or by fax at:

• The first category is this introduction;

• The second category answers questions about me as an ODP editall;

• The third section answers questions about ODP that I receive from ODP users; and

• The fourth section answers questions about ODP that I receive from ODP editors.

Just submit it. It will go to an editor in the category above it. An ODP editor has what's called an Editor Dashboard. We can see all the unreviewed sites in every category downstream from us. A higher level editors can see lots and lots of green numbers indicating unreviewed sites. There is some debate about whether editors should swoop down from above to review those submitted sites or whether they should allow the sub-category editors time to get there and edit in a category they are expert in. There are pros and cons on both sides of that debate. I doubt there's ever going to be a hard and fast rule. So just submit it even if there's no editor there. Someone will still be seeing it.

The actual unreviewed site isn't on the Editor Dashboard. Just a green number telling an editor how many unreviewed sites there are. The editor has to go to the edit page for the category where the URL was submitted. There is a link on that page to unreviewed sites. Once the editor enters the unreviewed sites area, there is a link to each of the submitted sites as well as a link to the edit screen.

Once you click the edit button and are at the edit screen, you will get a little more information. For instance, you can see if a site is already listed in the ODP. You can see where it is and can even import the title and description from the other category if you want. There is also spot for the editor to make a note that other editors can see when reviewing the URL in other categories. Editors also search the ODP before adding to make sure that a different URL or doorway page hasn't been added already. So if you spam the directory, you may not be found out right away, but if you are found out, you can be branded a spammer, cast out, and listed only in the spammer category. I don't recommend it.

In general, ODP editors are trying to be evenhanded in dealing with multiple submissions. We understand that people may not really know that submitting to the Hotbot directory, the Lycos directory, the Netscape directory, and dmoz.org are all the same thing. So we try to allow for some cluelessness. But if someone really pulls a fast one, trying to get listed a whole bunch of time with doorway pages, etc., they shouldn't expect to be treated well.

You can see the spam URLs in this category: Computers: Internet: WWW: Searching the Web: Directories: Open Directory Project: Tools for Editors: Spam URLs.

You can see screenshots of the Editor Dashboard and other editing screens in the ODP Editor Tutorial, which is listed in ODP at Computers: Internet: WWW: Searching the Web: Directories: Open Directory Project: Tools for Editors: New Editors.

• Business: Consulting;

• Computers: Consultants;

• Reference: Education: Colleges_and_Universities: North_America: USA: California;

• Reference: Education: Post Graduate Education: Law School;

• Regional: US: California; and

• Society: Law.

As an editor-in-residence of several second-level categories, I feel obliged to consult with many of the editors-in-residence of the lower-level subcategories where I have editing privileges before I do any editing whatsoever in their categories. As a matter of simple courtesy, I would expect that most other editors who have editing privileges in one of the categories where I am named as an editor-in-residence would show me the same consideration, but that is a judgment call that other editors are usually better qualified to make for themselves. Specifically, many editors with editall privileges will "edit first and ask questions later," which (IMHO) is usually totally appropriate [unless they add a site to a category where I am listed as an editor-in-residence without putting it in unreviewed first]. If you do something that I don't like in one of the categories where I am listed as an editor-in-residence, you will probably receive an e-mail from me. This is true even if you are also listed as an editor-in-residence, unless I decide that it would be easier for me to simply fix the damage.

Another situation where I think editor consultation is appropriate is when I am contemplating category moves/renames/merges or any sort of category restructuring that might impact another editor. In such instances, I will usually e-mail the editors whose categories or subcategories will be affected as well as posting an RFC ("Request for Comments") to the appropriate area of the Editor Forum. [BTW, unless you really know what you are doing, don't take it upon yourself to carry out the restructuring of any categories even if everyone who might be affected by the change seems to be in agreement with what you are doing. There are all sorts of problems that can arise, so consult with an editall as how best to proceed with major category changes.] Other editors have suggested that the time frame for noticing and completing such a procedure should be at least two weeks, but I don't think that such a time frame is always appropriate, especially when the affected categories in question are little more than smoking craters comprised largely of spam and rubberstamp edits, but (once again) this is a judgment call.

The trickiest issue is that of when editor consultation is truly unnecessary or inappropriate. I respectfully submit that when an ODP editor is missing-in-action, has seriously neglected a category for which he or she is listed as an editor-in-residence, and/or periodically signs on and simply rubber-stamps the unreviewed sites in his or her categories-of-interest, consultation is entirely unnecessary. [This can be determined by viewing the editing logs.] I also respectfully submit that when a category has no editor currently assigned to it, editor consultation is entirely unnecessary. And finally, anything that you do within the category of your personal Bookmarks/ is nobody else's business. Just ask the self-appointed Bookmark Cop ODP Editor mitch.

If you think that another ODP editor is doing something that is wrong, allegations of serious editor misconduct should only be made to ODP staff or those editors whom you might wish to consult with privately before notifying staff of your suspicions. (E.g., co-editors-in-residence for categories where the editor in question has editing privileges, affected editors-in-residence of higher and lower level categories, and the wise and wonderful meta-editors.) Complaints to staff are a matter of right, if not duty, whereas editor consulation is an option for those who wish to act in good faith and give their fellow editors the benefit of the doubt. This option seems to comport with the hands-off management philosophy of ODP staff, the heart of which seems to be to let ODP editors work things out for themselves whenever possible.

If this option appeals to you, I recommend that you contact one of the editalls who has volunteered to investigate allegations of serious abuse by ODP editors rather than report someone to staff@dmoz.org. (See http://www.nwprod.com/odp/abuse.mv (form for submitting allegations of serious editor abuse).) As an occasional inadvertent perpetrator of false accusations (as well as a recurring victim), I prefer to reserve judgment whenever it is possible to do so. God waits until your dead to judge you; I can wait at least that long.

Having said my piece, do I still think that unfounded allegations of serious editorial abuse will continue to be made in the ODP Editor Forum? But of course! This is how mob rulers obtain their power. But it doesn't have to be that way. And you don't need to be part of the problem.

The mission of the ODP is to build the largest and most comprehensive directory on the Internet, so before you delete a site, you should ask yourself why you think it doesn't belong on ODP. Of course, if the site is already listed in the category to which it has been submitted, it is a multiple submission and should be deleted -- no questions asked. But you may want to take this opportunity to review and/or revise the current site listing.

Then there's the question of whether a site belongs in the category where it has been submitted. What I do is move it to the appropriate category, attaching an ODP Editor's note. (E.g., "Site is not in English; moved from Computers/Consultants to World/ .") If the site in question is already listed in the appropriate category, then I simply delete it from the category where it doesn't belong and attach an ODP editor's note as to where it was submitted and deleted. Finally, if the site is what I consider a "problem" URL, I move it to the Problem URLs subcategory of my bookmarks. (See Bookmarks/N/netesq/Problem_URLs/.)

If and when another ODP Editor receives another submission for a site that I have deleted, he or she will be able to review my ODP editor's notes. Similarly, other ODP editors will see cross-references to my Problem_URLs subcategories if and when a site is resubmitted. And, of course, I will be able to keep track of the hundreds (if not thousands) of "problem" URLs that I have reviewed. My strategy of keeping "problem" URLs in my bookmarks also gives me the opportunity to reconsider whether such sites should be listed in the main ODP directory and comports with ODP's mission of being the most comprehensive directory on the Internet.