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MSH FAQ's (a work in progress)

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Saffanna  Pro User  says:

MSH FAQ’S

Tagging/Posting Questions:

1. What does it mean “Family Friendly”?
Because we occasionally have young members in the group, we ask that you do not post nude photos or use extremely foul language.
2. What are the proper tags? See this thread: www.flickr.com/groups/monthlyhunt/discuss/130788/
3. Can I tag an existing photo to be included in the hunt, or must it be taken and/or uploaded this month? It's fine to tag a photo from your existing archive, as long as it isn’t posted to the group pool prior to midnight of the beginning day of the hunt or after 11:59 pm the last day of the month.
4. Why is a photo I posted today not showing in the voting app? The voting app is updated overnight at approximately 4:30 a.m. Eastern US time. or 09:30 GMT The photos posted today won’t be picked up until that time, but will be in the voting app the following day as long as both tags are formatted right. Don’t forget to add the photos to the group pool.
5. Should I remove my photos at the end of the month’s hunt? No, please leave them for future reference. We keep them on the voting app’s archive.
6. Can I use the same photo for different categories? Yes, just make sure to add all the appropriate tags.
7. Can I use the same photo in different month’s hunts? Yes, but please make sure to add all the appropriate tags.
8. Can I submit more than one photo per item? NO, with thousands of photos in the pool, one per category/item is plenty.
9. Will my private photos show up in the voting app? No, your photos must be made public to be viewable in the voting system.
10. What if we are having a problem? Leave a comment in this comment stream www.flickr.com/groups/monthlyhunt/discuss/72057594116718787/ and one of the admin will do some sort of hocus pocus to get everything right again.
11. What if the admin do not see my question in the comment stream? You can flickr mail Gkaufman, Saffanna, Amberbamberboo, or Cybervassals…..and they will fight over who gets to help you.
12. Whose idea was this anyway? Kimbobananaboat aka Kimberelly started this group in November of 2005. The current admin came on board a couple of months later.
13. What time zone does the voting app use for posting photos? The voting app is located in the Eastern USA time zone, but recognizes the upload time from your local time zone.
14. Can I replace a photo, if I find a better entry? Yes, as long as you delete the first one from the pool, remove it’s tags and then make sure the new photo is added to the pool and tagged with the appropriate tags.

15. How can I make the mosaics that I see in the Finished comments? You can make a mosaic by going to this site:

www.bighugelabs.com/flickr/

It is fairly easy to do, just follow the step by step instructions.

It is a little time consuming, but quite simple. You need to have a couple of browser windows open.

It will give you two options to make the mosaic. You can use a set or the individual url's of the photos.

To choose the pictures for your own mosaic it's easier to make a set of your own msh entries first, then you can choose the option to make the mosaic from the url of the photoset.

But if you want to make a mosaic of your favorites from other people, you can use this website to see all the entries for a given category at one time and copy the individual url's there.

www.flickrleech.net/

Enter the tag ie. msh060711 (no dash) and you will get a page with all the entries for that category. Do a right-click copy (copy link location) of the url of your favorite and paste it into the mosaic maker's box in the other browser window.

Double check the URLs to avoid my constant error of pasting one URL in two lines because you didn't copy it correctly. Starting all over again is a pain.

Voting Questions:

1. Where do I go to vote?
www.thephotocomp.com/msh/
1.5. How long is voting open for after the end of the month? When will THIS month's photos show up in the voting app? Voting is open through the end of the second day of the following month (i.e. March voting ends on April 2nd). Near the end of that day (roughly 10pm Eastern US), the voting app is shut down, and reconfigured for the current month (April, to keep with the example). The first retrieval for the month will occur, and the voting app will then show only the new month. At no time will the voting app have more than one month's photos available - you can be assured that any pictures in the voting app are the ones for which you are supposed to be voting for at that time.
2. How can you tell if someone has voted for one of your pics...or how many votes you get? You can’t. The intent is to keep it fun and non-competitive. Do you really want to know that the picture you love so much is only a 2.5 in someone else’s eyes?
3. Why do we vote if there are no scores? We vote and at the end of the month the admin have a fair non-biased way of identifying the top 3 in each category. Up until Gkaufman developed the program, a lonely little admin. (Saffanna) would hand count each category (took forever and her family rebelled) then Saffanna would list who finished, and who came close. She would then, with help from other admin, pick the favorite shot from each group as finalists. (We tried to be fair and unbiased and spread the glory around as much as possible, but the group kept growing and growing and growing.) The first month there were just over 60 members and then it went to just over a hundred and then 200, and now over 1200. Although all members don't play, it's just humanly impossible without the voting apparatus and active member’s votes to keep track of the photos.
4. Can I see what I vote I gave to pics, Say, I want a list of all those I gave a 10 – because I forgot to fave my favorites - and I don't feel like going through all the pics again to make a mosaic of the best? The “My 10's lister" will show you all of the pictures that you gave a 10 to. It's available on the "my information" section of the voting app. And before anybody asks – I (gk) will not be implementing this for the 9's, 8's, etc. This was created specifically for those of you who like to create the mosaics of your favorites.
5. Why is the voting app. telling me this:
Thank you!
You've voted on all available photos.
Please check back later to see if more have been added to the database
Your activity in current hunt (mshXXXX)
Total photos: 1863
# votes you've cast: 1843 See, given that 1843 is less than 1863, shouldn't there still be 20 pictures for me to vote on?
They are your photos and you won’t see them. Other people will vote on them.

