Well , I do work also as a volunteer editor on the Open Directory Project . Almost an year ago i joined under a small category and I have been learning the ropes . It’s been a informative ride mostly , save few incidents which has confused me recently in Regional/ . I like working in regional , as it helps me build up the categories with sites of local business and organizations, events and public / government utilities or important ones such as Education.

But in order to diversify my interests , I have also applied for a topical category recently . And in most occasions I have been accepted by my superiors ( Metas ) as being ready for handling more sites and categories and thus encouraged . The last category I applied for was interestingly accepted by the Dmoz Editor -in-Chief ( rdkeating25 ) - thus the Boss :p . To be frank , I was of the opinion ( from forum threads ) , that he is usually dormant / inactive in day to day operations of the directory . But maybe that is not true for all days .

You will however find him more in the new and Official Dmoz Blog - which is currently being regularly updated .

1. 4images Newsletter
2. 4images affiliate system

Since a few months i am subscribed in the 4images community newsletter , which is an interesting way to stay updated with the happenings out there . Of course , you can still read about all of it here on my blog as well. The newsletter includes product updates of the 4images core gallery , warnings , exploits or upgrade information ; along with the current choicest modifications and 4images templates.

And now , the 4images affiliate system … although i am not much of an affiliate marketer as i would have liked to be , reading all the huge profits they make sitting at home , or in their bermudas at the beach sipping iced tea and what not… but i still always try to create / find options for affiliate links / product options of softwares / services i buy or like. Because those are the softwares and services i also recommend to my clients .

I do wish they however allowed us to withdraw our affiliate income ( when that happens ) in a PayPal account . Currently they have only Direct Deposit , which goes without saying is only for americans ( damn them ) , Wire Transfer , which is quite costly , or check - which would take ages to actually happen .

1. I visit many a webmaster forum and even though I am a web developer myself, it often pains me to see quite a few webmasters constantly cribbing about how ODP editors do not wish to hear their requests, DMOZ does not give attention to its customers and Dmoz is no longer valuable. Such posts does not do you much good ( i for sure do not enjoy seeing it, nor does it make help your cause.) Your time is more valuable than ranting about it.
2. I would have liked to write ” don’t be the problem, be the solution” . But i know the smartass answer to that . That being, ‘DMOZ meta editors are a secretive and scheming bastards and they do not approve XYZ’s application, so if my attempt at being a solution is blocked, i would rather be a problem‘.
   Wrong again - DMOZ meta editors who have the extremely difficult task of handling multiple responsibilities, along with checking your submitted applications are bound by even more difficult set of protocols and norms to maintain while review yours. Make sure you comply with all the requested tasks in the application form. if you have complied with it , you have already done your bit. Do not dilute that good deed.
3. During my not so illustrious career as DMOZ editor, my first few days was filled up by studying the guidelines , which drives my editing operations every day. As an editor I am supposed to find and select links, websites and resources to fill up my category. A librarian’s bookmarks, a link list created by an obsessive surfer cum webmaster of a particular genre / interest, were the origin of web directories . As an editor, I will take more time in locating such over user submitted websites . Deal with it . And even better - become the resource I have a probability to find.
4. The next part of the guidelines also explained how to write titles for a website. When you create a website, you already have a true name for it - it is helpful if you keep that in mind while submitting . If you are Bill’s Plumbing, i will name you as Bill’s Plumbing only and not Plumbing, Pipes, Cheapest plumber, Best Customer Support etc etc. Sounds good ?
5. Coming to descriptions - I know what would irritate me . If i see an Ad on the local yellow pages of a carpenter , and visited his shop only to see that he currently only sells hammers and nails . Or again, How would you really feel if you decided to order a 5 tier birthday cake and went to the bakery, only to see it is a single guy standing outside a shop with a basket with a few muffins ? I am hoping you understand what I am getting at here .
6. Describing a site, I feel requires knowing it’s content , and also gaining some knowledge about the owner / organization of the site and his/ her intent. If you have ever purchased an SSL Certificate before , you will understand this scenario - just like the certifying authority ( such as GoDaddy , Verisign etc ) , I am certifying , in a way , that your site is what I am saying it is . So please , make it obvious on your website what you really do and even better - have examples of what you have done / can do, and identify yourself / your organization .
7. You have made a product , or you are offering a service - very few times there would be someone better than you who can best categorize you or your website . So make sure when your submit your url, do it in the exactly right category. It could so be that where you have submitted may not have a exact category editor , and it may be reviewed by someone with relatively less knowledge on the topic . If that happens, your submission may cause the passing reviewer more trouble in choosing the right category for you, and if it does not get sent to the proper category , it may remain in the loop - thus extending the delay of your approval.
8. Do not submit your site in the DMOZ if all you need is a link from a PRX page . There are hundreds of other ways to get that . Inside the directory , if you are submitting for the first time and if you have a physical business, it is of utmost importance that you submit it first in your local regional category, even if that means submitting to a page with Zero Pagerank . There is a high probability that such a low level category might have lesser submission reviewing workload for the editor. It might also quite possibly happen that the editor who is reviewing your site may already know of your business.
9. Do not offer bribes , donations, congratulations letters masked as submission status requests, endorsements of any kinds. If you really want to do good , save the world from corrupt dmoz editors, there is a button for that . ( Push the button ) :p
10. Do not create duplicate , triplicate clone websites just for submission to the ODP . I can not possibly recommend business strategies for you , so you can easily have multiple websites for gaming, seo , traffic , profit and all important reason, but do not make it your intent to submit all of them to us - we can by rule only accept and review any one of them.

