DMOZ redesign

Auntie Minnie back to the bar, just as fun as before (if a bit tipsy).

^is tongue-n-cheek. DMOZ still has value. The fact that the DINOSAUR of directories has become responsive is just as important as learning that SHARKS still swim the oceans.

Sharks got it right about 200 million years ago. :)

Wow! DMOZ doesn't look like WebmasterWorld any more!

But will it make its way back? After all, Google tried to replace it and all the other web directories.

Regards...jmcc

Yahoo! dropped their Directory years ago, and that one may very well have been profitable (what was it, $299 per submission?). People just don't use web directories anymore. I fear the people visiting DMOZ to submit a website may very well outnumber those actually using the directory. The backlog must be gigantic.

(I still like the idea of a refresh, but don't think this one is particularly good. Except at being a good example of how not to implement HTTPS. A new connection and TLS handshake for every single request.)

They probably didn't change the code itself but only a stylesheet. Now dmoz is much slower to load.

Dmoz has a backlog of submissions and not enough editors to go through them. They need more, a lot more. But to many people, becoming an editor seems daunting, even impossible.

Yet this is not true. There is a fairly simple way of becoming an editor. Find a small category and request to edit it. Dmoz is much more likely to approve a beginner who requests a small category than one who request a large one. Editors are sorely needed, you just need to be competent. If you submit a good application and pick a small category, you'll probably be accepted.

You'll have to submit three sample sites in the application process. Before you submit those three, study published listings and emulate them. You need only the company name in the title and a simple non-promotional sentence or two to describe the site. Do a good job and you'll become an editor.

After you become an editor, do a good job on your small category. Then you can ask for more categories. It's okay to ask for the category where you want to submit your site. You have to admit your affiliation however.

Dmoz has a really high Majestic trust flow (86) and is still a quality backlink. A recent post by Eric Enge of Stone Temple presents research that proves that quality backlinks are still an important and potent ranking signal [stonetemple.com ]. If quality links help like Eric Enge says they do, a link from a high trust flow site like Dmoz must still be worthwhile.

People gave up on DMOZ years ago. I have outstanding submissions that have probably been in the queue 10 years. I've even tried editor submissions that were never responded to. Are you saying that DMOZ is not dead?