Are there any little acronyms that I need to know?

1. RAHV=Someone decided this is the French equivalent of LOL.
2. OMD a term meaning Oh mon dieu!/ Oh my god! (Thanks to vaguelyartistic)
3. true2clue=a term used to describe how closely an item fits the category. (thanks wickked)
Originally posted at 7:22PM, 4 January 2007 PDT (permalink)
Scottish Rose (a group admin) edited this topic 25 months ago.

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Librarianguish  Pro User  says:

Very nice Saff! This should help answer all those sticky questions that come up every so often. Hip hip hooray for the admin team!
Posted 66 months ago. (permalink)

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Mundoo  Pro User  says:

Nice FAQ. I can't think of anything that I want to know.

Re: #1
Is the word 'chocolate' considered to be extremely foul language?

:)
Posted 66 months ago. (permalink)

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mt butterfly  Pro User  says:

@ mundoo-- I think anyone who mentions the "C" word should supply said item to Mt Butterfly! ;-)
Originally posted 66 months ago. (permalink)
mt butterfly edited this topic 66 months ago.

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helixdmonster says:

Chocolate cat, chocolate cat, chocolate cat.
Posted 66 months ago. (permalink)

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Mundoo  Pro User  says:

@mt butterfly

consider the chocolate supplied

Tim Tams

@helixdmonster - when it comes to easter here I will be able to give you a chocolate Bilby
Posted 66 months ago. (permalink)

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Reinhilde  Pro User  says:

I can already give you a chocolate cat Helix ;)
-- from Reinhilde - (?)

Excellent FAQ Saf!
Posted 66 months ago. (permalink)

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Saffanna  Pro User  says:

thanks for all the support....how did a FAQ turn to chocolate and cats. what's wrong with this group? ;-D

maybe i should add those questions to the FAQ.....but i don't have the answers.... :-(
Posted 66 months ago. (permalink)

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mt butterfly  Pro User  says:

@mundoo Thanks I needed that!

@Helix-- Where's my chocolate?? ;-)

@ Saffanna It is the nature of human kind /monster kind to seek comfort and be happy. Thus we get chocolate mentioned/eaten on a regular basis! ;-)

(added note to saffanna)
Originally posted 66 months ago. (permalink)
mt butterfly edited this topic 66 months ago.

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Saffanna  Pro User  says:

someone had a chocolate cake at work today in the faculty room, i was so sad that it didn't make it my way......

sigh.

need chocolate cake in the worst way.
Posted 66 months ago. (permalink)

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Barry Wallis says:

Here you go...

Happy Birthday Karen!

Sorry I spelled your name wrong (no photo editor at work) :-)
Posted 66 months ago. (permalink)

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Saffanna  Pro User  says:

lol.....carolyn/karen......it works and is yummy! thanks B.W.
Posted 66 months ago. (permalink)

spidrwegian_no_more [deleted] says:

Great job on the FAQ so far!

One change in the way flickr is working may affect us here. There's now a new limit to the number of pools that a photograph can be added to. That limit is 60 for pro users and a paltry 10 for non-pros. Since we require all photographs are submitted to the pool some people may get caught out by the limit.

If a photograph can't be submitted to the pool because it's already in too many pools, the photograph must be removed from other groups until it is one under the limit. Then it can be added to the monthly hunt pool.

See the flickr FAQ here
www.flickr.com/help/groups/#225
Posted 66 months ago. (permalink)

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Saffanna  Pro User  says:

wow.....i can't imagine submitting to so many groups, but i guess other people do.

thanks for the notice spidr......
Posted 66 months ago. (permalink)

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Saffanna  Pro User  says:

bumped to edit time zones in item # 4.....

Thanks tim ellis for the suggestion.....
Posted 65 months ago. (permalink)

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Saffanna  Pro User  says:

bump.
Posted 65 months ago. (permalink)

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Ambrosia_apples  Pro User  says:

I'm having a problem finding the answer to this. How long is the voting open for after the end of the month? It's the first of April, I'm working on voting for March, and I don't know when it will stop and roll over to voting for April. Thanks.
Posted 63 months ago. (permalink)

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Gee-Kay is a group administrator Gee-Kay says:

Voting is open through the second of the following month (i.e. March voting is open until April 2nd.) I usually shut down voting at the end of the day (Eastern US Time). After voting is complete, then I get the app set up for the current month - the first retrieval will occur, and then the voting app will show only the current month.

