August photo competition low voter turnout

Wondermike · Sep 7, 2021

Guys, the August comp hit what is, in recent times anyway, a new low of only 29 votes. Compared to the number of regular users on the site, it’s a really low percentage.

Is everyone fatigued with the competition or the format? Thoughts please.

idej_z4 · Sep 7, 2021

I just generally don't see the vote. I have to go to the gallery when I remember. Be good to have it always on the home section / page, or failing that, I quite liked the option to vote for 2.

SV8Predator · Sep 7, 2021

Where do you see the voting?

TheDan · Sep 7, 2021

idej_z4 said:
I just generally don't see the vote. I have to go to the gallery when I remember.

This is the same for me. I love the photo comp, I just forget about having to find the voting thread. I agree completely with [ref]idej_z4[/ref], it would be good to have it on the home page as well as some months where you can vote for 2 if there are >20 entries (or 3 if there are >30 entries).

bigwinn · Sep 7, 2021

Same- what these guys said if it was a bit more visible you’d have all sorts of z4 spam from me!!!

Haggisman · Sep 7, 2021

+ 1 for more visibility, love seeing these photos.

buzyg · Sep 7, 2021

Agree with the above.

A victim of it's own demise, in that the less people vote the less it appears on the New posts list. Most users, my self included, don't go looking for topics. They simply jump on those listed towards the top of New Posts, so it gets missed. The best part of the competition used to be entry on to the annual Calendar. Alas economics killed that incentive off. Perhaps a revival of the calendar

and a push to get some of the newer members buying might work.

Wondermike · Sep 7, 2021

It does appear each month in all the forums in the top section, where the announcements are. The competition is currently stickied there.

Even if you vote it doesn’t appear in new posts, that only happens when it gets bumped with a reminder to vote.

We have voted for three rather than one previously, but good idea to increase the number of votes with the number of entries.

What about if we encouraged posts on the voting thread - who voted for what, and why? Or even just a post to bump it up in ‘new posts.’

I think the last time out for the calendar was fatal - far too many voted to say they would buy it, and then didn’t. The only way to make it work would be payment in advance, non-refundable.

TheDan · Sep 7, 2021

Wondermike said:
I think the last time out for the calendar was fatal - far too many voted to say they would buy it, and then didn’t. The only way to make it work would be payment in advance, non-refundable.

I think an incentive to play and vote like getting your photo in the calendar could be achieved by other means such as getting each month's winning photo set as the homepage header image for the following month. Or an idea akin to that.

idej_z4 · Sep 7, 2021

Wondermike said:
It does appear each month in all the forums in the top section, where the announcements are. The competition is currently stickied there.

Even if you vote it doesn’t appear in new posts, that only happens when it gets bumped with a reminder to vote.

We have voted for three rather than one previously, but good idea to increase the number of votes with the number of entries.

What about if we encouraged posts on the voting thread - who voted for what, and why? Or even just a post to bump it up in ‘new posts.’

I think the last time out for the calendar was fatal - far too many voted to say they would buy it, and then didn’t. The only way to make it work would be payment in advance, non-refundable.

Bumping it up regularly in the new post section is a good idea. I like the idea of being able to vote and then leave a comment saying why I voted for a pic. That would keep it appearing for people.

It would be good to have some sort of kudos for winning, even if the calendar is a bit too far. Like TheDan said, homeoage banner or maybe a badge on your profile for one month. Could work like world cups the more wins you get the better the badge. Loads of different things you could do with it within the forum.

Edit - you could just change the star status to a different colour and set it to 'photo comp winner' instead of senior member, lifer, etc, etc

buzyg · Sep 7, 2021

Assuming it would be refundable only if it was not produced. Then just tell me where to sign for next years calendar. I still have the last one hanging in the study.

A bump into new posts with each vote would increase visibility of the competition for sure.

Featuring the wining picture in the forum the following month also seems like a good incentive to both enter and vote.

Wondermike · Sep 7, 2021

Thanks for the suggestions.

There is an option on the poll that only allows a vote if you have posted - that would mean it gets plenty of bumps, as long as people vote in the first place.

Should we try that next time around to see if it works? You can only vote if you post in the thread.

Mr Tidy · Sep 7, 2021

Does that mean that only those posting a photo get to vote? :?

If so you'd get less than 29 votes most months!

Phippy · Sep 7, 2021

It’s also literally the one month that most people are on holiday too, probably why the numbers hit a new low…. No need to distract yourself from work quite so much!

I wouldn’t say no to more of an incentive to try to win, but then that’s my competitive side coming out!

Wondermike · Sep 7, 2021

Mr Tidy said:
Does that mean that only those posting a photo get to vote? :?

If so you'd get less than 29 votes most months!

No, just need to post in the voting thread. It’s one way of continually bumping it. So either say who you voted for, or what ones you like, or even just bump! I’m not certain yet if it’s a good idea but might try it once to see.

ShaunKC · Sep 8, 2021

I agree the competition is a valuable and fun part of the forum, but since the demise of the calendar there is no incentive to enter. I think using the winning picture as a header image is a great idea. However people would once again have to ensure their pictures were landscape and fitted into the header dimensions otherwise the site would soon start to look a mess with cars half cropped off etc. Perhaps just using the winning shot as the header for the gallery page would be an option.

I like to vote but I must agree it doesn’t feel that visible on the site, it’s a shame because there are some great and interesting pictures, this months winner being a prime example.

ShaunKC · Sep 8, 2021

Further to the above, I do think a sticky post at the top of the gallery with all the winning images in would be a good idea, it could be called The Hall of Fame

enuff_zed · Sep 8, 2021

I was surprised to see the results published as I usually do vote but missed it.
I rely on clearing all my unread posts regularly, then refreshing and picking them all up.
So it should have appeared when I did that.
However, I had a couple of days away and found four pages of unread posts, so I skimmed them then deleted/refreshed. Must have been bad timing, where I deleted it without noticing and there were no more votes added after that.
Hopefully it's an easy fix as I do like to at least acknowledge the quality of other people's photography skills.

Beatman · Sep 8, 2021

Haggisman said:
+ 1 for more visibility, love seeing these photos.

+1

Huzee4 · Sep 8, 2021

I’d really miss this feature, hope it lives on now you’ve highlighted a lack of voting

August photo competition low voter turnout

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