No reply to attempt up update listing

stevenmcdonald · Feb 21, 2007

Hi,

My company recently discovered that the description for our site listed in DMOZ is several years out of date and needs updating.

I submitted an update request through the update form 3 weeks ago and have heard nothing back, not even confirmation that the request was received.

Being new to DMOZ, I'm wondering what my next steps should be. I don't want to make the request through the form again if it's not getting to anyone, and I don't want to keep spamming someone if they are getting the requests.

What should we do next to get our listing updated?

Thanks,
Steve

crowbar · Feb 21, 2007

Update requests are usually taken care of fairly quickly, as they stand out as seperate items, but, not all updates are granted. If the requests don't comply with our guidelines, they are refused and deleted.

I did several of them myself today.

It might help you to read this to see if your request complied:
http://dmoz.org/guidelines/describing.html

stevenmcdonald · Feb 21, 2007

Thanks Crowbar,

I believe our request complied with the guidelines, but I will review it.

I was assuming that if the request was rejected, I might get some feedback from the editor as to why. Maybe that was a bad assumption.

hutcheson · Feb 21, 2007

That was a bad assumption. It doesn't really matter to us why the request wasn't a good idea. If it wasn't, the quicker it's forgotten the better.

spectregunner · Feb 21, 2007

I can't speak for other editors, but I do a lot of updates within Regional/ and I can tell you that the biggest problems with updates is that people try to write promotional descriptions, or want to change perfectly accurate description for the sake of change.

If the suggested update does not add value to a description that is in all ways compliant, it simply gets discarded.

Editing is not a collaborative effort, and attempts to change descriptons with no benefit to the users of our directory are not viewed favorably. I call them ego edits.

stevenmcdonald · Feb 21, 2007

In our case we're trying to update an outdated description (I've gathered that you don't like to discuss details here, so I'll leave it at that).

Basically, my concern was that I didn't want to annoy an editor by making more requests if my original was pending.

I think the problem may be partly that the category our site is listed in isn't really correct. I've requested the updated description with a request to change category.

Thanks for the insight in to what's going on behind the scenes. It's been helpful.

faf31a · Feb 24, 2007

patient
it will happen

faf31a

Bev Francis · Mar 13, 2007

No reply when updating listing

Hi,

I too have tried to update our company listing because it is under the wrong category and really don't know what else to do since there has been no indication that my request has been received. I have followed the guide lines as instructed and agree with Steve in that I do not want to annoy the editors by re-submitting.

If update requests are taken care of fairly quickly can I assume then that my request was rejected?

pvgool · Mar 13, 2007

If you didn't get a technical error while you made the update request you can be sure that it was received by the editors.
Update requests are handled faster than new site suggestions, normaly within a few days or weeks.
But in all cases it is the editor who decides if the request is valid. A request can only be valid if it follows the DMOZ guidelines (especialy those for how to write titles and descriptions) and if the requested change is visible on the website.
There is no need to make the same request over and over again. If the editor decided it was not a valid request the first time it will still not be valid the second time.

Bev Francis · Mar 13, 2007

ummmm ... I hear what you say but I did follow the guide lines and all I am doing is trying to 'promote' our web site up 1 level. It is currently listed under one specific category rather than a more generalised category which is what our web site is geared towards. Just can't see what the problem can be. It's a shame that we cannot be told the reasons for rejection - would make life a lot more easier. I'm sure the editors have better things to do than justifying themselves to the likes of us mere mortals!

pvgool · Mar 13, 2007

Ahh, but we prefer to list a website under the most specific category as possible. And only the content of the website can tell us were tolist it.

An example. You sell oranges
Shopping/Food/Fruit/Oranges will be the place to list your site
You now start to sell Apples as well
Shopping/Food/Fruit will be the place to list your site
But if you make a request "I now also sell apples" and we can't find any apples on the website the request will be denied.

nea · Mar 13, 2007

I'm not sure why you assume the update request was rejected. When pvgool says the request was received, he means that it was received to the category -- not that it was reviewed. There is no time frame for update requests, any more than for other suggestions, and so you can't necessarily assume that your request has been reviewed and rejected.

If you sent the update requests before October last year, you might want to submit one additional request, since some (not all) data was lost in a crash at the end of October.

Bev Francis · Mar 13, 2007

pvgool said:
Ahh, but we prefer to list a website under the most specific category as possible. And only the content of the website can tell us were tolist it.

An example. You sell oranges
Shopping/Food/Fruit/Oranges will be the place to list your site
You now start to sell Apples as well
Shopping/Food/Fruit will be the place to list your site
But if you make a request "I now also sell apples" and we can't find any apples on the website the request will be denied.