At no time does the voting app allow voting on more than one month at a time. You can feel assured that whatever pictures come up in the voting app are the ones that you are supposed to be voting on.
Posted 63 months ago. (permalink)

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Ambrosia_apples  Pro User  says:

Sounds good, thanks for clarifying! I'll try and get all my voting in for March quickly, then. :-)
Posted 63 months ago. (permalink)

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Gee-Kay is a group administrator Gee-Kay says:

I've added it to the FAQ above now.
Posted 63 months ago. (permalink)

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Lens Baby  Pro User  says:

ok - so i've looked and looked but don't see how to post the pictures in the that neat little square format everyone is using = i'm uber new to this - any help would be much appreciated!!!
Posted 60 months ago. (permalink)

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Studio-Eleven  Pro User  says:

You can make a mosaic by going to this site:

www.bighugelabs.com/flickr/

There are lots of cool toys for Flickr there. The mosaic maker is the last one in the third row. It is fairly easy to do, just follow the step by step instructions.

It is a little time consuming, but quite simple. You need to have a couple of browser windows open.

When selecting pictures for a mosaic, Toys gives you two options. You can add a set or list by URL. Select the URL option.

In the second browser, go to the page of the photo you want to add. Copy the URL and post it in the correct line.

Double check the URLs to avoid my constant error of pasting one URL in two lines because you didn't copy it correctly. Starting all over again is a pain.
Posted 60 months ago. (permalink)

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Lens Baby  Pro User  says:

thanks so much for your help!!!
Posted 60 months ago. (permalink)

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Saffanna  Pro User  says:

Studio-Eleven...that is a great lesson in mosaic making......I hope you don't mind if I copy and paste it into the FAQ's so that it will be easier to find......
Posted 60 months ago. (permalink)

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Studio-Eleven  Pro User  says:

Please do! I would be honoured. You might want to remove the line about the mosaic maker being the last thing in the third line. That is where it is now, but they tend to move things around on that page.
Posted 60 months ago. (permalink)

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Saffanna  Pro User  says:

lol, thanks Studio.....I did remove it and added a bit of information of my own. But the kudos go to you. It should have already been there.
Posted 60 months ago. (permalink)

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cteresa  Pro User  says:

Just checking, a mosaic of photos you took, is not valid, does not count as one photo? I was having trouble with the romance theme, and remembered this one

www.flickr.com/photos/cteresa/382900576/

( works better as a mosaic. it´s ironical really!) but I guess it does not qualify?
Posted 59 months ago. (permalink)

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tim ellis  Pro User  says:

I'm sure we've had Mosaic entries before. - They are just as valid as Photoshopped entries for instance - providing (all) the original photos are yours then I don't think there is a problem.
Posted 59 months ago. (permalink)

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cteresa  Pro User  says:

Thanks! the photos are indeed all mine, taken a second apart or so, I suppose a version of a filme :)
Posted 59 months ago. (permalink)

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Studio-Eleven  Pro User  says:

A humble suggestion for the FAQs. Could the link to the FAQs be added to the MSH home page? Newbies might not know to look through the discussion thread to find it. They might not even know there is an FAQ section.
Posted 59 months ago. (permalink)

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Ruth and Dave  Pro User  says:

I just had a look on the home page -the FAQs are already there.
Posted 59 months ago. (permalink)

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Saffanna  Pro User  says:

I'll look and see if I can move it closer to the top.
Posted 59 months ago. (permalink)

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anilorac186 says:

I got a question guys. For september's "a small victory" I wanted to use this photo... is it ok? Cause I wanted to show both pics in one showing how she finally made it to the DVD player.

a SMALL victory indeed
Posted 57 months ago. (permalink)

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Jane Williams  Pro User  says:

Works for me, and I expect I lot of "now you see it..." phtoos will use the same trick.

But, should this question really be on the end of the FAQ discussion? Admins?
Posted 57 months ago. (permalink)

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Saffanna  Pro User  says:

I've seen many entries throughout the months that are mosaics of one or more photos. It's completely ok and if it fits the category then go for it.
Posted 57 months ago. (permalink)

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anilorac186 says:

Thank you for clearing this up guys!
Posted 57 months ago. (permalink)

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keishkakeishka says:

So, I have a question for the admins - being (sorta in a relative manner) new and all.

