I'd like feedback on my article: Cheat Meals

1. 69

   Purches Powerposted 6 years ago

   Hi Hubbers,
   
   This article has not passed QAP. Though it has a higher score than my previous articles.
   
   I have had no input as to why it hasn't passed, I've proofread it and the grammar is spot on, photos are available for reuse or my own.. So WTF is wrong?!!
   
   I'd like some help with passing the Quality Assessment Process. Will you please give feedback on my article Cheat Meals (must be signed in to view). What can I do to improve? Thanks!

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      TIMETRAVELER2posted 6 years agoin reply to this

      I suspect the problem is your topic.  Any "your money or or life" hub has problems becoming featured.  This one seems to encourage people to eat unhealthy meals.  Any hub that tells people to do things that may not be good for them is frowned upon.  I may be wrong about this, but I don't think so.
      
      It's a good, well written piece otherwise.

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         Purches Powerposted 6 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks,  the piece advocates one " unhealthy" meal a week or alternatively a larger healthy meal, don't see that being a problem, thanks for the input , much appreciated

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            TIMETRAVELER2posted 6 years agoin reply to this

            It was just a thought, but understand that it is not what you think but what the moderator thinks that matters.
            
            They've gotten very picky about YMYL articles lately and just because your others on the same subject got through QAP OK it doesn't mean others will.  A lot depends on timing and who is doing the editing.
            
            Why don't you email the team and tell them your concerns.  Quite often they'll respond with specific details that can help you make changes that will improve your situation.
            
            Good Luck.

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               Purches Powerposted 6 years agoin reply to this

               Thanks

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               Purches Powerposted 6 years agoin reply to this

               I didn't know YMYL was a thing until I got feedback

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               Purches Powerposted 6 years agoin reply to this

               if it is YMY L why don't they just say, I've been rewriting for a week now! Once more and it's just not worth the effort after that, thanks for you feedback, it's appre

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                  TIMETRAVELER2posted 6 years agoin reply to this

                  They expect writers to read the info in the learning center and follow team updates as well as read the forums so they're aware of these issues.  I only recently learned about this myself.  Things constantly change, so you have to keep up with what's going on.
                  
                  BTW  Sometimes I find that changing the focus of an article can be helpful.  For instance, you might want to change the topic to something like "Is it a good idea to eat one cheat meal a week when you are on a physical fitness program?" and give the pros as well as the cons.

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                     Purches Powerposted 6 years agoin reply to this

                     Thanks, I've decided it's not worth the hassle, I have been editing for a week and if you are right about YMYL I could edit forever and get nowhere

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                        Marketing Meritposted 6 years agoin reply to this

                        Please try again! As a serial yo-yo dieter, your article makes a lot of sense. I think you should change the title though. Perhaps something like " X Reasons Why Dieteter's Should Have a Cheat Meal."  I appreciate that you may have approached this from a bodybuilding perspective, but feel it has a wider audience. Nobody likes to feel deprived...especially when it comes to food!
                        
                        Also, think about moving the burger pic to the top, expand on your description and add a video from YouTube.
                        
                        Good luck!

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                           Purches Powerposted 6 years agoin reply to this

                           Thanks, I have tried six different times the article is from bodybuilders perspective but is aimed at dieters of all kinds... one feedback says it pro eating crap and you say it helps , I'm lost as to how i can improve it further, I've wasted my weekend, I rea appreciate you liked the article but unless I get specific feedback from Hub I'm not wasting anymore time on it, thanks

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                        TIMETRAVELER2posted 6 years agoin reply to this

                        Sleep on it before you decide.  It's not that hard to change the focus of a hub, and doing so could save this one for you.  This doesn't have to be done today. 
                        
                        I see that you are fairly new here and only have 4 hubs.  If you plan on hanging around, you're going to have to learn to be patient.  This should be easy for someone who is a body builder...good bodies are not built in a day or on the first try.  Same with hubs.
                        
                        The learning curve here is huge...it took me years before I really started earning.  Now, I'm doing great.  You can do the same...but you have to take your time, learn your craft and grow as you go.

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   2. 94

      Glenis Rixposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      I've read through the article and can't see anything wrong with the grammar. Perhaps the quality assessment police think the bodybuilder pic is not relevant and therefore superfluous. I would try removing it to see if that helps.

