Accepted but for wrong cat

Re: Open Directory application - driftwood1 Request 5374

Hi, Can anyone help I was accepted but was also told the cat I applied for had too many editors already. But, the web page for sports/soccer/shopping/ still says it has no edittor ? I would also like to edit sports/soccer/collectables/

Anyway my application can be looked at again without me having to filling that long form again ? I was on the correct page when I filled the form in the first time so I'm sure I'll get the same response again.

Remember that for the Sports/Soccer/Shopping category:

1. Any editor in Sports/ or Sports/Shopping can edit there.
2. Any editall or meta can edit there.
3. There may also be editors in the subcategories.

Thats interesting as the reason I choose that area was that I was told by an editior that it has more then 130 sites waiting and I know at least one site in there has waited for 2 months. If the editors in their only want to edit some of it perhaps they would be happy to give other areas to people who will edit these areas.

Are you sure your application was accepted? The stuff about "too many editors" sound like something from one of the rejection form letters. And there's no editor with the name driftwood1 or driftwood.

If your application to edit http://dmoz.org/Shopping/Sports/Soccer/ was rejected, I suggest you try applying for http://dmoz.org/Shopping/Sports/Soccer/Collectibles/ . The first cat is fairly big - it's not impossible to be accepted to a cat that size, but it's more difficult. It's also a good idea to take a look at http://dmoz.org/guidelines/ first.

Hope that helps!

Hilde

I hear what you say but I took it to mean that my application would have been accepted if the area needed an editor. I filled in a form from a page that said "This category needs an editor" and that message is still on the page http://dmoz.org/Shopping/Sports/Soccer/
Now either it does need an editor or not and it seem silly for me to fill in another form saying I'm willing to offer my time if I'm going to face the same problem. It's not as if the form is simple and if you make a mistake you lose all you entered the first time.

<<It's not as if the form is simple and if you make a mistake you lose all you entered the first time.>>

Tip:

Always keep all the info in a document or text file. This way you can not only spell-check your application information, but you have a copy of it as well.
<img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" alt="" />

Yar after the third time I did that

All pages, listing sites, that do not have an editor named to them, automatically say that 'this category needs an editor'. This is so that you don't traverse a large section of the directory and keep seeing the same editor name on every one. I have about 60 sub-cats below me and I am named on only two of them, all the others say that an editor is needed. As the area I edit in is very sparsly populated with sites, I can actually handle all the work in all of these sub-cats. However, by having the 'editor wanted' message there, then this does give someone who is highly interested in one of those bottom level cats to apply for it, maybe get in on the ground floor, then progress from there. I did exactly that. I applied for a cat that had only 4 sites in it; and built it up to 44, then applied for the next level up, built that up, then moved on again. A new editor would not get in at the level I am now, but would be put off from applying at all if they saw that the little 4 site category they wanted to edit in, already had a named editor, this is why I am not named in the sub-cats. When I applied for my first low-level cat, there was someone who could edit there, but was only named two levels higher (at the level that I am now, for example). In fact many people can edit there, editalls, metas, and others, but many choose not to.

It is best to apply for a cat right at the end of a branch at the lowest level, something with 20 or 30 sites is definately a good idea (other people may suggest a figure of under 50).

Actually you may notice some seemingly empty categories don't have 'This Category Needs An Editor' because they only contain links to other categories, and will never need any sites listed there.

But just because it says 'This category needs an editor', it doesn't necessarily imply that it *needs* one. There was a discussion about how to rephrase it, but I don't what the outcome was (if there was any).

Typically, you should aim for categories with no more than 50 sites. As giz says, editors from higher up can also edit the category (despite not being named as an editor), along with editalls and metas who can edit any category even if they are not named as an editor.

That said, if you'd like to help, you're more than welcome <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" alt="" />.

The cat I applied for http://dmoz.org/Shopping/Sports/Soccer/ has 184 sites this is made up of Apparel(49)Club Shops (8)Consumer Information@ (4) Footwear@ (76) Officiating@ (37)
I was told it has 130 waiting to be edited and this was after the spam had been cleared. I guess I won't get to be an editor now but I do feel whoever is looking after this cat either is ignoring these lower sub-cats or simply does not care about them. Does anyone check that all sites are editited in equal proportion or could it be that adding a site in a top level cat gets your site added quicker and editors are using sub-cats to move sites that can't be bothered to look at.
Forgive me if I'm wrong but I thought the whole idea of asking for editors was to get the sites reveiwed &amp; added to build the DIR.
The idea of putting a sign asking for editors when none are needed is bizar to say the least. If a new message was agreed it is long over due been added, can I suggest inserting the word "might". I must be only one of hundreds being pissed off by it.

driftwood, the message you got probably was a generic message mentioning several possible reasons for rejection, and it sounds like you carefully picked out the one that was least likely to apply. Try reading it again, from the standpoint of looking for more plausible possibilities. For instance, did the message say anything about "category too large for a new editor?" A category with over 100 sites and over 100 unreviewed sites AND multiple subcategories, is larger than we'll usually give to a new editor. If you're interested in the parent category, start with one of the children: do a good job there, and we'll be happy for you to take on more or bigger categories.

