Is there an editor for the East African region?

Hello there,

I am just wondering if there is an editor for the East African region, i.e. responsible for Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda and South Sudan.
I dont know whether that may help to explain why none of the sites I submit never makes it to the directory in the last 3 years or so.

I have also noted that over about the same period, the total number of links for each of the first 5 of those countries is either around the same or has gone back in this period. Uganda, for example at one time had a little over 300 sites, but they have now gone I think under 290, although internet use & the number of sites there has increased considerably, though I admit that does not necessarily follow that they are submitted.

Could it just be that for those who submit, by some stroke of fate just no one ever meets the standards of DMOZ?

I have repeatedly read the different guidelines for submissions and so on and also tried to follow the responses to the people who have raised similar queries here in the forum and feel like someone who is trying to pass some medicine exams one has no capacity to do.

Though I have practically given up on DMOZ, I thought I could all the same ask.

There are around 25 editors with defined permissions within Africa and another 200 or so who can edit there if they choose.

We could always use more so why not consider becoming part of the solution by becoming an editor yourself?

At least I gave it a try

well, I took your advice seriously and gave an application a try.
It was rejected and as I assume is the norm, no specific reason was given.
That is ok, though.

More important is that something is done for the following countries mentioned.
That is the current number of links for each of them as of 11th October, 2009.

Kenya: 522
Burundi: 90
Rwanda: 119
Tanzania: 504
Uganda: 289
http://www.dmoz.org/Regional/Africa/
11.10.2009

I'm sure Uganda has had exactly 289 links since at least end of 2008 or possibly much longer.
The other countries' links have hardly changed at all in the same period of time or not significantly.

As long as there is tangible proof this region of at least 120 million people is simply not written off, that would be ok for me.
If just 1, 2, 3 sites can manage to go through the stringent selection process per month or even per year per country, that would be a BIG change.
The other foe may of course be an incessant & inexplicable inability for anyone to be able to write a good enough site submission, but in that case, that would not be the fault of DMOZ and beyond its control.

To whoever it may concern .....
If you can present acceptable credentials to DMOZ, apply to be an additional editor for Africa or East Africa and help!

25 editors for Africa! (How does this compare to other regions/categories?). A layman in this area, but that sounds a bit little.

Africa: 1 billion people, 53 countries, relatively low but rapidly increasing internet/website use ... at least in a good number of them.

Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² (11.7 million sq mi) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area.[2] With a billion people (as of 2009, see table) in 61 territories, it accounts for about 14.8% of the World's human population.

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- Wikipedia

Just a side note.

Regards

Many editors feel for Africa, as it does appear to be under-represented both on the Internet and in the directory. I don't know the specifics of why your application was rejected, but if there were no reviewers notes, it's a sure sign that one (or more) of the reasons in the form letter applied. Unless specifically advised not to, you are welcome to try again...

I last had a site making it to DMOZ I think around 2002 or 2003 & that's it. A university related site.

Everything else involving DMOZ since then, including site submission, somehow, either there's no way of getting any feedback for one reason or other, is wrong or not good enough. That I'm convinced is a question of fate.

Rightly or wrongly the writer of the Biblical book of Ecclesiastes in Chap. 1 once noted:

9The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.

10Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us.

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I believe a new application will not help, otherwise I would make one. I have not been craving to be admitted, though, but much more to help address what clearly is an imbalance in human resources allocated to a region of 1 billion people(!!), something that directly affects me as well and because I was challenged to be part of the solution.

My appeal to folks who have that rare ability to do this work at DMOZ and have not registered yet, still stands. That could also be seen as a form of "AID" to Africa.

Otherwise thanks for your response.

... but much more to help address what clearly is an imbalance in human resources allocated to a region of 1 billion people

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We don't allocate human resources here. Editors with an interest in East Africa and permissions to do work there already do.

1 billion people

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Really? I thought that was the population of the entire African continent. I stand corrected.

I believe a new application will not help, otherwise I would make one.

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I'm not sure why you would think this?
A great many current editors were accepted only after they used the advice in the rejection feedback they received to prepare a more successful application.

There are many resources (including in this forum) to help people complete the application form, so if you are truly interested in helping out, you are encouraged to try again, being careful to follow all the advice and instructions of course.

jimnoble said:

We don't allocate human resources here. Editors with an interest in East Africa and permissions to do work there already do.


Really? I thought that was the population of the entire African continent. I stand corrected.

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Well, may be I used the wrong terminology.
I was referring to the number of people, who ultimately end up working on Africa-related sites in whatever capacity.
In your original response, you said

There are around 25 editors with defined permissions within Africa and another 200 or so who can edit there if they choose.

We could always use more so why not consider becoming part of the solution by becoming an editor yourself?

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I am not an expert on this but I thought compared to other regions or countries like the UK, I have the feeling they may have many more folks working on them or on particular categories than the total number (25/200) available, freely or not for the whole of Africa. It is just a guess, though.

