New Comps Board Guidelines Discussion

cathyj

hamster wrote: »

Six months ago we had a simple system where the poster used their own discretion to decide if they wanted a post to go on the main board or if it would work better on the regulars board. So, for example, we have "Real People" posted as a separate thread every week on the main board and "Tetley Tea" as a single thread on the regulars board updated each week and Take-A-Break/Puzzler Mags as ongoing threads updated as required. All these methods are of course perfectly acceptable and the only concrete rules we needed were "do a search" and "add an end date" (plus a few anti-spam / anti-gambling rules).

The original poster, in effect, "owned" the thread and it was at their discretion as to what tags to add (if any), how much detail to post, whether the thread should be a single post on main, if it should be posted on the regulars board, or if it needed to be ongoing thread with regular updates and lots of input from other compers.

BGs would take care of anything too outrageous and only occasionally over-ride the poster's choice of board. The stickies would keep track of the daily/weekly/monthly posts regardless of which board they were posted to.

In my opinion we don't need more rules. The more rules we have the fewer comps will get posted because people want to be part of a community, not members of a police state. They will not want to have their posts scrutinised for "correctness", moderated by self-appointed forum police, criticised and possibly moved simply for the sake of enforcing unnecessary, and at times completely idiotic, rules.

I would be in favour of abandoning the rule making and just giving the forum back to the compers.

Very well put :T

purplecatlover

hamster wrote: »

In my opinion we don't need more rules. The more rules we have the fewer comps will get posted because people want to be part of a community, not members of a police state. They will not want to have their posts scrutinised for "correctness", moderated by self-appointed forum police, criticised and possibly moved simply for the sake of enforcing unnecessary, and at times completely idiotic, rules.

in that case why are people berated for posting in regs forum ande others for postingf on main? why do/did other people dupe those posts on main and then complain when they get merged? why did people who asked questions about why something was posted where, trying to figure out how they are supposed to post get told off for doing so?

yes you are right, 6mths ago there was inconsistancy and people being told off for posting in the wrong place. and just to make sure an op knew how wrong they were if one person told them they did it wrong more piled on to do the same :cool:

comping_cat

PCL, im sorry, i really dont know what your problem is - and can i add, i DO NOT comp by newly posted, so i am not favouring that - in fact, im trying not to favour anything at all. Ive tried to inturpret the rules, which from what i have seen is what people are happy with me, ive explained that we cannot please everyone and ive also tried to explain that it doesnt matter if posts are in one thread or a bumped thread, you wouold still be able to find it the same way if you wanted to put a little tiny bit of effort in.

Ive also got to agree with bishopsgirl, i can see competition time being closed completely soon, because of arguements over i dont know what. I did not even realise 6 months ago people were upset and being 'told off' so its going to be a bad job if that small minority end up ruining it for the vast majority.

And now i really am going to stop posting on this thread, ive explained all i can.

beffffff

hamster wrote: »

Six months ago we had a simple system where the poster used their own discretion to decide if they wanted a post to go on the main board or if it would work better on the regulars board.

All these methods are of course perfectly acceptable and the only concrete rules we needed were "do a search" and "add an end date" (plus a few anti-spam / anti-gambling rules).

The original poster, in effect, "owned" the thread and it was at their discretion as to what tags to add (if any), how much detail to post, whether the thread should be a single post on main, if it should be posted on the regulars board, or if it needed to be ongoing thread with regular updates and lots of input from other compers.

BGs would take care of anything too outrageous and only occasionally over-ride the poster's choice of board. The stickies would keep track of the daily/weekly/monthly posts regardless of which board they were posted to..

That's what SHOULD have happened not what actually happened.

Early last year I found a lot of monthlies and added them to the regulars board and the monthly thread. Some were monthlies with no changes, some with same prize and new answers, some with regular/irregular prize changes. OK some of them may/may not be regulars to you but to me they are.

Quite a few of these got duped to main as ending each month. Same with other peoples threads. The OPs were never moved from regs, I was never told my definition was wrong (until about March this year), and the dupes were never removed from main.

hamster wrote: »

In my opinion we don't need more rules. The more rules we have the fewer comps will get posted because people want to be part of a community, not members of a police state. They will not want to have their posts scrutinised for "correctness", moderated by self-appointed forum police, criticised and possibly moved simply for the sake of enforcing unnecessary, and at times completely idiotic, rules.

