Friendly suggestion for directory owners

Discussion in 'Directories' started by EducationLinks, Jul 20, 2007.

  1. #1
    I submit my sites to directories frequently. Sometimes, the first submission attempt doesn't work for a number of possible reasons:

    * time limit expires
    * script error
    * browser crashes
    * dog fries its hair off by chewing on the power cord
    * etc.

    When I get booted during a submission, I usually have to re-enter all of the URLs (as many as 10 deep link URLs, depending on the directory). That sucks. I am fairly patient when it happens, but I'm sure that a lot of potential submitters refuse to submit again, which isn't good for directory owners.

    What I suggest is for directory owners to not pre-fill "http://" into the URL fields. When "http://" is pre-filled, that prevents some browsers (Safari, for example) from remembering and re-populating the URL fields when the submitter clicks the "Autofill" button at the start of the second submission attempt.

    By leaving the URL fields completely empty, submitters' jobs will be easier, and directory owners won't potentially lose payments from frustrated submitters.

    Just my 3¢.

    P.S.: I forgot to mention that pre-filling "http://" in the URL field also prevents submitters from auto-filling the fields in the first place.
     
    EducationLinks, Jul 20, 2007 IP
    Richie_Ni likes this.
  2. pctec

    pctec Well-Known Member

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    #2
    That never happens on my dir :)
     
    pctec, Jul 20, 2007 IP
  3. britishguy

    britishguy Prominent Member

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    #3
    OK never mind turn off the PC, the dog is more important ;)
     
    britishguy, Jul 20, 2007 IP
  4. mywebsearches

    mywebsearches Peon

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    #4
    You're right, I have been in your situation before. Sometimes it takes more than 15 min to submit a listing.
     
    mywebsearches, Jul 20, 2007 IP
  5. Richie_Ni

    Richie_Ni Illustrious Member

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    #5
    I doubt you'll need to submit twice in my dirs. :)

    15 mins? OMG!
     
    Richie_Ni, Jul 20, 2007 IP
    funkymario likes this.
  6. EducationLinks

    EducationLinks Well-Known Member

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    #6
    It may have nothing at all to do with the directory. The browser may crash, the power may go out, the submitter's dog may piss on the surge protector, etc.
     
    EducationLinks, Jul 20, 2007 IP
  7. MeetHere

    MeetHere Prominent Member

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    #7
    In such rare cases email/contact the directory owner to manually add the things. :)
     
    MeetHere, Jul 20, 2007 IP
  8. EducationLinks

    EducationLinks Well-Known Member

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    #8
    It's not rare, MeetHere. If you consider all of the possible ways in which a submission can be interrupted, It's a regular problem. I almost always buy featured listings, in which I take 10-20 minutes CAREFULLY choosing varied anchors for each deep link (anywhere from 3 to 10, depending on the directory), writing/editing a unique description, and choosing meta keywords that also appear in the description of the main submission (so that Google doesn't penalize the page for using irrelevant keywords). Submitting smartly--for long-term benefit--takes time. That is what makes having to manually fill-in the URLs all over again so frustrating.

    P.S.: For my featured listing on your site (bqtm.com/education/) there were no worries, as your submission form does not pre-fill "http://".
     
    EducationLinks, Jul 21, 2007 IP
  9. Richie_Ni

    Richie_Ni Illustrious Member

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    #9
    Don't you use form filler?
     
    Richie_Ni, Jul 21, 2007 IP
  10. EducationLinks

    EducationLinks Well-Known Member

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    #10
    Safari for Mac is my browser of choice. It's Mac's default browser. The options are limited. It will re-populate the URL fields by clicking the autofill button, but not if there is already pre-filled text in the fields.
     
    EducationLinks, Jul 21, 2007 IP
  11. MeetHere

    MeetHere Prominent Member

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    #11
    In such cases, you can write description, title, url etc in a notepad beforehand-- Refresh the submit page again - Copy Paste things (<2 minutes) - Click Submit..

    Would this solve the problem ?
     
    MeetHere, Jul 21, 2007 IP
  12. EducationLinks

    EducationLinks Well-Known Member

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    #12
    Any pre-fill text in the URL fields prevents autofill add-ons from automatically filling in the deeplinks at any time. Sure, submitters could make a separate text file for every submission, but is that really necessary? I just want to click one button to instantly fill-in all of the URLs.
     
    EducationLinks, Jul 21, 2007 IP
  13. CReed

    CReed Prominent Member

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    #13
    Never noticed any problems with the prefilled text in the url fields when using Informenter for Firefox, seems to just overwrite it.

    Interesting to hear about how it's handled on a Mac.
     
    CReed, Jul 21, 2007 IP
  14. Richie_Ni

    Richie_Ni Illustrious Member

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    #14
    Ahh,didn't know the antofill button,will check when i'm on my mac.

    However you can install firefox and get the formfiller plugin or the plugin Chris created.
     
    Richie_Ni, Jul 21, 2007 IP
  15. EducationLinks

    EducationLinks Well-Known Member

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    #15
    Does Chris ever offer "specials" on that plugin?
     
    EducationLinks, Jul 21, 2007 IP
  16. Richie_Ni

    Richie_Ni Illustrious Member

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  17. sat123

    sat123 Banned

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    #17
    that's not d case with quality directories i think...
     
    sat123, Jul 21, 2007 IP
  18. an0n

    an0n Prominent Member

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    #18
    I don't think so, but trust me, it's by far the best extension i've ever used, and the options like incremental anchors, deep links etc is really nice.

    You add the button to the toolbar too, which also allows you to select whatever profile your using and then just clicking.

    It also offers the ability to add more deep links. Some directories allow 5, some 7 some 10. I think the default setup for the plugin is 5, but you can add that 6,7,8,9,10,etc etc... really nice.
     
    an0n, Jul 21, 2007 IP
  19. Providence

    Providence Peon

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    #19
    Speaking of friendly-suggestion

    I couldn't submit to 2 directories that I tried to submit to when I pressed the 'submit' button.

    I don't know the problem on the site but I just want to say that peeps should really know if some portion of their site is not working.
     
    Providence, Jul 21, 2007 IP
  20. vicdigi

    vicdigi Banned

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    #20
    Naaaaaa, this has never and would never happen in our directories!

    Then again, our directory is quite unique in the way it was put together.

    I have found this problem many times over and it has tended to come from a php link directory
    .
     
    vicdigi, Jul 21, 2007 IP