Since some of our visitors may be interested in what editors do, I compiled a basic list of ordinary editorial duties. Maybe other editors will add some more (and of course meta-editor duties are another kettle of fish entirely!)
* Find new sites – use search engines, search tools, and link pages to find good new sites.
* Evaluate new submissions:
- Check that the site is present, functioning, links work, does not violate obvious laws, whether it has Adult banners or links, whether the content is useful, whether it is a section of a larger site and if so, if its content is different from the parent site.
- Rewrite the title and description, if necessary, to conform to guidelines and grammar.
- Decide whether it fits in the submitted category, or needs to go someplace else. If so, find the appropriate category. If it needs to go to a different language cat, use editing tools to determine the most likely cat in that language.
* Check dead or down sites. A Directory-wide program sweeps every few months, and editors check their own categories in between. A small but valiant team of editors tries to discover if dead sites have moved somewhere else; they succeed amazingly often.
* Make lists, guides, utilities, link checkers, bookmarklets, etc. to improve editing efficiency – there are 566 such tools, made by editors.
* Search for and correct misspellings, incorrect punctuation and grammar, marketing hype, and other errors. Editors check their own categories, and also form teams to sweep the whole Directory.
* Team up to review sites for areas with few or no editors – for example, Regional categories for countries without much web presence.
* When big hosts go down, or large services drop their content, teams of editors spread the word and find the affected links.
* Write submission guidelines and category descriptions.
* Make sure the proper symlinks and related links are in place for categories, and that they go the right direction, and aren’t circular.
* Make sure Alternate Language links, newsgroup links, sort priorities, category FAQs and guidelines, etc. are in place as needed.
* Plan and suggest new categories and changes to existing categories. Discuss in the forums. Do the moves correctly, so as not to break links or delete sites.
* Check for spamming and abuse - this involves reading editor notes for sites, reading and discussing in the forums, and just plain remembering what sites are listed in your categories, so you recognize the same thing with a different domain name.
* Read and consider email from the public. Answering is optional, but if you do reply you must be courteous.
* Visit public forums around the web to answer questions (this is definitely optional, but a lot of editors do it).
* Find new sites – use search engines, search tools, and link pages to find good new sites.
* Evaluate new submissions:
- Check that the site is present, functioning, links work, does not violate obvious laws, whether it has Adult banners or links, whether the content is useful, whether it is a section of a larger site and if so, if its content is different from the parent site.
- Rewrite the title and description, if necessary, to conform to guidelines and grammar.
- Decide whether it fits in the submitted category, or needs to go someplace else. If so, find the appropriate category. If it needs to go to a different language cat, use editing tools to determine the most likely cat in that language.
* Check dead or down sites. A Directory-wide program sweeps every few months, and editors check their own categories in between. A small but valiant team of editors tries to discover if dead sites have moved somewhere else; they succeed amazingly often.
* Make lists, guides, utilities, link checkers, bookmarklets, etc. to improve editing efficiency – there are 566 such tools, made by editors.
* Search for and correct misspellings, incorrect punctuation and grammar, marketing hype, and other errors. Editors check their own categories, and also form teams to sweep the whole Directory.
* Team up to review sites for areas with few or no editors – for example, Regional categories for countries without much web presence.
* When big hosts go down, or large services drop their content, teams of editors spread the word and find the affected links.
* Write submission guidelines and category descriptions.
* Make sure the proper symlinks and related links are in place for categories, and that they go the right direction, and aren’t circular.
* Make sure Alternate Language links, newsgroup links, sort priorities, category FAQs and guidelines, etc. are in place as needed.
* Plan and suggest new categories and changes to existing categories. Discuss in the forums. Do the moves correctly, so as not to break links or delete sites.
* Check for spamming and abuse - this involves reading editor notes for sites, reading and discussing in the forums, and just plain remembering what sites are listed in your categories, so you recognize the same thing with a different domain name.
* Read and consider email from the public. Answering is optional, but if you do reply you must be courteous.
* Visit public forums around the web to answer questions (this is definitely optional, but a lot of editors do it).
