Adding a category

Hello,
I was wondering if someone could help me. I wish to submit my site into a category that isn't listed but apparently this can be changed.

Top: Shopping: Antiques and Collectibles: Figurines

How does one get 'animals' placed under the 'figurines' umbrella. My site is selling animal figurines.

Cheers
Dean

New categories may get created, but it's an editor's discretion and would require enough sites to justify it. Your best bet is to suggest a new category when you submit. A quick glance at the descriptions there indicates it might be reasonable to think that other sites my fit in "Animals" also - but I have not actually looked at the sites.

Hi Bobrat,
Thankyou for your reply.

I'm actually quite shocked at the fact there is not the category already simply because in my market research before building my site I found about 120 competitors who would fit into an animal figurines category yet I can only find one of them in DMOZ using 'STONE CRITTERS' as a category. Very strange!! Just seems a shame.

Was that 120 competing businesses, or 120 affiliate-ordertaker webpages competing to intercept the business of one drop-shipping warehouse?

This IS a trick question; sometimes it is VERY hard to tell the difference.

Well there is at least two or three dozen different brands being sold. Not sure if that answers your question or not.

No, it doesn't. There are two questions for each of those sites: (1) does it represent an actual distinguishable business with real officers and employees and inventory and location? and (2) Is it that business's unique online presence?

A lot of businesses set up multiple websites for each one of their product lines: you know, "my-china-animals.com", "my-china-dolls.com", "my-cheap-plastic-animals.com", "my-cheap-plastic-dolls.com", et cetera, ad infinitum, ad infinitum nauseum. We're specifically and explicitly forbidden to list such sites.

(2) Is there really a business at all? Or is the website just some flavor of pseudonymous/anonymous advertising/affiliate/order-taking/whatever, selling the same product from the same warehouse as the next dozen sites, except with random perturbations in the price to conceal the deception? Again, we're specifically forbidden to list such sites.

But ... the trick is spotting them.

Ummmm.. OK - Let me give you a hyperthetical. Let's say 50% of these web sites are legitimate - why is there not a category called animals under figurines with 60 web sites in it.

Since it is a hypothetical, I'd postulate that the answer is that the 60 companies all or most sell more than just animal figurines.

Remember, we list sites, not product or product pages.

This is going nowhere. I know for a fact that a lot of these businesses sell purely animal figurines. If anyone wants to give me some constructive help that would be nice. I'm only after some help. Sorry if I have upset anyone - that was not my intention

There seem to be only around five sites in there that are animals only. Probably not enough for a new category. One of the animal sites is dead, and will be removed.

We are a little touchy about figurines, a lot of sites selling then are midnight-TV affilaite clones - which we do not list and we have to bring in the experienced editors with baseball bats.

Hi Bobrat,
Thankyou for your time. I appreciate what you have to do for DMOZ. I did notice a category called 'STONE CRITTERS' with only 2 sites in it. Although I would not use this category, I am curious as to how that was started with only two sites. Is it possible that they had a lot more sites in there previously, and some have died out?

Anyway, all I can do is what you suggested in your first post.

Regards

A good question, often categories are created when the need is there, and then later all the sites in them go out of business.

I can see that back in the year 2000 (and perhaps earlier) sites were being added to that category, and there were sites there in 2004.

For various reasons, we are hesitant about deleting categories even when they end up empty. In this case, since there have been sites in the past, it would probably be left for possible future use.

Sometimes categories are created because an editor made an unwise decision. I noticed today that a couple of years ago, I split a category up, since it had over 150 sites, and needed subcategorization. I made a decision to make one subcategory for software for MacIntosh computers. It had one site then, and never ever got more than that. Not the end of the world, and it does have vauue to make that single MacIntosh site separate, but I would not do it that way today.

>Let's say 50% of these web sites are legitimate ...

That, I am afraid, exceeds the leucobasilissaean limit by more than an order of magnitude. If you want to stretch credibility to the breaking point and a bit beyond, suppose one in twenty are listable. That would be enough to have a subcategory, though, assuming an editor noticed them all at the same time.

ok, let me see if I can help...

Bottom line is - in order to create a new category there should be enough sites that only sell that kind of item. That same business shouldn't sell anything else, and it should be a legitimate business. Drop-shippers, as has previously been noted, are not listable in the ODP.

So, if you want to have such a category created, you will need to find enough sites that fill that mold... it sounds like you already know of several.

Then suggest all of them (not just your own) to the category where you think the subcategory could be created, maybe along with a note that you feel a subcategory should be created to hold these. You could even reference this thread if you want.

Then, when an editor comes to review these, it might just occur to them to create a new subcat. In doing so, you have helped the ODP grow, and have maybe found a potential place for your site to get listed.

How does that sound?

To some, that probably sounds bad... because they have to submit their "competitors" too... gasp!

Hi Alucard,
I'm grateful for your idea. It will all depend on any beneift I can see out of submitting to DMOZ. I must say that I am a little more aware of what it is the editors are trying to avoid! There are sites out there who want you to pay them to have them build a site for you, only to have you sell their products. What's worse is it's not half obvious the products aren't even theirs! But that's not my problem. I'm just trying to earn a living to feed my 6 kids!!