giz

The date that the search database was last updated is shown on the search page. You'll see it update at some point, probably a few days after the next RDF is produced. (The RDF is the file that other users such as Google download from the ODP and use in their directory).

There is a section in the FAQ that has space for listing the types of forum member but this section has not been filled in. Could someone copy and paste the above information into the FAQ?

As volunteers, people do things when they have time to fit it in. No-one will "prod" anyone into doing any work.

If those were the descriptions on your application then they may not have been quite good enough. There are some differences between your style and what is implied by the guidelines. If there are any descriptions like this in categories you have already looked at, then these are mistakes that should be cleaned up.

You are allowed one listing in the Topical (i.e. by Subject) categories, and one listing in the Regional (i.e. by Location) categories. If you are a business, you can have your listing in Regional if you have a physical "bricks and mortar" location that can be visited by customers. [Also note {for completeness}: If your site is not in the English language you don't get a listing in the Topical part of the directory, but instead get a listing under the appropriate World language category].

If you look in the previous messages in this forum, you will see that this has been reported several times in the last month. The advice was, and still is, to submit again using Netscape, Mozilla, Opera, or any browser that isn't Internet Explorer. Review: A small number of people using IE with certain Security settings, certain proxy and firewall settings, certain ISPs, and on certain days of the week find that they cannot submit to the ODP. No-one has yet managed to come up with a definitive list of circumstances that make it fail, so in the meantime just try again with another browser. People who have done this have all previously reported success when not using IE.

Yes, that would be too large to apply for, so you did right by starting at the bottom. However, once you have reviewed all the waiting sites in the unreviewed queue of the category you applied for (if you get it), and have built up some site listings in your editor bookmarks towards some new categories, once you have done a few hundred edits, it is possible to apply to edit adjacent categories. Once you have shown merit, you can apply to move up the tree. Applying to edit a category is just the same for exisiting editors as it is for new editors, except that as an existing editor you will then have an edit history to help decide the outcome of the application.

I thought that RingtoneSearch was replying to: >> If you post a list of the sites you are talking about, I'm sure a good many editors will go over it with a fine tooth comb. << >> Meta Editor: apeuro << After editing there is close to zero content in this thread.

Any editor in any of the categories above that one, and anyone who is an Editall or a Meta can edit in there. Well over 200 people can probably edit in that category.

There is already a thread for this at: http://www.resource-zone.com/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=tes&Number=3713 and at http://dmoz.org/forum/threaddisplay.cgi?t=Forum35/HTML/001608.html

Heh, furiosity! Maybe you will get your 15 kilobytes of fame after all!

Unfortunately, most 'applicants' amply demonstrate a poor understanding of spelling, punctuation and grammar (any, or all of these); and many wish to join just to add their own site, delete the competition, and then leave. That is why there is an application process, and why over 75%, maybe around 90%, of applications are rejected. When an editor abuses a category, it takes someone else a long time to clean up and undo the changes. This is why the application standard is unlikely to be reduced. Many apply for a category that is too large or for one that is spam-laden. Such areas are not given out to new editors as experience really is needed to edit these areas properly. In theory, more editors would make the job easier, but only if they are the right editors. Unfortunately, too many of the wrong sort of editors are in the applicant queue.

Use the Become an Editor link at the top right of the screen, in your chosen category. Choose a small category, less than 30 to 50 sites, one that is not likely to be a spam magnet. Read the Guidelines. Find three sites that should go in the category and write Titles and Descriptions for them. Keep a copy of your application in a text editor in case you need to resubmit. When you submit, be aware that Internet Exploder sometimes has problems, whereas any other browser should probably work just fine. Allow a couple of weeks for someone to review your application.

dfy: >> I see plenty of other types of clothing on your site..... There's too many other items to list you under Swimwear. << tropit: >> That's too bad. I am looking at our warehouse inventory and see over 80% of it in swimwear. << I can see where the problem is: editors only look at your website to decide placement, not inside your warehouse.

From a post I made 4 days ago in another thread: The ODP search database is updated about once per week, but with recent down-time there have been some gaps in that schedule. The data forming the ODP is dumped into an RDF file also about once per week. This has also been clobbered by the down-time on a few occasions. The RDF dump is picked up by other directories and used to seed their own on a random timescale. Google drops by every month or so, but sometimes misses picking up, or perhaps the dump from the previous time is still in place. I would say to allow 2 to 3 weeks to appear in dmoz search, after being listed in the directory, and another 2 to 3 months to appear in the Google directory (and/or Google search). Some sites out there are still using copies of the RDF dump that they took 3 or more years ago, and which they have never updated.

I think the wording is about to be (or recently was) changed to something like: >> Please go back in your browser if you need to resubmit the form. << as in some cases there is no need to resubmit.

Re: Still Struggling with the application process >> Isn't the way this software works that an application shouldn't enter the queue at all until the confirmation e-mail is responded to? << Well, the application must be stored somewhere, until the confirmation email has been answered, so I guess that the status is labelled incorrectly for some applications. I'm sure that the staff programmers will be able to find and correct this sort of bug. I guess there are several 'parts' to the 'queue': applications awaiting confirmation email, apllications confirmed, but awaiting review, and so on.

The search data is updated about once a week, but due to ODP down-time over the last few weeks, search has only been sporadically updated. The Last Updated date is shown on the search page each time. The dmoz search function is mainly used not to find sites, but to locate Categories. It isn't much used by the general public, most of them are using data on Google and AOL, and others, not dmoz. The ODP is not a search engine, it is a directory, so the major results of a search are a list of categories. Once you have found the correct category, you have a list of similar and related sites, with a directory tree structure to jump to related categories. This is how it is meant to be used. However, a few sites are returned in the search results, but that isn't the main purpose of the dmoz search function. You will notice that the ODP does not "keyword stuff" the Titles and Descriptions; we do not optimise your site for search engines, we just list sites, but within a directory tree that makes it easy to find a bunch of related sites by browsing the tree, not performing a search. The search is mainly used by editors attempting to find the best home for a misubmitted site, and anxious webmasters looking to see if their site has been listed yet.

Looks like the reply said please wait and be patient at: http://www.resource-zone.com/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=bemome&Number=10335 . Due to bug fixes and upgrades most editors haven't logged in for more than a few hours in total in the last 3 or 4 days (oh, and by the way it is 'queue', not 'cue).

Re: Forum Bug Hmm, not sure if this is a Bug or not, but within some fora, I don't get the number of new posts added to the thread since last visit shown in brackets against each thread, but in other fora I do. This has been happening for several days. [Can someone fix the thread stretch caused by the double URL in item 1 please?]

It'll be back tomorrow, when the current wrinkles are straightened.

<B>Doesn't</B> work but [b]does[/b] !

Please send a list of Categories and Sites to your favorite Meta Editor (don't use the dmoz staff feedback link - there is only 2 overworked people on the end of that), and this will be thoroughly looked into.

The business model of the web site is irrelevant to being listed in the ODP. The only thing that matters is that the information does not simply duplicate information that is already available on other sites, or isn't a front door to some other place. If there are affiliate links on a site, then it will still qualify for a listing if the site has useful and unique content. If it is simply a reseller for some other business, then we would list the main manufacturer or the main supplier, not the thousands of other web sites that merely provide a front-end-under-another-domain for the main business, regardless of who actually runs the site or how it is paid for.

Re: Still Struggling with the application process The editor side of DMOZ is offline until tomorrow. We are all locked out. Someone will check it for you later, but due to the 'work in progress' there is a possibility that anything done at the moment will not be saved; not receiving the confirmation email may possibly be an early indication of that.