Groups

1. 86

   DzyMsLizzyposted 13 years ago

   Hi-
     I've been unable to find the answer to this.  Maybe it's already answered, but unfortunately, I don't have hours available to sort through thousands of posts searching.
   
     In creating "groups," I have sorted all my items, but it would be really nice if when viewing the "My Profile" it would show MY groups, so people could get an idea of what my writing is about, rather than the more generic HP category selections.
   
      I've not seen anyplace where a reader can view an author's groups.  The links to other of an author's posts appearing above the comment box is as close as it gets, and those show only titles, not groups.
   
      I think it would be a good think for our personally-created groups to show up to our readers in the form of a list.
   
       Thank you.

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   1. 84

      Marisa Wrightposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      The Hubs displayed on our Profile page rotate, which means they all get some time in the sun (our profile pages often have good PR).  That's important, not so people can see them, but so that Google can see them.
      
      Most of your readers will probably never see your profile so what is displayed there isn't that important.  Many Hubbers add a capsule to their Hub, displaying links to the other Hubs in a group.  You could either use a right-floated coloured text capsule or a capsule at the end of your Hub, before the comments.

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      1. 86

         DzyMsLizzyposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         EEEK!!!  Technical stuff!!  I have no idea how to do that!!!  Is there a hub or another forum thread with specific directions for doing that???

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         1. 84

            Marisa Wrightposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            I assume you already know how to add capsules to your Hubs.  If not, here's Darkside's introduction:
            
            http://hubpages.com/hub/capsules
            
            I find the quickest option is to use a text capsule.   Using a bulleted or numbered list (click on the icon in the capsule toolbar), type in a list of all the Hubs in that Group.  Now go back and highlight each one in turn, click on the chain icon in the capsule toolbar, and link it to the Hub.
            
            Save and you're done.  You might like to right-float the capsule and give it a coloured background so it stands out.
            
            Now you can copy the contents of that text capsule and paste it into every other Hub in the Group.
            
            Phew, I think I'm done now.

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2. 71

   Cagsilposted 13 years ago

   Hey DzyMsLizzy,
   
   I was under the impression that "groups" is simply an organizational tool for you, the writer. It's a backoffice tool.

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   1. 69

      lrohnerposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I use the Groups feature frequently. Although it is an organizational "back office" tool, it also is a navigational tool. I have a set of hubs around the travel theme. So I created a group called "Travel" and put all of those hubs in that group. Once I did that, at the bottom of each of those hubs, there's a box with links to the other hubs in the group that allows the readers to easily navigate through them.

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      1. 71

         Cagsilposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         That is what creates the green arrows for navigating related hubs or hubs that are grouped. Yes, I realize that. I've seen it before, and did not know that the arrows were created by the grouping feature.
         
         Thank you. I learned something new today. Much appreciated.

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3. 89

   Pcunixposted 13 years ago

   Yeah, Cagsil is correct, but I think the idea has merit.

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4. 86

   DzyMsLizzyposted 13 years ago

   OK--thanks everyone!
   
   I was just thinking...because a friend of mine has written an entire novel, and each chapter is a hub...and I don't know if she has it in 'groups' or not...but if I could see her GROUPS, it would be much easier to find & read in proper order.
   
   As HP now has it, her chapters are all random & mixed up, requiring a serious hunt for the proper sequence...I doubt most readers would have the patience to bother.  (Since I did the proof read for her, I have already read the novel, but when she said she was publishing it on here, I had to go see how that worked...)
   
   As far as readers seeing our profile...if I'm just trying to drive traffic, and not a particular hub..as in "I haven't written a new one this week..." .. the link I tweet or put on FB is my profile page....  ;-)

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   1. 75

      Arthur Fontesposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      
      
      
      Your friend could create a capstone hub.  A hub specifically set up to divide and provide links to each chapter of the novel.  Using the group feature will provide arrow links at the bottom but not necessarily in order.
      
      With a capstone hub your friend could write a brief summary of each chapter with a link to all chapters in order on the capstone hub.  This would also help with backlinking as they would only have to provide links to the main hub with the chapters on it, instead of trying to backlink each chapter.

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      1. 86

         DzyMsLizzyposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Hmm ... I will let her know.. I don't know if she is aware of that.. I certainly was not.  There are a lot of features here I don't understand how to use, as they seem a bit technical...
         
         She already has the entire novel up--already all mixed up by HP..is it too late for her to use that technique??

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         1. 84

            Marisa Wrightposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            A Capstone Hub is just an ordinary Hub, so it's not too late for her to create a Capstone and include links to all her chapters. 
            
            Here's an example by Darkside for a series on Greek Philosophers.  You can see he writes an overview of the topic, then includes a link to each of his Hubs on the individual philosophers at the end:
            
            http://hubpages.com/hub/greek-philosophy
            
            I'd think that would be the best way to tackle the Capstone for the novel. 
            