I would be in favour of abandoning the rule making and just giving the forum back to the compers.

I'm OK with that if people start behaving how you describe above. Because I have been subject to the forum police for my opinions as much as any people that comp by date posted have been lately and I know how upsetting it is.


I would also be OK with introducing One-Eyes E: 99/99.....everything on main (for the main board compers) and some comps in ongoing threads with E: 99/99 if the OP decides that's how it should be for (the sticky users)

It seems like a middle ground. And a middle ground seems fairer than all or nothing to me because then no-one "loses".

Because there are a lot of end date compers and a lot who float somewhere between being an end date comper and an as posted comper. There are also a lot of compers that said they wanted to keep the regs board in some form or another in the 1st poll (OK only 800ish people voted but you’ve got to assume that’s a fair representation of peoples views).


And PLEASE don't shout at me for having an opinion. Everyone else has expressed theirs, I've not been rude to them. I'm just giving my side. Because people that don't visit the stickies regularly, or who haven't read back, won't know some/all of the above.

bishopsgirl

I am worried that the the forum team will have had enough of us and close Competition forum down like they did with the Boots thread.

purplecatlover

sorry comping cat, to you it doesnt matter if they are one thread or multi threads but to others it does.

no we are never going to please every body, but every single time we have reached a compromise and a middle ground people have come out to yell again.

im as fed up with it as everyone else. at this point, once there are CLEAR AND CONSISTANT GUIDELINES WE CAN ALL FOLLOW that will be great whatever they are and however things end up being posted.

ill go back and remove my part about bullying, just finding things very hypocritical at the moment....

purplecatlover

perhaps you would be so kind as to show me where i have said you must post this way?


i have asked for clarification. i have asked for a clear rule instead of it being down to some random thing that only a select few people are aware of.

i have asked why is it one rule for some people and another for other people. how is that demanding things be posted how i say?

i have repeatedly said i will follow whatever the rules are as to where and how things should be posted....but i would like to know WHAT those rules are that i am following, definitively rather than well it depends on who posts.

i was trying to explain that saying post on main by each new date and add a link to the sticky would mean new links each day/week....i wasnt saying you must not do that. its contradictory though to say do this and this when the two actions cancel each other out. ( and wish id thought of the words to say that that way yesterday :rotfl: id perhaps have been clearer then)

Mamzie

The main reason this all started up was that MSE Andrea posted to say repost every d/w/m as new threads every d/w/m.... That caused outcry on Comps discussion, and I can see no reason why that would change. MSe Andrea then asked for this to be discussed and agreed by compers and bgs. This thread started, a poll started... and only now has everyone decided to start offering alternatives... Only now has anyone started suggesting they get posted every day!

Daily comps posted every day, just mean that lots more compers miss them, unless they comp by new posts - end date compers who are in front miss them, peeps comping by new threads may miss them, unless they hit them at just the right time... I don't mind where they are as long as they are single threads that get updated and are linked in dailys. I personally feel that works well for weeklys at the same time. I worried over losing some of the ongoing monthly comps to GO, if they needed reposting every month, but am happy to abide by the majority decision - I preferred the tag of E:99/99 or Ongoing to be used and then just to move them to main.

I certainly don't want to be searching for tags all the time, I get very limited time as it is to comp, but do have a fab baby to play with instead

People asked for a BG to decide, a Bg did that, and you are all still complaining, I tried my hardest with the proposed guidelines to help out, but have often felt criticised for making rules, when I all did was to collate the unwritten and MSE Towers posts and amend them according to peoples suggestions.

I'm not in any particular group of compers, I'm not trying to prove anything, I'm not nit picking, I'm not brown nosing - I was just trying to get some sort of resolution.

Mamzie

bishopsgirl wrote: »

Perhaps the majority do not want or need a lot of rules or clarification.

The rules are already here.... but they were scattered all over the palace or sometimes you were expected to be psychic and just know what they were... These were the amended guidelines that were created as a compromise from posts/pms

Mamzie wrote: »

STOP.....

can we just rewind things please..... PCL, don't delete the stickie, it working fab. Glad do you mean that every thread still on Regs is moving here too. We will lose comps as they slowly slide into GO and don't get reposted.

