My computer related websites

Hi All,

I own a small computer business that was formed in March 2004. Now I know DMOZ is here to provide a directory of quality websites that contribute to a better world wide web, but being a small unlisted business and seeing the same old list of computer hardware & systems retailers in the directory is rather frustrating.

I know there is no guarantee of if and when inclusion in the directory happens, that I can wait for because I've been waiting a year and a half so far But here are a couple of questions:

In some categories, e.g. http://www.dmoz.org/Computers/Hardware/Components/
, do they by any chance get capped once they have reached a certain size ?

If a category's "in-tray" (or number of submissions) is very big (which I imagine is in the fore-mentioned category), would that category be left til later ? ( I already know that category review is not timed due to the voluntary nature of editors)

I know I provide my customers and visiting guests with quality sites, they keep telling us this, so thats not a problem. I'd just like to know if I'm spitting into the wind by continuously checking dmoz to see if any sites are listed.


P.S. The sites are :

The Board
Bolton PC
Bolton Computers

>do they by any chance get capped once they have reached a certain size?

No. Not really. What we do is subcategorize.

>If a category's "in-tray" (or number of submissions) is very big (which I imagine is in the fore-mentioned category), would that category be left til later?

Not solely because of that, no. In fact, it's possible editors would organize an informal "greenbusting bee" to try to clean it up.

But there is another reality that should be borne in mind: If a category is very large, then it certainly is obvious that ... a new site is not likely to benefit the SURFER as much as a new site in some very small category. And so editors WILL tend to give the smaller categories more attention. And this is a Good Thing.

Second, if there are a lot of submittals to a category, it indicates two things. One, obviously chances of any particular site being reviewed today are lower -- even if the editor is working in that category AND reviewing submittals, he could start with any of the submittals, and would not be likely to finish all of them.

Second, if there are a lot of submittals waiting, it indicates that there may be a severe conflict between what SURFERS are interested in and what WEBMASTERS are interested in -- and we're for the surfer and um, just the surfer. period.

So, yes, a slightly longer queue suggests a longer wait, a longer queue suggests a MUCH longer wait.


>I own a small computer business...I know I provide my customers and visiting guests with quality sites...

Sorry, I don't know how to put this tactfully, but I cannot conceive of any possible circumstances under which anyone who is not a mass spammer could spontaneously put those two statements together.

Based just on those two statements, I would be willing to bet large sums of money that you are not spitting into the wind, instead you are spitting into editors' faces, by ignoring the single most important part of the submittal policy (which part that is, you can tell by seeing which part has the most draconian penalty attached.)

And I would recommend what I firmly believe is in your best interest: that you figure you and all your sites have already been banned from the ODP, or will be banned as soon as someone starts working in that area, and focus on other site promotional venues. (Since the sites are "yours" and on the same general subject, they are "related" -- and that is what happens according to the submittal policy when you submit "related" sites.)

Even if I am wrong about the mass spamming part, my advice still stands on independent grounds -- if you have made your ONE submittal of ONE URL to the ODP, then regardless of any other circumstances, your best strategy is to proceed promptly to plan B, never again to make an ODP submittal of that or any other URL.

In case you failed to understand the above reply. Here is more direct answer -->

If indeed you have submitted all three of those sites to the ODP, then you are in violation of the submission guidelines

http://www.dmoz.org/add.html - specifically:

Do not submit URLs that contain only the same or similar content as other sites you may have listed in the directory. Sites with overlapping and repetitive content are not helpful to users of the directory. Multiple submissions of the same or related sites may result in the exclusion and/or deletion of those and all affiliated sites.