And this is what I did. Sticking to your example, I chose "Shopping/Food/Fruit" as the appropriate place to list the site because I am a typical 'greengrocer selling all kinds of fruit' and not just apples. If the editor had looked at the website he/she would have seen that this was the case - so as far as I am aware, I am following the guidlines.

Bev Francis · Mar 13, 2007

nea said:
I'm not sure why you assume the update request was rejected. When pvgool says the request was received, he means that it was received to the category -- not that it was reviewed. There is no time frame for update requests, any more than for other suggestions, and so you can't necessarily assume that your request has been reviewed and rejected.

If you sent the update requests before October last year, you might want to submit one additional request, since some (not all) data was lost in a crash at the end of October.

This is the problem! How do I know if it's been received? How do I know if it's been reviewed? How do I know if it's been rejected? If I knew that it had, at least I could rectify the problem.

We all lead busy lives, I am sure, and if the editors are anything like me, like to get things 'done and dusted' so that the next job can take priority. It's just very frustrating to find that your web site is still listed under the wrong category even when you have tried to update it. I just want to get it out of the way so that I can get on with other things! Not much to ask is it?

pvgool · Mar 13, 2007

> How do I know if it's been received?
As I said already.
If you didn't get a technical error while you made the update request you can be sure that it was received

> How do I know if it's been reviewed?
> How do I know if it's been rejected?
For both. You don't know and never will know.

> to find that your web site is still listed under the wrong category even when you have tried to update it.
It is under what you think is the wrong category.
But you don't decide what is wrong and right.
Only editors can make such decisions.
The only thing you can do is let the editor know that they might reconsider a previous decision and provide them facts why they should do so.
And even then it is the editor decision to make the change or not.

Bev Francis · Mar 13, 2007

pvgool said:
> How do I know if it's been received?
As I said already.
If you didn't get a technical error while you made the update request you can be sure that it was received

> How do I know if it's been reviewed?
> How do I know if it's been rejected?
For both. You don't know and never will know.

> to find that your web site is still listed under the wrong category even when you have tried to update it.
It is under what you think is the wrong category.
But you don't decide what is wrong and right.
Only editors can make such decisions.
The only thing you can do is let the editor know that they might reconsider a previous decision and provide them facts why they should do so.
And even then it is the editor decision to make the change or not.

The whole point of my argument is that it would be good to know if a decision, whether for or against, has been made. Seems a simple enough request to me!

But now having looked at the many comments from users all over the globe, I think I could be banging my head against a brick wall and so will wait patiently for another 1, 2, 3 (days, weeks, months, years? - even this I don't know). Then maybe I will try again - perhaps re-phrasing my request to convince the editor that I am right after all and that "bananas, grapes, kiwi, pineapples, pears, mangoes, lemons, apples and oranges" DO fall under the category "Fruit" and not "Apples" as per his decision!!!

motsa · Mar 13, 2007

The whole point of my argument is that it would be good to know if a decision, whether for or against, has been made. Seems a simple enough request to me!

Update requests are generally reviewed fairly quickly. You'll know if it was accepted as is because the site will disappear from the old category and appear in the new one (note: it can take a few days for the public pages to update and search takes even longer to update). But the result of a review of a request to change categories could be to leave the site where it is, move the site to the requested category, or move the site to a more appropriate third category.

pvgool · Mar 13, 2007

Bev Francis said:
The whole point of my argument is that it would be good to know if a decision, whether for or against, has been made. Seems a simple enough request to me!

What you are asking is a status request. And, as can be read in our FAQ, we don't answer such questions.
please read Why can't we ask about the status of our site suggestions anymore?
This does not only apply for site suggestions but also for update request.

donaldb · Mar 13, 2007

Bev Francis said:
I just want to get it out of the way so that I can get on with other things! Not much to ask is it?

I would say that you should just "get on with other things." Don't obsess over a listing in the ODP or you'll go insane. Being that we're not a listing service, you could possibly be waiting a couple of years before any action is taken on a specific listing because really it is up to an editor to come along who has an interest in that category before any action is taken. If you put off doing other things until that time, I think your business is going to suffer

Bev Francis · Mar 13, 2007

donaldb said:
I would say that you should just "get on with other things." Don't obsess over a listing in the ODP or you'll go insane. Being that we're not a listing service, you could possibly be waiting a couple of years before any action is taken on a specific listing because really it is up to an editor to come along who has an interest in that category before any action is taken. If you put off doing other things until that time, I think your business is going to suffer

okay, okay, point taken!

Sorry to appear obsessed by this as well (I'm not putting off doing other things - there is no avoiding them, I'm afraid). Just trying to get the web site under the correct category that's all so that it shows we are not restricted to one sort of product.

At the end of the day, I'm just trying to do my job as, no doubt, are you.

Thanks for the input anyway.

No reply to attempt up update listing

stevenmcdonald

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