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         Purches Powerposted 6 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks, I would think it adds to the article, showing I have experience and have first hand knowledge of the subject, thanks for your input I will consider it, cheers

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   theraggededgeposted 6 years ago

   I'd say that you have over-used the keyword 'cheat meal'. It's in every sub-heading, and used many times throughout the piece. Perhaps you could use a different term?
   
   Also, while the body building photo of yourself is admirable, and the girl in the over-large jeans is relevant to weight loss, I think more photos of actual meals would be closer to the topic. Don't forget to cite the sources of the images. They must be legal-to-use.
   
   Hope that helps.

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      Purches Powerposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks, will take your advice

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3. 94

   Beth Eaglescliffeposted 6 years ago

   I agree with the previous comments about the irrelevance of the body photos. Your article is about the meals, so that's what your pictures should focus on.
   
   As it's a YMYL topic you should back up your views with some reputable reference sources. At the moment you are just stating your opinion. Are there any scientific studies that have proved cheat meals work? If not, then this article is unlikely to get featured.
   
   As I am unfamiliar with this topic, I would find it helpful to have some references for further information at the end. For example, you say "some advocates of ketogenic diets" etc. - So who are they and what did they test? What about government health guidance on diets and healthy weight loss?

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      Purches Powerposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks for your help, my previous articles never went that in depth and this scores higher.. Very frustrating, I will take your thoughts onboard

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   pen promulgatesposted 6 years ago

   That's what is very frustrating at times.
   In such cases, when everything seems perfect, the QAP team must highlight the particular reason.
   I wonder if images can fail the quality as long as they are legal to use and relevant to the topic.
   If you ask me, I find your article very informative and useful. It doesn't have any negativity. You make sense. And, any gym-goer will know your article is reliable. It also proposes how not to misunderstand and misuse cheat meals.
   If it still fails the QAP, a reason must be given. Has the QAP team not given any reason? It says a moderator made a following suggestion/comment in the email in the beginning.

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      Purches Powerposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks, the comment was to proofread...

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         AliciaCposted 6 years agoin reply to this

         One thing that I noticed was a punctuation problem in the hub, especially in the first section. You've left out a space after some of the periods and after one of the commas. In addition, there shouldn't be a period after the second subtitle. Correcting these problems may be helpful.

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            Purches Powerposted 6 years agoin reply to this

            Thanks, will look into it

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   melbelposted 6 years ago

   I'll be honest, I didn't know what a cheat meal was until I read your hub. Perhaps a title that was less keywordy and more descriptive would be helpful.
   
   If you want to focus on that keyword, that's great but consider the type of titles your competition uses to bring interest and readership to their article:
   
   
   
   Also your first picture is very pixelated and would lead to a "no" on QAP.

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      Purches Powerposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      thanks again

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6. 94

   melbelposted 6 years ago

   If you go to the image source for this image, it's not as pixelated. I would suggest re-downloading the image and then re-uploading it to your hub.
   
   The pixelated image, alone, would be grounds for rejection.
   

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      Purches Powerposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      will do , thanks

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   Will Apseposted 6 years ago

   I would think about a different name for the long term. Just something vaguely human.

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      Purches Powerposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks, its my surname and a play on words... I'll keep it

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         Will Apseposted 6 years agoin reply to this

         It makes you sound like a marketer on the make, but obviously it is up to you.

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            TIMETRAVELER2posted 6 years agoin reply to this

            +1

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            melbelposted 6 years agoin reply to this

            100% agree. It makes you sound spammy and less authoritative.

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               Purches Powerposted 6 years agoin reply to this

               I have written another article since and it was approved first time, so it's a problem with the article not my name

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                  TIMETRAVELER2posted 6 years agoin reply to this

                  You're missing the point here.  Your pen name implies people buying things...not a good name for getting readership!    It's about more than one article.

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   pen promulgatesposted 6 years ago

   I don't intend to criticize or side with anyone, but I read his articles. None of them are promotional. They are only selling valuable information. Besides, he said that's his surname. That's his identity. Secondly, even if he wants to, he cannot change his login (username) as that option is not available on HP. He only has one and only name on profile. No pen name as such. Even if he adds a pen name, purches power will remain unless he deletes and opens a new account.

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      TIMETRAVELER2posted 6 years agoin reply to this

      Nobody said his articles were promotional.  If you read my comment I said that his name might imply that he is trying to sell products.  Read the post again!

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      Purches Powerposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks for your input, it's appreciated

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9. 84

   psycheskinnerposted 6 years ago

   Hubstaff can and have made changes people's usernames for them.  Whether he makes the change or not, knowing about the potential for this interpretation can only help.
   