[Duplicate deleted]

You applied too high in the tree then. Reapply at the bottom of the tree and see what happens. See my previous message, above for details as to why.


[Hutcheson posted while I wrote this]

I'm not going to apply again, why shoudl peole have to. The form should be flexable enough so we don't have to proving themselves each time. I repeat, the idea seems to be to get editors not put people off. Seems to me to be some club and if you do jump though the right hoops they don't let you in. I've filled the form in and I'm qualified to do the job someone should now try and find a cat I would be willing to edit. That seems a senible approve to me but what do I know I only design these type of systems.

And still the cat I applied for is not being edited and site remain dormant.

I appreciate that it is annoying when you don't get accepted first time, but we have to be careful who we accept. If you were rejected, then it means that the reviewing meta editor felt that you were not up to the job, either because:

1. Your grasp of english (spelling, grammar etc.) was lacking
2. The descriptions you gave were not up to the standards we expect
3. You were affilliated with the 3 URLs you gave
4. You weren't truly honest in your application

(these are general but common reasons for rejection)

Judging by how much Google relies on an ODP listing for its page rank, we have to be careful so that webmasters don't just sign up, add their own site and then leave. Or worse, harm the listings of other competing sites in the category.

No you've not read the thread, I would have been accepted if the cat needed an editor. My complaint is that the cat I applied for has 130 outstanding sites, it is being ignored, so to me that says it needs an editor.

Mmm ... If you haven't read this Phil's Personal Experience in applying and finally accepted as editor, you might like to do so. Interesting read, Driftwood.

I believe you do need quite a bit of perseverance as ODP editor and when applying to be one. <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" alt="" />

I read almost all of it and it seems to confirm my finding. That is DMOZ is more of a club then a DIR and for most part apllication and submissions depend on just how the reviewers are feeling on the day. I understand quailty is important but looking at the jobs already done by existing editors I think this is used more of an excuse then a reason.
If this is such a probelm why not have a system where more (a lot more) people are accepted but for the first month their edits are checked before they go live. It should also be simple to tell people they won't by accepted if they have a site waiting to be reviewed instead as it is now. At the moment anyone submitting is told they can wait OR apply to be an editor. It does seem to me DMOZ have a lot of problems all made by DMOZ. This always happens in a clique.

BTW before anyone asks yes I do have a site waiting to be reviewed in fact I have 4 at the last count and more to come. But this is not the reason I applied as they are all seperate cats and we prefer to use PPC methods for all of them.

&lt;&lt; DMOZ is more of a club then a DIR and for most part apllication and submissions depend on just how the reviewers are feeling on the day. &gt;&gt;

Totally untrue in my opinion. First I would never apply in a category that contained my site or my site was waiting in – it is allowed, but personally I would not, especially right off the bat. I applied for a small category I had interest in – wanting to help others get their sites into the directory – not to get my sites in (already listed).
The reviewers take every application seriously and that is a very large responsibility. Have you ever helped someone get hired at a position just to have them screw up?

&lt;&lt;. I understand quailty is important but looking at the jobs already done by existing editors I think this is used more of an excuse then a reason.&gt;&gt;

The keyword is "existing" – do you know for a fact that the editor that made a mess out of the category still exists as an editor? This could very well be the mess left behind by an editor that was granted privileges and abused them by listing their site(s) and destroying the others. One editor can do a lot of good or do a lot of damage that could take months to years to clean-up after.

&lt;&lt; If this is such a probelm why not have a system where more (a lot more) people are accepted but for the first month their edits are checked before they go live. &gt;&gt;

There already is such a system in place (Greenbusting privileges). It allows editors that would not otherwise be eligible for editing in the category to list "unreviewed" sites. These are checked by a senior before going "public".

These are my "opinions" on the matter. It is not impossible or I wouldn’t be editor <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" alt="" />

Dave

*sigh* driftwood, you seem already to have made up your mind. As several posters here have mentioned, you seem to have received a standard form letter when applicants apply for too large or complex a category, or one which is already under close and competent supervision, OR one that simply is not granted to new editors because of special rules or history of abuse.

The "this category needs an editor" is an internal as well as external message. For such a large and complex category in a spam-heavy branch of the directory, promotions can *only* come from within, from those who are familiar with editing guidelines and conventions, and who have seen many kinds of submissions that will or will not qualify for acceptance. As odd as it may sound, the fact that there are a large number of submissions is a cause *not* to accept a new editor; I prefer to join new editors in areas with a moderate volume of new sites so that they are not overwhelmed, and so that their capacity for making mistakes is limited until their experience level is higher.

The requested category is large, high in the taxonomy, and located in the Shopping/ branch, which has a heavy volume of submissions from unethical webmasters. It is simply not going to be granted to someone who is a total stranger.

Sometimes, a meta-editor or catmod who processes a new application will "reassign" the editor to a smaller or differently focused category. You seem to wish that this would have occurred in your case. However, it is up to the reviewer, and not a few of the editors whose initial category I have "redesignated" have complained that they are not where they wanted to me. The meta who handled your application left the choice to you which of the subcategories you might want. I cannot see why that would put you off so.