What happened to the monthly competitions?

[Rhoads238]

Just wondering? I had a stretch of working a lot and haven't logged-in for several months.

[hoffstriker]

I believe Colin has been quite busy as of late.

[Colin Southern]

Just about ready to go with the results of the last one.

Yeah - time is the enemy - I have to read through all the PMs looking for the "magic number" (that everyone likes to hide amoungt quoted text - complaints - compliments - and explanation of how they arrived at their choice!) (or sometimes not put it in there at all just so I have to read the entire PM slowly 4 times just to be sure it's not hidden in there somewhere) - then correlate those votes and names against image numbers - then weed out the 1/2 dozen who try to vote more than once or vote for their own image - then work out the placing a - construct a post - post it - and then start the next one.

Whew.

[rawill]

That seems like a lot of work, here is hoping some IT guru can help with an easier system.

[MrB]

That seems like a lot of work, here is hoping some IT guru can help with an easier system.

It seems that Colin has had to wade through treacle to find the votes. Adding a clear and simple rule for voting might help, e.g. "The Private Message must contain ONLY the Image Number of your choice (e.g. #13). Any other text will invalidate the vote."

Cheers.
Philip

[Colin Southern]

It seems that Colin has had to wade through treacle to find the votes. Adding a clear and simple rule for voting might help, e.g. "The Private Message must contain ONLY the Image Number of your choice (e.g. #13). Any other text will invalidate the vote."

Cheers.
Philip

It's a great theory - unfortunately, already I ask for folks to only vote for one image - and some vote for 3 (or more) - I ask them to vote only once - and usually several will vote more than once (sometimes for different images!) - some will ask where the images are - some will vote on the wrong competition ...

It I was that strict I'd only have about 10 votes that qualified

... fun fun fun

[MrB]

If I was that strict I'd only have about 10 votes that qualified

Colin, people obviously like the competitions, but it is unfair on you if they take a disproportionate amount of your time, simply because many do not follow simple instructions. Apply the rules and, if only 10 qualify, state that in the results. Those who care about the photography will learn to be more careful. As for those who can't be bothered to be careful - why should anyone be interested in their votes?

Cheers.
Philip

[gaijin]

Would it not be possible to set things up so that the invitation to vote didn't come from your private mailbox but one corresponding to the competition and by requiring people to give their choice in the subject field? You could then (presumably) come along at the end of the period allocated for the voting process, sort the replies by identifier, ignore the multiple replies, and finish off by tallying up and declaring the winners.

Piece of cake, especially when it's someone else who does the work... except I haven't caught out those who vote for their own photos, have I?



I suppose most people vote more than once because they forget they've already voted.

[cichlid]

rawill has it right. There are systems out there to track this information for you.
Hopefully someone will offer a hand to see if the forum program already has this feature, or if a separate DB has to be created?

Good luck and Thank Colin for your efforts.