Sep 24th 2007 3:00PM
Welcome To The DMOZ Blog
Hello and welcome to the new DMOZ blog, the official source for information, insight, and updates about DMOZ, the Open Directory Project ( ODP ).
DMOZ is made up of thousands of passionate, volunteer category enthusiasts and experts from all over the world who donate their time to arrange their respective portion of the web. Thanks to their work, DMOZ is a starting place for browsing and searching the web. DMOZ data is also used by thousands of search engines and web portals to help people quickly and easily find information on the web.
To paraphrase Mark Twain, the rumors of DMOZ's death have been greatly exaggerated.
The editor community is very much alive and thriving. Thousands of new sites are added and updated every week, and we continue to receive hundreds of editor applications and suggested sites every day.
We thought now was the right time to open the door and start a conversation with the Web community about what's happening with the largest human-edited directory.
We intend to use this blog to:
- Provide authentic messages about DMOZ and the efforts of our volunteer community.
- Highlight enhancements, both current and future.
- Allow editors to showcase their categories and describe, in their own words, why DMOZ is so important.
- Recruit new editors. If you have access to the Web and are passionate about a category, find out how to apply.
Additionally we want to hear from you.
What do you think about DMOZ? Why do you use the directory or data? Is there something you would like to see fixed? When you've been around as long as we have, some people are bound to have great things to say, while others might have a few choice words based on their personal experience. Either way, we want to hear it :)
We plan on posting every week so grab the RSS feed or sign up for an e-mail alert to receive notification of new entries as they are posted.
Bob Keating
Managing Editor, DMOZ Staff
DMOZ is made up of thousands of passionate, volunteer category enthusiasts and experts from all over the world who donate their time to arrange their respective portion of the web. Thanks to their work, DMOZ is a starting place for browsing and searching the web. DMOZ data is also used by thousands of search engines and web portals to help people quickly and easily find information on the web.
To paraphrase Mark Twain, the rumors of DMOZ's death have been greatly exaggerated.
The editor community is very much alive and thriving. Thousands of new sites are added and updated every week, and we continue to receive hundreds of editor applications and suggested sites every day.
We thought now was the right time to open the door and start a conversation with the Web community about what's happening with the largest human-edited directory.
We intend to use this blog to:
- Provide authentic messages about DMOZ and the efforts of our volunteer community.
- Highlight enhancements, both current and future.
- Allow editors to showcase their categories and describe, in their own words, why DMOZ is so important.
- Recruit new editors. If you have access to the Web and are passionate about a category, find out how to apply.
Additionally we want to hear from you.
What do you think about DMOZ? Why do you use the directory or data? Is there something you would like to see fixed? When you've been around as long as we have, some people are bound to have great things to say, while others might have a few choice words based on their personal experience. Either way, we want to hear it :)
We plan on posting every week so grab the RSS feed or sign up for an e-mail alert to receive notification of new entries as they are posted.
Bob Keating
Managing Editor, DMOZ Staff
1. Congratulations to AOL staff for creating this blog, it's long overdue. Hopefully, it will get the real truth out to the Internet community and quash a lot of the misinformation that gets spread around about us.
Posted at 11:04AM on Sep 25th 2007 by crowbar
2. Welcome to the blogsphere. I hope this will be the first steps in mending the relationship between DMOZ and the Internet public.
Posted at 11:08AM on Sep 25th 2007 by Shell Harris
3. This is wonderful news! Improved communication should benefit everyone.
Posted at 12:41PM on Sep 25th 2007 by compostannie
4. Hey guys, it's great to see you alive and kicking. DMOZ is an incredible resource - and I'm glad you've done this.
I've most certainly added you guys to my RSS feed list.
Posted at 1:48PM on Sep 25th 2007 by Eric Martindale
5. 'misinfomation'?
Perhaps what you guys should do is all sit on the outside for a week, let a bunch of outsiders sit on the inside, and then try interacting with DMOZ as a site owner.
Then perhaps you would realise just how broken DMOZ is. But then again, you could all just keep your heads buried in the sand and chat about all the 'misinfomation'...
