eHow's "I Did This" Feature: Have You Used It?

While studying my ehow account and trying to come up with more article ideas I came across an "I Did This" post I made back in May 2009.  I completely forgot about this feature of the site and noticed that now they want you to post at least 5 photos (mine only has 1--which at the time was sufficient, I guess) and explain in at least 300 words how you've done something that has already been explained in a previously posted eHow article. Are we compensated in any way for posting these? I noticed a group of "related ads" on my page but I've never seen any earnings reports or page views for my lone "I Did This," so my guess is no. I'm not sure if I would spend the time again, now that the pic and wordcount requirements have increased. What are your thoughts on this feature? Have you used it before and do you think it's worth investing the time? Or is this the first time you're hearing about it?

eHow Back From the Dead?

I hate to speak too soon but the technical issues at ehow seem to be resolved. I was able to publish 2 drafts, one last night and one this morning.

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You will notice some changes on the site. In the article library there is a new column "Expiration Date" where they give you 30 days to publish the title you've selected. New articles now need to be reviewed and approved before they will publish them. They send you an email when this is done. Both of my articles were approved and published within 10-14 minutes. I certainly don't mind waiting a few minutes for approval if in fact this new procedure will eliminate or at least minimize the article sweeps we all dread. I can't imagine that a living breathing person is reading and approving/rejecting them. Has anyone else published recently? Let's hear about your experience with the latest changes. I'm curious to know what happens if an article is rejected...do they just delete it or explain why and give you a chance to correct the problem?

Strange Happenings at eHow--Forums Erupting with Complaints and Frustrations Over Editing/Publishing Issues

I've been trying to post a new article since yesterday and have yet to be successful. It's a draft I had saved a few weeks ago and wanted to put the finishing touches on it and now my edits and additional info won't stick. I checked the forums and found that many people are complaining about this issue. I've also seen forum posts about deleted articles appearing live again on the site. There's a post about the glitches being related to the Top Requested Articles but none of my drafts are Top Requested Articles. Maybe I'm missing the point here, so if anyone can explain this better please comment here and/or post on the forums. Have any of you been able to publish or edit recently? And have you found any other solutions on your own or on the message boards other than the Top Requested Article explanation?

The eHow Broom Strikes Again: The Latest Article Sweep

I know it's October and Halloween is fast approaching but I was not expecting to be visited by the Wicked Witch of eHow so soon.  These so-called "article sweeps" conjure up visions of a menacing green-faced, black cloaked evil sorceress swinging her broom at our pages while she diabolically throws her head back and cackles at our misfortune.

"Spelling errors?  Be gone! Too spammy! To the dungeon with you!" She screeches wildly as she sweeps our dreams into online purgatory.

Okay, enough drama, but seriously it's frustrating and confusing and for those of us who don't have hundreds of articles posted, a few casualties here and there can mean whether or not we make the $10 minimum payout each month.  I know the answer to this is to keep adding to our article inventory so if a few get the axe it won't be so damaging. However, in the meantime, I would really love to know what in particular is causing each article to be deemed unworthy of remaining on the site. I'm willing to listen and learn from my mistakes if given the chance. I've had 2 articles deleted this time and have yet to get an email explaining why. How about you?  How many have you lost and have you been told what your violation was?

I've updated my article list above to reflect the loss of 2 articles and shifted a few that have gained in value.  The top three best performing articles remained the same and a few others have moved up the ladder.  I now have 5 at the bottom of the list that have not made any money yet.

On a positive note, my list of eHow friends in the left sidebar has grown to 27! This includes people who've either posted a comment, subscribed via email or clicked the follow button. Whenever I gain a new eHow friend I invite them to this blog and link to their profile page. If you're new to eHow and want to have your profile linked here just comment, subscribe or follow and add me as a friend on eHow.