http://www.directory-owners.com/ – A web directory owners forum, taken several interviews.
http://www.nobledirectory.com/directory-owners/ – Ourselves, taken a couple interviews till now. Planning to do more soon.
http://www.dirten.com/ – Blog sharing interviews and some inspirational posts about directories.
http://www.directorykit.com/ – Taken a few interviews, and shares directory tips.
http://www.web1directory.com/blog/ – Has an inspirational interview of a directory owner
http://www.thedirectoryblog.com/ – shares information about directories, and owners interviews.
http://www.webdirectoryreviews.com/ – Reviews of the directory + Interview of the same directory owner. Done quite a few interviews.

There are a few others, would be shared soon.

Here are the Directory Owners interviews taken till now, might be more but i could find only these -

• Interview with David DuVal Owner of PHP link directory

• Interview with Paul, Owner of WSN Links Script WSN Link Directory

• Interview with Stuart C. McHenry, President, Site Sift Media, Inc.

• Interview with Kev – Owner of PhpLynx Script

• Interview with Simon Gooffin of esyndicat

• Interview with Chris Hoffman owner of Alive Directory

• Interview with John Scott owner of V7N Directory

• Interview with Peter Laws Owner of Pedsters-Planet Directory

• Interview with Jeff of Aviva Directory

• Interview with Bruce Stone owner of WoW Directory

• Interview is with Temi Odurinde owner of Haabaa.com

• Interview with Fabio Cuffaro owner of Massive Links Directory

• Interview with the Loren Baker of Umdum Directory

• Interview with Brent Champagne@Best Web Directories

• Interview with Marlin of Index-It Web Directory

• Interview with David Eaves of Biz-Dir Web Directory

• Amit Patel – Owner of GII Interviewed

• Interview with Jeffrey Behrendt – Aviva Directory

• Interview With A Directory Owner Who Has 50+ Directories – Malcolm

• Directories Battlefield – Let The Battle Begin – Loredan

• Interview with C. Bejenaru, lead programmer of Php Link Directory

• Interview with Mike Dammann about the Directory Contest

• Finally the eye speaks: Info Vilesilencer Interview

• Interview with one of the more experienced people in the directory field

• Phynder of DP fame, talks about his Un-Directory project!

• Interview with smub of idk.in

• Vegabond – AllTheLink.com Owner

• Sander Baumann – DirSpace.com Owner

• Damien Mase – DirectoryCritic.com Owner

• Simon Gooffin – eSyndicat CEO

• Mike Dammann – The man behind DirectoryContest.com and owner of FrogEngine.com

• Ben Johnson from PhpMyDirectory

• Gabriel Harper from PhpLinkBid

Here are the Directory Designers interviews taken till now, might be more but i could find only these -

• Shabu Anower: A PHPLD Template Designer – Interview

• Interview with Zeb (Agent47) – Designer

• Interview with Marko Petkovic – Designer

• Interview with Emillie Loh

Here are a few directory reviews + owners interviews taken by WebDirectoryReviews.com -

• Dmoz/ODP Web Directory

• BQTM Directory Presentation

• Bidding Directory Review for Zorg Links

• Directory Share Review

• UK One Way Links Directory Review

• Noble Directory Review

• Indie Coffeehouse Arts Directory

• Web Talk Directory Reviewed

• KingBloom Directory Review

• eSyndicat Directory Script – By Web Directory Reviews Network

Please share any other Interviews if they are not here, and i would add them. This would make an ultimate resource for newbies to learn something from the seniors.

You can check out the review of Noble Directory.

Here is a part of the review -

Directory has no broken links that we noticed. This directory has real potential, it already has a good pagerank of 4, and expecting possibly pagerank of 6, inner pages and detail pages also have pageranks. Noble, although doesn’t have too many active links, but has some helpful content. For example I never knew there was something called “Tollywood”, I was aware of only Bollywood and Hollywood, but “tollywood”? Now I know !! . There are quite a few mods installed which increase the overall functionality of the directory, for example the “A-Z listings Mod” and “Sitemap”. Directory also offers lots of Deeplinks for regular and featured listings. Submission process is simple, but the guideline instructions are not that readily visible, maybe Chetan might want to put them on the submission page itself. Overall a good directory but still would give 9/10 for lacking a unique design and malformed logo/header.

Else is my answers to the questions in the interview. Check it out

I will be contacting the winners through forums very soon but not right now, as am busy schooling right now, and have exams:)
And for the help of the newbie webbies and directory owners, i am also going to take the interviews of the winner directory owners.

