Ultimate guide to rounds

What is a round?

In Award Force, a round controls the period of time in which an action, such as entry submission or judging, can occur. There are three round types:

• Entry round: allows entries to be created, edited, and submitted. If no entry round is open, entries cannot be created, editor, or submitted. 
• Judging round: allows judging activity to occur. If no judging round is open, judges cannot see entries to evaluate or record their desired scores, votes, etc. 
• Feedback round: allows scores and/or comments to be shared with entrants and/or reviewers. During an active feedback round users are able to see the scores and/or comments on their submissions. 

There are no limits to the number of rounds that you can create to fit your needs. Rounds can be edited as necessary and are not typically visible to your program's users. If you would like to extend a round or display a countdown to entrants, see the Can I extend a round? and Can I show entrants when the entry round ends? sections below. 

How do I configure a round?

All rounds, regardless of type, are created using the same basic steps. 

1. From the Manage workspace, navigate to Settings > Entries > Rounds
2. Click Add round
3. Provide a name for your round--this name is for internal use only and is not publicly visible
4. Select your desired round type
5. Set the Starts and Ends dates and times
   
   Tip: if no date or time is provided for the round start, it is open immediately. If no end date or time is assigned the round is open indefinitely. 
6. When finished, click Save

Entry round options

When configuring an entry round, two additional settings may appear.

• Review / resubmission ends: allows accounts that utilise either the review flow feature or entry resubmission to set a deadline after the Ends date and time. If your program utilises review flow or resubmission, a deadline must be assigned or tasks are open indefinitely. To learn more about review flow and resubmission, see our guides: Review flow configuration and Entry resubmission.
• Chapters: allows accounts with multiple chapters to choose which chapter the round will ultimately apply to. To learn more about chapters, see: Chapter configuration. 

Judging round options

There are two 'Judging view' options when configuring a judging round. 

• Scoring: allows judges to submit scores, votes, etc. 
• Viewing only: allows judges to view all entries assigned to them, but not take any action on those assignments. 

Feedback round options

Feedback rounds offer a wide array of configurable options to best fit your needs.

• Visible to entrants: allows entrants to see the feedback provided by judges during all score sets for the selected categories. 
• Visible to judges: allows judges to see the feedback provided by other judges during all score sets for the selected categories.
• Anonymise judges: allows the feedback shared with entrants or judges to be done anonymously. Without this option selected, the judges' names will be visible. 
• Display total scores only: allows the feedback recipient to see an overall score for a submission and not the individual scores from scoring criteria. 
• Comments: allows the feedback recipient to view the comments left on the entry overall and for specific scoring criteria. 
• Scores: allows feedback recipients to view the scores left by judges on an entry when VIP judging is employed. 
  
  Note: if there are multiple VIP judging score sets, all score sets are shown in feedback. Individual judges' scores are not shown, only the average of all judges. 

Can I show entrants when the entry round ends? 

While rounds are typically not visible to users, Award Force allows you to display an optional countdown to the entry deadline as shown below.

1. In the Manage workspace, navigate to Settings > Entries > Form settings
2. Select the Display countdown to submission deadline checkbox
   
3. Click Save when finished 

Can I extend a round?

Yes! It's common for program managers to extend the dates or times assigned to entry and judging rounds to allow users more time. While this is not always planned in advance, it's easy to extend the round for all users. 

To extend a round:

1. Navigate back to Settings > Entries > Rounds
2. Click on your round
3. Set a new Ends date and time
4. Hit Save 

To contact entrants with entries in progress:

1. Go to Entries
2. Click Advanced in the search bar
3. Set the Status filter to In progress
4. Click Search
5. Hit Broadcast
6. Compose and send your desired message

Can I extend the round for some users and not others? 

In Award Force, you have the ability to assign a custom entry deadline for some entrants and not all users. This is helpful for programs that wish to give select entries additional time to complete their submissions after the entry round has finished. Custom entry deadlines cannot be assigned in bulk, but there is no limit to the number of entries a custom deadline can be assigned to. 

1. In the Manage workspace, go to Entries
2. Click the name or ID number of the desired entry
3. Hit Set next to the 'Custom entry deadline' heading
   
4. Click into the field that appears to choose your deadline using the calendar widget
   
   Tip: select the clock icon at the bottom of the calendar to choose the deadline time.
   

You can edit the custom entry deadline by clicking Edit after a date and time has been assigned. 

Video overview