DPChallenge Wiki

Welcome to the Site Council! As you may have noticed, the SC does quite a lot of things for the site that you may or may not already know about. This document aims to be a guide to the various tools you now have available to you, most of which you can find in the 'moderator' section in the top menubar. Please have a thorough read through this guide, as it covers all of the tools you'll be using in your daily SC life. In addition, there's also the SC Policies document that details the various policies that we have created over the years, to keep our actions consistent where-ever possible.

The thing that takes up the majority of SC time is dealing with DQ requests, which are an essential part of keeping the challenges fair. Each challenge has its own DQ summary page, which is broken down into several sections listed below. To change from one challenge to another, use the dropdown box at the top of every DQ page - the challenges are ordered to show which are in submission, which are in voting and which are in validation (all groups should be checked regularly for new developments). At the top of each page is also a quick link (forum discussion) to the appropriate SC DQ forum page for the challenge.

IMPORTANT - if you attempt to download an original, you'll be prompted for a username & password. This can be found in the Proofs sticky thread in the SC General Discussion forum. Obviously, this should never be given out to anyone outside the SC :o)

• Recent Requests

These are the DQ requests from the voters, and you have three voting options - DQ, No DQ, and Request Proof (aka RP). If the request isn't valid (eg DNMC), vote No DQ. If the request is for an obvious rules violation (eg added text), vote DQ. Otherwise, it's often best to vote RP to see the original and confirm how the entry was created. If there are 4 or more unanimous DQ votes, then it's your job to DQ the image with the appropriate reason from the 'normal disqualification' dropdown box. However, if there are multiple violations, please copy the text from one reason and paste it in to another reason, so that the users all know why it was DQd. If there are 3 unanimous RP votes, it's your job to click the 'Request Proof' button. Otherwise, the entry should not have any action taken upon it, and it stays where it is in the queue (the photographer's comments are often enough to answer a validation question without further action).

• Pending Response

These are the entries that are currently waiting for the originals to be uploaded. If an image has been sitting here for 72 hours without response (not the 48 hours we advertise - we don't tell the users that they have this much time), then DQ the image for lack of original, unless there's a comment and/or ticket stating that we should wait longer than usual.

• Pending Action

Once an original has been uploaded, the entry gets moved into the pending action queue, where we have to decide whether the image is legal or not and validate or DQ, respectively. You should download and view the original file(s) (ask other SC what they use for RAW browsing if you don't already have something), and read carefully the editing steps provided. You should also examine the EXIF, paying particular attention to date stamps and software tags (which are highlighted if unusual). You can even view the full EXIF of the image within the validation page by clicking on the appropriate link. Obviously, there is often some discussion on borderline cases, so always check the SC DQ thread for this challenge to make sure you're not missing any other details. Please don't be shy about voicing your opinion in these threads! Once you've compared the original to the entry, vote either DQ or No DQ. If you're uncertain, don't vote, as you can only change (and not remove) your vote once selected. Please post your opinions, comments, thoughts, or links in the 'Opinions' box if you want to discuss the image or highlight any particular aspect (be careful though, the comments aren't can't be edited). If you have any doubts about an entry that's headed for a unanimous decision (either way), you can/should vote the opposite to hold that image in the queue, then post your concerns to the discussion page.

If there are 4 or more unanimous DQ votes, click on the appropriate DQ option at the bottom, and select the reason for DQing the image. If multiple rules are broken, copy the text from one reason into another so that all infractions are made clear. If there are 6+ unanimous No DQ votes, then click on the 'validate' or 'validate with note' buttons. The latter is used when there's been a genuine DQ request, and the former is used when it's only an SC request. Finally, if the voting is split we need a majority before any action can be taken, and you're encouraged to explain (in either the Opinions box or the SC DQ thread or both) why you're voting one way or the other.

• Validated

These are entries that have been validated, either with or without notes. If for any reason you need to remove validation from an entry, click on the appropriate link by the entry's name.

• Self DQ

There are the entries that were withdrawn at the user's request, and aren't shown on their profile pages (apart from SC of course!).

• Disqualified

And finally, the images that have been DQ'd for rules and/or ToU violations. If you need to un-DQ an entry for any reason, click the link next to the image's title. This is only done in exceptional circumstances (after SC discussion), but it should be handled quickly if voting is still underway.

