Category backlog

I submitted something almost a month ago to a category that had 173 entries. I now find that it has 153 entries waiting in the queue, and no editor. What happens if I put in a trace request in another week, does someone do something about it? Or does it just sit there until an editor volunteers?

When you come back to check on the status of a site here, you get just that...a status update on your site. Posting in this forum doesn't expedite your listing. But as an editor, you can see what's happening with your site so you really don't even need to post here to get an update.

Also the statement "and no editor" really isn't true. There may be no named editor for that category, but as you are probably aware by now, any editor who edits in a category higher in that branch is able to edit in that lower category. Editalls and metas can edit in the whole directory. Some branches have cateditalls and/or catmods who can also edit in their assigned branch. So you can never say that a category doesn't have an editor <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" alt="" />

[Hi, you seem to be answering my questions wherever I post - looks like you have as little sleep as I get <img src="/images/icons/smirk.gif" alt="" />]

You are right. I keep forgetting that the levels above can act as editors. I'm in the transition from being a user to an editor, and it's a bit schizo. I'm posting here as a user. When I first posted here a month ago, I wasn't an editor.

Agree - I use the site-submisssion-status forum to ask about the status, but since my month isn't up yet, I'm not asking, and haven't told you the website yet. I'm just trying to get an idea of what happens.

At this point, I don't even know if the submission got taken into ODP. With the slowness in the last month,it might have lost my original post. So in a week, I come back and post in the other forum and ask you. You can then tell me if it's in the queue. But what happens then? - if there are 150 other people waiting - it seems like nothing changes.

Just for the record the cat is home/family/parenting/resources - but I'm not asking for a specific answer on that category. I'd volunteer to edit it myself, but I don't want to take on 153 greens <img src="/images/icons/confused.gif" alt="" />

** As an editor I can see the queues, but I can't tell if my submission is in or not - since I have no edit rights on that cat.

Add your site to your bookmarks and you'll be able to see what actions any other editor has applied to your site in the editor notes. It's a good idea to add sites you're affiliated with to your bookmarks anyway.

You can then tell me if it's in the queue. But what happens then? - if there are 150 other people waiting - it seems like nothing changes.

Click to expand...

The purpose of the Site Submission Status forum is to report on the status of a submission <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" alt="" /> That's it, nothing else.

It is in my bookmarks along with other sites I own, but the Notes list only shows that I added it to the bookmarks. I had been told that this does not necessarily mean that it's not in the queue, but could mean it's not in the queue. [Another site that I added earlier this month shows the editor activity, starting the day after I submitted it]

&gt;&gt;I had been told that this does not necessarily mean that it's not in the queue, but could mean it's not in the queue.

True, but once you know that you're in the queue, you can monitor the editor notes to see what's happening with it. <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" alt="" />

Nicky, you won't see any history until an editor takes an action upon it <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" alt="" />

It would seem a lot better if ODP would email to acknowledge that the submission has arrived and is waiting for an editor. That way, we would know that at least it's in the queue, this would also alert the web site owner if someone else has been spamming ODP pretending to be that person. The email could also re-iterate the terms of submission, the possible delay in getting accepted, etc.etc.

&gt;It would seem a lot better if ODP would email to acknowledge that the submission has arrived and is waiting for an editor.

Acknowledge to whom? The webmaster? the site owner? the submitter?

&gt;That way, we would know that at least it's in the queue, this would also alert the web site owner if someone else has been spamming ODP pretending to be that person.

There's a standard way of automatically finding webmasters for sites now?

The only e-mail address we have is what the submitters give (if indeed they give one).

The confirmation is the "thank you for submitting your site. It will be reviewed bla bla bla" screen you get when you submit the site.

I can't imagine why the ODP would care whether the (unreachable) webmaster knows that someone is submitting his site. That doesn't help editors, that doesn't help users, that doesn't even help submitters. And ... nobody else is involved with this project, remember?

Let me try again - something got lost here.

