Redundancy

Every time I visit, it's the same argument in different forms, over and over again. People want feedback on submissions - suggestions (whatever you want to call them) and the ODP is unwilling to do so. Indeed, I suspect that Netscape wants to limit email communications between editors and submitters - suggesters. I have a couple of suggestions:

1. Edit the docs and clearly explain the policy. Moreover, the current submission "FAQ" suggests something like "three weeks, maybe more." The Editor guidelines SEEM to suggest that a spammer should receive a notification - either by the editor or staff. I don't think that's correct. BTW, I cannot find it but somewhere there is a reference to Netscape Communication <sic> Corp. Another issue that warrants explanation is what a site owner should do after a substantial site change.

2. Instead of spending time arguing with people like me, how about doing some site feedback? In other words, if I agree that it will be entirely unrelated to inclusion in DMOZ, I would love to have a DMOZ editor look at my site to provide some feedback consistent with the DMOZ guidelines.

The advantage is that owners of unlistable sites might have an opportunity to improve before submission/suggestion. People whose sites receive favorable reviews would have more confidence that their submission might ultimately be accepted.

>I would love to have a DMOZ editor look at my site to provide some feedback consistent with the DMOZ guidelines.

If this is a useful idea (I really don't know, and won't try to guess) -- there's no reason it needs to be an ODP editor. There are lots of places that give site reviews -- ask specifically about whether (and how easily) the reviewer can find the unique informational content on the site. (If one reviewer can, most likely the editor would be able to. If one has difficulty, others might also.)

I'd be (mildly) interested in seeing someone try it. You could even read the ODP editor guidelines and try to set up such a service yourself. I think with a bit of practice the ODP guidelines would make more sense than they do at first: a lot of people who don't have taxonomic or grammatical editing skills might still enjoy site reviewing.

Hey, try it out. If it turns out to be a good idea, no telling what influence it might have.