FAQ

[clauderainsrm.livejournal.com]

original FAQ: http://community.livejournal.com/therealljidol/18910.html#cutid1

I know there are folks with questions out there - so go ahead and ask them here, and I'll answer them!

Comments

[shannon-elaine.livejournal.com]

I'm just ready for Season Four!!!!

[clauderainsrm.livejournal.com]

sign up sheet will be coming in... week/week and a half...

[superficial-fae.livejournal.com]

May I ask, sir?

My question is: do I have to be a member of the LJ Community to play?

(Sure, I have an account. But I never use it for blogging!)

[clauderainsrm.livejournal.com]

well that would be a little hard considering that the idea is to write entries every round. So you would have to have an LJ account and post there in order to play. I try to be flexible, but not really sure there is a way around that one.

[tryslora]

Because I'm an obsessive proofreader... lots of places to update for Season 3 vs. Season 2. If you'd like a detail read, I'd be happy to help!

But one thought...
RE: LJ Idol: What kind of topics have you assigned in the past? It'd be Really Cool if you linked to the post/comment where all the prior posts were listed, or pulled those out into the profile page (that'd actually be So Way Cool for reference if you do that retro-topic at the end again).

Oh, and was there an entry in there about repeat contestants? That's something that might come up.

[clauderainsrm.livejournal.com]

I'll see if I can go back and find it to link it here. (unless someone else gets to it first)

[ewok-626.livejournal.com]

??: How do we get our entries to you for judging?

??: What should we do if we find out we are going out of town for a week?

??: What if we don't know anything about a certain topic?

??: Do we get extra votes if we send you cookies?

??: Do we get extra votes if we like the Steelers?

[clauderainsrm.livejournal.com]

- you post a link to your entry as a reply on the topic thread. If you can cut and paste, and know how to hit "reply", it's really that simple.

- Let me know. There IS something this season that will help in those cases... In most cases though I will just let you have the topic early, or a special topic, so you can get it in before you leave.

- Since when has not knowing about things stopped people from posting about them on LJ?*g* Seriously, you can take just about any topic and turn it this way or that until you get something that *you* can write on. That's part of the challenge finding a way to make the entries fit your voice, and to stretch that voice, rather than completely playing a "this is the topic"... although that's cool too.

- maybe.*g* (hey, have to keep open the idea that I am open to bribery - otherwise where will I get free cookies??? Note: no one who has ever sent me cookies - before or after participation in Idol - has ever won... of course there is always a first time!!!)

- well, welfy did win last season! Are you related to Tomlin?*g*

[lacombe.livejournal.com]

How creative can we be when interpreting the writing prompts?

[clauderainsrm.livejournal.com]

as I said elsewhere, people have written poems as entries before. (and most of them are more topics than "writing prompts"... "you wake up and find out that you have been transformed into a giant insect. What do you do?"" To me at least, that's a writing prompt.*g* "Your greatest mistake" is more of a topic. And yes, that was an FAQ to answer "why don't you use my topic suggestion?" *g*)

[spydielives.livejournal.com]

Do you need an assistant? Would you like a volunteer waiting in the wings?

[ok, not really FAQ material, but since I am doing NaNo during November, I will not be playing this Season. I will be reading, voting, and cheering the new players on, though!]

[clauderainsrm.livejournal.com]

kithan is coming back for another season. Will she break "the assistant curse"? Only time will tell.

As for NaNo I DO have an FAQ about "why do this at the same time NaNo?" (because I figured someone would ask it!)

My general answers are:

1. There's always something going on. If you wait until there isn't, you can't do anything.

2. One more entry per week. You're honestly telling me you aren't going to be making any LJ entries during the entire month of November? The first few weeks are usually fairly light anyway... plus I've put in place something for the NaNo folk *and* holiday season to compensate without going overboard.

That said, if people can't do it because of their schedule, that's regrettable!

(but especially in your case I'm glad you will be sticking around to cheer - and hopefully meet some interesting new folks!)

[newsong.livejournal.com]

Yay! I A) AM SO IN and B) shouldn't be doing this... Except when things get tougher later on it'll be December and I'll have tons of time.

How long do seasons last on average?

[clauderainsrm.livejournal.com]

season 1 lasted a little over a month.

season 2 lasted 4 months

season 3 lasted 6 months

how long will season 4 last? Not sure. I know that it will move faster (in general due to a few changes. But how much faster? One of those things you don't know until you get theory into practice.)

[ewok-626.livejournal.com]

Who can sign up for LJ_Idol?

Can my entries be friends only or do they have to be public?

Can we vote for our own entry?

How many people can we vote for?

How will "cheating" be dealt with? (IE: last season's creating accounts for more votes)

Do we get bonus points for writing about cookies?

How do we link our entries to LJ_Idol?

What do we get for winning?

What happens when we are voted out of LJ_Idol?

Is there a minimum or maximum word count for entries?

Can we include pictures in our posts?