I have been watching the page http://www.dmoz.org/Regional/Africa/
for a long time & I think the numbers there for a good fraction of those countries hardly ever change. So I suppose it's not only EAST AFRICA which I wish had more volunteers.

If a country like Uganda as mentioned has exactly 289 links in 6, 7, 8, 9 months, & the number neighboring countries only show a net change of 1, 2, 3 links in months in total, then well, ... I dont know what to make of it. May be there is nothing.

Regarding the 1 billion figure, if you look at my quotation from Wikipedia above & my statement before it, it is Africa NOT East Africa that is said to have that number of inhabitants. I state East Africa has about 120m ...

Even "Elper" can see I'm referring not only to East Africa, but whole Africa, because what applies to E.A. seems to apply to the rest of the continent.

By the way some movement here:

Kenya: 521 <===
Burundi: 90
Rwanda: 119
Tanzania: 504
Uganda: 289
http://www.dmoz.org/Regional/Africa/
15.10.2009

Anyway, I rest my case.

Regards

The way to increase listings in any particular area is to have editors who are interested in that area. ODP doesn't tell people where to edit, people apply to edit in areas where they are interested. You've been encouraged to reapply. Many editors have reapplied before they were accepted.

As has already been said, there are resources available to help people complete the application. The DMOZ blog has an excellent article at http://blog.dmoz.org/2009/06/01/an-applicants-guide-to-becoming-an-editor/ , as does the link in makrhod's signature.

Well, may be I used the wrong terminology.

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This isn't a matter of terminology: it's nothing like "we're not salesmen, we're financial advisors" or "I'm not a moron in a suit, I'm an MBA."

It's a matter of reality.

You think, somehow, there's someone (usually called "management") who will make someone else (usually called "personnel" or "work units") do what someone yet else ("customer" or "bureaucrat") thinks ought to be done.

It's not that way at all.

Someone ("volunteers") does what they themselves think need to be done, or at least the part of it that they know how to do. Some of the same someones also volunteer to answer public questions about the project. And that's all. What doesn't get done by that mechanism, doesn't get done.

So, back to your point. You think something ought to be done about some group of categories. (I neither agree nor deny: my approval or disapproval is irrelevant anyway.) The only way to make that happen is to do as much of it as you can.

And the only way to understand the project is to assume that everyone else is working the same way--because that's the only way to work.

OK, evidently there are lots of things about DMOZ that I am yet to understand.

I hope, though at least my appeal to people to apply, who have the right credentials to become editors and volunteer to help in Africa-related categories is in itself ok.

If you think there is no need: wrong! Some countries have had the same numbers in over a year & for those with changes, the numbers have almost certainly gone down instead of up.

So apply now & help :icon_excl

I hope, though at least my appeal to people to apply, who have the right credentials to become editors and volunteer to help in Africa-related categories is in itself ok.

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That's fine.

If you think there is no need: wrong!

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I hope you weren't addressing us editors with that exhortation. As has already been said in this thread, we welcome honest candidates who can communicate and pay attention to detail.

I still don't understand why someone who feels so strongly about increasing volunteer activity in this topic doesn't seem to want to contribute himself.

Exhorting other people to join or work in those areas seems strange to me. Several volunteers have spent their time providing advice and encouragement about re-applying, so why not do that instead?

Thanks for the encouraging words.
The long years of consistent failure to get anything registered, I must admit have left a lot of bad feeling & frustration as I stated above in my original post & had made me give up on DMOZ. My experience was whatever you do will not lead to any desirable results because it is wrongly done, not good enough, etc.
The rejection of my application to become an editor was seen in that light.

I have been told, though it's not unusual for one to apply more than once before one does it "right". I will consider that & try again, however after I see some positive changes in the region I have been monitoring, more changes than the exception of Rwanda with one 1 website more in many months and probably much more than a year.

Kenya: 518
Burundi: 89
Rwanda: 120
Tanzania: 495
Uganda: 288
http://www.dmoz.org/Regional/Africa/
26.10.2009

Kenya: 522
Burundi: 90
Rwanda: 119
Tanzania: 504
Uganda: 289
http://www.dmoz.org/Regional/Africa/
11.10.2009

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Jimnoble:

I hope you weren't addressing us editors with that exhortation. As has already been said in this thread, we welcome honest candidates who can communicate and pay attention to detail.

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No, it was not to the editors but to forum members who are more likely to jump the application hurdle.

There aren't any current editor applications for those countries either.

All the numbers show is that nobody, not even you apparently, is interested in working in the areas that you think are so vital. As we've said several times already in this thread, editing is a hobby, not a duty. Until somebody does show an interest, little will happen there except routine QC actions to remove link rot.

It's unfortunate that their importance isn't being seen as high, but there's no point whinging about it here. Instead, also as you've previously been advised, do something about it yourself.