Help me get into directory please

UKRobin · Jul 24, 2005

I am disabled and offer my services to businesses to help then understand those with disabilities.

I have tried over the last year to get my two sites into the directory but with no luck what am I doing wrong?

Sites are www.access-auditing.com offering access audits to help businesses comply to the disability discrimination act and improve disabled access.

www.blue-badge.co.uk offering disability discrimination training to help remove the fear and ignorance of those when meeting a person with disabilities.

I am fully qualified in my field and run a top professional service but dont seem able to get into dmoz directory.

Please help.

windharp · Jul 24, 2005

According to forum guidelines, posting in this forum will not lead to faster review of sites. The only way you can help yourself is help us with a guidelines compliant title+description. If you already suggested your site, this is all you can do and all you need to do.

oneeye · Jul 24, 2005

Your two sites are closely related in terms of content - the disability theme. It is highly unlikely that DMOZ will accept both since you appear to have breached our guidelines by submitting related sites. I can't say for sure because I haven't looked but that is sometimes the cause of problems. The fact that you choose to spread your content over 2 different URLs does not mean we will list both.

You don't say where you submitted the sites but another difficulty can be in the category(s) selected for submissions. Somewhere in http://dmoz.org/Regional/Europe/United_Kingdom/Society_and_Culture/Disability/ or http://dmoz.org/Regional/Europe/Uni...y/Healthcare/Products_and_Services/Disability should be in the right area. If you have submitted elsewhere then it can take time for the submission to filter through.

UKRobin · Jul 30, 2005

oneeye said:
Your two sites are closely related in terms of content - the disability theme. It is highly unlikely that DMOZ will accept both since you appear to have breached our guidelines by submitting related sites. I can't say for sure because I haven't looked but that is sometimes the cause of problems. The fact that you choose to spread your content over 2 different URLs does not mean we will list both.

Although the two sites appear to be related in the fact they deal with disability, the first Access All Areas deal purley with the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) and access to buildings for disabled people.
The second Blue Badge is Disability Awareness Training to businesses and in no way related to access audits.

is it worth me re submitting my sites do you think?
Is there anyway of knowing if my listing is still in the waiting vaults or has been rejected?

Would be very greatful for any help.

Robin

hutcheson · Jul 30, 2005

Perhaps you did not understand my fellow-worker's response.

The two sites are related.

The two sites ARE related.

The two sites are RELATED.

They are related because they both are related to YOU. They are both (part of the) answer to the question, "who are you, and what would you do for money?"

We've been through this with several million people -- who think they can get multiple listings because they offer, for instance, repair of hot and cold water pipes (both "apparently related to plumbing services"), or sell both hamburgers and french fries (both "apparently related to imitations of nutritious food"). We don't have an option -- there's an official, often-reiterated, explicit, specific staff edict -- "we do not list multiple single-product line sites from the same company."

Now that we've gotten that out of the way, you can read the submittal policy to see what not to do.

I'd be very grateful for your understanding. Please.

UKRobin · Jul 31, 2005

hutcheson said:
Perhaps you did not understand my fellow-worker's response.

The two sites are related.

The two sites ARE related.

The two sites are RELATED.

.

This was a genuine mistake, and while I still say the two are not connected I take your point.

The two are however completely different companies, the first owned and run by myself only, the second is a company of four people. The first only offers DDA Access Audits, the second offers only Awareness Training. if for example you were to look for a DDA audit you would not find Training by us as both are not jointly offered.

They are separate in every way apart from myself being involved in the training in the second company. The major connection is that I built both sites I guess.

So while I take your point, you must understand that, people like myself are not aware of this because the rules do not appear that clear to us.
Offering these two services are as related in my eyes as is taxi firm and a airport, both are involved in travel. Disability is a big and varied subject just as travel is. This is why me and the 'many millions' are confused.

So while I disagree with you, I guess I will just have to sit back and wait and then decide which site I submit and hope that works.

Hopefully the day will come when we are able to get some sort of acknowledgment from DMOZ as to the status and result of our application, then and only then will situations like this be clear for not only myself but as you quote ‘ the many millions’ of others in my position.

Hopefully opinions like this will not result in a future ban by DMOZ but rather help DMOZ understand and solve these issues.

giz · Jul 31, 2005

>> get some sort of acknowledgment from DMOZ as to the status and result of our application <<

Yes. When it appears somewhere in the listings at dmoz.org then you will know that it was reviewed and accepted. That can be the only result that we will show in public.

oneeye · Jul 31, 2005

The two are however completely different companies

Separation of corporate entities is not really a factor, we are looking at end beneficiary when it comes to assessing the proximity of relationships between sites. You said they were your sites, a cursory look at the sites seemed to confirm a strong connection, if I were assessing the sites I would probably take the view that they were related within our meaning of the term. I would have to see a very strong and clear distinction on the sites when reviewing them to treat them as separate entities.

So while I take your point, you must understand that, people like myself are not aware of this because the rules do not appear that clear to us.

They are merely guidelines for inclusion and we would discourage people from designing sites around those guidelines - contrived sites often arouse suspicions. Besides your aim should be to produce excellent quality sites and that should get you the business - far more than a DMOZ listing would assist you with.

oneeye · Jul 31, 2005

Hopefully the day will come when we are able to get some sort of acknowledgment from DMOZ as to the status and result of our application, then and only then will situations like this be clear for not only myself but as you quote ‘ the many millions’ of others in my position.

You get an acknowledgement screen when you submit. That tells you we have the site. Results will never be issued - if you are listed then you appear. If you are not listed you are waiting for review or rejected. One reason we stopped doing status checks was because the information was absolutely useless. Say you are waiting... we can't say whether the wait is 10 hours or 10 years (we don't know ourselves) and nor can we predict the outcome of the review. Since we never discuss the reasons for a rejection it doesn't help you to know about a rejection but it does mean that millions of spammers are left not knowing whether their latest scam has got past an editor, something that suits our purposes.

UKRobin · Aug 1, 2005

I think I would have more luck Conquering mount Everest than getting into the DMOZ directory and i'm in a wheelchair.

Oh well such is life.

hutcheson · Aug 1, 2005

In a way, what you say is true. If you think of it as "GETTING in" -- then anything you do to implement that is simply manipulating, using, abusing, and coercing the volunteer editors. We see that, and we don't appreciate it.

If you think of what you're doing as "trying to help editors find good sites on appropriate subjects", then ... we see that (eventually) also, and we do appreciate it.

It's amazing how loud your motivations can shout sometimes, when you're doing perfectly innocuous actions. (But the thing is, there are thousands of people doing the same actions daily, and ... the patterns show up.)

So relax, let your helpful side show. (This is, I'm sure, hard for salesman types. But it is critical when you want to have normal relationships with real people, as opposed to profitable relationships with, um, customers.)

Help me get into directory please

UKRobin

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windharp

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oneeye

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UKRobin

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hutcheson

UKRobin

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giz

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oneeye

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oneeye

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UKRobin

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hutcheson