By announcement header I mean the blue bar at the top of the page that currently states, "Interview with Bayview (Kate Sherwood)." This forum sees around 200 members every 24 hours, yet only around 10 members cast a vote for this week's Short Story Contest. I think the cause may be that the contests are tucked away in two layers of subforums. Perhaps if we added a header for contests that are open they would get more exposure? Any opinions? Edit: I've just noticed with closer examination that there is a drop-down menu displaying the contests. However, I still believe this is too tucked away. I never would have noticed it if I wasn't specifically looking for it.
There's always an open vote going on. Each weekend a different contest comes to a close: poetry, flash fiction and short story on alternate weekends. This weekend is short story. If you haven't voted you have until tomorrow. People tend to tune out notices if they are always up, but I think having a header reminder which contest is coming to a close is a good idea.
Ahh, I didn't know a vote was constantly open. I agree that people zone out notices that are up all the time, so I like your idea of a one-day reminder when a contest is closing. Perhaps something directly below the announcement header. People are instantly attracted to a change in format, so I think doing something to that effect would gain a lot of exposure. Your eyes get dragged to the unfamiliar, so new text at the top of the page would definitely grab some people's attention.
Much as I'm glad Bayview's interview is getting so much header time (I hope more of us get that spotlight in the future), a contest vote header reminder would be cool, at least for a while. I appreciate your thread. I think it's a good idea for getting more people interested in voting.
I personally find the contests to be one of the most appealing sections of these forums. I enjoy writing prompts, and the contest adds another layer of excitement. I hope somebody up tops takes this thread into consideration.
The header allows for a number of announcements at any given time. Rotating them wouldn't be an issue. What I would need is a heads-up from the contest admins when a contest is drawing near its close for voting so I can create the html that links directly to the voting thread. It happens in the Admin CP, so it's a little more involved (but just a little, not a big deal). Anywho.... yeah, I can totes do that.
Thanks for the reply. I'm looking at the forum software's website, and it appears they offer a framework for coding your own add-on's. I can't make any promises, but I'll look into creating an add-on that makes contest administrators able to do this automatically. I do freelance programming on the side, and this will be good practice. Not that it's entirely necessary, but then there wouldn't be any additional responsibilities put on the forum staff. Just a thought, and again, no promises; I've never worked with this forum software before. P.S. Just a thought, not saying we need to go this route. If you guys prefer doing it manually I'm all for it.
