14 years ago

   I also think that anybody who reaches 10 million page views should get a free weekend at Hubpages HQ and a toast at the office, although that idea is entirely based on a selfish vested interest

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   1. 74

      frogdroppingposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      See I kinda think you've got to get the basics right. You would like free travel there and back, a lovely hotel, and then to be lauded in the HQ office

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         ryankettposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         Of course! That is what I meant by free weekend!
         
         I actually know somebody who has gone to San Francisco this weekend for a wedding, lucky sod.
         
         If I happened to go to San Francisco within the next couple of years I would drop in.
         
         I would do it unannounced though, its cooler that way

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         1. 74

            frogdroppingposted 14 years agoin reply to this

            *nods* ohhhh yeah Ryan ... be cool. You were just passing, happened to be in the neighbourhood and all that. I'd love to see the pictures

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7. 74

   frogdroppingposted 14 years ago

   Cheers Ryan. I'm all for either Ebay playing ball and opening up to the potential of spending power that this site could deliver, or if it's a none-starter, then an alternative for those of us who can't affiliate.
   
   UK and etc Amazon ... got that too. I have a fair few from Oz and the UK so it'd be good to net the potential, as it already exists.
   
   I like the weekend spam idea though making it a competition may well steer the principle of it into it being more about the numbers than fairness.
   
   And I'd like to work with the CEO's. Be good to get to know the owners better

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8. 72

   Sweetsusiegposted 14 years ago

   I still can't upload pictures!  If there were any way I could go back to the older way of loading I would like that.  Maybe a button to go back to the original way would work?  (the original being a month or so ago).
   
   Uploading multi-pictures does me no good when I can't even upload 1.  I promised my readers (of 1 article) I'd put new pics up of my small town, and now I can't. 
   
   Maybe you could suggest that?  A 'go back' button?

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9. 74

   frogdroppingposted 14 years ago

   Sweetsusie I can imagine how frustrating that must be. I had a beggar of a job with picture loading a while back, the old version. Go suggest it in the 'suggest a feature' sub-forum. IDK if they could do it but you could at least try and figure out what the problem is. I'm assuming you don't know BTW

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10. 42

    Mikeydoesposted 14 years ago

    There should be a place where people can get their hubs/account promoted.
    
    If things were organized and everyone helped everyone out, everyone would reap benefits. Maybe you have to earn the right to join this forum, or whatever it may be.

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    1. 85

       Marisa Wrightposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       I second Aficionada's request on the Search function:
       
       "I would also like to find a better way of searching Hubs within the corpus of a given author's writings, especially those with over 100 Hubs"
       
       The current search box looks for the search term anywhere in a Hub.  I recently wanted to find a Hub by Hal Licino about Vista tweaks.  Because he mentions both words (individually) in countless Hubs, the search returned way, way too many results.  If I could have specified a title search or keyword search, that would have fixed the problem.

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11. 74

    frogdroppingposted 14 years ago

    What would that entail exactly? Promoted to ... ? I'm not questioning your input Mikey, I was just wondering how or to what benefit? I'm presuming you have some in mind

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    1. 42

       Mikeydoesposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       I suppose it all comes with a stronger community(not that it isn't already). But if there were more ways to promote authors/hubs, that would help everyone out. No promotion is dumb, and too much is even dumber. Over-promotion will kill.
       
       Maybe a Tweet this page. Or something I really don't know. Like I said maybe you need to be around for some time or be respected before you were allowed to get in a group that could be made.
       
       Maybe there should be a point system in how much every member helps out other members. Because I would love to help promote people if they help promote me, its a win, win. Its just harder for people just starting out. As aside from Facebook(my real friends) I'm talking around 150 followers on all sites if I'm lucky.
       
       I'm not sure, there are tons of ways, and maybe there are ways I'm not using right now.
       
       Well I mean, I just went to "hubbers" up there at the top, and you can't search for any of the hubbers, but the ones with 100(unless I want to click all day). Those people probably need exposure less than everyone else, and those spots could be filled by up and comers?

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12. 80

    iantoPFposted 14 years ago

    For me the biggest irritation is the forum.
    Look at this thread, it's a writer's discussion, with sensible well thought out ideas and a splash of humour. This is exactly what the forum should be about and one I am happy to join.
    Unfortunately so many other threads, and not just the religion forum, get hijacked by people with no intention of writing Hubs, no intention of getting into intelligent discussion, they are only here to disrupt.
    I would like to see some way of claiming the forum as a writer's discussion group. We can disagree, we can fight, but we should be communicating with those who are developing the craft of writer, not the cut, paste and condemn crowd.

