Why are my poetry hubs falling below the quality standards...?

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   leni sandsposted 11 years ago

   Why are my poetry hubs falling below the quality standards...?
   
   I have received the following email each time I amend or update a hub.  Mainly my poetry, photographic and music hubs - 'Your hub ....... falls below HubPages' quality standards and will not be Featured. Your Hub will remain published, but it will not be showcased on Topic Pages or Related Hubs listings. It will also not be made available to search engines.'  Surely the quality checker should have different criteria to say 'article writing' - for creative writing hubs such as poetry, novels?  I take pride in my work, love to share and read comments and this is really upsetting....WHY?

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   whonunuwhoposted 11 years ago

   I find much the same with my work and am perplexed as to why at this late date after more than a year has gone by they have changed the rules. whonu

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      leni sandsposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Some of mine are nearly three years old...very  time consuming trying to make them fit the bill - particularly poetry hubs.

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   randallstisobelposted 11 years ago

   Hi Leni, I read a few of your poems and enjoyed them.  The only thing that struck me was that several have adverts for amazon and ebay.  You might do well to remove the ads and replace them with media so they seem less commercial to the bots that auto-check our work.
   
   I read in the Learning Center that creative writing is judged on a different (and more lenient) scale than factual material, but because of its shorter nature it's not good to include more ads beyond what HubPages places there.  If you wrote a 1000-word poem, it would be a different story I suppose.

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      leni sandsposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks I will try that...I have unpublished one or two until I can decide what to do with them...perhaps the same thing is true of my music hub...I will check.

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   angryelfposted 11 years ago

   Because they probably want your hub to be around 500-700 words. If you include ebay/amazon, it appears as purely promotional. Hubpages uses an algorithm to determine the quality of hubs; then they leave the community to make the real opinion, hence hub scores. Hope I've helped! HERE'S A GOOD SUGGESTION: After writing each poem, include one text box describing the poem, then a second entailing your inspiration behind it, whether it be something you experienced, heard, saw, etc. This will improve your quality score, and try to ALWAYS use what they recommend in the upper right. I hit every one of these requirements every time (at least 700 word count), the 3 photos, and the 2 capsules. Ask people what they thought in a poll, if you're referring to a location target it on a map, etc etc. Good luck!

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      leni sandsposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks for the advice sounds about right but also sounds like a lot of work on old hubs, some not far off three years old - can't understand why they don't just do it for new hubs.  Any way I will give it a try though I know it will take some time...

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   Diana Leeposted 11 years ago

   I wish I knew the answer, but I have no idea.  Many of mine are like this, too.  I haven't posted a poem in quite some time.  I have noticed my book reviews falling to the same thing as well.  I have tried updating old hubs by adding a link, picture or video and sometimes more text. I hope this brings them back to life.

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      leni sandsposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Most comments received to this question have been extremely helpful - plus a really helpful tip on one of my poetry hubs with explanation of why it is falling short of the QC's -useful tip - remove ebay & Amazon ads add poll, ad video, own pictur

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   moonfrothposted 11 years ago

   Three months ago I wrote an article called POETS! -- DEMAND FORMATTING CHANGES FROM HP!  I think I contacted staff directly, as well, and requested a response.  NOTHING.  which leads to the question -- does HP care much, one way or the other, about poetry and poets?....... which leads to the corollary question, does poetry bring in enuff ad revenue for HP to care about discontent among poets?  Answers are probably "No" in both cases.  All of this angst is a shame, because the potential readership on HP is huge and could be of great promotional value for the resurgence of interest in poetry currently underway, as well as good for individual poets.
   
   I have no idea how poems are scored on HP.  I didn't even realize they WERE scored!  How dumb is that?

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      leni sandsposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      It looks like all hubs are scored but to which level they can score creativity is beyond me. it appears that it is not so much the content of the poems but the stuff that surrounds it.  Too many non HB ads and a hub fails the QC *polls & media ne

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   Polly Cposted 11 years ago

   Hi Leni, I don't have the answer to your question but just wanted to say that I have a lot of poems and all are featured. Also, I do not use videos or polls on my poems, only photos, so I'm assuming that can't be the problem.  I also know that you are a good writer, and actually just read a couple of your poems and thought them excellent, with a good introduction. I wonder if it is the Amazon/ebay capsules? Can't think what else it could be.

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      To Start Againposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I, too, have featured poems and they all have something-video, pics, ebay, links-so i don't think those could be issues.

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      leni sandsposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Hi - Thank you I am in the midst of removing the amazon/ebay capusles so we will see.  I haven't been very active on the hubs lately as I am caring for my 91 year old father in law who has advanced dementia - so I check out hubpages when I can.

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   To Start Againposted 11 years ago

   The standards for judging quality on a creative writing hub are different than on informative articles. So long as you properly categorize your poetry hubs (which, from the ones I just viewed, it looks as if you have) then the qualifications will be different. For instance, word count as another hubber mentioned, is not an issue with poetry. If you notice, the 'evergreen' scale that is found to the upper right of the hub tool page when creating a hub (just above the capsule add box) is not even there for poetry hubs. Word count is not a quality issue with poetry.
   I have now looked at several of your poems and, aside from being quite good, they are all set up very nicely. You have pictures and links and amazon capsules and you've used subheadings and even videos. And you even grouped a few similar poems together when they would have been sparse on their own.
   
   Poetry and creative writing, however, are a tricky genre to be competitive in, so to speak. At least here on hubpages. A lot of the moderating done here is done by us. We use the hub hopper and we rate and vote up (or down) a hub. All of these things can hurt or help you and the sad truth of the matter is, people aren't always the wisest creatures. I see poetry like yours get lost in the site while junk gets praised and voted up. It isn't fair and it isn't right but, unfortunately, there isn't a lot we can do about it. Just keep trucking right a long and writing because you are doing a great job! I love seeing well written poetry on here
   
   My only other possible explanation could be a traffic issue. I was reading up on the featured status just a minute ago and it says that if a hub goes 'stagnant' it can become unfeatured. It just means your poetry hubs/music/etc may need a traffic boost. Try sharing them on social media and see if that helps. Get your face out in the forums and commenting and you may find more visitors checking things out. I really hope this helps and, guaranteed I will be voting you up!!

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      To Start Againposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      PS I noticed several outgoing links to others' hubs in your poem. I would take those out as they could be your issue.

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      leni sandsposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Thank you ** i will treasure your comments & advice and will head over & check out your hubs

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   Genna Eastposted 11 years ago

   Hi Leni..
   
   I'm a lttle late with this question, but this may help:Hubpages “grades” poetry written by hubbers who largely publish articles differently from those who write creative short story fiction and poetry.  I don’t agree with this philosophy; nevertheless, it is what it is.  You are a creative writer who publishes many poems.  The quality of the poem too often has little to do with whether or not it is featured.  I write poetry and short story fiction.  Whenever a poem of mine drops from featured to an un-featured status, it receives a half-moon symbol because it "does not receive sufficient engagement."  I hope this helps, Lenni.

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      leni sandsposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Thank you that is very useful information

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      moonfrothposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I don't understand Hubpages "grading" system for poetry--in fact,I just now realized that they actually have the temerity to judge our poetry.  Do they   Rubbish!

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