Site Update: following hubs and some new rules about hub layout

1. STAFF

   pauldeedsposted 13 years ago

   We just released a small update to the site.  Among a slew of bug fixes and small updates, there are two notable changes.
   
   The first is that you can follow the comments on a hub, and receive email notifications when new comments are made.  Just click the follow button near the top of the comments capsule, or check the box when you leave a comment.
   
   The second, is related to the formatting of hubs.  We now require that you have at least 50 words of text for each Amazon or eBay product that is configured to be displayed on your hub, and you can no longer use an Amazon, eBay, Link, News, or RSS capsule as the first full width capsule in a hub.  New hubs that violate these stipulations will be blocked from publication.  A warning will appear on existing hubs that violate these rules.  We do not intend to remove already published hubs that are in violation at this time, but it is likely that we will at some point in the future.  We will provide you ample warning here and by email (including a list of your hubs that are in danger).  However, we do recommend fixing your existing hubs as you come across the warnings.  This change only affects 2-3% of all hubs.

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      Mutiny92posted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks Paul and the HP staff! If you start to notice trends in hub performance AFTER these changes are made, would you share them with the community?  I doubt it would be possible to get too specific (e.g. 63 words per ad vs. 51 words per ad being optimal) but it would be interesting to see if the less densely populated a hub is with ads has a correlation to the rise in the SERPS (or simply the views).
      
      Thanks again!

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      Mark Knowlesposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Whatever you are using to identify offending hubs does not seem to be working properly. I have 634 words and 16 products showing on this hub:
      
      http://hubpages.com/hub/yamaha-guitars
      
      But no warning.
      
      I have quite a lot of hubs that break this rule which do not have a warning on them. I am - of course - bringing them in line with the new guidelines regardless.
      
      I will leave this one unchanged for the moment in the hope it will help you identify the issue.
      
      Good to see some changes.

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         ryankettposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         It hasn't picked up some of mine either.

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            chinab2cc1posted 13 years agoin reply to this

            .

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      snakebabyposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I didn't receive any email update on this, only discovered it by accident. Too late to do anything tonight, it's bedtime. Hope I'll get enough time to fix my hubs before bad things happen (another factor that affects further writing, just when I finally wanted to write something). Hope this change will up HP's G ranking eventually. Thanks

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      snakebabyposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Just thought about it while editing my hubs. An old suggestions I brought up couple of times but very few people got my point: Why can't we put picture caps side by side? That would make the current editing a whole lot easier, and it is basically a very helpful and convenient way to align our pictures. I've been calling for this but no one responded. Strangely many people didn't feel the needs, or they never even understood what I was talking about. Now, for the 3rd time, I'd send the suggestion, and would really appreciate if HP could make this feature available. It's just so obvious that it is very necessary! Thanks

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         EmpressFelicityposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         I think it's an excellent idea.
         
         Another idea would be to be able to control both the alignment *and* size of the picture, so you could have a layout that went
         
         [text capsule 75%] [picture 25%]
         
         ...rather than the 50/50 split we're currently restricted to.

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         barbergirl28posted 13 years agoin reply to this

         I think that is also a great idea... I know I have tried to rearrange pictures differently and sometimes it seems as if I just can't get them in the right spot. However, being able to place them side-by-side definately gives way to being able to have different layout options!

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      lessaemilyposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      your commence is very good .  give me more information.

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      JRKposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      A newbie calling! I am getting the impression that the system is already being trawled for breaches of the new rulings and Hubbers who are in breach are already receiving notices. So logically, if I have not received one, then I must be OK! And if I put a foot wrong from now on the system will auto call me to order.
      
      Is this the wrong impression?
      
      I don't have any problem with the need for rules. It would be helpful know when one is in the clear asap so that we can concentrate on the quality of our pages with worrying. I suppose had been a Hubber for longer I would better understand.

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         JRKposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Whoops... that would be " without worrying".

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      robie2posted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks Paul-- What a good idea. I'm for anything designed to encourage quality content and get rid of spammers.  Go Hubpages:)

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      tritrainposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Regarding: "The first is that you can follow the comments on a hub, and receive email notifications when new comments are made.  Just click the follow button near the top of the comments capsule, or check the box when you leave a comment."
      
