This Week's Network Site Migrations (8/31 – 9/4)

1. 82

   samanthacubbisonposted 3 years ago

   
   
   We are excited to announce that Owlcation and AxleAddict have been rendered by our front-end publishing platform and are currently live! Dengarden is soon to follow!
   
   Further Updates
   
   We have endless opportunities to further improve the renderings and data translations moving forward, and we appreciate everything that has been brought up in the forums (e.g., minimalist-style tables/table renderings are being worked on). We are working through each noted item and we appreciate your patience as we continue to evaluate everything post-launch. In the meantime, we request that authors hold off on any workarounds until we can investigate each item. These issues should not affect overall article performance. 
   
   You might also notice the sleek look of the newly launched sites. We encourage authors to use full-width media in their articles moving forward for visual effect.
   
   Coming soon: New monetization feature—Network Site-specific video on all newly migrated sites, which will further boost article performance!
   
   We are looking forward to working towards the future of our network as a community. Thanks!

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   1. 95

      OldRosesposted 3 years agoin reply to this

      Looks like Dengarden was moved.  The captions on the photos are left-justified.  It doesn't look very professional.  Any chance that that decision will be reconsidered?

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      1. 82

         samanthacubbisonposted 3 years agoin reply to this

         It is being discussed internally. As that is the way the front-end platform was programmed, it may be a moment before we get around to changing it.

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         1. 95

            OldRosesposted 3 years agoin reply to this

            No problem!  I'm just happy to know that it is being looked at.

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            1. 82

               samanthacubbisonposted 3 years agoin reply to this

               Thanks for understanding. Our editing team is in agreement on that one.

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   2. 92

      JerryFisherposted 3 years agoin reply to this

      Samantha - I have one main article that I update about once a month to keep it's Google ranking high. (How to Make $1000+ Each Time Flipping Cars). For its keywords (car flipping) it was once number one but like many other articles on Hubpages, under some change a year or so ago, it slipped to the second or third pages. I wrote a 500 page addition to it about ten days ago and it was reviewed and accepted by Hubpages a day or so later. Since then the article has completely slipped off the first twenty pages of Google. It's still there (somewhere on Google if I type the entire title in, I see it)  but why on earth has it just gone down the river? Is it something to do with this update? And I agree with someone else on this thread. I don't know why you would have got rid of comments. To me I would have thought Google would have picked up and liked any interaction in an article.

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      1. 97

         eugbugposted 3 years agoin reply to this

         Are there any other similar articles on the site, or ones that have similar keywords to what you use in the search term? One of my articles disappeared totally from SERPS because an older article by another author had a few of the same keywords. Since the Site Diversity change, Google limits the number of articles from the same site that appear in search results.

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         1. 92

            JerryFisherposted 3 years agoin reply to this

            Good point. I took a look just now but nothing that I'd think would cause it to fall off a cliff like it has. But thanks, I knew nothing about this so best to check on what's here before writing a 10,000 word article on the history of Hollywood movies!

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      2. 82

         samanthacubbisonposted 3 years agoin reply to this

         Hello,
         
         The update shouldn't have any effect on its ranking. I'm not really sure why that happened. Could be due to similar articles, like eugbug said.

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         1. 96

            DrMark1961posted 3 years agoin reply to this

            Ranking is determined by bounce rate and load time, among other things. If the page takes a long time to load, if the reader opens an article and finds that it is no longer helpful, he or she will bounce out of there and ranking will become lower.
            The update has a HUGE effect on ranking.

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            1. 82

               samanthacubbisonposted 3 years agoin reply to this

               I meant the cosmetic updates to the site. I thought that's what they were asking about.

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               1. 96

                  DrMark1961posted 3 years agoin reply to this

                  Oh, sorry, totally agree. If it was just picture size and layout it would not make any difference at all. Unfortunately, for our potential readers, there is a lot more involved than that.

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                  1. 82

                     samanthacubbisonposted 3 years agoin reply to this

                     For sure.

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2. 97

   theraggededgeposted 3 years ago

   I'm seeing adverts - I also got a cookie notice.
   
   I'm not a fan of the new look. It's brash. The ads are flashing. They are in the top bar, down the right-hand side, popping up from the bottom and appearing in the middle of text.
   
