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Round 5 Q&A Part 2
Written by Tyme White on October 23, 2006
Round 5 is almost here. I wrote a series of site improvement tips. Time is ticking but there are a couple of loose ends (stray questions) I received. Let’s go through them:
I submitted in a previous round, should I submit my site again?
Sure, what do you have to lose?
Will I be told why my site was not admitted?
This depends completely on how many sites submit, how many sites are accepted and how much time I have after Round 5. I would like to let people know but I don’t want ot make any promises.
How will I know if my site is accepted?
We make an announcement of the sites accepted on this blog so watch this space.
How long does it take to find out if my site was accepted?
No promises on that one. It depends on how many sites were submitted. I’ll try and post updates to let people know what is going on.
I have more than one site. Can I submit them all?
You sure can. 
Do you really visit all the sites that submit?
I sure do. Sometimes more than once.
How will I know if you visited my site?
Honestly, I’m the sneaky one of the bunch. Mike and Scrivs might let you see a referral from 9rules but not me. I’ll try to be good this time and leave a referral or something.
How exactly do I submit my site?
Watch this space - we’ll make an announcement tomorrow.
If you have other questions, seriously, now is the time to ask.
October 23rd, 2006 at 8:49 pm
Hey guys good luck with all the work load you’re about to take on. I know a lot of people really appreciate what 9rules does and offers.
October 23rd, 2006 at 8:54 pm
I have a question! I didn’t know where to ask it, so I’m posting it in the comments. My blogs are relatively young (the earliest was started in August and the most recent started in the beginning of October). Should I wait for next year to try to be admitted into 9rules?
October 23rd, 2006 at 10:19 pm
Do you accept bribes of chocolate, flowers or cash?
Just kidding!
Really looking forward to discovering the new voices this round will add to the 9rules community..
October 23rd, 2006 at 10:51 pm
I totally agree to the two previous comments.
I couldn’t have said it better.
October 23rd, 2006 at 11:12 pm
I really can’t wait for the next round. It’s too bad I didn’t get a new design done (or started for that matter), but hopefully you won’t be too critical of my commun theme (after all, it was designed by a 9rules member
).
October 24th, 2006 at 12:02 am
I’m watching and waiting intensely for tomorrow announcement.
How exactly to submit and what exactly to provide…as this would be my first time to try participate.
October 24th, 2006 at 12:20 am
Yeah, good luck to you and hold on tight – there’s going to be loads of submissions I think.
This is exciting times. Glad I get to watch it all from the other side of the line this time or my nerves would shatter.
Amd, oh, good luck to the submitters too!
October 24th, 2006 at 2:47 am
A little question here, are sites writen in Spanish allowed?
I’ve seen there’s an spanish “side” on the website but still don’t know if my site has to be submited here and it’ll appear as spanish, or if it’s even allowed…?
October 24th, 2006 at 3:11 am
Keeping my fingers crossed
I wanna make it in 
October 24th, 2006 at 3:23 am
Hurray !! Its here… But I’m weeping because I my blog is down !! I tried to contact my host, but he isn’t responding
I hope it gets back again before Oct 25th, else I kick my host !
October 24th, 2006 at 5:48 am
Keeping my fingers crossed for a successful entry this time
October 24th, 2006 at 6:19 am
I am submitting for my first time and would like to know how much quantity of posts matters. I have been posting pretty regularly for the past few months ever since I started my blog but since it is relatively new I have fewer posts than some older bloggers. Will this be a major obstacle in my acceptance?
October 24th, 2006 at 7:47 am
Joy: definitely submit. If I like what I see but the blog is to young to show posting consistently I make note of it, and check back. If you’re listed as a friend of mine on Facebook and you have your blog entries on there, of course I will see them there too. Facebook is a beautiful thing.
Brendan: dancing videos *joke
Andre: The Gatekeeper is design defunct. Seriously, I’m looking at content.
mayvelous: Tonight we’ll post a link to the submission form. It’s short, sweet and to the point.
Th3 ProphetMan: At this time we are only accepting English sites.
Thilak: And it’s still down
Arthus Erea: I’m looking at posting consistency. A piece of advice, I would put some padding around the boxes on your site so the text doesn’t run right to the end of the margin. More important I would reduce the number of entries on your front page. You have things that are several months old on your site so it makes it apparent you aren’t posting frequently.
If you have other questions, keep ‘em coming. Can you tell I’m excited?
October 24th, 2006 at 9:12 am
I think it’s safe to say, you are not the only one.
