New Comps Board Guidelines Discussion

Al_Mac

comping_cat wrote: »

Thinking about it, if we did adopt One-Eyes E: 99/99 for monthly/weekly comps a weekly/monthly bump would save time for posters, add a answer if there is a new question each time (some do) and we can use the thanks button to track entries as there is only one enter button.

Depending on how you enter comps. Those that enter by end date would never see them. Those that enter by posted date will see them once. Post them each time with the correct end date for that particular comp, both those groups now see them. I think that method improves visibility for all.

Dailies are a different ball game, except where the prize is different, then I think it should be posted daily.

Maybe MSE could write an archive, move to GO, process for expired comps. It can't be too hard, tis only a bit of SQL.

freefan01

Just catching up and surely on the main board should be all comps that are one offs and also ones that have a change of prize or answer regularly i.e. castoff, sugar etc and in the daily/weekly/monthly should be the comps that have the same answer, entry or prize for the duration of said comp - i.e. battery force, crisp 'n' dry etc.
I've not been here as long as some of you but I'm sure this is the way that it was when I first joined and it seemed to work then ok, and I think we all have to remember that the posters, like us all are doing this as a hobby and everything should be as simple as possible and fun

Glad

only a thought but if a comp offers a different prize is this usually 'regularly' ie are there any comps that are ongoing but 'every now and again' decide to change the prize, without notice, hard to explain but they would be posted as ongoing (on regs) because the prize is the same week/month out, then they decide to change prize again for an indefinite time so new thread ? on regs, would that be confusing?

some of the 'sign up for newsletter once only and enter this month's draw' comps change the prize monthly, and some don't, or change it yearly

I know asking for rule to say 'new prize' new thread means more on the main board but from a 'simple' rule point of view and speaking as a BG, a rule that says no overall end date means ongoing thread on regs updated when there is a new prize/question/answer is so much easier, and what regs was originally set up for, and it's easier to explain to new comper eg this comp is run regularly on this site so we are moving it to the regs board :)I know this isn't what people who only use the main board want but people have asked what would be best for the BGs. The other simple option for us as BGs is everything on one board, (although duping might be a problem if 100's of comps are all being posted on the 1st day od a w/m) then again Diva as the longest serving BG (and the BG who knows the boards best) has posted more than once on these discussions that she supports the regs board

problem as I see it is, the regs board was set up way before all the twitter/fb comps started, and lot's of sites started running d/w/m comps, so there were less comps to deal with, especially reg comps, as more comps were posted/found people posted them in different ways, as they read the t&c's or the mse comps board rules

as there are now so many comps to post/enter is it so bad to split them onto 2 different boards and for people to adjust to 2 boards to comp from in order to catch as many as they can?


all the above are just my thoughts and meant to be added to the discussion not inflame it :):)

weeowens

I'm not a great one for offering my views on these threads etc ,much to my shame as I do like this board.Compared to all the other comp sites available we are interactive,helpful & friendly,or so I think.
Maybe it's just me but the regular comps hold no interest for me as they require constant attention.
I'm happy as it is and if I choose to enter the regulars that is up to me.All this chatter just seems to detract form the boards purpose & ties the BG team down.As is suits me fine.
All very simplistic I know but that's just me :-)

One-Eye

Glad wrote: »

only a thought but if a comp offers a different prize is this usually 'regularly' ie are there any comps that are ongoing but 'every now and again' decide to change the prize, without notice, hard to explain but they would be posted as ongoing (on regs) because the prize is the same week/month out, then they decide to change prize again for an indefinite time so new thread ? on regs, would that be confusing?

some of the 'sign up for newsletter once only and enter this month's draw' comps change the prize monthly, and some don't, or change it yearly

Yes there are comps like this, and there probably always will be this problem with ongoing comps. If the board had been running long enough we could have a comp "Win a tank full of leaded petrol worth £10" (aah -the good old days!). We have also had comps that change frequency eg. Carling carnogram & odd one out recently went from weekly to monthly. Posting individually each week/month eliminates the problem, but doesn't help with dailies - where the only solution is to ask the OP (or BG if they can't be reached) and the sticky maintainer to change the relevant details - recent example = Hello magazine where the thread title and sticky entry were changed from "Win a weekend golf break" to "Prize worth around £2000").

