FAQ - Dmoz/Recreation

Archive-name:dmoz.org/Recreation
Posting-Frequency:none
Last-modified:2005-01-28 23:55:45
URL:http://dmoz.org/Recreation/faq.html
Category:Recreation

Table of Contents

1  What is Recreation?
     1.1  What is "primary focus"?
     1.2  What goes to Regional?
     1.3  What goes to Shopping?
     1.4  What goes to Sports? Games?
     1.5  What about Adult sites?
     1.6  Can sites be listed multiple times?
2  Where do non-English language sites go?
     2.1  Which category for which language?
3  Ontology Issues
     3.1  What about sites that inform about more than one topic?
     3.2  Shouldn't popular categories be listed at the top level?
     3.3  What if the site covers all of Recreation? Can it be listed at the top level Recreation/?
4  Affiliate, Mirror and Redirect, and MLM and Distributor
     4.1  What is an Affiliate?
     4.2  What are mirror and redirect sites?
     4.3  What are MLMs and Distributors?
5  Creating Sub-Categories
     5.1  What is a related category?
     5.2  What is an @link?

1   What is Recreation?
Recreation category sites provide resources and information on a multitude of activities that occupy leisure time.

The key is that the primary focus of the site is to provide information.

1.1   Q: What is "primary focus"?
A: The primary focus is the purpose of the site. Is it to teach and inform, to advertise a local business, or to sell a product?

If the business or product sales are sidebars to the bulk of the content on the site, then it meets this guideline.

If the purpose is strictly to sell a product, then Recreation is not the best category for placement.

by trident6 at 2000-10-11 05:21:22
1.2   Q: What goes to Regional?
A: Sites for local businesses, that do not offer meaningful informational content should go to the appropriate Regional/ category.

For example, a hotel in San Antonio should be submitted to Regional/North_America/United_States/Texas/Localities/S/San_Antonio/Travel_and_Tourism/Lodging/Hotels_and_Motels/

by mcoupal at 2005-01-28 23:52:27
1.3   Q: What goes to Shopping?
A: Shopping/ contains sites of which the primary focus is to allow the consumer to select and obtain goods and services over the Web via online sales.
by trident6 at 2000-10-11 05:22:37
1.4   Q: What goes to Sports? Games?
A: Sports can be generally defined as competitive events involving physical exertion. Included here are sports that may be recreational rather than competitive activities for most people, such as bicycling. Bicycling is a competitive activity though, therefore it belongs in Sports.

Games are usually competitive, the players are either competing against each other, or against one or more simulated players, or against tasks set by the game rules. There are usually ways to win and lose a game spelled out in the rules. Games are generally less physically taxing as Sports.
by trident6 at 2000-10-11 05:23:09
1.5   Q: What about Adult sites?
A: The Adult category has PICS tags to prevent child safe browsers from accessing that part of the directory. Adult does not show up on the main ODP page and it won't show up in searches unless you use an "Adult only" keyword with your search or use the advanced search. All sexually explicit sites should be listed in the Adult category. If you find sites with adult content listed in your category, or receive submission of adult sites to your category, move them to the appropriate adult category. See the official Adult Guidelines , as well as the Adult FAQ for more details regarding adult content.
by t23 at 2002-02-01 12:57:27
1.6   Q: Can sites be listed multiple times?
A: A site for a local organization or physical store which provides information primarily and also mentions the organization or store location can be double-listed in Recreation and in the Regional category for the Locality that it serves.

In general, a consumer retail store that incidentally offers information will not qualify for cross-listing in Recreation. It will be listed in the proper Regional category. Regional listings are location-specific resources where a particular site is either about a geographic area, or are of interest to a local population.

Because of the potential for abuse, multiple listings should be the exception, not the rule. Descriptions for recreation sites cross-listed in a Regional area outside of Recreation should highlight the local content of the site. Multiple listings within Recreation/, for multiple kinds of products, for example, are actively discouraged and will be very rare. See also 3.1

by trident6 at 2000-10-11 05:24:22
2   Where do non-English language sites go?
Sites that are not in the English language should be submitted to the appropriate World/ category. If a site is multi-lingual, and it includes English, it can be listed in Recreation. For a multi-lingual site to be included, the English language content should be substantial and properly translate the information and resources on the site.
2.1   Q: Which category for which language?
A: Please refer to the "This category in other languages:" links on the category page.
by tschild at 2003-11-17 12:43:48
3   Ontology Issues
3.1   Q: What about sites that inform about more than one topic?
A: In most cases a site need only be listed in one Open Directory category. However, there are a few occasions on which a site could be listed in more than one category. These sites should be limited to those that have true research value and/or cover a number of different subjects to such a degree that one category isn't sufficient in describing the site's contents. There are also some instances in which a site might be listed in both a subject category and a regional category, such as a site about a professional sports team. Please make multiple listings the exception though - not the rule.

