PhilC
08-23-2005, 01:44 PM
I just wrote about this in another forum, and I thought it might be of interest to anyone who wants to be a DMOZ editor.
A few years ago, I applied to be an editor because I wanted to help out with the massive backlog of unreviewed sites that an editor had told me about. I took about 3 hours preparing a good application - most of the time was spent looking for the 3 sites to suggest for the tiny category I was applying for. I had the application checked by an editor friend, and I submitted it.
2 or 3 hours later, I received the rejection email, but it didn't give any reason for the rejection, and for that reason it came across as being very rude considering that I was a real person who had spent several hours preparing the application.
The resource-zone forum had just opened, so I went there to tell them that their rudeness must turn away many potentially good editors, and that their massive backlog was partly due to that. It was a very long thread, without any heat on either side, and I learned some things from it. For instance, in some cases, such as spelling and grammar, it would be a very bad idea to tell the applicants why they were rejected - otherwise they would have other people correcting their spelling and grammar, and DMOZ would end up accepting bad editors. But most rejections aren't accompanied with the reasons, and in many cases, people who would be good editors turn and walk away because of the rudeness.
Even before I went to resource-zone, I'd decided that I would not help DMOZ, and that I definitely did not want to be an editor. During the discussion there, a friend suggested an experiment - submit the same application, with nothing changed, not even a comma, and see what happens. I did, and a few hours later I was accepted - by a poster in this forum, incidentally.
A few months later I got the "best new regional editor" award, and soon after that I timed-out, and I'm no longer an editor. My point proved to be true - that DMOZ turns away many potentionally good editors simply be coming across as being rude in the rejections.
And so to the point of this post...
If you really want to be a DMOZ editor, don't take the first rejection as being the end of it. It may be that you'll never be accepted for some reason, but it may also be that your application was rejected for something very small, and that the reviewer wasn't considerate enough to tell you - too big a category, for instance. So don't be afraid to try again if you really want to get in.
Tip:
Make sure that your suggested sites really do belong in the category you are applying for. As an outsider, it's *very* easy to get that wrong, and DMOZ doesn't want editors who will list sites in the wrong place. Spend time wandering around the directory to get as a good an idea as you can about the categories in the field you are applying for. There is no real hands-on supervision for new editors (or there wasn't when I was there), so try your very best to show that you do understand which sites belong in the category.
A few years ago, I applied to be an editor because I wanted to help out with the massive backlog of unreviewed sites that an editor had told me about. I took about 3 hours preparing a good application - most of the time was spent looking for the 3 sites to suggest for the tiny category I was applying for. I had the application checked by an editor friend, and I submitted it.
2 or 3 hours later, I received the rejection email, but it didn't give any reason for the rejection, and for that reason it came across as being very rude considering that I was a real person who had spent several hours preparing the application.
The resource-zone forum had just opened, so I went there to tell them that their rudeness must turn away many potentially good editors, and that their massive backlog was partly due to that. It was a very long thread, without any heat on either side, and I learned some things from it. For instance, in some cases, such as spelling and grammar, it would be a very bad idea to tell the applicants why they were rejected - otherwise they would have other people correcting their spelling and grammar, and DMOZ would end up accepting bad editors. But most rejections aren't accompanied with the reasons, and in many cases, people who would be good editors turn and walk away because of the rudeness.
Even before I went to resource-zone, I'd decided that I would not help DMOZ, and that I definitely did not want to be an editor. During the discussion there, a friend suggested an experiment - submit the same application, with nothing changed, not even a comma, and see what happens. I did, and a few hours later I was accepted - by a poster in this forum, incidentally.
A few months later I got the "best new regional editor" award, and soon after that I timed-out, and I'm no longer an editor. My point proved to be true - that DMOZ turns away many potentionally good editors simply be coming across as being rude in the rejections.
And so to the point of this post...
If you really want to be a DMOZ editor, don't take the first rejection as being the end of it. It may be that you'll never be accepted for some reason, but it may also be that your application was rejected for something very small, and that the reviewer wasn't considerate enough to tell you - too big a category, for instance. So don't be afraid to try again if you really want to get in.
Tip:
Make sure that your suggested sites really do belong in the category you are applying for. As an outsider, it's *very* easy to get that wrong, and DMOZ doesn't want editors who will list sites in the wrong place. Spend time wandering around the directory to get as a good an idea as you can about the categories in the field you are applying for. There is no real hands-on supervision for new editors (or there wasn't when I was there), so try your very best to show that you do understand which sites belong in the category.