DMOZ Blog

What is in the news?

Emily Kayser — 2009-11-20T20:19:00+00:00

Hey everyone,

As we've highlighted in the past, directory searches can be very helpful if you're looking for a broad overview of a general topic. Have you ever thought about how you might be able to use this to learn more about current events? Editor glippitt has put together an article that highlights some of the excellent current events categories available in DMOZ.

Emily

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According to the front page of the US version of Google News recently, the top stories were Obama's trip to China (what's their government been saying and doing lately?), Sarah Palin's new book (what did she say about the notorious Katie Couric interviews?), and unilateral Palestinian steps (whatever happened to the Roadmap?). Want some background information to help inform your views on these topics? Check out the relevant DMOZ categories:
Barack Obama
China
Sarah Palin
Palestinian Territory
Israel-Palestine Conflict

Under World News there was also the UN food summit (what else is the UN doing these days?) and climate change (isn't something happening in Copenhagen soon?):
United Nations
Climate change

U.S. news included the New Jersey car license plate issue (is the state government that desperate for money?) and trying the terrorist suspects in NYC (how does the civilian court system work, and how does it differ from the military court option?):
New Jersey government
War on Terrorism
Judicial Branch
U.S. Military Law

Medical companies (how are they reacting to healthcare reform?), the Japanese economy (is it recovering?), and Asian stocks (how have their stock markets been doing?) were in the Business news:
Healthcare Business
Japan Business and Economy
Asia Business and Economy

Sci/Tech included NASA and the Mars Rover (what else is going on in the space program?), Super Mario Bros. Wii (how many Mario Bros. games are there, anyway?), and digital books (which is the best e-book reader for my mother?):
NASA
Mario Games
Digital Books

Entertainment news was about the Oscars (didn't they change the format this year?) and The Twilight Saga: New Moon film (what's the history of vampires in art?):
Academy Awards
Vampires

Sports news centered on football (where can I find some official gear or memorabilia to give someone?) and Nascar (where are the fan sites, chats and forums?):
Football
NASCAR
2010 Winter Olympics

Health news focused on healthcare legislation (what's that public option all about?), the swine flu (who's most at risk?), and the effectiveness of popular cholesterol drugs (what about the drugs I'm taking?):
U.S. Healthcare Reform
A-H1N1 (Swine flu)
Drugs and Medications

Our editors are from countries all over the world, with varied backgrounds and interests. What we all have in common is a desire to volunteer some of our time to research topics for the benefit of our users. Good as search engines are these days, the efforts of human editors to find, review, categorize, annotate - and cull! - websites on a topic can often save you time and effort. Maybe we'll help you find sites which aren't 'popular' enough to rank high in the search engine results, but are especially informative. Maybe we'll build a sub-category which you hadn't even thought about. Maybe you'll follow one of our links to a related category. However you use what we've created, remember we did this for you. Not for website owners or website designers or SEO specialists, but for people using the web to improve their knowledge and understanding, and to find what they're looking for.

In this season of thanksgiving, whether you celebrate it as a national holiday or through your general thoughts, please take a moment to reflect and give thanks for all the volunteers in the world donating their time and efforts to help others. DMOZ is just one of these efforts, but it's one we as Dmoz editors care about very much. Happy Thanksgiving!

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What do all those editor titles mean?

Emily Kayser — 2009-10-26T17:52:00+00:00

If you've spent much time here on the blog or over in the public forums at Resource Zone, you've probably seen us mention many different editor titles - meta, admin, staff and editall, for example - but do you know what role each type of editor plays within the directory?

There are two basic types of designations for editor titles. One refers to the breadth of editing permissions, and the other refers to a role in directory management. Each is detailed below.

Breadth of Editing
This group is instrumental in shaping the contents, look and feel of the directory. Editors with this type of permissions make decisions about where things should be placed within the directory. They create new categories, break them apart when they get too big, and move them around as needed. And, of course, they add, update and remove listings from their categories, as needed.

Editor
"Editor" is a generic term that refers to anyone who volunteers to work on the DMOZ directory. All of our volunteers have permissions to work in one or more categories as well as all sub-categories under the ones for which they are the named editor.

New editors start with one small category (generally 100 sites or fewer, including all sub-categories). As an editor gains experience, he or she may request permissions to edit in additional categories. These new permissions may be granted by senior-level editors upon review of that editor's current categories.

No matter how many more advanced permissions any volunteer has been granted, he or she always maintains the designation of editor and adheres to the same set of general directory guidelines.

Greenbuster
Greenbuster is a special kind of permission granted to editors who wish to expand their editing skills by working in larger areas of the directory than those in which they have full permissions to edit. The name refers to the color of new site suggestions that an editor sees when he or she logs into the editor dashboard. Greenbusters work in this unreviewed pool of suggested sites and help named editors (or other editors in the branch if there is no named editor) to review the suggestions, edit their titles and descriptions (if necessary) and propose inclusion in the category. Greenbusted edits require a final review by an editor with full permissions in that category before they go live to the public.

This has two benefits to the directory: it helps junior-level editors get additional experience in a safe and secure environment, and it helps build out the directory in areas (or languages) where there is either a shortage of editors or an overwhelming number of site suggestions.

Cateditall
Cateditall is the title given to an editor who has permissions to edit and move categories anywhere within a given top-level category (for example, Top/Recreation or World// for non-English categories). The job of the cateditall is to take a leadership role at the category level to help guide the strategy and provide "big picture" thinking for that level.

Editall
Editall is very similar to cateditall, except that the permissions are applied to the directory as a whole as opposed to one category or branch.

At some point, you may have seen reference to editall/catmv. Catmv permissions allow the editor to move whole categories (as opposed to just individual sites) from one part of the directory to another in order to execute on the overall ontology strategy. In many cases, an editor who has editall permissions will also have catmv permissions, but no editor can have catmv permissions without the designation of editall.

Directory Management
Editors with these types of permissions carry out general management tasks such as processing new applications, granting (and, when necessary, retracting) new categories & permissions, handling abuse reports and project management. They also exhibit strong leadership skills and take a very active role in the directory and forums.

Catmod
Catmods are managers for specific top-level categories (for example, Top/Arts). They are experts in these areas and they act as primary points of contact for editors who work in their areas. Their catmod permissions include the ability to act in parallel to cateditalls, but they also maintain primary responsibility for directory development in their categories. This includes actions such as driving category strategy, moderating forums and helping to build solid editor ranks through mentorship programs and other methods.

Meta
The primary job of meta editors is community development. They emphasize team work, consensus building & editor accountability, and they play a leading role in efforts to root out editor abuses.

Similar to catmods, metas also maintain all of the permissions held by editall/catmvs.

Admin
At the admin level, editors participate in community governance. They take an active role in communications, both within the editor community where they act as forum moderators and provide community-wide updates via dashboard notes, and with the public through their role as curators of the directory documentation. It is also the responsibility of admins to assign permissions of (cat)editall and meta to editors who have demonstrated excellence in editing and community development.

While many editors at all levels may maintain permissions to edit in both the Classic DMOZ and Kids & Teens directories, only admins are guaranteed to have permissions in both. At other levels, editors are granted permissions in a parallel structure for the Kids & Teens directory, as designated by the "k" prefix in their titles (for example, "kmeta").

There is one additional designation that falls outside these two main groups.

Staff
This refers to employees of AOL, DMOZ's parent company, who work on the DMOZ project. Staff's primary responsibilities include building and maintaining the directory's technical infrastructure and public relations/marketing for the project.

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Another Year: Two Years in ODP

Emily Kayser — 2009-10-09T17:00:00+00:00

We first met editor laigh nearly two years ago when he blogged about his first month as a DMOZ editor. A year later, we checked in to see how he was doing. Believe it or not, another year has gone by, and laigh is back to give us an update on his second year as an editor - it's been eventful!

