Are there any definitive, honest answers yet?

No speculating, no conspiracy theories, no Rumsfieldian "by gollys."

1. Is AOL truly working on fixing the problem?

2. If so, did AOL give *anyone* with a pulse a timeframe for fixing the problem?

3. Can the problem be fixed without relying on AOL? If so, what are the options?

4. Can we, the public and webmaster community, help in any way?

5. What is an honest, no-spin assessment of the reality of this situation from those in the know--the editors?

Thank you,
Peapodgrrl

I'm afraid we have no more definitive information than what we have already given:
Yes AOL technicians are working on it.
No there is no timeframe apart from "as soon as possible".
Yes we do have to rely on AOL as they are the owners of the ODP.
None of us can help. Nobody except AOL technicians has access to the broken "machinery".

Sorry, but that's all we know.

peapodgrrl said:

No speculating, no conspiracy theories, no Rumsfieldian "by gollys."

Click to expand...

1. Is AOL truly working on fixing the problem?
Yes

2. If so, did AOL give *anyone* with a pulse a timeframe for fixing the problem?
No

3. Can the problem be fixed without relying on AOL? If so, what are the options?
No

4. Can we, the public and webmaster community, help in any way?
No

5. What is an honest, no-spin assessment of the reality of this situation from those in the know--the editors?
This was a combination of several, not forseen, major problems.
Several AOL technicians have been working on it.
At a certain piont during recovery a group of technical experienced editors were helping the AOL technicians with testing the software in all it functionality.
Editors are sure the problems will be solved.

From experience I have in my many years as an IT expert I would call this a normal downtime for such a major dissaster. Without the AOL technicians we wouldn´t have had a chance of ever recovering at all. And it was a good thing that they decided to do a long and thorough testing.

5. What is an honest, no-spin assessment of the reality of this situation from those in the know--the editors?

Click to expand...

Personally I am confident that eventually it will be up and running mainly because it is taking a long time. The bits of information we have shows that they are taking it very seriously and the delay is now as much about about preventative measures as recovery.

4. Can we, the public and webmaster community, help in any way?

Click to expand...

Well, a lot of editors are making lists of urls to add, QA issues to resolve and other things to do ready for when it is back up. The public and webmaster community can always help by reporting QA issues in those categories that need TLC. There is nothing to stop anyone from reviewing a category or two, and creating a list of listings that need updating ready for when everything is back up

I think tangible demonstrations of support such as QA updates when the site is back up will serve to show AOL how important DMOZ is to the internet community and that their efforts on our behalf are appreciated.

Cetainly, as editors, seeing categories that have been reviewed by the public with good quality updates/corrections popping up throughout the directory will certainly make us feel wanted.

regards

A lot of the editing community have not been idol during this down time, peapodgrrl, there are many things that an editor can do privately in preparation for going back live.

The site suggestion pool we recieve is a convenient resource for us, but, it is by no means an absolutely essential one, there are many ways to find new sites to list that are a lot more rewarding to do.

One of the things I really enjoy doing is just following the links on existing websites. Many times you accidently find a gold mine of quality sites that have never been suggested to the Directory.

Hard as it may be to believe, there are actually people out there who have never heard of the ODP, .

Another way is to search for sites for a small locality (village/town/hamlet). It's very rewarding to put a small village, that might not be sophisticated enough in their knowledge of the Web, onto the Internet map where they can compete equally with other geographical areas, .

We editors also talk to each other and make plans to take care of problem areas that we've not had time to deal with in the past, so, there is an unbelievable amount of work for us to do, besides just reviewing site suggestions, and I think that's something I would like the public to be more aware of, .
Great ideas, Eric.

crowbar said:

A lot of the editing community have not been idol during this down time, peapodgrrl, there are many things that an editor can do privately in preparation for going back live. <snip>

One of the things I really enjoy doing is just following the links on existing websites.

Click to expand...

I do the same. My bookmarks were getting so out of hand with urls I find by surfing, I had to start putting them on a floopy disk.

The Old Sarge said:

I do the same. My bookmarks were getting so out of hand with urls I find by surfing, I had to start putting them on a floopy disk.

Click to expand...

How old fashioned.
A floppy disk (I forgive you the typing error).
The last time I saw such a thing was more than 2 years ago. :troll2:

My comments on the situation

I was contacted by a dmoz meta-editor to weigh in on the current outage, and future odp direction. I sent a reply, but have also posted my expanded comments publicly.

http://www.skrenta.com/2006/12/dmoz_had_9_lives_used_up_yet.html

-- Rich

Way to fuel the public paranoia, Rich. LOL

Hi all,

I was once an editor in Games/Video_Games/Roleplaying and had fun being that. I remember telling sidjf in an email that I was "here to stay", but real life just happened. Now I've got my life in shape and my brain in serious editing mood again - just to discover the mess with the ODP.

At first, I thought that this outage was a planned action by metas/staff to remotivate the editor masses. But it seems not. Heck, I just want to say that I'm eagerly awaiting to get reinstated to this "Secret Circle" that can't be understood by outsiders. And if we'll have to start from scratch again - I'm in.

Cheers, Erkenbrand

crappy directory

Click to expand...

Say, I believe I resent that, where's the complaint box anyway?

Jeez, for a crappy directory, an awful lot of people think it's important enough to be in, , don't say much about their sites then.

See what happens when you don't stick with your project, Rich? Bout time you got back here and helped out, isn't it? Ah, you young kids, always following the money, no principles.

Paranoia

Remember, you're not paranoid if they really are out to get you.

Well, all this editing stuff sure cuts into my game playing time, Erkenbrand, I hope you do rejoin us, .

Yep, PS2 RPG's are my favorite way to waste my time, when I'm not editing or working.

Dammit, who stole my tinfoil hat?

What color would you like?

Um, tinfoil.

Du-uh!

Oh, you want the real shiny stuff.

Well, yeah -- it can't keep them from reading my thoughts if it isn't reflective.

pvgool said:

How old fashioned.
A floppy disk (I forgive you the typing error).
The last time I saw such a thing was more than 2 years ago. :troll2:

Click to expand...

You can donate to the upgrade if you like.

Typing error? I think not. (Just poor spelling) lol

Tinfoil?!

Heck. If you guys can wait a few days, my factory will be at full capacity on the new copper model (far better product) and I'll have enough for everybody.