Creating a new contest is similar to creating a page or blog. In this section, we’ll walk you through on how to set-up your contest where you’ll start in the blank canvas format. Please note other contesting formats can also be edited based on your contesting needs.
Content Area
Go to Promotions > Contests > All Contests > Add New Contest > Choose A Template.
Add Title: This is the title of your contest.
Use one of the following editors to add content and design to your contest:
Back-end Editor: This is a visual preview of your contest page. When creating a new contest page, you won't have any content elements. You may add from a large selection of 'elements' available.
Add Element: Click or drag the 'Add Element' button to add content elements to your contest page.
Templates: Click the 'Templates' button. Here, you can either load a previously made template or save your current page as a template.
Classic Mode: This editor works similarly to a Microsoft Word document, complete with a toolbar and 'kitchen sink.'
Visual: Content editor that allows you to create, edit, and format your blog content in a view similar to that of a word processor.
Text: Editor that allows you to create, edit, and format your blog with custom CSS & HTML.
Configure the entry period for this contest. These dates will be inserted into the rules template for this contest.
Entry Start Date : Date contest signups start
Entry End Date : Date contest signups end
By default, users previously needed to enter all their information, such as first and last name, birthday, address, and email address. Now, you can customize what information is required to enter the contest, in addition to the basic details needed for new users to sign up on your site, which are their first and last name and email address.
Configure the individual options for each entry field. Drag to re-order the display of the entry fields in the contest entry widget. Submission of this entry form counts as 1 entry for each entrant in this contest.
Note: Entry fields are not required for contest entry unless otherwise configured as such. These entry fields are displayed to entrants in step 2 of the contest entry process, immediately following the completion of member sign in or sign up in step 1.
Click "Add Entry Field" to include additional information you want to collect from members to participate in the contest. This includes the following:
Once you select an entry field, you will be prompted to configure it and specify whether it is required for listeners to enter the contest or if it is optional.
Additional Entries (Updated)
We optimize this field in response to feedback and data that we gathered on how the contesting tool is being utilized.
Configure the individual settings for each entry action. Drag to re-order the display of the entry actions in the contest entry widget. Submission of each entry action counts as 1 additional entry for each entrant in this contest.
Note: Entry actions are not required for contest entry. These entry actions are displayed to entrants in step 3 of the contest entry process, immediately following the completion of the entry form in step 2. This field is required if you want your participants to be able to enter once per day/week, rather than just once per contest.
Click ‘Add Entry Action’ to add an action that is required by your listeners in order to enter the contest.
- For more on ‘Entry Actions’ see: https://socastsrm.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/FAQ/pages/2530181192/Entry+Actions
Entry Limitations
Configure the entry limitations for all entry actions in this contest, unless otherwise customized for specific entry actions. Inherits from the default entry limitations in contest settings.
Default Entry Frequency : Sets the maximum frequency that entries can be made for all entry actions. Weekly entries refresh on Mondays.
Default Approval Required : Set to 'Yes' to require entries for all entry actions to be approved. Approval may be used to verify entry submissions and/or display certain entries in the contest entries list widget when it is inserted into a contest.
Configure the notifications that are sent to staff for this contest. The default notifications are inherited from the contest settings.
Notify On Contest Entry : It sends a notification when an entry is received for all contests. Set it to 'Yes' to notify the configured email whenever there's a new entry, set it to 'No' if notifications are not required, or set it to 'Inherit' to follow the notification settings configured in the contest settings.
Additional Emails To Notify : Enter one email address per line to send notifications for this contest to, e.g. user@email.com. These emails are in addition to the default emails configured in the contest settings.
Excerpts are optional hand-crafted summaries of your content that can be used in your theme.
Scroll down to the bottom and find the ‘Excerpt’ box.
Enter the text you would like to have displayed in the contest list widget.
The excerpt will also be used for the preview text in social posts (e.g. Facebook preview).
The excerpt box also controls what is displayed in Google, and other search engine results.
As a reminder, if the excerpt box is empty, SoCast automatically creates an excerpt using the first few sentences of the blog post.
Preview On (Desktop): You can preview what your contest will look like on the website
Preview On (Mobile): You can preview what your contest will look like on the mobile responsive version of the website
Status: This is the status of your contest. (Ex. In “draft” mode, “published” mode etc.)
Publish :
To publish your contest to the site immediately click the Publish button
Click edit to schedule a date and time for your contest to be published.
Expiry Date : Choose a date & time for this contest to expire. Once expired, it will go into ‘draft’ mode.
Visibility: Who can see your contest. From the drop down choose one of the following:
Public: Contest is visible to everyone who visits your site
Members Only: Contest is only visible to users who are logged onto the site via the SoCast membership too.
Save Draft: To save your Contest and NOT publish it to the website, click the Save Draft button.
In the right column, under the “Contest Categories” section, select the name of the category you want this contest to live under.
All Blog Categories: Displays all available categories that you can post to
Most Used: Displays the categories most frequently posted to
Add New Contest Category: Contest Categories work similarly to Blog Categories. They allow you to organize your contests. You can create as many contest categories as you like and name them as you wish (e.g., Photo Contests, Listen to Win, etc.). These can also be changed by going to Promotions > Contests > Contest Categories.
Sticky Contests is a feature that places a contest at the top of the contest list, keeping it there until new contests are published, it expires, or is removed.
Rules and restrictions
Configure the rules and restrictions for this contest. (e.g. minimum age, location etc) The default rules and restrictions are inherited from the contest settings . Click ‘Configure Rules’ button
Contest Rules
Default Legal Country : The country whose laws these contest rules are subject to for this contest.
Can be inserted as template text into the rules template.
Legal Entity : e.g. ABC Broadcast Group, XYZ 101.5, etc. The legal entity presiding over this contest.
Will use the website name if not provided. Can be inserted as template text into the rules template.
Location : e.g. City, State, or Province. Entrants must be a resident of this location to enter this contest and confirm that they meet this criteria when registering.
Minimum Age : Entrants must exceed this minimum age to enter this contest and confirm that they meet this criteria when registering.
Rules Template :
Once done, click ‘Save’
To finish creating your contest you will need to go back to all contests > into your existing contest.
For a video tutorial, please visit: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1j5k_XNhUZ0cXiA99Yu_dTMoeCX9rXI3D/view
