OK to email editor about submission status?

I'm curious as to the status of my submission, but I don't want to be a pain. I know these things can take time, and don't want to be pushy.
Is it okay to email the editor of a category about the status of a submission? If so, how long after submission should one wait? What if there's no category editor, is it okay to contact the editor of a parent category?

What's the polite thing to do?

I would say that it's ok to contact the category editor or the parent category editor to inqure as to the status of a submission.I'm not at the top level or even near the top as far as the ODP heirarchy goes, so I'm only guessing at this point. I personally don't mind such inquiries in the categories that I edit.The time it takes a page to be reviewed and added to the directory varies widely within the directory. It depends a lot on how many unreviewed pages that there are and how many volunteer editors are working in those categories. It also takes a while for the page, once added to the directory, to show up on the search. You can more quickly see, if your webpage has been added by going directly to the category that you submitted it to. There are occasions, where a site is considered to fit another category better and has been moved there. In that case, this latter method wouldn't work.I would say to wait about two months before inquiring of an editor as to the status of your webpage submission. Have a nice day,Angela

It's ok to try, but there's no guarantee anyone will respond.

There are a few steps I would suggest:

1. If your site is not suitable for inclusion in the directory - whether it is under construction, an affiliate link farm, presenting illegal content, or any other type of site which we do not list - please fix your site before contacting an editor.

2. Before you submit, make sure you have selected an appropriate category. Submitting to the wrong category is likely to cause significant delay in the listing of your site. Emailing to an editor won't necessarily help if all that editor can do is forward your misdirected site to an unreviewed queue in another part of the directory.

3. Check the "Last Update" time and date at the bottom of the directory page to which you submitted (scroll down to the very bottom of the page). If the date is recent, the page is probably being edited on a relatively consistent basis, and I suggest patience. If the date suggests that the category has not been edited for many months, there is greater cause for concern that the category is not actively edited.

4. Give it at least a couple of weeks (and I would encourage patience - about six weeks) before contacting an editor. When unreviewed queues are long, it can take a while for even an active editor to get to your site.

5. Be polite in your inquiry, and don't harass the editor. If you don't hear back, and yet your site is not listed within two weeks, only then consider contacting a different editor. Please do not simultaneously contact multiple editors. If you get a response from an editor, please don't argue with the editor. Polite follow-up is acceptable if you don't understand what the editor said (or why your site was excluded), but the ODP's guidelines are not negotiable.

6. If after contact with the category editor (with or without response) you have a good faith belief that you are being excluded by an abusive editor, send a complaint to a catmod for the hierarchy or to a meta editor (ideally, one who is named to the first or second level category of the hierarchy where the site was submitted) - see http://dmoz.org/edoc/editall.html for a list of meta editors.

My personal practice when contacted by a submitter is to resolve the issue without replying to the inquiry. If this is not possible, I will usually respond with a short explanation of the situation. On some occasions when I have replied to the inquiry, I have ended up being harassed by the submitter. As much as I am pleased to assist those who are encountering trouble getting their legitimate sites listed, I will not assist submitters who engage in harassment.

Thanks everybody for your quick responses and good advice.

The category hasn't been edited since last December and my submission has been in for less than a month, so I'll be patient.