telperion1
in
mefas
ADMIN - nominating a story, + completing the form
Hey guys,
Last week I mentioned several ways people can use the MEFA website. This week, I want to walk through in more detail one of the most common reasons people use the website: nominating a story and, for nominated authors, completing the nomination form.
*************************
STEP 1 - GETTING A MEMBERSHIP
Before you can nominate a story you have to be able to log in. If you were nominated you already have an account set up for you. Everyone else, things get a little more complicated, but basically you need to join the MEFAwards Yahoo group, and then you need to send in the questionnaire sent to you. Once you do BOTH of those things Elliska will set up your account within a day or two. The site will automatically send you a password that you can use to log in.
If you don't know your password, first try to retrieve it yourself using the "forgot password" link. If that doesn't work you can email me at supportATmefawardsDOTorg.
****************************
STEP 2 - BEFORE YOU NOMINATE
Once you have your account set up, you next want to make sure the story is eligible. The two most common problems are (1) issues with the URL, and (2) that the piece has already competed in the past.
On the second point: I really recommend you check whether a piece was nominated before using the OFFICIAL MEFA RECORD. You can see whether someone else has already nominated it in 2011 using the current MEFA website. You should also check http://archive.mefawards.org/, to see if it was nominated in a previous year. In general things are only eligible once; the main exception is if it has a WIP beside it in the archive and it's now finished, the story is eligible again.
With URL's, you want to watch out for a couple of things. Does the URL require you to log in if you aren't a site member? (It's okay to be asked to click a link verifying you're an adult; not okay if you need a password to see the actual story.) Also, if the link is posted on more than one page is there a clear way to get from one page to another? Table of contents work, as do previous/next links on each page.
While there are occasionally other wrinkles that make a nomination ineligible, these are by far the most common reasons for why we have to withdraw nominations. That and just not being able to reach the author. Which brings eme to a last thing you might want to do before submitting your nomination: email the author. We don't require this because there's really no way to check, but it really does help us get in touch if the author knows we're trying to contact them.
***********************************
STEP 3 - ENTERING THE NOMINATION
Now you're ready to enter your nomination. To do this:
--- (1) Log in to www.mefawards.org/
--- (2) Select the "Nominate a Piece" link from the "Nominations" menu.
--- (3) Select the author's name from the list provided, or add the author using the steps provided.
--- (4) Enter the title as it appears at the URL you are using.
--- (5) Enter a URL where the story can be read. (See above re: eligibility and URLs.)
--- (6) *If you know it*, enter some other ways to contact the author - alternate emails, blog addresses, etc.
--- (7) Click the submit button at the bottom of the form.
If you're not also the author, your work is then done. Here's what happens at this point.
--- (A) If you added the author, the website automatically sends the author an email with their password.
--- (B) The author is also automatically assigned a LIAISON, a volunteer who will work with the author to answer any questions the author has and to check over their form.
--- (C) That liaison will look over the information you provide and make sure it's eligible. If it is, they will send the author an email getting them started.
At this point the ball is in the author's court. In most cases she'll simply begin work on the form at our website. Occasionally she'll email the liaison to let us know that *the author* knows she's been nominated. Maybe she doesn't have time to fill out the form right away? That's okay. We just need some indication that the author knows she's been nominated.
At some point the author will fill out the form at our website and signify she's done with it. At that point:
--- (D) The liaison and the administrator (that's me) will check over the form for errors.
--- (E) Assuming everything is okay, I will finalize the nomination. That means it's 100% ready to compete.
And *voila*, the nomination process is done.
******************************************
STEP 4 - FILLING OUT THE NOMINATION FORM (for authors)
If your story was nominated - by yourself or someone else - you will need to fill out a form describing your piece.
--- If you are also the nominator, once nominating a story you will be given the option to continue on telling us about your story.
--- If someone else nominated your story, you can get to this form by
(1) Logging in to www.mefawards.org/
(2) Clicking "Your Nominations" from the "Nominations" menu.
