Trying for YEARS!

duetc · Sep 16, 2010

I am a real person, with real legit businesses -- both in music, and in computers. I have been attempting to get any of my sites in the OD for many years now, and I feel completely blocked from the club. I've read and followed all rules and suggestions, but still no go. I see my peers and colleagues in the OD occasionally, and that just adds to my frustration. I'm posting now, because it hasn't been just months since my first submission, but YEARS (ca 2006)! Is there any ADDITIONAL advice someone can give me that I might not have gleaned from the standard pages on this site?

TIA,

Eric Thompson

hutcheson · Sep 17, 2010

Here's a simple 2-minute sanity check you can do.

Get a friend to look at your site.

--In the first 30 seconds, can they tell EXACTLY what services you're offering to the public?

--In the next thirty seconds, can they give a reasonable description of what kind of content is on the website?

--In the next minute, can they identify what's unique about that content--what nobody else on the web has, or even ever could have except by copying you?

Obviously, there are a lot of really stupid website design behaviors this will trap. (How 'bout that 'way cool 2-minute flash video introduction? Sorry, stupid, you lose!) But this also will catch a lot of not-so-obvious but oh-so-fatal user interface problems. And it will weed out the vast majority of the made-for-ad-banners and user-contributable-but-empty websites which constitute such a large proportion of user suggestions to the ODP.

True, a lot of legit sites don't pass the test. But the sites that DO pass are much more likely to fall into the fast-track mode of some volunteer's triage process.

merlinvicki · Sep 22, 2010

Hi,
What you say is true but there is something else too. I have been personally in contact with an editor on DMOZ and I found him to be using his powers only for the benefit of his clients. I have so many times tried to get my own site submitted, but possibly it gets blocked at that point since according the specs laid out by you my site certainly qualifies.

Thanks, Viki

hutcheson said:
Here's a simple 2-minute sanity check you can do.

Get a friend to look at your site.

--In the first 30 seconds, can they tell EXACTLY what services you're offering to the public?

--In the next thirty seconds, can they give a reasonable description of what kind of content is on the website?

--In the next minute, can they identify what's unique about that content--what nobody else on the web has, or even ever could have except by copying you?

Obviously, there are a lot of really stupid website design behaviors this will trap. (How 'bout that 'way cool 2-minute flash video introduction? Sorry, stupid, you lose!) But this also will catch a lot of not-so-obvious but oh-so-fatal user interface problems. And it will weed out the vast majority of the made-for-ad-banners and user-contributable-but-empty websites which constitute such a large proportion of user suggestions to the ODP.

True, a lot of legit sites don't pass the test. But the sites that DO pass are much more likely to fall into the fast-track mode of some volunteer's triage process.

jimnoble · Sep 22, 2010

I have been personally in contact with an editor on DMOZ and I found him to be using his powers only for the benefit of his clients.

Did you raise an abuse report? Do you still have the evidence?

Are you aware that no editor 'owns' a category. Some 200 of us have the permissions to edit anywhere that interests us and we use them. It follows that no single editor can prevent a website from being listed.

Trying for YEARS!

duetc

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hutcheson

merlinvicki

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jimnoble

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