   As far as the article goes, it will be assessed by people not in the target readership.  Do them a favor and start with a good, clear definition of what a cheat meal is.  Then have top level headings like  -- how cheat meals work, how to get the best benefits etc. Then number or very clearly paragraph each example under that heading and open with a clear summary sentence.
   
   If QAP assessors enter the article with a very clear idea of the topic they are more likely to pass it.

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      Purches Powerposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      If me saying its a meal where nothing is off limits and its a chance to satisfy cravings isn't clear enough I'm writing for the wrong people..., I will look at your title advice , thanks

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    VanessaFrancesposted 6 years ago

    Just a quick skim of your article and I saw typos and grammar mistakes. Perhaps that's what they meant by proofread?

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       Purches Powerposted 6 years agoin reply to this

       Thanks, you may have read the older version as I have requested help twice on the forum, the be version has been tidied up, I will check again

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11. 96

    theraggededgeposted 6 years ago

    Okay, you can get this approved with a little tweaking.
    
    Put your title into title case and remove the period. You've done it with your subtitles, but not with your main heading.
    
    Watch out for unnecessary capitalization. Leptin in the middle of a sentence is just leptin, same as cortisol.
    
    Don't use exclamation point unless you are exclaiming. Which you are not.
    
    Watch out for missed spaces: "...heaviest training day of the week.Maybe it will..."
    
    Reword this paragraph to lose the parentheses, "Some advocates of ketogenic diets (The aim of the diet is to try and burn unwanted fat by forcing the body to rely on fat for energy, rather than carbohydrates) argue.." It's clumsy.
    
    Remove the large gap under Pizza and Ribs. Go into the text capsule, put your cursor at the beginning of the first word and backspace.
    
    Read the whole thing out loud to see if the writing can be tightened up. Try the free Hemingway app.
    
    Hope that helps.
    
    Btw, your name is fine. I have seen far more 'spammy' names than that here Your articles will do the talking for you, not your name.

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       Purches Powerposted 6 years agoin reply to this

       Thanks so much, very helpfu

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    pen promulgatesposted 6 years ago

    @theraggededge, that's what I meant above (about name). I have another question. Do spacing, title case, commas, parenthesis, exclamation, etc stop an article from featuring? I ask this as I see many articles that are featured even when they have these issues.

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       theraggededgeposted 6 years agoin reply to this

       No, but it doesn't help if the overall look of the article is sub-standard. The problem with this one is that it is one of those saturated topics, and his images do nothing for it (sorry PP - oh you are both PPs ), and they are exactly the kinds of images to avoid. The over-use of keywords has been improved a lot.

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       Marisa Wrightposted 6 years agoin reply to this

       It depends on who does the assessment.   Punctuation IS supposed to be a factor.  A few small mistakes would probably be overlooked but if it's consistently wrong all the way through, I'd certainly hope they would fail it for that.
       
       A Hub would never be failed because it's a saturated topic.  That's not part of the assessment as far as I'm aware.

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          theraggededgeposted 6 years agoin reply to this

          No, but it's going to be looked at more closely, I would imagine.
          
          As far as punctuation, spelling and grammar is concerned, I would love to agree with you, but even today I've seen some sub-standard hubs that have recently passed QAP. I have no idea why they would approve them - it's as though Hubpages.com is a mere dumping ground these days.

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             Marisa Wrightposted 6 years agoin reply to this

             I don't see why, since it's not on the instructions given to the QAP assessors.
             
             http://hubpages.com/help/hub_hop_table#informational
             
             Nor is the issue of saturation discussed on HubPages' own help page:
             
             http://hubpages.com/help-answer/advice/ … -of-a-hub/
             
             Of course, if you write on a saturated topic, you have less chance of getting a Hub moved to a niche site - we know that the moderators won't accept a Hub on a topic that's already extensively covered.  But that's a different assessment.
             
             However, you may have a point.   Since the main site is virtually just a clearing house, why should they worry too much about what the Hubs here look like?

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    pen promulgatesposted 6 years ago

    Ha ha. We both are PP. Theraggededge, Don't you think the quality must say then in the email 'It's saturated?' They rather said proofread on his very first submission. Because even after correcting issues like grammar and images, if it still doesn't feature, that's so annoying and a waste of time and efforts. I know the learning center has guidelines, but still....

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