The above list is not exhaustive, neither endorsed in any way by DMOZ , Netscape, and any one else but me in my personal capacity as a adviser of you - my web visitor . . I do not take responsibility of any good as well as bad effects which may or may not occur to you and your website in its endeavor in getting listed in the ODP. However , if you do get a kick out of it , and also benefit from these points, feel free to share this article to your friend and social circle .

Wishing you all the best .

The new version 1.7.6 of the 4images - Image Gallery Management System has been released!

This release comes with lots of improvements, bug fixes and minor changes, e.g.:

* Added possibility to sort by filenames in CP image search form
* Improved download of big files
* Added onchange javascript for “per page” dropdown
* Disabled download button in lightbox if there are no download permissions for all images in the lightbox
* Fixed issue with paging tags
* Fixed missing image name escaping in alt tags of thumbnails
* Fixed redirect bug in admin/admin_global.php
* Fixed problem with brackets in template vars
* Updated URL for ICQ status image
* Fixed sql query in download.php
* Fixed logout problem where guests can delete other guests sessions
* Fixed displaying non-active images on details.php
* Improved download of big files

Theres already a feedback thread on the 4images forum if you are really into German language . Since I am more of the English language speaking crowd , i skipped the first 2 pages . Lol . I guess they really got too many bug reports or frustrations from sites using 4images having large files for download … that they mentioned it twice in their newsletter which i pasted above
One of these days i must learn .DE language to better grasp what all the super members such as jan , nicky , rustynet ivan say in there . *sighs* At least V@no speaks more English . thank goodness for that .

Example : In vbulletin version 3.7, some of the major changes or additions are -

• Reciprocal friendship between forum members
• Public messaging along with private messaging
• User Picture galleries
• User created social groups
• Member profile page
• Profile page Design and Customization
• Social bookmarking and tagging

Earlier , quite a few of these features were also introduced in Invisionboard and they also have their official gallery component .

What are the advantages of these modules being added as features : The best possible advantages is that features means , they are coded by the official developers - thus most secure, most easy to template and continuous support. Any modification always have the difficulties of 2 types - one that they are often made for the developers personal forum , and directed towards the site’s goals, which may or may not be the goal of other users of the modification. And the other being , the weaning of support due to lack of time or rather “free volunteer time”.

What are the disadvantages of the mods being added as features : Yes, there are direct disadvantages , such as … a software’s growth is often contributed by the plugins and modification community. Most mods developers spend months of their volunteer time building a modification and even for supporting it and provide it for free , in the hope of getting some donation money or related work in the future. This keeps them interested in contributing codes and time , and even build sites for supporting the modification . This comes to a close / end , with their mods being adapted as default features - which makes them loose their credit / money / fan following.

But all that is for any kind of mods and features … but these current modifications , turned feature sets, IMHO are not necessary in a forum software … a Forum is a Forum , a forum can not be a gallery . Same way , a forum is a forum , and IMO should not be a social network site . A social network site comes with a plethora of features which is often unworthy of being in a forum , which is typically a Message Board . A profile page … earlier the profile of the poster was recognizable through his posts , his posting habits , signature and maybe his avatar . Now, with a full blown profile page in place , i feel , the identity , the secrecy , the charm would be lost . Now , we have public messaging ( read profile commenting ), along with private messaging . All in all , every new element is taking the members and their “friends” away from the message board to the frills and fancies ( like MS Windows software ) . Will this really increase the value of the individual messageboards ? I feel it will only lower the posting and discussion on topics and people will be so besotted by the features .

