HubPages Focus Group

1. 91

   ktrappposted 12 years ago

   If HubPages ever has a focus group of selected hubbers I would love to be a part of it. They could do some regional focus groups (maybe start in Chicago for me) and really get some great input from a hubber's perspective on tweaks.
   
   I think HubPages is awesome. I was attracted to it by its clean simplicity. And as a web designer I know that it often takes geniuses behind-the-scenes to make the complicated seem so seamless and clean.
   
   Since hubbers use HubPages day-in-and-day-out I thought I would at least create an online focus group of sorts to get the ball rolling.
   
   If you decide to contribute just remember, it's a focus group for enhancements and tweaks that would make your daily life as a hubber easier, NOT a bitch session.
   
   I'll get the ball rolling with my wish list:
   
   The my account section - things that would help me as a publisher:
   1. Be able to sort "hubbers you follow" by name & latest hub
   
   2. Comments - would love to be able to respond to comments in my accounts instead of opening up the hub to do so.
   
   3. Stats - would love to be able to open stats for each hub in my accounts. A stats button next to each hub's edit button in my accounts would be perfect.
   
   4. The stats button on our "my profile" pages that gives stats for the entirety of our hubs should be moved to the opening page of my accounts so we don't have to open my profile to see them
   
   5. This is just cosmetic but, change all the use of "your" to "I" or "me" in all the links in my accounts - drives me nutty
   
   The home page when I am signed in - things that would help me as a publisher:
   1. Next to profile pic get rid of "your hubs" and "your profile" (which should at least say "my" if they have to stay). There are already links to these 2 places above the pic. Then, next to the pic where the number of new comments is displayed also add the number of new fanmail which needs to be approved or denied.
   
   A hub page - things that would help me as a reader:
   1. Put the follow this hubber link back on the actual hub page so we don't have to open the writer's profile page to find it
   
   2. Make it so "vote up, vote down, useful, funny, etc." is tied to the comment box. This would be very helpful when hubs have lots of comments.
   
   That's it for now. Remember, if you contribute just keep the ball rolling with small things that would make a big difference to use as a hubber. Thanks.

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   1. 81

      ezhangposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      The ability to sort the "Hubbers You Follow" page has been released.

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         ktrappposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Thank you, thank you, thank you! It is nice to see how responsive you guys are to some of our wishes, and I know this is one a lot of people really wanted.

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      2. 91

         ktrappposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         I just checked it out and it's perfect. I now can see so easily the recent hubs that hubbers I follow published. It is so much easier than going through the feed. Thank you again. I find it very professional, that HubPages seriously considers our requests, even the seemingly little things.

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   paradigmsearchposted 12 years ago

   Soothing music plays in the background when the weekend traffic drop starts.

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      ktrappposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      HaHa.

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3. 88

   Robinposted 12 years ago

   These are all GREAT suggestions, ktrapp!  We so appreciate the time to write them down and to start this thread.  I will pass on your ideas.  One question, can you explain your last suggestion?  As it is now, the voting is above the comments.   Thanks!

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   1. 91

      ktrappposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Hi Robin. I'm glad to explain my last point better. If you look at a hub without comments the voting is right above the comment text entry box. But as a hub gets comments, the voting remains in its original location (just below the end of a hub), yet the comment entry box moves further and further down the page after all the actual comments that people have left.
      
      It is natural for people to vote and comment together. So it would be nice if the voting and comment box were "stuck" together.
      
      Thanks so much for reading these and passing them along.

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      1. 88

         Robinposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Okay.  I get what you are saying. I think the reason we keep the voting box static above the comments, is that some people vote without commenting. If there are a lot of comments, and they don't read them, then they won't vote.  I know that I have a few Hubs that have over 100 comments, and I'm sure they are not all read.  It is something to think about though and we really appreciate all of your thoughts!

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            ktrappposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            That makes perfect sense. Just thinking out loud here ... can the voting box remain where it is and then have a second one tied to the comment box?

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   LuisEGonzalezposted 12 years ago

   I really think the follow the hubber link on the hub is a great idea; once I read a hub I like it would be easier to just follow there instead of having to go somewhere else as well as being able to see the stats for each hub right away at least by each author on his hubs....great suggestions......