      Is there a preferences setting to disable the email notification?

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         Freya Cesareposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Just unclick it! Leave the box alone before you add any comment and you will be save.
         
         No wonder my email suddenly full with Hub Pages Notification!   
         
         Bellow 50 words? Is there any exception for poetry?

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         1. STAFF

            pauldeedsposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            I don't see why you'd be listing very many products along side of your poetry, but as long as you only list 2-3 products you should be all right, regardless of the word count.

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               Freya Cesareposted 13 years agoin reply to this

               Why I listing very many Products along side my poetry? To be honest, its simply because I felt kind of wasted to have the facility but not using it at all. But there was no rules like today at that time.
               
               Oh well,  I decided to deleted all the Amazon capsules there. It is more easy that way.
               
               Thank you.

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               barbergirl28posted 13 years agoin reply to this

               I actually like putting products next to my poetry because it breaks things up a little. It is more visually appealing, in my opinion... as long as it is something that can be related.

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      David99999posted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks for the update!

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       safiq ali patelposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       These rules won't be easy to remember. But then admin are good at pointing out when hubs need changes so i think most of us well get used to these new rules slowly but surely.

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       Janet21posted 13 years agoin reply to this

       
       
       I guess you can say I am not the average hubber since instead of 2-3%, I had to fix over 40% of my hubs. Yikes, that was about 40 hubs!  Good news is that I am completely done. Some were very easy to fix and were done in a matter of seconds, others took a bit more time and one I can't possibly fix.  So, I may break that one up into 2-3 different hubs.  I actually finished fixing them all in one day cause I just wanted it done!

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          lakeerieartistsposted 13 years agoin reply to this

          I am not too average either Janet, because I am having to fix about 50% or more of my own hubs.  We will see if the fix actually improves earnings.  I have yet to be convinced.

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             Janet21posted 13 years agoin reply to this

             
             
             It appears that this change was put into place because Google apparently dropped hubs from the rankings which had too many ads. 
             
             Second, we found that Hubs which successfully maintained their traffic were much more likely to judiciously use the Amazon, eBay, news, RSS and link capsules, so we ask if you choose to add news and RSS capsules, you make sure that you have plenty of original content in your Hub to accompany it and that you write at least 50 words of text in your Hub for every product you feature in your Amazon and eBay capsules.
             
             Unfortunately, these changes were not implemented to increase our earnings.  We will see how it all works out I guess.  The funny thing is that Squidoo's overall ebay/Amazon modules to text ratio is much higher, yet their traffic was not really affected by the new Google algo.  Go figure.
             
             I think everyone is just running around trying to figure out what the heck Google really wants!

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                lakeerieartistsposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                Understood, I just am not convinced that my hubs with related ebay and amazon ads are really the problem.  They are a different kind of ad too, not what is found in the sidebar etc.

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       Shinkickerposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       I've no problems with the new rules but I think it's unfair that it will apply to exisiting Hubs retrospectively. I have a few stories on my Hubpages that have more than one part and I usually put a link to the first part to help readers.

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       1. STAFF

          pauldeedsposted 13 years agoin reply to this

          I'd suggest just floating the link capsule and the image over to the right (click the right arrow on them when editing the hub).   It may require changing a bunch of hubs, but it shouldn't take too long.  I base this on this example:
          
          http://hubpages.com/hub/Chinese-Democrz … ry-Part-11

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       jessejvickersposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       Such a great idea! Thanks for sharing.

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       SoCuriousposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       This helps to keep up the integrity of all our Hubs.  Thanks.

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       barbergirl28posted 13 years agoin reply to this

       I just have a comment about recieving a notification when a person comments on the hub. I liked when you could  recieve a notification of when the author comments on the hub. This tells me when I get a response back from the author, but I don't always want every comment from the hub. Some people get several comments and it is overflooding my email. I would suggest having two buttons... one for just following the hubs comments (especially if it is a topic of interest) or one that allows you just to be notified when the author responds.

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       Danette Wattposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       I'm not clear about the 50 words for Amazon & eBay. Do they have to be embedded in the text? Or can they be a descriptive caption under the item(s)?

