Competitions Discussion Thread Part 12

purplecatlover

searching for the classic fm a-z daily comps which were all posted as individual competitions with individual end dates each in a brand new post on main pulls up 300 results i searched classic fm a-z.

thats the sort of comp that i persoanlly think should have been one thread updated daily. this would have meant that
1. i could have ignored the whole thread in entering my comps each day instead of opening each new one not reealising i was not interested until it was open and i could read the whole post (i open threads based on title alone).
2. someone who wanted ot enter them all could have follwed that one thread instead of having to search each day separately if say they missed a few days.
3. it could have been linked to in dailies, or added to peoples spreadsheets.
4. it would have meant the bgs had one thread to lock and move to go when it ended instead of the 30 threads posting them individually meant had to be moved.

the lieks of the dickinsons real deal comps, i think would also fit in a single thread. they are a dialy comp 5 days a week (unless im mistaken ive not had tv in 4 or 5 years now), each days comp has a different end date. if they were all in one thread with a new post added to it the 3 points above count plus
5. if i want to spend an hour entering only those comps i can easily find them
6. if i want to post one i can easily find the thread it is in and see if it is already there so there are not 5 people posting it as brand new posts
7. if i post it at the same time as another poster...everyone can see immediately in the thread they go in thats its the same one twice and not two new comps, especially as only 1 new comp comes out each day.
8. if i want to skip entering for a day or two then catch up all at once i can easily (its what i often do in the likes of the sugar daily comp thread)
9.it would be bumped to the top of the regs board each day immediatly after the show so everyone would be able to find it easily to enter then as opposed to searching among the 100 other ocmps that have all been added at the same time (random guesses at figures i have no idea how many comps get added to main in an hour each day say, i do know the total number of pages of new comps averages 11 a day).
10. it would not be necessary to repeat the full instructions and numbers and etc etc in each post, merely the new answer and end date as the first post would contain the important info.

other itv shows like dickinsons wouuld fit into the same sort of thread imo, normal itv comps like day break would not, nor would it be possible for them to all go in one thread, or even on regular board as they are more random.

weekly magazines like tab and chat the same points apply.

thats my reasoning behind why i suggested itv comps go in one thread, and why i like the idea of those and the weekly mags being in one thread instead of individual posts. hopefully ive managed to be a bit clearer in what i mean now?

i see that as something coming only further down the line though. the first thing needs to be a set definition of exactly what is a regular comp to go in the regular sub forum and any that are then posted on main need moved, no matter what way they are posted (but yes after xmas when things calm down a bit so we all have more time to deal with all the where is questions and get used to working from two sub forums instead of just main or just main and regular sticky threads).

for those people who say they cannot follow threads i have a genuine question.....i realyy seriously dont understand and really seriously would like you to explain to me.....how do you follow this thread? the compers inn? the postal thread? threads like magic and kiss if you keep up with them?
i am probably missing something obvious so please point it out to me if you dont mind. if as you say you must read through every post to find out where you where, and cant keep track by using the thanks button and clicking on view first unread post when you open a thread then i honestly cannot see how you keep track in here or any of the other ongoing threads anywhere on the forum? how do you know in a post you posted where you got to if it has a ton of replies? (and i know that sounds somewhat wrong, im not intending to be nasty or rude or anything similar so please dont take offense i just dont understand).


re the regular threads date of adding etc etc would be down to gilla and ppd as they maintain the first posts, maybe suggest it to them bargainhunter? i know new sci fi comps tend to go at the bottom of the sci fi section, and i do remember others used to be more in end date order if they didnt fit in the specific grouping like sci fi iyswim. i think adding in a newly added on xx date would be agood idea, its working really well in the advents, but it also would perhaps require a bit more time to add and delete it after a few days iyswim?

i wish there was some way a few (2 or 3) people could help miantain the ops in the reg threads as if say gilla is strapped for time or cant get online then her pm box gets full, the thread has old expired links and new ones are missed because they ahvent yet been added..an extra person or two, and links being added to the thread instead of pmed would mean they could be kept on top of easier.....but both gilla nad ppd do a brilliant job and i dont know where they get the time form for it anmore than i know where the bgs get the time for it lol

shutting up now

bargainhuntergal

purplecatlover wrote: »

for those people who say they cannot follow threads i have a genuine question.....i realyy seriously dont understand and really seriously would like you to explain to me.....how do you follow this thread? the compers inn? the postal thread? threads like magic and kiss if you keep up with them?
i am probably missing something obvious so please point it out to me if you dont mind. if as you say you must read through every post to find out where you where, and cant keep track by using the thanks button and clicking on view first unread post when you open a thread then i honestly cannot see how you keep track in here or any of the other ongoing threads anywhere on the forum? how do you know in a post you posted where you got to if it has a ton of replies? (and i know that sounds somewhat wrong, im not intending to be nasty or rude or anything similar so please dont take offense i just dont understand).

