rd400d77

>> Not "hey, buster, stay out of _my_ category?" <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" alt="" /> Abso-tively not!!! <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" alt="" />

Re: Category Updated/Listing Removed? >> he's one of the newer editors. << Ah, that explains it. New editors do get overwhealmed <img src="/images/icons/laugh.gif" alt="" /> You may have noticed hutcheson mentioed "reorg". It usually takes a while before a new editor gets comfortable with and/or has knowledge of some of the reorg activity that goes on. Also, because of the ODP's policy against self promotion it might have been wrong for him to post internally on your behalf. It may have endangered his status as an editor and potentially, the listing of your site. He did the right thing sending you here.

I just searched for an editor profile of shortcircuit... Here's the response: >> No such editor There was a problem with your form: No such editor shortcircuit << <img src="/images/icons/frown.gif" alt="" /> Have you had a chance to check this other forum Something to Consider

I owe you an apology, I went back and looked again and found the link at the bottom of the page with your ordering information. My middleage eyes missed it on my first visit.

OK, When I shop online which I frequently do, I usually want to know where will my product ship from, or at least have an idea as to how long I will have to wait before I see my items. A mailing address or a simple statement could answer those questions. I also tend to look for information on my recourse if I'm not satisfied with the product. Will I be provided a tracking number? What carrier is used and do I have a choice? This information may actually be somewhere on the site, but I didn't see it during my brief review. This isn't ODP stuff, just my personal point of view, take it for what it's worth. <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" alt="" />

I looked at your site. I sorry but I was not able to do a full review of it for listing, as I'm not as familiar enough with the category and it's products as I would like to be without doing more research and at the time of this writing the TRS-80 that hosts the directory appears to be down for maintenance. It appears that you have put some effort into the design of your site. If you are open to some constructive criticism, I'll send some your way <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" alt="" /> For Shopping the ODP only looks for primary focus, pricing and an online component in addition to the directory-wide requirement for unique content. But your customers may get concerned that you will turn into a Dot.Gone, they may be looking for more. I would recommend postal and phone contact information and suggest you list your policies, and information on the cart server such as, is it secure.

>>If I am selected as an editor, I will do what it takes to respond to people who submit their site to my category and give them a simple explanation << Experience unfortunately, has taught many editors (like me) that it is best not to respond to queries about submissions via email. I for one if contacted by a submitter will only refer the submitter to this forum. Not because I'm not willing to respond to questions about submissions, but such contacts can turn into a 'who shot John' thing. This is an open forum and often questions are best dealt with here, where more opinions are available. So from my position, this forum is not just good for submitters, but a invaluable aid to editors. Editors do have other methods of soliciting advice if they have doubts about listing a site. That is of course, not apparent to non-editors. Usually if an editor has doubts, they will almost always solicit the opinions of other editors. Such teamwork is encouraged in the ODP community. But (and not contrary), individuality is a strength of the ODP. Surprisingly (perhaps to many), metas are not always right and their ability to know that they are fallible is one of the 'traits' that makes a meta, a meta. They often adopt a "convince me" stance, and are often convinced. But the key to a meta's (or any editor's) agreement is not repetitively beating a dead horse repeating the same lame arguments... That is of course as you point out, insanity.

Re: Can I submit to a category missing an editor? No, I'm affraid not. The unreviewed queue isn't very deep there but I'm not really aware of editor activity in that area. You might just have to become an editor. <img src="/images/icons/laugh.gif" alt="" /> Start be reading the ODP Guidelines (at least twice) especially the Editing Style Guidelines . Approving editor applications is not within the scope of my permissions but... There isn't really anything wrong with having affiliations, if you can demonstrate the abillity to be impartial in your listings and descriptions. Think about it, how could anyone ever edit their hometown in Regional/ and say they don't have any affiliations. <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" alt="" /> For editor applications: open and honest. Titles and descriptions to the above referenced guidelines. Read it all. VJL

Re: Can I submit to a category missing an editor? Oh yes. There are parent category editors who may choose to edit the subcategories and editors who have privileges to edit throughout the directory. Your site was moved to Shopping/Consumer_Electronics/ for review. Your site was deleted from: Computers/Hardware/Cables/ Your site was listed in Regional/

I'm not perfect and I'm sure I've missed a few... However, Personally I try to find an actual 'base' URL. That is what I list, the URL I'm looking at, not the one that is submitted. But my decision to list is based on content. If I notice a different URL, it does prompt me to spend some time on a recheck to see if the site is already listed. VJL

If you decide to consider being an editor, actulaly the best thing to do before applying, is to read the guidelines (more than once). They are available for public view at: http://dmoz.org/Computers/Internet/Searching/Directories/Open_Directory_Project/Policies_and_Procedures/Editing_Guidelines/ Supply two or three sites, and write good descriptions. Be honest about any affiliations that you have. Then be patient. /images/icons/smile.gif VJL

The subcat http://dmoz.org/Society/Relationships/Marriage/Education_and_Enrichment Might be more appropriate. Being patient is good. However, you don't have to be. It is perfectly ok for an editor to list their own site as long as there is no attempt made to give the lsiting an un-fair advantage. Have you considered http://dmoz.org/cgi-bin/apply.cgi?where=Society/Relationships/Marriage/Education_and_Enrichment ? VJL

Many times the discussion comes up of hierarchy. Often the discussion is why a site or subject being listed should be listed 'higher' in the ODP tree... (actually further down the tree, closer to the root, aka: Top/). I'm a little bit odd in that personally, I believe that a site is better off being listed 'low' (further from the root). If I were a programmer creating a search engine that used ODP data from the RDF dump, I would use the full category path... Top/Category1/Category2/Category3/Category4 ...as a tool to determine more about the site. Webmasters add meta tags to 'help' their listings with search engines. What I'm saying is that 'category1', 'category2', 'category3' and 'category4' would all become part of the site description. Imagine the full category path as 'meta tags' on steroids. Therefore if my bizarre theory has any merit, I would think that webmasters should be asking... "Could you PLEASE move my site to a subcategory?" /images/icons/smile.gif VJL

>> I was just wondering what is involved in being an editor? Desire: To be a part of the creating the best online directory. Willingness: To read and follow the guidelines Cooperation: The ODP isn’t a committee, it’s a community. Enjoyment: Obviously you should enjoy reviewing websites, writing descriptions and listing sites. Time? Varies to extremes. Personally, I don’t want to know. /images/dmoz/purplegrin.gif