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          Michael Willisposted 13 years agoin reply to this

          Think of it as a word count minimum for your hub.
          
          1 Amazon capsule and you choose which exact product you have shown. You then need 50 words of Text for the HUB, not the product.
          
          2 Amazon capsules with 1 product selected each would equal 2 x 50 word minimum=100 words for the Hub!
          
          But remember, if you have an Amazon capsule and say you use keywords to automatically allow products...if the display says 4 to be allowed, that would be 4 x 50= 200 words for the Hub.
          
          -------- (Note: You have 4 items to be shown, but only 3 show up in hub-you still need 200 words since there is the chance a 4th product could show up at any time.-----------
          
          
          Same with E-Bay capsules

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             Danette Wattposted 13 years agoin reply to this

             Got it, thanks for the clarification.

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   webismineposted 13 years ago

   Oh thanks for the update

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   Fiction Tellerposted 13 years ago

   Hi Paul,
   
   Regarding:
   
   "We now require that you have about 50 words of text for each Amazon or eBay product that is configured to be displayed on your hub, "
   
   Wow, this is pretty major.  I don't have a problem with it, but I think we need some clarification.  Can you answer a few questions?
   
   1) Do the fifty words go in the Amazon/eBay capsules or in the text capsules?
   
   2) Can you show examples of how it works with eBay, since these products are not preselected by us?  I.e., I'm not seeing how we can describe an eBay entry since these change all the time.  What will this look like?
   
   3) For Amazon, if we have a capsule with 10 products that are auto generated, we have to have 50 words associated with each?
   
   4) And again with Amazon, if we have a capsule with 10 products that are hand-selected, do we have to have 50 words associated with each?
   
   EDIT:  Wait a minute - I just realized I may be misinterpreting what you said. Are you actually talking about a general ratio here?  So if you have 10 Amazon products displayed, that means you need at least 500 words in your hub?

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   1. STAFF

      pauldeedsposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      What you said in your edit is correct.  You don't have to, but if you do put in your own descriptions for products in the Amazon Capsule, those words obviously will count toward your total.   Most hubbers will not need to worry about these changes at all.

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         DaNoblestposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Thank you for clarifying this.  I am glad I decided to do a little research on these new changes before writing a 50+ word review for each product.
         
         Good changes over all. Thanks!

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         jeyaprakash84posted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks for your clarification. I too was having the same doubt..

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            talfonsoposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            Thanks for clarification! I have more text than Amazon products, so I'm pretty much in the green.

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               newenergyportalposted 13 years agoin reply to this

               Nice post . thanks for sharing information in your post....

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   lrohnerposted 13 years ago

   Thx Paul, I like it -- and I mean all of the changes.

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   IzzyMposted 13 years ago

   Thanks Paul, this is a very welcome change that should cut down on a lot of the substandard hubs on this site

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   Aficionadaposted 13 years ago

   Definitely good.  Thanks for the good work.

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   Nelle Hoxieposted 13 years ago

   It all sounds very reasonable to me. If any of my product hubs need tweaking, then I'll be happy to do it as quickly as they are flagged.

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   sunforgedposted 13 years ago

   I dont see the difference between an adsense or other ad module appearing on first sight to a product module appearing on first sight.
   
   If one is undesirable so is the other.
   
   I do appreciate word count requirements though

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      Len Cannonposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I think it means like a page layout like this
      
      [amazon][amazon]
      [teeeeeeeeeeext]
      [text][amazon]
      [comments]

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   Nelle Hoxieposted 13 years ago

   When will the warning appear? I do have my calculator at the ready, to check my product to word ratio. But a warning would be easier.

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      sunforgedposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      wouldnt waiting for the email be easier?

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      Just Ask Susanposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I got one warning when I was checking my account and fixed it right away.
      It will show up and that little black triangle.

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         Nelle Hoxieposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Thank you. I've actually already tweaked quite a few. It's a good thing that I've always shot for at least 800 words.

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    Nelle Hoxieposted 13 years ago

    Actually the warnings are already showing on the hubs, so I'll just start going through my hubs. I've been meaning to do some reworking and restyling for a while anyway.