Glad, I really think that you and the other BGs need to explain things more to MSE Andrea. She has stated that its is difficult to understand comps as a non comper. I think you guys need to say what guidelines would will work on here to her, and that before she posts anymore rule changes its reviewed by you all or some compers. I have quoted her below, and it appears to me, that she is unsure of this herslef, by the end sentence of the paragraph???

I can see the sense in moving some reg comps over to main, but I think that a BG and members need to pm her that single threads, with updated answers in work much better. That we are sensible people and are quite capable of using the thanks button to know where we are in a thread.

All we need is for her to set out some basic comping/Regs guidelines that will work... Please suggest anything I have missed below, or that is an obvious error. I intend to pm MSE Andrea myself, but want to clarify want I want to convey myself first, so would appreciate any help or constructive criticism.

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Possible Competitions Board Guidelines

There are 4 Forums within the Competitions Board. The Main Board is where you will find the majority of competitions to enter. There is a Regular Sub Forum, where Ongoing Competitions which have no apparent end of the Promotion but which have a Daily/Weekly/Monthly draw are posted. At the top of the Regulars Sub Forum, you will find the Daily/Weekly/Monthly (d/w/m) Sticky Threads maintained by Volunteers to co-ordinate links to the Regular Competitions posted throughout both Main and Regular Forums. The I Won, I Won Sub Forum is where you can share your news when you win a competition, and read fellow members winning news. While the Game Over Sub Forum is where expired competitions are moved too by our Board Guides (BGs).

1) How to Post Competitions - Post all single/limited entry Competitions and Regular Daily/Weekly/Monthly Competitions with a Promotional End Date in the Main Board. Please search beforehand to ensure it has not already been posted by someone else. Do not repost a competition if it has already been posted on the Main or Regular board, as this may cause people to duplicate entries and creates extra work for the BGs in merging posts. How/where to post ongoing and d/w/m is covered below. Please update the relevant Daily/Weekly/Monthly Sticky thread in Regular Sub-Board with a link to the Thread, and competition info when posting a Regular Competition.

NB Competitions which are postal/text/phone entry are directly added to their own Sticky Thread at the top of the Main Board.


2a) Ongoing Competitions - These are competitions with no apparent Promotion End date, but which hold a regular d/w/m competition, they may require repeat d/w/m entries, or can be a one time only sign up. These competitions are to be posted in the Reg Sub Forum - State “Daily/Weekly/Monthly prize/entry” in the thread title. New posts can be added to the thread for new questions/answers/links. Please update the relevant Daily/Weekly/Monthly Sticky thread in Regular Sub-Board with a link to the Thread, and competition info.
(or)

2b) Ongoing Competitions – These are competitions with no apparent Promotion End date, but which hold a regular d/w/m competition, they may require repeat d/w/m entries, or can be a one time only sign up. These are posted as E: 99/99 (Ongoing) on the Main Board, instead of a normal or guessed end date. This will enable them to be found via the forum display options or by running a search. Please update the relevant Daily/Weekly/Monthly Sticky thread in Regular Sub-Board with a link to the Thread, and competition info.

3) Daily Regular Competitions – These are posted as a single thread per competition for the duration of the Promotion - State “Daily prize/entry” in the thread title. New posts can be added to the thread for new questions/answers/links. Please update the Weekly Regulars Sticky with a link to the Thread, and competition info.

4) Weekly Reg Competitions - These are posted as a single thread per competition for the duration of the Promotion - State “Weekly prize/entry” in the thread title. New posts can be added to the thread for new questions/answers/links. Please update the Weekly Regulars Sticky with a link to the Thread, and competition info.

5) Monthly Reg Competitions - These are posted as a single thread per competition for the duration of the Promotion. Please state “Monthly prize/entry” in the thread title. New posts can be added to the thread for new questions/answers/links. Please update the Monthly Regulars Sticky with a link to the Thread, and competition info. NB, Occasionally a Monthly Competition may require an individual thread every month. Please use common sense with posting and ask a BG or on the Competitions Discussion thread if advice is needed.

