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Posted: Thu Nov 02, 2006 4:09 pm Post subject: How 'scared' where you in submitting your site to HEDir?
I got to wondering whether there are any people who arrive here, read some of the reviews, but then decide not to submit a site from fear of running the HEDir review gauntlet.
I know I was certainly nervous when I finally decided to press the 'Submit' button.
We're not all thick-skinned, my-site-is-best types so just wondered, in general, how people 'felt' at the time of submitting.
Were you frightened, or anxious - to the point of not submitting?
If so, is there anything we, as a community, can do to ease the pain of submitting your new site?
Whether you reply to this post or not, please indicate in the poll, your feelings at the time of pressing the 'button'.
Should be interesting. _________________ Please help us to improve HEDir by reviewing some sites.
My site is very young, I have little in the way of technical computer skills and frankly found HeDir by reference in another forum.
I use a sitebuilding program that has really taken some bashing here at HeDir. I read many reviews here before submission. When I finally did submit my site I also made a vow to be an active participant. If others spent their time looking at mine, I wanted to return the favor.
Which leads me to some comments of a general nature. I already said I spent quite some time looking at the messages here. I can tell you that sometimes what I saw, and continue to see from time to time, isn't pretty.
Yes, there are people who submit junk. Yes, there are people who review just enough to get a listing and leave. That is the quandry of "open" membership and public forums.
What I would like addressed are the way comments are presented. If someone has a site that doesn't pass muster, vote against it or reject it. Name calling, rude remarks, etc. are distracting and have no place here.
Time is precious to all. It is, at times, difficult to review and include all the comments we would like. However, a terse one sentence remark that is derogatory in nature does more harm to the reputation of HeDir and in my opinion puts off people who would like to come here for help, suggestions, reviews and inclusion.
Thinking of changing my name to PollyAnna...what do you think? _________________ You never get what you want until you help others get what they want.
I thought I was going to be fine, but when it came to actually clicking the submit button, I have to admit, I was cowering behind my chair with my hands over my eyes and ear muffs on..
Once i'd clicked, I waited for a few seconds...
Nothing happened...
Once I'd calmed down, I sat back at my desk, looked on the screen and BAM! my site had it's own thread and no reviews. I sat watching it for a few minutes, cunningly attempting to vote for myself and then, when I'd finally accepted it wasn't going to work, I think I went to bed..
No nightmares, which I was expecting, after such a traumatising experience.. No other side effects to report.. I think, looking back, I was maybe just being a complete poof.. _________________ for a review!
What I would like addressed are the way comments are presented. If someone has a site that doesn't pass muster, vote against it or reject it. Name calling, rude remarks, etc. are distracting and have no place here.
You make a valid point. I fall in the guilty camp also and must learn to temper my emotions.
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However, a terse one sentence remark that is derogatory in nature does more harm to the reputation of HeDir and in my opinion puts off people who would like to come here for help, suggestions, reviews and inclusion.
That's exactly the reason I started this thread. If people are reading some of the reviews that become a bit 'heated' then this may affect their decision whether to submit or not. This worries me, as we could be losing some potentially valuable sites, as the site owner may be too anxious to submit, for fear of ridicule etc. It's the 'new' site owners that cause me the most concern. For instance, you bought into the 'sitesell' model and probably didn't realise how many people are anti this type of site - fortunately, your writing skills won through and got reviewers to look past the 'sitesell' aspect. However, there must be a number of other people who use 'sitesell', and maybe don't possess your writing ability, that struggle to get their site accepted. I think we're both trying to pursue the same goal - i.e. to make HEDir a place where people can submit their site and receive friendly, constructive criticism when necessary, without the fear of verbal gunfire. I for one, will certainly think before I write in the future.
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Thinking of changing my name to PollyAnna...what do you think?
An excellent idea! The girl that brightens up the town. _________________ Please help us to improve HEDir by reviewing some sites.
Great post. Glad to see my thoughts connected with at least one person. You summed up the entire post brilliantly with regard to making HeDir a place where people can submit a site, get a review that is helpful, if not up to standard get a rejection that is well thought out and encourage the growth of this directory. _________________ You never get what you want until you help others get what they want.
Guys, i think you have heard this proverb "Hard Work Yields Good Dividends" and that starts from submission procedures at Hedir _________________ Looking for Soccer information - just visit my blog.
Guys, i think you have heard this proverb "Hard Work Yields Good Dividends" and that starts from submission procedures at Hedir
Hi Michelle, I'm not sure what point you are trying to make. The submission guidelines are there to advise people on what constitutes an acceptable site. This thread is basically taking a look at 'reviewers guidelines' and how we, as a community, can make the experience of someone submitting a site for scrutiny, a more pleasant one.
