HubPages ROadmap / Updates on SUggestions

1. 60

   Paul Maplesdenposted 12 years ago

   Hi folks,
   
   I know, it's *another* suggestion from me, but y'know, if you're going to demonstrate that you listen to, act on and welcome our suggestions, what can you expect? (Seriously, it's great that you guys are so responsive and have the best interests of the community at heart, so I'm very happy to try and think of ways to make it better from an external perspective.)
   
   My suggestion would be to have some kind of 'roadmap' or 'formalised response' (similar to Uservoice) where you can let us know the things that HP are working on, what you think of various things and what might be happening next.
   
   This would have several benefits:
   
   1. It would let us know, as community members, what your priorities are
   2. We could see what's happening with previously made suggestions and see if they're being worked on, in the pipeline, on the backburner or looked at and rejected
   3. It would encourage more people to come up with sugegstions if they could see there was a clear route through hubber idea > suggestion > consideration by HP > implementation
   4. If you went down a more 'Uservoice' route, it would provide a more formalised way to propose improvements
   5. It would provide reassurance to community members that HP were addressing their concerns and moving things in the right direction
   
   Of course, I understand that there's a limit to how much transparency you can give to members (confidentiality, future plans, strategy, competitors all play a part) and I'm not trying to look 'behind the curtain', but if you had a public way of letting us know the high level details, I think that could be really useful.
   
   As always, thanks for listening.
   
   Paul M.

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2. 84

   Simone Smithposted 12 years ago

   Thanks for the suggestion, Paul!
   
   This is indeed something we have discussed running internally, though we don't presently have the bandwidth to insert new sections into the site right now. We *could* sticky threads in the Forum giving Hubbers an update on what we're working on, but few Hubbers actually use the Forum (same should we do this withe the blog or newsletter).
   
   We could still do a closed, stickied forum thread that gets regularly updated though... would that be an attractive solution?

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3. 60

   Paul Maplesdenposted 12 years ago

   Simone, as a stop gap measure, I think that a sticky forum thread is a great idea. That way, those of us who are active on the forums and in the Q&A area can share the information on to others where appropriate.
   
   I think that to start with it's simply about visibility, and appreciate that it's not a priority right now, but that's definitely a step in the right direction.
   
   Right, no more suggestions today, promise.

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   1. 85

      Marisa Wrightposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      There is a snag with this:  when the "Feature Suggestions" forum was first started, all accepted features were being stickied, and the result was that there were too many - you almost had to go to the next page to see any new ones!
      
      So I like the idea of a sticky thread, but please let's not have a sticky thread for each feature.  A single sticky called "what we're working on", which is updated, would be just fine.

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4. 70

   Horatio Plotposted 12 years ago

   26 minutes. That's much more like it.

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   1. 0

      summerberrieposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      A little uncanny. Their appearance together is like clockwork.

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5. 89

   Len Cannonposted 12 years ago

   Should I be using the random caps to solve a riddle?
   
   HubPages Roadmap...... HPROUSU is the code, but what does it mean?
   
   ROADMAP! They're coordinates on a map! But what map? And where does it fit?
   
   The National Treasure guys would have this figured out by now.

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   1. 60

      Paul Maplesdenposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I'd like to say it was an Illuminati code - Unfortunately, the truth is that I was typing at speed, and although I am able to go back and correct body text for erros, I can't edit the title... c'est la vie.
      
      Robert Langdon could have fixed it. Yes.

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6. 76

   Howard S.posted 12 years ago

   Since you're still pushing for it, Paul (in another unrelated thread): Not a good idea administratively, although I empathize. For example, about 18 months ago, HP announced a plan to combine a couple of affiliate programs (purposely vague here) beginning in November 2011. Since it would not impact everyone equally, there was a lot of forum activity and they relented to at least hold off until "after Christmas."
   
   There have been two Christmases since then and the last forum post I know of was 13 months ago. I assume they encountered some sort of snag in corporate negotiations. Having prematurely announced their intentions simply raised a lot of respective hopes and anguish.
   
   On the other hand, HubPages does have a beta-tester program. Last night I discovered a feature in beta test on my wife's account that is not on my account. Those features are sometimes foreshadowed in the blog (more appropriate than the forums), and sometimes simply leaked, like I'm not doing here. It probably depends on the amount of feedback they need, want or can stand about a proposed change.

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   1. 60

      Paul Maplesdenposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Howard, I agree. I'mj ust aware that some memberso f the community are a bit unsettled at the moment about the general direction of hP, and although I (and I am sure many others) have faith in the staff and management to do  the right thing, a bit more transparency might help to soother churning waters and unruffle feathers!
      
      I'm not saying we'd hold people to account for anything posted there, but having an overview / roadmap of future thinking and plans would be helpful and allow us to understand what he bigger thinking and prioritizing is that's going on

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