(3) Clicking the "Form" link beside your piece's title.
(4) Clicking the "Edit Basic Data" link.
In any case, you will eventually be taken to a form divided into several sections. Here are some specific things to keep in mind when feeling out this form.
--- Screen One: Basic Information
1. Change the story title if needed
2. Confirm the main URL and add a back-up.
3. Enter a summary.
4. Select a story type (for categorization).
5. Select a story length (for readers).
--- Screen Two: Award Categories
Choose three main categories where you would like to complete, ranked in order of preference. You must select three, and you must be willing to complete in all three.
--- Screen Three: Details for Readers
1. Select a rating and the reason for that rating, if applicable.
2. Enter any romance partners, if applicable. You may use 'm' for male and 'f' for female if it is an OC or if you need to keep the characters a surprise.
3. Select characters, sub-genres, events, and sources to describe your story.
--- Screen Four: Details for Categorization
Narrow down your previous lists to what you want the categorizers to consider. For exmaple, you may want readers to know the story involves Legolas, Merry and Pippin, but you only want it to compete against other Legolas-centric stories, not hobbit-centric ones that might have nothing to do with Legolas. Then you would select all three as characters for readers, but only Legolas as a character for categorizers.
When done:
1. Click the "Nomination Summary" button.
2. Change the status to "Author Satisfied with form."
3. Tick the box saying you are satisfied with the form.
4. Click the "Submit Nomination Form" button.
At that point the form is saved. Your liaison will be in touch if there are any problems. Otherwise your piece is ready to compete in the MEFAs.
***************************
STEP 5 - WHAT NOW?
Once authors are done with the form, it will be looked over by that author's liaison and by myself. Everyone else, your work is done.(though authors should keep an eye on their email address).
Authors are invited to use a banner to brag about their MEFA nominations. These are available at http://mefa-banners.livejournal.com/
Everyone is also welcome to start voting for their fave MEFA story (other than their own, of course). I'll go more into how next week.
Elen sila lumenn omentielvo,
Marta
(MEFA Admin.)
Last week I mentioned several ways people can use the MEFA website. This week, I want to walk through in more detail one of the most common reasons people use the website: nominating a story and, for nominated authors, completing the nomination form.
*************************
STEP 1 - GETTING A MEMBERSHIP
Before you can nominate a story you have to be able to log in. If you were nominated you already have an account set up for you. Everyone else, things get a little more complicated, but basically you need to join the MEFAwards Yahoo group, and then you need to send in the questionnaire sent to you. Once you do BOTH of those things Elliska will set up your account within a day or two. The site will automatically send you a password that you can use to log in.
If you don't know your password, first try to retrieve it yourself using the "forgot password" link. If that doesn't work you can email me at supportATmefawardsDOTorg.
****************************
STEP 2 - BEFORE YOU NOMINATE
Once you have your account set up, you next want to make sure the story is eligible. The two most common problems are (1) issues with the URL, and (2) that the piece has already competed in the past.
On the second point: I really recommend you check whether a piece was nominated before using the OFFICIAL MEFA RECORD. You can see whether someone else has already nominated it in 2011 using the current MEFA website. You should also check http://archive.mefawards.org/, to see if it was nominated in a previous year. In general things are only eligible once; the main exception is if it has a WIP beside it in the archive and it's now finished, the story is eligible again.
With URL's, you want to watch out for a couple of things. Does the URL require you to log in if you aren't a site member? (It's okay to be asked to click a link verifying you're an adult; not okay if you need a password to see the actual story.) Also, if the link is posted on more than one page is there a clear way to get from one page to another? Table of contents work, as do previous/next links on each page.
While there are occasionally other wrinkles that make a nomination ineligible, these are by far the most common reasons for why we have to withdraw nominations. That and just not being able to reach the author. Which brings eme to a last thing you might want to do before submitting your nomination: email the author. We don't require this because there's really no way to check, but it really does help us get in touch if the author knows we're trying to contact them.
