Another Exciting Contest…Starts in 2 Days
News and Updates at Site Sketch 101
I love competitions…and in September I’ve got a good one rolling down the pipeline.
Have you noticed the top 10 commenters that are listed in the bottom right of the sidebar? I even added the feature to show off the user’s avatars to you can see who has been commenting the most. On top of that, they also have a do-follow link back to their own website.
Plus…that widget is going to announce the winner of September’s contest.
Starting sometime around midnight on Tuesday morning, I’m going to reset that widget to reflect only the top commenters for that month. You’ll notice that it displays all ten but that’s just so you can see how close you are to the top.
The top three commenters are going to win some good prizes. I’ll be announcing the prizes and all the details on Tuesday so stay tuned for the excitement to begin.
Image by Abduzeedo
Chris Cline said:
Can’t Wait………
Good Luck Everyone……
Nicholas Z. Cardot said:
Chris Cline –> And good luck to you, my friend!
Stefan said:
Sounds like a great idea Nicholas and to be honest I am glad to be in the top already so no one thinks I am commenting simply to win prizes, although it is a great reason.
With that said I have never seen Arisu before. New commenter?
By the way, it is possible to vote in your poll every time I visit your site. The vote is probably just saved once, but it would be great if it only showed the result afterwards.
Nicholas Z. Cardot said:
Stefan –> For a while, I had that widget set to only display those users that had entered an url back to their website. I had no reason to list users without an url because the main point of that widget, in my opinion, was to share Google page rank with people who contribute to the conversation. Now, however, since anyone who comments is rewarded, I changed the setting to reflect anyone and not just those with urls. She has been commenting on here almost since the beginning of the site. And she’s emailed me with some questions. She’s a very active member of the community here.
I think I have the poll currently set to allow each person to vote every 24 hours. Once your vote is cast, it will display the results to you for the next day. After that, it will reset and allow you to vote again. I really don’t know how to change it to anything other than that. Although I do like your idea, the plugin that I’m using doesn’t seem to support any other options.
Stefan said:
It makes sense Nicholas. I recognized her now when she commented this thread and I saw her avatar in fullsize, so it was probably just the name I didn’t recognized.
About the poll then. If you are using WP-poll you can change this in:
Polls->Poll Options->Logging Method
(image)
Nicholas Z. Cardot said:
Stefan –> So what exactly does that do for it? That allows people to vote more than once…or does it restrict it to only once? I hate to admit but I’m kind of confused.
Stefan said:
By changing it to what the image showed your visitors will only be able to vote once, but it seems like you have solved it already.
Nicholas Z. Cardot said:
Stefan –> I pretty much took your advice and then asked you what it meant. I probably should have waited for the explanation, but I trusted you so I just did it.
Bruce Teague said:
I fell back pretty far while I was on vacation last week. That’s ok though. I don’t comment to be at the top of the list. I comment because this is my favorite blog about blogging and I want to support what you do.
Nicholas Z. Cardot said:
Bruce Teague –> Wow, Bruce! Thank you! I appreciate your commenting here as you always bring in real conversation. Sometimes people just stop by and throw a few words together and I wonder if they are just hunting for a back-link to their website. But I’ve never had to wonder that about you. You’ve always got questions or feedback that add real value. Thank you.
Tycoon Blogger said:
Nicholas,
I did this on my blog this past month and saw my comments and traffic spike. I think I will be continuing in September as well. Hopefully, I will be in one of the top spots!
Nicholas Z. Cardot said:
Tycoon Blogger –> Good luck to you. I’ll be sure to check yours out as well. Hopefully I can enjoy some of that comment and traffic spike as well. I love comments!
gautam hans said:
Good luck to everyone and u hope the best one wins
Nicholas Z. Cardot said:
gautam hans –> Good luck to you and thanks for stopping by! May the best man win!
Eric B. said:
Sounds exciting! Good luck to everyone!
Do you think you are going to receive more spam comments?
Nicholas Z. Cardot said:
Eric B. –> I might. But if I do, I’ll do with them what I do to them now…I’ll delete them. I mention more about spam comments when I make the official announcement on Tuesday, September 1. That’s a good question though. I’m all about real, genuine conversation. If comments don’t build that or support that then I simply delete them. I don’t find it a big hassle to delete comments. Is that what you do with spam comments on your site?
Eric B. said:
I delete comments that are just advertising some product, usually ones that are completely unrelated to the post.
I also delete almost everything that is caught by Askimet.
Nicholas Z. Cardot said:
Eric B. –> Yeah. It’s not very often that I approve something that Akismet caught. It happens…but not much. I’m with you on that. I don’t think that I’ll have too much of a problem with spam only for the simple reason that I’m not afraid to delete comments that I don’t like. If something is unrelated to the post…bye bye.
Casey Brazeal (North and Clark) said:
I like this idea. I had not seen it before.
Are you worried you are going to have a jump in comment quantity and a drop in content quality? If people are encouraged to post as much as possible you might be looking at a wealth of brief comments.
That said, I know on my site my most regular commenters are usually my best. And I always look forward to what they have to say.
Either way, I am sure this contest will have a positive effect on your traffic. If I’m lucky it might also bring some attention to guest posts that might be coming up.
Nicholas Z. Cardot said:
Casey Brazeal (North and Clark) –> I’ll actually mention that in the official rules. I’ll mention something along the lines of the fact that it is up to my sole discretion whether or not to allow a comment and that if a comment is too short, is unrelated to the post, or adds nothing to the conversation it will be deleted and not counted in the contest. Also, I will have limits in that you can’t post twice in a row on the same post. Someone else has to comment on that post before you can post again.