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Yes it is that time of year again, the time for me, laigh, to pop in and say hello and let you know how I am getting on and what I have been up to.

I have now been an editor for just over two years and have completed just over 75000 edits in that time but the number of edits is just a part of the story.

Late last year I decided to take a rest. I had been spending quite a lot of my spare time editing, and although enjoying it, I decided to have a break for a while. I took some time off and returned with increased vigour about two months later. To my surprise, within a month or so of my return, I was given further permission in the directory. I was entrusted with the position of editall and catmv. This allowed me to work in most parts of the directory and to be able to change category names. Within a few weeks of that "promotion" I was then given permissions to work in all of the Kids and Teens. I now can edit anywhere in the directory.

Obviously the senior editors (admins and metas) consider very carefully if an editor can handle permissions such as editall, and I am very happy that they thought I could. The first time I opened up my editor interface I was amazed at the amount of scope ODP actually has. I had worked in large parts of the directory before these permissions but the utter size of the directory actually dawned on me that morning. What I was taught that day was not how much I knew about ODP but how much I didn't know. Being an editall doesn't automatically qualify you to edit anywhere, all it does is open up a huge learning curve so that you can start to educate yourself to edit in places that you have not been before.

What do I concentrate my time on now that I can "go anywhere". Basically I spend a lot of my time in QC (Quality Control) work. I go around the directory looking for sites that may have gone bad, changed, or even disappeared all together. I see this as a very important part of maintaining the projects standards and keeping the user experience to the highest possible degree. I have also being doing a bit of work within the Kids and Teens area. I have been working on expanding the category that deals with The Boy Scouts of America at http://www.dmoz.org/Kids_and_Teens/People_and_Society/Organizations/Pe rsonal_Development/Scouting/Boy_Scouts_of_America/. I have added quite a few sites to these categories and tidied up quite a few too. Still a long way to go but anything good is worth taking your time over.

I do tend to do a few other jobs around the project, but don't worry I will not bore you with them, suffice to say it all keeps me busy.

Anyway, time to go now. I hope I will be able to talk to you again next year. I would like to say thanks to all my fellow editors for all their help, support and friendship over the last year and I would like to thank all members of the public and webmasters for continuing to support us by suggesting relevant quality sites and using the directory for their own projects.

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Go Back to School with DMOZ!

Emily Kayser — 2009-10-02T15:01:00+00:00

For many students, school is now back in full-swing and assignments are starting to pile up. If you (or someone you know) recently returned to school, DMOZ can be a great resource to use as a starting point for projects or research papers for students of all ages.

Elementary School through High School
As we've mentioned in the past, the Kids & Teens directory contains a wealth of hand-selected information for children ranging in age from pre-school to high school. School age children can use the directory to find homework help, access virtual exhibits at leading museums, and find learning enrichment activities in areas such as science and reading.
Older students can find homework help and reference tools in the Kids & Teens directory as well, but there is also additional content specific to career choices, higher education opportunities and organizations & activities to help teens explore career paths and options for additional education.
Want to give it a try? Check out some of these categories:

o. Homework Help
Pages and sites created specifically to assist children and teenagers with homework free of charge.
http://www.dmoz.org/Kids_and_Teens/School_Time/Homework_Help/

o. Reference Tools
Free online reference tools including dictionaries, thesauri, encyclopedias and almanacs.
http://www.dmoz.org/Kids_and_Teens/School_Time/Reference_Tools/

o. Future Planning & Careers
Pages and sites about careers and the skills and academic knowledge needed for them.
http://www.dmoz.org/Kids_and_Teens/People_and_Society/Careers/

You can also find resources for specific academic subject areas and content in a variety of languages.

College & Beyond
For university students, the directory can prove to be an invaluable resource as a starting point for research. I know this first-hand as my own introduction to DMOZ was conducting research for an undergraduate term paper.

As we've pointed out in the past, DMOZ is an excellent place to locate general information on topics ranging from world affairs to social sciences to scientific research journals. It's also an excellent place to find trade groups and information on local businesses that may be able to assist by providing interviews or site visits.

To use an example from my own experience, I was conducting research on architectural trends in Chicago. I began with an overview of urban and regional planning and then moved on to find sites that focused on an overview of periods and styles of architecture & historic buildings in Chicago before delving into trade associations to help me find architects (and examples of their work) in the Chicago area. I also checked out the category on architectural photography to find out if there were any local photographers who might have images that would be helpful to my research.

After that, I had enough information to help me begin a more focused search using additional resources.

Many of our editors are experts in their fields and have compiled categories that reflect their passion for and knowledge of these topics. If you find that your area of academic interest isn't well-represented in the directory why not join us as an editor & help build it out?

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How is DMOZ Data Used?

Emily Kayser — 2009-09-03T14:43:00+00:00

A lot of our blog posts are dedicated to exploring the internal workings of the directory or the way in which DMOZ grows, but we don't often talk about how the data is used once it's included in the directory. While the stand-alone DMOZ directory is an excellent resource, many of the information-seekers who benefit from directory content come into contact with it through third-party sites that use the data.

You may have heard DMOZ called by another name - the Open Directory Project, or ODP. This is where the "Open" comes in. The DMOZ license agreement states that users may download the RDF - in other words, the entire contents of the directory - and use some or all of it on their sites free of charge. Many sites both large and small incorporate data compiled by our dedicated corps of volunteer editors. The best-known example of this may be the Google Directory which applies Google's propriety PageRank data to DMOZ results. In other cases, site owners use a small portion of the data relevant to their own regions, localities or lines of business.

In exchange for use of the data, site owners agree to include an attribution badge to ensure that the editors get credit for the work they do to build and maintain the directory. The badge is also important in that it allows interested users to learn more about the project and, potentially, to decide to join us as editors to help it grow. There are some fairly common questions about how and when the badge must be displayed. Examples include:

1. I am only using a very small portion of the data - just one category, or even just a few links. Do I have to display the badge?
Yes. You may use all or part of the directory data on your site, but any quantity of ODP data (large or small) you select must be acknowledged with the badge.

2. I am including my own data in addition to DMOZ data. Do I have to display the badge?
Yes. The license's badging requirement also applies to any derivative works created by end users.

3. I run my own directory and accept my own site submissions in addition to the DMOZ-listed sites. Do I have to display the badge?
Yes. The rules here are the same as with any other derivative work.

4. Are there any circumstances in which I can use data and not display the badge?
The short answer is no. Any use of DMOZ data must be acknowledged in accordance with the license.

Sites that do not display the badge are in violation of the license agreement. Site owners may be contacted by DMOZ and asked to make the appropriate updates in order to comply.

You can read more about the DMOZ license requirements here and download a code snippet to add the badge to your site here.

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What is Editor Abuse?

Emily Kayser — 2009-08-24T11:23:00+00:00

Hi everyone!

At DMOZ, we get tons of questions about what editor abuse actually is and how to spot it. In this post, meta editor jensarentoft has provided a very useful primer on the signs and symptoms of abuse, and what to do if you suspect it.

Emily

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The ODP Editor Guidelines explain the different types of abuse. Examples of abuse that are not tolerated - and may result in account removal - include, but are not limited to:

Editorial abuse
Manipulating or deleting submissions and listings of competitors.
Adding inappropriate sites or adding sites in inappropriate categories.
Repeated and egregiously poor editing, despite feedback and/or a dashboard warning.

Self-promotion
Cooling your own site or affiliated sites.
Title or description manipulation.
Adding/promoting only one's own sites or affiliated sites.
Creating vanity categories to showcase one's own sites or affiliated sites.

Other violations
Accepting or soliciting bribes in exchange for listing.
Uncivil and intentionally disruptive behavior.
Violating the confidentiality of the forums, editor notes etc.
Concealing affiliations.
Spamming the directory.
One ODP editor having more than one account or sharing the account with others.