So, I understand that the voter's seal gets posted on your finished hunt mosaic. But what happens if you don't finish the hunt? I mean, I still have five more I'm missing, and I've come to the conclusion that unless there is a miracle tomorrow, I'm not going to finish the hunt with all 20, but I'd still like my voter's seal if I can have it. If I make a mosaic of the ones I do have, is that good enough for voting seal purposes?
Posted 47 months ago. (permalink)

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tad2106  Pro User  says:

I'm sorta new too but as I understand it you get a seal for completing the hunt ie getting all 20 and posting your mosaic, a different seal (a voter's one) when you have hit the 1000 votes in the voting booth. Correct me if I'm wrong anyone.
Originally posted 47 months ago. (permalink)
tad2106 edited this topic 47 months ago.

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Methos04 is a group administrator Methos04  Pro User  says:

Check out this topic: I think it is still valid.

And what I really wanted to say: Yes :-) both of you are correct :-))
Originally posted 47 months ago. (permalink)
Methos04 (a group admin) edited this topic 47 months ago.

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keishkakeishka says:

The link didn't work. But thank you for the quick reply! I'll make a mosaic of what I have at the end of the day for the voting seal. Thank you for all you admins do! :-)
Posted 47 months ago. (permalink)

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Methos04 is a group administrator Methos04  Pro User  says:

Sorry now it works
Posted 47 months ago. (permalink)

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zippythesimshead  Pro User  says:

Big Huge Labs seems to be having technical difficulties today.
rats.
Posted 46 months ago. (permalink)

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Saffanna  Pro User  says:

hmmmmm, my page says there was a new comment 5 hours ago, but according to the above comment, it was 2 months ago. hiccups? or invisible comments?
Posted 44 months ago. (permalink)

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tim ellis  Pro User  says:

Flickr does that sometimes (my page was listing it as recently updated but showing 0 updates)

I suspect that when Methos04 updated the Completed October Thread she edited the FAQ post at the top, but quit without making any changes and confused Flickr. I haven't really got any proof, but the hypothesis fits the available evidence...
Posted 44 months ago. (permalink)

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Methos04 is a group administrator Methos04  Pro User  says:

yes I admit it was me - I will not do it again - I promise to get better about that stuff - I was simply trying to help - flickr is not guilty - I will not do it again - no no no - snuffle
Posted 44 months ago. (permalink)

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Saffanna  Pro User  says:

aw, it's ok methos04. no need to snuffle, unless you have a cold and in that case I'll get you a tissue.
Posted 44 months ago. (permalink)

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Methos04 is a group administrator Methos04  Pro User  says:

save that tissue ... you will need it in case you are going to vote on all the heartbreaker photos (but thanks anyway :-))
Posted 44 months ago. (permalink)

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Barry Wallis says:

You need to update the FAQ with the URL of the new home of the Voting Booth.
Posted 26 months ago. (permalink)

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mag3737  Pro User  says:

Complete newbie, just joined, haven't posted a single photo yet, but I think I've read all the literature, but I'm puzzled by the apparent contradiction among these three FAQ answers, and I'm too impatient to lurk for long enough to figure out the actual practice:

3. Can I tag an existing photo to be included in the hunt, or must it be taken and/or uploaded this month? It's fine to tag a photo from your existing archive, as long as it isn’t posted to the group pool prior to midnight of the beginning day of the hunt or after 11:59 pm the last day of the month.

5. Should I remove my photos at the end of the month’s hunt? No, please leave them for future reference. We keep them on the voting app’s archive.

7. Can I use the same photo in different month’s hunts? Yes, but please make sure to add all the appropriate tags.

If a photo can be added to the pool only during the month of a hunt, and it's not supposed to be removed from the pool, then how could it be used in another month?
Posted 7 months ago. (permalink)

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tim ellis  Pro User  says:

... Don't apply the new tags until after midnight of the beginning day of the hunt....
Posted 7 months ago. (permalink)

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mag3737  Pro User  says:

Thanks Tim. The contradiction in the wording of the rules is about adding photos, not tagging them. The crux of the matter is the phrase "as long as it isn't posted to the group pool" from rule #3. It seems odd that in 18 months (last time the rules posting was edited) or longer no one has ever mentioned it ... which makes me think I'm probably just missing something.
Posted 7 months ago. (permalink)

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jronaldlee is a group administrator jronaldlee  Pro User  says:

Sharp eye, mag3737.

I think when those were posted, most players at the time were aware of the custom, so no one questioned the vocabulary.

The intent of the rules is this: you have to have all your submissions in before the month ends, and if we post a new month's worth of clues, don't make any new entries (either by tag or posting to pool) until the start of the new month.
Posted 7 months ago. (permalink)

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Kaptain Kobold  Pro User  says:

I'd never thought about the issue of tagging a picture you'd already used in the hunt before. Interesting point.

(I've never tagged a picture for the hunt again - I never reuse pictures :) )
Posted 7 months ago. (permalink)

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