You should be finished with your lenses and ready to publish. Today your lenses will go live. We’ll also follow a quick checklist to make sure everything is in order and ready for the world to see. This is where it starts to get exciting!
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23. Publishing Your Lenses
· 54 Comments · OWM Month 1
Tags: OWM week 4
54 responses so far ↓
1 Edward Stewart // Feb 6, 2009 at 5:25 pm
Have published six lenses successfully, but have a problem under featured links. One of my links comes up as a different name than I typed in when entering them originally. If I click on the link, I go to someone else’s work-in-progress soon to be published site. I have already published the particular link name, but it comes up on all six of my lenses with a G7 in front of my link name. What is this about? Help!
Thanks,
Ed
2 Jackie and Andrea // Feb 6, 2009 at 5:40 pm
Ed,
I’m not sure what the issue is. Have you gone back in to the featured lens module and checked your spelling for that particular lens? Let me know and I’ll see what else I can think of.
Jackie
3 Edward Stewart // Feb 6, 2009 at 5:59 pm
Jackie,
I’ve checked it over and over. I put in my squidoo url for one particular lens and when it appears in the featured links, it has a G7 in front of the key word (url that I secured from Squidoo at the beginning of this process) When I click on the link with the G7 in front of it the following message is displayed: Under Construction
Thanks for stopping by! AMoore913 is still working on adding content to this lens, and will publish it to the world soon. Stay tuned…
Is it possible that Squidoo issued 2 identical urls for the same keyword? I am at a loss as to what happened on 1 out of 6 lenses. The other 5 are fine and I cannot see any difference in how I handled this problem one. If you need any more detail or if I am not being clear, I’ll be happy to call or e-mail or whatever. Thanks, Ed
4 Jackie and Andrea // Feb 6, 2009 at 6:33 pm
Hi Ed -
Since you’re certain you have the url correct, it’s gotta be a glitch within Squidoo.
You can submit a ticket so they know about it:
http://www.squidoo.com/pages/feedback
And in the mean time - forge ahead
Sounds like you’re making great progress - Good Job!
Andrea
5 Edward Stewart // Feb 6, 2009 at 7:59 pm
Andrea,
I’ve submitted a bug ticket with Squidoo. Being a newbie, it will probably be something I did wrong, but I can’t think of any other way to resolve the problem. Thanks for your input and encouragement. I’ll let you know how it turns out - FYI.
Ed
6 Edward Stewart // Feb 8, 2009 at 7:42 pm
Andrea,
Your first analysis was right. It was my error. I was seeing what I expected to see and missed the fact that Squidoo added “the” to the beginning of my keyword. I missed it half a dozen times until I stepped back through everything one process at a time —- and there it was! So now it’s fixed. Thanks for your help. I’ll try to pay more attention, but with so much that’s new for me, I guess I just got lost in the details.
Thanks,
Ed
7 Sheila Newman // Feb 14, 2009 at 3:40 pm
I have just published all 3 of my lenses. One of them has a green tick next to it, the other 2 say work in progress. I can’t think of anything else to add to them. Does it matter or can I just move ahead with the daily plan and go on to submitting my RSS feeds and getting them indexed? Thanks.
8 Jackie and Andrea // Feb 14, 2009 at 3:46 pm
Hi Sheila -
You might want to look at the health tab (hover over any lens in your dashboard and ‘health’ is an option) - it’ll help you to double check that you’ve got the things that Squidoo thinks is important in place.
Then anytime you can go ahead and do the next step.
Andrea
9 Jackie and Andrea // Feb 14, 2009 at 4:02 pm
Sheila,
When did you publish the lenses? Sometimes it takes overnight for them to go live.
Jackie
10 Sheila Newman // Feb 14, 2009 at 4:14 pm
I published my lenses aboout an hour ago. I looked at the health tab for 2 of my lenses and the main problem are my pictures. They are relevant. But the message reads:
Your lens has an introduction photo, which is good. But here’s an advanced tip: we’d recommend resaving that file under a tag that matches your content. So, if your lens is on Whole Wheat Pizza Recipes, and your intro photo is a picture of a pizza, make sure the photo filename (jpg or gif) is pizza.jpg or wholewheatpizza.jpg. And not something like MCfoodpic.jpg.