Posted at 1:52PM on Sep 25th 2007 by Richard Hearne
6. There certainly has been information being spread the DMOZ was dead or dying... It would be nice to think that it could become a living growing archive of REAL site on this internet instead of the spam house that the indexes have become.
Posted at 1:58PM on Sep 25th 2007 by H.L. DeVore
7. I have been on the outside, Richard, and you have a very good point, which is why this blog was created, you now have access directly to AOL staff, :).
Do you have a question?
Posted at 2:06PM on Sep 25th 2007 by crowbar
8. Thanks staff... nice to see you guys out front.
Best of luck with the blog. ~ Rob
Posted at 2:40PM on Sep 25th 2007 by robjones
9. So bob let me ask you this, does this mean AOL will take care of corruption and unwanted booting of new and old editors just because some evil meta like Mosta decided to have a network of editors enabling them to pay their monthly bills ?
I have used my editor account to post this message maybe someone can also check for exact reason for my removal, cause i know my removal was for I run www.dmoz-resources.com . Was that really good ? I added 10-15 sites in education category so i do not see why my removal took place ? Anyways there are lots of other editors like myself who got kicked cause some evil meta , i referrer to them as EM's like Motsa has problems ?
Anyways good luck with blog and instead of wasting time on blog if some time was spent kicking out those corrupt editors out of dmoz would make life easier for everyone.
Posted at 2:17PM on Sep 25th 2007 by manush
10. That is what we all really wanted to know!! Thanks for putting your efforts in this direction. Actually, there are lots of things still uncovered and too-rumor-provoked about DMOZ. I do believe many people will keep an eye on this blog. Have nice posts, ideas and communication!! Ye, Happy Birthday!! )
Posted at 2:30PM on Sep 25th 2007 by Fatalique
11. It's nice to see that the directory has finally opened up an actual official means of communication. Only time will tell if it proves to address all the problems with the current state of affairs. Good Luck!
Posted at 3:07PM on Sep 25th 2007 by dogbows
12. Thanks Staff. Glad to see this blog up and running.
Posted at 3:08PM on Sep 25th 2007 by emil2004
13. As an editor of six years, I have complete and total trust and respect for our meta community, especially motsa.
Even though I've been denied editing permissions for categories that I've requested, and I've had to be corrected on occasion, every meta editor that I've ever dealt with has been very patient and respectful to me.
I look at them more as big brothers and sisters that I can turn to for help and advice when I need it, and not as overlords (which they are often portrayed as being).
There are no "bosses" in the ODP, just a worldwide family of editors working together for the benefit of the Internet as a whole.
Posted at 3:17PM on Sep 25th 2007 by crowbar
14. Good stuff guys.
I look forward to seeing this develop.
Posted at 3:38PM on Sep 25th 2007 by chaos127
15. Great to see the new blog has gone live. Thanks to AOL staff for making this possible.
Posted at 3:46PM on Sep 25th 2007 by photofox
16. Will it still take more then a year to listed in DMOZ ???
Will you be able to tell us 'IF' our sites have been reviewed and 'IF' our sites are rejected or is it still a guessing game on the part of submitters?
Posted at 4:57PM on Sep 25th 2007 by One Eyed Jack
17. This is encouraging to see. I honestly thought your directory had lost the life in it.
Posted at 4:59PM on Sep 25th 2007 by Krishan Singh
18. "take more than a year to get listed in DMOZ"
Depends on the category : )
This is something that we hear all the time. Conversely, there are comments and elation about sites that get in quickly.
You're comment about status of submissions is a fair one and something that we are looking at improving.
Posted at 5:06PM on Sep 25th 2007 by bbqgrant
19. As a former editor, i appreciate this openness, I hope you will have the same openness towards editors who've been banned from editing, like me, and have to guess as to what the reason is.
Posted at 5:19PM on Sep 25th 2007 by Joost de Valk
20. It's great you opened up this avenue of communication. My main suggestion is that you communicate better with those who submit sites. A few years ago I submitted my site and got no response in spite of following up a couple times. The site (www.dougbrittonbooks.com) has continued to grow with several hundred unique visitors per day (most people visit to read online Bible studies) yet still no response from DMOZ.
Posted at 5:59PM on Sep 25th 2007 by Doug