Bilingual site

My illustration website is in both English and Japanese versions, as I'm a Westerner living in Japan but with clients all over the world.

I submitted my illustration portfolio site to DMOZ in English, with correct English descriptions etc, following carefully all the guidelines, however the only listing I have in DMOZ is in Japanese, and that listing is in the wrong section - computer graphics (I don't often work with computers).

Several times I've attempted to get my site listed in English in the Illustration section, but nothing has changed at all.

So, two questions - 1) what do I have to do to get an English listing for my website? 2) How can I change the Japanese language website to the correct catagory (illustration)?

Japanese listing should be in world/japanese/visualarts/illustration

John Shelley Illustration
Here's where I've tried to place it

Actually I just did some detective work on your site and it's history, I'm too tired to make a full post, but for any other editor reading this - and want's to check this out.

The site has been listed in Japanese since April 2001, but I can''t read the actual cat.

In August 2001 this site had both English and Japanese pages, yet it was rejected from Arts/Illustration as though it was already listed. This makes no sense. In January 2003 the same applies. Perhaps it was listed and got lost?

updated the links

I updated my first post to include relevant links as requested, sorry for missing this first time around.

I tried to include the URL of the correct Japanese language page but it's characters are all mixed up in English, so I just indicated the correct slot. At the moment the site listing resides in World:Japanese: Art: Visual Art: Computer Graphics: Gallery

If someone could offer advice how to fix this I'd be very grateful. Many thanks

John

If someone could offer advice how to fix this I'd be very grateful. Many thanks

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Concerning the listed Japanese language version you can use the 'Update URL' link (or whatever the Japanese equivalent is) in the category where the site is currently listed to request a category change. An editor will then decide if the change is appropriate.

The English version is awaiting review in the category you mentioned. I don't know what happened, but it shouldn't have been rejected just because it was already listed in another language, in case that was the reason. It seems that at that time the site was submitted to more than one category which may have caused some confusion. Whatever, I've added a note asking not to reject the site just because it's listed in another language. The site must however still be reviewed.

I can't tell whether this all-too-common scenario applies in this case, but ...

Lots of people submit a multilingual site to several languages -- all with the same description from the dominant language on the site.

World/Brazilian editor sees a submittal with, say, Belgian-language title and description. Editor notices that site is already listed in World/Belgian. Editor therefore deletes site, since it's already listed properly.

It's hard to tell how often this happens; but it's possible that the majority of non-English site submittals are submitted to categories in the wrong language. And it is certain that at least a large minority of site submittals seem to simply include the first few words on the page.

If you put the site description in the same language as that portion of the site, and submit to a category in that same language, with at the end of the description a bracketed list of all languages present, you'll have the best chance of NOT being hastily deleted.

That's a really good point, since I spent yesterday going through a few hundred submissions all with non-English descriptions. A large percentage of those were in fact bilingual, but I had to search on each home page to find an English link to be sure. I'm sure that some of these may slip though the cracks. Conversley I have hundreds of submissions with English language descriptions that have no English content.

Bilingual sites

Many many sincere thanks for all your help everyone.

In fact the site is split between English and Japanese from buttons on the splash page, so there shouldn't be any problems with finding languages. The really curious thing is though, I've only ever submitted the site in English! I didn't know the site was listed in Japanese until I started looking for it recently.

Very curious!

The DMOZ guidelines advise against re-submitting sites, so I'm avoiding the temptation to try again and left things as they are in the hope the kindly editors will list in in due course. If not you'll probably see me posting again.

I'll have a look for that edit button on the Japanese site as recommended.

Thankyou!

John

The really curious thing is though, I've only ever submitted the site in English!

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Not really curious at all. I always forward a copy of a listing for a multilingual site to the appropriate languages. That's what we're supposed to do.

Is there any way I can be notified of any progress made on getting my site listed in English? Or are there any changes to the site I should make in order to get it listed?

I'm concerned that if the site gets turned down again I'll still be sitting here waiting, unaware that my waiting is in vain.

Thanks

John

From the above posts I would say that your site isn't waiting for review and there has been a note added for other editors to see so you should feel free to resubmit the site if you feel that the site meets the criteria eg is easily accessible in English, and has sufficient English content and navigation. Then, if you don't see your site listed, you can request a progress report in six months

Many thanks! I'll try re-submitting it now.

John

Still no luck!

Hello everyone, I'm still biting my fingernails over why my biligual website isn't listed in English on DMOZ. After one of the generous kind-hearted editors added a note to the site application, I re-submitted it on August 2nd. Still no change though to date.

Just to re-iterate, the site is my children's and advertising illustration portfolio. It contains nothing that could possibly alarm anyone, it's been running smoothly for several years, and is easy to navigate. The site is split into Japanese and English versions from a simple button choice on the splash page, from thereon the content is pretty identical in Japanese and English, so it's 50/50 in both languages.

So why isn't the site listed in English on DMOZ? Is there nothing else I can do to persuade you to list it?

Any advice or help very gratefully recieved.

Many thanks

John

Patience. It can take two years or more for a site to get listed, or it can happen much more quickly. Once you have made your submission, there is nothing that you can to to expedite your request.

With an August 2 resubmission date, you have not even been in the submission pool long enough to qualify for an initial status check (on or after September 2).

Is there any way I can be notified of any progress made on getting my site listed in English?

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We don't do notifications of any type. You come back here after September 2 for your first status check and then once every six months thereafter until such time as we take action, or you get tired of asking.

Your passionate pleas concerning your site, while admirable, are falling on deaf ears. We don't evaluate a site based on postings in this forum, we evaluate sites based on their content. We absolutely do not expedite a review because of a posting here, because to do so would invite the million or so people in the various submission pools to immediately flood this forum with "me too!!!!!!" requests.

Hope this clarifies.

thanks!

Yes indeed it clarifies everything. Up to two years? phew!
I'll stop biting my fingernals now and sit waiting patiently.

Many thanks for all your help.

John