Ok, I use the ODP, I love it and I thoroughly believe it is our best hope at ever accurately mapping the internet. Having said that though, from personal experience I share in the frusatration that many potential listers have. The scenario is all too common: Honourable lister suggests an URL, receives no feedback and becomes increasingly aggrevated by their inability to communicate with the topic editor. The trouble is, I think, that the user simply has no way of knowing the status of their submission.
Wouldn't it be good if you could come back any time and see the status? The status could simply be "not yet evaluated", "under review" or "rejected". And if the rejected status had just a few words about why then the lister might have a chance at correcting their mistake. Does this seem too simple? Am I being naive? As a programmer I wouldn't see this as a particularly challenging enhancement to the project, but again, maybe I'm being naive.
Now some of you may have giggled at my use of the word honourable. And well you might; I am sure the editors see their fair share of attempted abuse of the ODP. But I truly believe my own listing attempts to be honourable and have no doubt that there are many thousands of equally well intentioned users out there. Many of us are completely in the dark about what to do next.
I would love to talk to somebody about my own site submission. I'm a web developer and tried to list my site weeks ago but have no idea what's going on with it. Before I started reading all the forums I went in a second time (a couple of weeks after the first time) and tried to list the same site. Now I wonder if my additional attempt might be seen as abuse. I really have no way of knowing.
Just a modicum of system generated feedback would do wonders, I'm sure, to alleviate peoples frustration.
Discussion invited.
Scott Hooper
Wouldn't it be good if you could come back any time and see the status? The status could simply be "not yet evaluated", "under review" or "rejected". And if the rejected status had just a few words about why then the lister might have a chance at correcting their mistake. Does this seem too simple? Am I being naive? As a programmer I wouldn't see this as a particularly challenging enhancement to the project, but again, maybe I'm being naive.
Now some of you may have giggled at my use of the word honourable. And well you might; I am sure the editors see their fair share of attempted abuse of the ODP. But I truly believe my own listing attempts to be honourable and have no doubt that there are many thousands of equally well intentioned users out there. Many of us are completely in the dark about what to do next.
I would love to talk to somebody about my own site submission. I'm a web developer and tried to list my site weeks ago but have no idea what's going on with it. Before I started reading all the forums I went in a second time (a couple of weeks after the first time) and tried to list the same site. Now I wonder if my additional attempt might be seen as abuse. I really have no way of knowing.
Just a modicum of system generated feedback would do wonders, I'm sure, to alleviate peoples frustration.
Discussion invited.
Scott Hooper