I’m sure that people could conjure up a way to take advantage of it, but I will do whatever I can to keep it fun and fair. If you see something that doesn’t look right at any time during the contest then don’t hesitate to make it known to me.
Casey Brazeal (North and Clark) said:
Sounds like you have put some good thought into this I am excited to see how it turns out.
Nicholas Z. Cardot said:
Casey Brazeal (North and Clark) –> I have definitely put some thought into it, but I love hearing the ideas and thoughts of the everyone else. I mean, after all, you are the ones who are going to be participating in it…at least I hope you’ll be participating. I’m very excited to see how it turns out as well.
Mukund said:
I had been a silent spectator of this blog for a long time. But I think it is time for me to show the power of my blog. Waiting for the contest to start.
Nicholas Z. Cardot said:
Mukund –> I’m glad that you decided to put put your voice out here and let us hear from you. It’s good to meet you and good luck with the coming contest.
Arisu said:
Woah, top commentator already XD
Anyway, I hope this contest to set up the field for some interesting chats among the readers! I know I enjoy reading the comments of some people almost as much as I like your posts, Nicholas.
I see the plugin no longer displays only the people with a website… but soon I´ll have the blog up and running, I just need to end with the tweaks on my theme.
Good luck to all!!
Nicholas Z. Cardot said:
Arisu –> That’s certainly the goal…to support interesting conversations among the readers. I can’t wait to see your blog up and running. You can count on me coming to check it out!
Arisu said:
That´s a must! Cause that´s a project I wouldn´t be going through without your inspiration and helpful advice
Nicholas Z. Cardot said:
Arisu –> Thanks. You can count on it!
Joe Cassada said:
I’m in. I should run some contests on my blog.
Nicholas Z. Cardot said:
Joe Cassada –> They are a great way to build some interaction and some excitement. You don’t even have to spend a lot of money. Just find something that is really neat that people who read your blog might like and give it away for their participation. Good luck to you on this one!
Satkrit said:
Cool contest idea. You should limit the amount of comments someone can do for one day.
Great way to get people to interact. this is going to be a great success
Satkrit said:
Didn’t know you had avatar showing for the comments. Maybe I should add a gravatar
Satkrit said:
Cant find a cool gravatar
.
So, I’ll start using my other email and using my nick name Sat Chen
Sat Chen said:
Testing the gravatar
Nicholas Z. Cardot said:
Sat Chen –> It looks great! Good luck on the contest!
Typhoon said:
Hey What’s that in your Gravatar. It’s looking to me like a fat spider monster..
Sat Chen said:
It;s supposed to be a ninja
Nicholas Z. Cardot said:
Sat Chen –> Oh. A ninja. I get it. I was sort of getting the crazy spider monster vibe from it too. LOL.
Sat Chen said:
LOL I thought it was obvious. Playing around with photoshop to make my own gravatar. Hopefully it will be more clear
Evan Kline said:
Great idea, Nicholas. Your contests not only seem to create a spike in traffic, but it seems like your content is keeping many of them around for the long term.
Nicholas Z. Cardot said:
Evan Kline –> That’s always my goal. I recognize that with every contest there will always be an attrition rate. You know, those people who come around for the contest and then you never see them again. But I try my hardest to provide them with a unique, exciting experience that will keep them coming back. I also try to provide a personal experience. If I can make friends with people then that’s all the better.
Sat Chen said:
You are doing a great job at keeping people hooked to your website.
Nicholas Z. Cardot said:
Sat Chen –> Thanks, Sat Chen. I try my best. Just let me know if there is anything else that you can think of that would make the site better!
Arisu said:
I totally agree with tha! Each post/contest/other blog entries etc. just keeps doing the site more and more special for everyone who comes across it.
Nicholas Z. Cardot said:
Arisu –> That’s what I hope. I think that if you take a principle that creates success the site grows. When you take a whole bunch of principles of success then the site multiplies!
Typhoon said:
Oh That’s really nice..I am currently in Top 3 Commentators and I hope will be doing the same in the next month.
Nicholas Z. Cardot said:
Typhoon –> If you do the same next month then you will be taking home some cash…oops…I was supposed to give out that hint until tomorrow!
Typhoon said:
I AM A Super Man! I made you reveal what’s the prize..jus jokin..By the way it’s not problem now as you have opened the contest now..
Nicholas Z. Cardot said:
Typhoon –> Yeah. I didn’t mind telling anyways. Especially to my good friend Typhoon! LOL
Reza Winandar said:
I don’t know that you’re running a comment contest, if I were told about this contest sooner, maybe I’ll get a chance to win this great contest!
Nicholas Z. Cardot said:
Reza Winandar –> Well, were only on the second day so there’s still lots of time to get involved.
Mukund said:
Hi Nicholas, I am pretty confused with the contest going on here. When I look at the home page I see Top Commentators and it shows a number while this page shows another one. Which is the valid one?
Nicholas Z. Cardot said:
Mukund –> The site is cached so one page may be a little bit more updated than the previous page. If this site goes 30 minutes without a comment then they will all line up!
Sat Chen said:
I am confused as well. Some times when I go to this site. It doesn’t show the latest post but the one 4 days before.
Mukund said:
I don’t think so your site will go 30 minutes off without a comment. Anyway, the problem now is fixed and I see the same number in all the pages.
Nicholas Z. Cardot said:
Mukund –> I think I figured it out this morning. The caching plugin wasn’t working right since I moved onto the new server. I completely deleted the caching program and reinstalled it. It seems to be working much better now. Hopefully we won’t be having any more problems with it.