Submission mistake: is there hope?

Recently I made an ODP submission that had a big blooper: I gave the URL of my home page instead of that of the web page that I had really intended.

I have two questions: 1) will resubmission with the right URL get that web page reviewed without problems, and 2) will I be able to submit that home page URL at some later date with the appropriate description without being seen as abusing the system?

Suggesting the home page isn't the mistake, that's the norm. (For most purposes the ODP is a directory of sites, not pages.)

Having a description that doesn't match the contents of the site is also, unfortunately, the norm. We just fix it and go on. (The real norm, unsuggested sites, have NO description, and we can handle those. A wrong description is not a problem.)

There shouldn't be a need to suggest either the home page of the site, or any other page, later. You've brought the site to the attention of an editor -- and that's all the site suggestion process can do. So what if it could have been better done? So could 99.99% of all site suggestions. We'll get over it.

Another way of looking at it: there are POOR (sloppy/mistaken) suggestions and there are BAD (evil/malicious) suggestions. Don't confuse the two. The "penalties" (really, nolle prosequi's) in the submittal policy are really about dissuading people from making BAD suggestions. POOR suggestions are better than NO suggestion, and won't result in harsher treatment for a site than no suggestion. BAD suggestions are worse than no suggestion, and may result in harsher treatment for a site.

Thank you for clarifying this. But I have one more question.

This is where I was coming from: I know someone whose site has 12 different DMOZ listings, most for different sections of his website. One is for a single page describing a species of animal, another for the entire site. Would this have come from a single submission?

Probably not. Probably not from multiple submissions either. Normally, it's from editors searching out exceptional material about specific categories.

Thank you for this information.

Could you put these clarifications in your guidelines? This situation is especially confusing to those of us who have had several pages of a website listed in a category of the ODP after recommending just those pages. This could prevent some of what might be seen as "malicious" submissions.

I also have one more question: do editors ever come back, say, months later, to see if an initially rejected website has been improved? Suppose the website adds some pages in a new category, say, an order of insects? Is the door ever closed permanently for anything other than a violation of the submission rules?

http://www.dmoz.com/help/submit.html#multiple
http://www.dmoz.com/add.html
http://www.dmoz.com/guidelines/site-specific.html#deeplinks

Is the door ever closed permanently for anything other than a violation of the submission rules?

Click to expand...

No.

Well, sometimes "professional" SEOs suggest a site to a category SO bad that, although it's not considered spamming, it may harm legitimate suggestions, but that's rare in my experience.

Well, actually, the guidelines are pretty specific: one website, one submittal. But ... suppose someone begins to see a pattern in how the editors are listing pages -- that is, the page on submarine hymenoptera is listed, but there's an equally good or even better page on supralunar hymenoptera, while the ODP S.L.H. category is weak. Then it's not reasonable to suggest one more page of the site. And if that's accepted, one more.

My thinking is, if you never suggest one page till the last one is accepted, then ... obviously the editors are thinking your suggestions are helping! And if your own procedure causes you to stop TRYING to help, as soon as they stop thinking you ARE helping, then ... I can't see an editor complaining.

What the submittal policy is there to stop, is rampant deep-link shotgun spamming from someone who has set themselves up as the Greatest Authority On, say, Metallurgy Since Tubal-Cain, WITHOUT ANY SUPPORT FROM IMPARTIAL REVIEWERS (i.e. editors). Or someone who has decided that they deserve (and ought to have the power to compel) immediate feedback, to allow them to assume their rightful position as GAOMSTC. But if you have obtained freely given testimony that your best deeplinks are valuable, then ... keep doling out the deeplinks so long as you have the feedback.

And, once you've established a reputation as a valuable content provider and a reliable submitter, then ... there's not even going to be a problem with generating content aimed at internet lacunae, that is, noticing the ODP category on supersonic lepidoptera is sadly deficient, and collecting unique content on that subject to publish on the site.

Or, to put it another way around, that is the way you'd establish a reputation as a reliable content provider and site submitter.

I hasten to emphasize, most sites don't work like this. The door to this submittal approach doesn't have a doorbell, and cannot be opened from the outside. But if an editor freely opens it, a cautious and courteous approach will result in further help for the directory, further listings for the site, and better information for the surfers -- and who would object to that?

>do editors ever come back, say, months later, to see if an initially rejected website has been improved?

Yes: but mostly by accident, since initially rejected websites are the least likely candidates on earth for improvement. Much more often (because more profitable) would be visiting a previously deeplinked site in search of more deeplinks.

>Suppose the website adds some pages in a new category, say, an order of insects?

See last answer.

>Is the door ever closed permanently for anything other than a violation of the submission rules?

Threatening editors slams the door harder than anything else. A pattern of violation of submission rules, or a single malicious violation, closes the door for submittals.

But ... remember the purpose of the exercise, which is not to punish spammers (we don't have the power!) but to find and list good sites, and to get help from anyone who DOES help. What helps that, we'll do our best to tolerate and encourage: what doesn't help that, we'll do our dead level best to ignore and frustrate. And all else follows.

Thank you so much for your help. You have done much to dispel the fear that so many of us have submitting our work!