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    1. 42

       Mikeydoesposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       Yes, the religious forums need to be revamped.
       
       We can't be having the same conversations I had in forums 10 years ago. I can't say I wasn't once a part of the religion fight, but I was 14and it was on a gaming forum. I'll be it the people are older here and its not THAT bad, but the fact is I don't even go in those threads because they all turn out the same.
       
       My opinion about spirituality and religion is way different and it does not involve attacking someone because they believe or don't believe in something. I know deep down, it really doesn't matter.
       
       maybe a special forum or two for members who deserve it? 80+ score or something?

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    2. 74

       frogdroppingposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       I perfectly understand your perspective Ian, and thankyou for sharing it.
       
       I do, in truth, agree with your idea about the forum being driven from a writers perspective. Related more (perhaps) to:
       
       1 writing in general
       2 SEO tips and advice
       3 best practice
       4 help needed
       5 getting started
       6 writing - business or hobby
       7 writing - self improvement
       8 content - ideas, help and advice
       9 picture and media use
       10 maybe (maybe lol!) a general topic section, to socialize and share news
       
       I can see the benefit in the forum being solely related to HubPages. I can also see why the current format is in use. A meeting place, a gathering for hubbers to discuss all and everything. Plus a busy forum is advantageous to a web site.
       
       I think the easiest solution (though) is that some individuals simply grew up and behaved like adults. This is not a school yard. Many hubbers really do make a considerable income from the site, and put in the required amount of effort to feel the benefits.
       
       There are some that contribute very little, if anything, to the earning power, the ethos and overall rating of the site full stop.
       
       That begs the question - then why are they here?

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          Marisa Wrightposted 14 years agoin reply to this

          This forum already exists - it's the "HubPages" section of the forums!
          
          Virtually ALL the trouble happens in the other forums - the "By Category" section.  If that entire section was deleted, I reckon we'd lose all the angst - except perhaps for the Sandpit.
          
          However, as Frogdropping says:   
          
          So, given that we can't get rid of the "By Category" section, I'd like to request that the existing split in the forums be continued into the "latest posts" view - i.e., there would be two separate "latest post" listings, one for the HubPages forums and one for the Category forums. 
          
          I know we have the ability to customise our views of the forum but that doesn't do the job adequately, sorry.

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13. 74

    frogdroppingposted 14 years ago

    Mikey I kinda like to think that it's attitude that begets respect, rather than time on site. I see no reason to show disrespect to you for example. You've clearly joined the site as a means of participating with its ethos. Why must you wait to be respected?
    
    Re your mention of the forum - it does get cluttered, predominantly with religious topics, which detracts from the writing aspect. I'd imagine it's hard for new users to find a comfort zone at times, let alone identify a way of establishing their hubber character, needs and questions.
    
    Again - I'm talking from an ideal world perspective

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14. 76

    Shadesbreathposted 14 years ago

    I'd like to see something in the way of more creative writing love.  A "readers choice" sort of thing where hubs that get read,and that have readers that stay to the bottom of them, can somehow get ranked and put on a "book shelf" or something. Something based on actual reading not Google search.  Literary merit not sales merit.  Not even "literature" in that hardcore art way.  Genre is fine too. 
    
    Every year HP could put out an anthology of the top performing HP literature and/or genre writing for the year or something.  Build some cultural clout for itself, and thereby lure in an even greater pool of talented writers. Hell, might even be able to build or work-out a deal with a publishing site and get something going on the e-book selling side.
    
    "More ways to get paid @ HubPages."

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    1. 69

       travelespressoposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       GREAT idea.  I really support this one.
       
       I'd also like an "opt out" button on the forums.  I like to read through the forums but I have NO interest in what's happening in the religious forums.  If I could read through all the forum headings except the religious ones that'd wonderful and save a lot of clutter.
       
       I also support engaging staff (hubbers) in a different time zone to clean up the spam.
       
       Great question FD and I see you are "elite"  Wahoo.  Not sure when that happened but congrats.

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15. 74

    frogdroppingposted 14 years ago

    Wow shades that's a fantastic idea *nods* There are so many wonderfully gifted writers on Hubpages, despite what some detractors would have you believe.
    
    I could see the potential for growth in relation to hubbers writing and publishing stories, poems etc. I've read some incredibly creative hubs on the site and it would be great to see those writers celebrated in some way.
    