From time to time, we have Terms of Usage (ToU) violations, which when DQing we also need to remove the image by using the 'hide from results' option below the Normal Disqualification options. We also occasionally get requests to remove entries from challenges due to legal reasons (such as change of ownership or withdrawl of a model release), in which case once it's been agreed within the SC to remove the image, you can do this with the 'Remove Image Completely' Option. This won't cause a recalculation of the challenge - the scores and comments will remain, but a placeholder image will be displayed, and the comments will be locked. One last thing, there may be on occasion typos in the DQ messages or the wrong message selected, so if you feel that something needs correcting, then enter the correction but tick the 'Do not send email notification' option to prevent an additional DQ message being sent to the user (which could be very confusing for them!).

When people break the rules on multiple occasions, we have to suspend them from submitting to challenges for set periods of time, as per the challenge rules. See the SC Policies doc for more info.

As an SC member, you will be responsible for helping to moderate the forums, both in providing information, e.g. answering rules queries, and in enforcing the site's rules & usage policies, e.g. dealing with abusive posts. The former is fairly straightforward - answer if you know the answer, otherwise leave it to another SC member or raise it in the SC forum area. This section also applies to comments on images.

In order to deal with any unwanted or inappropriate posts, there are a number of additional controls at your fingertips:

• Admin Edit - This allows you to edit someone else's post. Obviously, you should only edit someone else's post with good reason (e.g. removing offensive language, modifying oversized images, fixing a broken link, or removing references to images still being voted upon), and you must provide a reason in the provided box, which will then be added to the edited post.
• Hide - This allow you to hide the post. Note that you cannot hide the first post in a thread - to do so, you must hide the entire thread. Hidden posts are still visible to SC members, and are highlighted in pink. Hidden threads are only visible to SCs on the forum area indexes, and not on the front page.
• Flag (Adult Content) - This flags the post as containing adult content, so that those with the Hide Nudes option enabled only see the content of the post when they click on it.
• Touch - A fairly obscure feature that updates the thread's thumbnail & image links (according to Langdon…), but this is rarely needed.

There are also controls at the individual thread level: normal, hide, lock, move, sticky, and rename. These are available from the dropdown menu at the bottom of each thread's page.

• Normal - The default status for a thread. When selected, it will remove any of the below settings.
• Hide - This will remove the thread from the front page and also hide it from the forum area listings, effectively eliminating it (we never actually delete threads now). This should only be used either when there is only one post / a few posts to a thread, and the initial post breaks the T&C (e.g. spam, or offensive images), or when the thread is a duplicate of another (i.e. when someone has posted it twice by mistake).
• Lock - This will prevent anyone else (including SC) from posting to the thread, but leave it visible. It is best to post why you are locking the thread before you do so, so that readers can see why they can't post any more.
• Move - This will move the thread into another forum area, e.g. when the discussion belongs in Rant, etc.
• Sticky - This will keep the thread at the top of the forum area's listing (but not the front page). This should be used sparingly, as there is very little that requires this.
• Rename - This will give you a box that will allow you to change the name of the thread (make sure you have JavaScript enabled). This is generally used to remove occasional typos or for renaming Buy/Sell threads when items are sold, etc.

One final note - what you say in the forums now reflects upon the site, as you now have a position of authority, so please remember that when you are merely expressing an opinion of something, it should not sound as though it is coming from the SC as a whole (unless that is genuinely the case). Basically, just be careful what you say, and keep your cool - if an argument is getting too heated and/or personal, let another SC member help out. The rule of thumb is that if in doubt, raise the issue in the SC forum area or via report post, and get the advice of others before acting.

When someone clicks on the 'report post' button and fills out the form, we get a report from that user in the Reported Posts area (linked from the top menu bar and the SC foxbox). You'll have three options along with the report itself - a link to the comment/post in question, clear the individual report, or clear the thread/image. Obviously, if it's a spurious request, just clear it. Otherwise, try to react to the report, either by hiding/editing the post/thread (if obviously a problem), or whatever is applicable. If you're unsure as to how to proceed, jump to the comment/post and use the report post function to add your own thoughts. If a discussion between SC starts to happen, it's often wise to just copy/paste it all into a SC forum thread (along with links to the original post being reported, etc.), so that we can discuss it further.

