Thoughts on how to post TD entries

Chef Jim said:

OK, Quote from Moose:

Since bigspur stated that his 3rd photo was an entry, it's fairly obvious. However, it would have been nice to see a full cook thread with some details on the actual cook. This does have an impact on votes, as many of us are looking not just at the entry photo, but what went into the actual cook, like prep & seasonings, kind of fuel used etc etc.

I have no business saying this as I have not entered a throwdown in I cannot remember when, BUT! I agree with everything Moose said. Show us how you did it! BUT, show us in your entry thread, not in a link to somewhere else like Q Talk. I never voted for an entry that did not have the whole darn thing in the entry. Probably never will vote for one either. You see, I am just plain lazy. I will not go back and forth between multiple threads.

Guerre, this is your fault you know. You enticed me back here today. LOL

Some really great entries for this one. Good luck to all!

Jim

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I agree. Basically, this is an open "cook whatever you want a kamado or a bullet smoker" cook. So the cook thread is what I wish to see. It's an apple and orange situation in terms of the cooker.

Chef Jim said:

OK, Quote from Moose:

Since bigspur stated that his 3rd photo was an entry, it's fairly obvious. However, it would have been nice to see a full cook thread with some details on the actual cook. This does have an impact on votes, as many of us are looking not just at the entry photo, but what went into the actual cook, like prep & seasonings, kind of fuel used etc etc.

I have no business saying this as I have not entered a throwdown in I cannot remember when, BUT! I agree with everything Moose said. Show us how you did it! BUT, show us in your entry thread, not in a link to somewhere else like Q Talk. I never voted for an entry that did not have the whole darn thing in the entry. Probably never will vote for one either. You see, I am just plain lazy. I will not go back and forth between multiple threads.

Guerre, this is your fault you know. You enticed me back here today. LOL

Some really great entries for this one. Good luck to all!

Jim

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I specifically asked this question last week. Should we post all here or post another thread in Q-Talk and then link the pictures here. I was answered by Ron here.

THoey1963 said:

I specifically asked this question last week. Should we post all here or post another thread in Q-Talk and then link the pictures here. I was answered by Ron here.

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So basically your saying that it's Ronnell's fault. :becky:

I always wondered what people would rather have, just the entry photo with a link vs. the full cook thread here.

The problem with having just an entry photo and the link is that when the poll goes up and you click on the name to take you to the entry thread then you still have to click again to take you to the cook thread in Q-talk. I can see people being annoyed by that, having to click multiple times on each entry to get where you want to go.

I'm certain it's easier for the mods although not ideal for the folks who just come for a quick visit and vote. We are trying to encourage more people to vote but I can see why it might annoy some folks.

I'm thinking about putting my whole posts in the entry thread again for that reason.

Sometimes I just post the cook in a Q-Talk thread then copy paste the whole OP in that as the entry. Or, I just post the whole thing as an entry with no cook thread. I have a couple times gone the route of the entry pic only and linky though.

I usually feel bad posting the same thing twice on the forum. Like I'm annoying everyone with having to see my Q-talk post again in the TD. I guess I'll just have to convince myself that my post is so awesome it deserves to be posted twice. :grin:

I personally prefer to see just the entry pic in the TD thread. It is just so much cleaner of a thread that way. I also like that the entry pic acts as a teaser to get me to find out more about the cook. I will only research the ones that excite me with a "love at first sight" entry pic.

I think it may encourage more folks to vote if the cook threads are posted in Q-Talk if it's mentioned that the thread is for a TD entry. It may bring more folks to the TD thread than would have otherwise visited. I too have posted both ways though.

I like the entry post linked to the cook thread. I want to see the money shot before I choose to invest more time in the cook.

I find this dicussion amusing, Someone could have the best looking whatever but won't get a vote because someone is too lazy to click a link. So instead the vote will go to the ordinary food with the most information?

I read this as, Since i'm a lazy @ss everyone else needs to do more to allow me to remain a lazy @ss.

Personally after reading this I'm more discouraged to enter another throwdown than i am excited to.

OK, here's my thoughts.

I should preface this with the fact that my thoughts on this merit no further special status than Ron or Moose. They are at least equals in this.

My personal preference, and it is just my personal preference that I am stating because it was asked, is that I like to let the people making the entry decide. Per the rules, you only need to specify clearly that your post is an entry, must be made of grilled/smoked ingredients, etc, and there is nothing at all in the rules that prohibits anyone from making a perfectly legal entry that is simply one photo. Heck, they don't even have to provide a link to a separate thread with more photo's details. All they need to do is post a pic, and we have seen entries like that since the TD's began.

As a moderator, I prefer a single pic, but only as a moderator.

1. It makes it easier to tell what entry you want submitted for voting, because I don't have to read the post to figure out exactly which farking photo needs to be used...if it is even in that post to begin with because sometimes people pick their photo in a later post after the initial entry post to begin with.

2. It takes less time to build the vote thread, but that is a more minor consideration. But believe me, the long threads with a million pics (like the ones I usually make) can actually make it more difficult to put together the vote thread for a number of little detailed reasons. BUT, it is simply something you deal with as a mod making the vote thread.

3. I also think it's a good idea to make entering the TD's as unintimidating as possible, because the primary complaint I have ever heard about people's hesitation for entering TD's is that they think it might be too difficult. Too difficult to make such great looking food, too difficult to take such great photos, too difficult to win against such strong competitors, yada, yada.

