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Site deleted from Dmoz

Discussion in 'ODP / DMOZ' started by carnid, Aug 20, 2008.

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  1. #1
    Since 2003 my website (nidating.com) has been listed in the appropriate category in DMOZ and just the other day I was doing a search and realized it has recently been deleted. It is a small local dating site which has never had very many active members (around 1500 currently) and a couple of support staff / volunteers. I have never really promoted it much except basic seo - hence the extremely slow growth. Having said that, even though this is a very small site I don't think we have ever broken any rules or violated any of the terms and conditions of DMOZ.

    Our site has changed quite a bit over the years and has had many revisions, however our focus has remained the same (local personals site for the community). I don't know if this is even the right place to ask so I apologize if I am in the wrong area, however I just wanted to find out if we did something wrong or if for some reason my site is just not suitable for listing on DMOZ anymore?

    Thanks - I appreciate any advice!
     
    carnid, Aug 20, 2008 IP
  2. odls

    odls Active Member

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    #2
    It does seem a bit weird they`d delete it for no reason.

    Have you thought of trying to contact them to ask them why at all?
     
    odls, Aug 20, 2008 IP
  3. carnid

    carnid Well-Known Member

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    #3
    I haven't tried contacting them yet, I just noticed it was gone and I saw the DMOZ forum here - however that is probably the best thing to do.

    ** Do you know the best way to get in touch with them? I couldn't find a contact link on their site and do not really want to submit my site again. Is there a special process for contacting them?
     
    carnid, Aug 20, 2008 IP
  4. Qryztufre

    Qryztufre Prominent Member

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    #4
    You can contact them, but that generally wont help. Many editors don't bother with getting back to you. You could try to resubmit, but then, that wont help much either, many editors don't bother with the submission queue.

    If you think it may be an issue with abuse, then you can submit that, but erm, that does not seem to help in many cases either.

    Join the club of those not listed ;)

    The submit link, the contact the editor link, and the abuse report link should all be listed in the category where the site used to be listed... if you do try
     
    Qryztufre, Aug 21, 2008 IP
  5. carnid

    carnid Well-Known Member

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    #5
    I tried contacting them on resource-zone but was told they don't address specific site issues. I just found it strange to be listed for so many years and then suddenly dropped. I was told either my site is no longer suitable for the directory or it's been temporarily removed. So I will just let it be and maybe it will be re-listed at some point in the future.
     
    carnid, Aug 21, 2008 IP
  6. CReed

    CReed Prominent Member

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    #6
    carnid - in May (2007) a site I help out with was removed from the directory. I was told that an editor thought (incorrectly) that it was an affiliate of another site which exists in the directory.

    I was also told that it was added back to the unreviewed pool of sites. So there it sits, but I wonder if it will ever get reviewed and added back to the index.

    Seems a bit odd that a simple error could not have been corrected easily and much sooner. Most people I know usually don't add a note to their mistakes and leave it for someone else to take care of.

    But I'm not going to overly concern myself with it.

    It's not my directory.
    Not being listed doesn't affect the site I help out with.
    The site owners have realized that there is no real effect of not being listed.
    They're focusing on more important aspects of their web site. ;)

    So...maybe resubmit your site?

    Then work on the more important things that will provide a return.
     
    CReed, Aug 21, 2008 IP
  7. Bbau01

    Bbau01 Well-Known Member

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    #7
    That blows for you, my sympathies. I've been trying to get into DMOZ forever
     
    Bbau01, Aug 21, 2008 IP
  8. crowbar

    crowbar Peon

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    #8
    If a site is down temporarily when one of the automated QC tools checks it, or if it takes too long to load, the QC tool will remove it from the Directory and place it into the unreviewed until an editor has a chance to resolve the problem.

    Unfortunately, the Directory has thousands and thousands of these, refered to as reds because they show up seperately as red numbers, and it usually takes an experienced editor to investigate them.

    Newer editors either don't know how or just don't want to deal with them, and it's probably best they don't. We go to great lengths to relist these sites when we can, but here again, we only have so much manpower and it just isn't enough to handle the work load we have.

    You guys have no idea, but when an experienced volunteer editor with wide permissions logs in, they are faced with several hundred thousand greens (suggested sites that have been submitted), thousands and thousands of these reds to resolve, hundreds and hundreds of update requests, numerous projects that need volunteers, hundreds of forum threads about specific things, new editors looking for advice, and thousands of categories that need on going structure work.

    Once you reach meta level, you can double that list of responsiblities to choose from.

    So, it's not like an editor logs in and just sees Joe Blows spammy site or his wonderful site that is the best site on the net and definately should be listed, we're faced with a multitude of places to work in and many different jobs, all equally as important to get done.

    What you see, of course, is your one or two sites that you're desperate to get listed or relisted, but there are a couple of hundred thousand other people just like you who would also like to be listed.

    The other thing I don't think you understand is that becoming an editor is an entry level position, you know absolutely nothing and you are restricted to a very small category (where the harm you can do is minimized) until you take it upon yourself to learn the ropes and demonstrate that you have the knowledge and experience to be trusted with further editing permissions, and those have to be requested by you.

    Nobody is going to lead you by the hand or force you to advance yourself, that has to be your decision, but the help is always there should you decide to. All editors, including meta editors, start at this lowly position and earn their way up by working their fannies off. There is no other way.

    Some editors, like myself, learn to know what their talents and limits are (eventually). Not all of us are suited for certain jobs. I know that I'm not meta material, I'm just not bright enough or experienced enough across the Directory to qualify. There are better people available for those slots, and I want those people doing that job.

