You cannot currently claim this lens; you have too many unimproved lenses.
Whoops! Looks like you have too many "unimproved" lenses right now (this means lenses that are probably empty, unpublished, or have fewer than 3 modules). Please work on your existing lenses before starting a new one. Thanks for helping us keep the squatters away!
Hopefully by reading this you will never see that message*.
If you do then it's time for spring cleaning.
* That is the message it used to show. I'm unsure how it words it now.
What is an unimproved lens?
An unimproved lens is one which is...
- Unpublished.
- No content. Even if it is published.
- Has 2 or less modules. Even if it is published.
- The Introduction module doesn't count towards the module count.
- A recent change (July 2007) has seen the Guestbook no longer counted towards the minimum module count.
- You can only have 30* unimproved lenses in your account. After that you are unable to claim any more lens names.
* Subject to change
What is an improved lens?
I like to explain things so there's absolutely no doubt.
You must have three or more modules, not including the Introduction and Guestbook and is published.
Why a limit?
- To prevent keyword-squatting.
- Because Squidoo is about quality, not quantity.
- Life's like that.
What should I do?
So you might have plenty of information but you're still short of the required four modules, plus the Introduction...
- You should look at the information and consider whether or not you're presenting it properly. Perhaps the Introduction is far too long. The introduction should be a taste or an overview, it shouldn't be the start of the "story" and work it's way to the end. Cut it down to 3 sentences. Then put the rest of the information in a Text/Write module. There you go, you have yourself another module towards the improved count.
- Perhaps one of your Text/Write Modules is getting close to the maximum character count anyway and you may have covered more than one idea or thought in that module. It could be split into two, each with their own heading. Information is best served in a clear and concise manner. Or there could be something in there that could be expanded on in point form, so you could split some of the content into a Make A List Module. The possibilities (provided there's plenty of words there to edit) are endless.
- You could add an Amazon Module, if you haven't already. Pick out books that deal specifically with the topic at hand. The same could be said for any of the other Affiliate Modules.
- If it's complementary you could consider illustrating your point further with a YouTube Module, or the Flickr Module.
- Add a Poll. Again it's about visitor interactivity. It's good for proving a point, or maybe the results will challenge your point of view.
- A personal favourite of mine is sharing links to other websites or webpages that has more information that the reader can use. If you wish to give a short blurb on the website you can use the Link List. If you just want to show the domain name or the name of the article you're linking to you can use the Make A List and using basic HTML add hyperlinks to your selected webpages.
- Of course you could always delete the lens. Set it free!
