The new contest system looks a bit scary upon first glance. But in reality, it is not as complicated as it seems and has many new features that are quite awesome.
1) All entries are anonymous. Making it incredibly fair and unbiased when judging. This certainly helps to preserve the integrity of our contests and take the peer pressure off the contest host.
2) We now have the option of adding point prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd places. Which are sent automatically at contest close. The points are taken up front, put in a cyber bank and then distributed for you when you judge the final winners. Keep in mind that you do not HAVE to award points for 2nd and 3rd place to give the trophies, but you do for 1st place.
3) Honorable mentions cost 30 points each (if you choose to do them) and not only receive the points but a green trophy.
Be careful when you decide your point prizes and honorable mentions.
The points are taken automatically when you start the contest. You may INCREASE the prizes at any time. However, you CANNOT decrease them, so be prudent when making your contest. This is especially important with the Honorable Mentions. It is better to start with one and increase it, than to put more and decide at the end that you want to give less. Because you cannot change your mind and remove them.
REMEMBER:
You are taking on the responsibility of a contest host when you start a contest. This means you are committing yourself to this contest by promising to judge it to the best of your abilities in a timely manner. Please judge it within a week of the closing date. Of course everyone understands if it takes a bit longer. We all have lives outside of Allpoetry. But...if it takes longer than three weeks, it will be judged by the moderator staff and you will be fined 100 points for not judging your contest. Plus you lose the control over who wins the contest and often a little respect from your fellow poets.
Your fellow poets/contestants are relying on you to give them the courtesy of reading AND commenting on their entries. They worked hard on their poetry, to give you what you asked for in your contest. Please show them the respect they deserve for putting their faith in you as a contest host. If you are up to this task, you are ready to start your contest.
TO START A CONTEST:
Hold your mouse over the "contest" link at the top of the page, then scroll to "start a contest". It will open this page http://allpoetry.com/contest/add which allows you to create a contest. Be sure to READ the page carefully and fill in the required fields.
Also be aware there are certain subjects that are not appropriate or allowed per our site policy. If you are not familiar with AllPoetry's policies, please read them now http://allpoetry.com/home/guide/rules
Make sure to categorize your contest properly. Whether it is humorous, nature, spiritual, adult, childrens etc. This will make sure it is seen by the proper age groups on the site and help to let others know what sort of poetry you are looking for in your contest.
A few things that are NOT allowed in contests are:
1) You CANNOT Promote illegal, racist, or overly disgusting activities in Stories, posts, or comments. This includes rape, torture, pedophilia, death notices, self-mutilation, cutting, suicide, and suicide notes. Posts about coping with these things are allowed.
2) You CANNOT require contestants to read your work or anyone else's specific works. This is considered soliciting for reads and not allowed. While we do promote interaction on the site, you cannot make it a contest requirement.
3) You CANNOT ask for donations to your contest. This is against site policy and considered pandering for points. So please do not suggest other poets donate to you or anyone else.
4) You CANNOT post a contest asking for erotica or adult content if you are a minor. And if you are an adult asking for this sort of thing, make sure to categorize your contest accordingly.
5) You CANNOT post contests that bash (or invite entries to bash) other poets, races, groups, sexual orientations or religions. While you certainly can host a contest for a specific group or ask for certain types of poems etc., you cannot turn it into the bashing of others that may not agree with your views. So be mindful to those around you and respect each other. We are all entitled to our personal views/preferences and should not be judged or harassed by those around us for them. So keep the peace folks.
Once you get the contest set up the way you'd like. Just click the "submit contest" button and you are good to go.
TO JUDGE YOUR CONTEST:
Go to your contest page. Don't freak out if you do not see your contest on your page. Once the contests have closed, they will not show as "active". You can find them right above your poems listed on your author's page. Look for your item count line, it should look something like this:
"I have 16662 comments, 143 contests, 1 addline, 4 columns "
Just click on the "contests" link there and it will show all of your contests.
Once you have read and commented on each entry you are ready to pick your finalists.
You can do this by clicking on the poems you like best, then scrolling to the bottom of the poem. There you will see information for the contests the poem is currently in. Looking something like this:
"An entry in the contest:
Contest: Amunet Wolfbane's Annual Holiday Bash! Come One and All ~ Let's Party!
by Amunet Wolfbane 1500 points, ends December 25, 21 entries In Contest, Fun, Humorous, Imagery, Other, Personal, Spiritual
__________________________________________________________________________
• next poem in this contest, • Add to finalists list, or Remove from contest "
Click on "Add to finalist list" and that will place then among your finalists. You will need to have at least as many finalists as you have prizes to be awarded. So if you are have for example, 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 3 honorable mentions listed, you MUST have at least 6 poems in your finalist list.
Once you've picked your finalists. Go back to your contest page.
Now you need to make sure the finalists are in the correct order to judge the winners.
To get them into place, you will need to click on the title of the poem and drag it into the placement you want it to have.
Once you have them where you want them, click on "Drag and Re-order" finalists.
This will refresh the page. Make sure they are in the proper order.
1. Will be your first place winner
2. Will be your second place winner
3. Will be your third place winner
4. Anyone places in slot 4 or below will be honorable mentions (If you chose them)
5. So if you choose 3 honorable mentions then you will need to have six finalists
6. It doesn't matter which order the Honorable Mentions are in, they win the same prizes.
PLEASE NOTE:
At this point, if you do not see a "complete contest" link below the "drag and reorder" link...you have not viewed and commented on all the entries and the system will not allow you to go any further until you do. Instead of the "complete contest" link, you will see a message of which poems you have not viewed.
Now, Click on the "Complete Contest" Link
This will open a box to add your final notes (which are required)
You can type anything you wish in the box.
I STRONGLY suggest re-typing the winners there because many poets will remove them once the contest is closed.
Then click on "End contest with winners in this order"
This will close your contest completely and issue all trophies and point prizes.
Gold, Silver and Bronze trophies will display on the contest page.
Honorable Mentions will NOT, but they will show on the poet's author's pages.
And you're done!
Adding your comment:
Now if you can please supply me with a brain, I can function. 
This information is extremely helpful and very informative. I'll give a contest a try... Thanks again, and have a great day!!! 
x
and when he signed every message with a friendly "CIA"<-----sp???? It does not seem that long ago
Yay! 
Richard
Thanks.
