Norah - A tech Monk

This is a question asked by many but trust me it is fun trying and making it better. Now I am not working 100% on Hedir due to personal problems but I am helping Hedir Developer(your Josh) time to time. The things that we have done in last few weeks are great,

• Hedir review center (beta): This will speed up the review process.
• Community rewards: Giving incentives to contributing members.
• Review and voting system: Now vote and review are combined.
• Hedir Next: It is looking more promising and controlled by the community.
• Category forums: Forums for different categories. Involving users for it.

After a real long time Hedir blogs are back. Now it is more powerful and user friendly. I was able to recover some of the old posts.

Now we can have the blogs with our own sub-domain name. I need to get some sleep before writing the complete details.

Hedir is so interesting and it is inviting me to work on a weekend. Covered another milestone Today we were able to launch category based review queue. More details can be found at http://www.hedir.com/category-reviewqueue.html . This is truly a useful feature and hopefully this is a positive step towards our milestone. Have a nice weekend

How Hedir is different from other directories. The following diagram will explain it in simpler terms. Let me put few points as well :-

• Name is different: It is Hedir and other directories have different name (lol ).
• Third party option to submit site: Other directories rely mainly on webmasters to submit site but in Hedir any community member can suggest a third party site. Community member’s can suggest good resources which may not be owned or controlled by them.
• Community approves it not an editor alone: In all other directories it is approved by the editor only and public (community) has no right to offer their suggestions. Hedir is very different here with a punch line, “Let the community choose and decide “. Community casts the votes and reviews, which leads to approval or rejection. Only moderators and Hedir staffs are there to diffuse manipulation attempts.
• Moderator’s incentives: Directories like DMOZ doesn’t offer incentives to the moderators but we are working to make it happen. We have started with an appreciation package for free ads. We are working on other possibilities as well. We will earn and survive as an ad-supported community.
• It is just surely not for links: We add and approve sites submitted by third party it shows that it is just not for links but useful resources and sites are documented. Also we have some plans which will change the directory concepts altogether, we are working on it.
• Continues re-checks: Unlike other directories no site is accepted or rejected forever, it will be continuously monitored by the community. If at any point of time it is dropping in quality it will be moved from the directory listing. Sites which are rejected once can improve in quality for a re-submission.
• Website Community Value: We are working on a number which will redefine the community value. I will update on this once I complete my documents.

Most important point, “It is not based on one Idea rather it is nimble and guided by the community It will keep changing with time and community requirement, the way any other technical product will change in this changing world of IT. We will surely make a difference .

Hedir participatory review system is just a month old and it has started gaining popularity. I was called by newsagents to give a brief explanation about this system.

One common question which comes across is “Can Hedir Challenge DMOZ?”
I answer yes , not because I am working with them but I know this is the future. Let’s do some in-depth study in typical interview style.

• What are directories meant for?

99% people will say it is just for links, but 1% like me will oppose it. It is just not for links but a way to sort out the best resources in the industry.

• But search engines are supposed to sort out resources
• Can bots replace human? I think no. Hedir will offer an unique and unbiased feedback system for all listed resources. With time the community will decide the king on the basis of customer services, products, values; not on the basis of content, links, and complex alogs.If websites are meant for humans then let the community decide the best. Search engines offer good results as we do not have alternatives.
• Will community participate?

In just two weeks we have more than 2000 posts and our community is growing every day. I expected this to happen but will be more happy when customers/visitors of the sites under review join the party.

• When can Hedir overtake DMOZ as THE Directory?
• :D  , DMOZ is a reputed directory with quality, we want to give a different definition to directory. In this journey I feel we can replace DMOZ soon.
• Won’t community manipulate it?

Yes, some of the people might try to mainpulate the system, but they will be very few in numbers, i think. Democratic methodology will prevail and quality will improve with each passing day. With time it will stabilize.

• What are Hedir’s features?

This is my favorite one. Let me explain,

• A community participatory review system empowering community to choose and decide. No site is accepted or rejected forever but a continuous fight in maintaining quality.
• Concept of Hedir points, a way to appreciate participatory community members.
• Community bidding system. This is just a way to make advertisement more participatory.
• Community tie ups for better services.
• Soon we will have industry experts reviewing the sites.

Can I expect your parcipation too?

Webpronews has published my new article on GYM (Google-Yahoo-MSN) Cache.

Other places where it is published

• ezinearticles.com This is short description on various use of GYM cache. Sometime a very handy tool. Read on