DOINK! 2011 has arrived! Signups are open!
Signups are Open!
As always, you can sign up as a participant, a beta, or both!
Regular signups will be open until Monday, March 21st, 2011, 23:00 UTC.
Beta Signups will be open until Saturday, April 2nd, 2011, 23:00 UTC.
As a reminder, here's the full DOINK! 2011 schedule - check that you have the time for creation and uploading before signing up!
Monday, March 14th, 2011, 23:00 UTC: Regular / Beta Signups Open
Monday, March 21st, 2011, 23:00 UTC: Regular Signups close
Tuesday, March 22nd, 2011 - Tuesday, March 29th, 2011: Matching
Wednesday, March 30th, 2011 - Saturday, April 2nd, 2011: Sending Assignments
Saturday, April 2nd, 2011, 23:00 UTC: Beta Signups close
Sunday, April 3rd, 2011 - Saturday, May 7th, 2011: Creation Time
Saturday, May 7th, 2011, 23:00 UTC: Uploading Deadline
Saturday, May 7th, 2011, 23:00 UTC - Sunday, May 8th, 2011, 03:000 UTC: All Pinch Hits Sent Out, Beta Prompts Posted, Moogle Fluff Begins
Friday, May 13th, 2011, 23:00 UTC by the latest: Reveal of all collections!
Important Signup Notes
- This year, all forms ask for a passcode as part of your signup information. This can be any short code or phrase and acts like a password, allowing you to go back and make edits - and letting us make sure it really is you!
- Please do not use your back button to navigate the forms or make edits. Each form has a confirmation screen at the end with an option to return to a previous point to make changes; please use this instead of the back/forward browser buttons. Take advantage of the confirmation page - it's the best place to catch problems.
- You will be sent a confirmation email for all signups - remember that this email provides you with directions for fixing mistakes or making changes!
Guidelines for Signing Up as a Regular Participant
The form is very similar to last year's, so if you're familiar with the process, you should be all set! For anyone who has not participated before, or anyone who needs a refresher, there are directions and help text throughout the form, and you're always welcome to ask questions!
Our most consistent feedback in exit polls is scrawny prompts, so don't be afraid to give your gifter some guidance, scenarios, and themes. Just don't box them in with too many specifics. :) Check out our guide, Writing Good Prompts.
Guidelines for Signing Up as a Beta Volunteer
We have a new beta process this year!
We've developed our own tool for handling betas, similar to the regular signup form. Here's how it works:
- Betas sign up using a special beta volunteer signup form. They provide contact information, including email address, canons, preferences, beta style, etc. They also let us know how many pieces they want to work on: this is the number of slots a beta has. These details are stored in our database.
- The beta's information is displayed in our beta listings, like this (note that email is not listed - that information is protected!)
(click for more examples!)
This beta has four slots, two of which are filled. - A participant can request a beta from this list using the "Request This Beta!" button. These buttons will not be available until beta signups close.
- The mods will receive the request and will connect the participant and the beta.
- One of the beta's slots will be filled; filled slots are greyed out. When all a beta's slots are filled, they can't be requested anymore.
- If a beta wants to use the slots to control how many works they do at a time, they can contact the mods as they finish working on each piece and ask us to clear that slot. If a beta wants to use the slots to control how many works they do total, they can just set their maximum and let the system do its work!
Betas also have the option of submitting two prompts, though you can opt out of this. We don't guarantee betas gifts this round, nor do we match betas to any particular participants - however, we still want to give betas a chance for a gift in return for volunteering their time. All beta prompts will be put in the Chocobo Down list at the end of the round, marked as beta prompts. In addition, any betas who completed work during the round (the mods will track this through the request system) will also have their prompts listed during Moogle Fluff time, again marked as beta prompts.
If you'd like to sign up as both a participant and a beta and choose to submit beta prompts, we do ask that you choose different prompts for each, so that there are no duplicates. Thank you!
Now Let's Go!
Regular Participant Signup
Beta Volunteer Signup
Feel free to join us in the DOINK! chat room!
Go forth! Create some awesome prompts for us to drool over in our moderator box seats.
This entry was also posted at http://ff-exchange.dreamwidth.org/7249.html.