I don’t know how to correct it. Help!
11 TY EVANS // Feb 14, 2009 at 4:17 pm
J&A, I could kiss you both right now. I never could have done it with you. Everything looks perfect. I AM SO EXCITED, I’M GOING TO HAVE A ICE COLD BEER, IT’S 5 O’CLOCK SOMEWHERE.
One question I did miss, what does lens is maxed mean, and when was I suppose to do that.
Thank you Thank you Thank you
12 Jackie and Andrea // Feb 14, 2009 at 4:21 pm
Hi Sheila -
Ahh now you’re sliding into the expert zone
Here’s how you can do this:
- Find your image on your computer
- Right click the file name and you’ll see ‘rename’ as one of the choices
- Name it your keyword phrase (with or without dashes - either is fine)
- Go back to your lens and upload that picture again (same picture new file name) - it will over write the old file
- Publish … the health should now say it’s okay (if not just give it a bit to catch up to your changes)
Try that and let us know if we can get clearer, okay?
Andrea
13 Sheila Newman // Feb 14, 2009 at 4:44 pm
I’ve tried it but it still says Work In Progress. Also, once I’ve renamed the file and uploaded it, numbers appear before the renamed file. E.g. 124567dogtraining.jpg on the health tab. Why are numbers there?
Also my lens that does have a green tick next to it has 2 things that need seeing to but it’s still got a green tick.
Strange.
14 Jackie and Andrea // Feb 14, 2009 at 4:51 pm
Hi Sheila -
I’m not sure about the numbers - might be that there are already squidoo image files named the same thing .. as long as the word is in there, you’ve done what needs doing - so ignore it.
The work in progress designation should be gone by tomorrow.
As long as you’ve published (ie. your lenses can be viewed by going directly to the web address), you can feel free to move along and start the marketing/indexing motions.
Sounds like you’re making great progress
Andrea
15 Judith Turner // Feb 22, 2009 at 6:26 pm
I have the same question as Ty. I can’t figure out how to max a lens.
16 Jackie and Andrea // Feb 22, 2009 at 7:44 pm
Hey Judith,
Sorry I missed your comment. In edit mode on your lens go down to the sidebar where it says “Lens settings” click the little arrow and it will open up options.
One of those options is to max the lens. I think it is the default to be maxed but you can check and make sure.
Jackie
17 Jay Hurwitz // Mar 4, 2009 at 8:50 am
Hi Ladies
I have just published my first 6 lenses.
In my “about me” module, I have ticked the box to show default profile pictue.
I was expecting the photo from my bio to appear.
However no picture is appearing on the lens.
Can you advise how I can get the photo from my bio on to the lens.
18 Jackie and Andrea // Mar 4, 2009 at 9:38 am
Not sure what the problem is.
Is the bio image showing up in your dashboard? You shouldn’t have to tick anything to use the default image on your lens, it should just show up.
Have you published the lenses after “ticking” for the image?
You might try “unticking” what you ticked and see if that helps.
If not, let me know and I’ll see what I can figure out from there.
Jackie
19 Jay Hurwitz // Mar 4, 2009 at 10:38 am
I am not sure what you mean when you ask
“is the bio image showing up on my dashboard?”
When I click on “my profile” on my dashboard, it shows the default photo.
20 Jackie and Andrea // Mar 4, 2009 at 11:01 am
Hi Jay -
I’d never tried that module before, so I did just now.
When I tried to save with just a picture (no text) - the module showed nothing.
When I chose just the image and added text to the content box - it didn’t do anything.
But when I chose the “include my bio” option, my bio picture showed up with the text of my bio.
Be sure and publish in between as you test these things.
