New Format for Contests

[Daithi]

Hi Guys,

I was just wondering if Sitepoint has any plans for re structuring the Contest section fo the site. These are clearly very active sections of the website and there is alot of tallent in here. I have started a new web development company however while I may have great customer skills my technical abilites pales in comparison to some and so I generally like to put certain aspects that are not my forte out for contract - to give me the best product and the customer the best bang for the buck.

I have used the contest secitons a few times in the past and I have found them very well moderated and chocked full of talent. I would love to use this method of business more but I think that using Sitepoint for volume would get me very frustrated. The idea is sound and there is alot of talent here however I feel that more customised way of handling contests would really allow this to take off as it would be developed with users requirements both seller and bidder. I just wanted to know if anyone was thinking the same or would like to see this happen?

Daithi

[ichiokada]

im not sure about major changes..but if sitepoint could organize contest area to template design, logo design and misc. design , it would be fantastic!

thanks for the thread

[Daithi]

I think drastic changes are necessary to be honest even to the point of a completely seperate section of the site. Forums are designed primarily for txt use and logo/template design is primarily graphic based. Dont get me wrong the forums can be used fine but for me analagous to using a hammer or a rock to hammer nails. Sure the rock does the job, its quick and nasty but its not desinged to hammer in nails and doesnt have the same usability as a tool that was designed specifcally for the task such as a hammer. If you are very active in lookin for a logo/template design the forum isnt the most conducive format and I can only imagine that an active logo/template designer must find the forums format a little cumbersome.

[Shyflower]

im not sure about major changes..but if sitepoint could organize contest area to template design, logo design and misc. design , it would be fantastic!

thanks for the thread

Excellent idea Ichi! Let's hope more members add their input.

As to the original question, Site Point has updated guidelines "drastically" in the last few months and has continued almost weekly making changes. Maybe since this thread has been moved into the proper forum, Daithi will read the other contest threads and review the changes in guidelines because of them.

I guess SitePoint thinks "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". Active participation and constructive feedback is the key to seeing change.

[Daithi]

Hi Guys,

Cheers for the feedback, its all good! :-) I dont want people to think that Im taking swipes at Sitepoint, its brilliant site. The reason for the post and the poll was as follows:

1) Rather than just sending an email to Sitepoint Forums admins and getting an answer I also wanted to get on the ground feedback from users of the Trading post aspects of the forum. The idea being that it woudl give people a chance to voice their opinions and suggestions that Sitepoint could see. This kind of "active participation and constructive feedback" is exactly what I was hoping for! :-)

2) I wanted to see if there were other people out there who use the forums in the same manner as I do and if their view was similar. I still think that if you are doing volumes of trading that a forum isnt the best infrastructure but as Shyflower said "if it aint broke dont fix it"

While it may not be broke sometimes a few tweaks here and there could turn something from useful to indispensible. :-)

[Dark Tranquility]

im not sure about major changes..but if sitepoint could organize contest area to template design, logo design and misc. design , it would be fantastic!

thanks for the thread

Hmm nice idea

[biggdesign]

Hmm nice idea

I second that.

[Bytecon]

im not sure about major changes..but if sitepoint could organize contest area to template design, logo design and misc. design , it would be fantastic!

thanks for the thread

Shhhh, they might start charging money to host contests (jk)

Yea ichi sounds like a good idea..

[eddieyates]

I'm new to sitepoint and think the contests are brilliant. I'm planning on using them alot to improve what I can offer to my customers.

[Sarah]

ok guys I have removed all the offtopic posts about copyright - this thread is about something else ... please DO NOT drag this thread off topic just to please you or vent something - if you feel that strongly contact me and DO NOT attack other members!

And yes we are looking to alter Contests we always are - with regards to the seperate sections what about the people that don't always fall into each section? because believe me there will be ..?

[vinyl-junkie]

Having just completed my first SP contest (which was very successful!), I'd like to offer some suggestions that would serve to educate the novice contest holder, and save the repeated explanations about certain things. You might call it Contest Holder 101. It might even be worth your while to make a sticky of it.

Define basic terminology, such as coded vs. non-coded, slicing, layered PSD, vector. There is probably other terminology besides what I've listed here that could be added to the list. (I admit I don't know what vector and layered PSD mean ).

Someone suggested making separate sections, depending on what kind of design work someone wanted to have done. Why not encourage contest holders to include that in the thread title; e.g., logo, template, logo and template, etc. Also included coded or non-coded, since that seems to matter to a lot of designers.

I would also carry that thought a little further. I especially like the "inspiration" guideline in this thread, but having watched quite a few contests, there still seem to be an awful lot of people who don't have anything in particular in mind to help the designers do their job. "I'll know what I like when I see it" is simply not good enough. I've seen some designers throw in the towel in frustration over this kind of mentality.

Thoughts on these suggestions?

[Sarah]

sliced and unsliced is one we are going to take on board - and also I have thought about using the type in the title complete with price