October 24th, 2006 at 9:26 am
Thanks for answering my question so quickly.
I have a facebook, but the notes there are from a personal blog which I don’t plan on submitting.
October 24th, 2006 at 10:49 am
I hope I can get my blog in. I am so excited about tomorrow!
October 24th, 2006 at 11:43 am
What I sincerely request you guys is this : judge your category. If you’re a techie don’t go on to judge the photography section, you probably won’t know anything about photography, and miss all the stars and pick the ones you find interesting but arn’t really interesting when it comes to photographers. If you’re the culture guy don’t go around judging tech blogs. If that happens again, its obviously a bias.
(don’t want to ruin my chances of getting in so I’m anonymous)
October 24th, 2006 at 12:00 pm
Anonymous - you don’t have to be anonymous. Speak your mind!
We’ve had great success with our picks so far. It’s one of the nice things about the three of us being so balanced. We have similar interests yet differing interests. We share our thoughts on all the sites, which I explained in the tips. You’re got multiple people going through sites looking for different things.
“If that happens again, its obviously a bias.”
Happens again? Bias?
October 24th, 2006 at 12:05 pm
LOL Anonymous - you are too funny. Sorry I shouldn’t laugh. You said bias so I was curious and I looked to see if you posted before, and you have. I looked at your site and laughed so hard tears started streaming.
See, your site was recommended to me and I approved it. I sent you an email about two weeks ago letting you know you were in but never heard anything back.
Excuse me while I continue to laugh….
October 24th, 2006 at 12:07 pm
Some people can be so silly.
October 24th, 2006 at 12:13 pm
Just wanted to make sure that Blogger blogs are ok for submission.
October 24th, 2006 at 2:17 pm
[...] Some Q&A’s over here. But basically you can submit up to 25 sites, and if you were declined in the past, you can certainly apply again. [...]
October 24th, 2006 at 2:24 pm
@Anonymous - I am sure that anyone would say your site is great from a technical perspective and pretty good from a design perspective.
@Tyme White - I fixed the padding issue (a disgrace to myself as a designer). I do know that there aren’t that many posts (partly because I lost quite a few in a database error and still haven’t recovered them). Really, my chances of getting in are as slim as a hair. Still, I must try as it is very hard to write for no audience.
October 24th, 2006 at 3:51 pm
Guy, there are Blogger sites as part of the network already. I don’t think it much matters where the blog is hosted - as long as the content is there, and it’s not a porn blog.
October 24th, 2006 at 3:58 pm
Just out of curiosity… Are you guys going to read entries dated like, say, February 2004? What I mean by that… Is it a point against the submitted site if content used to be horrible two years ago but eventually “grew up?”
I understand what you mean about posting consistency, but what about blog evolution through time? What if you started your blog as a plain “dear diary” type of thing without any care for quality content? Will that be taken against you?
I’m really curious about how you guys handle blogs like that—for the simple reason that it’s exactly how I started my blog. My entries on the first year (2004) were AWFUL. Since you guys are going to be screening for the best blogs anyway, I thought this might be the best time to ask. Would you rather have awful but quite old entries removed and just keep the “good ones” when you’re judging a site for 9Rules?
I’m actually just keeping those entries for sentimental reasons (it’s nice to read back occassionally and see how my blog “grew up”), and the people who read my blog seem to ignore them anyway. In your opinion, is an “awful past” a major minus factor against quality content?
October 24th, 2006 at 6:56 pm
I’m really looking forward to this and hope it works out. I’ve missed previous rounds due to a variety of reasons, but I have promised myself to submit this time.
My blog is turning 5 in December (broke 1000 posts earier this year), and I could not think of a better way to celebrate than to join your fab network.
Hope you enjoy the flood.
October 24th, 2006 at 6:58 pm
Earier. LOL.
October 24th, 2006 at 10:10 pm
Me again LOL, I never got an e-mail, and its so sneaky of you to check up on me like that LOL! And that’s one e-mail I would never ever miss. You probably know its Azhar here. azharc(at)gmail.com What a nice embarassing moment.
October 24th, 2006 at 10:14 pm
I owe a public apology as well. After the last round when I didn’t get in, I left a comment with a said smiley face , remember? Through my contact form I get a few mails from a few people saying I should have got in, at that time I didn’t mind, until someone told me about what I explained there, that the techies were judging photography and they wouldn’t know anything about it. So I just said what he told me, I won’t let his name out obviously.
I wouldn’t be hurt if after all my rude accusations that I wouldn’t be allowed to get in, I understand.
Azhar.