Editalls play a vital role in the ODP as leaders and managers of
content quality and champions of editorial integrity. Editall
privileges are granted to experienced editors who have exhibited a
solid grasp of the ODP Guidelines and excellent editorial skills in
diverse areas of the directory. Editalls lead the community
by:
Keeping "the big picture" in mind when making editing decisions.
Productively participating in the community decision-making process.
Creating user-friendly taxonomies that have sound, logical structure.
Adding content that is current and relevant to users.
Maintaining a consistent edit history that reflects an overall
understanding of general and category-specific editorial
guidelines.
Types of Editall Permissions
Standard Editall - Editalls are able to perform the
following functions:
Edit anywhere in the directory, except in restricted areas.
Delete any category which contains no listed or unreviewed sites.
Create a new category and list up to 1 person as editor.
Editall/Catmv - In addition to all standard editall functions, an Editall with catmv can rename or move any category, except in
restricted access areas.
CatEditall - This type of editor can perform editall/catmv
functions within a specific category or directory node. This
permission is limited to editors listed under one of the main, top
level categories. In the World branch, cateditall may be granted to
editors listed under World/<language> or
World/<language>/<topic>. In exceptional cases, cateditall
may be granted to an editor leading a category reorganization below
one of these levels.
You are not required to have top level permissions prior to being
granted cateditall permissions. You may be granted cateditall and
top level permissions simultaneously. However, cateditall is
only granted to those who have broad editing experience in a main
category.
Stuff Editalls Do
There is no specific time commitment required of editalls, although
editall privileges are generally given to active editors interested
in assuming lead roles in building and maintaining the
directory. Depending on personal tastes and skills and the
directory's needs, editalls can make notable contributions by
working in one or more of these areas:
Edit in very broad areas of their choice, driven by personal
interest and/or a knowledge of where help is needed most.
Coordinate reorganizations of sites and categories across or
within the various top level directory nodes.
Coordinate and participate in directory wide editorial initiatives
aimed at growing the directory's content (e.g. team evaluation of
unreviewed) and improving its quality (e.g. CatBusters).
Act as authorities on matters of standard editing, taxonomy and
ontology policies and procedures, resolving questions about
editing practice and application/interpretation of editing
guidelines.
Mentor less experienced editors on community standards and
guidelines.
Investigate abuse and questionable editing practices, bringing
them to the attention of metas, catmod and staff.
Perform change/move/delete requests, and general data quality
assurance and maintenance.
Editalls have information organization skills that transcend
specific subject knowledge, qualifying them to edit in broad areas
of the directory. However, as the directory grows and becomes more
diverse, it is not possible for one person to remain completely
informed about all community standards that govern more granular
levels of the directory's structure. Therefore, editalls are not
expected to edit everywhere. When editing in an unfamiliar area,
editalls must take time to learn local editing practices such as
deeplinking and cross listing policies, standardized templates,
site title and description practices, regional variations in
standard English, and the like. Although editalls can edit in any
part of the directory without being listed as editor, they should
always be listed as editor of at least one category in the public
directory. As with any other editor, resigning all categories is
assumed to be a resignation from the ODP.
The Editall Interface
Editalls have access to a number of powerful editing tools. In
addition to the standard system tools, a variety of editor
developed bookmarklets, tools, and documents are available at Test:
Tools_for_Editors: Tools_for_Editalls to facilitate using
editall permissions responsibly and effectively.
The Editall Dashboard
The editall/catmv dashboard contains the following additions to the
standard editor dashboard:
A link to the category move queue, along with a display of the
current status and size of the queue.
Links to all top level categories at the bottom of the
dashboard.
A link to the these guidelines.
The Editall Category Edit Screen
The editall/catmv category edit screen contains the following
additions to the regular edit screen:
"Move/Rename this Category" option in the list at the top.
"Change Search String" option in the list at the top.
Catmv and Delete links next to @links.
The "Power Reviewed Edit" option, which brings up a different edit screen for the same category.
The Editall URL Edit Screen
Editalls can add notes to domains. See the
Add URL Note Guidelines for information and procedures.
Moving and Renaming Categories
Major category moves and renames should not be arbitrary, but
should reflect a clear community consensus, standard template, or
general editing guideline.