Is it abusive for editors to list their own sites?
Editors are allowed to list their own site(s) or affiliated sites provided that their sites meet all listing criteria and that they also list other sites. There is no official number for how many other sites the editor must list to stay clear of self-promotion. Editall+ editors are allowed to list their own sites in appropriate categories all over the directory, and that is no problem because they usually have listed thousands of other sites.

Editors are only allowed to list their site(s) in the category in which they have active editor permissions, and only if the site is appropriate for the category. Asking other editors to list a site in a category is considered self-promotion and is not allowed. Instead, editors must suggest their sites to other categories just like non-editors.

When are editing privileges removed?
Editors can learn about how to prevent abuse by using guidelines, reading editor forums, and receiving feedback from senior editors. In serious matters, they may receive dashboard warnings. Metas, Catmods and Admins make every effort to keep editors on track and make them feel good about being part of this international online community.

Some cases of abuse are very clear. Any editor who accepts bribes or deletes competitors´ sites will find that his or her time as an editor is running out.

In many cases, however, a warning is issued to an editor before removal. This helps to ensure that an editing transgression is truly due to abuse and is not simply the result of gaps in an individual editor's understanding of the category or listing guidelines. It is important to note that there is a difference between poor editing or honest editorial mistakes and editor abuse, and it isn't always apparent which has occurred to people looking from the outside; however, some practices that are visible to the public are good indicators of abuse and we'd like to know about those. A list of these can be found in the "Report Abuse" section below.

Removing editing privileges must be supported by at least five Meta editors and is used only if nothing else works.

How is abuse found?
Abuse is found in various ways and not only from abuse reports submitted by the public or by editors. One of the tasks of the Meta editors is fighting abuse, and senior editors have a number of abuse-fighting resources at their disposal.

An easy way to spot abuse is to look for titles and descriptions that are not in accordance with the guidelines. You also can look for inappropriate sites listed against the guidelines about which sites not to include. If you want to look for mirrors, affiliates, and similar sites, you can find tips in this newsletter.

Report abuse
If you spot any signs or symptoms of abuse, please use this link to the Open Directory Public Abuse Report System to report it. All reports will be investigated and are visible to all Metas, Admins and Staff. Abuse reports against Metas are investigated by Admins and Staff.

Some signs of abuse which are visible to non-editors include:

Editors giving preferential treatment to their sites. This includes self-cooling (awarding of the 'cool' designation to affiliated sites) and keyword-stuffing (proving longer and/ or more favourable titles and descriptions to affiliated sites).
Editors adding inappropriate sites. This can be done accidentally, of course, but of special concern is the adding of pornographic sites outside of Adult/, affiliate links, mirrors, and doorways.
Sites listed in the Kids & Teens branch which present Adult content material.
Biased/slanted categories. The ODP aims to represent all viewpoints and topics equally and fairly; categories designed to unfairly exclude/marginalise a particular outlook/interpretation are disallowed.
Editors accepting bribes. We have no tolerance whatsoever for any bribery attempts. All submissions to the ODP are completely free; any editor found to be accepting bribes will be removed.

Directory users sometimes see sites listed in categories where they are no longer relevant or where the description they have been provided with is no longer accurate) and suspect editor abuse. In most cases, this is simply the result of an expired/hijacked domain, or a site whose owners have changed its focus since it was originally listed. In these cases, it's better to file a request to update the listing and to post in the Resource Zone Quality Control thread so that an editor can take a look at it.

To help us investigate your report please include as much relevant information as you can. This may include:

Affected categories/ editors/ sites.
A description of the alleged abuse.
Proof of editors' affiliations with specific sites.
Copies of e-mails (including full-headers where possible).
Details of any past correspondence you have had with the ODP.
Your e-mail address. This is vital if you want feedback on your report.

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What is Unique Content?

Emily Kayser — 2009-07-29T17:24:00+00:00

For site suggestors, one of the most important (and sometimes confusing) parts about submitting is determining whether a site's content is unique by ODP standards. For this post, editor crowbar has prepared some tips and examples to help clarify.

Emily

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You'll often hear us referring to the "unique content" of a site as being one of our main focuses in considering whether a site should be added to the Directory or not. Unique content is both simple and complicated to explain because what we are talking about and looking for pertains to the category itself, and with over 590,000 categories in the Directory, it means we could have 590,000 versions, each of them different.

As it states in the Guidelines we follow:
"Consider the relative value of a resource in comparison to other information resources available on your particular topic. Relative value refers not only to the quality of the site, but also to its ability to contribute important, unique information on a topic.

In general, ODP editors should enter sites that represent the following:

Original, unique and valuable informational content that contributes something unique to the category's subject.
Contrasting points of view on major issues. The ODP attempts to cover the full breadth and depth of human knowledge, representing all topics and points of view on those topics. "

(Source: http://www.dmoz.org/guidelines/include.html#include)

What this means is that our primary goal as editors is to build useful categories for people who are looking for information about either a Topic or a Geographical Area of the world, and we serve only these people, no one else. In our attempts to do this, we need to look at two things:

The content on a site that we're reviewing for possible inclusion.
The content that already exists in that particular category.

From our Guidelines:
"Is the site's content/information identical to other sites? - A site should not mirror content available on other sites."

We see this often on cookie cutter, pre-made site designs. If the information is the same on each site, why would the information seeker want to waste their valuable time looking at it again (even if it's by a different owner), so we look for any unique content that might be on it. If we find it, we'll list the site; if not, we'll delete the site suggestion. Perhaps the site owner owns two or three sites with the same information on them; in this case, we will only list one of them, provided it meets the listing criteria. Editors do not consider how well a site is designed, its page rank, how much traffic it gets, how large or small it is, or the desires or needs of the site owner. Those things have nothing to do with building good categories of information for people looking for specific things, and that's all we're interested in.

Sometimes local business owners are confused about what defines "unique content" for their sites - being the only business of their kind in their town vs. the actual content on the site.

If you are confused about the term "unique content" because your type of business is the only one in town and you can't compare your content to another business's content in that category, it might be helpful to think of your content in the terms of "original content" instead; in other words, does your site have information created by yourself that no other site has?

In a Regional listing it is very easy to provide unique content just by answering the questions: Who are you and what do you do?

A non-generic personal description of your business does two things: first, it provides the unique, original content we're looking for, and second, it gives us the information to write a better description of your business for your listing. Who knows your business better than you do?

Our job is to boil that description down to two or three sentences that will tell the information seeker what you are, and what can be found on your site. The purpose of that is not to entice someone, but to give them the facts so they can decide for themselves if you have the information they're looking for. A preview of the site. Not opinion, but of facts, which is why we are only interested in the content on your site.

If there is exactly one real estate agent in a locality, but the agent's site has nothing more than contact information and MLS search (and other template content), we would still not list it.

The number of businesses of a particular type (whether 1 or 100) in a given category has no effect whatsoever on the listability of an individual website. In order to list the website, the content of the website must be unique, and must be more significant than what one would find on a business card or in a telephone directory.

An example of non-uniques would be a hotel booking site with information about a particular hotel, in comparison to the site of the hotel itself, we would always choose the site of the hotel itself.

Also, we often re-evaluate listed sites, and those considered listable in the past may not remain so a move or even a delete is an eventuality.

Can you give me some advice about what kind of unique content I should put on my site?
Surprisingly, yes I can. Even though I don't know your particular site, and editors can't be expected to help you build your site, I will give you some personal opinion.

Always keep your eyes strictly on providing as much valuable information and help as you can to any possible visitor, because that's who we try to serve in building categories. If you have a website, then you know what those things are, and we will spot it as unique content (if it's there). Shift your thinking from gaining something from your site to giving something to the information seeker.
If you have something different or valuable to offer, point it out on your main page where we can spot it easier.
Personal opinion or experience in a topic would be considered unique content.
It is better to write the content yourself, or have it exclusively written for you.
Don't copy content from other sites (including so-called "free content").