Are the entries supposed to be about our lives or can we make things up?

What happens if we miss a deadline?

What if something happens? (IE: no compie access, out of town, etc)

How long will this season run?

Give us some examples of past "rewards" that are given out for winning rounds.

For the voting time: are they all public or are some between contestants only?

What are some past topics that you enjoyed?

How are you planning on handling the holiday season?

If there is enough interest, will there be a season 5?

Who will be your assistant(s) this season? How do we become an assistant?

Who are your early favorites?

a few at a time

[clauderainsrm.livejournal.com]

Who can sign up for LJ_Idol?

Anyone with an LJ. Well, not *everyone*, but almost everyone.*g* One group for instance that is barred is previous winners. Previous winners can't sign up again.

I reserve the right to turn anyone away though - I can't see doing it, but I reserve that right.

Can my entries be friends only or do they have to be public? Either. But if you want people to read them and actually vote on them, it makes sense to make them public. If you want to make people friend you before they read you though, hey, that's your call.

Can we vote for our own entry? I'll leave that to individuals. Some people don't. If *I* were a contestant, I would each and every time. But that's me. I've just seen too many votes come down to one vote...
Just be honest. If you think your entry smelled up the place, and someone else kicked butt, do you *really* want to stick around over someone else by your one vote? *shrug* maybe you do! Like I said - it's up to you!

How many people can we vote for? As many, or few, as you want.

A question...

[hannah-henchman.livejournal.com]

I didn't see this one asked anywhere though I may have missed it.
What are the rules on profanity? I have the potty mouth of doom but can control it when necessary.

Re: A question...

[clauderainsrm.livejournal.com]

You can use any language you see fit to use in your posts. After all. They are your posts. That means of course that some people are going to be less likely to read and/or vote for you. Heck though, maybe some of them will be more likely!*g* Just use your own judgment.

For in the community hopefully people can just be as respectful of each other - with a bit of the usual brand of good natured trash talking of course!*g*

[kittenboo.livejournal.com]

How long is it between each contest? Like is it a daily contest or weekly? or does it depend?

[kittenboo.livejournal.com]

sorry for the dumb question, i found my own answer :)

[lttledvl.livejournal.com]

Can we pimp ourselves to our flists? What if we have more than one lj - can we pimp ourselves at both?

I'm not talking about using both journals to post topics and vote with (I wouldn't do that and since my other journal is mostly fannish/fic related, all lj idol entry posts will be done from this one).

Just wondering if I can post to my 'other lj' along the lines of 'hey! i did *this* please vote for me).

It's all about the pimp. hee.

[clauderainsrm.livejournal.com]

If you DIDN'T pimp yourself to your friends list - and believe it or not, there are people who have made the decision in the past that they did not believe in pimping - I wouldn't count on sticking around for long based on history. Granted, that could change this season. There could be someone who does it entirely without a single pimping - but I wouldn't count on it.

So absolutely you can pimp your entries out anywhere you want. Just - when going into communities and such - try to stress for people not to go crazy with the multiple accounts (we've had that a couple points last season and I had to crack down on it. It wasn't fun for anyone involved, and thus I'd rather avoid it this season.

[clauderainsrm.livejournal.com]

Hey Gary!

--> Yeah Gary?

I've got some questions for you!

---> Ok. Shoot.

Is LJ Idol a "popularity contest"?

---> You want me to keel you don't you?

Why does that upset you?

---> Because of how that term tends to be used. It's not a good image. But to answer your question - LJ Idol is as much of a popularity contest as LJ is a popularity contest, or heck, as much as LIFE is a popularity contest. Do some folks vote for just their friends? I'm sure. But from what I've seen it evens itself out between other people voting the same way... and the edge ends up being the people who are the best at selling themselves and their work. You know, just like in the real world of writing.

---> What do you think of the previous winners?

Man, you ask some weird (and pointed) questions! Let's see...tinhuviel won Season 1 back when it was just on my friends list. So of all of the winners I knew her the best at the time. Completely and utterly adore her.

The winner of Season 2 was tru2myart who joined my friends list JUST before I announced the start of the season during a friending frenzy. I was pimping the contest in the frenzy and she both friended me and signed up. Since the end of the contest we became really good friends, to the point that we had the "LJ IDOL tour" where she, her daughter, and I traveled from Chicago to Florida -all in all spending nearly two weeks more or less in each other's back pocket. She's now one of my closest friends in the world. Can't say enough good things about her.

welfy - She started out strong, she stayed strong the entire run. I didn't know her at all before the season, I really really enjoyed her entries. She's quite incredible. Didn't actually end up getting close to her as of yet, but she pretty much combined the elements needed to be a successful LJ IDOL.

---> What do you say to people with small friends lists?

Network, network, network. This is *LJ* Idol. LJ is part social networking and part diary and part goat cult... use the tools you have been given.

[spydielives.livejournal.com]

I second the networking thing.

I hardly knew ANYONE when I started. I finished *fourth* out of 72 contestants.