***********************************
STEP 3 - ENTERING THE NOMINATION
Now you're ready to enter your nomination. To do this:
--- (1) Log in to www.mefawards.org/
--- (2) Select the "Nominate a Piece" link from the "Nominations" menu.
--- (3) Select the author's name from the list provided, or add the author using the steps provided.
--- (4) Enter the title as it appears at the URL you are using.
--- (5) Enter a URL where the story can be read. (See above re: eligibility and URLs.)
--- (6) *If you know it*, enter some other ways to contact the author - alternate emails, blog addresses, etc.
--- (7) Click the submit button at the bottom of the form.
If you're not also the author, your work is then done. Here's what happens at this point.
--- (A) If you added the author, the website automatically sends the author an email with their password.
--- (B) The author is also automatically assigned a LIAISON, a volunteer who will work with the author to answer any questions the author has and to check over their form.
--- (C) That liaison will look over the information you provide and make sure it's eligible. If it is, they will send the author an email getting them started.
At this point the ball is in the author's court. In most cases she'll simply begin work on the form at our website. Occasionally she'll email the liaison to let us know that *the author* knows she's been nominated. Maybe she doesn't have time to fill out the form right away? That's okay. We just need some indication that the author knows she's been nominated.
At some point the author will fill out the form at our website and signify she's done with it. At that point:
--- (D) The liaison and the administrator (that's me) will check over the form for errors.
--- (E) Assuming everything is okay, I will finalize the nomination. That means it's 100% ready to compete.
And *voila*, the nomination process is done.
******************************************
STEP 4 - FILLING OUT THE NOMINATION FORM (for authors)
If your story was nominated - by yourself or someone else - you will need to fill out a form describing your piece.
--- If you are also the nominator, once nominating a story you will be given the option to continue on telling us about your story.
--- If someone else nominated your story, you can get to this form by
(1) Logging in to www.mefawards.org/
(2) Clicking "Your Nominations" from the "Nominations" menu.
(3) Clicking the "Form" link beside your piece's title.
(4) Clicking the "Edit Basic Data" link.
In any case, you will eventually be taken to a form divided into several sections. Here are some specific things to keep in mind when feeling out this form.
--- Screen One: Basic Information
1. Change the story title if needed
2. Confirm the main URL and add a back-up.
3. Enter a summary.
4. Select a story type (for categorization).
5. Select a story length (for readers).
--- Screen Two: Award Categories
Choose three main categories where you would like to complete, ranked in order of preference. You must select three, and you must be willing to complete in all three.
--- Screen Three: Details for Readers
1. Select a rating and the reason for that rating, if applicable.
2. Enter any romance partners, if applicable. You may use 'm' for male and 'f' for female if it is an OC or if you need to keep the characters a surprise.
3. Select characters, sub-genres, events, and sources to describe your story.
--- Screen Four: Details for Categorization
Narrow down your previous lists to what you want the categorizers to consider. For exmaple, you may want readers to know the story involves Legolas, Merry and Pippin, but you only want it to compete against other Legolas-centric stories, not hobbit-centric ones that might have nothing to do with Legolas. Then you would select all three as characters for readers, but only Legolas as a character for categorizers.
When done:
1. Click the "Nomination Summary" button.
2. Change the status to "Author Satisfied with form."
3. Tick the box saying you are satisfied with the form.
4. Click the "Submit Nomination Form" button.
At that point the form is saved. Your liaison will be in touch if there are any problems. Otherwise your piece is ready to compete in the MEFAs.
***************************
STEP 5 - WHAT NOW?
Once authors are done with the form, it will be looked over by that author's liaison and by myself. Everyone else, your work is done.(though authors should keep an eye on their email address).
Authors are invited to use a banner to brag about their MEFA nominations. These are available at http://mefa-banners.livejournal.com/
Everyone is also welcome to start voting for their fave MEFA story (other than their own, of course). I'll go more into how next week.
Elen sila lumenn omentielvo,
Marta
(MEFA Admin.)