Squidoo Is Moving to Hubpages: And How to Move Your Pages to Blogger (As an Alternative)

Did you hear?  Squidoo has been aquired by HubPages and Squidoo will be going away!   I know, due to their past partnerships with Zazzle and CafePress that a lot of PODsters also have pages on Squidoo, though I thought this would be important to share here. 

Squidoo says only the best lenses will transfer over. and I couldn't find info on exactly what that means, though this forum post by a Hub Page user sheds some light on what type of lenses might not be accepted.  There's also some good info about transferring here.

Here's some dates you should know:

• AUGUST 22:  Last day to make updates to your lenses  (If you're moving them somewhere other than HubPages, might want to add a note about that on your lenses before then, so visitors can tell where you moved), SOME lenses will be able to be transferred to HubPages.  You can begin transferring lenses now.
• AUGUST 29:  Last chance to prevent your any of your lenses from being moved to HubPages by deleting your account.  
• EARLY SEPTEMBER - OCTOBER:  Lenses will start to disappear.  

Squidoo has a way to save all your lens content (which I suggest using)...but from what I can see the code it gives you is very wonky--very messy and a lot to clean up, and it doesn't include things like your links and your photos (if you copy paste it now your photos will show up...but that's temporary as they are still housed on Squidoo).  Copying your lenses to blogger is another option, which I'll talk more about below.

MOVING YOUR PAGE TO BLOGSPOT
When you copy-paste to Blogger copies like links and such much of the formatting of your content will be retained.  It even copies pictures BUT be warned...it's not really a copy.  Its still linked from Squidoo so you will need to go through and save those picks and then replace them.  

• NOTE:  Copy pasting to blogger will save text, pictures and links.  Modules like video modules, plexos (other than text), etc. are not able to be copied over   NOTE ON PICTURES:  Pictures may still show Squidoo URL so I don't know what will happen to them once Squidoo is gone.  SAVE ALL PICTURES ON YOUR OWN SERVER BY RIGHT CLICKING AND SAVING.

1.  First, go to blogger and start a new post or page--make sure you are in the "compose" editor, not the HTML editor.   

2.  Go to the page you want to copy.  Highlight the content from each module from your Squidoo workshop you want to move and press CTR+C (or whatever you use to copy text on your browser/operating system). Paste into your blogger post.   

3.  VERY IMPORTANT.  Since I'm  having Squidoo affiliate links on your blog will be pretty pointless soon, and could get you into trouble, you will need to switch into the HTML tab in your editor and remove all the affiliate info from CafePress, Amazon, and other Squidoo money making module links (you can then replace with your own affiliate codes).  If you don't have time to fix the affiliate code right away, though, you can always save the post as a draft in stead of publishing it right away, and work on it later. 

4.  VERY IMPORTANT.  It does not seem like blogger is actually copying pictures, so these may be lost once Squidoo ends.  You can save the pictures, and then upload them to the blogger post and replace them where you want (one way to do this is to put all the pictures up at the top or bottom initially, then go in and grab the new URL for the picture and just insert it where the current squidurl is.  

If you are part of the CafePress or Amazon affiliate program, it shouldn't be a problem using their product images since they are remote linked on Squidoo from CafePress/Amazon. Be careful not to grab any Squidoo graphics.   There may be copyright issues with the layout also...but I'm honestly not sure.  

DO THIS BEFORE DELETING YOUR LENSES!

• You can still edit your Squidoo page until Aug 22nd, so it might be a good idea to make a post or webpage off Squidoo where you will put links to all the places you're pages have moved, and put a BIG LINK to this page on top off all your Squidoo lenses (something like "THIS PAGE MOVING SOON. CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT WHERE).  
• Make sure to check your stats for the last 90 days to see who's linking to you, so you can notify them of where your new page will be.  

Squidoo is Retiring the CafePress Module

Yep, first went the Zazzle module, and now the CP module is saying farewell.  More info here.

New Squid-Rules for Sizing Zazzle Images

Hello!  I know a lot of Zazzlers also use Squidoo, so I thought I'd share a squidoo tip for posting Zazzle products on Squidoo today. For those who aren't travelling here by blog hop and don't know what Squidoo is, it's just a place where you can make nifty little web pages about any topic you choose, and maybe earn a little money for yourself or a charity in the process.



As you know if you've been reading this blog, you can easily grab Zazzle product images and resize them as you please.  (Click here to learn how to do this.)  In Squidoo the <DIV> attributes (in red in my article) are automatically removed.  I usually remove them before hand so I can line everything up. 

If you happen to want to put these images on Squidoo, module sizes have recently changed, and this sizing guide may help:


New Text Module Size:  714 pixels

1 Product Picture - While you can go up to 714 pixels, I suggest 499 pixels to avoid getting a watermark. 

2 Product Pictures - 357 pixels each

3 Product Pictures - 238 pixels each

4 Product Pictures - 178 pixels each


Note...if you would like to center these you can use the following code in Squidoo:

<p align="center>
(Your product code here)
</p>

Rows of 1, 2, and 3 products fit the width exactly though, so centering should not be necessary.

Another way to ad Zazzle products to Squidoo is with the following widgets.  I don't know whether these still work well with the recent changes, but they do have some nice features like adding a "buy" button.

Zazzle to Squidoo Tool

A handy tool to help make adding multiple squidoo items to your lens easier and quicker.

Zazzle to Squidoo Tool | J32design.com

Integrate your Zazzle products quick and easy with the Zazzle to Squidoo Tool.