The following is a detailed overview of how to compete in Contests on SnapBraggin.  

 

Additional details about the topics that are mentioned here may be found in other answers in the SnapBraggin Help Q&A.

 

 

 

DETAILED ANSWER VERSION for How to compete in Contests: 

 

1.  Become a registered SnapBraggin User AND then join a Gallery as a member.  

 

In order to compete in Contests, you must be a registered SnapBraggin User.  

 

Then, after becoming registered and confirmed, you will need to join and become a member of a Gallery that is holding Contests.

 

A Gallery that is holding Contests will indicate: Competitive YES, which means that Contests are available in that Gallery.

 

NOTE:  The Host of a Gallery has the option of whether or not to hold Contests in their Gallery and when.  

 

2.  You must have permission from the Gallery Host.   

 

Once you are a Member of a Gallery, you must be given permission by the Gallery's Host in order to submit your entries and to have your entries judged or rated !  

 

To determine if you have permission to submit entries and have your photos judged or rated

in a specific Gallery, access your My Account - My Gallery Memberships page and look at your membership privileges for the that Gallery.

 

In order to submit entries and compete in Contests, your Gallery's membership information must indicate: Can Submit YES and Can Compete YES.

 

 

3.  You must pay any Membership dues and/or Contest Entry fees that are required by the Host.  

 

If your membership privileges for a Gallery are Can Submit NO and Can Compete NO, you will probably be wondering why...

 

It might be because your Gallery's Host is charging Membership dues or Contest Entry fees, which you have not yet paid.

 

To find out, send your Gallery's Host a message via the SnapBraggin messaging tool, which is available on your My Account - My Gallery Memberships page, or send a direct email, if you have your Host's contact information.

 

You can also check the Gallery's Home page, or read posts on an associated message group (such as a Yahoo Group), to see if information about the Gallery's dues and fees has been provided in one of those locations.

 

4.  Learn the rules for entering the Contests in the Gallery.  

 

Before you submit your entries into any SnapBraggin Contest, you will want to know what the rules are for the Contest!

 

Rules for how to enter a Gallery's Contests might be available on the Gallery's Home page, through an associated message group (such as a Yahoo Group), or directly from your Gallery's Host.

 

Some important Contest entry rules that you will want to know are:

 

Types of entries?   You will want to know the specific types of photos that are allowed in the contest.  For example, a Contest might be accepting only photos of flowers.

 

File size?   Your Gallery's Host might be restricting the size of files that can be uploaded into the Contest Album.    As a result, you may need to crop or resize your photos before uploading them.    When you Add a photo, the SnapBraggin uploader page will provide information about any file size restriction.

 

How many entries?  The Gallery's Host may restrict the number of photos that may be uploaded per Member into a Contest Album.  The Contest Album's Home page (when the Album is Open for Entries) will indicate the number of entries per member.   Also, when you Add a photo, the SnapBraggin uploader page will provide information about the maximum number of entries that you are allowed to enter into that Contest album, and will also tell you how many you have already submitted.

 

When to upload your entries?   You will want to know the Entry Period, which is the window of time during which you will be allowed to Add your entries.   You will want to know when to start uploading your entries, and when you must stop uploading entries, so that you have time to get all of your entries uploaded before it is too late!   

 

5.  Submit your entries:

 

When it is time to submit your entries, the Contest Album will indicate: Open for Entries.

 

Click to go into the Contest Album.

 

Then click on the +Add Photo button to access a SnapBraggin uploader page.

 

NOTE:  If the Add button is RED: this means that you may not add photos at this time.  

You can click on a RED +Add Photo button to read the reason why.

 

For more information about Adding entries,

Please read: How do I Add photos (how do I upload)?

 

 

6.  Host Appaisal: 

 

Each photo in SnapBraggin has a Host Appraisal. 

 

Only entries that are Host Appraisal: Approved will be judged or rated in Contests.   

 

After you submit your entries into a Contest, the Host will either Approve or Reject your entries.

 

 

If you want to know if your entries have been Approved, view the Host Appraisal which will be displayed on the Detail page for your entry. 

 

To access your entry's Detail page, click on either your entry's thumbnail, scroll view or hybrid image. 

 

There are three possible types of Host Appaisal! 

 

Pending Approval:  Pending Approval means that the Host has not yet decided whether to Approve or Reject your newly-uploaded entry. 