None of these things guarantee a listing, but I believe they would be very helpful. Just remember that editors are building categories for information seekers, and in doing so, they really don't need all the sites that exist, only the ones that make the category itself more useful for the information seeker.

No one should ever build a site for the purpose of getting it listed in the Directory (just like one shouldn't build a site just for Google); instead, they should build the site for their visitors. If that site happens to become more listable because of what we've mentioned here, then we've accomplished what this blog post intended.

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Regional Editing - SmallCity, USA

Emily Kayser — 2009-07-10T14:31:00+00:00

DMOZ provides a wealth of local and regional resources to users in towns large and small across the US and around the world. In this post, editor crowbar talks about the experience of building out these local categories.

Emily

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One of the more rewarding tasks of editing in the Regional section of the Directory is to find a small locality (city) with only a few listings, and to put it on the Internet map by hunting down every possible site that exists for it and listing those that meet our selection criteria http://www.dmoz.org/guidelines/include.html> and fits the locality. Depending on the size of the city, it can either be quite rewarding, or quite challenging, but in either case, very important to the people who live there.

My personal view is that every small town deserves to be represented on the web, and this is my attempt to make the Directory and its editors a little more transparent about what it is we do.

As a country level editor, it's like looking at a road map of the whole United States, and each editing session is like throwing a dart at the map, wherever it lands is where I'll be working.

A small city of 15,000 - 20,000 population with only 4 or 5 sites listed would be ideal. My very first category was like that. So where do I start? There are no public suggestions waiting in this one. The first thing I want to look for is the local Chamber of Commerce which usually has a good list of business, charity, and government sites and can be a real goldmine for an editor.

Then on each one of those sites, I always look for links to other local sites, I'm building quite a large spider web of sites, and it becomes like a scavenger hunt, with one site leading to more sites. The Directory has a standard list of topical sub categories that can be used for each city, such as this one for Tampa, Florida:
http://www.dmoz.org/Regional/North_America/United_States/Florida/Local ities/T/Tampa/ . These include everything from education resources to transportation companies to local news sites.

An editor will normally only create these subcategories when he/she has 3 to 5 sites to put in each of them. What the editor is doing is building a category of entities that are located in this city. Most sites in Regional will be placed at this city (locality) level, not at the County, Region, or State levels.

Next, I'm going to look for educational sites, churches, website builders, real estate sites, and look for more links on them. If I get real desperate, I'll Google some of the zip codes I find on the sites or the first six digits of telephone numbers, both will pop up sites that exist in that area.

Now, I'll take a look at the sites at the County, Region, and State levels. They will sometimes lead me to other sites located in this locality, and I can also search the rest of the Directory. Many times there will be sites listed in a Topical category that can also be listed in the locality.

If an editor lives in the area, checking the local yellow pages of the phone book can yield a lot of sites, or the ads in local newspapers. It becomes so engrossing that a couple of hours can fly by before you know it, but the real reward is seeing a couple hundred new sites listed in all the proper subcategories. You have built something for that city and given them an equal presence on the Internet where they can compete, and they will never know it was you who did it.

The editor will never get a thank you for it, and none is expected, we do it for our own satisfaction. I suppose it's like putting a puzzle together, nobody really cares, but it was fun to do. This is just one activity, in one part of the Directory. Each area of the Directory is a little different to edit in and has its own specific guidelines, and there are many different tasks that an editor can choose to do in each editing session.

I think it's this freedom of choice and the trust that's placed in us as well as the satisfaction of building something worthwhile that keeps us at it. I hope I've given you some insight into what it is we really do inside the Directory.

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Why are sites sometimes removed from the directory?

Emily Kayser — 2009-06-26T12:00:00+00:00

We occasionally get questions from site owners and directory users who have noticed that previously-listed sites are no longer available in DMOZ. There are three primary reasons that sites might be removed, some temporary and some permanent. The list below explains these in detail.

The site was down when our automated tools scanned it.
Editors use a number of automated tools to help to keep the directory up-to-date. Occasionally a site is down when a tool checks the contents of a category. The first time this happens, the tool will flag the site but leave the directory listing intact. If the site is down again when the tool scans that category again (generally several days later), it will temporarily remove it so that an editor can provide a manual review & either restore it (if it is back online) or remove it. If you know that a site has recently been down for a few days for any reason, this is the most likely reason for its removal.

Note that sites that block our automated tools will appear to be down when they are scanned, so they may be removed for this reason. The same thing is true of sites that block editors who are attempting to review them. A page that can't be reviewed can't be listed in the directory.

The site is being moved to another category.
DMOZ is a living directory, so it is constantly growing and changing. Over time, some categories will grow larger and more complex and editors will split them into smaller, more specific sub-categories. When this happens, some sites will move out of the original category and into the new one. In most cases, category reorganizations are performed by editors with permissions in both the original category and in the new destination category, so the site simply moves to a new location.

If you think a site has moved and you're not sure of its new location, you can look for it by using the search feature within the directory. Note that you must use a "domain.extension" format in order for the search to return the correct results. For example, a user looking for Amazon's site would need to search for "amazon.com" rather than "www.amazon.com" in order for the search to return the desired results.

Occasionally, a site may move as the result of a content change rather than as the result of a category reorganization. When this happens, the site requires a new review and may be temporarily removed from public view until the destination category's editor has approved it.

The site is now unlistable.
There are three primary scenarios that will make a previously-listed site unlistable. The first is that the content of the site has changed and no longer meets our requirements for inclusion in the directory. It may no longer have unique content, or the purpose of the site may have changed (for example, if the domain name has been transferred to a new owner who alters its purpose). In this case, an editor would permanently remove the site from the directory. It will continue to be considered unlistable until such time as the site has been altered to meet our requirements.

The second scenario is that the site itself has not changed, but the listing guidelines for the directory overall (or the particular area of the directory where the site resides) have changed. In this case, an editor would also permanently remove the site from the directory.

The third scenario is that the site was originally listed in error - either as the result of a mistake, an editor's misunderstanding of the listing guidelines, or abuse - and should not have been listed in the directory in the first place.

Site owners sometimes express concern that their sites have been deleted due to editor corruption. While this is rare, there are unfortunately times when it occurs. We take corruption accusations very seriously, and remove any editor who is found to have acted in an abusive manner. If you feel that a site was removed in violation of the DMOZ editing guidelines, you can submit an abuse report (including all details and evidence) via our public abuse reporting system.

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Focus on the Shopping Section

Emily Kayser — 2009-06-23T17:02:00+00:00

Hey Everyone!

Editor lisagirl has provided the latest in our series of posts highlighting portions of the directory, this time focusing on the Shopping section.

Emily

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"Hello, my name is lisagirl, how may I assist you??"

"Hi lisagirl! Does DMOZ accept shopping sites?"

"Why yes, we do accept submissions for all sorts of shopping websites. Have you checked over in the Shopping description section? If you can't find what you need there, check the Shopping FAQs section."

"Thanks! Is there anything else I should know?"

"Why, yes! We've covered the requirements below. I'm quite certain whatever you need can be found there!"

* * *

To be listed in the Shopping branch, the requirements are simple. The website must have:
1. A listing of products for sale,
2. Prices,
3. A way for the consumer to buy the product without having to leave the comfort of his/her
house, and (of course)
4. Unique content.

If the website only has "here's a few photos of our stock, call us for more info" that won't be listed in the Shopping branch because it doesn't have specific products listed or prices.

If the website has a list of products but no prices, it still won't be listed in Shopping. It must meet the 4 criteria above.