I don't know about anyone else, but for something slow moving (a few posts a day) it's really easy, but for the postals, if you miss a day or few days of checking to see if there's anything that takes your fancy, it takes aaaaages to go through and find out where you were as there's sooooo many posts! I don't find the 'go to first unread' works for me, if i'm on the forum and i go offline for a bit, it seems to mark things as read (even if I've not opened the thread!) from when I was on before, might just be my settings, but I don't think there's anything I can change to stop it from happening.

purplecatlover wrote: »

re the regular threads date of adding etc etc would be down to gilla and ppd as they maintain the first posts, maybe suggest it to them bargainhunter? i know new sci fi comps tend to go at the bottom of the sci fi section, and i do remember others used to be more in end date order if they didnt fit in the specific grouping like sci fi iyswim. i think adding in a newly added on xx date would be agood idea, its working really well in the advents, but it also would perhaps require a bit more time to add and delete it after a few days iyswim?

I was just testing the waters so to speak to see what other people thought before I contact Gilla/PPD as I don't want to suggest something to them that other people don't want to happen.

purplecatlover wrote: »

i wish there was some way a few (2 or 3) people could help miantain the ops in the reg threads as if say gilla is strapped for time or cant get online then her pm box gets full, the thread has old expired links and new ones are missed because they ahvent yet been added..an extra person or two, and links being added to the thread instead of pmed would mean they could be kept on top of easier.....but both gilla nad ppd do a brilliant job and i dont know where they get the time form for it anmore than i know where the bgs get the time for it lol

I know what you mean, I've often thought how good it would be if we could chip in and help as it takes the pressure off them especially when they're away or something.

mintymoneysaver

I think if people were going to move to the idea of one thread for one comp, then the easiest thing would be to make sure you add a subscription to it, with maybe a note on the first thread saying something like 'If you wish to see each new comp posted you will need to subscribe to this thread'
Generally I don't subscribe to the comps as it's just a quick enter and thanks, and then hope for the best, but f this was introduced that would be my best way of keeping on track. Then if something popped up in my use cp I'd know there was something else to look at.

bargainhuntergal

I agree with that, it also negates the use of the enter button, that's why I think the preferred option is to have each seperate competition (each day/week/month/etc.) posted as a seperate thread, so it's a completely different entity and would work for people that enter both ways, because if you comp by thread start you won't miss it as it will be slotted in there as it was posted as it currently is, but more importantly (it's only more important, because this is what's causing some problems at the moment) if you comp by end date you won't miss it as each end date will have it's own post so you won't miss all the draws before the last one.

It's slightly more tricky with the dailies due to posts being moved over on the morning they close, so I could understand them being just one thread each in regulars and each one updated each day, but if that's all that's in there then it would be very easy to keep track of both forums as regulars would only be 1 or 2 pages. That definitely seems the easiest way for everyone to keep track.

I guess at this point we could do with a BG view as to whether having each competition as a seperate thread would cause too much more work when moving to Game Over, or is it relatively quick and easy to do?

I was reluctant to post this part because I really don't mean it as a criticism, just as a general observation, I think some people are thinking about what would suit them best for the way they work the boards, and not what would suit everyone regardless of the way they enter, and that's not necessarily a bad thing as it can bring more ideas to the table, it just leads to completely different views being put across, and I think it can make any proposed changes seem more scary to someone that enters the opposite way, so they're more likely to disagree to any changes being made if they think it's going to cause them problems.

Whatever happens, it shouldn't be something that makes anything more difficult for anyone than it currently is, only to make things easier for everyone.

Just out of interest, does anyone enter a different way to either 1. Keeping up as things are posted or 2. By end date?