Good luck till then.

• It is that you have to select the 5 directories which you feel are the best, and which are in your favorite list.. There is a poll in the sidebar to select the 5 Best Directories from the 32 competitor directories.
• This poll will run for 2 weeks. i.e. will end on 22nd. July
• Then the top 5 winners will be interviewed by me.
• And 1st two winners will get a featured link in my Noble Directory, other 3 will get a regular each.

Hope to get a good no. of vote counts so that nice results can be seen.

Here are the 32 competitor sites -

Alive Web Directory – Internet Site Resources
Information – Aviva Web Directory
Directory Dump Web Directory
Business Directory in the GII Web Directory
Big Web Links Directory – Bid for Position Permanent Directory
Romow Web Directory – Internet Marketing Center
Seven Seek Web Directory
eWebPages.org Web Directory & Internet Catalog
Haabaa – Website Directory Internet Finance resources
Information – KwikGoblin Web Directory
LinksJuice.com Business Web Directory
Link Directory – Biz-King
Elegant Directory
Site Sift Web Directory
Blog Directory and Resources – Bloggeries
LinksFactory.Net Web Directory
Browse8.com web directory and website promotion
Index-it.net Web Directory Resource
V7N Web Directory
GoGuides.Org Directory & Search
Dirsensei Web Directory
Busybits Web Directory
Excellent Guide – Internet Largest List of Credible Websites
Link Forever seo friendly website directory
Umdum Web Directory ~ Humanity at work!
WoW Website Directory – Free Submission Review on Weekends
| Ask Directory
Massive Links Directory
Web 1 Directory
Dream Web Directory
Allthelook web directory

DirJournal Web Directory

1. Can you give us a brief description about yourself?

I’m a full-time directory owner and operator. I have been running directories for almost two and a half years now.

I don’t really have much of a background in web design. My interest in it stems more from a marketing point of view: the use of design to increase a prospect’s trust in your directory and to make him or her more likely to submit to your directory. Web design also can help in branding your directory – for instance, Aviva Directory has a very distinctive dark design that makes it stand out.

2. How many directories do you have and who is the designer for all of your directories?

I have 5 main directories that I concentrate on. They are Aviva, Sevenseek, Kwikgoblin, Apahcinc, and Web10.

All of them except Kwikgoblin were designed by Marko Petkovic. Marko is in the process of doing a re-design for Kwikgoblin, which should be ready soon.

3. Do you give total freedom to the designer to design your directory or do you get involved in every step to make sure it is like what you want? Why?

I normally give the designer pretty much free reign. My philosophy is that they are the professional, not me. If you cannot have that sort of respect for your designer, then perhaps you’ve chosen the wrong person.

Normally, the designer and I have an initial discussion about the concept for the directory. The designer will provide a mock up of the concept, we will discuss changes and details, and then the designer will provide a revised and more detailed concept. Once that is approved, the designer will finish the project.

4. What are the important criteria to choose a directory designer?

That’s like asking: how do you choose a friend or a romantic partner? A lot of it really happens on an emotional level. Look at various designers’ portfolios. If you see a designer’s portfolio and it excites you, you are probably halfway there to choosing the right designer.

The basic qualities of good communication, honesty and reliability that you’d look for whenever you hire someone are, of course, important.

Support given after completion is important too. As your directory grows and matures, you will probably want to make a number of tweaks and small changes in your design. You will want to know that your designer will be around and be able to help with these changes. Speaking with clients of the designer is a good way to ascertain this.

5. Why is a custom design important for a paid directory?

It provides a trust factor that the directory is going to be in business for the long haul. It can also be used for marketing the directory.

6. What are your favorite directory designs? Can you name a few?

There was a Best Designed Directory Ever contest and I think that pretty much summarized the situation at that time. The contestants were Abifind, All Media, BayEngine, Best Dirs, Edge Level, Eonte, Umdum, v7 Directory, Webtopia, and Wow.

Since that contest two new designs in particular have stood out in my mind as particularly attractive: Directory Dump and Directory Journal.

7. What is your advice for directory owners on how to choose a directory designer?

Be very choosy. If you are in the directory business for the long haul, do not shop based on price. Take a good amount of time to browse through the designer’s portfolio and see which ones you like.

Pay particular attention to the details of the directories previously designed – this is often what distinguishes amateurs from professionals.

Although I understand that for many designers, coding is about as fun as eating vegetables, I also have a preference for using a designer who does his or her own coding. I think that this adds an extra layer of protection and integrity to the process.