6) Expiry Date Format - Post all comps using the expiry date format, e.g. E: 01/01 Win.... If unsure of end date, then use your best estimate and put guessedenddate anywhere in the thread. This is only to be used where a Promotion has a definite (but uncertain) End Date and not for Ongoing Competitions as these are to be posted in the regulars Forum.

7) C&P - Do not c&p entire articles from sites due to copyright issues.

8) Only Competition Threads - Only Threads linking to a Competition may be posted on the Main Comps Forum. There are Sub Forums where you can post a thread in when you win a prize, etc. All miscellaneous threads and duplicated competitions need to be merged/moved by a BG to the original or correct thread or forum, which increases their workload.

9a) No Bumping of Posts - Posting on competition threads is discouraged unless communicating information to fellow compers, as this causes threads to be bumped, and can affect the way that people view the threads to enter. Please ask any comping questions on the Comps Discussion thread. Please use the Compers Inn for chatting.
or

9b) Help, Hints and Tips Sub Forum - This is a place to ask all Questions, chat, etc in. Posting on competition threads is discouraged unless communicating information to fellow compers, as this causes threads to be bumped, and can affect the way that people view the threads to enter. (Possible if Regs Forum allowed misc threads)

10) Title Tags – These are very useful in thread titles (see below) so are often used when posting a new competition, to help members decide which competitions to enter and assist with searching the Competitions Forum.

11) Magazines – These will normally have regular poster (please check before posting), as these involve people committing to buy the magazine regularly and to solve each issues puzzles. Puzzler/Tab magazines are posted in one thread due to answers crossing over different issues. Most ITV.com comps are posted by Comping Cat to avoid dupes on the board.

12) No Vote For Me Competitions - Please do not post vote for me competitions, they are not allowed on this forum.

13) No Advertising Of Own Websites or Self Promotion - This site is free from advertising. Posts on any board considered to be advertising goods, services and/or companies will be removed. This includes the posting of a competition from your own site or from a site that you are employed by. We also do not allow advertising via PM. Examples of this can include anything from a specific sales post or a link to your own website in which you attempt to sell something to someone offering their holiday home to forum members. Unfortunately we cannot allow any advertising of any description no matter how honourable the intention.

14) Free Competitions Only - This is a not a place to advertise competitions you have to pay to enter. Limited cost text message type competitions are allowed up to a max of £1.53. This is also the Max cost for Purchase required Competitions.

15) Linking Regular Competitions to Main Board - It's ok to post a thread on the main board with a weekly/monthly end date linking to the actual comp thread on the regulars board. The thread shouldn't include a link to the actual competition site though to avoid duplicate entries and the risk of disqualifying yourself. Please add (REG) to the title to save Compers who use Regulars needing to open the thread or duplicating their entry.
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16) Finally - Please remember to be polite and helpful to fellow posters.[/FONT]

Some Title Tag Sugestions

We all want to be able to enter competitions easily and quickly, however we do need to co-operate and help each other to be able to do this. These are a selection of Title Tags that members have found useful in the past. You will not need to use every tag in every title, just which ever ones work best for your competition.

a) Please mention Kids, photos/purchase required, effort, email, newsletter sign up, etc in title if entry requires these. Occasionally a competition may have specific entry requirements ie 10-14 year olds, teens, 21+, etc, please ensure that these are mentioned if necessary.

b) Please mention FB, Twitter, Blog in the title, when a competition depends on these sites for entry.

c) Please remember to add Daily, Weekly or Monthly in the title when posting a competition with multiple prizes or entries. Please remember to update the relevant Regular Sticky Thread in the Regular Sub Form

(some of these guideline have been already stated in the MSE Please Read thread)

Former_MSE_Andrea

Hi guys

By all means discuss improvements that will help everyone comp better but please, there's no need for arguments.

You've obviously all realised by now that not everyone will be happy with everything and a certain degree of compromise is needed.

Some have done that already and it would be great if others would too.

If you find a happy medium has been reached that most people can live with and things are improving on threads then please don't start the arguments up again. Take on board what's been said and go with the flow please.

If you can't perhaps go out, enjoy the sunshine and recharge your batteries.

Thanks for trying to help everyone, it's much appreciated.

Take care

Andrea