Consensus on resubmissions & contacting Editors

Hi all,

This is such an informative and practical site. I've been able to find a lot of info, but didn't immediately find an answer to my question(s).

Anyway, I've been trying to list my site (www.ascleanedontv.com) on DMOZ since December of last year. I first submitted on Dec 7th, 2001, then again on Dec 21st, 2001, February 10th, 2002, and finally on March 29th, 2002.

The submission dates my be off by one or two days. Anyway, I've taken care to be in compliance with the guidelines set forth by DMOZ as best I can. The CAT I've been submitting to has been 'Shopping: Home and Garden: Cleaning' and to date I still am not listed.

Question: Have I been inadvertantly spamming the CAT? I understand the consensus on resubmitting a site is 3 weeks. Is this correct?

Also, I tried contacting the editor of the CAT twice asking if my site was in compliance and didn't get a response. Since I never got a response I then wrote the 'Staff Feedback' at:
http://dmoz.org/cgi-bin/feedback.cgi?

To date, I haven't received any responses. I'm wondering if sending an inquiry to Editors is inappropriate. Is this the case? Is there an acceptable protocol to follow when contacting Editors? My e-mail to the Editors simply asked if I was in compliance. Again, was this appropriate? My objective wasn't to offend the Editor - if that was the case.

I know the Editors volunteer their valuable time and can't possibly answer all e-mails. I also know that many CATs are huge and do take some time to manage. I'm just curious to know why my site wasn't listed. Thanks in advance for the help.

Peace!
*****JayJay

Here's a reasonable protocol.

1) Don't expect a response. Editors have been threatened, cyber-stalked, subjected to real-life hassles, etc. They may want to keep their privacy.

2) Don't repeatedly contact the same editor, unless they reply.

3) Give the editor a week or three to respond. We don't all edit every day -- or every week.

4) If one editor doesn't respond within two or three weeks, try another one, perhaps on a higher category. Repeat until you get to the top of the category hierarchy.

I think this protocol will keep you from being perceived as a vicious spammer (because of your e-mail, at least.)

Generally, forums like these are best if they can accomodate your question -- this way, every editor that's willing to respond can, and perhaps not lose as much privacy in the process.

Thanks for the feedback Hutcheson.

Heck, I didn't know you guys had it so bad.
Cyber-stalking and threats? And you actually
volunteer? Man, with headaches like that I'd
demand a salary.

I'll follow your advice and see happens. Thanks
again.

Peace!
*****JayJay

Hutcheson really is not joking. Only a couple of days ago, one of our UK editors got called at work over the submission of a site.

You can see why many of us don't reveal our real names, and why our email addresses are normally concealed on our ODP profiles.

jayjay, this stuff is not common. I've contacted more people than most editors have, and I haven't been mugged yet. But, if you do 20,000 edits, contact 5% of the webmasters, and 1 tenth of one percent of them turn out to be psychotic (a conservative estimate in some areas), well...do the math.

So the rule is hard and fast: As an editor, you can take whatever risks you wish. But you can't give out information that would impose ANY risk on another editor, without their permission.