If the site doesn't meet them, you can try suggesting the site to a related category in the Business branch (for example, a manufacturer's website) or in the Regional branch (for example, a local grocery store).

But wait! There's more! If the site is a USA-based business, it must ship across most of the USA. For all other countries, the business must ship to at least one other country. (For DMOZ purposes, the United Kingdom is considered one country.) If the business fails this requirement, you can suggest the site to the "Regional/Country Name/Business and Economy/Shopping" category that corresponds to the country you're looking for.

Ohhh yes, there is one more tiny little thing: doorways, mirror sites, lists of advertisements and drop-shippers are prohibited in the shopping category. Non-English sites should be submitted to the appropriate World category. If you'd like more details, view the shopping category description.

Titles? Descriptions?
You can always try this blog post about writing titles and descriptions. In the Shopping branch, we focus descriptions more than on the products offered, but of course if the website has features that others don't, mention them!

Where to suggest a site??
You can either click and surf 'til you find what you want, or try a simple search within the Shopping branch, or see where the competition is listed. The closer you can get, the better. If you don't know where the site belongs, make an educated guess. If you instead submit it to a higher level (such as submitting a site selling ocarinas to Shopping/Music/Instruments instead of Shopping/Music/Instruments/Winds/Ocarina hoping the editors will figure it out, that will only delay the site's review. So please, do your best to get the site as close as you can!

What sorts of shopping sites does the Open Directory Project list?
You name it! How about these examples:
Edible Insects
Ear candles
Clothes for lawn geese
Barbie dolls
"Green" furniture
Letters from St. Nick
and of course...CHOCOLATE!!!

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Happy Birthday, DMOZ!

Emily Kayser — 2009-06-05T00:00:00+00:00

Hard to believe, but it's already been 11 years since DMOZ launched back on June 5, 1998. In that time, it has grown to become the largest human-edited directory on the web thanks to the tens of thousands of dedicated volunteer editors who have collected, sorted and organized millions of websites into categories on topics ranging from Aerospace to Zoology (and just about everything in between). The directory includes more than a half-million categories and content in more than 80 languages. There is even a hand-built directory of recommended sites just for Kids & Teens.

There are numerous ways that people get information from the web. Depending on the circumstances, some people begin by using search engines such as Google, AOL, Yahoo and MSN; at other times, a directory-based approach such as the one DMOZ offers may provide the better path to the desired information.

If this is your first time here, welcome! It's worth pointing out that our volunteer editors select sites for inclusion in the directory based on unique content, so a stroll through the directory can provide an excellent overview of a particular topic. If you'd like to see an example of this in action, you can read this blog post.

From the beginning, the directory data has been offered free of charge to site owners who would like to use it to enhance their own site. The only obligation is that proper attribution is given to show DMOZ as the source of the data. DMOZ data provides the basis for Google Directory, but is also used on thousands of smaller sites which extract a small amount of data relevant to the topics they cover. You can learn more about usage guidelines and how to retrieve the data at our RDF overview page.

We invite you to take a look around the directory and see what we have to offer. If you'd like to contribute, you can learn more about becoming an editor and help us continue to build the directory in its second decade.

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An Applicant's Guide to Becoming an Editor

Emily Kayser — 2009-06-01T11:25:00+00:00

We often hear questions from prospective editors who are looking for guidance on how to improve their chances of having their application approved. For this week's post, we've put together a brief tutorial to help applicants tackle the more difficult parts of the application process.

Select a Category
Selecting the category you'd like to apply to edit is one of the most important - if not the most important - parts of the application process. While this may seem very straightforward, it takes a bit of time and research before you submit the application to make sure that the category is a good fit for you and that it's the appropriate size for a new editor.

The best way to begin is by browsing the directory to get a feel for the taxonomy and to begin exploring topic areas that are of interest to you. Once you've identified the general area where you'd like to edit, you can begin to make your category selection. You may find it helpful to use the "Description" links in the right-hand corners of the category pages to compare categories you're considering. These may include descriptions of the type of sites the category contains or related categories for you to explore.

First-time editors should select a small category to start with. As a general rule, this would mean a category with fewer than 100 current links including those in the category itself and all of its sub-categories. Many enthusiastic applicants apply to categories that are too large or complex for new editors and are frustrated when their applications are rejected as a result. Not to worry, though. Once you get comfortable with editing in a small category, you can always apply for permissions in additional categories or higher in the taxonomy.

Look for categories that you find interesting and will want to work on. Some people select a category related to their profession, and others choose categories related to hobbies or their studies. It's really up to you to decide where you think your interest and efforts fit best. Once you've chosen your category, use the "Become an Editor" link on that page to apply.

Find Sample Sites
After you've narrowed your category choices down to one or two, do some research to see if you can find additional sites that would fit in each category. Look for sites that offer unique content and would add value to the category you've chosen. Sometimes, the distinctions between categories are very subtle making it a little difficult to determine where a new site fits best. This blog post can help you understand how to make these selections.

Depending on the type of category you've selected, you might try using a search engine, looking on trade association or local chamber of commerce sites, or reading posts in forums related to your area of interest to locate new sites.

You'll need at least two (and preferably three) new links to use on your application. If you can't find at least that many sample sites, you will need to select a different category. Not only does a lack of links mean you can't fully complete the application, but categories where you can't find new sites to add have limited growth potential, so they aren't the best places for new editors to learn the ropes.

Write Site Descriptions
Once you've selected your category and identified some sample sites to use in your application, it's time to write the site descriptions. Keep in mind that these should be objective (avoid promotional or marketing language), grammatically correct and provide a succinct description of the site content as it relates to your category. You can find more detailed information and examples in our blog post about writing descriptions or by reviewing the complete editorial guidelines.

Disclose Site Associations
The DMOZ community takes abusive editing practices very seriously, and we make every effort to ensure that we keep the bad apples out altogether. The site associations portion of the editor application (sometimes referred to as the affiliations section) is our first line of defense against abuse, so it is very important that you fully disclose all affiliations upfront. This will speed the application process and help to ensure that your application is not rejected due to undisclosed site associations.

Site associations include any sites you own, work on or represent in addition to other sites in which you have a vested interest (for example, a spouse's business site). If you'd like more details about what constitutes a site association, please review our conflicts of interest policy.

An affiliation with a site or category alone is not cause for an application rejection (after all, we want editors to be interested in and knowledgeable about the topics they're covering), but disclosing affiliations helps us to know that editors are not being deceptive about their motives for applying.

Submit Your Application
Once you've filled out all of the application fields and double-checked your work, you can submit your application. It's a good idea to save a copy for later use in case you're asked to make updates or need to apply for reinstatement. Your application is not visible to editors until you've verified your email address, so be on the lookout for an email from us. If you can't find it, be sure to check your spam filter as well. It may be helpful to white-list the dmoz.org domain if your email software allows it to ensure that you receive all communication related to your application.

There are a number of factors that influence the length of time it will take for your application to be reviewed. Probably the biggest is the category's location in the directory and the number of senior editors who are working on processing applications in that area. Generally speaking, you should have a decision within a few weeks; however, applications to edit categories in some languages or in smaller corners of the directory may take a bit longer.

If you aren't accepted on the first try, don't be discouraged. Many excellent editors have had their applications rejected the first time around. You can always reapply and incorporate any feedback you've received into your revised application.

Also keep in mind that each editor may only have one - and only one - editor account. Duplicate accounts are forbidden because they are often an indicator of editor fraud. You risk losing both accounts if you were previously an editor and you attempt to apply for a new account. If you've ever been an editor in the past (even if your old account is no longer active), you must use the reinstatement form rather than the new editor application. If you no longer use the email account you listed on your old editor profile or have forgotten any of the other details needed to re-activate the account, please ask for help at Resource Zone. This is not a barrier to reinstatement, and our current editors can help guide you through the process.

