May 15th 2009 5:22PM
Why did I become an editor for DMOZ?
Hi Everyone!
In today's post we're bringing you the story of how one editor, imrankhan, took the leap from long-time DMOZ user to editor.
Emily
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My association with DMOZ started off back in 1999. I had just started using the internet and even the speed of my 56k modem internet connection was enough to bowl me over. Back then, my online activities were limited to sending/receiving emails and occasional repartee in chat rooms. It took me some months to realize that the internet is way beyond chitchatting or keeping in touch with your far away friends and family members. It turned out to be a whole new world of knowledge and information. I can't really recall what made me realize this, but one way or another I became aware of the revolutionary significance of the internet. As soon as it hit my consciousness, I gave up all other pastimes and restricted myself to internet surfing. In other words I got addicted to the world wide web.
At this time, I desperately felt the need of some resource like DMOZ. Even though I knew of some search engines, my first attempts at searching brought such irrelevant results that I dumped search engines for the time being, thanks to some clever manipulations done by webmasters to deceive search engine robots. Resources at web directories were either insufficient or subject to the personal interest of directory owners. Resources at search engines were spammed to the core and the human-factor was badly missing. It was then that I discovered the Open Directory Project, which provided that non-commercial, unbiased human-factor. Needless to say, DMOZ became my first bookmark and also, my first "cyber crush".
Why did I become a DMOZ editor?
"Help build the largest human-edited directory of the web. Become an Editor."
For some reason, I had always overlooked the above mentioned message that appears at the homepage. Perhaps because I didn't consider myself capable enough to edit, select or reject resources, or maybe because I was too overwhelmed by the largeness of this project. Hence, for many years, I continued to browse and avail myself of the great resources published at DMOZ, without taking into account the possibility of me serving as an editor for this gigantic directory. It was only after I started my professional life - that requires some serious research work - when I thought about making up for all the information and resources that DMOZ has made available for nothing. It was time to be a part of the cause.
My Experience so far:
Of course, fulfilling.
After so many years of surfing as a user, it feels good to be working "backstage." Apart from the guidelines laid down for the editors, one thing that has helped me a lot is my past experiences as a user. I see webmasters everywhere, at online forums, blogs, communities... complaining about the partiality or favoritism of editors, just because their website hasn't made it into the directory.
The problem I've seen until now, with sites being suggested to my categories for review, is that they don't provide anything of substance for the user. One thing we can't compromise on as an editor is the content of the website. The content has got to be unique, and by uniqueness we don't mean rephrasing or restructuring same piece of information in a hundred ways. There's no point in stuffing DMOZ with hundreds and thousands of websites, where the content is almost identical, hence of little or no use to the general public.
In the coming days, I am looking forward to make a significant contribution towards the growth of a directory that has introduced me to a number of truly useful resources. As a user, my association with DMOZ has always been good, and as an editor, it's even better!
In today's post we're bringing you the story of how one editor, imrankhan, took the leap from long-time DMOZ user to editor.
Emily
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
My association with DMOZ started off back in 1999. I had just started using the internet and even the speed of my 56k modem internet connection was enough to bowl me over. Back then, my online activities were limited to sending/receiving emails and occasional repartee in chat rooms. It took me some months to realize that the internet is way beyond chitchatting or keeping in touch with your far away friends and family members. It turned out to be a whole new world of knowledge and information. I can't really recall what made me realize this, but one way or another I became aware of the revolutionary significance of the internet. As soon as it hit my consciousness, I gave up all other pastimes and restricted myself to internet surfing. In other words I got addicted to the world wide web.
At this time, I desperately felt the need of some resource like DMOZ. Even though I knew of some search engines, my first attempts at searching brought such irrelevant results that I dumped search engines for the time being, thanks to some clever manipulations done by webmasters to deceive search engine robots. Resources at web directories were either insufficient or subject to the personal interest of directory owners. Resources at search engines were spammed to the core and the human-factor was badly missing. It was then that I discovered the Open Directory Project, which provided that non-commercial, unbiased human-factor. Needless to say, DMOZ became my first bookmark and also, my first "cyber crush".
Why did I become a DMOZ editor?
"Help build the largest human-edited directory of the web. Become an Editor."
For some reason, I had always overlooked the above mentioned message that appears at the homepage. Perhaps because I didn't consider myself capable enough to edit, select or reject resources, or maybe because I was too overwhelmed by the largeness of this project. Hence, for many years, I continued to browse and avail myself of the great resources published at DMOZ, without taking into account the possibility of me serving as an editor for this gigantic directory. It was only after I started my professional life - that requires some serious research work - when I thought about making up for all the information and resources that DMOZ has made available for nothing. It was time to be a part of the cause.
My Experience so far:
Of course, fulfilling.
After so many years of surfing as a user, it feels good to be working "backstage." Apart from the guidelines laid down for the editors, one thing that has helped me a lot is my past experiences as a user. I see webmasters everywhere, at online forums, blogs, communities... complaining about the partiality or favoritism of editors, just because their website hasn't made it into the directory.
The problem I've seen until now, with sites being suggested to my categories for review, is that they don't provide anything of substance for the user. One thing we can't compromise on as an editor is the content of the website. The content has got to be unique, and by uniqueness we don't mean rephrasing or restructuring same piece of information in a hundred ways. There's no point in stuffing DMOZ with hundreds and thousands of websites, where the content is almost identical, hence of little or no use to the general public.
In the coming days, I am looking forward to make a significant contribution towards the growth of a directory that has introduced me to a number of truly useful resources. As a user, my association with DMOZ has always been good, and as an editor, it's even better!
