Recommendation judging

Recommendation judging is used when numerical scoring alone is not suitable.

Instead of assigning a score, judges select a label such as:

• Gold
• Silver
• Bronze
• Best in show
• Highly commended

Recommendation judging is configured using the VIP judging framework.

Step 1: create a VIP score set

Recommendation judging must use VIP judging mode.

1. In the Manage workspace, go to Judging > Settings > Score sets
2. Click New score set
3. Select VIP judging under 'Judging mode'
4. Enter a clear score set name (for example, Stage 1)
5. Click Save

For detailed explanations of score set settings, see Configure score sets.

Step 2: configure recommendation criteria

Recommendation judging uses scoring criteria, but judges select a word or phrase instead of a number.

1. In the Manage workspace, go to Judging > Settings > Scoring criteria
2. Click New criterion
3. Enter a Score title (maximum 32 characters)
4. Enter a Shortcode for exports and summary tables
5. Select your VIP score set
6. Under 'Control', choose Recommendation
   • Three default options (Gold, Silver, and Bronze) will appear. You can:
     • Edit the labels and associated scores
     • Add additional options using the + icon
     • Reorder options by dragging
7. Enter a Weight value
8. Configure commenting options if required
9. Optionally align the criterion with a specific entry field
10. Set an Order value (if not aligned to a field)
11. Select applicable categories
12. Click Save

Recommendation options appear to judges similarly to standard scoring criteria as shown below.

Step 3: configure a judging round

1. In the Manage workspace, go to Judging > Settings > Rounds
2. Click Add round
3. Select Judging round
4. Set start and end dates and times
5. Click Save

For more information, see the guide: Ultimate guide to rounds.

Step 4: create a judging panel

Panels determine which judges evaluate which entries.

1. In the Manage workspace, go to Judging > Settings > Panels
2. Click New panel
3. Choose your score set
4. In 'Entries', select the relevant categories, chapters, and/or tags
5. In 'Who', select the judges or roles
6. In 'When', select the judging round
7. Click Save

Learn more about panels in the Create a judging panel guide.

Good to know

• Recommendation criteria cannot be created via Judging fast start.
• Each recommendation option must have a unique score value.
• If recommendations should not impact the overall result, set the Weight to 0.
• If aligning with a conditional field, the criterion may not always appear. In this case, consider using the Mean result calculation for the score set.
• Judges can see recommendation selections in their list view.
• The leaderboard can display counts for each recommendation option via the column selector.
• Recommendation results are not included in standard VIP results exports, but they can be added via a custom export.