Category: Suggestions and Feedback

20 Sep 2015 23:02

Joined:	04/03/2014
Level:	Gold
Points:	19194

Points:	10 (Rs 10)

How Do You See Techulator After a Couple of Years?

As the day doesn't pass without having a look at this site, keeping in touch with our fellow members and checking the scoreboard, looking every now and then for the latest announcements, things keep occurring in mind, about how Techulator would fare after a couple of years.
I see it on an equal board, rather say in a better position than Hubpages, Techradar, CNET and so on. But what are the things we should make to bring this change?

When it is only Techulator which pays for every post, it can easily boast itself to be there before any of the other names mentioned above. But as a common member I felt a few hitches could be the reason behind holding our site back from the popularity it deserves.

I have experienced a few differences myself, which might be a common scenario for other new comers.
Many of them might not have enjoyed the magic of this site till they could secure a payment in their account. And for newcomers, this might seem quite difficult as their contributions keep rotating within the two categories of New Submission and Pending for a long time before they get approved. While other sites outright reject inappropriate articles, Techulator offers enormous chance to the newcomers to learn.

But I think at times it works against the site's popularity.

Not every good writer may have a good html expertise. So when their articles go to the pending status multiple times, that causes a doubt in their mind and they lose out their patience. Specially when editors don't come up with all the errors at one time, it really becomes hard for the writers to go through the process and wait till it gets approved. So they leave hope as well as their articles behind and forget about it. They don't realize the opportunity they are missing.

But I think, few small changes can change this scenario.

1) There can be one Model Article with a proper format, which can be downloaded by the new comers and they can simply copy and paste their article within that and submit. (Like our invoice)

2) Articles should go to "Pending" status only for further grammatical corrections and not for formatting.

3) Editors should point out all the errors at a time.

This was purely my personal opinion, which I had in mind from the beginning. Now since we all are discussing out many things and Techulator is changing for good, I thought this time to be ideal for sharing this.

I ask everybody to share their views as well.

#22630

20 Sep 2015 23:32

Joined:	01/01/2015
Level:	Gold
Points:	41446

Points:	5

Thanks for caring so much about the popularity of the site, Anwesha. To be frank enough, most of the changes observed in Techulator of late have been because of your raising such issues in the forum section.
Having said that, now let me point out my views on aspects raised by you.
As for your suggestion of not to send an article to pending status for formatting errors, I have observed from my own experience that Techulator instructs a lot about html to the newcomers. The editors normally provide clear instructions on how to use proper html codes. It is only after you become some kind of a veteran that your articles are reviewed with a keen eye.
Since there are a couple of editors who review the resource section, all the editors may not think on similar lines. When an editor sends an article to pending status siting a particular reason, it could be some other editor who reviews it after being corrected. He/she may have a different view. That is why we do not get all the errors at the same time. Error for one editor may not be felt as an error by another.
I would appreciate your suggestion about having a template for articles which can be downloaded. It could be much helpful for the new members.

Live....and Let Live!

#22631

20 Sep 2015 23:57

Joined:	04/03/2014
Level:	Gold
Points:	19194

Points:	1

Yes Timmappa, I understand the process by now. But as it is not explained anywhere in the site , the newcomers might get an idea that the site isn't run properly, or it doesn't have a strong editorial team (which is actually the other way round....it has too strict and perfectionist editors).

That may really create an adverse effect.

We all know, that the survival of a site in the world of internet depends solely on its popularity. The kind of professional back up Techulator provides to all its members, needs a strong publicity back up for itself.
So after paying such a huge amount to the members, it needs a good recovery process, which only popularity can bring.

There are so many articles lying in the Pending section which could have earned quite well for the site but are not being utilized, and as a result, both the writers and the site are facing a loss, which is unnecessary. We really need to clear up our site from these small hitches, don't you think so?

#22634

21 Sep 2015 01:18

Joined:	01/01/2015
Level:	Gold
Points:	41446

Points:	2

Well, I should agree to it. Article section had gained up speed over the past coupe of months. It seems to have stagnated a little over the last week or so. There are a few reasons for it, festive season being just one of them.
It will come back to its usual pace soon.

Live....and Let Live!

#22635

21 Sep 2015 02:03

Joined:	24/03/2013
Level:	Gold
Points:	6911

Points:	4

Anwesha,
I like the idea of a sample article. We can have a link to a Word doc. which the members can refer to. It could be something like this:
1. Title sample
[no. of words max.]
[important keywords that would help to fetch traffic without keyword spam]
[proper sentence case]

2. Summary sample
[no. of sentences / words max.]
[avoid keyword stuffing]

3. Text sample
[Overview / Introduction]
[Heading with h2 tag]
[Sub-heading with h3 tag]
[Sub-heading with h3 tag]
[Second heading with h2 tag]
[Sub-heading with h3 tag]

4. Conclusion sample

5. At the end of the doc, give links to relevant Help topic on how to insert images and how to use tags.

Regards,
Vandana

#22636

21 Sep 2015 02:07

Joined:	24/03/2013
Level:	Gold
Points:	6911

Points:	4

Anwesha,
With regard to the other points you made:
1. I do think that editors can do the relevant formatting for minor errors, such as if the member forgot to close a tag for points, especially if the member is an already established contributor since quite a while. It is frustrating I am sure for regular authors to have an article shifted to pending merely because of some minor space issue or not having closed a tag. However, if there are too many formatting errors, the editor is justified in shifting it to pending.

2. I feel it is good that editors are pointing out one problem at a time. It creates less confusion. When one is bombarded with too much data, one tends to get confused!

Regards,
Vandana

#22637

21 Sep 2015 02:08

Joined:	04/03/2014
Level:	Gold
Points:	19194

Points:	1

Exactly Vandana, that is what I was talking about.
As in Hubpages you have the capsule system, templates etc, people can concentrate more on the write up rather than the formatting issues.
This way, more number of articles will be pouring in and Techulator will earn the goodwill and popularity it deserves.

#22638

21 Sep 2015 02:13

Joined:	04/03/2014
Level:	Gold
Points:	19194

Points:	1

Vandana,
Referring to your later post, what I have personally felt and have also seen people complaining about is pointing out the errors one by one , each time the article being processed through New submission, pending, waiting for approval, which becomes too much.
If the errors are pointed out in sequential order at a time, I don't think there will be any scope for confusion.
It would save so much time even for the editors, right?

#22639

21 Sep 2015 02:18

Joined:	24/03/2013
Level:	Gold
Points:	6911

Points:	3

Anwesha,
The box for pointing out errors has limited space. It is not possible to give a long list in sequential order of all the errors. Also, the editing system which is in place makes provision for giving reasons one at a time, with relevant links to guidelines at a Help page. I think this is a really good system as it helps the author to deal with one error at a time and, in case a second editor is reviewing it later, that editor might discover some other error.

Regards,
Vandana

#22640

21 Sep 2015 02:28

Joined:	04/03/2014
Level:	Gold
Points:	19194

Points:	1

Okay, then it would be really a huge task for the webmasters to change the entire system.

But for the time being a template of submitting resources where the html tags are already in place can make things easier for all.

#22645

21 Sep 2015 05:13

Joined:	01/01/2015
Level:	Gold
Points:	41446

Points:	2

I really welcome the suggestion given by Vandana about correcting the minor formatting errors by editors themselves. There are times when even established authors will commit some minor mistakes. I myself am a victim of such typo errors.
Hope to see this method comes in action.

Live....and Let Live!

How Do You See Techulator After a Couple of Years?

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