   Our little Amazon links are minuscule when compared to these beasts.
   
   I am not looking forward to the Exemplore migration

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   1. 98

      chef-de-jourposted 3 years agoin reply to this

      Seeing ads? On all new look sites? Are you viewing in special mode or 'normal' laptop mode I wonder?
      
      I still have no ads. Windows 10 & Edge.

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      1. 97

         theraggededgeposted 3 years agoin reply to this

         Still not seeing them on HobbyLark, neither am I being asked to accept cookies.
         
         However, they are showing up on Owlcation, and cookies requested.
         
         Just normal Opera browser.

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   2. 93

      Glenis Rixposted 3 years agoin reply to this

      Somebody, somewhere, didn’t pay attention to the old maxim - “If it’s not broke don’t fix it”

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      1. 96

         DrMark1961posted 3 years agoin reply to this

         "You cannot make an omlette without breaking a few eggs."
         Yes things are dark now, but they do have the potential to improve. I seem to remember a LOT of complaints back when HP introduced the niche sites.

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3. 91

   Titiaposted 3 years ago

   I still don't see ads on any of them and I'm always being asked to accept cookies.

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4. 98

   EricDockettposted 3 years ago

   Can you please explain network site-specific video and how it will boost article performance?

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   1. 82

      samanthacubbisonposted 3 years agoin reply to this

      Yes. The videos will be more relevant to the Network Site that they appear on, and the content will be engaging so as to keep readers on the page longer.

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      1. 98

         EricDockettposted 3 years agoin reply to this

         Where do the videos come from? Where will they appear?
         
         Many of us already have videos on our articles that accomplish that purpose. Will these new videos take the place of ours?

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         1. 82

            samanthacubbisonposted 3 years agoin reply to this

            No, they will appear as popups—much how the TheStreet and SI videos appear now. But they will be more relevant to the content of the article.

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            1. 93

               prairieprincessposted 3 years agoin reply to this

               Oh that sounds terrible! How distracting. Pop up videos totally take away from the content of the article.

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            2. 95

               OldRosesposted 3 years agoin reply to this

               Have the new pop up videos been rolled out?  Because I saw one last night on one of my Dengarden hubs and instead of being a relatively small box like the TheStreet and SI videos, it was HUGE.  It covered the entire article so that all that you could see was the video.  That's hideous and will drive traffic away from our articles.

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               1. 82

                  samanthacubbisonposted 3 years agoin reply to this

                  No, they have not.

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               2. 94

                  Shesabutterflyposted 3 years agoin reply to this

                  It appears the videos have rolled out, at least on some of the articles. I only see videos on my most popular articles on Owlcation, but they appear on all my Wehavekids articles. It appears after a 30 sec ad and the video content has absolutely nothing to do with the articles I was reading (theology & math on Owlcation, video was about butterflies). The video also says Hubpages in the upper right hand corner so if it's not the videos initally talked about here, it is something else they created. It is the same video across an entire niche site currently, so I'm assuming it is still a work in progress.
                  
                  The video fills the whole page on desktop and appears above the article's title. It looks better on mobile (still above the title, only 5-15 sec ad from the few I tested), but I still do not see how this is going to improve readership or make readers want to stay on our pages longer. It's easy enough to scroll past the huge ad and miss the video completely. Not to mention I do not know anyone who wants to watch a 30 sec ad to then watch a video completely unrelated to the content of the article they were initally trying to read. On Owlcation I knew the video was about butterflies before even watching the ad, because a preview flashes before the ad starts.
                  
                  Owlcation especially is too diverse to have one video for the entire platform. I was under the impression the videos would be article specific not niche site or subcategory specific. The niches are way to broad for that kind of video, as are some of the subcategories.
                  
                  Edit to add: The videos on Tatring follow you down the page. It looks like they have varying stages of the videos on each site. Some of the ones on Tatring do not have ads and open right to a video, however still not always related to the topic of the article.

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5. 88

   lobobrandonposted 3 years ago

   Oh, no! Sadly I'm not as excited as you guys about this. Owlcation and Dengarden, both my main niche sites. I would probably be excited if the bugs were fixed prior to roll out. The massive ads though would take away any kind of excitement even if the bugs were fixed, I bet.
   
