No activity in category for 10 months

Hi,
I was checking to see if my site had been included after 10 months and notice that the category:

http://dmoz.org/Reference/Education/Products_and_Services/Test_Preparation/SAT/

Top: Reference: Education: Products and Services: Test Preparation: SAT (14)

has not been updated since:

Last update: 21:39 PT, Sunday, November 27, 2005 - edit

Is there a process for identifying a category that could use a new editor motivated to review submissions?

Ah, let's pick that question apart, as there are too many hidden assumptions.

(1) Editors, new or old, "motivated to review submissions": there are really no categories that could use them.

Editors, new or old, that are motivated to build categories by finding good sites -- THAT would be something very different indeed. And basically ANY "small" category could use a "new" editor interested in it, and with the right motivation.

The process is the other way around, because the constraint is on the other end. The potential new editor knows which categories he's interested in

What does "interested" mean? It should be a topic of curiosity, not as a self-promotional opportunity.

What does "small" mean? roughly speaking, under 50 or so listings, without complex subcategories, and not heavily spam-targetted.

As to the particular category mentioned, I suspect the spam load is too high for a new editor. And many of the sites suggested there are really of regional interest only, and should go to specific locality categories instead.

hutcheson said:

Ah, let's pick that question apart, as there are too many hidden assumptions.

(1) Editors, new or old, "motivated to review submissions": there are really no categories that could use them.

Editors, new or old, that are motivated to build categories by finding good sites -- THAT would be something very different indeed. And basically ANY "small" category could use a "new" editor interested in it, and with the right motivation.

As to the particular category mentioned, I suspect the spam load is too high for a new editor. And many of the sites suggested there are really of regional interest only, and should go to specific locality categories instead.

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Thank you for your prompt reply. I'm not sure I understand point 1, the category in questions is of poor quality, at the very least it is missing the three most prominent and respected websites (non regional) in the field.
(I'm an expert on the topic, http://www.satprepplan.com/testapp/html/SAT-Coaching-Bias-and Causal-Inference.pdf)

It seems like this is due to an absent editor, is there a way to open this category for a new editor or to ping the editor to see if they're still active?

It seems as if http://dmoz.org/Reference/Education/Products_and_Services/Test_Preparation/ and all of its subcategories are at this moment closed for new editor applications.
Either a reorg is going on or it is a mistake. Can one of the meta's look at this situation?

I remember that topic being a spam-magnet, and I remember some problems in that topic at least once. So I assume it is currently limited to more experienced editors and not accidently blocked.

As long as this is, if you want to become an editor, I suggest you start editing in a different category to learn the basics.

pvgool, I think "heavy spam load" is the issue here.

inboulder, just out of curiosity, what are the three sites that you most respect in that area?

hutcheson said:

pvgool, I think "heavy spam load" is the issue here.

inboulder, just out of curiosity, what are the three sites that you most respect in that area?

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The three sites I respect most are (all free):
number2 dot com/exams/sat/
These are great guys, have a good program, the domain is linked in general parent, this is the specific SAT page.

testprepreview dot com/sat_practice dot.htm
This site also has a lot of good practice content and self evals.

satprepplan dot com
This is my site, it has a custom study plan creator, but I wont say too much about it, the content speaks for itself.

Interesting. I won't comment on your site -- I don't think the forum TOS would allow.

But both of the other sites have been reviewed, and I believe their treatment was well within the bounds of the ODP guidelines. In fact, I think you'd probably be able to figure out why each of them was treated as it was, based only on publicly available information and reasonable deductions based on it.

hutcheson said:

Interesting. I won't comment on your site -- I don't think the forum TOS would allow.

But both of the other sites have been reviewed, and I believe their treatment was well within the bounds of the ODP guidelines. In fact, I think you'd probably be able to figure out why each of them was treated as it was, based only on publicly available information and reasonable deductions based on it.

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I'm not sure the need to be so cryptic, however I assume you're referring to ODPs practice of linking to top level domains, but I'm sure you'll notice most of the links in that category are not top level.