Edit: Removed quote from post.

toniq

Is it poss u could delete my quoted post, I deleted that post a while ago as I can't be bothered to get into any debate and will go with the flow of whatever happens xx

bargainhuntergal

toniq wrote: »

Is it poss u could delete my quoted post, I deleted that post a while ago as I can't be bothered to get into any debate and will go with the flow of whatever happens xx

Sorry, I didn't realise you'd deleted it until I posted as I was typing out my message. Will go and change it now.

fire**fly

bargainhuntergal wrote: »

I agree with that, it also negates the use of the enter button, that's why I think the preferred option is to have each seperate competition (each day/week/month/etc.) posted as a seperate thread, so it's a completely different entity and would work for people that enter both ways, because if you comp by thread start you won't miss it as it will be slotted in there as it was posted as it currently is, but more importantly (it's only more important, because this is what's causing some problems at the moment) if you comp by end date you won't miss it as each end date will have it's own post so you won't miss all the draws before the last one.

It's slightly more tricky with the dailies due to posts being moved over on the morning they close, so I could understand them being just one thread each in regulars and each one updated each day, but if that's all that's in there then it would be very easy to keep track of both forums as regulars would only be 1 or 2 pages. That definitely seems the easiest way for everyone to keep track.

I guess at this point we could do with a BG view as to whether having each competition as a seperate thread would cause too much more work when moving to Game Over, or is it relatively quick and easy to do?

I was reluctant to post this part because I really don't mean it as a criticism, just as a general observation, I think some people are thinking about what would suit them best for the way they work the boards, and not what would suit everyone regardless of the way they enter, and that's not necessarily a bad thing as it can bring more ideas to the table, it just leads to completely different views being put across, and I think it can make any proposed changes seem more scary to someone that enters the opposite way, so they're more likely to disagree to any changes being made if they think it's going to cause them problems.

Whatever happens, it shouldn't be something that makes anything more difficult for anyone than it currently is, only to make things easier for everyone.

Just out of interest, does anyone enter a different way to either 1. Keeping up as things are posted or 2. By end date?

Edit: Removed quote from post.

i'm enjoying reading all the different points of view & think it's a great debate

i enter as much as i can by starting again where i'd finished off the night before,
(scroll through pages till i find the last green tick i've entered from)
sometimes i do the
2010 E: (date ending) site: moneysavingexpert.com
to see if i've missed any
usually have
have just been in the reg comps & must say it's looking lots better,
thanks Glad :A
but i'm still sitting in the middle with the mag postings being put in there
that's why i'm reading all the comments as it's good to have everyone's point of view

purplecatlover

bargainhuntergal wrote: »

I was reluctant to post this part because I really don't mean it as a criticism, just as a general observation, I think some people are thinking about what would suit them best for the way they work the boards, and not what would suit everyone regardless of the way they enter, and that's not necessarily a bad thing as it can bring more ideas to the table, it just leads to completely different views being put across, and I think it can make any proposed changes seem more scary to someone that enters the opposite way, so they're more likely to disagree to any changes being made if they think it's going to cause them problems.

Whatever happens, it shouldn't be something that makes anything more difficult for anyone than it currently is, only to make things easier for everyone.

Just out of interest, does anyone enter a different way to either 1. Keeping up as things are posted or 2. By end date?

Edit: Removed quote from post.

agreeing..its why discussion is useful...see all points of view. means everyone can get their points across, hopefully not have their ideas poo poohed just because at first glance it seems different, and then whatever happens happens.

but the other thing to bear in mind is just because someone "thinks" something will make it more difficult doesnt necessarily mean it will make it more difficult and sometimes the best way to find out is a trial.

as was mentioned earlier how many people hated and objected to the idea of posting titles by end date? how many people would now like to revert back to how the comps were posted before? id love to see stats on that actually.

something like postals, if i miss a few days then i set aside an hour or two to go and catch up. thread sin regulars, bumped each week would be imo no harder to see than those threads posted new each week on main or even in regulars. but maybe im not seeing something obvious that others are seeing, or people would ignore bumped threads even if they had the title of eg."tab weekly mags updated each week". the enter button is new, people managed by opening threads and checking if they had thanked a post or not, so as i see it exactly same principals would apply....go to regs, open threads you know your likely to want to enter, check the last post to see if/when you thanked.. it wouldnt be anything like postals as it would be one new post a week, not multiple new posts a day which it seems to me is a point many are missing and are imagining a thread with say 50 new replies every day.