For example, we quite often get reports of large images being posted to the forums, which I (Manic) usually change the IMG tags to URL tags (ie turn it into a link) if there's no thumbnail available, and post the following in the admin edit reason: “Please keep images under 500px/30kb or post links/thumbs”. It'd be nice to be more verbose, but the edit reason field is only 64 chars long, so being concise is vital.

Occasionally, we need to post announcements about the site, usually for challenge result recalculations (after a top 10 image has been DQ'd) or when new features or rules have been added, etc. Since these threads are very visible on the front page, please use extra care when creating them!

There are three hidden SC forum areas for discussion various aspects of the site that we don't want visible to the rest of the users.

• SC General Discussion

This is where we discuss pretty much anything to do with the running of the site, so if in doubt post it here.

• SC DQ Discussion

Threads here are automatically generated at the start of voting for each challenge, and are used for discussing challenge entries pending DQ/validation (and reminding people to vote on them when there's a split decision or new information!).

• SC User Discussion

Threads here are created from user profile pages, and are for keeping track of username changes (though this is now also on the profile pages) along with any problems reported by or about that user (spamming, multiple accounts, cheating, etc.).

There are quite a few extra details and tools on every users' profile page that are only available to the SC:

As mentioned above, in the top-left of a user profile is a link to their discussion thread in the SC forums, which either exists already, or can be created if the link is clicked. Use this when discussing a user or adding information related to them (eg. mulligans on DQs).

This option will show (in green) all of the user's current entries (including those still in the submission phase), so obviously don't follow any links here if you're still planning to enter or vote in a particular challenge unless absolutely necessary.

One useful piece of information that isn't publically available is when the user last logged in, and which IP address they used to do so. These are mostly used to tell if a user has been online since a request for proof has been raised against one of their entries, and checking to see if they're logging in with more than one username.

If the user has chosen to hide their email address from being displayed, we can still see that address (and that's where PMs are sent to). Obviously, treat this information as confidential and don't email that address unless necessary.

This gives a list of the user's current suspensions, and clicking on it takes you to the suspensions page. This allows you to suspend a user (with a reason) from any particular aspect of DPC (including the entire site if required). Once you suspend anyone, always send them an email via the ticket system (use the help→contact page to open it in their name) explaining what and why. There should be some form letters in the SC Policies doc.

This deactivates the account and prevents it from being logged into, and is effectively a permanent (but reversable) ban. Use this *only* when the user asks to close their account (after confirming that they really want to) or if they're a blatant spammer.

This flags the user's email address as unconfirmed, and sends the activation email to it. This should only be used when a user has not received the activation email when creating their account, or if you have manually changed their address.

This is the “Site Council Panel” located on the left side of your home page when logged in, and contains useful information and links to help you perform common SC functions.

This is a breakdown of DQ requests for each challenge (both validation requests and originals pending review). The number of each shown in red represents the validations you haven't voted on yet (get to it, ya' slacker!). Clicking the challenge name will take you to the DQ summary page for that challenge.

This is simply the number of tickets awaiting SC responses in the queues, and the link takes you to the tickets page. Please answer tickets whenever you can.

Ideally this should always be zero, so if there is any number shown, please click the link and read the report(s) to see what's up.

SC Members are responsible for keeping the camera and lens databases updated. These are the databases that provide the camera/lens information for users to add to their profiles. Frequently, users will request a camera or lens to be added via the ticketing system. The SC Member that claims that ticket should either make the hardware addition to the database or request more information from the user making the request.

To view the Camera database, go to the Moderator menu > Basic Administration > Cameras. This page shows a large listbox that contains all of the cameras currently included in the database. Each entry is organized as follows:

Maufacturer | Model Name/Number | (# megapixels)

If an entry is followed by “(PG)” it means that the camera does not have the Pricegrabber Master ID field filled out. If an entry appears in red it means that the camera record does not have a photo.

To add a new camera to the database, choose the [Add New] entry in the cameras listbox (at the very top of the list). Fill out the “Camera” (remember! Manufacturer first!) and “Megapixels” fields. For the “Image” field, try to use a manufacturer-supplied image (the site will resize the image when it is uploaded). We generally do not use user-supplied images for the database.

