A hospital is not really a volunteer organizations well at least not in Boston MA or Charlotte NC they get paid well or the internship leads to a nice job. DMOZ is much more of a hobby/ volunteer organizations, well thats my opinion. No way am I saying DMOZ is perfect, it does have its flaws. I wish we had more editors so people wouldn't have to wait years for a listing in some areas. I also wish the owners of the site would give more guidance to the staff. I just feel that the anger at the editors of DMOZ is uncalled-for. Well these are just my opinions
It is OK. Caesar1 thinks that he has found a unique way of kissing you know what that people haven't tried before and he is on his way to become a Meta. Who wants to bet that it will not be long before he is booted out from DMOZ and he will be here complaining about them?
No that is complete nonsense, just because some replies to a job like that doesn't mean that its an editor from dmoz. many of those posts are replies for help with the submission process. the thread got locked because its clearly speculation with nothing backing it up. could an editor do something like this, yes, I just don't see the logic of someone who spends years in dmoz and over 10k edits do such a foolish thing when it would be so easy for them to get cought.
You are right, the hospital is not a volunteer organization, but the candy stripers are... I am NOT angry with the editors in general, in fact, most of the people here posting are not angry with the editors in general. Yeah, yeah, maybe angry with a few editors specifically, but that does not make anyone angry at ALL editors. heh, granted, there are likely people that do blame ALL editors for slights... but *shrug* When I say bad things about the directory, I am poking my finger at the directory as a whole. If individuals editors take slight with what I've said, that is their issue, and not mine. Many of them that do see me saying bad things would rather get angry with me rather then at the ODP itself. I tried to make a difference, yeah, maybe I went about it all wrong, but I stood up and tried to make my voice heard. Look in the internal forums for my username. You'll find a few threads I've posted in calling for change or pointing my finger at the flaws in the system. Was that trolling? Maybe, but I backed up my claims and all I got in return were personal attacks. Am I bitter at the ODP? Who knows, but I would LOVE to see some changes for the better... so I'll keep on speaking my mind over the issues I see till they are no longer issues.
I have no plans on being a meta, I like the section I edit and I enjoy looking at new sites and its content. if I ever get booted I will not be bitching about it every day, atleast I had a chance and I got to know much more on how DMOZ works. I was very vocal about dmoz, till I've seen what its like on the other side. most of the editors are really nice people spending their free time editing the directory and its almost impossible to game a category. most of my problems were really my own, I submitted them to the wrong category.
Same ol same ol. ODP editors comes and takes the topic away. Back to the topic. Dead Sites and in cases with SEO'd anchor text. Is anyone doing anything ?
Yes indeed. Hundreds of volunteers are working on the directory every day, and some of us are also posting here to explain what non-editors can do to help.
Hundreds ? So my dear makrhod do you think these are good titles for a site ? That is so mighty MEATY for an anchor title ? Philippine Travel Philippine Travel Philippine Travel Destination Guide Philippine Traveler Philippines Travel Guide Travel Philippines How much were those for a listing ?
Let me tell you why DMOZ does not need volunteers that bad, As you may have read I applied for an editor position for a topic and got a reply that said ....you have chosen a category that is already well represented, or is broader than we typically assign to a new editor. We would encourage you to re-apply for a category that has fewer editors or is smaller in scope, in order to increase your chances of being accepted. ........... Additional reviewer comments: The category you applied for is larger than we like to assign to a new editor, still learning the ropes. The appropriate size for a first category depends on the nature of the category (for example, how much spam it attracts, and whether site placement decisions are straightforward or tricky) but as a rule of thumb, categories with up to about 50-60 sites are good choices. ===END of REPLY=== So if they needed editors there would be one more line at the end of the email that said one of the following: A. There is a subset of the section you applied for called X which you appear to be qualified for, if this interests you please reapply as you would have a good chance of being approved. (or just say yes and we will approve you) B. You aren't qualified for the section you applied for but we have the following sections that are in need of editors that you may be a good fit for: And I really don't want to hear that effort would take too much work, its a HUMAN edited directory, if they vett the editors as well as they claim, then they should take an extra 2 minutes and see if there is a fit somewhere else. Every qualified editor they get on board reduces the load on the whole, and reduces the backlog and the sections that have no editors and all submissions go into a black hole.
@joeventura The email seemed pretty simple and plain to understand. They as good as invited you to apply again in a slightly smaller cat and explained why your first choice of cat, could not be approved. Sure......they could have said you should apply here, or try this....but that is not how its done. No one will tell you where to volunteer to edit, they simply guided you to a smaller level and asked you to try again. They wanted you to pick a topic or cat that you felt comfy in and wanted to edit. There are hundreds of editors that can edit every cat. Just because no one is named as editor, dont assume that it is never edited. Editors higher up the category often volunteer to edit sites in cats that they are not listed as being an editor of. And from my perspective, there is no backlog as such........the suggestion pool is merely one place that you can choose to source sites. Sometimes i look there and sometimes i dont......the better quality sites are generally found through just surfing around, as compared to what webmasters think are good quality sites and then generally, stuff with keywords and suggest placement into cats where they want to place them, rather than where the guidelines require them to be placed. Isn't perspective a funny thing.....?
@joeventura: In your keenness to become an editor, you might have skipped over the General Information section at the very beginning of the application form. It includes Yes, the meta editor who declined your application could have suggested alternative categories, but that's something you're quite capable of doing for yourself and his/her skills were probably better spent processing the next application.
Volunteers are far more likely to spend their time building and improving a category which interests them, and they are best placed to know what their interests are. So if you are still interested in helping, please read the feedbacks and the various resources suggested to you, and apply for a more suitable category. Good Luck!
But what the volunteer is interested has got nothing to do with what category he/she can get. A volunteer can not get a category with high number of listing or a category which is "profitable" for some editors. In practice, most volunteers have to get a BS category and hope to work up their way to being corrupt later on.