Other than that, if you have an image uploaded to your account for your bio and those top tow boxes ticked, and it’s still not working - it’s gotta be Squidoo side.
Play with it a little more or move on either is good
hth,
Andrea
21 carolyn collins // Mar 10, 2009 at 6:10 pm
So the lens is “maxed”. Just what does that mean?
22 Jackie and Andrea // Mar 10, 2009 at 6:56 pm
squidoo covers this in the FAQ, scroll down to #34
http://www.squidoo.com/pages/faq
Jackie
23 Carole Rowland // May 24, 2009 at 8:19 am
Can we be under more than 1 catagory? My topic can actually go under 2 different ones?
24 Jackie and Andrea // May 24, 2009 at 8:24 am
No just pick one - that makes sense - it’s not critical.
Squidoo is just the ‘place’ we’re putting this content so that Google takes notice - the categories are internal to Squidoo.
Andrea
25 Carole Rowland // May 24, 2009 at 8:36 am
I have published all 6 of my lenses, kind of nerve racking waiting for the little green check of approval!
Couple of things-
1 - After I published and viewed, I went to my Bio area but the logo I captured from my product sales page was not there, it shows up on my edit page but not on the published page???
2 - I also noticed that there is a place when you expand on the Bio where you can list all your lenses, should I list all the related lenses and if so, how??
3- I also checked the health tab before I published and it was a little scary, then I remembered that you said not to pay any attention to that, so I will just wait for the green check of approval.
thanks
26 Carole Rowland // May 24, 2009 at 8:45 am
I just checked my lenses and they all have GREEN CHECK MARKS, it only took about 10 minutes to get them, I am so excited. Ready to continue so I can start seeing some jingle coming my way.
Thanks for getting me this far Jackie and Andrea!
27 Jackie and Andrea // May 24, 2009 at 8:53 am
Good job taking the publishing plunge!
And that’s super fast for green light - very cool
Re. the bios - is the image maybe in the ‘read more’ area of your lens bio? If so, you just need to move the image link up.
The lens list in the bio area will fill itself in - I think it’s the green checks that does it - so see if they’re not there now?
Andrae
28 Ingrid Palmer // Jun 5, 2009 at 11:01 am
Hi Andrea/Jackie
I had done a couple of lens before starting with you guys, I did not much then what I was really doing. I know the keywords are not real good nor the lens url. They have good content. Can I just transfer these lenses choosing a different url and keywords to make them better, instead of scrapping them?
29 Jackie and Andrea // Jun 5, 2009 at 11:03 am
Yep.
30 Russell Hart // Jun 7, 2009 at 6:56 pm
I’ve finally got 3 lenses published but am doing some fine tuning.
How do I get selected words to link directly to the merchant’s website? e,g, I want to train my dog to sit; and I want the words ‘train my dog’ to be in blue and, when clicked on, go to the merchant’s website. (Using html I guess, but I don’t know how!).
And a general question. This was touched on by Pat in Lesson 21. When a youtube video finishes with audio and/or video reference to either the authors or competitors contact details, is it possible, in any way, to remove or change this?
31 Jackie and Andrea // Jun 7, 2009 at 7:14 pm
The code to create a live link is in lesson #20 at the bottom of the lesson.
If the contact info is in the video you can’t do much about it. If it is in the video description you can hide it from inside the youtube module.
However ~ it’s not that big of a deal to have someone else’s info in the video ~ you can’t click on the video to get there, so just make sure you have a link to whatever it is you are linking to in the description area of your your tube module ~ mention they can click the link to get to the product discussed in the video.
That works pretty good.
Jackie
32 Sonja Davis // Jun 13, 2009 at 6:41 pm
Do I have to wait for the lens to have a green check mark before I move on to the next step with submitting the RSS?
33 Jackie and Andrea // Jun 13, 2009 at 6:50 pm
Nope - that check mark is just about being searchable in Squidoo. RSS away
Andrea
34 Sonja Davis // Jun 13, 2009 at 7:04 pm
Cool….thanks!
