New Hub layout live in Fashion, Food & Tech

1. 59

   paradigmsearchposted 13 years ago

   Randy's and Ironhers' posts made me go check my 600,000+ traffic hub. Looks like that poor thing has been stolen over a 100 times. But mine is listed as #1. Too bad nobody looks for those keywords any more.

   replyreport
2. 59

   paradigmsearchposted 13 years ago

   It will be interesting when HP analyses the results of this experiment. I'm at the point now where I don't know which hypothesis is right.

   replyreport
   1. 87

      mistyhorizon2003posted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I kind of think of it like this:
      
      No viewing figures shown, nobody notices and reads the article anyway.
      
      Viewing figures shown, people use them to judge the article and decide whether it is worth reading or not.
      
      Additionally viewing figures shown has the disadvantages stated repeatedly in this thread, i.e. an advert to plagiarizers and copiers as to which hubs are the best ones to steal, copy or spin.
      
      Viewing figures shown is a perfect cure for 'writer's block' even in genuine writers who see potential in a subject that has clearly been successful for another writer (therefore potentially diluting the success of the original article).
      
      I am sticking with the opinion that showing viewing figures per hub is a terrible idea through and through.

      replyreport
      1. 87

         Marisa Wrightposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         +1

         replyreport
      2. 59

         paradigmsearchposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         We should start a betting pool. I might consider taking the minority position just for the odds alone.

         replyreport
         1. 87

            mistyhorizon2003posted 13 years agoin reply to this

            LOL, that is probably the ONLY reason it is worth taking the 'minority position'

            replyreport
            1. 59

               paradigmsearchposted 13 years agoin reply to this

               
               
               I was going to ask HP to handle the arbitration and distribution of the money via hpads, but they probably wouldn't go for it anyway.

               replyreport
      3. 0

         Annette R. Smithposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Agreed.

         replyreport
3. 59

   Randy Godwinposted 13 years ago

   I'm sure there will be lots of unpublished hubs in the near future because of the new layouts.  And other HP related actions, for that matter.  What a mess!
   
   
                                

   replyreport
   1. 0

      EmpressFelicityposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      It almost seems as though they're trying to lose writers/members. I don't get it.

      replyreport
4. 69

   Horatio Plotposted 13 years ago

   Number of page views is no indicator of quality as has been pointed out and the theft argument seems a little on the smoke and mirrors side. So why then is everybody so concerned about the publication of page views?
   I think it has more to do with how we interact as a community. The publishing of well regarded Hubs is central to a participating Hubber’s sense of inclusion within the community. We are given accolades and pats on the back, encouraged to comment, post in forums, vote for HubNuggets and enter competitions. Our Hubscore seems dependant on the things we do within HubPages.
   Hubs then make the journey to the outside world where they can sit unread and unloved. Some will prosper, most will not.
   We create an online Hub identity to do all this. It can seem as real as our own identity. It has a personality that can be by turns both massaged and bruised. So it can hurt to see the Hub we love exposed as a poor performer.
   My reason for being here is to learn to write. To be able to interact and jostle with others who wish to follow their dreams down. I am three months, 21 Hubs and 5,645 views in to my journey. The $0.25 a day is therefore irrelevant. If however I was several years and several hundred Hubs in, with the income having become something I relied on, then perhaps I would be a little sensitive about page views per hub being general knowledge. Not out there in the real world, but in here amongst my peers.   
   HubPages may have to decide what it wants to be. An online social media writing camp for like-minded friendly folk or a more hard-nosed business orientated site. The blurb describes it as having, "a vibrant author community and underlying revenue-maximizing infrastructure".
   I think it is trying very, very hard to continue to be that but those days may be done. It may have to become one thing or the other.
   To continue to do both may prove impossible but from what I can see I think they’ve done enough to let us give them the opportunity to experiment and tweak some more in the belief that it can be both.
   Don’t be too harsh, they do this for a living, so give them a chance. It may just turn out to be the thing that lets you have your cake and eat it.

   replyreport
5. 69

   Byron Wolfposted 13 years ago

   While I like this new layout better than the previous proposed layout, I'm not comfortable with the way comments are displayed.
   I'm uncomfortable with displaying a commenter's location. A lot of people like to be anonymous when writing. If I don't give my location on my profile, I don't want it displayed when I comment.
   
   This would tend to steer me away from commenting on hubs with this layout. Even worse, because I would want to respond to reader comments on my own hubs, I would feel limited in which sections I could place them (any which don't use this layout).
   
   Perhaps I am wrong and the locations aren't automatically displayed but I saw no options otherwise.
   
   I realize not everyone is as concerned about privacy, but I think the automatic displaying of a commenter's location will limit comments.
   Whenever I come across a site automatically displaying information about me, my location, or computer, I feel uncomfortable and click away.
   
