NOTICE Of Change

Squidoo sold its content holdings to Hubpages. Since August of 2014 all of "Ilona1" content was transferred to Hubpages under the user name "ilonagarden".

When the transfer of Squidoo hosted content was made, those who already had Hubpages accounts had to make new ones for their Squidoo content. Sometimes their user names were available, sometimes not. In my case I needed to revert to one of the other names by which I am known online: "ilonagarden". I don't have straightforward branding which keeps the identities inline, and wish that these choices had been made in a linear style... but that is the breaks.

All the lenses have a new place as hubs if they were acceptable in the new format and rules, otherwise I had to move them to one of my websites or delete them.

Most made the cut, however everyone's lenses had huge updating changes to make. Hubs are very different in look, purpose, and restricted in amounts of products allowed on the page.

As of this writing in 2015 I still have not completely updated all the old lenses. It has taken tremendous hours of time, efforts in rewriting and learning to adapt to a new system.

It is successful in tightening up the writing, in reducing the amount of ads, in keeping steady with online income. It is less successful in terms of community. Squidoo had the superior community system, feel and interaction.

Over all the move was a good one, and I am happy with the present results of it. Whether there will be a future for Hubpages or any online opportunity like it is still to be decided by future events, including the decisions that Google makes. Google has been the deciding factor in the success or fall of these writing sites.

Lesson

I've learned to devote the lionshare of my time to developing my own sites instead of that of others, no matter how tempting the opportunities appear.

Often the chance to promotes one's work inside others sites is increasingly limited. The old internet which was based on sharing is dead. The new internet is strongly proprietary, so it is important to develop all one's own resources, graphics, video, writing, and webspace, as much as is possible.

See you on Hubpages, as ilonagarden

...or ilona1 ( the first account I started only months before the move.

Don't Forget To Visit Ilona1Hubber for all the new updates.

Along The Same Lines

Latest in updates? I made a lens that was geared towards Holiday or Birthday gift ideas a couple years ago, and it is too bad it hasn't done well, but it is now updated. I say "too bad" since getting someone a gift from WFM, either by creating a gift basket or simply sending a gift certificate would be something that is well received and guaranteed to bring enjoyment. I know because I've been on the receiving end.

The idea came from an actual Christmas gift one year from one of my sons. I loved receiving it since Whole Foods Market is one of my favorite places to shop.

 I know the jokes, but the prices have come into line with most other stores nowadays and the reasons for shopping there have only grown.

I hate to say it but I did notice a definite drop in the ability of employees to give the standards of customer service that the store began with. However, they are still fairly helpful and consumer oriented. The cashiers are the most noticeably less able. The food remains some of the best available in my area.

 With that mini-review, go ahead and visit the newly updated "Why I Shop At Whole Foods Market, for reasons to get that special someone a gift certificate to the same!

 Here are featured Amazon offerings, if you don't have a store near you:

FIX WIP LENSES

There is a helpful tutorial on getting your lenses out of WIP status, found in the HQ section.

After reading it again, I needed a refresher in light of so many of my lenses dropping off the chart, I find that the answer to my particular problem is largely a matter of letting lenses "go stale". They needed updating, refreshing, and re-publishing.

I personally am adding new content that is more along the lines of Squidoo story-telling style. Conservatively, with maybe one additional text module. Taking out unnecessary distractions, Amazon modules or products, etc. is a beginning of tightening some of these works in progress.

I am also considering a total rewrite and overhaul of a few articles that are mainly about me. Squidoo has completely changed since I wrote them and I have changed. It's time.

Christmas is understandably outside most of the searches and articles that people care about in the middle of summer, so I am not worried about that, yet it is the season to work on them and make things ready... the holidays always come on sooner than I expect!

So which are the newly refreshed, and republished? Today they are...
Fresh Summer Candle Scents
Christmas In July, Christmas All Year

My Deer Christmas Kitchen

WIP Lenses Are Getting Troublesome

wip lenses have entered the red zone

A Product Review

I think I am making headway, and then a fresh crop are sent into WIP Limbo.

 A lens that has been dropped into this no mans land more than once is a review on Garnier BB Cream. It was written in the new format as a response to the collation lenses that are meant to elicit reviews. It is a personal story of my history in using and comparing this product with others of this type.

Perhaps such product reviews are no longer welcome?  I shared it on social media to see if that helped.

Old Style Lens

An old style lens on the topic of "Bird Baths" dropped into the red zone, so I added content in the form of a personal story/view. I am not a gifted story teller and this form of writing is quite a challenge for me.

I'll see if practice helps, otherwise I am not sure how well I will do on Squidoo. I hope I'm not an old dog who can't learn to jump through the hoops properly!

Read the updated Bird Bath Info page.

Another New Format Product Review

I am not sure whether it is this format that has problems staying alive or there are other problems, but the Advent candles and my story of our family's Advent log celebration also dropped deeply into the red zone with very low rankings. 

Could it be some other factor? Is it getting dinged? I have no real explanation for a personal story dropping off the chart like that. 

Read the Review of Root Taper Candles and see what you think. Comment if you find possible cause. Links to my Advent blog? Too many repeated words?

Reviving Thankfulness

Yes, the world has too little love, but might that be rooted in a scarcity of thankfulness?

My Thanksgiving lens on thankfulness had fallen into WIP status, and though I dropped from 27 such lenses to 20, I am working away to reinstate or finish each, one by one.

That same method, the counting one by one, is a center thought of the "Cultivating Thankfulness" Squidoo page.

I repaired some missing images, wrote a bit more personal content, and decided in light of Squidoo's direction to re-work this and many other lenses later, uniting more of the content into a smaller number of content and redirecting the tone from informative to more of a storytelling format. Until now, this update will do.