   I wonder if this new video feature would replace some of the existing ads or just pile up on all the clutter?
   
   P.S: I know you are just the messenger, thanks for keeping us updated. I'm sure you can see why many of us here are not happy with the way things are progressing.

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   1. 97

      theraggededgeposted 3 years agoin reply to this

      Indeed.
      
      What if all that clutter was reduced to minimum and we were given a bit more free rein with the Amazon ads? That would be nice.

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      1. 88

         lobobrandonposted 3 years agoin reply to this

         Sure would be nice. I thankfully see no ads no matter what I try xD
         
         But from all the screenshots people have been posting, I feel Maven has taken it upon themselves to make sure that everyone on the internet browses with an Adblocker.

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   2. 82

      samanthacubbisonposted 3 years agoin reply to this

      Brandon,
      
      I totally understand, and I appreciate the sympathy lol. I am seeing everything you guys are seeing, and I agree with many points you are making. But believe me when I say the team is working as fast as they can to make these fixes.

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      1. 88

         lobobrandonposted 3 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks for replying, I do believe that, but I am a bit more concerned about things that are not seen as a problem. The many ads is definitely not something that would be on the team's agenda. Also, the comments disappearing is very likely not on the to-do list. The huge author's bio is another.

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         1. 82

            samanthacubbisonposted 3 years agoin reply to this

            The comments are definitely seen as a problem, as we believe it is one of the most effective ways for our community to communicate—not everyone is on the forums.
            
            There are just a lot of features that do not translate to HubPages easily, which is why it is going to take some time to make everything just right. But for now, we are focusing on the biggest issues, such as the table bug and ads appearing as grey space for some.
            
            The many ads is something that the community has been very vocal about since the start. Unfortunately, that is probably not going to change. As Claudia said below, "Honestly I think many readers (not all) are used to seeing lots of ads on sites.  I know I am.  Let's face it, Maven/HubPages needs to make money to stay in business, and I like making money too, so there are some things we have to live with." As someone who frequents the internet (probably too much), many publishers have the same amount of ads, if not more. It is a necessity for everyone to continue profiting off of the business.
            
            I do really appreciate you being vocal on the forums, and it really helps us get an idea as to what the community is feeling. Thank you for being polite about it as well. I'm sure it's frustrating. It's frustrating for me as well.

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            1. 88

               lobobrandonposted 3 years agoin reply to this

               I'm glad the comments are still on the table. Thanks for the detailed response. I see grey boxes for ads, not bad as a reader

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            2. 93

               jansharesposted 3 years agoin reply to this

               I think profit is definitely an issue with all those ads. I just received the Maven Newsletter featuring the new CEO. He mentioned the impact of COVID, how they are not immune, and how it has caused Maven to be "proactive in managing costs and making sure that we are positioned for the future."
               https://mailchi.mp/15b8b274ebec/maven-c … 24af94dc28

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            3. 92

               AliciaCposted 3 years agoin reply to this

               I hope fixing subscripts, superscripts, and other chemical symbols is high on the list of problems to fix.

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               1. 82

                  samanthacubbisonposted 3 years agoin reply to this

                  Yes!

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                  1. 92

                     AliciaCposted 3 years agoin reply to this

                     Thanks, Samantha.

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               2. 97

                  eugbugposted 3 years agoin reply to this

                  I was just about to bring that up again. My maths equations read like gibberish

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            4. 97

               Glenn Stokposted 3 years agoin reply to this

               That’s a great explanation of things, Samantha. Thanks for posting that. I’m glad to see that the table bug is considered a high priority.
               
               I understand about the way some features on Maven are so different from HubPages that it’s difficult to translate properly. I realize that’s what is causing the staff so much work to do. I know all of you are on top of things.
               
               I also realize that it's all for the money, so no one would be complaining about that. When HubPages/Maven makes money, we writers do too. Simple fact! We all just need to be patient.
               
               I know for sure that staff would not be doing anything to jeopardize profitability. And if you saw something was backfiring, you’d handle it. That goes for ads too. I’m noticing the same thing with zillions of ads all over the Internet. So I’m sure readers will get accustomed to it, since it’s not just HubPages/Maven doing it.

