 Contests & Activities: February 03, 2010 Issue [#3535] |
  Contests & Activities
This week: Edited by: Leger~  
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The purpose of this newsletter is to highlight some of the current contests and activities on the site, help educate members on how to host contests and activities, and provide clues to submit quality entries to contests. Write to me if you'd like something in particular covered.
This week's Contests and Activities Editor
Leger~
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| ASIN: B0CJKJMTPD |
Product Type: Kindle Store
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Amazon's Price: $ 4.99
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What is a Survey?
A survey is an item that asks questions. They collect information and the results are emailed to you. These can be used for application forms, order sheets or questionaires. Some examples of how surveys are used are:
"Member Survey" [E] - a survey asking about a member's participation and interaction within the Writing.Com community.
"Invalid Item" uses one for members to order review showers.
I use one as a guestbook. "Leave a Message" [E] I also use one as a suggestion box for "Leger's Shop" [18+]. And one to enter "48 Hour Short Story Contest" [18+]
"Quotation Inspiration: Official Contest" [ASR] and "Short Shots: Official WDC Contest" [ASR] use surveys to accept submissions to the contests.
Don't be intimidated trying to create one. It is quite simple. When you click Survey to create an item, you're creating the banner or top of your survey. You'll be adding the questions after creation. The banner is where you introduce your survey topic and add an image if you like. Now click Save!
Now you have your survey page saved. Open the survey and click Manage. This is where you'll be adding your survey questions. Each question is called a "Field". So, click Add a Field. The Name is what you'll call the question you're going to ask. This shows in the email that comes to you when someone takes your survey, but not on the survey itself. If you want this question answered every time the survey is submitted, use Required. The Field Description is the question you're going to ask.
Now the Field Type - this is where you decide if you want the question to be multiple choice, a check box or a space for someone to type. A Check Box is a small square, like a button, for someone to click. The Value of the check box is the words you choose to come back on your email, indicating someone checked the box. Only the creator of the survey sees the value.
The difference between text area and text box is text box is one line of text high - you just choose the width of the space for someone to type in. The Text Area is used if you want to define box height and width. Multiple Choice or Pulldown Menu use the same area of creation, they just look differently on the survey. You can use all 7 choices or less if you like. The Field Status has an explanation on the field creation page.
Once you have some questions created, you can put them in order on the Manage page. You can also edit your questions or see the responses to each question on the manage page. Now click View Survey and see how your survey looks. If you want to make changes, you can click edit next to the individual items or go back into Manage and make changes.
I hope this helps those of you who would like to give surveys a try.
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| |  | Invalid Item
This item number is not valid.
#1226402 by Not Available. |
Have you written something blue? Enter it in this contest.
Challenge yourself with this dialog-only contest. Great fun!
| | | Invalid Item
This item number is not valid.
#1572828 by Not Available. |
A charming Alice In Wonderland - themed contest.
Enter this worthwhile contest and help members celebrate their account anniversary, and earn extra review GPs too!
Purchase a cup or apply to be a barista.
| | | Invalid Item
This item number is not valid.
#1387944 by Not Available. |
Search for Valentine words. My time was 3:19, what was yours?
Yummy chocolate!
Are you ready to publish?
Tell Kraken through the Snow  what the letters mean.
Daily prompt contest with a large prize.
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Have an opinion on what you've read here today? Then send the Editor feedback! Find an item that you think would be perfect for showcasing here? Submit it for consideration in the newsletter!
https://www.Writing.Com/go/nl_form
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This month's question: How do you use surveys? Do you find them helpful?
Last month's question: What are some common mistakes you see in hosted contests or activities?
salliemoffitt: This may not be as much of a mistake as a problem I see happening with many auctions: What do you do about people who donate prizes, but won't fulfill them once the auction is over? While most who donate prizes fulfill them in a timely manner, there are too many that don't. This puts the person running the auction in a difficult position, and how it is handled can result in disappointment or gratitude. Do you have any suggestions?
Part of this question is answered by one of my suggestions. Make sure your rules are clear. For auctions, make sure members who donate know what is expected of them. It helps to give them a date to finish. If someone does not fulfill their donation, I'd suggest giving the bidder their GPs back and not taking donations from the other member in future auctions.
THANKFUL SONALI Library Class!  : What I'd like to know is - etiquette - or 'netiquette' while responding to a judge who sends you a review of a contest entry, while judging is in progress. I usually believe that the item I've submitted should speak for itself, so if the judge points out any gaps in my story, I don't try to explain the thinking behind it. I usually tell the judge that I appreciate the time taken to read and review my item.
I'm wondering what others think about this ...
It's always good etiquette to respond and thank any reviewers. I agree, a contest submission should speak for itself. Either the judges like it or they don't. As always, reviews are the opinion of the reviewer. Take the useful parts of the review and make your item work better. While it's good to hear the opinion and reaction of your readers, you don't necessarily have to take their advice. As a judge, you should take into consideration the time alloted for the contest and understand that a short-lived contest may lead to errors such as gaps in plot or timeline error. The main purpose of contests should be to spur the creativity of the contestants and inspire them to write.
Phoenix  : One thing that would improve some contests is multiple judges. Some of the WDC contests have only one judge and so you get winning entries that may appeal to a very limited audience. Just a thought :) Thank you for another great newsletter!
Sometimes it is helpful, especially if a lot of people enter.
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