What I will do once I'm able to edit again

Now, when Dmoz is up and running again I will finish editing in the two new categories I was accepted to before the sever outtage. One thing I've learned as an editor is to not be fooled by the number of listed sites shown in the category because that category could easily have hundreds of more sites waiting for review. The good thing about being a current editor is that I can see how many sites are in a category's unreviewed before I apply for the category. That has stopped me on several occasions from applying to certain categories. Now, am I going to go through all of those few hundred waiting sites? Of course not. I don't even think I have the time nor the desire to go through them all. What I am going to do is my usual tasks of when I'm accepted to a category:

1) Check all the links from bottom-up to see if they still work.

That's the very first task I do. At this point in time it doesn't matter to me whether or not the site has changed content. I will unreview a site if it's a dead link or a parked or under construction page. Anything else doesn't matter at this point in time; not the terrible description or inaccurate title. Nothing. All of that comes later.

2) Re-check the content of the listed sites.

Now, this is where I put in most of the leg for the existing sites. I have to recheck them and un-review any parked pages, pages with low content, and change the title and re-write the description if need be. In other words, all the sites in the category are going to be re-reviewed. The more sites that are listed in the category means the more time I'm going to spend re-reviewing them until all are re-reviewed. That could take several days or even several months. But, if there are litterally hundreds of sites listed in the category then I'm only going to check to see if the description and title are an accurate depiction of what's on the site, otherwise, I try to re-write the description in my own very descriptive way.

3)Decide on whether I want to review sites from FIFO (first in, first out), LIFO (last in, first out), or in some other random order.

This is the process I will use to determine on whether I will review sites on a first come, first reivew basis, or in some other random order. Deciding on which order in which to review sites will depend on the category, because each category is different. In some categories I've learned that the longer a site has been waiting in review, the more likely it is to be a dead link or unlistable for some reason, while in other categories I might decided that it's best to review sites on a FIFO basis. How I determin which reviewing method works for the category is that I will review sites in each order; FIFO, LIFO, or just randomly pick a site that has a guidelines compliant title and description. After I've reviewed enough sites following different methods I'll then make an educated guess as to which way will lead to the best results of finding a listable site. Or, contrary to that, if I just want to remove dead links from unreviewed, which way of reviewing sites will turn up the most dead links. And, sometimes it's not always that easy to decide on which reviewing method to use, so I just pick whichever order I feel like reviewing in on that day.

That's pretty much how it goes when I get a new category. Of course, as I grow in knowledge as an editor I might refine those common tasks to a much more simpler method. I have to pull the plug somewhere when a category has over 100 sites to review and that number is 101. I can review all the sites if a category has 100 or fewer unreviewed, but more than that and I'll pass. So, what I will do for categories that have over 100 unreveiewed is to review some, but not all. But, I will review enough so that it makes a big dent in my total edits and so that the category's listed sites has increased by a significant amount. Or, in other words, do enough edits so that I can easily get another category, and get closer to becoming a not-so-new editor.

Now, just in case you're wondering why I spend a lot of time cleaning up the category is because, along with my previous edits, the shape of my current categories are also taken into consideration when asking for more categories in which to edit. So, if a reviewing Admin, Meta, or Category Moderator (CatMod) decides to review my application for another category and decides that my current categories are not in decent shape then they will reject the application with a message to the effect that I should work more on getting my current categories in shape. It's especially a bad idea if your category, say in Jewelry/Pearls, is in bad shape and you apply for a sister category in Jewelry/Diamonds. If you can't get the Pearls category in shape, then it doesn't make the editor reviewing your application Diamonds think you can do a good job in it. It's an automatic rejection, or at least greenbusting priviliges, if you don't have all your current categories in decent shape; that means free of dead links and with titles and descriptions that conform to Dmoz guidelines. That's why I always make a point before submitting an application for more permissions to run a link checker over my existing categories, especially since the last time I would have checked the category any number of sites could have gone dead.

As for my total edits I think I might be around 2,500 total. I think I had added approximately 500 edits before the outtage. And, with my two new categories, I'll be adding many more sites to the directory, so I look forward to seeing my total adds and total edits increase by an enormous amount. Plus, I already have other categories that I want to apply to picked out and I'm looking for sites for them. I hate being able to edit in only a few small - to medium sized categories.