35 Tricia Holfelder // Jul 7, 2009 at 6:10 pm
Hello, I am new to this group. I just purchsed potpie girl’s program and was happy to get her recommendation to join this group. I have some experience online but have been doing everything wrong and kind of spinning in circles. I am finding potpie girls program and this group to be just what I need to finally get on the right track. I have learned a lot with the past few lessons here in this program and LOVE your squidoo lens creation checklist. I printed it out and put it in one of those plastic page protector things so I have it on hand at all times. Thanks.
trish
36 Jackie and Andrea // Jul 7, 2009 at 7:07 pm
Awesome Trish,
Glad you are finding it helpful! Don’t forget to ask questions as they come up ~ we don’t want any circle spinning here ~ we’re around to help you start driving straight.
Jackie
37 Tricia Holfelder // Jul 8, 2009 at 5:16 am
Okay, I do have a question. I have done my lenses and published them yesterday but for some reason only 2 of them have green marks in my squidoo dashboard and I am not really sure why (one is listed in google now, still waiting for the other ones =-) )
I really am not sure why some of the lenses are still red and not green checked. they all have a similar amount of content and it has been since yesterday afternoon. Do you think I should go through the ones that have not been green checked and change them up a bit and republish. It really kind of baffles me because I have never waited this long for a lens to go green. Thanks in advance. Sometimes waiting is the hardest part…lol
Trish
38 Jackie and Andrea // Jul 8, 2009 at 5:23 am
Hi Trish -
Nope - just plow forward - they’ll sort out
That just indicates whether Squidoo is showing them in results yet. Google is the real goal.
Andrea
39 Russell Hart // Oct 16, 2009 at 11:49 pm
Jackie & Andrea
I’ve completed a lens and published a few hours ago. But I have 2 problems:
1. In my intro module, it refused to accept my Amazon link (all other modlues did!) so at this stage I stopped trying.
2. After publishing, the Amazon product pic which shows up in the draft, does not appear in the lens. It reverts to the grey ‘no pic’ square.
Can you help me with these problems?
Regards
RUSSELL
40 Russell Hart // Oct 17, 2009 at 1:41 am
Jackie & Andrea
I’m back again!
In relation to the above, I’ve solved problem 2 by removing the pic from my draft version, re-applying it and re-publishing.
I’ve not resolved problem 1.
Regards
RUSSELL
41 Jackie and Andrea // Oct 17, 2009 at 8:39 am
Hey Russeell,
Squidoo has recently added a text editor to the intro module. To create links there now you have to highlight the words you want to be in the link. (left click and drag your mouse across the words you want). Then look for the little icon at the top that looks like a piece of chain. Click that.
A new box will open. You want to add your affiliate link in there ~ just the link starting with http://.
click ok, save, insert whatever it is on that box and you should have a link.
Make sure you save the module and then hit publish again to publish the changes.
Jackie
42 Russell Hart // Oct 18, 2009 at 2:01 am
Hi Jackie & Andrea
Thanks for your answer to my problem no: 1. I went to do what you said and for some reason the intro module accepted my link as soon as I put it in. Didn’t need to use the ‘chain’.
Here’s another silly question for you. In a text module where it allows you to put a pic, it only allows for one pic i.e. only 1 grey box to put a pic. How do I get more than 1 pic into a text module? Also, you suggest using The Most Important Thing module for my visual call to action. How do I get to put a pic inside the orange border. Hope this makes sense to you.
Once again, many thanks for your help and my regards
RUSSELL
PS Loved your blog on What Should I Do Today!
43 Jackie and Andrea // Oct 18, 2009 at 7:42 am
If you are going to put more than one image in a module you have to use html for the second image ~ which means you have to host the image someone ~ either a photo sharing site like photobucket, or on your own server if you have hosting.IF you use photobucket you can just grab the code from there and then put it in the text where you want it.
You really don’t need 2 images in a module though ~ remember we’re trying to keep it simple.
