This Article Is For:

• All users with 'Promotions' permissions
• Applicable to all SoCast Themes

This article covers fan voting on contest entries (voting on user-submitted media and freeform text). For full contest setup, see: How Do I Set Up a Contest in the SoCast Contesting System?

Overview

Fan voting lets listeners vote on approved contest submissions that include entrant-submitted media or freeform text (for example: Submit an Image, Submit a Video/Audio Link, Submit a Story, or Answer a Question with a freeform answer).

Voting is configured per contest, enforced with member sign-in, and displayed on the entry detail page when you include the Contest Entries Display & Voting widget on the contest page.

Contest Editor → Entry Action Limitations: enable voting and set frequency / results display.

Before You Start

1. Create or open a contest that collects displayable submissions (image, video/audio link, story, or freeform question).
2. Plan whether entries should be approved before they appear in the gallery (recommended for public voting).
3. Confirm your account timezone under contest settings — voting frequency resets use this timezone.

1. Enable Voting on the Contest

Option A — Contest Template Setup Wizard (recommended for new contests)

When you create a contest from a template that supports fan voting (for example Submit an Image, Submit a Video/Audio Link, or Submit a Story):

1. Proceed through the template setup wizard.
2. Below Entry Frequency, set Enable Voting to Enabled.
3. Choose Voting Frequency:
   • Once per Contest
   • Once per Hour (resets at the top of the hour)
   • Once per Day (resets at 12 AM in the account timezone)
   • Once per Week (resets on Mondays)
4. Choose Voting Results Display:
   • Before and After Voting
   • After Voting
   • Never
5. Save and continue to the contest editor.

Template setup wizard: Enable Voting and related frequency / results fields.

Option B — Contest Editor (existing contests)

1. Go to Promotions > Contests > All Contests and edit the contest.
2. Open the Entry Action Limitations panel.
3. Set Enable Voting to Enabled.
4. Configure Voting Frequency and Voting Results Display as needed.
5. Click Update.

Contest editor → Entry Action Limitations with voting enabled.

Notes:

• Values may Inherit from Promotions > Contests > Contest Settings (Default Voting Frequency / Default Voting Results Display).
• Only entrant-submitted media and freeform text content can be voted on. Poll-style “Vote in a Poll” actions are a separate voting-as-entry flow.

2. Require Approval (Recommended)

In Entry Action Limitations (or on individual entry actions):

1. Set Approval Required to Yes (or Inherit if defaults already require approval).
2. Approve submissions from Promotions > Contests > Entries before they appear in the public gallery.

Approval helps you control which entries are visible for fan voting.

Use Approval Required so only approved submissions appear in the voting gallery.

3. Add the Contest Entries Display & Voting Widget

Listeners need a gallery (and entry detail pages) to vote.

1. In the contest editor, open the page body (WPBakery Back-end Editor or Classic Mode).
2. Add the Contest Entries Display & Voting element/widget.
3. Configure options as needed (title, column width, items per page, which entry actions to include).
4. Update/publish the contest.

Without this widget, voting settings can be enabled but fans will not have a browseable gallery of entries to open and vote on.

Example gallery of submissions on the contest page — fans click an entry to open the detail page and vote.

4. How Listeners Vote

1. Open the contest page on the station website or app.
2. Browse the entries gallery.
3. Tap or click an entry to open its detail page.
4. Sign in or sign up if prompted.
5. Select Vote.
6. Optionally share the entry using the social share buttons.

Entry detail page: vote count, Vote button, sign-in requirement, and frequency messaging.

Listener rules

• Member sign in or sign up is required to vote.
• Depending on the contest, a listener may vote once per contest, once per hour, once per day, or once per week.
• Hourly votes refresh at the top of the hour; daily votes refresh at 12 AM; weekly votes refresh on Mondays (station timezone is shown on the entry page).
• After voting, the button updates to show the vote was recorded for that voting window.
• When results display is not set to Never, vote counts may take up to several minutes to update after refresh.

5. Monitor Votes in Admin

1. Entries — When voting is enabled, vote counts appear for supported entry actions; you can sort by votes and include vote data in CSV export.
2. Votes — Review totals per supported entry action.
3. Use exports when you need a record for winner selection or sponsor reporting.

Promotions → Contests → Entries: vote counts on approved submissions.

Promotions → Contests → Votes: totals by entry action.

Tips for Promotions Teams

• Promote a direct link to a featured entry when you want social sharing and daily return visits.
• Use Once per Day frequency for multi-week community awards (common “vote every day” campaigns).
• Use Never for Voting Results Display if you want to announce winners on-air without showing live tallies.
• Approve entries before voting goes public so the gallery stays brand-safe.

Account Defaults (Optional)

To set defaults for new contests:

1. Go to Promotions > Contests > Contest Settings.
2. Under entry/voting defaults, configure:
   • Default Voting Frequency
   • Default Voting Results Display
3. Individual contests can still override these values (or Inherit).

Contest Settings: default voting frequency and results display for new contests.

Troubleshooting

Need more help? Contact SoCast Support for additional assistance with contest voting setup.