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      ktrappposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I'm almost certain the "follow this hubber" link was on each hub's page until a week or two ago. I really hope it gets put back.

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         relacheposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         I see a link for following on your profile that's a big green button, which makes it really noticeable.  It's at the top too, which is a higher up and more visible location than the old link.
         
         I think that works better than the old link.

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            Howard S.posted 12 years agoin reply to this

            Good for the profile page, but that isn't the hub page. It takes an extra click to get there, which is the point several have made when objecting to the change, both here and in other threads.

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         2. 91

            ktrappposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            I liked it in both places. In the past when I read a hub, if it interested me or if I liked the author's writing style, I would click the "follow this hubber" link directly on the page that contained the article.
            
            Other times, I may read a hub and decide to check out the writer's profile, before deciding whether or not to follow. So it should be in both places as far as I'm concerned.

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         Sue Adamsposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Yes, let's have it back where it belongs.

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   Danette Wattposted 12 years ago

   I like the idea of putting the "hubbers you follow" in alphabetical order, sometimes I'm looking for a particular hubber by name, not by their hubber score, which is how they are listed now, I think

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   1. 91

      ktrappposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I really like to be able to sort them by latest hubs too - and it was this way a couple of weeks ago. I would go to the hubbers I follow, sort by latest hub, and then I could read the newest hub's that my followers' published. I find this much easier than using the feed. Or going back and forth to my daily email.

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         Howard S.posted 12 years agoin reply to this

         The current feed is almost useless to me. I far preferred the previous version that was highly configurable.

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            ktrappposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            Hi Howard. I agree. The feed is really cumbersome, but I did happen to notice a filter link at the top of it the other day so I can at least select hubs, and easily see new ones posted by hubbers I follow that way.

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         2. 91

            ktrappposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            Howard, I just noticed something on the feed that I hadn't before. If you click the filter above the feed, then on the right you can edit the feed to include the types of hubs, comments, etc. that you want to show on your feed.

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               Howard S.posted 12 years agoin reply to this

               Oh, wow! This is a game-changer. I guess I'll retract that suggestion, at least until I've tried this filter a bit. I had resorted to trying to find this stuff through the Activity tab. Thanks!

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                  ktrappposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                  I know. I was trying to do the same thing. The filter is great once you discover it.

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                  Aficionadaposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                  I have found that there are many features here on HP that I didn't know about and only discovered after playing around with clicking on various highlighted words. Some of the features are newer, but many of them have been around for a long time.  I simply didn't know about them.
                  
                  I think that one of the best suggestions I could make for all of us here, old and new both, would simply be to spend some time each day clicking on various links to see what they do.
                  
                  The features may already be described in the Help Center or FAQ's, but there is so much information there that it is easy to forget something if it has never been used.
                  
                  For example, did you know that by clicking on the number of posts beneath a Hubber's picture in the forums, you go immediately to a list of all the posts that person has made, beginning with the most recent?  That has helped me a number of times, because I may remember who posted something, but not the title or category of the forum thread it was in (or any great keywords to use in the search box).
                  
                  Also, did you know that on a Hubber's profile page is a search box where you can search by topic or keyword for Hubs, questions, forum posts by that Hubber?
                  
                  One thing I would like would be an easier way to browse Hub titles by some of the Hubbers who have over 100 Hubs.  But maybe that could be done by clicking on the category links on their profile page? (I haven't tried my own suggestion with those links!)

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                  1. 91

                     ktrappposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                     I agree, spending time clicking around is a good idea. I think most of the things I am bringing up though have to do with managing my hubs and keeping track of changes. I don't want to have to go to "my profile" to see stats for all my hubs, and then to each hub to see all of its available stats, or to "my account" to see each hub's scores, which are titled statistics.
                     
                     I'm able to find things by clicking around as you suggest, but ultimately to be able to manage my hubs I would love to get all of that information into "my accounts." They do an excellent job at HubPages and it is obvious that they have a very talented group of IT developers, but these are tweaks that would actually probably save time for the hubbers that use all these wonderful tools.