You can find additional information about applying in the Becoming an Editor section of DMOZ.org or visit our public forums to ask a site editor for a status update (be sure to follow the status request guidelines) or learn more about the community.

Being a DMOZ editor is a rewarding hobby that allows you to expand your knowledge of, and insight into, a topic that interests you. As an added bonus, it gives you the opportunity to join the truly global editor community. If you'd like to read about some of our editors' specific experiences with the project, check out these posts from editors crowbar, imrankhan, mollybdenum and laigh.

We look forward to having you on board!

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It's A Hobby, Not A Job

Emily Kayser — 2009-05-22T12:43:00+00:00

Hi Everyone!

This week, editor crowbar will provide some background about the role he plays as an editor for the directory.

Emily

- - - - - - - - - - -
Editing is one of several hobbies that I indulge in when I'm not working in my real life business. My business doesn't have or need a website anymore. It was a nice tool at the time, but I found it to be unnecessary. Good service and word of mouth are much more effective.

Let me tell you about my hobbies.

Editing has been a hobby for the last 8 years. I applied out of curiosity - on a whim. After I was accepted, my first thought was "What have I gotten myself into?" The place was huge, the amount of information about editing was mind boggling, and I felt like a flea on a football field with no idea of what to do next.

I soon found out that nobody was going to lead me by the hand or crack a whip, and that I needed to be proactive in learning the ropes, though there were plenty of editors willing to help. All I had to do was ask.

Being accepted as an editor doesn't make you an editor. It is just the starting point to becoming one. It is a hobby. You are a volunteer, and your time is your own so you can proceed at your own pace.
Some editors choose to stay in this first small category, and other editors expand their editing permissions to larger areas as their interests expand, as I have. It's totally up to each editor.

Another hobby I have is water gardening. I knew nothing about it, but it looked pretty cool, so I grabbed a shovel and started digging. This led to editing:
http://www.dmoz.org/Home/Gardening/Gardens/Water/
http://www.dmoz.org/Shopping/Home_and_Garden/Water_Gardens/

Then somebody mentioned something that sounded interesting to me. I took a look, got hooked on a new time-consuming hobby, and applied for permissions to edit two more categories, which I was granted at:
http://www.dmoz.org/Games/Video_Games/Roleplaying/Massive_Multiplayer_Online/World_of_Warcraft/
http://www.dmoz.org/Games/Video_Games/Massive_Multiplayer_Online/Trading_and_Auctions/Goods_and_Services/World_of_Warcraft/

Of course, I also edit all of New York State and everything else within the United States categories, as part of my hobby.
http://www.dmoz.org/Regional/North_America/United_States/
http://www.dmoz.org/Regional/North_America/United_States/New_York/

My point is that editors join the ODP (DMOZ) and stay as a hobby, not as a job. My business is my job, and editing is a pleasant hobby that I do when I have the time, and even then, I have to decide which hobby will get my time and how much of it.

I want to find really interesting and helpful sites for other water gardeners and other World of Warcraft players, and I use multiple resources to do this. Sometimes I look through the suggested sites submitted by the public; other times, I follow the links found on existing listings or do a search for specific terminology using search engines.

Some users think that our job as editors is to list every suggested site; however, this is not the case. We aren't a listing service. Our goal is to build useful categories with unique content for the benefit of information-seekers. We welcome high-quality, relevant site suggestions that provide real value to information seekers, but we don't guarantee placement of any site in the directory. The ODP is not a business, but an organization of volunteers editing in areas that are of interest to them, and giving away the results freely, no charge. We do not provide a service to site suggesters, we build categories for people looking for information.

The difference between a search engine and a directory like the ODP might be that a search engine can find specific information very quickly, but a directory can give you a spreadsheet of all the information laid out to choose from - a broader view of the topic.

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Why did I become an editor for DMOZ?

Emily Kayser — 2009-05-15T17:22:00+00:00

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

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

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!

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Welcome New AOL Staff!

Emily Kayser — 2009-05-15T12:40:00+00:00

Hey everyone!

Back in January, we kicked off the new year by introducing everyone to our team. Today, we're excited to introduce our newest team member, Andy. Please join us in welcoming him to the community!

Emily

Andy McMahon, Product Manager (dciandy)
"I first went online in 1989 with a Commodore 64 and a 300 baud modem. I remember when IM's were called OLM's (online messages) and when you had to pay $40 to get the Netscape browser. Yes, I guess I'm the equivalent of an online old timer! It's been 10 years since I came to AOL, where I've worked as a product manager in the Local space. I'm excited to be part of the DMOZ team because I've always considered the ODP to be the best of the web - I come here because I trust the sites I'll see are high quality in one form or another. I look forward to being a part of this project and working with this great community."

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R-E-S-P-E-C-T for DMOZ

Emily Kayser — 2009-05-04T18:29:00+00:00

For our latest post, editor glippitt has provided an excellent example of a place where DMOZ's resources shine. Enjoy!

Emily

- - - - - - - - - -

Everybody loves Google, everybody loves Wikipedia - so why doesn't everybody love DMOZ? Ask people how they search the web, and most will tell you what Google does well, what Wikipedia does well - and what DMOZ doesn't do well. When you think about it, that's quite an odd way to look at search vehicles, isn't it? My car doesn't do backflips, but that doesn't mean I stop driving. I also can't take a plane to my local shopping area, ride a bicycle across the ocean, or take a train where there aren't train tracks.

Let's look at what DMOZ does do well, and the when and how of using various search vehicles to help users find what they're looking for.

Perhaps you heard something on the news about the Somali pirates and want to learn more. You'd likely search Google News for the most recent coverage, perhaps sorting by date. Background information? You might read Piracy in Somalia in Wikipedia and search for Somali pirates with Google web search. Now what about Somalia in general? How did it get to this point? What's the history of the country, and what's going on with their government? How do you find answers to these questions without wasting a lot of time? This is where DMOZ shines.

Google for Somalia or history of Somalia or government of Somalia and you'll get a mixed bag. Google combines relevance with popularity, which means the more specific your query, the better the results. For broader sorts of queries, some excellent sources may be ranked low and you may miss them. Some links from special interest groups may be popular enough to be ranked high, but that doesn't mean they're providing a balanced view. Some less-than-current sources may be ranked high simply because they've been around a long time and lots of other sites have linked to them in the past. Sometimes they use 'relevant' keywords and page titles to game the system and achieve a higher ranking than they really deserve. Look at this result from that last Google search:

Quote:

"somalia: the official news from the government of somalia - 9:11am
Somalia: Somali Pirates holding over 200 hostages.
www.somaligovernment.org/ - 29k"

Looks current, right? Wrong. Click on it and you may realize it's the site of warlord Abdinur Darman who declared himself President in 2007 - but Google's automated process has no way of knowing that, and if you don't look closely you may be misled into thinking it's from the current government. (The true official site was unavailable for much of April because it had run out of bandwidth.) To avoid confusion, DMOZ has now listed the link with this description: Site of presidential claimant Abdinur Ahmed Darman, the leader of Somalia's Hawiya clan who declared himself head of state in July 2003. Google (and others) may later pick up that description and use it in their search results instead of the current snippet. We all want users to have the correct information.

Other Google options? You can find authoritative sources by searching Google Scholar for Somalia, but that isn't necessarily the level of information you want.

What about Somalia (and its sub-articles) in Wikipedia? Articles 'in the news' often draw 'strong-minded partisans' as editors, so while the information may be interesting one would want to chase down all the footnotes to determine if they reference reliable sources accurately summarized - and if the reliable sources are truly representative, or if they were 'cherry-picked' to shade the view - which means you're back to Google to find what might be missing. All this for just the most current version on Wikipedia. Click on the history and discussion tabs and see how often the article has been changed and if there are 'edit wars' going on. Wikipedia is useful, but it doesn't fill every need and it certainly isn't the only source one should rely on, particularly on controversial topics.

