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Set up a Text Contest mechanism
Updated over a month ago

Description

Players submit their own text, 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 the winning text from a panel of judges set up for the occasion. You can also let the text with the most votes win. Test the game mechanics.

Configuration stages

The Text Contest consists of the following sections:

  • Settings: to set the general parameters of your campaign.

  • Home screen: to import the legal documentation for your game (rules, privacy policy, etc.) and set the parameters for the home page.

  • Registration form: to choose the fields for your form and set its design parameters.

  • Concept: 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.

  • Publication: 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.

Text Contest 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 have the choice of 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.

  • Text 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:

Concept

General settings

This module allows you to set the following parameters:

  • Text upload limit per participant: you can decide the maximum number of texts 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 number of current votes per text (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 a priori: by default, all uploaded texts will be visible in real time in the Gallery. If you want to be able to moderate them before publication, you need to uncheck this box.

Submited page appearance

This section allows you to customise the page that allows participants to submit a text that will appear in the text gallery :

Click on Concept and select the "Submited page Appaearance" tab:

  • Background color: Selects the page's background color.

  • Background image: Adds a background image (recommended size: 810x700px).

  • Background position: Defines the position of the background image (e.g., top center).

  • Cancel button: Customizes the text, style, and hover style of the Cancel button.

  • Save button: Sets the text, style, and hover style of the Save button.

  • Gallery button: Configures the text, style, and hover style of the Gallery button.

  • Text style: Defines the style for text elements on the page.

  • Registration message: Customizes the registration message and save confirmation text with specific style options.

Media view page appearance

This section allows you to customise the page that appears when the participant clicks on a text in the gallery :

Click on "Concept" and select the "Media view page Appearance " tab:

List of customisable elements on this page:

  • Background Color: Selects the background color for the page.

  • Background Image: Adds a background image (recommended size: 810x700px).

  • Background Position: Defines the position of the background image (e.g., top center).

  • Editorial Content: Sets a title, text, and style for the main content area (optionnal)

  • Comments style: Configures default text, style, and font color for the comments section.

  • Share Button: Sets the style and hover style for the share button.

  • Social Networks: Configures text, description, hashtags, and tags for Facebook and Twitter shares.

  • Gallery Button: Sets text, default style, and hover style for the Gallery button.

  • Send Button: Customizes text, default style, and hover style for the Send button.

  • Participation Block: Defines the background color and style for author, date, title, and participation details.

Limits

By default, each participant can play as much as they like 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 Text 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 same colour codes as your Menu (defined background colour + white text).

Moderation

If you have deactivated moderation beforehand (see paragraph above), you will need to check all the texts uploaded to your campaign and check whether or not they can be accepted. This will protect you from uploading texts that may be deemed offensive or inappropriate in the context of your game.

💡 Tip: you can add a collaborator via Team who will be solely responsible for moderating your media.​

To moderate your texts:

  • Open the ‘Moderation’ tab

  • Select a text and click on the preview thumbnail in the ‘Content’ column to see a larger version with its details (or 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 text and repeat the process.

Note that you can also moderate comments on a text by clicking on the corresponding action in the ‘Actions’ button.

Data export

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 text(s) they voted for. You will find this export in the ‘Voters list “ module in the ”Mechanics’ section.

  • Comments export: includes only the data of participants who have left a comment on your campaign and the text(s) for which they have commented. You will find this export in the ‘List of comments “ module in the ”Mechanics’ section.

  • The export of uploaded media data: includes only the data of participants who have imported one or more texts on your campaign, a summary of the description of their text(s), the hosting url of their text and the total number of ‘likes’ and comments for the text. You will find this export in the ‘Media list “ module in the ”Mechanics’ section.

Defining the winners of a Text Contest

There are 3 ways of defining Text Contest winners.

By drawing prizes

This is the simplest method. It applies to all the participants in your campaign, whether they are voters and/or those who have added texts. To find out how to carry out a prize draw, we recommend you read this article: The prize draw.

By the number of likes

If you want to reward the participant who has received the most ‘likes’ for his or her text, export the ‘Media list “ file and follow the procedure described in the article on the prize draw (in ”How to make your own prize draw’).

By number of comments

If you want to reward the participant who has received the most comments on his/her text, 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

Can I change the order of the texts in the broadcast?

You can choose to display the texts according to certain criteria using the ‘Sort by’ button:

If you would like to change the layout of your texts in the Gallery to obtain a personalised result, please contact us so that we can give you a quote.

Can published votes or comments be deleted?

It is not possible to delete votes or comments on a Text Contest campaign.

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