Being an editor of DMOZ aid submission

[djtaverner]

Does being an editor of DMOZ aid submission of a site to it?

cheers
Dave

[thumpcyc]

Hey Dave,

Please do not open this can of worms again. Let me see if I can stop the comments that are coming.

According to the defenders of the ODP, No Way!
According to the attackers of the ODP, Every Day!

So Dave, please do a little research before asking this question again.

Thumpcyc

[flicker]

Um, in reality, that would be somewhere in the middle, I think. If you have a site that's not appropriate for the ODP, then no; if you became an editor and listed it, it would just be deleted and you would be removed as an editor. However, if you have a site that *is* appropriate for the ODP, then becoming an editor of the category yourself will definitely mean that sites get added to that category more quickly, which would include your own site (as well as your competitors').

So yes, I'd say that becoming an ODP editor can definitely improve the speed at which the category you're interested in grows. That's a good reason to become an editor, not a bad one (as long as you're not planning to list prohibited mirrors or delete all your competitors' sites or something else that will get you swiftly booted, that is.)

[rfgdxm1]

I had assumed he meant submitting to a category where the person wasn't an editor. In that case, the answer is no.

[podman]

Only very indirectly. Once a person has a very good knowledge of editing, maybe hundreds or thousands of good quality edits, then that person will be better able to judge the correct category and the correct way to prepare a title and description.

Having the correct categroy eliminates the slowdown as a site shuffles from one wrong categroy to another.

Another editor, when reviewing the site in the correct category, may see the quality description standing out among the keyword loaded mis-spelled submissions, and review that site ahead of the rest.

On the other hand a new editor may get into a category, fail to mention he wants to list his own site, and stick it in ahead of the others. But since they are so inexperienced, it usually is pretty obvious, the editor gets terminated, and the site gets the dreaded Red Tag.

[flicker]

That's true. I'm definitely more aware of the directory structure at the ODP than I was before I became an editor, and so when I run across a site that doesn't belong in one of my categories, most of the time the one I send it to is the one it actually belongs in (something that was not true when I first joined). This surely speeds the submission of sites I suggest these days.

Of course, you could probably get the same level of familiarity with the ODP structure by spending a comparable amount of time browsing it as a user, not only by being an editor.

[rfgdxm1]

>Of course, you could probably get the same level of familiarity with the ODP structure by spending a comparable amount of time browsing it as a user, not only by being an editor.

And, reading the editing guidelines, which are public. In most cases there is only one obvious, correct site title. As for the description, an accurate one that isn't keyword stuffed or filled with hype is OK. As for what category to submit to, typically the one where sites most similar to the submitter's site is the best.