• Free – copyright link must stay at the bottom of every page
• $59.95 license to remove the copyright links

Features -

1. Unlimited categories
2. Unlimited subcategories (multi way tree design structure)
3. Edit (sub)categories
4. - Change category from drop down menu
5. - Move categories around (subcategories will be changed as well)
6. - Change title
7. - Change description
8. Delete (sub)categories
9. Edit listings
10. - Change title
11. - Change description
12. - Change category
13. - Change URL
14. Sort listings by alphabetical or date submitted
15. Search both listings and categories
16. Easily customize colors
17. Change site meta title tag
18. Change site meta keyword tag
19. Change site meta description tag
20. Change site default email address
21. Change default currency
22. Change default domain name
23. One click SEO friendly URL’s
24. Reciprocal links can be required (on/off switch)
25. Automatic reciprocal link checking, easliy turn on/off
26. Require reciprocal link to be from same domain, easliy turn on/off
27. Integrated for Paypal with Instant Payment Notification
28. Offer sponsored, paid, reciprocal, and free listings, easily turn any on/off
29. Easily set price for paid/sponsor links
30. Sponsored listings can be set to expire after a set # of days or to never expire
31. Easily change links from sponsor to regular and set expiration date of sponsor links
32. Google sitemap integration
33. Set min/max length for site description
34. Adjust the number of listings shown per page
35. Database backup
36. Smart meta tags every category & subcategory page has its own meta tags (keywords,title,description) all dynamic
37. Link details page has its own meta tags (keywords,title,description) all dynamic
38. Link scan that will check for broken links
39. Ready to use for 2CheckOut payments
40. Coupons
41. Domain banning
42. E-mail templates for approval/deny emails
43. Paid listings can be set to expire after a certain number of days
44. Multiple link approval/delete/renew with one click

The Demo for the Site Sift Directory Script is available at Smindsrt

• Free
• License for the Script – $49.95
• Full Script – $245.95

Features -

1. Multi-level category system, with unlimited number of categories.
2. Integrated search engine.
3. Completely template-driven: change the directory appearance by modifying just the template files.
4. Add/edit/delete/move pages and categories easily. Move full parts of the directory (subcategories and listings) with one click.
5. Semi-automated directory: users suggest urls and you accept/reject them.
6. IP banning.

Demo for this script is available at GoGuides

• Single Domain License: $99.95 USD One Time
• 3 Domain License Package: $189.84 USD One Time
• 10 Domain License Package: $499.50 USD One Time

General

Support
One of the highest praised benefits of owning phpMyDirectory is the level of support included. Support is provided via our Support Forums, Helpdesk, or through E-mail.

Template System
Design your directory the way you want it.  Template files allow you to easily customize the look and feel of your directory.  Membership specific listing and search result templates allow you to vary the look of listings based on their membership.

Multi-Lingual
Through the use of language files, phpMyDirectory can be translated into virtually any language.

Custom Configuration
Hundreds of configurable options allow you to run and design your directory the way you want.  phpMyDirectory is one of the most versatile directory scripts available.

Listing Features

Image Gallery
Add, edit, delete images from the image gallery.  Includes automatic thumbnailing and resizing.  Users may click thumbnailed images to view a larger version.  Images are searchable by the image description.

Product Gallery
Add, edit, delete images from the product gallery.  Includes automatic thumbnailing and resizing of product images.  Users may click thumbnailed images to view a larger version.  Users may set expiration dates of products and include payment button code.  Products are searchable.

Documents Gallery
Add, edit, delete images from the product gallery.   Allowed document types are defined by the admin along with limited file sizes.  Documents are searchable by their description.

Reviews
View and add reviews for listings.   Allow visitors to add reviews for listings, and view the reviews left by other visitors right from the listing display page.

Ratings
Star rating system is included for all listings.  Allow users to rate listings on a scale and display a 5 star display showing their ranking.

Maps
Administrator definable choice between Yahoo or Google in page maps.  The in page maps use the Yahoo/Google API to display a dynamic map of the listings location.  The administrator may also opt to simply display a “View Map” link instead of an in-page map.

Mail to a Friend
Allow visitors to mail information about a listing to an email of their choice.

Send Message
Allow visitors to contact listing owners through a web based form.

PDF Export
Allow visitors to export listings into PDF file format including general listing details and their logo (JPG and PNG supported)

Print
Allow visitors to print listings in a clean printable page format.

Website Link
Display a link to the listings website.  Display the actual link or mask it with text such as “View Website”.  Administrator options include using Javascript click tracking or normal redirect click tracking.