Finally, if time allows, search pricegrabber.com for the camera in question. When you are on the pricegrabber page for the camera, look for the portion of the URL (in the address bar) that says “masterid=525248”. Copy whatever that number is (do not copy the “masterid=” part) and paste it in the PriceGrabber Master ID field of the camera record. This master ID allows users to link to PriceGrabber from the Camera page on DPC and will give DPC a referral credit while the user can see a list of prices from various merchants.

When you have entered all of the available information to the database, click the “Add” button.

To edit a camera in the database, click on the camera's name in the camera list. The fields should populate themselves with the information that is stored in the database. Make any necessary changes (including uploading a new image, if necessary), and click the “Update” button.

In general, you should never delete a camera from the database. If you find a duplicate camera in the database, contact the admins before deleting. That way they can fix all the records of the users who refer to the two duplicate cameras before one is removed.

The lens database functions in much the same way as the Camera database with a few exceptions. The primary difference is that the lens Manufacturer is stored in a different field in the database, so you do not enter the manufacturer name as part of the lens name in the record.

To view the lens database, first select a manufacturer from the dropdown. Miscellaneous lenses (i.e. “lensbaby”) can be found in the “Other” category.

A typical lens record in the database is organized like this:

Focus Type (i.e. “MF” “EF”, or “AF”) | Focal Length (i.e. 100mm or 70-300mm) | Maximum Aperture (i.e. f/2.8 or f/4.5-5.6) | Extra Descriptor (i.e. “fisheye”) | (Z) (if a zoom lens)

If a lens record is in red, it means that there is no image for that lens in the database. If a record is followed by *ASIN* it means that there is no Amazon ASIN filled in for that lens. If it is followed by *PG* it means that there is no PriceGrabber MasterID record in the database.

Here is an example of a typical Canon lens record in the database:

EF 100-400MM f/4.5-5.6L IS (Z)

From this record you can see that this is an EF lens with a focal length of 100-400mm and a variable maximum aperture of 4.5-5.6. It is an IS lens, and it is a Zoom lens. Because it is red, you know that we need a photo of the lens for the database.

To add a lens to the database, first select the manufacturer from the first page. Then select the [Add New] option at the top of the list box and complete the requested fields. When entering the name of the lens, follow the naming convention above. DO NOT add in (Z) if it is a zoom lens. If the lens is a zoom lens, be sure to check the “Zoom lens” checkbox at the end of the form. That will automatically display the (Z) notation in the lens' record. Click “Add” to add the lens to the database.

To edit a lens in the database, select the lens from the listbox and change or add any necessary information. Click “Update” to save your changes to the database.

In general, we do not delete lenses from the database. If you find a duplicate lens, email the admins so that they can move all users to one of the lens records in the database and then eliminate the duplicate.

SPECIAL NOTE Users will frequently request the addition of a lens to the database with incomplete information. They will also often request the addition of a lens that already exists in the database. Before adding a lens BE SURE TO CHECK THE DATABASE FOR DUPLICATES! If the user does not provide enough information or if you have questions about their addition request, feel free to write them back and request more information. It is very important that we keep this database as clean and as complete as possible, so please try to add in as much information as you can when creating a new record.

We occasionally get asked to add links to off-DPC sites and/or pages, which have been created by someone in the userbase for the rest of the DPC community. These are obviously treated on a case-by-case basis, and can be added via the Moderator→Basic Admin→Community Projects link in the top menubar.

We get requests and inquiries about all sorts of things, and it's our job to help D&L out by responding to as many as possible. There are 6 main queues for tickets - DPC General, DPC Admins (D&L only), DPCPrints General, DPCPrints Admins (D&L only), Equipment Addition/Change, and the Critique Club.

If you see a ticket you think you can handle, click the 'claim ticket' button. That'll assign it to you alone for a period of 24 hours. If you then find you can't respond, click the 'release ticket' button to allow another SC to take it. Feel free to post your thoughts and useful info via the 'Comment' link on the top right of each reply, even if you're not going to respond to it yourself. If you find a ticket that's in the wrong queue, use the dropdown below it to move it to the correct one. If you're sending an official notice (eg for suspensions), it's best to sign it with the 'Reply as Site Council' option.