    We've got poets, story tellers, comedic talent, sharp current affairs hubbers ... paranormal investigators and so many more. Hmmmm lol truly, a stirling idea

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16. 42

    Mikeydoesposted 14 years ago

    Just as Hubpages required the writers to write their articles, they should now let us pick our favorites with a reader's choice. The more power you give your community, the better chance for success and new better solutions.
    
    Much like how the sites featured in the hub below are directly asking everyone in the world for solutions. Not just 5 people in a room trying to figure out what to do. I feel that the single person is so much more powerful then anyone can imagine. Just one idea, or one right move.
    
    http://hubpages.com/hub/make-big-money- … g-problems
    
    Make sure the community can be heard, and felt like they are heard individually. I really like his idea.

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17. 42

    Mikeydoesposted 14 years ago

    How hard is it to get something to trend on Twitter? If we can get enough pulling power to make things trend, we could exploit that somehow

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    1. 74

       frogdroppingposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       See you could enlighten me there Mikey - I don't use Twitter. I have an account but don't use it.

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          Mikeydoesposted 14 years agoin reply to this

          I'm just learning about it. But listmyfive.com was recommended by hubpages as well. So I went and checked it out. I went on the forums and someone said lm5 is trending. And sure enough when I went to Twitter it was there. Listmyfive is way smaller than hubpages, thats why I bring up my "how easy is it to get something to trend on twitter?" question.
          
          I'm sure you can use it to help the site in some way, to drive people to the site I suppose and generate more revenue for everyone. But like I said that is if trending is easy to do, and I am sure it is(if you have enough people and a couple other variables)

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18. 74

    frogdroppingposted 14 years ago

    Mikey I've been trying to get to that hub a while now, my browser is being silly. I'll try again shortly, I'd like to read it.
    
    I can see you want to improve the community. Make it feel more inclusive rather than the opposite. I agree
    
    @ Susana ... HubBouncers? Like ... I have the 'e' right? Only we'd become HB? And then maybe HB1, HB2?
    
    We'd become PENCILS Susana. You didn't think this one through did you?

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19. 60

    Thrillerposted 14 years ago

    Nice topic. Here's my wish list:
    1. A Quiz capsule with multiple choice questions
    2. Ability to use basic HTML for changing font color, borders etc
    3. An Amazon spotlight capsule like the one on Squidoo (Squidoo haters please don't read this)
    
    But I have to add Hub Pages is great already. Improving it further will make it awesome!

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    1. 85

       rebekahELLEposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       there is a quiz capsule and you can make it multiple choice.
       I just used it in my most recent hub. I only gave two choices, but you can choose more choices if you wish.

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20. 0

    EmpressFelicityposted 14 years ago

    Here's a suggestion:
    
    I view the forums via the "Latest forum activity" page.  Sometimes of the ten most recent posts, six or seven are on religious topics.  I would LOVE to be able to tick a box so as to render anything posted in the religion forum "invisible".  People could post there to their hearts' content but as far as I was concerned it would be a case of "Poufff! Gone".

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    1. 74

       frogdroppingposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       Maybe we can do that already Empress. Sometimes I lose track of what's new due to the regular HP upgrades. If we don't have it, maybe another for consideration
       
       @ Whikat - hmmmmm I'd imagine we'd end with more cries of 'not fair!' but I do think you've got a point. I don't know how many flag, how often and for what reason. I've flagged a couple before, relating to either something that read plain below the belt or because a thread had become uncomfortable full stop.
       
       There are hubbers that are very insidious in their method of reply. It's hardly hidden what their intent is in reply to their fellow hubbers. Not something I or many others like to see. Do they get away with it? I don't know. I suspect those that may believe they're on the receiving end would say yes.
       
       I know some of our hubbers have felt extremely aggrieved, both past and present, for the reason/s that have underpinned their bans.
       
       Like I've said before - I'm thinking HP's current model is the best fit for now. There are only so many of them and so many forum posts in a day ... I'd imagine it's a job and a half keeping up.
       
