What to expect when you become a Dmoz editor. Pt. 2

So, now that I've given you the low down on the very first things you should do once you become an editor in Pt. 1 I will now tell you some of the things you should expect also.

Firstly, you definitely should expect your mistakes to be corrected for you. Each editor has their own way of correcting another editor's mistakes. Some will send you an e-mail, others will unreview the site with a note to you to correct the problem, and others will fix it themselves, for instance, if you titled a site incorrectly, then the editor who corrects it will fix the mistake, but won't notify you about it. Expect your work to be corrected during your very first edits and until you've gotten the hang of editing that the senior editor feels he/she no longer needs to constantly review your work. Also, if you disagree with how another editor corrected your mistakes then you can always e-mail that editor with your concerns or bring it up on the Internal forum to get other editors' opinions. A lot of your first few corrected mistakes will probably come from the editor who approved your editor application; either a CatMod, Meta, or Admin., but most likely a Meta editor.

Secondly, you should expect random editors to come into the category where you're the listed editor and make changes. Sometimes editors will add sites to your category, delete sites, add sites to unreviewed, make changes to already listed sites, and so on. And, even though it's easy to claim a category as yours since you are listed, but technically, no editor owns a category because any editor with priviliges, whether listed or not, can come into the category and make changes. So, don't expect that you will be the only one editing in the category, because other editors will also. Once you're an editor you can see all the activity that has happened in the category, such as which editors added which sites and so on. So, if you feel up to the task, you can go through the category logs to see which editors have corrected your mistakes without telling you, as well as which editor(s) has made changes to the category since you've been listed editor. Most editors will try not to make any major changes if there is a listed editors, for instance they won't process the unreviewed because there is a listed editor who will most likely take care of it.

Thirdly, don't expect all editors to agree on things. You will quickly find out that all of Dmoz's editor don't think alike, but, instead, have their own opinions. Editors hold a lot of discretion when it comes to listing sites, so you'll sometimes see editors debating the merits of listing a site or a group of sites. Most will have their own opinions about why they think a certain action should be taken on a site. Which leads me to my next Dmoz editor expectation.

Don't take it too personally if most editors don't take well to your proposal. There are always proposals for some kind of change within Dmoz. There are some topics discussed within Dmoz that are very controversial, and if you happen to have an opinion on a very hot topic then don't be surprised if other, and sometimes most, editors don't agree with your opinion. It's very easy to get frustrated when you don't have any support for a topic you care about, but remember that with Dmoz it comes down to having a majority of editors who have an interest in the topic agreeing with you before any action is taken. If you don't, then nothing will be done, but you're always free to bring it up at a much later date.

Don't be surprised when you get access to a category that you have sites that have been waiting to be reviewed for years. Some people claim that they've submitted their sites years ago. That's always a possibility, especially since submissions aren't deleted unless they are done so manually by an editor. With Dmoz, no one will take care of a category unless they are interested in the topic, so it's only natural that the average site will have to wait, and sometimes that wait will be for years.

Lastly, but not least, if you decide to apply for more categories in which to edit don't be surprised that you have to fill out another editor application just like you did when you first applied. But, this time you'll apply for the category a little differently. You'll have to apply to the category while you are logged into Dmoz. If you don't then you'll be applying for a new editor position. Editors can only have one editor account so it's best that you avoid accidentally applying for another account and instead use the internal ways to apply for more privileges.

These are just some of the things that you can expect when you become a part of the Dmoz editor community.