Not Featured

1. 91

   Natalie Frankposted 7 years ago

   Hi All 
   
   I know others have asked this question but I am clueless about how to further improve this hub and have edited it now 8 times. It keeps not being featured for quality.  It's on Dog Birthday Parties.  My intention in adding this to my site is to show the versatility of my writing.  I am now faced with deleting the entire thing after a great deal of work. 
   
   My first 22 article were all featured and over half went immediately to niche  sites.  I'm not trying to suggest that I can't write a poor article, I know I still have a lot to learn.  I'm am only prefacing this because I don't think I suddenly write differently than I have in terms of quality on the first 22 articles.  I went through and edited extremely carefully, reworded certain things.  No dice.  I added some research to make the article have some empirical background to it along with a reference section.  Nothing.  I added a section on special themes for the party. Still not featured.  I added a poll.  Same status.  I changed two of my three pictures to ensure they were high quality. No change.  I reworked one of the sections to make it more inclusive. Not featured. I went through and added additional practical suggestions and advice to every section.  No cigar. 
   
   Is it possible it's just the topic and even if I won a Pulitzer for the darn thing anything on Dog Birthday Parties is just never going to be featured?  I really do want to add some articles that are less serous and fun to show my range of writing skills and topics covered but am not going to spend the time doing this if there is no point to it and I end up deleting them.  I almost deleted this one a minute ago as I can't see the sense in making up things to edit for a 9th time to no avail, but I thought I'd check with the group first.  Thanks.

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   1. 97

      theraggededgeposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      Hi Natalie,
      
      Don't know what I was expecting but it wasn't that! That's good, by the way. However, I am wondering if you have gone a little too academic for such a light-hearted topic. Will your readers be wanting all the extra information if they are just looking for ideas for a dog birthday party?
      
      A couple of things.
      
      Add source links to your photos. I'm sure you know that they must be legal-to use.
      
      Remove the unrelated Amazon capsules. They are probably the main reason your hub isn't being featured. You might think they are relevant to the topic, but they are not.
      
      Best of luck.

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2. 88

   Luke Holmposted 7 years ago

   It would be nice to be able to review it for ourselves.  I can't find it on our page.  Can you post a link?

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3. 90

   chasmacposted 7 years ago

   Two of your photos aren't good enough. The 2nd photo is pixelated and also the cake is out of focus. In the 4th photo, the main subject (the dog bones/ biscuits) is out of focus. Poor focus and pixelation are reasons stated by HP (somewhere) for preventing a Hub from being featured.

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4. 85

   Ed Schofieldposted 7 years ago

   You seem quite able to write well, so I shouldn't think that's a problem. If you have 'spammy' links to any products better get them out. I wanted a picture of a Muppet character and found a product on Amazon with a good picture. I included an 'Amazon' instead of a photo. Since the article was not really about the Muppets it was considered 'spammy'. Removed it, voila!
   If you've been warned once by and editor, the bad thing is they never warn you again, so subsequent violations are a total mystery.

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5. 86

   Marisa Wrightposted 7 years ago

   What you're missing is that "Not Featured for Quality" usually has NOTHING to do with quality.  That statement just means you broke a rule.  So trying to improve the "quality" by adding photos or capsules or rewording or anything is a waste of time.  You need to identify the rule you broke, and fix it.
   
   I'm guessing it's the unrelated Amazon capsules.

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6. 92

   Sherry Hewinsposted 7 years ago

   Star Wars costumes for dogs has nothing to do with a birthday party. Removing that link is probably all you had to do to get it featured.
   
   I don't think I'd mention research quite as much at the top of the article, but I bet that's something you added to try to improve it.

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