       I still think the team are human though - and always bear in mind that HP is a business, first and foremost. I don't have the answer. I wish I did. If it comes to me, I'll email the staff team
       
       Oh and I don't think your idea sounds silly. To me, it sounds sensible

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          Whikatposted 14 years agoin reply to this

          Oh Yes I do agree with you, I forgot about some of the drawbacks that can accompany a policy like that. Thanks for not thinking it a silly idea I do like dreaming about some of the other suggestions that people have come up with. If I think of any helpful non-forum suggestions, I will be back

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21. 74

    frogdroppingposted 14 years ago

    @ Thriller - I haven't seen the Amazon spotlight capsule on Squidoo. Could I see it without having to start a lens? Some basic HTML would be good but I suspect too much for some new users. The quiz capsule ... we have the poll one already so maybe that wouldn't be too difficult to add. Not being a software engineer, I wouldn't know. Maybe you could add your suggestions to the 'new suggestions' sub-forum
    
    @ Mikey - I read the hub. Looks to be an online business concept that holds some credibility. I'm not the inevention type but I guess I can think outside the box on occasion. I'll look at the site more later
    
    AS for twitter - it's outside my comprhension through a lack of use. Maybe some Twitter types would better know the answer. It doesn't appear to sound impossible though.

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22. 73

    Hauntyposted 14 years ago

    This may be a silly idea, but I think HubPages should rearrange the list of topical forums so that Religion and Beliefs goes to the very end. And the link should be broken.

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    1. 74

       frogdroppingposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       I'm laughing Haunty. Very clever - and quite funny. Honest, my 'lol' of the day

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          Hauntyposted 14 years agoin reply to this

          Considering the things that's been already said today in the 'sin bin,' I don't believe you.

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       kimberlyslyricsposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       Perfect  in every way!
       
       

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23. 74

    frogdroppingposted 14 years ago

    No seriously - that was a funny reply. The last bit. I didn't expect it. That's the sign of great comic timing

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24. 73

    Hauntyposted 14 years ago

    Ok. I was kinda hoping it's not true. Because then it means it was really a silly idea.

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25. 74

    frogdroppingposted 14 years ago

    lol the last bit was silly Haunty - but the first part was sensible. Make the forum easier to navigate for new users. Arrange it so that the important HP sections are more visible. How is that a silly idea?

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26. 0

    kimberlyslyricsposted 14 years ago

    Hi frog
    lmfao wh just caught the above typo which said Hi snob   ha[not funny I say [hee]
    
    Hello Whikat, just wanted to mention, to you or frog or I can hit a report button, even the same one 1,000 times, but it acts only a a flag.  Like 'hey hp I think this is wrong because'  ................
    But I know after 5 bans (4 justified and one was dumb but surprised me with incredible way of justifying it to my surprise  ),HP team only bans those posts/threads that go over the line.  It helps them to be alerted to something  / somebody.  But i reckon, the number of flag / reports pushed in comparison to actually bans is a  huge  difference. 
    
    Don't get me wrong, when i get an email all devilish saying ha I love to ban you I'll watch you so you keep getting banned' [more yawn] 
    
    
    Having said that, I like your idea as deals with many issue in a PROACTIVE way, thank you
    
    HP is there a way to block emails not verified, how can we ensure a Huber sending mail through our profiles, have no email, clearly to be nasty [yawn]
    
    This suggestion benefits both of us.  I \\
    
    OK so Paul, take a deep breath and  please remember this is  a process and I do mean asked for the entire team.   
    
    Could staff start leaving sporadic comments on our hubs, not everyday, not all your followers.  I am suggesting when you see a hub that warrants your comment if your HubHoping or however you get the largest time slots for reviewing
    I understand there are gazzilliomns of us 
    
    But I guarantee productivity would increase, Creatively we would all strive for a better looking medium and clearly, simply on the off chance you may hit ie; my hub, Of course the criticism would be constructive 
    
    Basically we would have the opportunity to interact with the team on a professional level
    
    That's it [omg not!]  except p;ease p;ease can we more affiliates, please!  There must be a reason we don't but 2  are getting old and I find excellent for a product but some folk i know are not comfortable buying some good money both ways
    Thanks Frog
    
    looking for appropriate photo now-hoping this thread is still active  :
    
    we have back up wooohoooo
    
    

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       Hokeyposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       Ill never ban you!

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       1. 0

          kimberlyslyricsposted 14 years agoin reply to this

          you already did
          
          *sniff*

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             Hokeyposted 14 years agoin reply to this

             No I didnt silly!

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27. 76

    Aficionadaposted 14 years ago

    Other ideas (not forum-related):
    
    I would like to see the Search function improved.  That is, offer the possibility of using multiple criteria at the same time, not just words and portion of the site.  Perhaps add the possibility of searching by date, by author, by number of comments, by category - along with word/s and section of the site.  And I would like to be able to go to Advanced Search immediately, rather than having to do a simple search first.
    