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               1. 82

                  samanthacubbisonposted 3 years agoin reply to this

                  For sure. Thanks for understanding and for all of your help! Everything we are doing is to guarantee the future success of the business. Our goal is for everyone to be rolling in it, haha.
                  
                  One thing that is important to remember is that not every reader is going to notice these things as much as authors who have been here for a while. They will probably notice the bigger things, which is why we're working on those first.

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                  1. 97

                     Glenn Stokposted 3 years agoin reply to this

                     Yeah. That makes sense.

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                  2. 94

                     EricFarmer8xposted 3 years agoin reply to this

                     I know is hard to say but I really hope HubPages can be here like ten years from now.
                     
                     So far things look nice but I did not look to deeply. I suppose I will notice more when the changes make it to LevelSkip.

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                     1. 87

                        Will Apseposted 3 years agoin reply to this

                        I reckon blind optimism is probably the only viable option.  The top half of the page is fine and all the non-interactive stuff is displayed properly. The changes probably aren't losing anyone too much traffic yet.
                        
                        Problem is, user metrics like dwell time, interaction will be impacted by broken tables, ads that are not displaying, weird slide shows etc and that will tell eventually.

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            5. 93

               prairieprincessposted 3 years agoin reply to this

               I did not realize any of this was going on and just happened to look at one of my articles on the wehavekids site. There are way too many ads and I also frequent the internet a lot. For me as a reader, it is a big turnoff and distracts a person from narrative of the piece. Why is this being done? (Sorry, I missed this news.)

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            6. 94

               Shesabutterflyposted 3 years agoin reply to this

               All the ads would not be an issue for me if they were not so arbitrary. There is no rhyme or reason to the placement and it makes the articles look distracting and unprofessional. No one article is the same and even if I open the same article some ads appear in different places. Articles of the same length do not even have the same amount of ads because it all depends on how the article is written. Articles with thumnail photos have less ads within the content of the article, because most of the ads for those articles show between the photo and the caption. Which is less distracting for me personally, because it is a long skinny ad vs the huge squares that pop up inbetween the content of a single capsule.
               
               There are ads placed in the middle of comments (you said this was staying, so inbetween two people would make sense, but not in the middle). Unsure if Q&A is staying but there are ads in the middle of those as well rather than inbetween the answer and new question (this would make sense).
               
               The way ads are placed now is distracting and bound to turn readers away. Not to mention the bottom ad needs to be closed at least twice for me most days. I think most people are complaining about the placement and flashy/movement of the ads more so than the amount of them.
               
               We all want to make money, but we would also like to be able to read content without having to close a bunch of pop ups or miss parts of the article because ads are scrolling with the page over the content.
               
               Is Owlcation suppose to have "Around the Web" at the bottom before the related articles that are actually on Owlcation? I only see this on Owlcation not any other niche site. Not sure if this is an ad or something else.
               
               The ads at the bottom of Dengarden are too big and go under Related Stories and the first 3 articles they recommend.
               
               The ads are not uniform across all platforms and neither are the terms used. If the team is not planning on reducing the number of ads, I hope they at least consider placement and uniformity. I thought that was the whole reason for the mass push to get all of the HP niche sites to the Maven platform.
               
               Some niche sites say related stories, while others say related articles and wehavekids has no title at all before the articles at the bottom.

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   3. 92

      Abby Slutskyposted 3 years agoin reply to this

      I don't blame you. I have huge white spaces of missing videos in some of my articles right now. (I have not even bothered with videos for my most recent articles.) I think the spaces looks unprofessional, and the absence of them hinders my ability to explain techniques I use in certain recipes. Hopefully, all these glitches will be worked out soon, but it is frustrating.

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6. 87

   bravewarriorposted 3 years ago

   I'd like to know why commenting is not an option once the sites have migrated. Existing comments are carried over, but anything new we post within the migrated niche sites will have no comments at all.
   
   Isn't engagement one of the reasons we write?
   
   What's the thinking behind disabling comments on the new bland, black and white sites?

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   1. 82

      samanthacubbisonposted 3 years agoin reply to this

      Hi Shauna,
      
      Comments are disabled for now, but as mentioned above, they will be back! Unfortunately, the transfer to Maven does not support comments in the way that HubPages was operating. We are working on bigger fixes right now, but we recognize the importance of community communication.
      