44 Larry Pitts // Dec 15, 2009 at 5:13 pm
Hi Friends, I found myself disconnected from the members login today and felt like my air hose had been pinched off. Thanks for all of your good basic help. Been two years and finally I have done something. I have 3 squidoo’s. Do I expand on each of these or do I keep on with 4 & 5 of the SAME subject. Thanks Jackie/Andrea.
45 Jackie and Andrea // Dec 15, 2009 at 6:01 pm
Hi Larry,
are you back in now? I’d say 3 is a good start. I’d start promoting them and taking the steps to get them indexed etc. If this campaign takes off you can always come back and add to it.
Jackie
46 Larry Pitman // Feb 17, 2010 at 7:45 pm
After publishing, sometimes my lens bio section is cut-off by advertising, and it’s not a lengthy bio, not nearly as long as Nick’s.
Is there a solution?
47 Larry Pitman // Feb 18, 2010 at 11:05 am
After publishing, sometimes my lens bio section is cut-off by advertising, and it’s not a lengthy bio, not nearly as long as Nick’s.
Is there a solution?
48 Jackie and Andrea // Feb 18, 2010 at 11:12 am
Hi Larry -
Try sticking a picture file in there.
This lesson tells you how - part way down:
http://www.learnitstepbystep.com/21a-sprucing-up-your-lenses-with-images-and-opt-in-boxes.html
Andrea
49 George Varghese // Feb 28, 2010 at 5:03 am
Hi Jackie and Andrea
I have managed to publish five lenses yesterday.Iam really thrilled and deeply thankful to you two. All have been successfully launched.But in some of my lens the featured lens does not show all lens.I mean it has got that orange squidoo with question marks.But some lens show all my featured lens fully. How can I rectify this problem
50 Jackie and Andrea // Feb 28, 2010 at 10:56 am
Congrats on getting your lenses published! That’s fantastic. I’ve heard quite a few people having this issue with the featured lens module. I’d submit a bug report about it. You will find the link to do that on your dashboard page under “bookmark these”.
51 Gary Materra // Mar 5, 2010 at 12:56 am
I have a few questions about the PDF Lens Creation Checklist. It says we should have a non text module right after the intro module, but elsewhere you have suggested a text module after the intro module. Does it make a difference? Also, the checklist says the Featured Lens module should have keyword anchor text link to the product in the text area. Does this mean something in the description area? It also says the Guestbook is supposed to have keywords in the title and text area. We haven’t covered the Guestbook yet have we?
52 Jackie and Andrea // Mar 5, 2010 at 6:27 am
The order of modules is art more than science. Now is when you get to look at the lens you’ve created and decide - hmm - is that a big ‘ol clump of text at the top that would be more reader friendly if I have a non-text module in there?
Only you can answer that.
I like lots of white space myself …
Text area usually = a big open box where text/html can be added. Wherever you can get the link in is good.
The guest book can be treated just like any other module - only difference is that your visitors will provide the content - you just do the title and description as you have been.
Keep in mind that if you miss one of these steps or you add one that we haven’t thought of - the world will not come crashing in.
Most important thing is to get your lens published so you can start your link promotion.
Have a great day Gary!
Andrea
53 Gary Materra // Mar 6, 2010 at 8:28 pm
It’s been about 6 hours since I published the lenses and they all still have the grey - sign next to them. Maybe I’ll have to wait overnight? When I click on View Lens I see that there are already Google ads on top and on the right column. If someone clicks on these and makes a purchase, do I get paid? Also, when I click on View Lens, for the first time I see the Table of Contents that I had turned on from the Intro area. Am I correct that if I want to change the Table of Contents title to something with my keywords I have to turn it off from the Intro area and then add it as a new module?
54 Jackie and Andrea // Mar 6, 2010 at 8:48 pm
They update the lenses once a day, so it should be green tomorrow. Here’s more info about payouts and how you get paid:http://www.squidoo.com/pages/paymenthelp
You can just leave the table of contents the way it is. but if you want to change it yes, you need to use the toc module.
Jackie