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    Aya Katzposted 13 years ago

    Fifty words of text per Amazon product featured: is that for the whole hub as an average, or does it mean you have to write fifty words then put in a capsule for one product, then another fifty words before another product capsule can appear?

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       ryankettposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       Whole hub.
       
       10 Amazon products = 500 word minimum.

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          Aya Katzposted 13 years agoin reply to this

          I think I'm already in compliance, in that case.

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       2. STAFF

          pauldeedsposted 13 years agoin reply to this

          Not 10 Amazon capsules, 10 amazon products.  A capsule can contain from 1 to 8 products.

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             ryankettposted 13 years agoin reply to this

             Yep, I edited before you posted

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    Nelle Hoxieposted 13 years ago

    It's very convenient that once a hub is brought into compliance wrt the product/word ratio, the warning disappears.

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    lakeerieartistsposted 13 years ago

    Paul, just reading this now.  Are you asking that the Amazon/Ebay etc capsules be below the first horizontal line of capsules.  I have some that have the Amazon/Ebay to the right above the Adsense but the Adsense appears also.  Just need clarification.  The word requirement is great.

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    1. STAFF

       pauldeedsposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       You can't have them as the first full width capsule.  They are fine if they are half width over on the right side.  I updated my original post to clarify this.
       
       If you don't see a warning in the black box on top of your hub, that means you are in compliance.  The warnings are completely automated.

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          sunforgedposted 13 years agoin reply to this

          Ok , i like that better .. wooh
          
          although, does the filter know that?

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          lakeerieartistsposted 13 years agoin reply to this

          The warning will appear though for either reason right, not enough words or the capsule at the top.  I can see that I have some tweaking to do. 
          
          Should just result in better hubs though.  Do you have any idea how long before this becomes a requirement on older hubs?  This will give me a deadline to get this work done.

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    ryankettposted 13 years ago

    I have to admit that I don't like to see 10 eBay products at the start of a Hubpage. Although I do understand that there are potential monetary benefits to such a layout and as such don't blame anybody for pursuing that technique.
    
    I am supportive of this move. I don't have any hubs which don't start with text, but I probably have some which will require an increased word limit.
    
    This change will not only benefit the perception of Hubpages but also, potentially, the performance of hubs. If I am faced with the prospect of having to remove a couple of capsules or write another 100 words then I will choose the later. Longer hubs could see additional traffic if played right

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    RedElfposted 13 years ago

    Thanks for the clarification. Happy to tweak as required

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    K9keystrokesposted 13 years ago

    I am happy to comply, and revise as needed. Looking forward to an even better HubPages.

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    Michael Willisposted 13 years ago

    If there is a warning issued, will it appear in My Account as well as on the Hub?
    (Since this is basically a word count minimum...I don't think I have any worries. lol My hubs are not short on words.)

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    IzzyMposted 13 years ago

    I've got some tweaking to do but I can just remove a few capsules and it should be sorted:)
    
    Tomorrow, though - had a long day today!

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    lakeerieartistsposted 13 years ago

    Okay, I just did one of the hubs, and I think I understand what to do.  Going to take me several days but not too big a deal. 
    
    For me, it would be easier if the warning showed up on the statistics page like the broken link warning does so that I don't miss any.  Can you do that?

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       IzzyMposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       That is a brilliant idea! I, too , have a lot of product hubs so it's a lot of going through.
       
       On the other hand, they are going to email us after a time, anyway, aren't they?

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    2. STAFF

       pauldeedsposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       We can't add an indicator to my account very easily, but we do plan to email people a list of hubs that may need attention in the next week or so.

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          lakeerieartistsposted 13 years agoin reply to this

          Okay, well hopefully by then I will be done fixing them.    We will see who gets done first.

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          IzzyMposted 13 years agoin reply to this

          OMG I'll be scared to open an email from you guys! I can see it now - "you have 200 hubs that are not in compliance" or words to that effect.  It's probably a lot less. I was pleased to see my best performing sales hubs are already in compliance, but cannot definitely say there is a correlation because some that used to perform well are doing badly now, and have the correct words to products ratio.