    I don't have a jealous bone in my body towards those people, I respect them, trust them, and they'll always have my loyalty, unconditionally. I don't see them as "bosses" (and they are not), I see them as older brothers and sisters, there to help and give advice.
     
    crowbar, Aug 22, 2008 IP
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  9. megacontent

    megacontent Guest

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    #9
    You are pointing out why DMOZ should not be a cornerstone application for Google search rankings. Obviously it can't handle its position and is folding under the weight.

    The sites that are lucky enough to get listed sit around for years sometimes even if they have old, out of date content. A new site can not get listed for over a year even if the content is much better and more complete.
     
    megacontent, Aug 22, 2008 IP
  10. crowbar

    crowbar Peon

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    #10
    DMOZ doesn't really have a position to maintain, and Google is nothing more than one of many downstream users of its data, though probably the largest. That isn't a factor, the Directory is a separate entity that collects and organizes data, period, that's all.

    How the data is used by downstream entities, like Google, is of no concern to us, so you really shouldn't blame the Directory for things that are a Google matter. The Directory has no control over that, doesn't work for Google or any other outside entity, and doesn't tailor what it does for them or you.

    Very true, sometimes, but the Directory doesn't really offer a listing service for you, it just allows you to suggest a site to its editors, nothing more. There is no promise to you that an editor will list you, and you have no "right" to be listed, just the opposite. The Directory clearly states that not all sites are wanted or needed, and that you shouldn't take it personally if you're not listed.

    The Directory is overloaded with site suggestions and always has been and probably always will be. There is no first in, first out system because we're not a "listing service" and don't offer one. Many paid directories do offer that for you, but we don't, it's a free directory with a different purpose.

    The purpose is to build good categories of very useful sites for the information seekers, nothing else. Our lack of manpower in certain areas of the Directory has put us behind the eight ball, but it doesn't change the purpose and goal of the Directory or its editors.

    Your unhappiness will also not change its goals, because you are not the customer we try to serve, and because we're building a resource (by volunteering our free time) for the information seeker, there really is no hurry in building it.

    I'd say our biggest fault/problem is not maintaining the quality of the Directory, rather than in not adding new content, and that we should shutoff all new submissions completely and only open it up occasionally, and concentrate more on what we already have.:)
     
    crowbar, Aug 22, 2008 IP
  11. carnid

    carnid Well-Known Member

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    #11
    Thanks Crowbar for the explanation of some of what you and other staff do on the inside, sometimes it is easy to sit on the outside and gripe about why a site has or has not been listed. Thanks also to everyone else who weighed in on this thread! It is obvious that the staff at DMOZ have their hands full with what they do already and probably don't receive the appreciation from others they deserve. Anyway, as I said earlier I will leave it be for now in the hopes that my site will re-surface again at some point in the future and if not I may try to re-submit it.

    Thanks again!
     
    carnid, Aug 23, 2008 IP
  12. pdm

    pdm Peon

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    #12
    I see that DMOZ has deleted a large number of older sites from their directory, i guess they recently did an audit or something... All of my competitors have been removed... so yeah for me... all i have to do now is get listed... haha...
     
    pdm, Aug 23, 2008 IP
  13. crowbar

    crowbar Peon

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    #13
    How old or how new a site is doesn't matter, it's not something an editor looks at. More likely, a free roaming editor spotted work that needed to be done in there and cleaned it up, or an editor found the category interesting and requested to edit there, :).

    You're welcome, carnid, but I think you meant "editing community". Staff are the big guys, corporate bigwigs hired for real cash by AOL, ;), they are paid staff.

    The Directory itself is run by all volunteers and this editing community makes all of the day to day decisions. AOL Staff, itself, is the link between the editing community and the AOL Corporation and they handle the money that gets spent on the big ticket items like the servers. They never tell us what to do or how to do it, and are never involved in any of the day to day operations, unless legal matters pop up and they need to get the corporate lawyers involved.
     
    crowbar, Aug 25, 2008 IP
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  14. Ivan Bajlo

    Ivan Bajlo Peon

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    #14
    So metas have so much things to do but they cannot be bothered to educate new editors who might take part of the workload?

    Point of being in charge is to motivate does below you into working harder (not to force them), instead new editors are left to take care for themselves and wonder around DMOZ which usually means they'll be stuck in their original category until they get bored and leave never to return.

    To make things even worse unless editor has risen to divine meta status he/she can be at any time branded as corrupt by some meta and removed without seeing or knowing the reason not to mention the so-called evidence.

    And we should believe that DMOZ is trying to improve? :rolleyes:
     
    Ivan Bajlo, Aug 26, 2008 IP
  15. Qryztufre

    Qryztufre Prominent Member

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    #15
    In the short time that I was an editor, the better majority of the newbie resources were off line. The only real way I had to learn was from hands on, and in so doing, I diddled my own sites listings time & time again, as I figured as long as the end result was the no better or worse then any other listing, that all should be swell, but no, that was not the case. I was called out as giving my own site favoritism, even when the listing itself showed nothing of the sort.

    Editor helping editors? HA, not all that much, I had more people calling me a troll because I asked questions then I had people even saying hello to me.

    There were a few nice folks though, and for them I am grateful.

    I wonder now that it's been months and months since that big crash if the editor resorces are still mostly 404's ( and I did let people know such categories needed looking into).

    Though, I guess that editor relations are neither here nor there...the thread is about site listings...


    The staff does NOT have thier hands full. Not all that much has changed at DMOZ (on the back or front ends) so if the staff is too busy, they are too busy with things not related to the ODP. Site listings are the responcibility of the editors, and the editors alone (unless you are one of the lucky ones and can get staff to automatically list your site's thousands of deep links in that HUMAN edited directory).

    The editors that are there may have their hands full, but really, that is a matter lack of editors, which I guess falls back to what Ivan was talking about...
     
    Qryztufre, Sep 1, 2008 IP
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