Why this has been done : I believe this is entirely a marketing decision , only to generate hype , and compete with other scripts , but all in all this only Adds to the workload of a typical forum admin and moderators as they will have to check for more places which might go against forum policies . Every addon module as large as a gallery , friends network and the same , will only increase a web and database server requirement . Furthermore, with every one speaking of the web 2 and social web, most companies are feeling a need for making their offering more web 2.0 oriented and the frills such as “friends” and”networking” and “profiles” are the key features seen elsewhere.

To keep to the main topic as well , vbulletin 3.7 also comes with some good feature sets , undoubtedly . These are :

• Inline Spam Management and Prevention Tools
• Thread Tagging
• Thread Prefixes
• Attachment Viewing Lightbox
• Post Edit History
• Navbar Notices
• New Human Verification Systems

Spam and spam prevention is a constant complaint or nuisance for any and every forum administrator - the more tools the merrier . Thread tagging helps in quicker searching and less repeat posts by noobs , Thread prefix - a mod i always sought after
The attachment lightbox would surely be a welcome addition for preventing the stretching of template / board width etc .
To be quite frank , I have not tested all of this on a liver big board yet , as this is totally a Beta version , but I will do so soon and update this post , so stay UPDATED through the FEED.

Microsoft has proposed to Yahoo’s Board Of Directors that Microsoft acquire all Yahoo shares for $31, which is currently estimated to be worth $44.6 billion. Yahoo shareholders would get either cash or Microsoft shares (0.9509 of shares per 1 Yahoo share)

As a follow up , Yahoo! inc. accepted :

Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO), a leading global Internet company, today said that it has received an unsolicited proposal from Microsoft to acquire the Company. The Company said that its Board of Directors will evaluate this proposal carefully and promptly in the context of Yahoo!’s strategic plans and pursue the best course of action to maximize long-term value for shareholders.

This would probably be too early to analyze what this means, what the repercussions would be on the search industry along with the internet / web in general. However, it would not be out of place to mention a few points i can think of :

This is not the first time MS has submitted a bid to acquire Yahoo! , the last time they did was in previous year almost 10-11 months back, when Yahoo! board of directors openly refused saying , it was no time for such offers.
Even with the current low Yahoo has hit , Yahoo.com is still the website with highest traffic in all internet - in every metrics available on the internet, and Yahoo! also has several important acquisitions which fare highly in the current social web - namely, Del.icio.us , Yahoo Answers, Alibaba, Flickr , Facebook to mention a few. Yahoo email, Yahoo finance rates pretty highly on the radar of very many users , ranking over Gmail and similar applications.

On the other hand , Yahoo! has lost lots of ground on the search front , where Google has grown by leaps and bounds and truly a synergy of Yahoo and MSN could be the only force which might even come close. Microsoft on the other hand might gain a good deal by coming close with the Yahoo Publisher Network users and advertisers - which does have a sufficient base and development.

My personal feeling : I always liked Yahoo as a site , as a brand ( which Microsoft does as well, as Steve Balmer said in his note - intelligent minds think alike ), and a place to be. Google never had that and even less in Microsoft . As a person who has been on the net since 1997, i somehow would not feel impressed by a MSFT-YHOO clubbing. But then , it might be in the best of interest of the shareholders of Yahoo - What do you think ?

The pro’s of using Google’s Site Search is that
:

1. It is a tool from Google , internet’s leading search engine
2. Integrates snugly with Google Analytics, thus all reports are available under one account
3. It has a free version - even though with limited capacity

The cons of using Google site search are :

1. The free version would be displaying competitive ads on search results pages , thus one might have to think of using the paid version, which is around 100 USD
2. The tool might be limited for customization , inside your own site

The base idea is to get an idea as to what does your visitor search for once they have arrived inside your site - the data is required for “Keyword research” and “to find visitor intent” . Now since this can be achieved by using a internal search , I would like to try it out on our own first . If this fails , or after trying it on our ( which is at no extra cost), i might then try out by paying Google , to see the difference . Whats more , if I am not wrong , a internal site search , not made by Google , can also plug into to Google Analytics .
We have almost 68 pages inside the web design website , which is not obvious from the homepage … yet , because of our link building and search engine optimization efforts, many people come into the website using various keywords … or already come without any web links - just by word of mouth and try to locate what they came for . If he is web savy , he might navigate to the page he wants or might even choose to use the sitemap … but if he is lost , the internal search will allow him to find anything he wants at any time ( without using messy dropdown menus ). Furthermore, in the videos i mentioned above … a lot was discussed about a websites / pages - bounce rate . I feel many times this bounce rate is caused by a person not being able to find what he thought there is … with a internal search he would now be able to locate pages or try something new . And this way maybe the bounce rate could be minimized .
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