Configuring a category in Award Force is a straightforward process with a number of available options to suit your needs. Below you'll find the steps necessary to create a category as well as a breakdown of the options you'll encounter along the way.
Create a category in the form editor
- Open the Manage workspace, navigate to Entries, and click Edit form
- Ensure that the Configuration mode toggle near the top right of the page is switched on
- Hover your cursor over the Category drop-down and click the + icon
- In the configuration tray on the right side of the page, provide a Category name
- If desired, add a Description to provide your entrants with instructions or information
Tip: category descriptions support text formatting Markdown, allowing you to add bold, italics, links, and more. - Provide a category Shortcode
Note: each entry is given a numeric ID unique to the account and has the short code appended (e.g. 123-AB) so that when tracking, arranging and managing entries, you have an easy handle on the entry's category. - If your category should be available to users, select the Category is active checkbox, leaving this option unchecked prevents entrants from viewing or creating submissions for this category; see: Prevent entry creation in a category
- Choose whether you would like to Display category on public home page (see: Ultimate guide to home page configuration)
Tip: if this category has a parent category, you can choose to inherit the setting from the parent category. - Save
Additional configuration options
Images
When configuring a category, the 'Images' section allows you to upload images related to the category such as a category sponsor logo or your organisation's logo.
- A Heading (such as "Category sponsors") can also be defined to display at the top of the column of images
- Setting a Maximum image width constrains the width at which images are displayed
- If images are larger than the maximum width, they are automatically downsized
- If images are smaller than the maximum, they remain at their original size
Advanced
The 'Advanced' section of the configuration tray allows you additional options to fine-tune your category's setup.
- Create an optional Maximum number of entries per entrant in this category value if, for example, users could only enter this category once, you would set the value to 1
- An Entry name label can be assigned that is unique to this category, ex, 'Nomination name'
- Choose to Pre-fill the entry name with the entrant name if your users are submitting entries that should be titled with their own name, ex. job applications or grants
- Choose to Lock category on submitted entries to prevent users from changing the category associated with their entry after submission.
Divisions
Divisions are optional but are used to break a category down into smaller groups of entries for assignment to judges via panels. Your program's entries are automatically and randomly assigned into the divisions that you've created. If your category has 100 total entries and you create four divisions, each division will contain 25 entries.
Divisions are available for categories with fewer or odd numbered entries. In these cases, the platform will work to distribute entries evenly, but some divisions may hold more or less entries than others.
- If divisions are created after entries have closed, the divisions are fairly even in number given that the number of entries is directly divisible by the number of divisions (ex: 100 entries / 4 divisions = 25 entries each). In the even that the number of entries is not divisible by the number of divisions, there will be some discrepancy between divisions (ex: 101 entries / 4 divisions = three divisions of 25 entries and one with 26 entries).
- If more divisions are added after you've started collecting entries, those newly submitted entries are placed randomly among the divisions.
- Selecting the Reassign entries to divisions on save checkbox and then clicking Save on the category will ensure that entries are divided as evenly as possible across the number of divisions. Reassignment can be forced at any stage.
- It is strongly recommended NOT to alter divisions after judging has begun. Doing so may result in stray scores.
Delivery
Allow for a PDF packing slip to be available for submitted entries. For more information see: Packing slips.
Display category on public home page
If you'd like to feature your category with a link to enter on your program's login page you can! Just follow these steps:
- In the Manage workspace, go to Settings > Entries > Categories
- Click your desired category
- Select the Yes radio button under the 'Display category on public home page' heading
- Save
Delete a category
If you've accidentally created a duplicate category or need to remove categories copied from a previous season, deleting a category is easy! This can be accomplished via the Settings menu or the form editor. Here's how:
Settings menu
- In the Manage workspace, navigate to Settings > Entries > Categories
- Click the checkbox next to the category/categories you'd like to remove
- Open the Action drop-down
- Choose Delete
Form editor
- From the Manage workspace, go to Entries
- Click Edit form
- Select the category you'd like to remove from the Category drop-down
- Hover your cursor over the category and click the settings icon that appears
- Choose Delete at the bottom of the configuration tray that opens
Video overview