    I like the idea of having some additional feeds on the front page (pre-sign-in page): one that would feature the current HubNuggets (I think that's right - I've never participated, so I'm not sure); maybe another for current and/or past HubMob Hubs; maybe another feed for Hubs Recommended by Readers (for example, those that have been rated the most highly within the past thirty days or within the past week).  There could be other categories (maybe one for Great Literature; Scientific Ideas; Current Controversies)....
    
    I would also like a feed on my own Hubs that would be "This Author Recommends" - it's essentially the same as providing links to other Hubs within the Hub or in a link capsule - but the choices wouldn't have to be related to the Hub where it appears, and it would be located over on the far right of the screen and highlighted in a different way.
    
    I would also like to find a better way of searching Hubs within the corpus of a given author's writings, especially those with over 100 Hubs - a method like that may already exist, but I haven't learned to use it!
    
    I would also like to see other choices for rating Hubs, besides the ones we have now; and I would like to see some [negative] ratings that are for the Author's eyes only and only available for other Hubbers to use (not guests):  Need to Improve Grammar; Need to Improve Punctuation; Hard to Understand; Better Capsule Arrangement Would Help - such things.  After the author sees these, the "ratings" could be deleted.  I think this could be an adjunct to the discussion in Extreme Hub Makeover (not to substitute for it, but to assist it).
    
    Now, to the Forums (!!!):
    
    I really do believe this is impossible, but I would love to see a different organization of the Religion and Politics forums: have one section that is essentially "No Holds Barred" - basically what we have now; another section for Civil Discourse - disagreements allowed, but only in courteous tones; another section only for people who want to hear only agreement with themselves.  The first section is for anyone; the other two are permitted only after demonstrated ability to communicate in the way permitted.  [In my imagination] it would be possible to be banned from the second two, but still allowed to post in the first one - except for truly outrageous language.  As I said, I'm sure it's impossible - and I know others have written in the past that there are other places on the Internet where such forums exist - but I can still dream, can't I?
    
    I do like the idea of limiting the number of bans you can request - but I would suggest maybe 2-3 per year, rather than just one; it seems to me that the stricter limit would encourage trolls, rather than discouraging them.

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       EmpressFelicityposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       Most of your other ideas are spot on but this one is unworkable.   Who gets to decide who's demonstrated the "right" way to communicate?  Presumably the site's moderators, who would lay themselves open to all sorts of accusations of political/religious bias - accusations which they get plenty of already (have you seen that "Pedantic HubPages" blog post?)
       
       Personally I dislike moderation on forums.  I think it should only be used in extreme cases, or where HubPages' "bottom line" is likely to be affected.

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       Sufidreamerposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       Good idea, Aficionada - I often wondered if it would be feasible to search by Groups/Favoured Topics. If someone has many Hubs, it is difficult to find the exact one you want, and searching 'More Hubs' means wading through pages and pages of titles.
       
       Unless, of course, I am missing something really obvious

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          DoorMattnomoreposted 14 years agoin reply to this

          under each persons name and bio thingy is a box that says.."search content by..."   is that what you mean?

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             Sufidreamerposted 14 years agoin reply to this

             Hi DM
             
             That works to a certain extent, but sometimes you might want to find all of a Hubber's work on Interior Design or Recipes, for example. Easy if the topic is rotated on their profile; a pain in the arse if it isn't
             
             EDIT: 'Tis true, FD - I still stumble across things that I never knew existed. Either I blatantly missed them, in a display of terminal incompetence, or I fell through an Interdimensional Timewarp

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                Hauntyposted 14 years agoin reply to this

                I'm of the exact same mind regarding the search capabilities of HP. When I want to find something from a hubber I always use Google site specific search.
                
                Say I want to see everything Darkside has on referrals. I'd type this in Google search
                
                referrals "Ask darkside" site:hubpages.com/hub
                
                The "Ask darkside" bit is there to ensure only his hubs are shown. I'm sure there is a better way to do this, but this is the only one I know.

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                DoorMattnomoreposted 14 years agoin reply to this

                ohhhhh. that's what happens when I talk about something Im not sure about.  I never actually USED the search thingy..just knew it existed.   
                
                For me, the only thing HP could do to be better is give me a foot rub and make me dinner.

