Don't understand rejection --subcategory

[MeggieHardy]

Hi,
Just received a rejection for my article "Latest Trends In Home Decor: Eco-Chic" The reason for rejection read:

Please place your article in a topical subcategory upon submission.

Does this mean in selecting the category? I chose Home decor, but the next option only gave me "Christmas" as a subcategory so, since my article isn't about Christmas, I left it blank and chose only the main category, Home Decor.

Please advise.

Thank you,
Meggie

[Ed]

The system did not register any category. The content appeared under "Articles." Content that appears under "Articles" with no cat or subcat chosen will not show up in search. If the system dropped your category, I apologize. It is ultimately up to the author to choose the subcat because it is not done manually once the article is submitted.

Thanks,
Ed

[MeggieHardy]

Okay, I'll resubmit and see what happens.

As usual, thank you for your speedy reply.

Meggie

[Amy W]

I'm not sure if you did this when you submitted, but I always double-check my article after I submit it. This way, if the system dropped the category listing or if the spacing in the summary went wonky, I can fix it before it gets rejected. Under your articles section, click on Edit, and you can check everything to make sure there's no errors.

Amy

[canywriter]

Hi

I got a rejection for my article "Hot New Holiday Trend: House Sitting" with the same reason : please place your article in a topical subcategory. I had placed it in the "travel" category, but since subcategory mentioned names of places and this was general, I left it blank. What should I do about the subcat? Any suggestions? I really wanted to submit this - it is for a public request.

Thanks,
CW

[canywriter]

Just checked and also found that the articles on house sitting have been bought and the topic closed - does it make any sense to re-submit the article at all? Would appreciate advice on this by older hands?

Thanks
Canywriter

[Ed]

What I said to the previous author also applies here:

The system did not register any category. The content appeared under "Articles." Content that appears under "Articles" with no cat or subcat chosen will not show up in search. If the system dropped your category, I apologize. It is ultimately up to the author to choose the subcat because it is not done manually once the article is submitted.

Looks like I need to let Support know that this is once again a problem. (It has been in the past, and it appeared to be fixed for a little while.)

[canywriter]

Thanks for the prompt reply, Ed.

Guess I will also check under the edit function, as suggested by Amy.

If I do want to resubmit this particular article, I guess it will now have to be under the general submission, since the request is closed?

Cheers
CW

[Ed]

Right. That's what you'll have to do. I'm informing Support of this continuing problem today.

[canywriter]

Thanks, Ed.

Just a thought - would it be possible to offer a prompt in case the subcat is not selected - before the article is accepted for submit? Like there is if public request is checked and specific request is not selected? That might prevent this happening again?

Best
CW

[Ed]

I'm not sure what the problem is, exactly - I think the category might be dropped after the submission form registers the pick. But yes, it would be helpful if everyone was prompted to choose a subcat under "Articles." I thought this feature was already in place. At any rate, we'll revisit it.

[Celeste Stewart]

I have noticed that when submitting to a request, the article sometimes falls out of the field and you have to go back and add it a second time. It seems like the fields are out of order somehow.

[Elizabeth Ann West]

I have also had where if there were any problems with the submission process, like I forgot to put a price in, or upload the document, the system automatically removes the category on me too.

Also about he house sitting submission: I wrote two pieces that are still in review, and they weren't intended for the Public Request anyway. I just liked the idea of talking about house sitting since the summer is coming up. My suggestion is tweak the article if you think it is too narrow for other buyers, but in general I find articles not picked up for one public request are usually bought some time later by another buyer.

For example, I made one of my articles about teens offering house sitting as a summer job since many people go on vacation or travel throughout the year. It's an easy way for them to earn money and see all the responsibilities that go into maintaining a home. That could be picked up by a site wanting to encourage people to use house sitters for safety from burglary, a parenting site suggesting safe job ideas for teens, or a site on house sitting in general. :)

[Ed]

Celeste and EAW - this type of info can help us solve this problem, so thanks for adding it. I will make sure Support sees this thread so they can corroborate the facts to identify what the system doesn't like.

[HayleyWriter]

Hi

CW - By all means submit the article anyway: as Elizabeth said many articles originally written for public requests are later purchased by other customers, and I've seen several requests for housesitting since I have been here, so it is a popular topic. You may like to have the article ready on the site waiting for the right customer and it helps build up your portfolio.

Ed - The problem seems to be when you click on the Is this for a request? button. You are then asked to select the request, but when you then select the categories for the articles, the specific request you put in has now disappeared, so you have to go back and put the request in again. I'm wondering if the refresh / loading of both requests and categories is working properly. It seems that one loading can cancel out the other one already selected. I've experienced it with the requests disappearing - not the categories, but I'm wondering from the comments on the forum if this is a two-way bug in the system. Hope this helps!

Hayley