After the two month layoff, many editors are anxious to get back to editing! Here are some tips to help you get back into the groove in spite of the ongoing technical difficulties:
Be Prepared. - Before editing, make sure you have read Item 0 in the Welcome Back thread and the Server Bug Reports 06 threads. These posts will help you understand how to best help yourself with technical issues you might encounter.
Don't be shy. - If you are experiencing an issue that is keeping you from editing effectively, report it! Ask for help, there are many volunteer editors manning the forums who would enjoy helping you. If you haven't spent much time in the forums, this is a good time to start. The Penguin Cafe is hosting a welcome back editing contest and any ODP editor is welcome to participate.
Elementary my dear Watson. – If you don´t have plenty unrevieweds to work on, how about brushing up your website sleuthing techniques? Don't wait for sites to be suggested, go out and find some new ones yourself.
Make Lemonade! - A practical approach to getting things done is to do the tasks that are working right for you and not to spend a lot of time worrying about the rest of it. If you find a particular category that is only partially restored, report it and then start working elsewhere.
Plant a garden. - Remember that you can create categories in your Bookmarks and Test categories too. Once you have them in good shape there, you can ask that they be moved to a live category. This is a great way to build your permissions and build the directory too.
Quality is job 1. - Our quality assurance tools have not been running for two months. It is reasonable to expect that there will be some dead sites and hijacks in the directory. Check the listings in "your" cats for dead or broken sites. Two ODP specific tools that can help you find dead links are TulipChain and LinkSpider. You can also use other non ODP specific tools like LinkChecker for Mozilla Firefox.
Be Realistic. - Remember, there are going to be minor technical issues for a while. It is important to have realistic expectations. Expect that it will take time and effort to get everything back to normal, then you won't be disappointed when it doesn't happen right away.
Even though things may seem a bit chaotic at first, the technical issues we're experiencing now will soon be a memory. Between now and then, we can all still work together effectively to improve the directory.
- xixtas
Please send all comments, questions or suggestions to the newsletter editor.