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          frogdroppingposted 14 years agoin reply to this

          Sometimes I wonder that Sufi. Like ... is 'x' already at my fingertips, I just missed it somehow. Now and then when I can't figure something out I ask and so far as I remember, I've been pointed right at it - feeling silly

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          Aficionadaposted 14 years agoin reply to this

          
          
          As a test, I just ran a search on ryankett's profile page (537 or so Hubs): first, under Search Content By, I typed "movies." There were many hits and not all of them were Hubs.  So I clicked on "Scope (whatever, whatever)" to limit the search to Hubs.  That helped, but there were still nearly 50.  I started over and typed "movies -laptops," first getting hits on more than Hubs, then limiting to just Hubs.  That helped even more, with only 29 results.  Personally, I would love to have a smaller group to search, but 29 would be workable.
          
          I think that my idea about improving HubPages' overall Search function would actually take care of this matter too (or maybe not); but another way of helping would be to include more direction about the Search function on the Hubber's pages.  For example, a small box just below the search box could say "Use '-' to exclude words or phrases" or "Content can be limited by Content Type after results are returned."  Or some things along those lines.
          
          Haunty's suggestions about using Google's Search is great - but there are millions of internet users (including Hubbers) who don't know how to do that.  Then too, what if a guest is on an author's page and would like to read more of what the author  wrote on a given subject (still assuming they have gazillions of Hubs)?  Do we want to force them to go to Google for a search that they could perform while they are still on HubPages?

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             Pcunixposted 14 years agoin reply to this

             You can actually imbed Google search in your website (I do that) and you can also buy a Google Search Appliance from them that does even better (my son-in-law has that at his work).
             
             The imbedded Google search is OK.   I liked Swishe-e better, but its databases became so large I had to abandon it.  The imbedded Google misses a few things now and then - frustrating when I know it is there because I wrote it!
             
             Forgot links: http://www.google.com/cse/
             
             http://www.google.com/enterprise/search/gsa.html
             
             http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SWISH-E

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                Hauntyposted 14 years agoin reply to this

                Doesn't a Google search find only stuff that's been indexed by Google?

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                   Pcunixposted 14 years agoin reply to this

                   The imbedded, yes.   If you run the Search Appliance, you control the indexing.
                   
                   BTW, all search engines suitable for use on a site of this size would have to work with indexed material.

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    frogdroppingposted 14 years ago

    Well Miss Kimberely, as ever you're wonderfully vibrant breath of fresh air
    
    I like your idea of maybe a comment or two from the powers that be. I'd imagine it would be motivating and kinda inspiring. Almost like an endorsement from above *nods*
    
    And you're another (along with Ryan) that's brought up to the affiliates issue, thankyou

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    rebekahELLEposted 14 years ago

    the thing is they just spam as many categories as they can. I think it makes more sense that they can't post a thread until they're published.

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       frogdroppingposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       But that would remove those that join with genuine intent on enhancing the site with no way of asking for help. Perhaps it would be better if their forum use was restricted initially - to the help sections?
       
       I know they could ask in the questions section but a lot don't even realise it's there to start with - plus many of us don't use it over much.

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    frogdroppingposted 14 years ago

    Aficionada - good call on the rating idea. Maybe something said in and among this thread will be a seedling now - later something HP can implememnt, albeit with the right attention to detail of course.
    
    You've offered some good ideas in general, even if one of the sub-forums you've suggested quickly became (affectionately/aggressively!) known as the Brawl Stall
    
    And I didn't start this as ameans of addressing the forum issues many experience. I actually meant the site itself.

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    Aficionadaposted 14 years ago

    Oh yes, the forum ideas were/are just dreams.
    
    And I know that in pretty much every sense imaginable, those forum ideas are unworkable (practically, philosophically, etc.).
    
    There are two thoughts that I think could make this work - and trust me, I know that I'm still dreaming.
    
    1)  I believe that certain people would gravitate to certain ones of these categories because of the way they prefer to interact with others.  We could all name names, but I won't. 
    
    I have seen one Hubber who claimed to appreciate the ability to disagree civilly with others, but their actual style is highly aggressive and confrontational.  On the other hand, months ago I saw a post that requested, almost forlornly, the possibility of discussing opposing ideas without attacking.  (Pretty soon that forum thread was filled with attacks.)  There are others who shut down conversation by saying "This is my forum and you have to follow my rules," or words to that effect.
    
    2)  IF such an idea as I proposed were to be attempted (and again, I know that it's not viable), I believe that Hubbers could suggest certain trigger words and phrases/expressions that demonstrate communication that is off-limits in the Courteous/ Civil section - things like "You're[/Your ] stupid/idiotic/ irrational/biased."  Or like "that's [so] typical."  Maybe I should come up with a Hub about the most frequently used words or expressions that ramp up a conversation from courteous disagreement to mob mentality to all-out war. Maybe someone has already done that?
    
