Um, Dmoz....How Do I Submit My Site?

I've begun to notice a trend in the type of e-mail I get from submitters. The first type of e-mail is from people who are basically asking for a status check. The second type of e-mail has come to surprise me. I get e-mail from people who are unable to submit to the category and want to know where the Submit URL link is. What I have noticed is that this is for categories where Dmoz has turned off the Submit URL function. This usually happens when very few sites, if any, will ever be listed in the category. In this case, the submitter should submit to one of the sub-categories in the area.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised at how inattentive people are when they don't do any research or read any of the material available to them to help them better understand where to submit their sites. It surprises me, but I know that I shouldn't be. Submitters rarely read the category description or FAQs to see if the category they want to submit to is actually the best category. If you run into a situation where the Submit URL link is missing then that is your queue to find the appropriate subcategory in which to submit.

Another thing that boggles my mind is when people submit to the obviously wrong category. If your site's name begins with A, then why are you submitting to the letter Z? Sometimes I think people have nefarious reasons for submitting to the wrong category. Maybe they already have a site listed in the correct category and they are trying to get a mirror listed by submitting to a completely different category, thinking the reviewing editor will just move and list the site without actually taking a look at the correct category. I caught at one point someone doing just that - submitting a mirror to the incorrect sub-category and that same site was already listed under another URL in the correct category. Since then I have always been suspicious of people who submit to the number 0 instead of the letter K; I wonder what scheme they are trying to pull.

Just remember before you send an e-mail to the editor asking where the Submit URL is that you've actually read the category's FAQs and description where you will most likely find out that you have to submit to a subcategory.