Regarding my site, I have no idea what you're referring to. It contains similar content to the other sites listed, but is more extensive and up to date, and has nothing that would violate the opd tos (http://dmoz.org/guidelines/). It's entirely free of ads etc (which those other sites are not)

dogbows said:

Inboulder, Hutch was referring to the TOS of this forum which doesn't allow him to comment on your site in this forum.

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Thanks for clearing that up, I was confused and thought TOS was referring to why my site wouldn't be allowed in that category, which confused me even further

Yes, the forum TOS.

And yes, it's always a trade-off whether to list a site once in the parent category only, or only in each subcategory where it has exceptional content. It is (in my experience) EXTREMELY rare for a site to be appropriately listed in the parent and in a direct subcategory -- in most people's experience, it might as well be "never."

Ad-freeness is not a requirement, which causes a lot of confusion (especially among people who are posting websites solely for the benefit of the ads they can post thereon.) We will try to tolerate even duplicative ads for the sake of useful content. Exactly where one would draw that line varies. For instance, I think it's generally agreed that no surfer should ever be asked to tolerate three popup ads; but I don't know that everyone draws the line at two (as I do.)

hutcheson said:

Yes, the forum TOS.

And yes, it's always a trade-off whether to list a site once in the parent category only, or only in each subcategory where it has exceptional content. It is (in my experience) EXTREMELY rare for a site to be appropriately listed in the parent and in a direct subcategory -- in most people's experience, it might as well be "never."

Ad-freeness is not a requirement, which causes a lot of confusion (especially among people who are posting websites solely for the benefit of the ads they can post thereon.) We will try to tolerate even duplicative ads for the sake of useful content. Exactly where one would draw that line varies. For instance, I think it's generally agreed that no surfer should ever be asked to tolerate three popup ads; but I don't know that everyone draws the line at two (as I do.)

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That makes a lot of sense. Now if only the category editor in question were as responsive as you are.

I've been looking around the ODP site and reading up on it, seems like some of my initial impressions were off. It's an interesting project; I'm actually amazed it works as well as it does, I'm also a wikipedia editor so I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised.

Perhaps I'll apply to be an editor, my home town category is in need, this seems like it would be a good way to learn more about the ODP.

If your home town category is one with about 50 or less listings or at least close to that, it would be a great place for a newbie editor to start. If your home town is larger then you might want to start in a subcategory. The good thing about starting in your home town is that you will find listable sites on delivery trucks, local sponsor billboards at high school stadiums, in local newspapers, and many more ways that no other editor would ever find.

Good Luck!

Just to clarify that a category with more than 50 listings is attainable by a new editor. There's no hard and fast rule on category size, but the advice given in FAQ and General Advice is worth reading before you apply.

jimnoble said:

Just to clarify that a category with more than 50 listings is attainable by a new editor. There's no hard and fast rule on category size, but the advice given in FAQ and General Advice is worth reading before you apply.

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Hi,

Ok, so following the advice and encouragement I got in this forum, I applied to a hometown category with less than 50 listings. I researched fresh links carefully and spent a lot of time writing an app. After 2 months I haven't gotten a response to my application.

Also, there as still been no activity in the category I submitted my website to for over a year. (http://dmoz.org/Reference/Education/...eparation/SAT/)

This is frustrating as I received such great responses on this forum, but then dmoz appears to still be a black hole. Coming from wikipedia editing, I was hoping for a vibrant, active community.

After 2 months I haven't gotten a response to my application.

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Well as you can see from other threads and the Announcement, the ODP has been down for over a month with technical problems, so no editor functions have been accessible, including the review of new applications.
Provided you got an automated response when you submitted your application, and provided you checked your spam filters for an explanatory email if it was rejected, it is probably still awaiting review, and when everything is fixed, it will be attended to in due course.
If you would like to check that it is still there, you are welcome to ask for an application status in the specific forum, but please read the forum instructions before posting, and of course there is no point doing so until the Announcement is changed to signal the return of all functions.