    In any case, I know that it would be even harder to administer my suggested system than the one we have in place now.  But I like to dream.
    
    [Responses to other posts on the way shortly.]

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    mythbusterposted 14 years ago

    Maybe something very mysterious could happen to the forum... *ahem* such as an irreversible GLITCH whereby all the forum data is lost lol PERMANENTLY...
    
    And when a new forum is set up, it has an army of moderators in the religulous sections, policing, then dealing with all the ad hominem attacks, bazillions of "almost the same" topic starters, etc.
    
    

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       Hauntyposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       I guess that's settled then. Let us await the forum database Armageddon. (Sorry for bringing in a Biblical concept. )
       
       The other idea is great as well. Some respected hubbers should be given moderation rights. (Right to delete/edit posts.) Those that have a stake in the good going of HP. People with over 200 quality hubs, etc. Then there could be a serious crackdown on crime. You shouldn't ban people. They enjoy it. They are the "bad guys!" You should just delete their posts instead. That would annoy them like hell. lol

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          hanging outposted 14 years agoin reply to this

          agreed but i dont want a moderator to do it.. whats the chance of getting a christian moderator. lol. and would that christian moderator be catholic... what if we get a muslim moderator.. hope i don't get banned by an atheist moderator...
          a delete option given to the original poster to delete unwanted posts would prevent the need for moderation and save hubpages a pay cheque or two..
          
          uh oh.. see you in 6 weeks... arggghh...

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    frogdroppingposted 14 years ago

    @ Haunty - thanks for that. Never knew that nifty little trick
    
    @ Aficionada ... I hear you, I do *nods* I reckon you could hub the passive/agressive language models. You know ... the thinly veiled baiting, the not-so-subtle gut punches. Just because I don't bother with those forums over much doesn't mean I don't read them.
    
    I just choose (on the whole) not to engage with those that wouldn't say boo to me in the street. I like front, I like in others the ability to back their stance up. I don't mean I'm confrontational, I'm not. But I like a clean debate, not one that revolves around sneakiness and evasion.
    
    As an example, I rarely win a debate at home. Simões thinks on his feet and uses his intelligence and logic, which ususally catches me on the backfoot. But I like that in a person, I respect it.
    
    We have (I think) a lot of folks that have an ability to argue like a politician. So saying that they never answer you. They duck and dive and answer with a question, they muddy the waters with sleight-of-hand diatribes that don't mean a thing.
    
    All very frustrating, which ever side it comes from.
    
    And there's nothing wrong with dreaming!

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    Pcunixposted 14 years ago

    As to the forums, I'd be happy if I could just filter out all posts by or replying to certain users.
    
    We had that ability way back on the early Usenet groups; I cannot imagine why it is not a part of every forum.

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       Whikatposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       I am not sure if that would be a good idea. I know that many helpful hubbers, including yourself have been very helpful in answering my questions. If a filter was used to filter me out, I am afraid no one would answer my questions, than I would be sad and my hubs would look bad.

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          Pcunixposted 14 years agoin reply to this

          Why on earth would anyone filter you out?
          
          I'm thinking of people who offer nothing of value, who aren't even hubbers really but are only here to annoy in the political or religious forums.  If enough of us filtered them out, they'd be left talking to themselves and the few just like them.  There aren't many of them, but they can be quite obnoxious.

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       Reality Bytesposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       
       
       I would like an ignore button for the forums.

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       hanging outposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       a delete option for the original poster would clear up a lot of useless posts and server space.

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    awareposted 14 years ago

    A proof reader , edit and help . service. would be nice.

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    Aficionadaposted 14 years ago

    I loved Shades' idea about an annual compilation of Hubs; Haunty's about listing Religious and Political Forums last and breaking the link; Empress's about the ability to exclude certain categories of Hubs from the list (it could vary by Hubber - wouldn't have to be just the Rel/Pol ones); PCU's about seeing forum responses only by certain posters.
    
    A last thought before I leave for an appointment - relating to spammers and new threads: since a new Hubber without a Hub could legitimately wish to post questions in a new thread before they have published, and since a spammer can spam in any forum category, what about the idea of asking the HubPages Elite to take responsibility (on a 24-hour rotation) for approving forum posts by anyone who has 0 Hubs?  That way, the legitimate ones would go through and the spam would not.  The spammers who do have a Hub or two up would still be flagged by the rest of us.

