RUBRIC.v2 — Hub Page Excellence

Date: 2026-05-14 Status: Final (post Codex Phase 1 reconciliation) Applies to: docs/index.md (homepage) and every Foundation hub docs/{foundation}/index.md

Four lenses, 28 items. Each item is a falsifiable pass/fail criterion.

Lens 1 — Reader clarity (R1–R6)

  • R1 First 80 words establish topic + stakes, no jargon (reader-voice; distinct from S5 snippet)
  • R2 "What to do next" entry point reachable in mobile first viewport
  • R3 H2 sections answer reader questions, not topic taxonomies
  • R4 ≥1 Field Note admonition with topic-specific practical wisdom
  • R5 Concrete numbers (gallons, $, days, lb/kg) appear before abstract framing
  • R6 No insider term without immediate gloss

Lens 2 — Authority / completeness (A1–A8)

  • A1 All foundation child pages linked (no orphans in the directory)
  • A2 ≥1 citation, source reference, or named institution per major claim cluster — sources weighted per SOURCES.md tier (Tier 1 marked or favored for life-safety claims)
  • A3 Multi-setting breadth (urban / suburban / rural OR emergency / short-term / permanent)
  • A4 Tier-1 / life-safety claims weighted and warned per SOURCES.md
  • A5 Depth signal — measurements, decision criteria, named methods — not just descriptions
  • A6 date_modified in front matter is current (≤90 days for high-criticality hubs, ≤180 days for standard); visibly surfaced in page footer or metadata
  • A7 Explicit scope statement — what the hub covers and what it deliberately does not cover (prevents false-completeness claim)
  • A8 "When to seek expert/professional help" threshold present for life-safety domains (Medical, Water, Energy, Shelter, Threats). Non-applicable on Mindset/Gear/Skills/Mobility — mark as waived in scorecard

Lens 3 — SEO (S1–S7)

  • S1 H1 matches title; description ≤160 chars and answers query intent
  • S2 H2/H3 hierarchy reflects real subtopic clusters (passage-ranking lens; cross-checks R3 from the search side)
  • S3 ≥8 outgoing internal links to child pages
  • S4 ≥1 schema-eligible element (FAQ / HowTo / ItemList) embedded
  • S5 Featured-snippet candidate — complete <50-word answer to the obvious query, near top (snippet-voice; distinct from R1)
  • S6 Page satisfies the dominant search intent for the hub topic (informational / how-to / comparison) — explicitly state intent in the editor scorecard
  • S7 Topic coverage includes ≥3 adjacent query variants (synonyms, "vs" comparisons, "for X audience" angles) without keyword stuffing

Lens 4 — Conversion (C1–C7)

  • C1 1–3 explicit "start here" CTAs above the fold or in first 2 sections (revised from RUBRIC.v1 — cap added to prevent CTA clutter)
  • C2 Audience-segmented entry paths (new / intermediate / advanced OR scenario tabs)
  • C3 Every child-page link carries a one-line "why click" — no bare links in lists
  • C4 Closing section ends with a single next action, not a summary
  • C5 Cross-links to ≥3 other Foundations (system-connection signal)
  • C6 At least one "you can do this today" action with a time estimate
  • C7 Clear beginner-to-depth progression visible on the page (e.g., onramp → fundamentals → systems → advanced) — distinct from C2's audience segments

Reconciliation log (RUBRIC.v1 → v2)

Accepted (6 new items)

  • A6 last-reviewed freshness — accept. Codex: "Survival guidance decays, stale pages lose authority fast." Aligns with STANDARDS date_modified requirement and Friday /freshness-audit. Closes E-E-A-T gap.
  • A7 scope statement — accept. Codex: "Hubs need clear boundaries on what the page does not cover to avoid false completeness." Closes a real gap; prevents the hub from claiming it covers things it doesn't.
  • A8 safety escalation — accept (conditional on hub domain). Codex: "Medical, security, water treatment, and disaster advice need 'when to seek expert help' thresholds." Operating Constitution rule 2 already requires Tier-1 sourcing for life-safety; this adds the patient/reader-facing threshold.
  • S6 intent match — accept. Codex: "The rubric checks structure but not whether the page satisfies the actual dominant search intent." S5 covers snippet; S6 covers overall intent satisfaction — different scopes.
  • S7 query coverage variants — accept. Codex: "Hubs need coverage of common variants, synonyms, and adjacent questions without keyword stuffing." Bounded with ≥3 threshold to prevent open-ended expansion.
  • C7 progression path — accept. Codex: "The rubric needs a clear beginner-to-depth journey, not just multiple entry paths." C2 is parallel paths (audience), C7 is sequential depth — different.

Modified (2 items)

  • C1 revised — Codex flagged conversion lens as "Over-stuffed." Cap at 3 CTAs added; ≥2 floor becomes 1–3 range. Prevents the "start here / read this / take action / sign up" clutter pattern.
  • A2 strengthened — folded Codex's "evidence quality distinction" critique into existing A2 by adding "sources weighted per SOURCES.md tier." Avoids new item; closes the gap.

Rejected (5 items)

  • Author/reviewer signal — rejected. Survipedia is autonomous (per Operating Constitution); no human bylines. A visible byline would be a misleading signal. The fleet-curation model is documented at the site level, not per hub.
  • E-E-A-T as standalone item — rejected. Already covered by A2 (sources), A6 (freshness), A8 (safety thresholds). Standalone item would duplicate.
  • Indexability/crawl basics — rejected. Platform-level concern (canonical URLs, robots, sitemap) handled in STANDARDS general SEO section and /seo-audit, not per-hub rubric.
  • SERP differentiation — rejected. "Offer something better than generic prepper summaries" is subjective and untestable. Substance emerges from R3 + A3 + A5 + C3 passing.
  • Return path — rejected. Breadcrumb/back-link is a child-page concern, not a hub rubric item. Out of scope.

Redundancies acknowledged but kept separate

  • R1 / S5 — R1 = reader-voice intro (no jargon, establishes stakes). S5 = snippet-voice answer (≤50 words, optimized for crawlers). Same surface, two voices. Both required.
  • R3 / S2 — R3 = reader-question framing of H2s. S2 = passage-ranking-friendly hierarchy. Cross-checks from two lenses.
  • R5 / A5 — R5 = placement (numbers before abstract framing). A5 = presence (depth signal). Different focus.
  • A1 / S3 — A1 = no orphans (completeness). S3 = ≥8 link density (authority distribution). Different thresholds; both useful.
  • C1 / C4 — C1 = above-fold CTA placement. C4 = ending next-action. Different placement.
  • C2 / C6 — C2 = audience-parallel paths. C6 = today-with-time action. Different requirements.
  • S3 / C3 — S3 = count. C3 = link presentation quality. Different.
  • C5 / A3 — A3 = content breadth (urban/suburban/rural settings). C5 = graph topology (cross-Foundation links). Different.

Final count

28 items (22 original + 6 new, 2 modified, 0 merged). Within the spec's expansion guard ceiling (18–28).