   Just a comment from a newbie.

   replyreport
   1. 59

      Mark Knowlesposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Looks like the locations are as per your hubber profile.

      replyreport
      1. 69

         Byron Wolfposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Ah, ok. Thanks. Good to know.

         replyreport
6. 60

   Jason Menayanposted 13 years ago

   Thank you for your feedback, everyone. What we're hearing so far is:
   
   1. Most do not want Hub views displayed on Hubs.
   2. The publication date and last updated date line is too wordy.
   
   We'll be looking at preliminary traffic data as well as we plan the next stage of this test.

   replyreport
7. 60

   Jason Menayanposted 13 years ago

   UPDATE:
   
   We are making the following changes which should get rolled out either today or tomorrow:
   
   1. Removing Hub views.
   2. Simplifying the Published/Last Updated line to be more concise.
   3. Removing the second instance of #2 right above the ratings and comments.

   replyreport
   1. 77

      robie2posted 13 years agoin reply to this

      sounds great. Thanks Jason

      replyreport
   2. 59

      paradigmsearchposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Panic subsides. Mob disperses.

      replyreport
      1. 77

         MickiSposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Whew! My fire extinguisher wasn't going to be large enough for all of those torches I saw approaching on the horizon.

         replyreport
         1. 59

            paradigmsearchposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            I hope HP keeps the experiments happening. It should only be a matter of time before striking gold.

            replyreport
         2. 63

            Lisa HWposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            Maybe it wouldn't have quite been torches you'd have had to deal with.  Maybe it would have just been a big cloud of dust left behind by rapidly exiting Hubbers.   

            replyreport
         3. 98

            Sally's Troveposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            +1, but it's only a temporary reprieve. There will always be issues that incite. I think that's healthy.

            replyreport
   3. 95

      AliciaCposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Thank you, Jason.

      replyreport
   4. 0

      Will Apseposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      This is wonderful. I have been taking a break (sort of) for the last couple of months and only focusing on maintenance and improvement of existing stuff.
      
      For the last couple of days I have been wracking my brains wondering where to put new pages.
      
      Now that I know Hubpages is as safe a venue as anywhere else there is only one real choice.
      
      Like the design, too. There is enough to suggest that this is a big busy site (which it is). Aesthetics are good. Nice and clean all round.
      
      I just hope not too many bots gorged themselves on our data.

      replyreport
   5. 64

      DabbleYouposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I think there is still a problem. While the page views on hubs are not displayed anymore, the related hubs below the hub still display the page views. Will they be removed also? I hope they will be.

      replyreport
      1. 67

         relacheposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         I second this. 
         
         Removing the page views should mean removing them all, not removing them from the actial Hub while slyly revealing them on others.

         replyreport
      2. 0

         Annette R. Smithposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Yes! I noticed this, too.

         replyreport
8. 63

   Lisa HWposted 13 years ago

   I appreciate HP's responsiveness on this particular issue. I was with all those who objected to making the views public.  I just didn't post because I saw that people whose thoughts and first-hand experience with "the sitting-ducks phenomenon", and whose input on it I shared and respected had posted, so I didn't have to.

   replyreport
9. 82

   Daughter Of Maatposted 13 years ago

   I really miss all the extra share buttons like digg, stumble upon, redditt etc. Any chance those will be added back in? I use all of those to share hubs!

   replyreport
   1. 77

      MickiSposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Right now, no. In our observations of users of those services, they knew how to share to Reddit, StumbleUpon, etc. without there being a button on the page.

      replyreport
10. 0

    jenuboukaposted 13 years ago

    I admit when the first change occurred I was appalled, frustrated, and very discouraged. Then I took a step back and really though about this website as a whole.
    
    We moan and groan over Pandas, Penguins, and other oddities that Google names to ignite their reasoning to "better" a users search experience. Perhaps the staff at Hubpages is trying to play along and try to keep up as we are.  Some things will not be so beneficial while others will pan out.
    
    I think that those who have invested their time and knowledge in this site should either enjoy the ride with the ups and downs, or just get off.
    
    Spammers and scammers have so many outlets to determine whether or not they are going to "steal" anyone's content. It happened well before this current change (which is somewhat fixed) and they will continue to do it long after. It is our responsibility to manage our content and traffic views. Even evergreen content should be updated from time to time to keep up all the other content that is competing for page views.
    
    Just a thought to which I imagine some will persist otherwise.

    replyreport
    1. 77

       MickiSposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       Thanks for the thought. Much appreciated.

       replyreport
       1. 0

          jenuboukaposted 13 years agoin reply to this

          Your welcome

          replyreport
    2. 77

       robie2posted 13 years agoin reply to this

       Amen-- could not have put it better.

       replyreport
11. 69

    Cheeky Girlposted 13 years ago

    Thank you for making the enormous efforts to please as many hubbers as possible! It must be tough but it is appreciated!

    replyreport
12. 76

    Aficionadaposted 13 years ago

    Like LisaHW I haven't posted here because others have expressed my opinion sufficiently and more.  And I'm happy to see the change in publicizing the number of views.
    