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          EmpressFelicityposted 13 years agoin reply to this

          I just saw this - that'll teach me to jump in without reading the whole thread first

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    Nelle Hoxieposted 13 years ago

    My little chubby hubber hands have much work ahead. A symbol on the stats page - although depressing - would make life easier.
    
    As a side note - my best performing hubs, and hubs that have continued to perform through the downturn - are already in compliance.
    
    Hmmmmm...learn something new every day.

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       Marisa Wrightposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       Yes, that is interesting, Nelle!

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    IzzyMposted 13 years ago

    I've actually thought about it now and yes this is an excellent move. When the new ads come to all of us, our pages are going to look really spammy with relatively few words and lots of products displayed.
    
    I've been caught out where I've highlighted a few products and actually written about them, then added extra Amazon capsules at the bottom of the page just to give the reader more choice.
    
    So now I either go back and get rid, or write another couple of paragraphs about the products in general.
    The page will actually look a lot better plus those extra words might get some Google love

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    Just Ask Susanposted 13 years ago

    I find that the new way the notifications are done is very time consuming. Before when i would comment on a hub I would receive an email so that I knew the person had commented on my comment. Now I am receiving emails whenever anyone comments on the hub that I commented on. So then I have to go back to the hub to stop following the comments. Hope this makes sense.

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       Ari Lamsteinposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       Hi Susan,
       
       Thank you for bringing this to our intention.  It looks like we made a mistake, and we have fixed it. 
       
       We recently changed the notification behavior on Hub Comments.  The previous behavior, of getting a notification only when the hub author posts a comment, is no longer available.  The only notification behavior which is currently available is to receive a notification whenever any new comment is made.
       
       The bug which you describe is this: Hubbers who had previously opted-in to receive notifications when the Hub author made their next comment were now receiving emails whenever any new comment was made, even though they hadn't requested it.
       
       We fixed this problem shortly after you reported it by disabling any notifications made before our site update.
       
       We're sorry for any inconvenience that this might have caused you.
       
       Ari

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          Just Ask Susanposted 13 years agoin reply to this

          Thanks so much for your reply. No need to apologize I am just happy that it is now fixed.

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          Lily Roseposted 13 years agoin reply to this

          I prefer the previous behavior!

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    brandonhart100posted 13 years ago

    You know this is interesting because I had already began the move to move my pictures into the upper right corner of my page with a single amazon Hub beneath it.  I've also been eliminating excessive SEO which would have been "good" before the algorithm change.  By excessive I don't mean I keyword stuffed, I just mean that the title can't be mentioned 3-4 times above various capsules like it was before.  In other words, subtlety is now your friend.

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       brandonhart100posted 13 years agoin reply to this

       One quick question.  I've noticed that any hub that had "10" listed items in one Amazon product capsule now only has 8.  Does that mean for these hubs we have to go back and figure out what the 9th and 10th item were and then add them again?  Apparently I'll be going back to change my top 10's to top 8s.
       
       A warning might have been nice so that we could have adjusted them before hand instead of backtracking.

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    Cagsilposted 13 years ago

    Thank you Paul for the update.

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    Nelle Hoxieposted 13 years ago

    Then start another topic about it please. I'm tired of people budding into just about every topic with their personal beefs and rants about what has to be done.
    
    The HubPages Team has given us some clear guidance on particular types of hubs and it would be nice to just focus on that.

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    Nelle Hoxieposted 13 years ago

    Izzy it won't be any longer than mine. That's why I just jumped in and started making the changes needed. After you've done a couple dozen, it does get easier. Your eyes start to feel the ratio.
    
    Of course I've had to put soothing drops in my eyes and take 800 mg of ibuprofen for my arthritic wrists. But I'll get there.

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       IzzyMposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       Yeah you will have a few..did you ever write the 1000 sales hubs you planned for 2010? Then again you have a lot of long hubs so they should be OK? (I hope).
       If not, as you say, eyes down, drops in, painkillers at the ready...you'll be fine:)

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          Nelle Hoxieposted 13 years agoin reply to this

          I wrote twice that many.

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             IzzyMposted 13 years agoin reply to this

             Eeeeek! Madre Mia!!! Oh and well done that is incredible!
             