Generally, moves are agreed on in forum discussion and then posted
to a central Rename/Move/Change thread for action, with references
to the thread where changes were discussed. In some topical areas,
there are established procedures for minor changes, such as posting
intended changes to a central "Category Create/Delete Billboard"
forum thread to solicit comments.
While you are expected to use your judgment in performing minor
changes, such as bringing a category into conformity with an
established template or correcting spelling or capitalization
errors, if there is any doubt about a change it should always be
discussed and agreed upon in the forum.
How to Move/Rename a Category
To move a category:
Go to the category edit page of the category you wish to move.
Select "Move/rename this category".
Enter a destination, and select "Apply".
Check the details on the next screen, if they are correct, choose
"Confirm", else go back in your browser, and correct the destination
path.
The request is then placed in the category move queue, and your part of the category move is complete.
Renaming a category is exactly the same as moving a category, you
simply change only the last part of the destination category.
Things to Watch Out For
The destination path should be entered using "/" and "_", not ":"
and " ". It is especially important to watch out for spaces when
carrying out requests in a forum rename/move request thread. It is
very easy to end up with an incorrectly named category.
Occasionally, a glitch in the catmv system can lead to editor
names being lost when a category is moved. A meta can easily restore
editing privileges lost in a catmv.
Catmvs are queued, so if there is is a lot of people moving
categories, or if the queue is paused during RDF generation, it move
will take a while to go through. You can check on the status of the
move queue from your dashboard.
Sort priority is not automatically updated after a category move,
so you may need to check this after renaming or moving a
category.
How to Move/Rename @Links
To move an @link:
Go to the category edit page containing the @link you want
to move.
Select the "[catmv link]" link next to the @link.
Enter a destination, and select "Apply".
Check the details on the next screen, if they are correct,
choose "Confirm", else go back in your browser, and correct the destination
path.
Unlike moving/renaming a category, the @link is moved immediately.
Renaming an @link is exactly the same as moving an @link, you simply change only the last part of the destination category.
Deleting Categories
Editalls are able to delete categories with resident editors, as
long as there are no subcategories, @links or sites listed in the
category. However, this action should be taken only with extreme
caution; it is almost never appropriate, except as part of an
agreed upon category merge, or when deleting wildly inappropriate
subcategories.
Like all editors, editalls should be careful about deleting
categories that may be linked to from other parts of the directory,
or which may represent a substantial amount of work in creating
category charters, FAQs, or collections of @links, related category
links, or alternate language links. The editall tools
category contains advice on how to preserve as much work as
possible when merging or reorganizing categories.
Naming Editors to New Categories
The ability of editalls to name editors to newly created categories
should be used very selectively. It is not intended to give
editalls meta-like abilities to decide on the promotion and
expansion of the responsibilities of editors, but merely to
complement the natural role of editalls in facilitating category
reorganizations and growth.
Carefully review an editor's edit history before taking this
step. If there is any doubt, decisions should be left to meta
editors or catmods.
Some of the things that editalls should consider in naming editors
to new categories:
Is the editor doing a good job in their current categories?
Has the editor been recently rejected for, or removed from,
any categories by meta-editors or catmods?
Is the new category the subject of any larger controversy?
Are reorganizations ongoing that would take away the ability
of a parent editor to work on subcats they are currently maintaining?
Does the editor have the level of experience necessary for
the expected size of the new category?
Do the editor's forum postings in the discussion leading
to the creation of this category show an ability to cooperatively
work for the better of the directory?
If the category is in Test
, is it intended to allow one or more editors to work on a category
reorganization or other temporary project, or is it intended to be
moved into the main directory?
Is the editor expecting to be named to this category? (Don't
give an editor an unexpected surprise on their dashboard.)
Again, if there is any doubt or controversy, or if you are not
comfortable naming editors to categories, the decision should be
left to a meta editor or catmod.
How to Name an Editor to a Category
Create a new subcategory as usual. Instead of the "list me as
editor" box you had as a regular editor, there is now a text box
where you can enter the name of one editor. If you wish to list no
editor, leave it blank. To name any editor, which may be you or
someone else, enter that name in the box.
Changing Category Search Strings
To change a category search string:
Go to the category edit page of the category.
Select "Change search string".
Enter the search string in the "Search String" box. This is the
string that will be used for the external search engine links.