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    awareposted 14 years ago

    Tutoring , proofreader, Edit advice.In general HELP. there are many good writers that lack writing skills . me for one.

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       ryankettposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       I haven't checked your hubs, so no reference to your personally, but how can somebody who lacks writing skills be a good writer?
       
       Wouldn't they just be somebody with potentially good writing skills?
       
       I doubt that the team have the resources to offer a proofreading service, there are more than 1 million hubpages published, that would require a substantial investment.
       
       Perhaps pre-approval before publication, that would be a more beneficial use of resources. If they are going to sit there proofreading then they may as well reject hubs at point of publication instead. There are only 20 hubpages team members, they would probably need 10 more to offer that service... sorry, not going to be viable.
       
       The only problem with approving hubs is that they would then need to approve revisions, and people like me revise their hubs constantly.... so that would be unviable too....
       
       There are some great free writing courses out there on the web, maybe I will write a hubpage on the subject - they can really help people develop their skills. But personally, I don't really see the hub team as English teachers. If there has to be just 20 of them, then I would prefer that the majority were web developers skilled in SEO (which they are )
       
       I doubt that there is much wrong with your writing anyway.

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    frogdroppingposted 14 years ago

    More good suggestions. Not all could be implemented but like Whikat says ... we can dream
    
    Thank you all who have replied. We can play without falling out

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    mtsi1098posted 14 years ago

    the two recent changes HP has made are a great help...Being able to re-load stored photos is something that has bugged me for sometime...The title changes allows 30 days worth of keywords to best structure your hub title ...One of the improvements that can be made is too prevent over utilization or under utilization of tags...If there is a limit, I would rather know before I publish the hub then have to go back and re-do...

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    lynnechandlerposted 14 years ago

    I would like to see all the accounts over say six months old with no hubs get an email saying that in X amount of time their account will be deleted if they don't actively start writing hubs. There is a lot of hubbers out there who haven't written anything.

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    Aficionadaposted 14 years ago

    Here comes another one ... or two, I guess.
    
    On a prolific Hubbers' profile page, I would love to have a button that says "Sort By" with several options available (Category; Group; Date; Alphabetical; Most/Least Commented On - to name a few).  That's because there are times when I would enjoy browsing through another Hubber's body of work, but I don't especially want to weed through several hundred titles and blurbs in a random order.  I'm not talking about looking for a specific title or topic (a search, as in yesterday's discussion), but rather seeing some form of organization for an unwieldy list.
    
    Second, when I look at forum thread titles sorted by "Your," the labels are confusing to me, because of the way they are arranged.  The "When" column is immediately adjacent to "Most Recent," so that it looks like the time listed is when the last poster posted.  But I believe the time is actually when I last posted, isn't it?  So I would love to see a change in naming the column headings/labels OR a change in the location of the "When" column (so that it is adjacent to the "Topic" column).

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    awareposted 14 years ago

    Need help ? look elsewhere .hmm

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    frogdroppingposted 14 years ago

    More ideas and suggestions. Seems some things have popped up a time or two, such as a better search facility related to hubbers and the forums streamlining in some way.
    
    Thank you everyone that took the time to reply

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    Hauntyposted 14 years ago

    I think I might have a solution.
    
    Let the God Squad elect an authorized representative of religious matters who is well-versed in Christian apologetics (Christian theology that aims to present a rational basis for the Christian faith, defend the faith against objections, and expose the perceived flaws of other world views.) Then, let the atheist side present their own trusted spokesperson as well.
    
    These too should then discuss their points on behalf of the groups they represent in a completely separate forum invisible and inaccessible to other HP folks, so the personal attacks can go on behind the scenes, annoying religious forum spam and bannings can be avoided. They, then, should issue monthly reports on these discussion presenting them in a hub.
    
    Otherwise, all religious talk both within and without the forums stops leaving it to the professionals to do their job.

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    schoolgirlforrealposted 14 years ago

    Hi
    Um you know how when you click All Forums and you see all?
    I'd like the option to opt out the forums you don't want to personally see....
    
    that might help some stay away from argumentive forums, you know, if they want to
    
    thoughts?

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       schoolgirlforrealposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       It's kinda like in facebook, you can invisbleize people you don't want to read thheir comments
       
       It would help me, that I know. So certain forum(s) are not "in my face" every time I click Forums.
       
       Then If I ever want to go to those forum(s) I can by clicking on that forum (left side list)
       
       Isn't this a splendid idea?? I'm think I solved that problem!!!!

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