Over the history of the project, DMOZ has had more than 70,000 volunteer editors worldwide. On average, there are approximately 6,000 active editor accounts at any given time.
What's impressive (at least to me) is that we do this out of a pure sense of giving back to the Internet Community. Editors take the time to organize and create useful resources in categories and topics that are of interest to us, not for money (side bar: looking forward to typically useless comments on that item) but for the sheer enjoyment of gathering quality information to help people find what they need-faster.
On average, DMOZ accepts 78 new editors per week, which is great. At the same time, we're interested in adding more. Specifically, we are interested in hearing from people who can continue to improve the data we provide for all of our users around the world.
So, while you're here, is there a topic that you're passionate about? Do you know of, or can you find, three sites that are perfect for that topic that aren't already listed? Would you like to be seen as a category expert and contribute to a global volunteer community that is relied upon by millions of searchers and many of the leading search engines on the planet? Then, we invite you to volunteer. : )
While you're here, type a query into the search box at the top of the page (make sure you click on the DMOZ.org tab before you click Search) and see if we have a category that interests you. If so, follow the steps mentioned at the bottom of that page and apply.
More information about becoming an editor is available at:
http://www.dmoz.org/help/become.html
and
http://www.dmoz.org/cgi-bin/apply.cgi
We look forward to hearing from you.
Please keep your comments relevant to this blog entry. Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments.
When you enter your name and email address, you'll be sent a link to confirm your comment, and a password. To leave another comment, just use that password.
To create a live link, simply type the URL (including http://) or email address and we will make it a live link for you. You can put up to 3 URLs in your comments. Line breaks and paragraphs are automatically converted — no need to use <p> or <br> tags.
1. Well I do agree with the fact that DMOZ should provide transparency about the status of the submission, now i can see that its not only me but lot of people out there are suffering because of this problem, Its high time DMOZ should do something about it...
Posted at 1:01AM on Mar 1st 2008 by kalivd
2. Dear all,
I can not add my Url In dmoz Dir.
http://www.aryavartjewelry.com
I already add Dmoz Link in my webpage. Url http://www.aryavartjewelry.com/link13.html
Give me some Information, how I add my link in dmoz.
Regrads,
Nirmik soni
Posted at 10:14AM on Mar 16th 2008 by Nirmik
3. Hello,I like your website.:) Pls link my website http://www.factory1234.com in your categories .Ths.
Ms.GRACE
Posted at 10:09PM on Mar 20th 2008 by Jim
4. i think this is a very good site i had ever seen.. it is cool and very infomative...
-------------------------------------------------------------
Rashid Mahmood
If you haven't checked out book trailers, or if you want to see some really cools ones I've found a few places that are really good. My favorite is on YouTube at www.youtube.com/booktrailers, but I also like the new ones on the BN.com site at www.bn.com and go to the BN Studio, and I love the Borders Media site too. VidLits are pretty cool www.vidlits.com. http://www.youtube.com/booktrailers
Posted at 1:15PM on Apr 17th 2008 by Rashid
5. prefabrik has a communication and hasnt dmoz blog
Posted at 6:16AM on May 23rd 2008 by Scorpion
6. http://www.aihoo.com/EEC_road_legal_dirt_bike/
Posted at 8:09AM on May 29th 2008 by derek
7. I have no luck editing the best directory on web :( just applied for becoming editor hope this time I get through with application
Posted at 1:48AM on Jun 29th 2008 by Killol
8. I, personally wasn't able to use the search function on blog.dmoz.com. Maybe I just couldn't come up with a searchable thought, not one.
Posted at 4:00PM on Jul 28th 2008 by cole
9.
I can not add my Url In dmoz Dir. I already add Dmoz Link in my webpage.
Give me some Information, how I add my link in dmoz.
Regrads,
Nirmik soni
Posted at 8:08AM on Nov 15th 2009 by Nirmik
10. I really do hope for the sake of DMOZ that these things are solved soon as it has taken nearly too long to bring this to attention.
Konteyner
Posted at 4:21AM on Jan 28th 2010 by Konteyner
11. Since then my site is listed #1 on Google and usually above #20 on the other search engines.
Konteyner
Posted at 4:21AM on Jan 28th 2010 by Konteyner
12. I really do hope for the sake of DMOZ that these things are solved soon as it has taken nearly too long to bring this to attention.