             Edit: can just see the email "you have 1200 hubs not in compliance". Start now! It'll take you all week to sort them all lol

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    CMHypnoposted 13 years ago

    As I am really not very good at maths and love adding Amazon products, this could prove very interesting!

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    wychicposted 13 years ago

    Oooh, I like this update . Off to check if I have any warnings -- I tend to be a tad wordy on most, so I kind of doubt if I do, but must be on the safe side. It's starting to feel like the tweaking will never end, but I'm sure I'll like what my overall profile looks like when it's finally done. The great thing about all these changes is that it does help give us some guidelines toward what search and admin see as the best quality.
    
    One question though (and I'm sorry if I missed it somewhere here), but is it 50 words for every Amazon and eBay product (i.e. a 500-word article can have up to, say, 8 Amazon and 2 eBay products) or 50 words per product of each type (i.e. a 300-word article could have 6 Amazon and 6 eBay and still be in compliance)?

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       IzzyMposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       Yep, so if you have 18 products for sale you need to have 50 x 18 words = 900.

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          wychicposted 13 years agoin reply to this

          Okay, cool, that's kind of how I figured it, but thought I'd double-check to make sure . Not finding any of mine not in compliance yet, so life is good .

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    Uninvited Writerposted 13 years ago

    I found a few of my hubs that had the Amazon capsule on top and a few descriptions under 50 words. They are fixed now, I think I got all of them.

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    sagebrush_mamaposted 13 years ago

    Thanks for the information.
    
    One quick question:  when editing an Amazon capsule, there is a "do not display" option.  If this is clicked so that the capsule doesn't display on the published hub, will those products still count in the ratio of 50:1?

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    lrohnerposted 13 years ago

    @Paul - I think I've run across a problem. I have one hub that's 609 words (according to the HP stats word count), so it should allow 12 products. The hub had 14 Amazon products showing.
    
    To make things easier for now until I have the time to really devote to tweaking this, I just went in and took two of the Amazon capsules and set them to "Do not display this capsule." So basically I wound up with 609 words and only 7 products displayed -- well within the limit. Unfortunately, the warning still appears.
    
    I do use the "Do not display this capsule" somewhat frequently, and I hope this was just an oversight.
    
    Thanks!

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    1. STAFF

       pauldeedsposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       Yes, that's a bug.  Should be fixed shortly.
       
       But to clarify something related.  It's not necessarily the number of products that are displayed, it's the number that could be displayed.  For instance if you have an amazon capsule programmed to display 6 products, but the search term you used only matches 4 you will still get dinged for all 6, since at any moment Amazon could add 2 more matching products.

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          lrohnerposted 13 years agoin reply to this

          Just to clarify, is this only if you're using keywords? I don't normally use them. I choose specific products to show. But the default when you open an Amazon capsule is 3 items to display.
          
          So if I insert an Amazon capsule, select one specific product but fail to change the default from 3 to 1, it will count as three products?

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             pauldeedsposted 13 years agoin reply to this

             No, if you choose specific products, it will only count the number if asins you've entered.

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                Lily Roseposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                Whew! That's the answer I was hoping for - thanks!

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          Lily Roseposted 13 years agoin reply to this

          Regarding your clarification here, Paul - will the Amazon capsule using a keyword search be able to be distinguished from one in which specific products are chosen?
          
          I ask because I usually choose specific products, but when I edit the capsule I almost always click the drop down and select 8 to 10 just to give me the lines to copy and paste, yet I don't always paste 8 to 10 products in those lines. It's not possible that Amazon could at any moment add items there since I don't use keyword option, so would I get dinged for that? That being said, should I be concerned about continuing to do that practice in my product hubs?
          
          I hope that makes sense...

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       SiddSinghposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       Yes - I am facing the same problem.

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32. 71

    Isabella Snowposted 13 years ago

    Since the warnings are automated and people have already reported seeing them, does this mean they are already implemented across the board? Or could some hubbers/hubs start showing a warning sometime over the next few days?

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       pauldeedsposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       Yes, they will appear on any hub that runs afoul of the rule.

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          Isabella Snowposted 13 years agoin reply to this

          So the warnings may not be showing up yet, then?
          