And I won an award.

Make as many friends as you can, because your fellow contestants vote too!

[clauderainsrm.livejournal.com]

"hey Gary!"

Yeah?

"How do we get in touch with you anyway?"

Glad you asked - clauderainsrm@gmail.com or clauderains@rocketmail.com

Re: It's Great to be Here, But. .

[kithan.livejournal.com]

All you need to do once you've posted in your own LJ is respond to the "topic" post with a link to the entry.

So.. if the posted topic was something like - "Why should you send Gary cookies?", you would go to your LJ and write your post extolling the virtues of sending cookies to Gary. Then you would copy the link for that one post (note, not a link to your LJ, just to the one post) and come back to the community, respond to the topic post and paste the link.

Once the deadline is reached, I compile a list of all of the entries based on this and post the poll for voting.

Did that help? Or did I make it more confusing? :)

Quick question!

[varykino-rose.livejournal.com]

Can we enter LJ Idol as a fictional character?

Reason I'm asking is because I (usually known as senatorsfan_ink - that's my writing journal) would like to enter with this account as Padmé Amidala - writing the prompts as her - and I'm wondering if that's okay before I sign up. :) Thanks!

Re: Quick question!

[clauderainsrm.livejournal.com]

That's absolutely fine. I'll admit I'm intrigued as how that will play out during the course of the season voting wise, but it will at least be interesting!*g*

[40sw.livejournal.com]

any rules/policies about including pictures in lj-idol posts?

[clauderainsrm.livejournal.com]

Rule/policy - try to use cuts, especially for non work safe material. You know - basically standard LJ politeness standards.

Beyond that go for it.

[unsold-capacity.livejournal.com]

My journal is entirely friends-only, but I want to join...is it okay if I make a new account specifically for LJ idol? If it is, do you foresee any possible problems with doing it that way?

[clauderainsrm.livejournal.com]

People have done that in the past with mixed results. The pro is that you are able to keep it seperate from your regular account. The con is that it's seperate from your regular account and you have to make a special effort to make sure to get out votes/letting new people get to know you.

[flutterbychild.livejournal.com]

Using song lyrics and photos as part of posts: yay or nay?

FAQ: Answer

[spydielives.livejournal.com]

Using song lyrics and photos as part of posts: yay or nay?

If you believe some attributed lyrics would help you explain your perspective on the topic at hand, I am pretty sure that anything goes. If you only post the lyrics, eh... not so much, maybe.

Many contestants use photos to help illustrate their entry, as well as quotes, definitions. Really, it is your submission, so you get to decide what is important to YOU!

Pardon my cluelessness

[tulip-in-yellow.livejournal.com]

After we've read the numerous entries, how do we vote?

another question about inserting pictures

[40sw.livejournal.com]

it has come to my attention (through being a good girl and reading others' entries) that some of the lj-idol contestants and so I'd assume some of the readership is visually impaired leading me to the question:

if I insert a picture is there a way to add a tag with a description of what the .jpg is for the sake of the visually impaired (without adding something that those who can see the picture also have to look at)?

on the one hand I want something for everyone
on the other hand a picture should be self explanatory and trying to explain what it is to someone looking at it is singularly unelegant

Re: another question about inserting pictures

[browneyedgirl65.livejournal.com]

I've handled this two ways (I don't know what LJ Idol wants.) You can just tuck the explanation behind an LJ-cut, although of course that shows up if someone goes directly to your post, as a link to your post would do.
The other way is to understand how the image works: when you put in a .jpg, it's usting html that looks like this:

<img src="addressofpic.jpg"> at its simplest. You can add an alt tag, like so:
<img src="addressofpic.jpg" alt="description">
I've been able to tuck relatively long things into the alt tag.

[clauderainsrm.livejournal.com]

QUESTION: How do I make a title link?

If you would like a link like this:

SIGN
UP HERE (http://community.livejournal.com/therealljidol/68021.html)

Then you would put the following in your submission comment:

<a
href="http://community.livejournal.com/therealljidol/68021.html">SIGN
UP HERE</a>

QUESTION: How can I make a direct link to my entry?

Direct entries links have the form
http://yourname.livejournal.com/XXXXX.html where the XXXXX is the
journal entry id. Not all styles are the same. Here are several
different ways to find the the direct link:

1. if you have a "link to this" (of some variation) on your entry, you
can just use that one.

2. if you have a "read comments" (of some variation) on your entry, you
can grab that, but remove the "#comments" part from the end.

3. if you use an "lj-cut", you can copy that, just remove the "#cutid1"
from the end of the link.

Links such as http://community.livejournal.com/therealljidol/2007/10/01/
should be avoided because they will show the reader all the entries for
that particular day. Your idol submission may not be the first one.

[starcat81.livejournal.com]

When does the next season start? I'm very interested in doing this, but I haven't been on LJ as much as before and I want to get back into it. I've got lots to say ans share!

Thanks!