Where are the editors?

Salutations! I am the webmaster of a Pagan website. I submitted my site to the following category well over a year ago:

Society: Religion and Spirituality: Esoteric and Occult

I checked back a few months later and found that it has not been added there or anywhere else on ODP. I made a note to check the other links in this category. Of the 7 links here, one was not functioning and another goes to an off-topic spam site. I can only assume that the editors for this category have not been around in a while. I tried to contact the editors of this category numerous times with no response.

I recently submitted my site once more (about a month ago) and I am once again awaiting a response that doesn't look like it will ever come. I am a professional web designer, using a website platform that I designed myself. My site has videos, music, photos, and numerous articles on my topic. I know it will be accepted if it would just get reviewed.

In short, I have submitted only twice, each over a year apart. I have received no correspondance and noted that this category seems to lack editor activity. Is there any advice for someone in my position?

Please be patient. Some volunteer will volunteer to evaluate your listing suggestion in time. This forum's FAQ provides further information.

Of the 7 links here, one was not functioning and another goes to an off-topic spam site.

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Could you use the 'update url' facility in that cat to report these bad links?

Thank you

Of course, I can certainly report them, but if the volunteer editors don't come around, the links will still be there months from now.

Updates are usually dealt with fairly quickly as they usually indicate something broken or not right.

Our FAQ covers the commonly asked questions about site suggestions.

regards

Yeah, I noticed. The links that I pointed out have been removed, but the editor couldn't do some reviews while in there?

> but the editor couldn't do some reviews while in there?
Maybe he could, maybe he didn't want to at that moment. probably he only wanted to look at the update request.
All editors are volunteers and do only what they personaly want to do at a certain point in time. Nobody, not even the owners, can tell them what to do.

I often go on update sprees in branches of the directory where I don't normally edit. Many (not all) update requests can be taken care of by a reasonably experienced editor who isn't familiar with the subject at all - that is often not true about site reviews. And in addition, many (not all) update requests can be dealt with very quickly: I can take a five-minute break from my work and do 10 update requests, but in that time I probably wouldn't even have had time to review one site.

I often go on update sprees in branches of the directory where I don't normally edit.

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Me too. It's a fun and productive way of sightseeing other parts of the ODP planet.

I try to do it at the US level, but, I've been slackin off the last couple of days, I'll get on the ball today, .

I understand that editors are volunteers, but perhaps ODP should arrange some sort of incentive program (monetary or not) for active editors.

Certainly not. That would be against one of the most important aspects of DMOZ. I guess that as soon as we get payed in one sort or another for the reviews we do most of the current editors would immediately stop their work for DMOZ. Voluntering for DMOZ means that you and only you determine what you will do and when you will do it (ofcourse within the DMOZ guidelines). Getting a reward would mean that others start to determine what you must do. No way.

That must be why the topic on ODP to which I submitted my site has only 4 links in it now. Seriously though there is nothing wrong with a little motivation that is not your own or being rewarded for your valuable effort. Your employers value your effort enough to reward you, do they not?

Yes, my employer does. But my employer is not involved with DMOZ at all. I am prety sure he even does not know it exists.
AOL (the owner of DMOZ) is not my employer and most probably never will be. For me DMOZ is just a hobby like others might collect stamps as a hobby.

I'm self employed, and I get nowhere near enough money, but it does no good to complain to myself, I'd just make myself work harder, .

pvgool is right on the money (no pun intended), I edit for the satisfaction I get from accomplishing something worthy for a faceless worldwide community of websurfers who will never know what I've done.

Giving without receiving anything in return is it's own reward, giving for the sake of giving. No amount of money could motivate me to do this, I would leave immediately.

Also, as pvgool said, the freedom and responsibilty we have, as I also have in my business, is very appealing to many of us.

Your employers value your effort enough to reward you, do they not?

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Oddly enough no I've always worked for job satisfaction and the money is incidental. Looking at company structures cynically, usually the more people earn, the less they actually do.

There is actually an very good incentive program - the rewards being the respect of other editors, the sense of achievement and, tangibly, being given more responsibility.

As your interest is in an unconventional individualistic area, you should perhaps appreciate the unconventional and individualistic nature of the ODP in a conventional world. Tut, tut, tut, a pagan suggesting that we should be more corporate rather than organic....

regards

I understand that editors are volunteers, but perhaps ODP should arrange some sort of incentive program (monetary or not) for active editors.

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Think about that for a second. The editors who are currently active are active for no compensation beyond the pleasure or satisfaction they get from editing. So, if our active editors are active without compensation, what exactly would giving compensation do beyond encouraging people who aren't in it for the pleasure or satisfaction a reason to edit? Generally speaking, those would likely be the kind of people we don't want or need.

Eric-the-Bun said:

Tut, tut, tut, a pagan suggesting that we should be more corporate rather than organic
regards

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That is not so unhearof, actually. Even in Paganism, effort and hard work is naturally rewarded in one form or another. This is not unlike the concept of Karma which is shared throughout the occult. Whatever you give out comes back to you 3-fold, so says the laws of Wicca/Paganism.

I am not so unintuitive that I don't realize the immaterial benefits of being an editor for ODP. I applied myself once, but was turned down because I chose a category with too many links for a beginner to manage (so said ODP admin). I find it admirable that there are so many of you who have found their purpose as an editor and are still humble enough to refuse further benefits of it.

However, I am suggesting that such a humble reward may not be enough. Again, I am not suggesting that ODP pay their editors. There are plenty of nice things an establishment can do for volunteers to show appreciation for hard work. They could offer special events, contests or drawings, sources of entertainment, access to sites with special content, partner up with another site to offer editors discounts to services or merchandise, etc. etc. Simple little perks like these would help.

By the way, I didn't know AOL owns ODP. I thought Netscape did. Was this a reason change or what?

AOL owns Netscape.

I think an incentive plan for active editors is an excellent idea. DMOZ/ODP could give out foil hats. (I still think the copper models are better though.)