Or, you can go to DMOZ's Somalia category. Start with Guides and Directories to find background information. Perhaps you're interested in Government sites. If you're curious about local and foreign efforts to help the country, you can view Aid and Development and Economic Development. Perhaps you want to check out the local News or look at some Maps and Views. Some Travel Guides have useful information about a country. You can also move your search up to West Africa and Africa, or down to the regions within Somalia such as Somaliland.

You'll notice some Somalia categories from the DMOZ Topical directory, such as Colleges and Universities and Soccer, are 'linked in' to Regional. 'Sharing' these categories helps people searching for the same information, but starting from a different point or point of view. There are also links to the associated categories in the World directories (such as French) and the Kids and Teens directory.

There's all sorts of relevant information to be found on the web, and the broader the topic the more useful DMOZ is. Use it as one of your search vehicles and you may be surprised how much more efficient and productive your searches become. Just don't expect it to be the perfect combination Mars rover-car-plane-scooter-train-bicycle. There's no such thing as a silver bullet in search - not even Google.

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Ask DMOZ: Questions from Webmasters & General Users Answered

Emily Kayser — 2009-04-09T13:28:00+00:00

Several weeks ago, we asked webmasters and general users to submit their questions about DMOZ. While we aren't able to answer every question, we've chosen a representative sample to address here on the blog.

Thank you to everyone who participated! We appreciate your thoughts and insights, and your dedication to the ODP community.

Emily

- - - - - - - - - - -

"I just started my first website and someone told me about DMOZ. What is it, and how does a site like mine benefit if it's included in the directory?"
Welcome! We're glad you asked.

First, we'll tell you what it is: DMOZ (or the Open Directory Project) is the world's largest and most comprehensive human-edited directory of the Web. It is constructed and maintained by a vast, global community of volunteer editors.

Each editor helps maintain a category (or, in the case of some more experienced editors, several categories) of interest to them by performing tasks such as adding new sites, removing broken links, and re-categorizing sites whose purposes have changed since they were originally added. Some editors also perform tasks that enhance the directory and the ODP community. Examples of side projects editors undertake include building tools to help make the editing process more efficient, mentoring new editors and contributing to newsletters and blogs. You can read more about one editor's typical day here.

Now, what DMOZ is not: First and foremost, it is not a paid listing service. It is a violation of our social contract and terms of use to either offer money to have a link included in the directory or for an editor to accept money to add a link to the directory. The real value of the directory is in its editorial neutrality, and these practices harm the integrity of the contents and cast shadows over the overwhelming number of site owners and editors who follow the rules. If you suspect abuse, you can report it using our abuse reporting tool.

DMOZ is also not a search engine, in and of itself; however, it is one of a number of tools used by some algorithmic search engines to classify or rank sites.

There are several benefits to sites that are included in the directory. Because some search engines do use it as part of their ranking system, a listing in DMOZ can sometimes help grow traffic to a site. Another benefit is that many organizations take advantage of free access to the directory's content to help populate their own sites, so your site can get additional exposure in communities that share interests and values with your site.

"I feel like DMOZ's site selection process isn't transparent enough. Can we get additional details on how sites are selected for inclusion in the directory?"
This is a comment we hear time and time again, and most of the time, this is in relation to the site suggestion process. We recognize that our imperfect site suggestion system has a lot to do with that. When you suggest URLs, please keep a couple of things in mind about how the process works:

Our suggestion system unfortunately doesn't have built-in email functionality to notify users that their suggestion has been received or reviewed. While we know that this can be frustrating, once you've entered the CAPTCHA text in the box and received the confirmation page, your suggestion has gone through.

Many people think that there is a queue of suggested sites, but this metaphor is inaccurate. There are a number of reasons why sites are not always reviewed in the order they are received; for example, a site may have been suggested to the wrong category, it may have an unclear title or description, or the suggested site may be undergoing maintenance at the time an editor attempts to review it. Instead, a better metaphor is that suggestions made to each category go into a pool from which editors may select sites to review. A comprehensive overview of what happens to suggested sites is available here.

Editors have many sources from which to select sites. For some categories, there may be an overwhelming number of spam suggestions that make it impractical to use the suggestion pool as a primary selection tool. This doesn't mean that our editors won't ever review the sites in the suggestion pool, or even that they won't find your site by other means. It just means that there isn't a set timeframe for review, and that times may vary based on the size, type and editor techniques of a given category.

The best thing that users can do to help the editors review suggested sites efficiently is to prepare their suggestions as well as they possibly can before submitting them. We've posted some tips on how to do that here and here, and provided information about a number of helpful resources here.

"My company makes several different products. Can I suggest my site in multiple sub-categories? Would I be better off suggesting it to a higher-level category?"
In general, sites will fit in one category, and it's best to find one appropriate category to which you will make your site suggestion. In some cases, when sites offer content in diverse product or subject areas, it may be appropriate for editors to list sub-categories separately, but this is definitely the exception rather than the rule.

Remember that the goal of a directory is a little different than the goal of a search engine. The directory provides a structure into which sites are categorized based on their similarity to each other rather than an index of all content related to a particular query term. It is more advantageous to users to have a site listed in the best category than in many somewhat related categories.

"My site is already listed, but it needs to be updated. Is there a way to tell the category editor?"
Yes! This is similar to the site suggestion process, and has been covered here in the past. Use the "Update listing" link at the top of the category your site is in.

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A Day in the Editing Life

Emily Kayser — 2009-03-25T13:08:00+00:00

Ever wonder what editors do behind the scenes? What tasks they complete, how edits are made, etc? Editor mollybdenum has provided a great overview of a day in the editing life to help shed some light on the inner workings of DMOZ.
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I have been an editor for about four years.

I started out with one small category, and I was approved for more categories, as time went on, and my experience grew.

There is much more to being an editor than approving sites that have been submitted, and I would like to share a typical day in the life of this editor with readers.

This morning I logged in and went to the editor forums first. I greeted some new editors, and then made a comment in a discussion about the re-naming of a category. A rename is occasionally decided upon, for better organization of the directory, and for easier browsing by our site visitors.

After that, I looked over the categories where I edit.

There were some "reds" - these are former listings that have been removed from the directory by our link-checker Robozilla because they have been inaccessible for a few weeks.

I checked the first, and found that it returned a '404 - not found' error message. I used a search engine to learn if the site had perhaps moved to a new domain. There were no results. I left the link in the 'unreviewed' area.
I will search for it again in a few weeks. Perhaps by then, it will again be available. If not, it will
be deleted or sent into 'Test' for further investigation later.

The next site was also '404 - not found'. There were no results in the search engines. I visited the archive.org website, and saw that this site had not changed since 2006. Suspecting that it may no longer be available at anytime, I left it in 'unreviewed' for a check again later. If it is still unavailable in a few weeks, it too
will either be deleted or sent to 'Test'.

The next red site I checked was working again. I was able to return the listing back into the category.

There were a couple of 'purple' sites. The color purple indicates that a request has been made for an 'update' to the listed site.

In the first case, I went to the site, and found that the company named had changed, which the submitter
had posted. I was able to change the title and update the listing in the directory.

The second purple site was a request for a change to the description. The submitter for the 'Widget Inc." site wished to have the description read, "Widget Inc. based in Widgetville, State, Country, at 555-555-5555, sells Wonderful, Exceptional Amazing Widgets in the Widgetville, State, Country area". I had a look at the site, and decided that the current description, "Provides widgets and components. Features company history, newsletter and FAQ." was more appropriate, and left the description without any changes.

Next, I went to one of the smaller categories, and noticed a typo in the description. I fixed that, and then noticed that another site had capital letters in the description. I changed that as well.