Custom Listing Layout
Administrator definable listing layout per membership.  Layout can also be modified by the listing owner through the optional HTML editor.

Custom Search Result Layout
Administrator definable search result layout per membership.

Membership specific styles
Administrator definable styles per membership.  For example, you may have higher paid membership listing titles display in red bold text, while lesser paid membership may display in regular black font.

Demo for PhpMyDirectory Script is available at Directory Demo

• Free – MUST create an account.
• $49 – one domain license
• $89 – two domains license
• $149 – unlimited domains license

Features -

1. Unlimited Nested Categories & Listings
2. Unlimited Editor Accounts
3. Link Exchange Request Submission Form
4. PageRank Display
5. Alexa Display
6. Thumbshots.org Thumbnails
7. Links Search
8. Real Time Validation and Checking
9. Automatic Reciprocal Link Checking
10. Search engine friendly URLs
11. Multiple language support
12. Easy templates customization & integration
13. Database backup tool
14. New Links section
15. Top Links section
16. Popular Links section
17. Immediate Email Notification of Events
18. Related & Neighbour Categories
19. Customizable meta tags
20. Email Template Customization
21. Featured listings display
22. Alexa Thumbnails
23. Partner links display
24. Subcategories display
25. Open Links in a new window
26. Clicks counting
27. Link Rank field presented as stars
28. Link comments
29. Link comment length limit
30. Link comments auto approval
31. Rate Listings
32. Configuring date format
33. Own tags for link description
34. Copyright link removal
35. Full path to category in title
36. Language switching
37. Listings ordering on browse pages
38. Categories dropdown on link submission
39. Listings auto approval submission
40. Unique templates for categories
41. Sponsored listings display
42. PayPal sponsored module
43. News section
44. News limit and sort order
45. Professional Templates

The Demo Directory for Esyndicat Directory Script is East Asia Directory

1. Unlimited Categories and Subcategories (tested on 2 million)
2. Available in a dozen languages
3. Mod Rewrite for SEO Friendly Pages (optional)
4. Paypal Integration for Selling Featured Links
5. Set Expiration for Featured Links (ex. sell monthly or annually)
6. Powerful Emailer for Link Exchanges
7. Create Reports of Link Request Emails sent to show your customer
8. Admin Notifications on New Links (optional)
9. Notify Submitter of Link Submission Receipt
10. Notify Submitter of Link Acceptance
11. Link Validation
12. IP and Domain Banning
13. Google Pagerank (note: banned on some servers)
14. Google Sitemaps Integration (auto ping google server)
15. Yahoo Sitemaps Integration
16. Show Latest Links
17. Show Most Popular Links
18. Sort Links by Alphabetical, Hits or PageRank
19. Visual Confirmation (improved in version 3)
20. Display RSS Feed for Each Category (optional)
21. Compatable with Internet Explorer, Firefox and Opera
22. Category Search Results (as on DMOZ)
23. Database Backup from within admin panel
24. Encrypted Database Passwords
25. Limited Access for Editors
26. 3-Way Linking Ability (require reciprocal link to 3rd site)
27. Reciprocal Links can be Required (optional)
28. Set Links per Page
29. Open Links in New Window (Optional)
30. Boolean Searches (optional)
31. Limit Hits on Links from a single IP to prevent “hit spamming”
32. Edit Templates from Admin
33. Lots of Free Templates Available for v2 and v3
34. Templates Easy to Edit Using Smarty
35. Link Details Page (separate page for each link)
36. Easily Move or Rename Categories
37. Links are Searchable in Admin to Help Manage Large Directories
38. Compatable with PHP 5
39. Active Support Forum
40. Many Mods Avaialble
41. Import Links from XML Source (per category)
42. Continously being improved and updated
43. Category Search in the Admin Area
44. Mass change links and category on a page with box selections
45. Each user can select their preferred language
46. Paypal subscriptions available for payments
47. Three category selection methods for submiot form (default, auto-selected and AJAX category selection)
48. Link validator in admin panel will mark links with recipr link pages expired
49. Send status notifications to link owners with expired link pages
50. Change currency for payment, available for Paypal are: USD, EUR, GBP, CAD, AUD, JPY   Category min/max title and description field lengths
51. Option to rebuild all meta tags on admin maintenance page
52. link to personaly watch reciprocal link page on link edit (admin area)
53. Template switcher and ability to manage and use more templates per installation
54. Allow users to submit custom META tags for links.

The Demo Directory for Php Link Directory is Our Own Noble Directory