          I ask because there is one hub I have that might not follow the rules, but I am confused about them and not really sure. Guess I'll just keep an eye on that one for the next few days then...

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             Mutiny92posted 13 years agoin reply to this

             Isabella, you need to open up each hub individually and look at the top of the page for the warning.  If you need it, enter into "edit" mode and add text or delete products from the amazon/ebay modules.

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                Isabella Snowposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                Yes, I'm aware of that...

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                Cagsilposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                Hey Mutiny,
                
                I reviewed my hubs and from the outside of the hub, it tells you. You don't actually have to be in edit mode to get the warning.

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                EmpressFelicityposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                It would be enormously helpful if the hubs concerned could have the warning displayed next to the title in the My Account page, so that we could see which ones needed changing at a glance rather than having to open each one in turn!
                
                Other than that, I don't have a problem with the new policy per se - it does make sense from a quality point of view.

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                   Azure11posted 13 years agoin reply to this

                   I totally agree with this and in fact I didn't realise that other messages about the hubs are also only displayed when you go into them (I checked one for amazon links and it also had a message about tags) - I thought all the warning messages were shown on the My Account page - guess I am going to have to look at them all individually for anything else then!
                   
                   Agree with the changes but would be great like EmpressFelicity says that problems showed up on a summary not on each one :-)

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                   soni2006posted 13 years agoin reply to this

                   I am also in agreement with Empress and Azure. If we can see the warnings right in the MY ACCOUNT page, that would be really really helpful or else I have to go through my 729 hubs to check out which are not set according to the new rule.

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                      frogdroppingposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                      I second or third this. I don't have as many hubs as some do, so for them I guess it's a lot of work locating the ones that need sorting. It's a case of one by one to see which one's trip the filter. Above that, couldn't agree more with the new TOS, so thank you.

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                      englightenedsoulposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                      Soni, the Hp team will mail the hubbers with the list of hubs that needs to be changed according to the new rules.  They say that it is not that easy to implement that feature in the my account page. 
                      
                      http://hubpages.com/forum/topic/69780?p … ost1520811
                      
                      I look 5 hubs at a time according to the published date and see if they have warnings.  If yes, I change them.  Anyways, hubbers should not worry as HP team have said that they will give ample time before they take down the hubs!!

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33. 71

    Isabella Snowposted 13 years ago

    Nevermind, I've got it sussed now!

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34. 93

    Dolores Monetposted 13 years ago

    I just saw this on one of my hubs and it was very easy to correct. I just cut down on the number of Amazon items. Will check them all, but so far, it's easy to locate the problem hubs. Fortunately, I am very long winded, haha.

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35. 76

    Karandaposted 13 years ago

    Only found one Hub with the message on but it was a great exercise to do a bit of a review on some of the oldies. I think this is another positive step forward for HubPages and its writers.

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36. 91

    Will Apseposted 13 years ago

    This is certainly a welcome change. Many Hubs looked absolutely trashy with as many ads loaded above the fold as possible.
    
    I reckon if Hubpages could cut the number of words in Amazon descriptions it would help. Some ads come with fifty words (!) which we cannot control in any way. This also makes hubs using Amazon ads look trashy.

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37. 64

    travel_man1971posted 13 years ago

    Thanks for the info. All my hubs should be re-edited for sure. I linked too much eBay & Amazon products.

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38. 60

    Randy Godwinposted 13 years ago

    No problem for me, long winded anyhow!    I think this is a good move in the right direction!

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    Purple Perlposted 13 years ago

    Thanks Paul for the update.

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40. 60

    JulieYoungposted 13 years ago

    I'm glad to see some changes on hub because it means hub is more and more thorough.

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    toknowinfoposted 13 years ago

    I think the change is for the better regarding ads, but I don't know why we can't have a link or rss feed at the top.

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42. 68

    Karen Nposted 13 years ago

    Thanks for giving us the chance to fix the problems.
    I'm sure that we all appreciate it!

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43. 67

    jaymelee23posted 13 years ago

    How long are you giving everyone to clean their hubs up to this new rule? Is their a deadline in place? I didn't see one if it was mentioned. By the way, thanks for the update, Paul. I'm all for a clean up of hubs for the site.

