Hi, my name is Pat and I created and currently run MicroPat iOS (http://www.mpios.com/).

You've read the subject, so to add to that I'll describe what makes iOS actually unique as a directory:

-Two-Tier Categorical System: Two clicks to get the sites you want
-Human-edited by a small team who peruse the web for site changes/additions and monitor iOS Requests for user and webmaster website/category requests
-Best Bet: Kind of like Google's "I'm Feeling Lucky", but directory-style
-Quick View: Instantly lists ranked websites within a sub-category
-Power View: Allows a user to actively view ranked sites with the ranked list of categorically-related links still in view
-iOS Search can limit a search query to include only the Best Bet sites for a search term -- a good compliment to general web searches

Currently, we're looking for around 10-20 amazing editors to manage specific Zones, so if you'd like to apply or know someone you would, please see the iOS Editor App: http://www.mpios.com/volunteer.php

I look forward to everone's feedback and staying productive with the help of WebProWorld's forum!

Take care!

-Pat,
MicroPat iOS
http://www.mpios.com/

Are your editors paid?

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Steven
http://EmerchantsGroup.com
EmerchantsGroup formed by merchants for the benefit of merchants - join our collective TODAY and save.

Editors are not paid, but there are some "inside gifts and perks." :)

-Pat

Welcome to WPW. Hope your stay is enjoyable.

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YourWeb The Friendliest Shopping Mall On The Net |
Buying First Time | Whois Search

Thanks for the info. I'll inform my friends about this.

Thank you! iOS has really picked up a lot of users in the past few weeks. All help is very much appreciated!

-Pat

Welcome micropat. Site looks great.

Hope you enjoy the forum!

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DesignerTrade

Nice site - how can one suggest a site for listing?

Cheers,
Andrew

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Andrew T Crane
Shining Star Marketing Solutions
Wedding Photographers | DC Catering

Upper-left quadrant, hover over "Menu", hover over "Request", click on "Site(s)".

I just submitted www.photogenicbride.com to wedding services. That's a neat feature (although not immediate obvious how to find it!).

Andrew

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Andrew T Crane
Shining Star Marketing Solutions
Wedding Photographers | DC Catering

You got a spelling error on the Request Site(s) form.

"Explaination" should be "Explanation".

Your site's a quick load, but I've got some serious issues with the usability of it.

I don't like the "down and up" menu thing. The second tier of menus should come straight down, rather than back up above the first tier.

You can't reach any site without going through a Javascript to do it. That means less pages for SEs to bite into, which will affect your traffic.

If that site grows, what happens if you get categories that have more than 25-30 links? Does it page through the recordsets?

That's about all I can come up with for now.

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Toronto Web Design | Search Engine Friendly, Standards-Compliant Layouts | Walk on my Path (my blog)

Dump spelling error fixed. Thank you!

Agreed! This has bothered me as well. I did it this way to support older browsers that won't allow menus to overlap a frame (the work arounds aren't "nice" by any means). Repositioning/-sizing the menu should give it enough room to make it the way it should be. Good advice.

Bots adore the text-only version. Also, iOS defaults to this text-only version on frames- or JS-disabled browsers.

iOS' primary niche is rankings. Monitoring 25-30 sites per category isn't in our editors' best interests (it's an unnessesary amount of work). Since we only list sites with orginal and primarily unaffliated content/services, our maximum link list has only been 15 sites. But if we had to list a little more than 20 links, load times would still be fast thanks to the framed environment for displayed websites.

Thank you for your advice, ADAM Web Design. If you come up with anything else, please do tell.

I liked your work on the flowers site. Not sure if you're still working on this client but here's what I'd do personally: I'd convert the section graphics ("Catelog", "Your Shopping Cart", etc.) into actual text (every byte affects slow-loaders). The colors, though a tad muted, are well-chosen and the textual rollovers are solid in appearance and use. Browsing their catelog was a pleasure.

-Pat