Summary

The article provides a method for Medium users to determine if their article is under consideration for wider distribution by checking the HTML source for the "curationStatus" value.

Abstract

The article addresses a common frustration among Medium writers who are uncertain about the distribution status of their articles. It explains that Medium does not explicitly show when an article has been rejected for distribution, which leads to frequent page refreshes for updates. The author offers a solution by guiding readers through a process of examining the HTML source code of their article to find the "curationStatus" field. The presence of "null" or "CURATION_STATUS_PENDING" indicates that the article is still under consideration, while "CURATION_STATUS_NOT_DISTRIBUTED" signifies that it has been reviewed and will not be distributed. The article aims to provide clarity and reduce anxiety for writers awaiting distribution decisions.

Opinions

The author expresses dissatisfaction with Medium's lack of clear communication regarding article distribution statuses.
It is suggested that Medium may flag articles for potential distribution, indicating an internal review process.
The author believes that seeing "CURATION_STATUS_NOT_DISTRIBUTED" is a definitive rejection, which can be disheartening for writers.
The article implies that understanding the HTML source can empower writers with valuable insights into Medium's curation process.
The author is open to further suggestions and acknowledges that there may be more to learn about Medium's curation mechanisms.

1 Easy Tip To See If Your Article Still Has A Chance For Distribution

You can stop refreshing your article’s stat page once you see this important status

Photo by Emiliano Vittoriosi on Unsplash

If there is one thing that bothers the heck out of me, is that there isn’t a way Medium shows that your article has been rejected for distribution.

Sure, we know that if your article has been accepted, you get to see the coveted “Chosen for further distribution” on your stat’s page.

However, what if we don’t see that? Has the article been not looked at, pending, or straight up rejected? There isn’t a way to know what is the status of your article is, all the while you are refreshing your webpage to see any updates.

Here I will explain what to look for to see what your article’s status is which Medium does a bad job in showing.

Hopefully, this will clear things up a bit:

First things first, you need to obviously publish an article.
Go to your article’s webpage -> right-click -> and click “view page source.”
You should now get a whole text of HTML like so. Don’t be afraid of it! I will explain it in a bit.

HTML source from the article. Image by Author

This is the HTML that we will examine that tells a lot of juicy information about the article. There can be another article I can write that deals with information in it, but for now, we only care about the curationStatus.

Do a search for the term “curationStatus” and see what you get. From my personal experience, I have seen these 3 possible values:

“curationStatus”: null
“curationStatus”: “CURATION_STATUS_PENDING”,
“curationStatus”: “CURATION_STATUS_NOT_DISTRIBUTED”

If you see the first two (ex. null or CURATION_STATUS_PENDING), your article still has a chance for distribution. Medium might have flagged it as a potential article that could be distributed. Maybe they haven’t gotten to it yet or there are other mechanisms in play, but the good news is, your article still has a chance.

However, if you see the dreaded “CURATION_STATUS_NOT_DISTRIBUTED” your article has been reviewed and will not be distributed. Tough cookie.

Better luck next time in writing an article that the Medium god’s like!

Getting rejected never gets easier. Image by Author

And there you have it!

Next time you publish your article and you’re unsure what the status is, look at the page’s source and search for the “curationStatus” term.

If you see “CURATION_STATUS_NOT_DISTRIBUTED,” you don’t need to bother checking the stats page anymore. The article has been passed.

Am I missing something? Any more suggestions for this? I would love to know!

Cheers!