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                        Aficionadaposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                        My post was not directed towards your ideas at all, and I can see value in some of the ideas for managing Hubs and the list of Hubbers You Follow. 
                        
                        Your OP indicated that you were opening this thread up for all kinds of suggestions and wish lists from all Hubbers, and I think that's a great idea.
                        
                        My point was that sometimes the things that others may be wishing for may already exist here, but we just don't know about them.  And, in terms of saving time, wouldn't it save everyone's time if we learn and use what's already possible here before asking for it to be added?

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                        1. 91

                           ktrappposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                           Hi Aficionada  - This thread is absolutely open for all suggestions and I did not mean in anyway to imply otherwise. I do apologize as my last comment came across that way to you. And I am thrilled that you took the time to contribute such a great suggestion. Oftentimes we do ask for things that may very well already exist.
                           
                           I was attempting to add to your comment by trying to say that even for features that exist that we have found, sometimes they're not in an ideal location for efficient every day use.
                           
                           It is incredible actually, the number of things you can do when you take the time to click around as you suggested. I seem to find something new everyday.
                           
                           Please feel free to keep contributing any ideas or suggestions. They certainly all are welcome here.

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      Howard S.posted 12 years agoin reply to this

      There are several orders that one could wish for here. I would like to see a "sort by" option scroll.

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         ktrappposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         That's a great idea. It seems like HubPages tends to do sorts by column headings which would be fine if there were columns in the "hubbers I follow" section.

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      tlpoagueposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I have to agree. I hate trying to look for hubbers that I haven't commented on in awhile and have to waste time browsing through hubscores to see who I am after. Having it alphabetically would be much easier.

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6. 90

   Howard S.posted 12 years ago

   Please regularize the look-and-feel between the Groups page and the Bookmarks page. The latter is lacking some controls and facility of the former, though they appear very similar. A Hubber asked for help due to this two months ago and no-one answered until I did today. See forum thread http://hubpages.com/forum/topic/78461.

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7. 90

   Howard S.posted 12 years ago

   Please add an alert feature for empty Amazon and eBay capsules, similar to that for broken links to websites, videos and photos. I hate it when I view my hub and see that glaring "no Amazon products found". I wonder how long it's been like that.

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      ktrappposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      This is a great suggestion Howard. I don't use Amazon (IL resident) but I do have an Amazon capsule on one page about getting college textbooks for less and when I happened to open that hub today to update something I noticed that it said "no products found."

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8. 0

   Multimanposted 12 years ago

   Get the flag link away from the twitter and google + buttons so you don't accidentally get flagged.

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      melbelposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      We shouldn't really be Google+ing hubs around here unless you absolutely HAVE to share it.
      
      It's almost like clicking an AdSense ad (just don't do it), you've got to treat that button with kit gloves.

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         Glenn Stokposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         I want to reinforce the comment Melbel just made. I just recently read in one of Google's blogs that if you concentrate too many Google +1 click's on a single domain (such as HubPages) then they will interpret it as gaming the system to build up +1's for people you know, or for yourself. So what Melbel said is very important to understand. By all means, click +1 if you REALLY like something. But don't do it only in HubPages. Make sure you even out your 'likes' among other sites too.

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      Aficionadaposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      What I understood this post to mean was that someone else who is trying to click on the Google+ or Twitter button might accidentally click on the Flag button instead, because they are so close. 
      
      But, just to reassure Multiman, the flagging process requires more than just clicking on that one button.  That button at the top of the page merely scrolls to the bottom of the page, where you can elect to rate the Hub up or down, click on one of the feedback labels (awesome, funny, etc.) or flag the Hub.  Even then, clicking on the Flag button just calls up a dialog box which has to be filled out and then submitted.  So, you really don't need to worry that that button (at the top) could cause someone to be flagged by mistake.
      
      However, someone might have a similar concern about Vote Up and Vote Down being so close to one another.  In the past, I thought I had accidentally voted the wrong way, so I contacted the Team to check and correct it.
      
      Having written all this, I do still want to agree with and reaffirm strongly what melbel and Glenn have said.

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   Maralexaposted 12 years ago

   Your ideas and suggestions are great!
   
