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  • Suzanne Dia
    Jun 4 2:38 PM
    Reply
    I was just noticing that one person had posted about 9 contests consecutively.

    Do you think it would be logical to limit the amount of contests a person can post at a time?

    Reasons for this would be:

    1. Let others have exposure for their contests on the front page. Not everyone can afford to feature them.

    2. Ensure that the moderators won't have to step in and remind and/or help to judge the 20 contests a person THINKS they can handle opening at one given moment..


    Just a thought.

  • Unjustly Banned Gio
    June 4
    Reply
    Good suggestion.

  • ea
    June 8
    Reply
    I agree that there should be breathing space between contests posted by the same host. No one likes to see their contests pushed down and off the page prematurely, especially by a batch of contests that may even be deleted in a few hours or the next day, which is what I have observed...

    I would think that an individual contest posted in a series that is spread out has more of a chance of attracting entries than when they are posted all at once and you must write on all(i.e. same artist, flowers, months of the year, etc.)in the same time frame.

    I would also find a "next" button on contests very helpful, so you could keep looking down through contests without having to go back to the main contest page. Especially with these ad banners making it so difficult to open the pages, it wastes a lot of time. You have to repeatedly refresh your page even just to open it - at least make it easier to click to the next contest and save a step.

    • Matt Holck
      June 8
      Reply

      No one likes to see their contests pushed down and off the page prematurely, especially by a batch of contests that may even be deleted in a few hours or the next day, which is what I have observed...

      sounds like an intentional silencing of anothers contest
      maybe they liked the idea but didnt think you were good enough to hold the contest

      since a forums are dynamic, anyone can shove another around
      although, it may take a determined intention



      Also,
      a contest can hyjack contestants from a previous contest
      by offering the same theme with more points
      and perhaps a more popular judge

    • Matt Holck
      June 8
      Reply

      ad banners making it so difficult to open the pages, it wastes a lot of time. You have to repeatedly refresh your page even just to open it - at least make it easier to click to the next contest and save a step.

      It's like playing the slots
      will I get an ad that loads quickly if I hit refresh?

    • Unjustly Banned Gio
      June 9
      Reply
      I've explained in another thread what people can do to minimise the appearance of ad banners. For IE users, of course; Firefox users can just take advantage of the built-in adblock feature.

  • amid unnaked things
    June 8
    Reply
    Totally agreed. I have the bad habit of starting waaay too many contests and it takes me too long to judge them all. Maybe if there was a cap on the amount of contests you could host at a time, I could break my habit and the mods wouldn't have to worry about me anymore.

  • Barbara
    June 8
    Reply
    I've hosted 6 contests in the last 1 1/2 years (only one so far this year)... how can people think up ideas for 9 at once?

    • Nogod
      June 9
      Reply
      You've had a haircut?

      • Barbara
        June 9
        Reply
        trim a while back... then a windy day... wet hair... it all fluffed up. Humidity hates my hair.

  • polly filla
    June 9
    Reply
    uh huh

    I wonder where they get all the points to host so many, as well as the time to give each full attention

    • Matt Holck
      June 9
      Reply
      they don't have the time
      it's tragic
      unless they get up at 4 am

    • -BlackKnight-
      June 10
      Reply
      People can just buy points here.

      And hey, everyone knows there's no such thing as a "real world" outside of AP.

  • ea
    June 13
    Reply
    How about a minimum waiting time between the same hosts posting multiple contests? Can't you put a note on the page where people go to make contests that says "The host spent hard-earned points to put up the contest ahead of yours. Please be courteous and wait at least 12 hours before posting your next one." Thanks.

  • Kevin
    July 3
    Reply
    First, there's the assumption that people check the 'newest' contests the most for which to enter. Is this the case? Ending soonest gets the biggest billing on the contests overview page, and then all you have to do is set your ending time to be different from the other persons.

    How often does this mass-posting of contests happen?

    I guess i'm hesitant to add another 'you can't do this' rule. Inevitably someone will go to post their contests, write out a complex description / etc, and be rejected. Then their browser will crash during the next 12 hours, and bye-bye hard work.

    • Suzanne Dia
      July 3
      Reply
      I can see why you would be hesitant, but would say .. a 5 contest a day limit really be unreasonable? It prevents moderators from having to step into contests that get abandoned (and I know they try to do that as little as possible), also the contests on the front page are the ones I immediately notice every time, and in watching views on my contests can see a big difference in the number once the contest is pushed off of the front page.

    • ea
      July 3
      Reply
      Kevin, you get almost no views to your contest once it's pushed off the front page. Even on the last day, (ending soonest) very few views, if any, are registered. I know I look at new contests and know from running them that it all happens on the first day you put them up. So if someone posts 10 at a time, it kills the contests below them by pushing them off much more quickly. Once they get pushed off, they are often not seen on the second page for hours. I have complained about this before - they go into a kind of limbo where they don't show up at all.

