http://www.clublottery.co.za - site submission sta

Hi there,

About two years ago, I submitted my site to the ODP. I can't remember where. Then about a year ago I thought I'd give it another try, but I kept getting errors on submitting the form.

I tried again today to "GAMES:GAMBLING:LOTTERIES:REGIONAL" and I got a similar error, except that this time it was slightly more friendly... it said:
"
Submit a Site to the Open Directory



Sorry, we could not determine your IP address for this submission. This may be because your browser or ISP has cached the previous page.

There is no need to resubmit; your site is in a holding area. Once we've verified that it is not spam, we'll add it to the unreviewed sites in the category you've requested.

We apologise for the inconvenience.

Please go back in your browser if you need to resubmit the form.
"

How long would it take for my site to get listed? And are my previous submission maybe still waiting?

Slightly off topic:
I would like to add a lot of the other sites I manage, but only if I can be sure that the sites will be considered. The only reason I can think for the ODP to think we might be spamming is because we are behind a firewall and have only 1 public IP for all the machines. How long does it take for such investigations to take place?

Thanks in advance for your time.

Regards,
Gareth Daniell

This site is a mirror and won't be listed. www.clublotto.co.za is awaiting review in the /Games/Gambling/Lotteries/Regional/ queue with less than a couple dozen sites. There is no need to resubmit it. Please do not submit other mirrors.

Hi there,

Thanks for the response. This must be the submission I made many months ago. However, it is actually www.clublotto.co.za that is the mirror. All our traffic and advertising etc. is going to www.clublottery.co.za and clublotto.co.za will probably be deleted when it expires.

The reason is because we initially started out as "Club LOTTO" but the National Lottery in SA decided that we weren't allowed to use the word "lotto" in our domain name. Because the site was still relatively young and we didn't have the resources to contest it in court we switched to "Club Lottery", and hence clublottery.co.za.

Is there anyway of contacting the editor of the category, and asking them to disregard the clublotto.co.za submission, or to review it as if the link was for clublottery.co.za.

Regards,
Gareth Daniell

Where you direct your traffic isn't our concern. clublottery is mirroring clublotto. We won't list a mirror. If you want me to delete the clublotto submission I can do that, but as long as clublotto is the main site, any mirror won't be listed.

Hi there,

Thanks - I must apologise. I was under the impression that clublotto.co.za was mirroring clublottery.co.za and not the other way round. I've just double-checked the registrar, and it turns out that clublottery is in fact just a mirror (as you so kindly pointed out many times <img src="/images/icons/confused.gif" alt="" /> )

I will rectify this, before re-submitting clublottery.co.za.

Thanks again - you know what they say about assumptions

Regards,
Gareth Daniell

If you have multiple domain names and point them to the same site, how will the ODP editor pick which one to use?

1) If you only submit one, in the absence of other information, that's probably what will be listed.

2) If one domain uses "cheap redirection" (javascript, frames, one of those inane ".to" domains) the editor SHOULD change the URL to the real one without redirection. (If this doesn't happen, please complain. Those redirector schemes cause major pains for everyone--editors, webspiders, and surfers.)

3) If it is the normal domain name resolution process (the name server points both URLs to the same IP address), then the editor SHOULD pick the domain name corresponding to the business name (joes-shoes.com, not cheap-shoes-4-u.com or good-shoes-4-all.com etc.) or the name featured most prominently on the site (say, in the header logo, or coded in the "Home Page" link on the navigation bar.) Again, if this doesn't happen, feel free to complain.

From the webmaster side,

1) Tonga domains are for fly-by-night shysters. Look professional, pay the $6.95 for a real domain; look poor but honest, publish the Tripod domain; or look like a sleazeball quick-e-buck grifter. Your reputation, your choice.

2) If you are redirecting from one domain to another, make the redirection specific ("In three seconds you will go to our spiffy new website new-url.com -- click HERE")

3) If you have two domains pointing to the same place (aside from the stuffed-keywords ones), then make sure the home page prominently mentions the one you want published.

4) Take the steps above, THEN submit an UPDATE URL request. If we can check it out at the website, then it's a no-brainer to change.

5) BUT: Don't submit the "Update URL" request with a newly-hyped-and-keyword-stuffed non-descriptive-marketroid-verbal-effusion. What may happen is that someone looks quickly at the hideous description, says "oh, they want us to stuff their turkey" and deletes without noticing the new URL (which is less prominent on the editor's form).