Announcing Topic Templates!

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   Robinposted 11 years ago

   Based on feedback from Hubbers like janderson99, we are very excited to offer a new formatting feature to the HubTool:  Topic Templates.  Our masterful engineer at HubPages, Edward, has been hard at work engineering these Templates, and Simone Smith and I have helped organize them to include helpful tips to help you create Stellar Hubs. 
   
   While on the Create a Hub page, you will notice that there is an option to create your Hub with a Template format.  We hope you give it a go and let us know what you think!  For more information, we've also written a Blog post and a Learning Center entry on Topic Templates.

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      missoliveposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I can't wait to give these templates a try. Thank you Robin, Simone and Edward for your work with this endeavor.

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         Robinposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         I think they will be a useful tool for all Hubbers but will be especially great for our new Hubbers that are trying to figure out what HubPages is all about!  Thanks, Marisa!

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            missoliveposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            Wow Robin, ya'll did a lot of work on these templates! I'm going through the links in the learning center entry. These are basically complete lessons of how to build an effective hub...Yay team! I can see quite a bit of what we talked about in the apprenticeship as I surf through the links. This is really impressive and very helpful.

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               Robinposted 11 years agoin reply to this

               Yeah!  We tried to take learnings from the Apprenticeship and add it to the Learning Center.  Simone and I have been reconstructing the LC for last couple months and hope that it's more Hubber friendly!  I always appreciate the feedback! 

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            Patty Inglish, MSposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            I used a template last night and found the tips and guidelines included to be very useful as reminders!  New Hubbers will probably love this new tool. A+++ to HP for the concept.

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      MarleneBposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I absolutely enjoy writing with the templates. For me, the reminders are the most helpful tools..

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   tirelesstravelerposted 11 years ago

   Very exciting news. Thanks Matthew.

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   Marcy Goodfleischposted 11 years ago

   +1,000!!!  What a gift to the writers here!  I love that you've included template checklists for us - it's all too easy to get wrapped up in writing a hub and forget to include something or not think of an element that can add to the interest or value.  Thanks, HP!

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   DigbyAdamsposted 11 years ago

   Thank you so much for the template. I just LOVE it. The tips are fabulous as well. I'm researching a hub now and am going to write it over the next few days. I'm looking forward to using this.

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   Barbara Kayposted 11 years ago

   Thanks for working on it for us. I'll have to go try it out.

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   Robinposted 11 years ago

   Thanks for the feedback, Marcy, Digby, Barbara, and Patty!  We tried to incorporate many of the tips from the Apprenticeship program directly in the capsules.  I hope it's useful to all Hubbers.  Let us know if you find any bugs or problems with the Templates as you use them. 

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   Peggy Wposted 11 years ago

   Just took a look at the travel and places template.  I think that these are going to be very helpful!  Thanks for all the work that went into creating them.

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      Robinposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks, Peggy!  They were fun to create! 

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   Fiction Tellerposted 11 years ago

   I used it and I liked it.  The only problem was, all the capsules' text got annoying after a time.  It was only when I had added a number of new capsules that I saw the link at the top to clear out all the capsules.  I'd have loved to do so then, but I'd also have cleared out my own text and photos, so I couldn't use it.  It would be nice if there were an option to clear out only the prefilled capsules.
   
   I also noticed that the video didn't show up in the edit mode - only some time after it had been published.  Not sure what that was about.
   
   I'm not sure if it's related, but Hubpages was very buggy last night, too, with the photo capsules.  Every time I tried to upload a photo in a Chromium browser, it would triple the photo - act as if I'd uploaded 3 copies when I'd uploaded only 1 - and then hang up if I tried to delete the extras.  I had to switch to a Firefox browser, where it happened less, but still happened sometimes.
   
   I also noticed last night (and I don't know when it started or if it's related to the template or something else) that in reading a finished hub (not the new hub or one created by a template, necessarily), scrolling moves very slowly now - jerkily - as if a script is running in the background.  I don't remember that from before.

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      Robinposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Hi, Fiction Teller!  Thanks for the comment.  The amount of content is a concern of mine.  If I hear from Hubbers that it's too much, I can reduce the text.  As for the "Clear Template" button, it won't clear your content, only the HubPages-filled text! 
      
      
      
      Can you tell me which video, and I'll check it out?  Thanks!
      
      
      
      Please report these problems in our Technical Problems on HubPages Forum.  It's incredibly useful when our Hubbers tell us what's going on.  Thanks! 

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   rebekahELLEposted 11 years ago

   WOW, nice work!  I looked through the various templates and am very impressed.  I look forward to trying them out, plus they're an excellent resource for how to create (or update) a great looking, informative hub.  Kudos to the team!
   
   It is very nice to see this advice, as I think it's highly overlooked to add additional resources and valuable links. People are so afraid to provide resources, but it's important, especially with certain topics.  I can't tell you how many hubs I've read without one resourceful link. 
   Right-Floated Text Capsules are Great for Summarizing Quick Tip
   Give them a colored background by clicking one of the colored "Background" boxes above the text input field
   Link back to helpful guides and resources
   Provide interesting facts and figures
   Keep tips short and sweet

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    Robinposted 11 years ago

    Thanks, RebekahElle and MarleneB!  I appreciate it!

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    RTalloniposted 11 years ago

    Looking forward to checking the templates out!

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       Thelma Albertsposted 11 years agoin reply to this

       Me too.

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    Fiction Tellerposted 11 years ago

    Robin, thanks for the assurance about clearing the template.
    
    Is there any way to report technical problems to a support email?

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       Robinposted 11 years agoin reply to this

       Technical problems are handled much faster through the Forum; Matt Meyer monitors the Forum diligently! 

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    Ceres Schwarzposted 11 years ago

    I just saw these topic templates and I also find them very useful and helpful. I just tried to use one when I started a new hub. All the tips and information within the hub itself is very helpful.
    
    I didn't know that clicking the "clear template" button won't also delete my content so I clicked on that first before starting to write on my hub. But it's good that it will only clear the template so we can still refer to the template while writing our hub.

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    Jeanne Grunertposted 11 years ago

    Love it when HubPages announces new things to make our Hubs better. Thank you and can't wait to explore this!

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    dahoglundposted 11 years ago

    I always cut and paste my text from Word to the templates. However, I just tried the new template and can't seem to paste my text. What am I doing wrong?

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       Robinposted 11 years agoin reply to this

       Would you mind reporting this in the Technical Problems Forum?  Thanks!

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    dahoglundposted 11 years ago

    OK

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