1. Right now I, [and judging from other posts, other people] don't know whether my last submission is even in DMOZ. Considering the number of lost posts and computer busy problems - I have good reason to think the submission may have been lost. If DMOZ did get it, then it could send me an email - this is an automatic operation, I'm not asking for an editor to do anything. The email makes me feel calm and good. It possibly eliminates multiple submissions, and a lot of the questions posted in this forum.

2. Anyone can submit my site, in an effort to try and spam DMOZ and get my site thrown out. If DMOZ sends an email, then I get notified that this is happening. Sure I understand that a phony submission may have a phony e-mail, etc. I've seen posts where people have claimed they weren't spam submitting, that a competitor was doing it.

In fact if you really want to be safe, have a double verification. After the add URL is accpted, send the email out, and requre a confirmation reply before the Add Url will complete.

Take a look at hutcheson's reply again. Who is this email going to get sent to? People don't just submit their own sites to the ODP.

If my friend decides one day to submit one of my web sites to the ODP the only email address would be his personal one that he used when he submitted the site. No email is ever going to come back to me as the site's owner as the ODP doesn't have a clue what my email is.

I understand your point about getting a reply that a submission has been received, but I'm just not sure that there's a lot of benefit to it. What is it really telling you? "We have received your submission. Thank you very much. Now you can wait until we get a chance to process it" <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" alt="" />

Until recently it was just assumed that when you hit that submit button the site was submitted. With some of the recent server issues that may not have been the case, but it's pretty rare that a submission just vanishes. If anything it ends up in the "lost submissions" pile where hutcheson will probably be sorting it down to the appropriate place because for some reason he seems to like to do that thankless task <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" alt="" />

Ok, I stand corrected <img src="/images/icons/blush.gif" alt="" /> - I've never submitted anyone else's site - I've always considered it a "wrong" thing to do.

Since the instructions on submitting keeps talking about "your site" and warns about multiple submissions. I would never consider submitting someone else's site, first because it's not "mine", and second because for all I know they submitted it already, and my submission would make it a multiple submission.

<img src="/images/icons/laugh.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/icons/laugh.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/icons/laugh.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/icons/laugh.gif" alt="" />

I would never consider submitting someone else's site, first because it's not "mine", and second because for all I know they submitted it already, and my submission would make it a multiple submission.

Click to expand...

Think about that for a minute. As an editor you are now submitting other people's sites all the time. What's the diff? <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" alt="" />

Web site developers and search engine optimizers submit their client's sites all the time. It almost seems like that's the norm actually as I hardly ever see an email address that matches a URL <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" alt="" />

&gt;I've never submitted anyone else's site - I've always considered it a "wrong" thing to do.

Wrong answer.

Repeat ten thousand times: "The 'submit a site' functionality is NOT there for webmasters. The only thing the ODP does for webmasters is provide them content, in the form of a directory, that they can add to their site. The ODP doesn't provide any special submittal services for webmasters, who after all as a class provide the vast majority of our spam.

The "submit a site" functionality is for surfers to tell us of ways to improve the directory they're using. Many of them use it that way, too. That webmasters also use it to submit their own sites is ... "abuse of a not necessarily harmful kind." But that was not the primary intent.

Even the "ask about your submission" forum here caters to anyone, and if you read the posts, you'll see that professional webmasters, SERP perps, and amateur surfers are all represented.

And as a surfer, I've submitted a LOT of sites that weren't mine. In one category, the editor finally suggested I just apply to edit it. (I don't do it as much now that I'm an editall and can just add the sites almost anywhere myself.)

&gt;The "submit a site" functionality is for surfers to tell us of ways to improve the directory they're using. Many of them use it that way, too. That webmasters also use it to submit their own sites is ... "abuse of a not necessarily harmful kind." But that was not the primary intent.

Not to mention, as an editor how could I know if the site owner submitted it? The only way to know for sure would be to e-mail postmaster@domain.com and ask. But, in the case of a Geocities site, or a site on other free hosts, that isn't possible at all. And, d'ya really think that the director of the US Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration would ever hand submit a site to the ODP? If the ODP policy was only sites submitted by the webmasters should be listed, that would mean I'd have to delete a whole lotta sites in cats where I edit. Which wouldn't be good for the public users of the ODP at all.