      Thank you for your patience.

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7. 95

   Rupert Taylorposted 3 years ago

   I agree completely with the comments about distracting ad clutter on Owlcation, where most of my work is lodged. The pages look horrible; what would have been described as "a dog's breakfast" in my magazine-editing days. They look like those really junky click bait pages "24 wedding dress fails; you won't believe number 17." A jumble that is guaranteed to make most readers click the back button.
   
   And the bio. Italicized below the headline it look as though it's a deck and part of the article. Much better placement would be at the end of the article near the copyright symbol. This is common practice in most publishing ventures.

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8. 90

   Rochelle Frankposted 3 years ago

   I agree with all your points here, Rupert. I was trying to read an article on one if the niche sites and it got stuck on an ad that wouldn’t let go. I couldn’t read the rest of the article.  My dog hasn’t finished her breakfast yet — just scattered it all around—and I’ll admit it doesn’t look very good.

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9. 95

   Glimmer Twin Fanposted 3 years ago

   I don't like ads anymore than anyone else, but plenty of websites that I go to have as many, if not more, ads than the new sites here.  Both the mobile and the desktop versions look good to me, even the ads, and I don't find them too distracting. 
   
   Honestly I think many readers (not all) are used to seeing lots of ads on sites.  I know I am.  Let's face it, Maven/HubPages needs to make money to stay in business, and I like making money too, so there are some things we have to live with.

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10. 97

    eugbugposted 3 years ago

    The H2 Font I think is a bit heavy as is the H3 used for sub-titles in text modules. Just saying, but it's a matter of opinion. Maybe it could be reduced a bit? Paragraph text however is clear and easier to read than on the old site versions.

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    1. 82

       samanthacubbisonposted 3 years agoin reply to this

       This is another one of those minor details that we just can't get around to right now. But I hear you and we are taking note of all the suggestions in the forums. Thank you!

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11. 91

    Titiaposted 3 years ago

    I also see a difference in size of the photos I put in my articles. I always make my own photos and they're all the same size but still they're displayed differently. Some are in line with the text on the left side, some are being intended (if that's the right expression). It looks a bit messy to me.

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    1. 97

       eugbugposted 3 years agoin reply to this

       Indented I presume you mean. Occasionally this seems to happen. I noticed it occurred with one of the photos I had uploaded as part of a threesome to a photo module. I split the module and uploaded the photos individually, but even though two of them were the same width, one was scaled differently.

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       1. 88

          lobobrandonposted 3 years agoin reply to this

          They very likely have a maximum height or width:height ratio. Are these two images that have the same width also the same height?

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          1. 97

             eugbugposted 3 years agoin reply to this

             One was 1500 x 1812 and the other 1500 x 1884. I figured it out though. Instead of deleting the original three photo module, one photo remained in it and I uploaded the two others as separate modules This was what caused the problem. I rectified it by deleting this module and having all photos in separate modules.

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             1. 88

                lobobrandonposted 3 years agoin reply to this

                Thanks for that info. So, having multiple pics in one module tends to change the maximum dimensions.

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                1. 97

                   eugbugposted 3 years agoin reply to this

                   I had three photos in a capsule, all with the same width, but the third one was 1520 x 3020. Even if there's a maximum height and the third photo was scaled down, it doesn't explain why the first two were scaled to different widths when displayed, even though their pixel width was the same. Anyway keeping them separate works.

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12. 97

    eugbugposted 3 years ago

    Could ads on the right side bar be right justified on desktop, then they would be less distracting? If the width of this space is for wider format ads, then they could just expand from the right. Also I notice ads are now sporadically appearing in Firefox.
    

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13. 88

    lobobrandonposted 3 years ago

    @Samantha, this is not a big deal, but if it is an easy change could we maybe have Related Stories changed to Related Articles or just Related?
    
    HP is supposed to be all about magazine style articles and not social media posts. The word stories just does not fit.

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    1. 97

       eugbugposted 3 years agoin reply to this

       Yes, it sounded odd when I saw that last night. Reminds me of Flipboard.

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14. 51

    Julius Jimposted 3 years ago

    I like the new look.

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