When you claim a ticket, be sure to note the Helpful Actions and Templated Replies drop down boxes. They are useful for taking care of common requests. If you have any ideas for additions to these drop downs, PLEASE don't be shy and make a new thread in the SC General Discussion area.

• Username Changes

We occasionally get requests to change usernames, details of which can be found in the SC Policies doc. In general, you need to check that the requested name is sane (ie no obscenities or weird characters), and that the name isn't currently in use (by an active user - see policies).

• Email Address Changes

Very infrequently, we get requests to change email addresses, usually when a user has come back to the site after a period of inactivity and no longer has the email address that was registered with. Use the email address tool to change the address, and the 'flag email' button on their profile to send the confirmation email to that address.

• Other

You'll be amazed by the wide range of random stuff we get asked about :o) In general, answer the ticket if you can, otherwise post a comment with your opinions and/or problems with it, so that the rest of the SC can help out.

From time to time we also get requests to add new hardware to our databases, which fall under one of these two categories:

• Cameras

Once you take an equipment ticket, you'll get the full camera admin tools displayed within the ticket view, making it easy to search the database for the camera being asked about, and to add new ones. Please remember to doublecheck the camera model name/number, as it may already be in the database under a different name (eg Canon EOS 400D is also the Rebel XTi). Once you click the 'add camera' button, it'll add the camera to the database and automatically insert a reply into the ticket, which can then be sent to the requestor. For any other camera admin requests, use the normal camera admin tool from the menubar (see above).

• Lenses

Unfortunately, lens requests bring up the camera admin tools within the ticket, so you'll need to add lenses via the usual lens admin tool pages from the menubar (see above). Once the request has been done (lens added or whatever), respond to the ticket as usual.

Unless you're volunteering to help run the CC, just leave these tickets for Manic/HBunch/Konador to deal with.

We occasionally get questions about DPC Prints, mostly either asking about print approvals (move to the DPC Prints Admin queue), print resolutions, or contacting a photographer. Just use your common sense on these!

One useful feature is the ability for SC members to create SC-only polls, to help decisions which require majority opinions, eg rule changes, user suspension, etc. This can be accessed from the top menu bar in the 'Moderator' then 'Site Reports' then 'Poll Results'. Current SC polls can be modified by clicking on their title, and new polls can be created from the 'create a new poll' link at the bottom of the page. SC are not able to edit any user or member-visible polls, which are still admin-only.

http://www.dpchallenge.com/images/help_sitecouncil_poll.png

The 'question' and start/end date fields are obvious, as are the two tickboxes. To add an answer, type it into the bottom-most textbox, then click on the 'update' button, which will also start the poll. You need to repeat this process to add each additional answer. If you want the change the sequence in which the answers are presented, change the order of the numbers in the righthand boxes, then click 'update' again.

A minor, yet important task is updating the challenge descriptions database, which can be accessed from the top menu via the 'Moderator' then 'Challenge Administration' section. This page will allow you to add new challenge topics to the database, along with adding / modifying the challenge descriptions of previously-submitted topics. You can either create new challenge topics yourself, or take suggestions from the forums - the more choices, the better, as long as they have descriptions! Consider your words carefully as the users will scrutinize every letter and punctuation mark for literal and hidden meaning.

Once a challenge has finished (and now also during voting), you have the ability to mark a photo as containing nudity or not, so that people with the 'Hide Nude Photos' option selected will not see those images. This is done by clicking on the 'FLAG this image for nudity' link on the photo details page (or at the bottom of the voting page). You can also see the details of photos during voting, by clicking on the 'Extra Details' link, which is useful if you suspect a rules violation but don't want to report it yet in case it's just clever editing.

Finally, D&L infrequently make major (and minor) changes to the site, which are usually tested out by the SC before being presented to the general users. This allows us to find potential or actual problems with the changes, allowing D&L the chance to fix them prior to release. There's a huge list of things that are planned to be added/changed on the site at some point in the future listed in the sticky threads of the SC General Discussion forum area.

If anyone can think of any other tasks that the SC perform that aren't covered, please let me know so that this guide can be updated.