   I would like to be able to show the names of the groups for my hubs on my profile page.  My names for the groups.
   
   and yes, I would like the to follow button next to the hubs, not just the button for following that particular hub, but the button for following the hubber.

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      Howard S.posted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I completely agree! This is one I have been trying to figure out for quite a while. It seems like it should be possible, but I just haven't figured out the right syntax in the url. You can figure out your personal group number codes by filtering the hub stats page and hovering over the column heading. Maybe ktrapp knows how to tweak the url syntax. Or maybe it's just not possible yet. It's a very desirable feature request. (It can be done with tags, of course, but that's double effort.)

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         ktrappposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Howard, I took a look at the groups and id numbers given to each and I really don't see a way to manipulate anything on our end with those. I think groups are merely set up so that hubs can be linked to each other under the voting section (awesome, useful, etc.) on each hub, and as a way of sorting stats within my account.
         
         Maralexa, I see why you would want your groups on the my profile page, but I actually think this would be a huge thing to accomplish. The reason being is that those pages are set up by HubPages' pre-defined topics that you select for each hub. I think it provides consistency from profile page to profile page across all of HubPages. I guess in theory your groups should fall into the same topic category, but I can think of exceptions. But who knows? I'm just thinking out loud here.
         
         Personally, what I think would be nice as far as groups go would be to enable us to select links by a group within the link capsule instead of searching or pasting one-by-one. I don't think the resulting links are very visible under the voting section, so I prefer to add a link capsule, as well.

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            Howard S.posted 12 years agoin reply to this

            Most of the hubs I write are cross-disciplinary. I usually can't beat the whole internet in 1000 words on a narrow topic, so I am applying expertise in one field to another. That means 2-3 topic categories are equally appropriate. It is painful to have to choose only one. I use the others as tags, though.
            
            The choice of category is further constrained by the way HP displays my related hubs on my profile page. They will often pare down the narrow topic I assigned in order to list several of my hubs under a more generic category. That means I find my hubs on auto racing displayed on my profile page under a banner of sports & recreation!
            
            Groups gives me an alternate way of organizing my own collection, but I have no way of communicating that organization to my profile visitors. The only way to do it currently is with tags.

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               ktrappposted 12 years agoin reply to this

               These are really good points Howard. I think if somehow our group names were ever displayed for all to see, there would have to be checks put into place to make sure they aren't sort of stupid (for lack of a better term) or misspelled so that all of HubPages doesn't look bad.
               
               To readers that are not writers also writers for HubPages, group names that are strange, have typos, or misspellings, would probably be assumed to be a mistake made by HubPages and not the author's mistake. At least when mistakes are made on hubs or hub titles themselves most people know to attribute the errors to the author.

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10. 86

    Maralexaposted 12 years ago

    Ktrapp, I understand exactly what you mean about consistency of groups being of more value than individualized groups -- thanks, I agree.  And, yes about adding a link capsule to one or two linked hubs within a group rather than relying just on the links under the voting section.
    
    The other thing (I'm sorry to repeat myself) is a record for each hub.  So we can see which hubs are producing.  Knowing which ones have 'potential' to produce is not really enough.
    
    I too echo the sentiments that HubPages does a great job of helping us in these areas.

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       Aficionadaposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       I'm not sure I understand what is being said about consistency of groups vs. individualized groups.  Are you all saying that my Groups should be the same as someone else's?  If so, why?  I think that is what Categories are for.  I like the feature of being able to decide how to group my hubs and what label, name  or designation to give the Group, based on what I believe my readers want and need.
       
       Sorry, if I have misunderstood and this is not what you meant....

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       1. 91

          ktrappposted 12 years agoin reply to this

          I definitely like making my own groups, but as far as I can tell it seems the only way they are really used (other than sorting in my account) is to make the links to the grouped hubs under the voting section.
          
          About consistency, my opinion is only that the consistency of topics named by hubpages is nice across the entire hubpages.com website, so there is some flow to all of it. Plus people could put in some really weird group names that would now be visible if shown on the my profile page and it would just sort of degrade the overall quality of hubpages - again, in my opinion anyway. That's all I meant. I'm not sure about Maralexa.

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    Greek Oneposted 12 years ago

    i would join a paid focus group too!

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