 

An entry that is Pending Approval will display a  PA, Pending Approval badge.  PA BADGE ICON

 

Approved:  Approved means that your entry is acceptable!   Excellent!

 

And (if you have permission) your entry will be able to compete in the Contest (your entry will be judged or rated.) 

 

Your entry will have neither a PA badge nor a Rejected badge.

 

Rejected:  Rejected means that your entry was screened by the Host and found to be unacceptable or inaccurate for some reason. 

 

An entry that is Rejected by the Host will display a Rejected badge. REJECTED BADGE ICON

 

If your entry is Rejected by the Host, your entry will not be able to compete (will not be judged or rated) in the Contest until it is corrected or replaced. 

 

Your Rejected entry will have a Rejection Comment (left by the Host) that will explain to you

why your entry was rejected.   

 

For more information about how to find and correct your Rejected photos:

Please read:  I am a Gallery Member.  How do I find and fix my photos that are Rejected or Disqualified?

 

 

7.  The Judging Period:   When it is time for judging to take place, the Host will end the Entry Period by changing the Contest Album to a judging state.

 

The judging states are:  Judging, Accepting Ratings, Completed, or Recorded.

 

During the Judging Period, you will not be able to Add or modify or delete your entries.

 

However, you can watch the judging progress.  

 

8.  Judge Appraisal:   When an entry is being judged, or has already been judged, it might have a Judge Appraisal.

 

A Judge Appraisal will be displayed on the Detail page for your entry. 

 

To access your entry's Detail page, click on either your entry's thumbnail, scroll view or hybrid image. 

 

There are three types of Judge Appraisal.

 

Finalist:  A Judge Appraisal of Finalist means that your entry is either a potential winner or an official winner of the Contest!   Well, that is cool !

 

If your entry is a potential winner (because the judge has not yet completed the judging), your entry will display a checkered Finalist flag FINALIST FLAG ICON

 

If your entry is an official winner (because judging is finished), your entry will display an Award or placement icon AWARD ICON     PLACEMENT ICON

 

None:  None means that your entry has no Judge Appraisal.  

 

None means either that your entry has not yet been judged or rated, or that your entry was not a Finalist in the Contest.

 

Disqualified:  Disqualified means that your entry was judged to be unacceptable or inaccurate by the Judge. 

 

A Disqualified entry will display a DQ flag DQ FLAG ICON

 

If your entry was disqualified by a judge, your entry will not be able to compete (will not be judged or rated) in future Contests until you correct or replace it. 

 

Your Disqualified entry will have a DQ Comment (left by the Judge) that will explain to you

why your entry was disqualified.   

 

 

For more information about how to find and correct your Disqualified photos:

Please read:  I am a Gallery Member.  How do I find and fix my photos that are Rejected or Disqualified?

 

 

9. Contest Results:   After a Contest has been judged or rated and the results

have been made official, the Contest Album will indicate:  Results Recorded.

 

Once a Contest has been Recorded, the visual and written results for that Contest may be accessed via the Contest History link on the menu (while you are inside the specific Contest Album.) 

 

Your Gallery Host may also post the results to a message group, or email the written results to you.

 

NOTE: Please contact your Gallery Host if you need help with obtaining written Contest results.

 

10. The Gallery's Top Ten Lists:If your Gallery has an active Top Ten, you can check it out to see if you and your entries have achieved enough award or placement points to make the list!

 

The Top Ten Lists include Top Ten Members and Top Ten Photos in the Gallery!

 

You may view the Top Ten Lists by clicking on the Top Ten Lists button on the Gallery Home page or a menu link. 

 

11.  View your Contest winners! 

 

And you will probably be wondering if any of your photos have won awards in any of the Contests on SnapBraggin!

 

SnapBraggin provides a couple of ways for you to find out!

 

Use the My Photos search.  Click on the My Photos menu link.  Place checkmarks next to a Gallery's title, and next to "Photos that have won awards", then click Apply Search.

 

Or use the Submitted By page.  To access the Submitted By page, first access the photo Detail page for any one of your photos, then click on your Submitted By name (your Display name.)

 

That will jump you to the Submitted By page which will display all of your photos (which you have Submitted) in SnapBraggin.

 

To simplify the list to display only your photos that have been winning finalists, place a checkmark next to the Winners Only option.