Frequently Asked "Stupid" HubPages Questions

As a new HubPages user, do you have a question that you feel you should be able to find the answer to but can't? Or somehow it seems obvious to everyone else but not you?

As a seasoned HubPages user, are you just amazed that the same questions keep getting asked over and over in the forums, even though the answers can be easily found?

This Hub celebrates, and answers, those "stupid" HubPages questions! Some of what's here is covered by the FAQ. Some of what's here is right in front of people's faces, but they aren't reading and/or paying attention. Some things would make even Captain Obvious cringe, but that's part of what motivated me to make this Hub. Questions will be added or removed depending on what I think needs to be addressed.

When I was working doing online customer service for previous jobs, I learned that for each time a person asked you a question about something on your web site, or some piece of information they couldn't find, it was estimated that there were 100 other site visitors out there with the same question who just didn't bother to ask or who didn't know where or who to ask. Using that metric, there are anywhere from 300 to 500 people who ponder the below questions every day on HubPages who aren't asking them....

I recently got a comment posted to one of my Hubs that read, "I did not know if it was OK to go back and make amendments to hubs. Good to know that it is not only OK but recommended."

I was a bit stunned. Does no one notice the buttons that read "edit?"

Seriously though, there is one thing you absolutely can not change about a Hub and that's the URL. Once it's been created, that one element is set in stone. Every single other bit of content IS editable. Rewrite, tweak, improve, fix-up, re-do, do-over, revisit and change to your heart's content.

Most people facepalm when they get the answer to this one, as it's often been staring them right in the face.

You use the delete button, which is found at the top of your Hub, right in between the "stats" button and the "start a new hub" button. Hubs which are deleted will show on the dashboard for about 24 hours with a line through the name, and then they'll disappear forever, taking all your work along with it. So you have a small grace period to change your mind.

NOTE: A variety of Hub site users will recommend that you delete a Hub while in the edit mode, however, I don't see a delete option when I view my Hubs that way. I only see "preview," "unpublish now" and "done editing" buttons.

You could, but it would be one of the worst thing you could do for your Hubs and you'd very shortly find yourself being unpublished/moderated or even banned.

Duplicated content is not allowed at HubPages. The site system does an automated scan of your Hub content and if this content appears anywhere else on the web, even just once, you will see a warning at the top of your Hub that says your content is duplicated. (only the author sees this warning) Most often duplicated content will result in penalties, which range from having Hub taken off-line (unpublished) to having your account permanently banned.

So if you are really serious about having a strong and productive web presence on HubPages (especially as far as earnings are concerned), you want to make sure the content you create here is original and only appears here. Also, you want to NOT publish purely personal content. As Norah says in the video shown here, if a total stranger wouldn't find it interesting, you shouldn't make a Hub about it.

Back in the 1990s, it seemed like websites were adding music left, right and center.  And then statistics were gathered by the search engines that showed that web visitors listed music as one of the most hated features a website could have, and sites began removing it even faster than they'd added it.

Interestingly, the number one reason that music is hated on web pages is because it gets people busted surfing the web while they are at work.  Nothing like an automatically-launched sound or song at high volume to get the boss' attention that you're using company time for something else.

Blessedly, you can not add audio to a HubPage.

The number shown on your avatar (your picture) is your HubScore, sometimes referred to as an AuthorScore to differentiate it from the HubScore that an individual Hub might have.

It doesn't mean anything outside of HubPages. And really, it doesn't necessarily mean that much inside HubPages. I've seen terrible writers have high HubScores and good writers who are clueless about HubPages have low scores. The one key thing you do need to pay attention to is that if your AuthorScore number falls below 75, all the outgoing links on your Hubs will be marked "nofollow." (for singular Hubs, the threshold is 40 or lower)

The HubPages statistics covering a "rolling window" instead of being cumulative.  This means they only show data for a specific time period, not forever.  So your "day" traffic is the latest 24 hours, not a calendar day.

If you want more accurate and detailed stats, HubPages suggests you sign up Google Analytics.  You'll get more data than you know what to do with from that.

If you hover your mouse over the red X, a small yellow box will appear that reads "delete this tag."  It's how you remove a tag from the list.

And to follow up with the next tag question, no, you can't put them in a specific order.  The system does that automatically. 

Your contact link is NOT missing from your profile page. Authors can't see their own contact links because there's no reason for them to contact themselves, but every other user can if you have that feature enabled.

What's interesting about this question is that most often is doesn't come from new users, but really long-time users who apparently have never looked at their profile or profile settings before. But trust us, if you have contact turned "on" in your profile, people can see the link.

All you have to do to get Google AdSense and your Hubs working together is to

1) Actually sign up for AdSense and

2) Put your affiliate code into the AdSense slot on the affiliate page in your account here.

All placement and optimization of actual ads on your Hubs is handled by the HubPages system automatically.  You DO NOT have to paste any codes into Hubs, in fact, you can't paste codes into Hubs like you would if you were running your own website.  Here's the step-by-step guide.