      It seems to be becoming a trend here to post so many at a time. I have noticed it happening much more in recent months where it never used to happen.

      There should be a page where randon contests are listed because if you are stuck in the middle of the 12 contest pages listed between newest and oldest, no one sees them during that time. I don't use the contest overview page - I don't find the categories listed there that helpful. I look at newest and sometimes at ending soonest. A random page would be good, one that is constantly changing.

      • Scott Adelmann
        July 3
        Reply
        Or, at least Kevin could set it up like the list of our favorites' work on the front page - it only shows the most recent by that person. At least that control could be put into place and make a difference without actually telling people they can't post another contest.

        Just a thought.

        • ea
          July 3
          Reply
          Just put a one sentence courtesy warning on the make a contest page that says, hey, please wait a few hours to post your next contest.

          • Scott Adelmann
            July 3
            Reply
            That should work for those people who pay attention, but I am thinking that the person who posted 9 contests all at once wouldn't have been daunted. If he sets it up like the Favorite's it will never be a problem. Each new contest by the same person would bump that individual's last contest off the page.

            • ea
              July 4
              Reply
              no, that's not a good idea. There may be a good reason or times when hosts want to add two or even three contests at the same time, but ten?? It's just not necessary.

              • Scott Adelmann
                July 4
                Reply
                You are probably right. No big deal that they would show for three of the six contests that show on the front page. At least one other poet could post three more contests ...

                • ea
                  July 4
                  Reply
                  I'm speaking about the newest contest page - I don't look at the AP home page much and forgot that the six most recently added contests appear there.

                  • Scott Adelmann
                    July 4
                    Reply
                    Oh. Most people consider that the "Home Page". I still think it is good to limit it, but, since Kevin has apparently ruled (and I really don't care that much), knock yourself out. I hope you get everything ou want.

              • Scott Adelmann
                July 4
                Reply
                The smart hosts will post links to their other contests on their author pages and within each contest. I kinda think it is a good idea to get as many authors as possible onto the front page. Six seems like a good number (since six contests appear on that page).

                (Wouldn't it have been nice to have said, "No, I don't think that's a good idea"? Although I always enjoy hearing your opinion, I try not to think of it as fact.)

                • ea
                  July 4
                  Reply
                  same here:
                  "Hell, I'm not even making the obvious argument that the Bible is not poetry in the purest sense." - Scott Adelmann

                  This one has given me some pure enjoyment in recent days - or would that be Schadenfreude?


                  • Scott Adelmann
                    July 4
                    Reply
                    What's your point? In the first place, it is an argument I never made, and, in the second place a statement of opinion is a legitimate part of an argument.

                    But, that's cool. I'm sure you'll continue.

    • Matt Holck
      July 7
      Reply
      note pad
      cross posting

  • LittleAnn
    July 5
    Reply
    Another suggestion on contests... I think entrants should only receive notes sent out by the contest host once, not one per entry which clutters the notes page pretty much... I just received the name note over and over again because I've entered several pieces into the same contest...

    How about changing that?

    • ea
      July 7
      Reply
      what if you win more than one trophy though?

      • LittleAnn
        July 7
        Reply
        not for the trophies, I mean... I mean e.g. if the host sends out a message that says "sorry for the delay in jusging, my computer crashed so I couldn't judge this contest yet" etc... ?

  • Peripatetic
    July 6
    Reply
    Regarding 1b of Suzanne Dia's opening comment: I am not adept at navigating this site, and apparently not good at seeing some things which are right out in the open. I miss a few things from time to time.

    I've got some points to spare, and I would like to "feature" my one and only contest. I'd appreciate your pointing it out if there is such an option. (My contest is no big deal, but I do want to pay back some of the points that others have awarded me.)

    • ea
      July 7
      Reply
      You go to view options in the side bar and open it. It says where you can feature your contest, but I suggest you put the words (CONTEST) behind the title of your contest so people know that's what they're clicking.

  • Pamela A Lamppa
    July 8
    Reply
    This is an excellent suggestion. Gives everyone a chance to be seen.

  • ea
    July 19
    Reply
    Could something please be done about this?

  • ea
    July 19
    Reply

    To Whom it Concerns

    There's a discussion in the policy forum going on about how people should have the courtesy to wait a few hours before posting a second contest because people are upset that their contests get pushed down and off the page so quickly by those who purchase the points in order to host mass contests.

    I don't know or care if you purchase points; but I earn mine through winning contests and put a lot of thought into my contests, as well as give thoughtful critiques by IM if people need help, etc. I have entered a couple of yours and all you do is say something meaningless like great job, thanks, clap clap to everyone, as if you don't even read or comprehend the poem at all.

    You continue to barrage the contest page with 8 or ten contests at a time which dominates every other contest posted that day and pushes them off the page. They then dominate all the back page contests on the day they are ending so no one gets exposure that day either. Why don't you just post two a day for several days in a row rather than all at once?
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