That said, as a TD participant/fan, I prefer the full cook thread with great details, of course. Why wouldn't I? That's why most of my entries in these TD have been like picture book novellas. That's part of the fun...FOR ME. But not necessarily for everyone.

So, as you can see, I like either way just as much, basically.

I would also like to add some perspective.

Some time ago there was a certain clusterfark that occurred, and one thing mentioned in that clusterfark that somewhat rubbed me the wrong way was how some felt that they should be able to just read the thread category and know what to do, and not have to read the "special rules" so carefully or risk being DQ'ed.

You know what I thought of that.

Too farking bad. If you can't bother to take the time to read the rules, you earned your DQ in my book for not paying close enough attention, or not taking the time to care enough to begin with.

I see this issue quite similarly. If you can't even bother to take the time to click a link and read someone's entry post that they took the time to draw up, and cook, etc...well...too farking bad.

That said, some newbie here who doesn't know that more pics would help them get more votes would appreciate seeing this known, so it would be nice if they could be aware that the number of photos and the amount of text they use to describe their entries could affect the number of votes they receive. I think we have a TD roadmap, or FAQ or something, or maybe a "How do I get votes" thread...and put that in there.

Those are my thoughts, and my thoughts only.

In the past, I would get a sense of what the majority of users felt and go with that in order to make the TD's accessible to the largest base possible. At this point, I am not sure if that approach works as the TD's have grown to encompass so much that each change can really only eliminate people, and not really draw them in. That too is just my opinion, but there it is.

Really, I am absolutely fine with having a rules change that specifies a minimum number of pictures, and that you must provide textual description of the cook in your post. That doesn't bother me one bit. I created a type of TD called "The MAster Series" some time ago which required 3 photos be posted, one raw, one on the cooker, and one finished. I like the Master series, but it imploded for a number of reasons, pretty much from user feedback.

So, if the users would prefer this change, I say make it. It is what needs to be done.

Please note that all of my waffling is BLUE.

Personally I like to see the whole cook in the entry thread not because of laziness but more of a fear of getting a repetitive motion injury from so many mouse clicks.


All kidding aside I like it because that's the way it used to be and what got me to really like and appreciate the TD's. I love both the silly entries with spectacular results and the dead serious entries with equally spectacular results. If someone doesn't like an entry or perhaps the person making the entry just scroll past it that's just as fair as asking someone to click a link to see the full cook. I'll keep posting the full cook in the entry thread until it's deemed illegal and if somebody doesn't want to see it then just scroll past it, that actually takes less effort then clicking on a link.

Also since the TD threads have been separated I don't spend much time in the entry thread and usually don't see the entries until Biggie's poll goes up and with the high number of entries I sometimes just don't have time to go though all the links, not out of laziness but just limited on time. I feel that does unfairly handicap some entries because I have changed my vote before after seeing the full cook thread when the entry picture really didn't do anything for me.
That's just my thoughts I hope this doesn't lead to any rule changes and if it does I hope I'm grandfathered in and if I'm not that's OK too.

Ron_L said:

Technically this is crossposting and is against our rules. That's another reason for the request to post cook threads in Q-talk and the entry picture here and link between the two.

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Hmmm. But if the TD's are in Q-talk and I make my original post in Q-talk is that still cross posting? :razz:

I'm just trying to irritate you here obviously, but seriously...I actually prefer to post just the money shot w/link in the entry thread, it does keep the thread much cleaner which I imagine is a huge benefit when creating the poll. So I'll do whatever works best for you guys(the mods).

I have often found myself annoyed though when voting by having to click through multiple times just to view someones full entry thread and I can see how it would annoy others and discourage them from reading about the whole cook and just voting based off of one picture. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing but I believe you can in fact garner more votes by allowing more access to the process.

For instance in the voting thread it says "Click Here to go to the Throwdown thread, or click on the person's name or picture for more pics/info on the entries." Which may be misleading to some when they click on the persons name and it takes them to the persons post in the TD where they have to click on another link to get where they wanted to be already.

Now my wife often tells me that I'm great at complaining about things without suggesting a solution. I like to think that's not true, but for the sake of argument I do have a suggestion.

You might not love this one because it will be a little more work but if while making the poll you click the link the the persons thread and make the hyperlink in their name go to the Q-talk thread with the full description I imagine that would solve the problem.

I'm gonna go now before you guys really start to hate me. Like I said I'll do whatever I'm told, just posting a suggestion. Thank you.

I'll share my opinion.

1) Whole cooks posted in the entry or not, I don't care either way. But i think there should be only one way.

1.1) Entering the TD with an Entry photo (no cook thread). Entries can only be judged by that picture choosen by the entrant. Simple quick and clean. In this case I would also suggest that the username of the entrant not be posted and the voting is simply done by numbers. ie. I voted for entry #4.

1.2) Entering the TD with a Cook Thread. Entries can be judged by all of the information the entrant would like to supply. There could even be a small form to be filled out giving all entrants a spot to fill in specific details, making all entries uniform so to speak.

I am fine with whatever is decided. I created that original question thread to clarify what was considered proper form. Y'all are the experts and veterans in TD's. I would just think someone needs to decide...