Quick question

MontyP

Hi everyone

Apologies if this has been asked a hundred times already. I'd like to contribute by adding competitions to the comps thread as I come across them, but is there an easy way to find out if someone else has already added them? It must be annoying for people to keep seeing duplicates, but I'm not sure how to check.

Thank you.

mclarkie

Search long and shortened URLs via the 'Forum Search' button

Long - https://www.facebook.com/strada.co.uk/app_211058802266771

Short -https://www.facebook.com/strada.co.uk


And search the title of the comp with the endate E: 01/04 Win £100 of Strada Vouchers (FACEBOOK)

There's more in the comping guide about posting comps too

weeowens

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/1014121

HTH

2 How do I search to see if a comp has been posted?
The Forum Search is not foolproof although if you take a couple of easy steps then it can help you not to post duplicate comps.

On any Forum page, just above where the threads are listed you will see the option to ‘Search this Forum’, click this & then select ‘Advanced Search’.

A new screen will open, which is the Advanced Search screen & seems to be more responsive to searches.

Please refer to the image below for numbered steps.

1. Key Words.
   Take the main part of a comp page address (URL) & type / paste it here.
   For Example, if http://www.goodtoknow.co.uk/competitions/show/id/2704 is the comp page, use keyword: goodtoknow.co.uk
   Also, for the radio comps, try searching for the part of the url that starts '/Article...' it should bring up the other stations if they have been posted.
   
   I recommend you only use the main part of the comp URL as sometimes comps change location on a site.
   
   If that search brings back too many results, then try using a word from the comp which will have been used if it was posted on MSE to narrow it down slightly.
   For Example, goodtoknow.co.uk watch
   
   You could also use the answer to search again, just to ensure you aren’t about to post a comp that is already on here.
2. Search Forums.
   If Competitions Time is not already highlighted in the list, simply scroll down the list & click on it to highlight.
3. Also search in child forums.
   Ensure this box is ticked, it means the search will also check in Competitions Time sub forums (the I won! Forum, the Game Over Forum & the Regular Competitions Forum).

Click on the 'Search Now' button & it will bring back a list of results. Read through the list carefully to see if the comp has already been posted. Repeat the search a couple of times with different search criteria to be more certain that the comp is a new one.

Something else to be aware of is that it can take a couple of hours for the forum software to include new threads into the search function. If you take a quick glance down the last couple of pages of threads to check for comps that sound similar to the one you are about to post & don’t see anything then you are about ready to post a new comp!

Another way some MSE Compers use to search for specific comps is to use the Google Search Engine. If you wanted to search for, say, Kung Fu Panda comps in the forum then you would type:
"Kung Fu Panda" "competition" site:forums.moneysavingexpert.com
(Please note the placement of the speech marks as that is very important!)
This would then return results relating to your search request.

MontyP

Thank you both, that's really comprehensive.