Description
Players submit their own photo, vote for their favourite and/or comment on it. At the end of the game, reward players' commitment by drawing lots among all the participants, or by selecting a winning photo from a panel of judges set up for the occasion. You can also let the player whose photo gets the most votes win. Test out the Photo Contest mechanics.
💡 Tip: if you'd rather put your own photos online and have your participants vote on them, we also recommend the Fan's choice Photo mechanic.
Settings stages
The Photo Contest consists of the following sections:
Settings: to determine the general settings for your campaign.
Home: to import the legal documentation for your game (rules, privacy policy, etc.) and set the parameters for the home page.
Form: to choose the fields for your form and set its design parameters.
Mechanics: to define the parameters of the game and its design, export the entries and manage the monitoring of your campaign (moderation, prize draws, etc.). This article will focus on this section in particular.
Installation: to activate and distribute your campaign to your audience.
To see the different options available for each section, we recommend that you read the articles associated with them.
Create the design
Before getting started, we recommend that you read this article, which explains the basics of creating graphics on Socialshaker: Creating the graphics for your campaign. As with all the other mechanics, you can choose between using the templates provided or importing your own template.
If you choose the latter option, you will need to create the following elements for this mechanic:
Campaign background (1920x1080px recommended).
Desktop home page background (810x700px recommended) and Mobile home page background (480×710px recommended).
Desktop (810x700px recommended) and Mobile (480×710px recommended) form page background.
Photo Gallery background (810x700px recommended) - no Mobile image for this background, it will be resized automatically.
Image for sharing on social networks (810x700px recommended).
Background for the ‘Send page’ (810x700px recommended) - no Mobile image for this background, it will be resized automatically.
Background for the ‘Media View Page’ (810x700px recommended) - no Mobile image for this background, it will be resized automatically.
Note that you can use the campaign background as the default background for all pages on Mobile by checking the appropriate box:
Set up a Photo Contest (‘Mechanic’ section)
General settings
This module allows you to set the following parameters:
Photo upload limit per participant: you can set the maximum number of photos that each participant can upload. If this number is reached, a pop-up message will appear to indicate this.
Participant votes: the voting option is enabled by default on this template, but you can always remove it by unchecking the appropriate box. You can also hide the current number of votes per photo (so as not to influence subsequent votes, for example) and force a single vote per participant and per campaign to ensure credible results.
Activate moderation beforehand: by default, all uploaded photos will be visible in real time in the Gallery. If you want to be able to moderate them before publication, you need to tick this box.
Limitations
By default, each participant can play as much as they want in the campaign. To set up game limits, click on "Limit type" and choose one of the following options:
limit by day
limit by campaign
limit by IP
You must then enter a number corresponding to the desired limit - don't forget to change it in the text that will be displayed to the participant if they reach this limit.
You can also limit the maximum number of participants in a Photo Contest campaign. Set this number in the "Limit on total entries" field - you can also change the text that will be displayed to all participants who try to play after this limit has been reached.
✍️ Note: the text page displayed when a limit is reached will use the colour codes of your Menu (defined background colour + white text).
Moderate photos
If you have deactivated moderation beforehand (see paragraph above), you will need to check all the photos uploaded to your campaign and check whether or not they can be accepted. This will protect you from uploading photos that may be deemed offensive or inappropriate in the context of your game.
💡 Tip: you can add a collaboratorvia Team who will be solely responsible for moderating your media.
To moderate your photos:
Open the ‘Moderation’ module
Select a photo and click on the preview thumbnail in the ‘Content’ column to see a larger version with its details (or click on ‘View participation “ in the ”Actions’ button).
Depending on its validity, click on ‘Actions “ and choose ”Hide’, ‘Delete “ or ”Make visible’. The action is taken in real time on your campaign.
Select another photo and repeat the process.
✍️ Note : You can also moderate the comments on a photo by clicking on the corresponding action in the ‘Actions’ button.
Export data
You can export 6 types of file containing participation data:
Participants export: includes the data of all participants in your campaign. You'll find this either in the ‘List of participants “ module in the ”Mechanics’ section, or via the ‘Export and Tracking “ choice in the ”Actions’ button for your campaign in the Dashboard.
Newsletter participants export: includes only the data of subscribers to your newsletter if you have activated this field on the form. You'll find this via the ‘Export and Tracking “ option of your campaign's ”Actions’ button in the Dashboard.
Voters export: includes only the data of participants who voted on your campaign and the photo(s) they voted for. You'll find this export in the ‘Voters list “ module in the ”Mechanics’ section.
Comments export: includes only the details of participants who have left a comment on your campaign and the photo(s) they commented on. You will find this export in the ‘List of comments “ module in the ”Mechanics’ section.
Uploaded media data export: includes only the data of participants who have uploaded one or more photos to your campaign, a summary of the description of their photo(s), the hosting url for their photo and the total number of ‘likes’ and comments for the photo. You'll find this export in the ‘Media list “ module in the ”Mechanics’ section.
Uploaded media export: allows you to retrieve all uploaded photos in image versions. This is a paying option - you must request it via the ‘Image file export “ module in the ”Mechanics’ section.
Picking winners
There are 3 ways to define Photo Contest winners.
1. By random drawing
This is the simplest method. It applies to all the participants in your campaign, whether they are voters and/or those who have added photos. To find out how to carry out a prize draw, we recommend you read this article: The prize draw.
2. By the number of likes
If you want to reward the participant who has received the most ‘likes’ for their photo, export the ‘Media list’ file and follow the procedure described in the article on the prize draw (in ‘How to create your own prize draw’).
3. By the number of comments
If you want to reward the participant who has received the most comments on his/her photo, export the ‘Media list’ file and follow the procedure indicated in the prize draw article (in ‘How to make your own prize draw’).
Q&A
1. Can I change the order in which the photos are displayed?
It is not possible to change the location of the buttons. Participants can choose to display photos according to certain criteria using the ‘Sort by’ button:
2. Can published votes or comments be deleted?
It is not possible to delete votes or comments from a Photo Contest campaign.
3. Can we create a Photo Contest campaign on which we can upload both photos and videos?
This is not possible at the moment.
4. I'd like participants to vote for photos I've imported. How do I go about this?
If you want participants to vote for your own photos in a gallery, use the Fan Choice Photo game mechanic.