A site should be listed under the primary topic. Therefore a site that includes resources on 35 different types of tea and 34 types of coffee would be listed at Recreation/Food/Drink/.

When there are lots of sites that span a group of products, they may form a natural group, and we should consider making those products subcats off a common parent - this helps remove the temptation to list multiples.

Again, focus on the primary site content, then submit to that corresponding category.
by trident6 at 2000-10-11 05:28:01
3.2   Q: Shouldn't popular categories be listed at the top level?
A: No, they should be listed where they make logical sense. For example, California has a large representation of sites indexed in the directory. However, just because it is a popular destination and contains a large quantity of sites, it would not be moved to the top level of Regional.
Popular topics can be given higher exposure through @links at higher levels.
by trident6 at 2000-10-11 05:28:32
3.3   Q: What if the site covers all of Recreation? Can it be listed at the top level Recreation/?
A: No, sites are not listed at the top level of Recreation. Read over the site, discern the primary focus, and submit accordingly to the most specific lower category.
by trident6 at 2000-10-11 05:29:12
4   Affiliate, Mirror and Redirect, and MLM and Distributor
Guidelines about the inclusion of these types of sites are covered in the "To Include or Not to Include" section of the Directory Guidelines at http://dmoz.org/guidelines/include.html#notinclude
4.1   Q: What is an Affiliate?
A: An affiliate site gets a commission for referrals to another site. They can often be identified by the affiliate tag in the URL, AffiliateID=19555&ProductID=508. The person whose ID is in the link gets a commission from anyone who buys from the site after following that link. A site that lists affiliate links in addition to other content (such as a fan site for a singer that has interviews and photos and links to buy the singer's CDs) might be an acceptable submission to the directory. Sites that consist primarily of links to buy books or CDs, etc. and/or provide no unique content should not be included in the directory.
by trident6 at 2000-10-11 05:30:19
4.2   Q: What are mirror and redirect sites?
A: Mirror sites contain the same content as another site, but have a different URL. As an example, John Smith has a store so he sets up johnsmith.mystore.com. To get more traffic, he then puts the same content on johnsmith.anotherstore.com. The sites are identical except for the URL. Only one URL should be listed.

Redirect sites are URLs which take you to another URL. They are similar to a mirror, except that you go through the site to get to the information. As an example, when you go to johnsmith.anotherstore.com, you get taken to johnsmith.mystore.com. Only johnsmith.mystore.com should be listed.
by trident6 at 2000-10-11 05:30:53
4.3   Q: What are MLMs and Distributors?
A: MLMs are multilevel marketers, such as Mary Kay, Avon, and Rexall. The companies and individual distributors are listed in Business/Opportunities/Networking-MLM . MLMs should be sent to the appropriate letter in the MLM category and should not be listed in Recreation. Distributors are similar to MLMs, but do not recruit other sellers. They also have their own category, Business/Opportunities/Distributors . Distributors should be sent to the Distributor category and should not be listed in Recreation.
by trident6 at 2000-10-11 05:31:23
5   Creating Sub-Categories
First and foremost, search the directory to ensure that a proposed category is not already existant in the directory. Ask yourself, "Is my subcategory cross-disciplinary, and if so, what other areas could resources in my subcategory be classified under?" If there is a subcategory in another area of the ODP that is similar to my subcategory, should I create a Related Categories link? Should I create an @link?

Consider creating subcategories when you have 20 or more links in your category. In general, subcategories should not be created until there are groups of easily organized links in the category. You should be able to see groups of links that can be easily organized by subtopic. Remember that a large number of links is difficult for the user to browse to find the desired resource(s).
When you make changes to your category such as creating subcategories, or moving sites between categories, you should communicate these changes to other editors before making these changes. Even if you are the sole editor of a category, you should communicate changes to parent category editors. The preferred form of communication is e-mail or posting your proposed changes in the appropriate editors forum.
5.1   Q: What is a related category?
A: Related category links point to categories that are sibling categories in other areas of the ODP. There should only be a few related categories in each subcategory.
For example, Boating/ is a recreational hobby enjoyed by people throughout the world. However, groups of sites that primarily focus on the sports that involve boats, such as scuba diving, would not be listed in Recreation. The related category is Sports/Water_Sports/
by trident6 at 2000-10-11 05:32:30
5.2   Q: What is an @link?
A: Also known as symlinks, @links point to categories that could serve as subcategories of the current category. Symlinks are distinguished with the @ at the end of the category name. There can be many @links in a single category. @Links are mixed in with the subcategories. If you are about to create a new subcategory and you realize that the new category might duplicate the entries of an already existing category, create an @link to that category instead. Having more than one category with the same listings means more work for editors and a less useful directory for users.
For example, Hang-Gliding is a popular outdoor activity. A search reveals an established category at Recreation/Aviation/Aircraft/Footlaunched/Hang_Gliding. An @link to the Aviation category is the better choice for the Outdoors category.
by mcoupal at 2005-01-28 23:55:45

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