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DMOZ

Overview

Editing in DMOZ can be a fun and gratifying experience. By joining DMOZ, you are helping to build the most comprehensive and widely distributed Directory of the Web. DMOZ is a diverse community of editors representing many nationalities, cultures, and interests.  The common denominator is an interest in creating an unbiased, objective resource for the general public, fully covering the breadth and depth of human knowledge, and representing all topics and points of view.

The Directory guidelines outline the principles and standards governing the DMOZ's editorial content and community activity. All editors are expected to follow these guidelines, and use them as a basis for good editorial decision making and common-sense judgment. While there are definitive polices given here, many guidelines are sufficiently generalized to allow for unique and special circumstances. While it is critical that you follow these guidelines, it is equally important that you not apply them so rigidly that you sacrifice user-friendliness for the sake of editorial purity. Use these guidelines as a basis for your editorial decisions as well as category specific charters. Remember to always keep the end-user in mind.

The guidelines provide editing basics, and don't address all editing nuances and special circumstances. Editors should consult the Editor Resource Zone (ERZ) which gives additional guidance, examples, and other tips, advice, and how-tos.  If you still have questions after consulting these resources, post them in one of the Editor Forums. Non-editors should consult our Public Forum, where editors are available to answer any questions you have about DMOZ.

Each section of these guidelines is described below.

Selecting and Evaluating Web Sites

Describing Web Sites

Organizing Web Sites

Link Maintenance

Editor Information

Supplementary Guidelines

In addition to these core guidelines, DMOZ editors also rely on a series of permission and category specific editing guidelines.