1. Before this comment section turns into a shout box for angry webmasters I\'d like to say, Nice Post.
Posted at 10:08PM on May 16th 2009 by RaX
2. Hi, my name is Gerry. I am a fan of DMOZ. I spend a lot of time in webmaster forums and have heard a lot of sour grapes about DMOZ. I started an e-commerce website in January. I found the DMOZ dragon online that one of the users donated. I really liked it and put it on my home page. I have been derided in one forum for having this "decoration" on my website. One of the users called DMOZ a failed experiment. I only hope to be such a failure. 4,000,000 listings! In any event, the dragon stays. I don't let others dictate my opinions to me. I think DMOZ is a very worthwhile directory and find it refreshing to find dedicated people who aren't out to make a buck. I hope DMOZ is still around when I am not. Thank you for this opportunity to vent.
Sincerely,
Gerry
Posted at 6:46PM on May 17th 2009 by Gerry DeYoung
3. It doesn't appear that hard (and far from being impossible) to become an Editor, from what I can see (and have experienced, although I'm not an Editor myself). But one of the points you rightly mention about content could be a stumbling block for a lot of people. If there is a category I am interested in Editing, but I cannot find suitable websites to suggest on my application, then I've fallen at the first hurdle. If I do suggest three sites, but they are not entirely suitable, then your application is showing the reviewer that you may not have the right skills or mindset or whatever, which could work against you I guess.
Finding a suitable category to start with, finding the right sites that can be included and showing that there is no conflict of interest can be a difficult task! Still, for anyone who doubts it, the systems does work, otherwise there would be as many Editors being added as there are.
Some interesting points in that post there that many would-be Editors need to pick up on.
Posted at 7:21AM on May 19th 2009 by Steve
4. DMOZ rocks!
Posted at 12:03PM on May 19th 2009 by Blend
5. Well, i've been waiting 4 years to get a website up into Dmoz. I've tried numerous times to become an editor, but never get a response after the application. I find this terribly frustrating, as there seems to be nothing we can do, and yet from an SEO standpoint, our site is suffering compared to our competitors, because we are not listed, and cannot get listed in dmoz. And i don't think it's our site.
Posted at 5:32PM on May 20th 2009 by nile
6. Wow! this page has tables, so long ago i dont see them in serious websites. I say Dmoz as lost its direction, averybody says "based on Dmoz, enhanced by us" or by Google. I do have reasons to tell, so far Dmoz is not what its meant to. And i dont see critics, so i guess you dont let them show... its ok, thats not web 2.0 anymore, so, so far you have failed.
Posted at 10:57PM on May 20th 2009 by Gary
7. @Steve: Editors don't just review sites suggested by the public, they're encouraged to go out and find new sites to add themselves. If you can't find new three sites to add to a category, then it's probably not a good category for a new editor to start off editing.
Since applications are judged partly on the applicant's ability to select suitable suites to add, you are correct in in thinking that providing example sites that don't belong in a category is not a good idea.
@nile: All editor applications should receive a response by email -- either a rejection or an acceptance. Unfortunately some of these messages get caught up in people's spam filters. Moreoever, as soon as you apply, you'll get an automatic response email. You need to reply to this message to verify your email address. Until the system gets this reply, your application isn't visible to the meta editors and catmods who review them.
If you want to check on the status of an application, you can enquire at http://www.resource-zone.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=11 (You never know, one of your applications might have been successful.)
Posted at 6:53PM on May 21st 2009 by chaos127
8. I just became an editor a few days ago. I thought my application was rejected. It is nice being as an editor. Thanks DMOZ.
Posted at 11:53AM on May 23rd 2009 by sarah
9. Excellently put … being an old user and a relatively new editor of dmoz, I can’t agree more. Thanks for bringing back my early memories of internet :)
Posted at 12:27PM on May 24th 2009 by Zonia
10. This is not a complaint....Sorry to use this area but it seems there are no other methods for contact here. About 3 weeks ago I got a site listed in DMOZ at Regional: North America: United States: South Carolina: Localities: S: Spartanburg: Business and Economy: Computers and Internet According to the FAQ's my site should have been searchable in a day or two. however it still is not. The page states it was updated on the 15th of May. I am confused as to why my site name or url is not searchable. Can anyone advise?
Posted at 8:43AM on May 27th 2009 by Brian
11. @Brian: http://www.resource-zone.com/forum/faq.php?faq=faq_site_questions#faq_search explains a bit about the ODP search function.
You can see the date the search database was last updated at the bottom of the search results page, e.g. http://search.dmoz.org/cgi-bin/search?search=dmoz.org
It currently hasn't been updated for a few weeks due to some ongoing technical problems.
If you have any further questions of this sort (rather than comments on the blog posts), they'd be better asked at http://www.resource-zone.com/
Posted at 12:35PM on May 27th 2009 by chaos127
12. I am a fan of DMOZ. I spend a lot of time in webmaster forums and have heard a lot of sour grapes about DMOZ. I started an e-commerce website in January. I found the DMOZ dragon online that one of the users donated. I really liked it and put it on my home page. I have been derided in one forum for having this "decoration" on my website. One of the users called DMOZ a failed experiment. I only hope to be such a failure. 4,000,000 listings! In any event, the dragon stays. I don't let others dictate my opinions to me. I think DMOZ is a very worthwhile directory and find it refreshing to find dedicated people who aren't out to make a buck. I hope DMOZ is still around when I am not. Thank you for this opportunity to vent.
Sincerely,
szala
Posted at 2:51AM on May 28th 2009 by szala