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44. 65

    simeonvisserposted 13 years ago

    I have fixed a few obvious ones, I'll wait for the email in case I missed some.

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    Lily Roseposted 13 years ago

    Great update as far as the product hubs go - I have yet to check  mine and hope I don't have too much work to do!
    
    As for the comments - I could have sworn that it started out as an option to be notified when the hub author posts a comment. Did it change from that to being notified of all subsequent comments from anyone? Maybe I'm just confusing it with the option here in the forums.  I've been finding that the box is checked by default both here and in hubs which can be quite annoying.

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46. 83

    Lily Roseposted 13 years ago

    Okay, last question:
    
    I know I have several hubs wherein I placed 10 items in Amazon capsules. The maximum is now 8, so that means that I lost items 9 and 10, right?
    
    I'm okay with the max being changed, but not so much with the fact that I may have no way to know on which hubs that happened (because they may not be in "violation" of the new rules) but those hubs - their layout and content - can be potentially significantly altered.
    
    Am I right?

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       brandonhart100posted 13 years agoin reply to this

       Lily - there is a post on this as I had the same question and the problem was resolved.
       
       http://hubpages.com/forum/topic/69800#post1522275
       
       Cheers.

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          Lily Roseposted 13 years agoin reply to this

          Thanks brandonhart! I read through all pages of this post but I guess I missed that response.  Whew! Now if only you could answer my other question... ;-)

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    ThomasEposted 13 years ago

    All seems fairly reasonable, have just checked my hubs and updated them accordingly.

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48. 77

    Shadesbreathposted 13 years ago

    You know, you guys keep coming out with all these new rules, and yet have still never bothered to make a rule that all new hubs need to have a link to one of my hubs. Frankly, I think this is a glaring oversight that does nothing to enhance my revenue.

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       Uninvited Writerposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       It is a grievous oversight...

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       ryankettposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       I'm sure that's on the list

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       byronleeposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       I just created a Hub and it says I broke one of your TOS?  Lots of problems with my IP in the Philippines.  I don't understand it.  I get the same run around with Facebook.  Where can I go to get help with reistating my Hub? 
       
       I have "never" created a Hubpage so why is this happening?  This is my first Hub!
       
       Thanks

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49. 94

    melbelposted 13 years ago

    When will the warnings go through completely? For example, I have a few hubs that are in violation of this (which I've found in editing one such hub today.)  However, there is no warning otherwise. Just wondering when I will see this.
    
    Also, will correcting this problem possibly improve some of the rankings on such hubs. I have a few product hubs that are ranking well and some, well, not so much.

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50. 67

    marshacanadaposted 13 years ago

    Is there some button to push that will give me a word count after I write my hub???
    If I have 5 books on my hub subject in an amazon capsule does that require 250 words?

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       Lily Roseposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       At the top of your hub, right above the title, there should be a button that says "stats".  Click on that, then on "Hub Metrics" and you'll see the word count there.
       
       You can't do this while in edit mode, though - you have to publish the hub or save unpublished.

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       rebekahELLEposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       You can check word count in Hub Metrics in the Stats section.
       Yes, you would need 250 words for 5 products, but you would want more than 250 words for any hub. I wouldn't write anything shorter than 600 words, but that is just a preference.
       
       I found 2 of mine which I had to fix, and they had no warnings on them.

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          Andrew0208posted 13 years agoin reply to this

          I got one hub showing a warning(now fixed),  but deemed it proper to align all my hubs to meetup with the new changes and guideline [knocking off lots of amazon ads/capsules] amongst others.
          
          Honestly I feel better and healthier after the exercise. And I'm beginning to see improvements on traffic and adsense earnings. I sense that HubPages ad and Adsense are now breathing well. Thank you HubPages Team.

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             mindyjgirlposted 13 years agoin reply to this

             Can we get a word counter in our text boxes so, we don't have to count?? That would be really nice!!

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                Glenn Stokposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                You can see the word count by clicking "stats" and then "hub metrics" on each hub. But even that is time-consuming. It would be nice to have the word count included as another column in the statistics page.

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