Set categories and entry rules
Decide what people compete in, what an entry needs, who counts as a resident, and whether entries can include video.
Where it lives Where it lives: Sidebar → Contests → your contest → Edit
Name the categories and their prizes
The Contest Categories section is the list of things people can win: each has a Category Name, a Prize Description, and an optional description of what judges (your neighbors) should look for. + Add Category adds one and Remove takes one away. Tick Require entry description for this category, and write a Category Description Prompt, when you want entrants to explain why their entry fits that category.
Each category gets its own vote and its own winner, so three categories means three winners to celebrate.
Limit photos and categories per entry
Under Contest Details, Max Photos Per Entry caps the photos on one entry, and Max Categories Per Household caps how many categories a single entry can be entered in. Leave the category limit blank to let people enter everything. A tight category limit spreads the prizes around; no limit lets one great display compete for all of them.
Choose what entrants tell you
Entry Settings → Participant Information lists what the entry form asks for: email (always asked, since each entry is tied to its entrant's email), then first name, last name, phone, and home address. Every box you tick is required. Below it, Entry Descriptions can require a description of the entry and a caption on each photo, with your own prompt for each. Ask for the address if you want the residency check or a tour map; ask for a phone number only if you'll actually call winners.
Each entrant gets a confirmation email with a link to their own entry, where they can change photos, categories, and descriptions while entries are open.
Keep it to residents
Tick Require address verification for entries (in Entry Settings) and every entry's address is checked against your neighborhood's mapped boundary. An address inside goes straight in. One outside isn't refused: it waits in the approval queue, kept off the public contest, voting, and results pages, until an organizer approves or rejects it, so a neighbor whose address geocodes a little off isn't turned away by a machine. This needs Home address ticked, and it only works once your neighborhood has a boundary drawn; without one, every address passes.
The approval queue has Set Boundaries / Adjust Boundaries right on it, for when the queue fills up because the boundary is drawn wrong.
Word the residency question your way
With the check on, entrants see a short dialog before they submit asking them to confirm they live in the neighborhood. Right under the check in Entry Settings, Entry Verification Dialog Customization lets you set its Dialog Heading, Dialog Message, and Confirmation Button Text, and Preview shows the dialog as entrants will see it. Leave a field blank to use the standard wording.
Say what happens next: that entries from outside the map wait for a board member's review. It heads off "why isn't my entry showing?" emails.
Allow videos, not just photos
Every entry needs at least one photo. Tick Allow video submissions and a video can stand in for the photo: entrants can paste a YouTube link, and if your community has video uploads switched on, they can also upload a video file of up to three minutes. Uploads are a per-community switch the platform team turns on (they cost us money to store and play), sometimes with a cap on how many videos the community can hold. An uploaded video shows publicly only once it has finished processing. If you'd like uploaded videos and your community doesn't have them yet, or you've reached the cap, email [email protected].
If a neighbor emails you a clip instead, you can add it to their entry yourself while entries are open (see Review and moderate entries).
Show addresses so neighbors can tour
Display entry addresses (under Contest Details) puts each entry's street on the voting and results pages and turns on the map, so neighbors can walk or drive the route. It's the right choice for decorating contests and the wrong one for a photo contest, where the address only tells strangers where someone lives.
Anonymous contests with addresses showing use the street as the entry's name instead of the entrant's.
Related guides
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