Enter the public string in the "Public String" box. This will
appear as the caption on the public page, in the form "Public
String" search on:, and also next to the "Change search string"
option on the edit page.
Click "Apply"
Power Reviewed Edit
Power reviewed edit, also known as the chainsaw, can be accessed by
selecting the 'Power Reviewed Edit' link on a category edit page.
This feature works much like power unreviewed edit.
You can go from power reviewed edit to the standard edit
page by choosing "Old Style Reviewed Edit".
"Cancel" will reset all titles/descriptions/checkboxes to
what they were the last time you loaded the power reviewed edit page.
"Clear Marked Sites" will untick all the check boxes.
You can enter a note into the "ODP Note" field, which will be
attached to all edits made by your next update/unreview/move made
with power reviewed edit.
Mass Unreviewing/Moving
Select the sites you wish to unreview/move by ticking the
check box next to the site.
Choose a category, either by typing one into the appropriate
box, or choosing one from the pull down menu.
Select "Move selected URLs" to move the URLs and list them
in the destination category, or "Move URLs to Unreviewed" to move the URLs
to the destination category's unreviewed queue.
Note: There is also an "Unreview Marked Sites" button which places
the selected sites into the unreviewed queue of the current
category.
Mass Updating Titles/Descriptions
Change the titles/descriptions as appropriate by altering
the values in the text boxes.
Choose the sites you wish to update by ticking the check
boxes next to the sites.
Select "Update Titles/Descriptions."
Adding Notes to URLs
The colored notes at the top of the "edit URL" screen communicate important information about a particular URL or web site. The colors have the following meanings:
Red - A red note should be used to alert editors to abuse, spam, redirects, mirrors, affiliates, spider food and other types of sites we don't list.
Yellow - A yellow note should be used to inform editors of special alerts about URLs. Yellow doesn't necessarily have a negative meaning. These notes inform editors of peculiarities or special circumstances.
Green - A green note should be used to alert editors to extraordinarily useful and quality resources. Editors may want to consider adding subpages to various categories.
Purple - Purple notes are used to provide general information about the site. Purple notes do not affect the color of the edit button, so can be used to provide informational notes on heavily listed domains (e.g. geocities.com) without attracting undue attention.
All (k)editalls and (k)cateditalls may post URL notes, without discussion. If you have questions about which color is appropriate for a specific site, or group of sites, please discuss it in the appropriate peditall thread.
Editall Projects
As an Editall, you have the opportunity to take part in a number of
projects that seek to improve the quality and quantity of the
directory. You are not required to participate in organized editing
initiatives; however, as an Editall, the ODP community does expect you
to be actively editing across the various subject categories. Any time
you can devote to directory wide editing projects is appreciated. As a
leader in the community, you are in a unique position to seize new
opportunities and fill in gaps where you see them. New ideas for
growing and developing the ODP's content and improving its quality are
encouraged. The following editing initiatives were conceived and
developed by Editalls. All Editalls are encouraged to take part in
these editing projects, and contribute their expertise in all areas of
the directory.
Cat Busters
The Cat Busters initiative was founded on the idea that even big
editing problems can be manageable if a group of editors get together
to work on them for a short burst of enthusiasm. Cat Busters offers
editing help in categories that don't have the human resources to
handle big, ugly, and intractable problems, like an unreviewed queue
numbering in the hundreds, or a tree with consistently lousy
descriptions and categorization. The Cat Busters group is made up of
Editalls and other dedicated editors committed to improving the
quality of the directory's content and speeding up the
submission/unreviewed process. Check out Test: Team_Projects:
Catbusters to find out more about becoming a Cat Buster.
Robozilla Reds
Editors who don't have the time or energy to investigate what
happened to dead URLs, are encouraged to send the links to Test: Robozilla: Reds rather than
deleting the dead links. Editors in Test: Robozilla: Reds investigate
dead links and update the URLs or remove the dead URLs from the
directory, whichever is appropriate. Test: Robozilla: Reds is run by
Editalls and regular editors interested in keeping the directory
up-to-date and free of dead links, while preserving access to the
content they represent. All Editalls are encouraged to help out with
this initiative since it involves evaluating web sites in multiple
subject areas directory wide. For more information about Robozilla
Reds, check out the information at Test: Robozilla: Reds.
Last update: 2006-04-10
