Tips on creating quality content?

Hi,

First off let me say that I don't know if this is the right place for this thread or not, but it seems the most relevant place out of the options available thus I apoligize in advance if this thread shouldn't belong here, and if it doesn't, if someone could please move it to where it does belong and if it doesn't belong anywhere I suppose just delete it.

Anyways...

A directory is all about functionality and categorization whereby you attempt to create a intuitive categorizational structure that is both intuitive and non-ambiguous as possible.

The categorization of the products my company manufactures is of course much smaller than such a web directory, but I believe some of the lessons learned in the creation and maintenance of the ODP can be appiled at any scale.

One general question I have about directories, is how do you handle the ambiguities inherant in some ideas/objects? Like for instance on my company's web site we have a product called the Guardian Lift-N-Spin, so if I were to create a navigational system that had many teirs to it, I might come up with something like:

Lift Tables
-Standard
-Rotating
-Tilting
-Ground Entry

Etc, but the Lift-N-Spin falls into two categories, Rotating and Ground Entry, thus it would seem to need to be cross-listed. Unfortunately with every cross-listing you maintain you weaken the entire purpose of the categorizational structure. We have a number of products that could be cross-listed, when does the structure fall apart due to too many cross-listings?

Another problem I've encountered is when I attempt to categorize information and the upper levels of the categorization become too abstract and meld into each other. Say I have 2 listings, Material Handling Equipment and Ergonomic Equipment and a user is trying to find Lift Tables, which one would they be under? Under both?

When you run into such a case is it better to break those categories apart and have multiple categories thus adding much more clutter to the navigational space?

Anyways, I'm having a hard time organizing like 20 products, I can't even begin to imagine what it must be like to be working on something that had 10's of millions of subjects.

My hat's off to the editiors for making sense of this big ball of information we call the internet.

Thanks in advance to any and all constructive feedback.

Edit- I modified the posting to remove the site specific nature of the orignal post and will take that discussion up else where that's more appropriate. But I did want to leave up my general questions about directory categorizational structures.

Nick

This is not a forum to discuss specific sites. There are many forums where questions like this can be asked. http://dmoz.org/Computers/Internet/Web_Design_and_Development/Chats_and_Forums/ is a good place to find such a forum.

"Quality" content isn't an expression we'd use. If in the mouth of webmasters "quality" means something other than "It's my site and I like it" or "It does what I meant it to do", I've never seen evidence of it. (The second meaning, at least, is legitimate: but neither meaning is relevant to the ODP.)

Information matters. Who are you, what happened to you, what have you done now, what do you know, what would you do for money?

Answer those questions about your business (insofar as they are relevant), and you'll have a listable site.

Quality gone Wild

Just to clarify the term quality from my point of view:

In terms of a directory, I would define "quality content" as being information that is not only useful and relevant to a majority of users regarding a certain topic, but also resides in a structure that the majority of users would expect to find that content.

Quality content about polar bears listed under pizza resturants may still be considered quality content about polar bears, but I would not consider it to be the more general definition of quality content based upon its location and what users are expecting to find there.

Nick

Obviously I like things organized, or I wouldn't be helping with a project like the ODP. But I don't see it as our job (or our right as ODP editors) to tell people what content they put on their websites, or what organizing principle THEY should use.

All I can do is describe organizing principles the ODP uses.

And one of those principles is "if a site has unique content, we figure out a place for it."

Obviously, for a business site, "who are you and what would you do for money" is the most important information the surfer needs. But what other information a corporate entity chooses to offer -- is not for me to question. I may see a connection, a unifying theme: I may not. (I'm not much of a literary critic.)

Every day, all day, there are dozens of people thinking they have a right to tell the ODP how it should be organized, and whining because they don't get the attention they deem themselves to deserve. Here is the flip side of the whole "webmaster autonomy" concept: WE don't get to tell THEM where to go and what to do there, either -- on their website. We just try to make things easier to find via the ODP, regardless of whether or not other webmasters act to help or hinder.

Distinguish between quality content and quality design.

We will list sites that have poor design, as long as the content is readable and good.

We won't list sites that have $10,000 in design and really look cool if there is no real content behind that design.

ALso - keep the naviagtion simple, so the content is easiliy accessable. Apart from helping editors, it helps customers.

But I did want to leave up my general questions about directory categorizational structures.

Click to expand...

One general question I have about directories, is how do you handle the ambiguities inherant in some ideas/objects?

Click to expand...

Because the directory is large, there is a recognition that not every situation can be handled in a uniform manner.

A single coherent website may contain information relating to a number of categories (e.g. folk dance, folk music, folk culture). It would be listed once in the most relevant category and that category will be cross-linked to others which are hopefully relevant to the other content. This is the preferred solution over a site appearing in several diferent categories.

At the opposite extreme a totally incoherent website (as far as classification is concerned) may only be listable as a personal page.

In between the two, we do our best to be consistant bearing in mind the needs of the surfer.

Unfortunately with every cross-listing you maintain you weaken the entire purpose of the categorizational structure... when does the structure fall apart due to too many cross-listings?

Click to expand...

[reading cross-listing as cross-linking] I don't think this applies to the ODP. If someone is searching, many pointers to other categories highlights other areas that they may not have thought of. The structure would only fall apart if the cross-links were not relevant.

Tip If you manufacture your own products, your firm could adopt the logical solution of only producing products that fit your categories...

regards

John

If you manufacture your own products, your firm could adopt the logical solution of only producing products that fit your categories...

Click to expand...

Hehe, we do happen to manufacture most of our products and I just so happen to have a meeting with the senior management later today. I'll bring up your suggestion

"But that's one of our best sellers!"
"I don't care, it doesn't fit in our categories and so it's out."

Our company's website navigational structure is going to be so awesome once we dump all these stupid products that have multiple attributes.

Anyways, thanks for the responses all.

Nick

FWIW: I read "cross-listing" to mean "multiple listing"; and we try very hard to not do that.