As with any forum, there will always be 'lurkers' - people who sit in the background, read multiple threads so they can get a 'feel' of the forum before making their first post. They may have spent months, preparing their first site and got to the point where they've found HEDir and decided the time was right to submit. However, if they feel their site may be ripped apart then, rather than risk a bad experience, they may just move on. These could possibly be people who've never heard of a 'mirror' site, or cloaking tactics, or what constitutes a spammy description etc. etc. They may have been recommended to sign up for a 'sitesell' site, as all the nitty-gritty stuff has been done for them. They would then add their relevant content and then start working on how to make their site 'visible'. They arrive at HEDir, start reading the threads and - well you can see which way this is going . . .
I've mentioned the 'sitesell' model, but this could equally apply to a site built with 'HomePage', a purchased template or any other program.
I think what I'm trying to say is that we, as reviewers, probably need to establish a little more information about the background of the submitter - is this their first site? - is the site self-built, or designer-built? - will they correct any aspects, technical or otherwise, pointed out by concerned reviewers? - are they prepared to review other sites as part of the process? etc. These types of questions could be set up with radio buttons, or yes/no boxes as part of the submission process and display at the top of the thread along with the site details. We could then have a basic picture of the site owner, their level of site building experienece and then maybe direct our concerns to them in a language they could easily understand. It's not really beneficial to a 'newbie' telling them that they have a missing DOCTYPE declaration. It means nothing to them. However, if we set up a glossary page with the main types of things sites often stumble over, then maybe we could 'push' a URL to the submitter which would explain what the term means, and how to implement the fix in their site. The submitter could then return to the thread and report the problem fixed and move forward. The glossary page could act as a F.A.Q. section, where common problems are explained, along with tips on how to correct.
I think the review process needs some structure. This would also help the reviewers so they are not constantly repeating themselves with explanations of problem-solving - they point the submitter to the relevant 'help pages', 'glossary', 'f.a.q page' or whatever you want to call it and if the submitter still doesn't understand, then we're always here to clarify.
Forgive my ramblings, just thinking out loud - I'm sure many of you here will have much better ideas. Please share them with us as I'm also sure this must be of concern to other regular reviewers. _________________ Please help us to improve HEDir by reviewing some sites.
I had no problem submitting. I will say that it took some time to learn how to get around here. I generally post in WebProWorld and frequent the Review My Site topic. I find site reviews to be a very useful way to help others and also pick up on good points by other reviewers. The problem with "review type" topics is that once a site falls off the first page list then the reviews tend to stop. I always felt sites for review should be listed by some form of category. This would make it easier for reviewers to more easily find sites where they could share relevant expertise. When faced with a review list that gives little indication on a sites subject matter it becomes hit and miss. When I review I skip many technical aspects (like coding) - rather - I look at the site as a whole and comment on the presentation. I may comment on some technical aspects that may help in that regard.
Just my 3 cents.
BTW, I have a site submitted here that needs more reviews and votes (hint, hint), lol.
I would suggest you edit your profile and add in your signature a request for people to review your site. The more you post, the better the chance people will look at and review your site.
Best of luck. _________________ You never get what you want until you help others get what they want.
edited - sorry about the duplicate content. masteri5 just answered your question before me, and I can't delete the msg. below
Hi Beads,
Thanks for your input.
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BTW, I have a site submitted here that needs more reviews and votes (hint, hint), lol.
You need to get your submission page into your signature.
Along the lines of: 'Please review my site here: then the URL of where the submission is posted'.
The more active you become posting, the more people will see your signature and the more chance of getting reviews. _________________ Please help us to improve HEDir by reviewing some sites.
Talk about great minds thinking alike....didn't mean to step on your material. _________________ You never get what you want until you help others get what they want.
Duh - I was looking for the best way to do that - so why didn't I think of the sig. Off to make more coffee, too early. Thank you both for the tip. _________________ Please review my site at
http://www.hedir.com/jewelry/about17310.html
Talk about great minds thinking alike....didn't mean to step on your material.
I thought, "I'll get this post in before masteri5 does", but no, you just had to spoil my fun!! _________________ Please help us to improve HEDir by reviewing some sites.
I'd particularly like to hear from recent submitters, or any 'guest' that is considering submitting.
I notice in the poll that we have one person who indicated they were/are too anxious to submit.
Is there anything that we, as a community, could change or put in place to make the submitting process less daunting for some? _________________ Please help us to improve HEDir by reviewing some sites.
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