Posted at 6:01AM on Aug 9th 2010 by laura
13. DMOZ is actually a very cool company should not underestimate her.
Posted at 12:30PM on Oct 21st 2010 by Red Sky
14. Very useful article thanks for sharing.
Prefabrik
Posted at 3:44AM on Nov 11th 2010 by Prefabrik
15. If the Open Directory Project is interested in attracting more editors (and it should be) it needs to become more transparent. Since dmoz was founded, the landscape of the Internet has changed. Contributors expect a level of transparency from organizations where they volunteer their time that dmoz simply doesn't provide.
Posted at 6:36PM on Oct 25th 2012 by emilcavadov
16. Why is there such a huge turnover?
If 78 new editors are approved each week and the overall number of editors never grows much past 8000 that means we are also losing around 78 editors a week...
Why is that?
Posted at 9:29PM on Oct 24th 2007 by marc
17. Since my comment was deleted, I will repost it. If it is deleted again, I will put a screen shot of it up on one of my better trafficked sites.....
ORIGINAL POST (REPOSTED BECAUSE IT WAS DELETED LIKE A DMOZ LISTING OF A COMPETITOR TO THE CATEGORY EDITOR)
Yeah - right.
First Bob says in his first post that you get hundreds of
applications per day. Then you say that 78 are accepted each week?
We all know that most editors at DMOZ have more than one account - but that aside - why not tell the truth and say that 98% are NOT accepted.
You Say:
"What's impressive (at least to me) is that we do
this out of a pure sense of giving back to the Internet
Community"
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Yeah. Right. DMOZ editors are so pure
and noble.
Give me a break.
Put a rel="no follow" tag on every entry in the directory and watch all your editors disappear in about 3 minutes.
Keep up the propaganda. Maybe someone will believe you.
Posted at 8:37PM on Oct 26th 2007 by mb
18. @ mb.
Can tell you must be one of our biggest fans. Thanks for stopping by.
We do receive 100s of applications a day. Perhaps you misunderstood what we meant by "on average." We meant sometimes more...or sometimes less. But "on average" 78 accepted editors per week.
So, by your math ( rejecting 98% - which we don't do ) we'd be receiving "on average" 1092 per day in a seven day week.
Which at this moment in time we are not. Or...at least not yet ; )
So just to confirm, DMOZ is not rejecting 98% of applications AND not "currently" receiving 1092 "on average" per week ( not yet ).
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Yeah. Right. DMOZ editors are so pure
and noble. Give me a break."
( sigh ) Why the hate?
As much as people contribute to Wikipedia or donate time & talent on extensions for Firefox...we have editors all around the world donating time & aggregating quality sites inside DMOZ.
Appreciate you sharing your thoughts on DMOZ and appreciate those who've stopped by and applied since we posted : )
Posted at 10:42PM on Oct 24th 2007 by bbqgrant
19. Join DMOZ, meet interesting people, list cool websites, get removed by meta for reasons your not allowed to know.
It is very interesting on how on one side DMOZ is asking for editors passionate and expert about certain topics to join but once they join they are treated as potential spammers and abusers and they can be found guilty and removed without ever knowing what they've done wrong.
Posted at 7:05AM on Oct 25th 2007 by Ivan Bajlo
20. If the Open Directory Project is interested in attracting more editors (and it should be) it needs to become more transparent. Since dmoz was founded, the landscape of the Internet has changed. Contributors expect a level of transparency from organizations where they volunteer their time that dmoz simply doesn't provide.
Judging by the rate at which the content index is deteriorating, in order to effectively maintain it's current content and grow it to keep the directory useful going forward, dmoz needs a lot more editors. And not just a few more editors, in the range of an order of magnitude. (Not 6,000 editors, 60,000 editors.) For those who scoff at that number look at the number of users registered on de.licio.us. Look at what Mahalo has done to attract guides in just a few months. The people and interest is there, they just aren't joining dmoz anymore.
Rightly or wrongly, there is a widespread perception on the Internet that dmoz is corrupt, and the only thing that will be effective in changing people's minds is greater transparency.
What do I mean by greater transparency? Editorial content decisions should be made in public places. Editors should be given an opportunity to defend themselves before being kicked out. Helpful, honest responses should be given to applicants whose applications are rejected (as opposed to the unhelpful "you may have done one of the following 15 things" type responses that are currently given, if any response is given at all). Experts should be given greater freedom in their content decisions. Community leaders should reflect the community as it is, (or perhaps as it needs to be) not the community as it was in 2003. Until dmoz changes these things it will continue to struggle to gain mindshare among those who could help it most and will fail to grow as it must to regain its relevance.
Posted at 10:33AM on Oct 25th 2007 by xixtas