Quote:
Originally Posted by jeffnova
Hmmm...an encyclopedia is vastly more complex than a links directory, yet Wiki manages it to a much higher level of user satisfaction than does DMOZ. We can think of many ways to deal with spam submissions.
"I have not found one who has become protective or behaved in any way badly about competitors sites"
OK. Unfortunately, we have heard from many insiders and outsiders who have.
"I can edit in any category on the whole of DMOZ and so can hundreds of other editors, also any editor in a higher category can edit in a lower one. So an editor trying to keep sites out or protect their own might have a few problems when other edits come and edit. "
Here's where you could really add some insight into the process. That's great that you can edit in any category, but we'd like to know who sees the submitted sites? Does every editor eligible to edit a category see or have access to see all the submissions made for sites ? Do the submitted sites stay in a submitted list forever, or does someone look at them and clear them in some way. Please explain how you would know if another editor removed/deleted/cleared a submission in an effort to block competitor sites?
Do most editors share your view that those sites that have been unable to get included fall into your categories of sites whose owners think they are the "bees knees" (but aren't) or are just "spammy, get rich quick, copied site to be listed for their own ends"?
|
You are welcome to join and tell us now, if you think you have access to better brains than we presently have. I don't think Wiki entries have much trouble with get rich quick sites, and they don't simply list sites so the whole thing is a different kettle of fish, let alone that many editors at DMOZ, including myself, work in wiki. But I do know that wiki lock pages.
Please offer any evidence that you have of abusive editors, yes we do boot some off unfortunately we do get some scum bags, but they are a rarity. But if we did not need to protect the directory, as you suggest, why do people go to so much trouble to try and plant themselves inside?
Any one who can edit in a category can see the submissions to that category and every editor who performs an edit has a log of that edit, so even if an editor gets at the submissions and deletes some sites there is a record of what has happened, so any whiff of it and it can be very easily checked. A site deleted does not just disappear. Every one of my 20,000+ edits are logged and can be traced and what happened known. We do some checks ourselves, but also rely on the public to complain when they feel that an editor has behaved abusively. They are usually caught and they are certainly a very tiny minority.
Quote:
|
Do most editors share your view that those sites that have been unable to get included fall into your categories of sites whose owners think they are the "bees knees" (but aren't) or are just "spammy, get rich quick, copied site to be listed for their own ends"?
|
I have re-read my comments and perhaps should clarify what I meant.
I was trying to say that any site which is rejected is usually from a webmaster who believes that either their site is the bees knees or just want their spammy, get rich quick, copied site to be listed for their own ends.
The key to my comment is here
"When sites don't get in it's because they have not been reviewed or did not match our guidelines."
Because eventually any site which is submitted and reviewed and meets up to our guidelines will be included. Unless we manage to loose them all as we did in the great crash of 18 months ago. Every site submitted since that crash is either listed, rejected or awaiting review. And there is a log for every site with who handled it, what they did and why.
Trouble is webmasters who don't get a site listed in a few days/weeks or months often believes and says that we are corrupt. Truth is there are just far too many sites being submitted for editors to review as they come. It was wonderful, after the crash, not to have hundreds of submitted sites attached to categories.
So the motto is, if you have good ideas, join, if you want to help get the Q's down, join, if you want to help surfers find what they want, join, if you want to start a fascinating hobby of collecting and organizing websites, join.
But if you do try and join, read the rules about the size of category, pick some sites that fit the category well, read the guidelines about what we do accept and how to title and describe the site and most of all be honest about your reasons and affiliations.