            Another way to write a Capstone is like this one I did for the 60 day challenge. I don't have much of an introduction but I write a little bit about each Hub:
            
            http://hubpages.com/hub/My-Dance-Hub-Challenge

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            1. 86

               DzyMsLizzyposted 13 years agoin reply to this

               Oh, I see... very good examples.  Now, a question on those...on the series about Greek philosophers, one of the comments was from someone who said,
               
               ".....I thought I'd let you know that your series is so nicely put together that HubPages recommended that I read it as an example when I was approved for the Capstone program. ...."
               
                 Approved??  for "Capstone PROGRAM???"   So it sounds like not 'everyone' is 'allowed' to do this?????

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               1. 84

                  Marisa Wrightposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                  Yes, everyone is allowed to create their own Capstones. 
                  
                  The "Capstone Program" is something else - an official HubPages program where, if accepted, HubPages will pay you an upfront payment for a series of Hubs with a Capstone linking them together.
                  
                  http://hubpages.com/help/capstone-hubs

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      2. 96

         wildernessposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         In addition the hubs in a group can be rearranged by your friend to always point to the preceding and following hubs in order in that box referenced by Irohner.

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   2. 84

      Marisa Wrightposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      HubPages isn't designed to support long chains of Hubs that have to be read in a particular order.  It's usually fiction that needs large numbers of Hubs in strict sequence, and fiction doesn't usually produce much advertising income, so it wouldn't be a priority for HP to design features specially for it.
      
      I wonder what your friend's goal is in publishing the entire novel on HP, but leaving that aside, I'd say there is an easy option for her.   You can add as many links as you like in the text of your profile page.  Check out Misha's profile, for instance, or Sufidreamer's.  So she could put a link to Chapter 1 in her profile text, at the very least - and if she wished, she could have all her chapters listed.

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5. 81

   Whitney05posted 13 years ago

   The friend could also list the chapters on each hub. For example, on chapter one, at the bottom, have a link capsule with the rest of the chapters in order. Same with the other chapters, but include past chapters in case someone saw them first out of order.
   
   Or, like Marisa said, create a capstone hub including all the chapters.
   
   I'm still not understanding why someone would post a book on hubpages. I could understand a teaser of a book, then offer the book for sale via amazon or whatever.

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   1. 86

      DzyMsLizzyposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      It is not a 'teaser,' it's the entire novel.  And her reason was that her prior two novels, even though widely available on Amazon, were self-published, and this time, she did not have the money to do that for her third novel, and decided to simply publish it online.
      
      "Why do that" mystery solved.   ;-)

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      1. 89

         Pcunixposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Never heard of e-books?

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         1. 86

            DzyMsLizzyposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            I guess not--or she didn't look into it...was in the middle of moving & some other stressful personal stuff at the time she made that decision.

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      2. 84

         Marisa Wrightposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         The trouble with that is, she'll get readership but no money for it.  Readers on HubPages are highly unlikely to click on the ads because they're coming to read, not to buy something.
         
         She could publish her book on Amazon for virtually nothing:
         
         http://www.createspace.com/
         
         although it's a real fiddle to set up.
         
         Alternatively, she could publish it as an ebook for free - which is a lot easier:
         
         http://www.smashwords.com/

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         1. 86

            DzyMsLizzyposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            "...Readers on HubPages are highly unlikely to click on the ads because they're coming to read, not to buy something."
            
            AHA--exactly my point in saying I'm not here to 'make money' because I do not believe it is a feasible idea.  Pie in the sky--sounds too good to be true--probaby is.
            
            I don't click ads--ads annoy me, and I believe in the 'Golden Rule,' so very few of my hubs have any ads..none should, actually, as I never signed up/activated that function on here.
            It didn't work on my blog...so I didn't even try here.

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            1. 84

               Marisa Wrightposted 13 years agoin reply to this

               No it isn't.  Lots of people make money - in the quote above, I was referring to readers of creative writing.
               
               Readers do click on ads on informational Hubs. People search for information on Google, find my Hub on the topic, and come to visit.  The ads on my Hubs are on the same topic, so it's quite likely the reader will click on one of the ads.  Bingo, that's how I (and many others) make money.
               
               That's why ads on creative writing and poems are less successful. Even if people find them via Google, they're interested in reading the poem, not in finding out more information on the subject.  If they're not searching, they won't be interested in even looking at the ads.

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6. 81

   Whitney05posted 13 years ago

   DzyMsLizzy, It's very feasible to make money here, but not with creative writing, as Marisa has stated. If you write about what people may want to know more about, you can easily make money. I do. I make more a month on Google, Amazon, and Ebay than I do with my regular job.
   
   I'd definitely suggest to your friend ebooks, as she may get readers, but she definitely won't get money publishing her book here. She can easily unpublish the pages and put them to an ebook.

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