ODP Time
by lissa

When I first started I was all fired up and ready to go. I spent a little time test driving the tools, then started working on my category. But it wasn't long before I had a question, which I posted in the forums. And I waited and waited for an answer. Sheesh! It's been a whole day! Where is everyone?

The editors at ODP are from around the world, speak many languages, are from diverse backgrounds, range in age from not yet a teen to pretty darn old, and have interests in every topic under the sun. Some are in school, some are retired, some are stay-at-home parents, some work (for pay ;)) full-time; some work in the computer industry, others can barely use their computer; some can devote a majority of their day to editing, others can barely squeeze in a few hours each month. All this diversity leads to what I call ODP time. Not everyone is working at the same pace, schedule, or interest level, and this needs to be taken into account when trying to communicate with other editors. Different types of problems need different amounts of time to handle.

Is it a really quick, simple question about ODP in general? It can probably be answered real-time on ODP chat. Otherwise, a post in the New Editor's Forum will probably be answered in a few hours.

Is the question a little more topic specific? Post it in the appropriate Forum for that branch, in an existing thread if there is one specific to the concern. Depending upon the activity level in the thread, it may take one to several days to get an answer. If it has been a week with no answer, post again to bump the thread back up. It may have not been noticed by the right person.

Is the issue a reorganization proposal? Start a new thread in the appropriate Topic or Ontology Forum, and send feedback to editors up the tree, in neighboring branches, and any other editor whose opinion is wanted, to invite them to the discussion. Plan on a week just for all the invitees to have the chance to respond, and another week to allow discussion to occur. Sometimes general agreement is reached fairly quickly, and the reorg can proceed. Sometimes no one responds and there doesn't seem to be much interest in the topic. If this is the case, post again stating that the reorg will proceed in a week (or appropriate timeframe), and reinvite editors to give them a chance to object. Sometimes there is a lot of discussion and no clear agreement on the proposal. In this case, let the issue drop. In a few months, other changes in the directory may make it sensible to bring the proposal up again.

Is the idea one about the general workings of ODP? Start a new thread in the General or ODP Culture Forum. Some ideas fizzle immediately, some ideas get lots of agreement and result in change, and some ideas generate lots of discussion but don't seem to come to resolution. If you are watching a discussion thread closely, it's tempting to post in response to every poster. Don't. Wait a while, let other editors have a chance to speak up, and see what develops. It may seem that discussion has stopped, when a few days later someone new will post a new idea and discussion will begin again. Good discussions may take a month or more. All discussions contribute to the ODP culture, and with the constant changing of tools, editors, and the directory itself ideas that fizzled last year may suddenly be really great this year.

I've learned that since issues can take a few days to weeks or sometimes months to resolve, it's very handy to rotate the categories and projects I'm working on. While discussion on one topic is maturing, I can prepare another discussion :) . What's a poor editor who only has one or two small categories to do while they are waiting for resolution? Build a new category from scratch! It can be hard to start a new project before an old one is finished, but this is a great way to synchronize with ODP time. It can seem to take forever to get some things done (like watching grass grow), but before you know it 6 months or a year will have passed, and that project you thought would never finish is long gone, and you've moved onto other things. That's ODP time!

- lissa