its something to be discussed and debated after everyone has got used to every regular thread being poted in the reg subforum instead of main i guess (assuming we are going to be taking that up after christmas).

its not something that would work for normal comps, its not something that would work on main. but for the weekly comps its currently used for it works well atm as far as i can see by threads linked in weeklies.

thanks for replying to my questions those of you who did

bargainhuntergal

purplecatlover wrote: »

agreeing..its why discussion is useful...see all points of view. means everyone can get their points across, hopefully not have their ideas poo poohed just because at first glance it seems different, and then whatever happens happens.

but the other thing to bear in mind is just because someone "thinks" something will make it more difficult doesnt necessarily mean it will make it more difficult and sometimes the best way to find out is a trial.

as was mentioned earlier how many people hated and objected to the idea of posting titles by end date? how many people would now like to revert back to how the comps were posted before? id love to see stats on that actually.

I know what you mean, it could be that it's a better way of working eventually, and a trial is a great idea! (Although I don't know if that would make more work for the BG's moving things over and back after the trial if it's found not to have worked? That's a question for the BG's to answer )

With the end dates, did comps always used to have end dates, but muddled up and written in different formats? I was just thinking that if they did, it wasn't a huge drastic step, from like no end dates to having them? So maybe if any changes are made, small steps are the best option? So like add some changes and then when everyone is used to them just slightly tweak it a bit more so it's not like one massive jump?

Edited to add: Another good thing about both a trial and small steps together, is that you can see what works/doesn't work, say for example the first step is to move them over and see how people get used to it after a while, it if works, that's great, if it doesn't, you'd know that it could be done better (or just better explained in guide form if it's a case of it causing confusion) and then if it all works, the next step is to have the one thread for each site on regulars and then basically the same thing happens, if people get used to it and it works, brilliant, if not then we'd know which part was causing problems and can figure it out from there.

purplecatlover wrote: »

something like postals, if i miss a few days then i set aside an hour or two to go and catch up. thread sin regulars, bumped each week would be imo no harder to see than those threads posted new each week on main or even in regulars. but maybe im not seeing something obvious that others are seeing, or people would ignore bumped threads even if they had the title of eg."tab weekly mags updated each week". the enter button is new, people managed by opening threads and checking if they had thanked a post or not, so as i see it exactly same principals would apply....go to regs, open threads you know your likely to want to enter, check the last post to see if/when you thanked.. it wouldnt be anything like postals as it would be one new post a week, not multiple new posts a day which it seems to me is a point many are missing and are imagining a thread with say 50 new replies every day.

It would work for me, with keeping them on my spreadsheet, so I'd basically put all the threads that are be updated weekly that I want to enter/check and keep checking through the week on there (that's what I do now with weeklies when they all end/start on different days), but I can understand why people like to keep it simple, especially now we have the enter button like 'has it got a tick? Yes, I've entered' that kind of thing.

purplecatlover wrote: »

its something to be discussed and debated after everyone has got used to every regular thread being poted in the reg subforum instead of main i guess (assuming we are going to be taking that up after christmas).

its not something that would work for normal comps, its not something that would work on main. but for the weekly comps its currently used for it works well atm as far as i can see by threads linked in weeklies.

thanks for replying to my questions those of you who did

I've not noticed (so far) any queries about where the threads have gone for the few that were moved over yesterday, like the Robinsons and that, so fingers crossed that those ones aren't causing people problems to find! (I've probably just jinxed it now and there will be loads of posts asking where they are! :rotfl:)

Amilucky?

Not quite sure about some of the post's that are now posted on the Regulars board

I note that the SCi-Fi Online comps are now posted on the Regulars board

they are not true dailies in the real sense of the word yes you can enter them dailie but it is the same prize and they have a set closing date

I think that comps should only be transferred over to the Regulars board if there is a new (Daily) (Weekly) or (Monthly) prize and not just because you can make multiple entries in a given period of time

there will be a lot of people who don't do multiple entries who don't venture over to the Regulars board who will now miss out on entering these and numerous other competitions which used to always reside on the main board