What do I do next

Hi

I submitted my website to ODP (<url removed>) under the the t-shirts section a couple of months ago...but have not seen it added to the ODP listings.
My question is what is the next step. I haven't ever received any emails regarding my website. Is there a place I can go to check on the status of my submission request? Bear with me... I'm new at this.

Thank you for your help
Nate

There is no email to be expected when a site is added or rejected.

My recommendation for what you do next is to work on your site and make it the best T-Shirt site on the web.

There's no such thing as a submission "request", what you do is "make a suggestion". It seems like a very small difference, but there's a world of attitudinal difference (with a lot less frustration all around.) Because all of us -- editors and suggesters) can start thinking in terms of "improving the website." And all of us can STOP thinking in terms of "who is my servant and how will they serve me, and how can I get more service?"

See, the ODP is no different from any other website. Someone is working on a website (it doesn't matter who or what, it could be a few thousand people working together or it could be one dedicated dude; it could be a General Theory of Everything, or a Historical Description of Ceramic Defenestrable Widgets in the Liturgy of the Turanian Catholic Church from 815 to 817 A.D. Exclusive).

It doesn't matter. You have (1) People working, (2) Workplace.

You suggest an improvement to the way they're working. Now, the person (or people) actually doing the work may think that's a very good idea, or a very bad idea, or an idea that might be worth considering later.

What's going to happen next? Bad suggestions are going to be totally ignored, or -- if the suggestor gets pushy -- brushed off. Unimportant suggestions are going to be left for some convenient time. Good suggestions are going to be considered for actual implementation. And, once in a great while, once in every ten thousand suggestions, a great suggestion is made. And sometimes, a great suggestion will get a response -- because people who can give one great suggestion are worth communicating with; they may have more where that came from!

See, there's nothing really new here. If you've ever in your life made a suggestion you thought was helpful, all of this will be perfectly familiar. (If you've made very many suggestions, you'll have had some of them received with less enthusiasm than they were offered with.)

So that's all there is to the ODP: people review sites; you can offer help; the project can always use good help.

Understanding a little better

Thank you hutcheson,

I have a better idea of how the ODP works. Maybe I was looking at the ODP as a service when really I should look as myself as a service to ODP.

I guess what I would kind of like to know now is how does one know how the process is going on my website suggestion. I really believe I have a good website that would be an honorable addition to the ODP project. I have spent a lot of time creating the flags of the world shirts designs, thinking up fun phrases, and creating my products. Compared to many my website is probably not the greatest but it is my best.

So if my website isn't good enough for the ODP, how can you find out if it has been rejected or if it is being processed. It can be agonizing to put your hard efforts into something and then not know if it is accepted or not. It kind of feels like being the nerdy kid in junior high again.

Anyway, any help with this question would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you for your help,

Nate

>Maybe I was looking at the ODP as a service when really I should look as myself as a service to ODP.

Yes, exactly. (I should hire you to create digests of my posts.) The help flows all one way (suggestors -> editers -> directory -> users), with feedback only as needed to support the flow.

>So if my website isn't good enough for the ODP,...

I wouldn't put it that way. Think of it as "not the kind of site that the ODP is interested in."

>how can you find out if it has been rejected or if it is being processed.

There is no procedure for that.

>It can be agonizing to put your hard efforts into something and then not know if it is accepted or not.

(Now we tell you!) But editors have told people this before: if a website isn't worth doing for your own purposes, then ... don't do it! If you're wondering what to do next, and think the ODP has something to do with the decision, then here's how to ALWAYS make the right decision:

Assume the site's been rejected permanently. Do whatever you think is most appropriate. If your assumption is right, you'll have planned exactly right. If your assumption is wrong (and the site ever gets listed), you won't have wasted a minute, you still won't have done anything that didn't help the site, and IN ADDITION you'll have an ODP listing.

I know the feeling of curiosity -- waiting to see when someone would notice or publish your web contributions. There's only one way to handle it: start working on the next contribution.

Rusty,
I feel your pain. I suggested my site and believe my site was accepted but recently I believe it has been romoved because customers of mine that uses AOL say that they cannot find it any longer. I don't know why It has disappeared off the radar. I recently suggested it again and hope it will be accepted. I have had a lot of customers tell me my site was the best of its kind.

Hoping.......

http://dmoz.org is presently down, and we are displaying a cached version. When the site returns to normal, your listing may return.