I wondered if this category could be improved. Perhaps I could find a few more sites to add. I remembered seeing an ad in yesterday's newspaper for a site that would fit there. I got the paper, and typed in the url. I spent some time looking over the site, and then wrote a description of what the business does, and what can be found on the site. I added this new listing to the directory.

I then went off to the search engines, hunting for more sites to add. I was able to find three, out of about 5 that
I visited, that were unique and useful.

By then it was lunchtime. My daughter-in-law and granddaughter were coming to visit for the afternoon.
I logged off, glad to have made a contribution to the directory.

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What Makes a Good Title and Description?

Emily Kayser — 2009-03-09T13:16:00+00:00

Editors often receive a high volume of site suggestions for their categories, so ensuring that suggested sites have clear, concise titles and descriptions can aid greatly in the review process. Editor lisagirl has provided an excellent tutorial in how to make titles and descriptions that stand out in the crowd.

Emily
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What makes a good title and description? If you ask me personally, all good things involve chocolate. I guess we're talking about other things here, but forgive me if you have uncontrollable chocolate cravings after reading this.

Here's some general help on writing good titles and descriptions. Also, before you suggest a site, look for the description link in that category. The descriptions often have additional information specific to that category. For more help, visit
http://www.dmoz.org/Computers/Internet/Searching/Directories/Open_Directory_Project/Policies_and_Procedures/

TITLES:

If the site is about a business, it's simple! Titles are the business name, and nothing more.
If the site is topical in nature, the title should be the site's official name.
Titles shouldn't be a string of keywords, should be properly capitalized, and shouldn't have unnecessary punctuation marks or symbols.

Good (fictional) title examples:
- Lisagirl Chocoholics Bakery
- Theo Broma Transportation and Trucking
- Fudge Factor Accountants
- A Review of Chocolate Consumption in 2009
- Chocoholics Anonymous

Bad title examples:
- LISAGIRL CHOCOHOLICS BAKERY (all capital letters)
- Welcome to Theo Broma Trucking (uses phrases such as "Welcome to" or "Homepage of")
- The fudgiest numbers on the web, from Fudge Factor Accountants (uses advertising)
- ThEo bROmA TRaNsPoRtAtiOn aNd tRuCkInG (incorrect capitalization)
- Lisagirl Chocoholics Bakery, in Smallville (uses location or phone number)
- Chocolate Consumption, 2009, Why People Eat Chocolate, Review (a string of keywords)
- All About Chocoholics Anonymous (not the official site or organization name)

DESCRIPTIONS:
Describe the business or website, and describe the website's contents. Don't use hyperbole, advertising language, or a string of search engine keywords. Keep it simple!

Here, I've placed a good and bad (fictional) example together, for comparison. Each person's writing style is different, and descriptions may vary depending on the category. What you see here are only examples and are written in my style. If you really don't know what to write, look at listings in the category where you're suggesting the site for ideas.

***
Good:
Photo gallery displaying a personal collection of chocolate candy bar wrappers acquired between 1964 and 1979.

Bad:
These are my pics which are of the wrappers I got from eating choclit cand bars
***

Good:
Bakery and restaurant, both exclusively offering chocolate foods. Includes menus with photographs, and recipes of their most-ordered dishes.

Bad:
LisaGirl Chocholics is on 123 Main Street, Smallville, open 6am to 5 pm, and we only sell chocolate foods. This website has tantalizing meneues with mouth-watering photos, and recippes for the favoritest dishes.

***
Good:
Offers accounting services for small business owners and classes about creative financing. Includes profiles of the firm members, class details and schedules, and links to bail bond agents.

Bad:
The ultimate source for all accounting services. We have been in business since 2008. Free education! Learn all about Fudge Factor's people. Learn where to go when you need help.
***

Good:
Sales of Perugina Baci, a chocolate candy with hazelnuts, and shortbread cookies. Provides a map to the store and options for monthly shipment subscriptions.

Bad:
High quality merchandise, chocolate, candy, Perugina, Baci, and much more!

You may ask "Why should I bother writing good titles and descriptions anyway? Aren't the editors responsible for that? And besides, I don't even like chocolate". Ultimately, the editors must write decent titles/descriptions. However, the Open Directory Project editors are all volunteers, working on the project in their spare time. When you write a proper title/description, you allow us to work faster and more efficiently. By helping us, you're helping yourself. We look for good suggestions. In the sea of submissions, those with good titles/descriptions will stand out like a lighthouse beacon.

As for disliking chocolate, well, you look a little peaked...are you feverish? (I'm kidding of course! Some of my best friends prefer vanilla.)

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Where In the World Is ODP? Everywhere!

Emily Kayser — 2009-03-04T11:15:00+00:00

Hi Everyone,

DMOZ can sometimes be tough to navigate because of the many designations used to categorize the site. In this post, editor glippit has prepared an explanation to help clear up the confusion about when and where each is used. Enjoy!

Emily

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Although we're one Directory in name, we're multiple directories in fact. Thanks to our large volunteer base from all over the world, we can organize sites by age group, language, location and topic - and we do. Our goal is to ensure that anyone, wherever they are and whatever languages they know, can find good sites selected by human editors.

On the downside, all these directories can sometimes confuse submitters and users.

Let's start with the names of these directories. World is our directory by language. Regional is our directory by location. Kids_and_Teens is our directory by age group. Arts, Business, Computers, Games, Health, Home, News, Recreation, Reference, Science, Shopping, Society and Sports comprise our directory by topic.

So how do you know where to begin looking? Or submitting a site for review?

The first division is age group, and the second is language. If the intended audience is young people (not their parents and educators, but young people themselves), start with Kids_and_Teens. If the site is in a language other than English, move to Kids_and_Teens/International and select the appropriate language. If the intended audience is adults, start with the root directory for English sites, otherwise move to World and select a language.

The next division is by geographic location (place) or by topic (subject). Sites connected with a particular location are found in Regional. Sites connected with a particular topic are found in the remaining top-level categories. Remember: these divisions are within World for non-English language sites.

As you can see, these multiple directories can intersect and overlap. Sites related to mathematics and science generally have no connection with any specific location but belong only in a topic category. Sites of a village's local library or movie theater will have a strong connection with a specific location but aren't likely to be of interest to those looking for information about the topics of libraries or movie theaters. Some sites, such as major companies or sports teams, may be of interest in both the location and topic areas. And don't forget - any of these sites might be in multiple languages.

Let's use the example of a site written in the Italian language about a major publishing company in Italy. It might be listed within both World/Italiano/Affari/Editoria_e_Stampa/Editori and World/Italiano/Regionale/Europa/Italia/Lazio/Provincia_di_Roma/Localit à/Roma/Affari_e_Economia (topic and location for the Italian language directory).

If the site were also in English, add Business/Publishing_and_Printing/Publishing and Regional/Europe/Italy/Regions/Lazio/Localities/Rome/Business_and_Econo my (topic and location for the English language directory).

If they also offer a French version of their site: World/Français/Commerce_et_économie/Imprimerie_et_édition/Editeurs and World/Français/Régional/Europe/Italie/Commerce_et_économie/Imprimer ie_et_édition or perhaps World/Français/Régional/Europe/Italie/Emilie-Romagne/Commerce_et_éc onomie (still topic and location, this time for the French language directory).

It's not difficult as long as you keep in mind the different ways people might look for sites.

Are you wondering about the size of each of these directories relative to each other? We're growing all the time, but we currently have over 2.5 million English-language sites listed and close to 2 million sites in other languages. How many other languages? 80 non-English languages in World, with many more in the Test/World incubator. The ratio is about the same within the Kids_and_Teens directory, with 34 non-English languages represented. Within the English-language directory, roughly half are listed by location and half by topic. Each of the World directories vary, but that seems to be the general ratio.

We all live in an increasingly globalized world, and ODP is here to help.

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