Glad wrote: »

I know asking for rule to say 'new prize' new thread means more on the main board but from a 'simple' rule point of view and speaking as a BG, a rule that says no overall end date means ongoing thread on regs updated when there is a new prize/question/answer is so much easier, and what regs was originally set up for, and it's easier to explain to new comper eg this comp is run regularly on this site so we are moving it to the regs board.

I believe regs was originally set up only for ongoing comps with no new prize/question/link (such as 'Something for the Wickend' mentioned earlier by comping cat). Don't forget that regs threads were locked soon after they were posted. You can't post new questions/prizes when the thread is locked - these comps were meant to be on main anyway.

beffffff

Thanks comping cat

agree the ipad one should have been on the main board, I just thought as other dailies with new prizes/links are ongoing threads on main it is an example of a comp that could/should have been one thread with any new link added each day rather than a new thread each day.

I struggle with the newsletter ones belonging anywhere too and agree with you (I think it was you) that they should have their own place

comping_cat wrote: »

I think the same about the monthlies, it would make the board busier on the first of the month, but looking through them there are loads that people would skim through due to them being address related or tickets and some could/would be posted during the month. I remember lots of them that i used to enter via the main board in the past that i dont enter now as they are only on the monthly board.!

Just to the bit I highlighted - I think everything needs to be posted during the month or to me we are taking a step backwards. We have a list of comps at the mo that can be entered every month. If we lose that list then they all need to be posted every month as e.g. E: 31/01 each month, surely? (sorry if I'm missing something obvious again)

comping_cat wrote: »

Thinking about it, if we did adopt One-Eyes E: 99/99 for monthly/weekly comps a weekly/monthly bump would save time for posters, add a answer if there is a new question each time (some do) and we can use the thanks button to track entries as there is only one enter button.

I agree 100%.

One-Eye wrote: »

I believe regs was originally set up only for ongoing comps with no new prize/question/link (such as 'Something for the Wickend' mentioned earlier by comping cat). Don't forget that regs threads were locked soon after they were posted. You can't post new questions/prizes when the thread is locked - these comps were meant to be on main anyway.

If that is true I wish
a) someone had just written on the threads that they weren't regulars, had them removed from the sticky, and got a BG to move them and edit the title to the end of that month.
and
b) it had just been told to people when they were first complaining that comps were being duped from regs to main and asking for a definition to work from.

To me these are small things that would have made a huge difference

comping_cat

A different idea completely - is there any chance MSE would do away with the Regular Competitions sub board, and let us have some different ones? Im thinking Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Newsletter, Facebook/Twitter, Postal/Text Competitions.

These sub boards would run like the main board but with the small differences such as end dates, it would be more obvious where things should be posted and people would have a choice about if they want, or have time to enter them. I often forget the postal sticky, because it is up with the stickies and not in full view, and with the stickies in the daily/weekly/monthly i find them time consuming because you have to click on the link to bring up the thread before actually going into the comp - i can cope with the few dailies i do, but give up halfway through the other 2 (which is why im not fussed if they were not there and on the main board).

Al_Mac

comping_cat wrote: »

A different idea completely - is there any chance MSE would do away with the Regular Competitions sub board, and let us have some different ones? Im thinking Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Newsletter, Facebook/Twitter, Postal/Text Competitions.

I wish people wouldn't pick on FB and twitter as if they were odd. They aren't. They are just another website.

But if we really want that much granularity, could I suggest a list of websites I don't do, because I'm a bloke, because I don't have young children, because I'm not a child, because I'm not old etc

comping_cat

Al_Mac wrote: »

I wish people wouldn't pick on FB and twitter as if they were odd. They aren't. They are just another website.

But if we really want that much granularity, could I suggest a list of websites I don't do, because I'm a bloke, because I don't have young children, because I'm not a child, because I'm not old etc

I dont mind them in the mains either - its just ive seen a lot of people complaining in the past so thought i would add it to the list!

My personal pet hate at the moment isnt any of this (where comps should be etc) but blog comps, all i really would like is people to add blog to the title

purplecatlover

something for the wickend, the prize changes quite often. its usually candles and stuff, so to that end its a similar prize each week, but its not an identical prize each week.

would splitting up into even more sub forums not completely defeat the purpose for all those who wont use regs because they dont have time to go to one more area to look for comps? more sub forums would mean more areas to go to so more clicks which is what people dont want?