Trouble finding an editor at DMOZ ??? Try this free info.

If you read the context of my post it is about contacting an editor to change a site, you know as an editor there is a perfectly good system fo that its called "update". That means the update is in the correct category and if accepted will overwrite the old entry. If such things are sent by email, the editor has to click through to the category and alter the site, not helpful when a better system exists. Also I do not appreciate webmasters trying to shortcut their way into alterations, which was being suggested, by an email. Helpful suggestions like that I have missed an obvious opportunity to sub cat in a more usable way and other such suggestions are very welcome to me and other editors.

What i believe the ODP warns editors about is entering into correspondence with webmasters about any site. Like why it has not been listed, why they have written this descrption when the webmaster knows it should have been that hype type description. It also suggests that we used disposable emails because peed off webmasters can abuse the email. Any editor is free to respond provide they clearly say that their opinions do not represent ODP or staff and do not break confidentiality.

I don't take any notice any more of any emails about a site, update I will deal with, because I have entered into discussion and it has been difficult to get out of it, the webmaster has just kept going on and on about why a description should be the hype one they wanted and not the ODP guideline compliant one I wrote. No not any more.

 

Yep, your right. I read it quick without my reading glassses and duh... Please accept my apologies.

Guess I'm too used to seeing editors complain about any public feedback but that's not what you were doing.

 

Note that every category either has an editor, or else has parent categories with editors.

If you really want to get fancy, use archive.org to figure out whether the listings in the category ever change. That would be the real clue as to whether somebody is actively editing the cat.

 

What's the point? From what I gathered, most of the editors don't really care what is submitted, only what they find in their normal daily lives. And the form even says not to contact them about suggesting a site. So what else is there to do? Tell them they are doing a bad job? That won't do anything since DMOZ is such a 'closed-door' organization, for all we know, the editor probably has all the form-posts marked to go right into his spam box.


DMOZ is the equivalent internet "Roman Empire", they say they are for the people, but really only care about their social status amongst the web.

And you can quote me on that!

 

Editors can chose to use submitted sites or ignore them, but remember that all categories have many editors, no category is the domain of one editor. I edited today in some categories that I have not been in for some weeks and many sites had been edited by others, whose names appear way up the tree of the category that I was in. So one editor ignoring submissions does not mean they don't get looked at.

I have not seen the form you talk about, but from my knowledge of ODP it means when you have submitted don't ask the editor why it has not been listed or when it will be listed.

Not quite either that editors prefer to use sites they find in their ordinary lives. Yes, we do that, but editors who don't use submissions go 'mining' for sites, ie looking through search engines and links etc to find the unique material they think will enrich the category in which they have edit privs.
Reember too that our object is to provide the surfer with a service of a directory, not to list sites to get them seen for webmasters. There are many other sites you can pay to get listed, some for free, but the ODP ethic is that we list the sites we think have unique content and will help the surfer find what they want.

 

The form is located on the Editor's "profile" page in an associated site with DMOZ, and it is mostly a feedback form.

I'm not arguing that the editors are lazy and insufficient, but it is from what I have heard here on the forums, from editors, that the majority of them do not even look at the submissions. And you stated that even if an editor chooses not to look at the submission, it will get looked at. How is this possible when some categories have one editor? With an apparent approval process to show that a newbie editor indeed needs to knows about the category they are applying for, how can they jump from category to category making edits? That sounds like a possible integrity issue, since DMOZ glorifies itself on only letting people edit who know the material. Does that mean that every category you have ever done edits in, you have extensive knowledge in that related field?

IMO, the view od DMOZ has been tar'd n' feathered for me from what I have read on these forums, but I'm not a closed-minded person. I'm still willing to give DMOZ a shot, but when looking for answers on this site, it seems as though I read more arguments between current and old editors about the validity of the site's purpose. I think the reason DMOZ wont open its doors is because they know if they did, they would have to actually do work.

 

but you seem to want to do later on when you talk about

Every category has hundreds of editors. Every editor whose name appears in a category further up the tree can edit there (ie you can edit in every sub category of the one you are named as editor) also editalls, metas and admins can edit anywhere in the directory though often they limit themselves to operating within their experience and expertise, but we more than adequately cover the directory, but not sufficiently to clear all the submitted sites. I think most editors will use a mixture of submitted sites and sites they find themselves so it is not true to say the majority do not look at submissions. But some don't and there is no compunction to do so. Our task is to find sites that are unique in content which enrich the experience of the surfer and how an editor chooses to do that is not important.

Mostly I do only edit in areas that I have an understanding, and I am an editall. That does mean there are categories that I am not happy to edit in because I simply do not have the knowledge. But each editor learns to operate in specific areas.

That last comment is rather unfair, because ODP editors often spend hours working for the directory in many and varied ways and remember they spend all those hours for free. But often webmasters do not appreciate that they work for free and that their work is to create a directory that is helpful to the surfer and that we are open to the public or webmasters to offer us sites that may be helpful in doing that, but we have no obligation to list those sites.

 

When you say "give DMOZ a shot", essentially you are saying that you will submit your site to it? A couple of minutes work? Most people are willing to spend that amount of time to read a cereal packet, so it's not a huge time investment. If the site gets accepted, bonus - if not, then you have lost about two minutes of your life.

To me that is very little effort. Where it gets complicated is, after doing the suggestion process, the submitter starts to obsess over what has happened to it. That, to me, is an exercise in futility.

 

I can assure you that this is not bribery.. you still have to go through the process of submission.

 

lazy editors ... they just sign-up to submit their own websites ... LoL

 

well we can speculate all we want but I don't think we'll truly ever know for sure

 

Point to an editor (that is not an admin) that has only listed their own sites and I'll point to an editor that has been removed. Even editors point fingers at me for listing my own site, but I did list others along with mine, and listed them for free.

Also, if you call them lazy, I can only assume you are an active editor yourself... or are you even too lazy to list your own site?

 

Well, I've done nearly 100,000 edits, including adding 25,000 sites to the directory, and there are many volunteers with similar stats, so I'm not sure your generalisation is valid.

 

LOL but its the only way to get listed it seems

 

Um, I presume you are referring to my post immediately before yours?
So you are alleging that I listed those 25,000 sites only because I was bribed??? And according to you, it must have been each and every time?

Goodness me, the paranoid myth is certainly all-pervasive, which would be almost amusing if people did not start using it for slander, so I'll thank you for refraining from such accusations in future.

I have never sunk to the depths of personal rudeness and gratuitous mud-slinging that pervades this forum, because I believe I can provide honest information to those who are willing to receive it.
But I will not accept such vile and public allegations from anyone who so obviously does not know me at all.

 

When I checked the Guides on my former categories, I found out that a few of them are really not worth having a listing anymore (not fresh and not meaty in content ) wherein mine is fresh and meatier. Is there any way you could provide an honest opinion ? I mean you would prefer your burger to be fresh and meaty with the buns as sensational smelling and the veggies and pickles as delightfully fresh rather than a lousy rotten burger, would you ? And please don't forget the fries and drinks as it has the full packaged meal included. Order it below.