    I haven't been all that thrilled about publishing the last edited date either.  I think that would be very easy to manipulate deceitfully (see WriteAngled's post).  At the same time, certain types of articles might benefit the reader by showing publication and/or editing date.
    
    For example, today and yesterday I came across articles - elsewhere - that sounded very contemporary, until I saw the publication dates of 2006 and 2005!  That information was important for putting the article in context.  If the authors had simply changed a word here and there to create a more recent "edit," the most recent editing date could have been highly misleading.
    
    On some other sites (primarily news sites) I have seen notes at the end of an article that show exactly what changes were made (and the date), when an article was edited.  Some articles would benefit by adding that sort of data, even if it is not necessary for every type of edit.

    replyreport
13. 59

    paradigmsearchposted 13 years ago

    I just did some searches.
    
    Sometimes the dates are showing up as part of the summary (thus truncating the text as well); sometimes not. I bet there is a detectable pattern as to when and when not... And this doesn't just apply to HP.
    
    Example:
    
    "Why do I have yellow teeth and how do I get them white?
    issty.hubpages.com › ... › Dental Care and Hygiene › Teeth Whitening
    Why do I have yellow teeth and how do I get them white? Published: December 11, 2011 Last updated: December 11, 2011. White Teeth. we all dreams for a ..."
    
    Update: I'm thinking the dates are always included! Where they aren't is when the index hasn't updated to the latest hub version yet.
    
    Update 2: So looks like there it is! Searchers are going to see the dates in the Google summary before going anywhere near the hub itself. And it severely truncates our summaries.
    
    Pesky Google. They weren't supposed to do that...

    replyreport
    1. 52

       janderson99posted 13 years agoin reply to this

       I only see the 'published' date not the update date
       It only appears for the new format.
       Not a good outcome in my opinion.

       replyreport
14. 0

    Amy Hyunposted 13 years ago

    Very cool. I noticed the layout change after I published a hub.

    replyreport
15. 93

    RedElfposted 13 years ago

    I'd have to agree about publishing viewing stats of any hubs - that info should be only for author's eyes. In general, I like the updated look, and really like having the teeny icon and author link by the title. Well-done HP!

    replyreport
16. 77

    MickiSposted 13 years ago

    The total view count is now removed from the Related Hubs as well.

    replyreport
    1. 69

       Michael Willisposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       The published date needs to be reomoved also. This can be very bad for hubs that are evergereen by name/title and have to be regularly updated for seasonal changes.
       Who would look for 2012 information on a 2009 hub? I know when I see these in searches, I ignore older articles.

       replyreport
       1. 52

          janderson99posted 13 years agoin reply to this

          I agree, 'evergreen hubs' should not be punished by HP simply because they are old, especially if the dates added by HP appear in the  SERP summaries. The 'golden oldies' should be heralded => if they have survived for so long and still appear in the SERPS they must be fabulous => If so why taint them with a date? New stuff an't necessarily the best stuff.

          replyreport
          1. 69

             Michael Willisposted 13 years agoin reply to this

             My hubs that  make money are older, but updated every year to attract traffic. If Serps only allows the searcher to see OLD...then why would they click on the link. The viewer does not see the changes to make the hub relevant for now. The hub is "punished" even though it was great for traffic and money. Why even publish these here any more then? I would have to move them somewhere where they are not dated by serps, but displayed as relevant...as they are each year.
             
             Here is an idea...make the published date a capsule like you did with the ratings in recipes. This way the author has the option to have the date or not.  Easiest way is just to type in the date when you write your hub!

             replyreport
17. 69

    tamronposted 13 years ago

    I think the counter should only be for the author to see.  I don't like the idea of posting a date either.
    
    When I am searching something I ignore an article that has been dated several years ago.
    
    Think about it would you click an article dated in 2009 or would you choose the article dated in 2012.
    
    I would choose the 2012 if I needed more info. I would visit all the other articles with no date and ignore the one dated in 2009.

    replyreport
18. 0

    Will Apseposted 13 years ago

    Given Google's freshness fetish, I reckon you are going to have to update pages routinely if you want visitors. So, I have no problem with dates on the page.
    
    At the same time, you don't want dates pushing out summaries in search as was pointed out earlier. Maybe shift dates into the right column.
    
    To be honest, it is just a relief to get those view numbers off the page. If they put a very silly Giant Squid next to my avatar, I probably wouldn't complain.

    replyreport