Yahoo Forum Archive

Hey all,

When you report errors about site function (such as problems with nominations or reviews), could you please list which stories are involved (title and ID)? I can't really do much if I don't know which story records to look at. It also helps if you give a rundown of what you were doing when the problem occurred ("I selected the author, entered the title and URL, and hit submit. Then the page showed an error.") If you get an error message, please try to copy the message it into your email.

If you are reporting a problem with how the site is displaying (text boxes are out of place, text is cut off, etc.), please let me know which browser you use, along with version number (IE9, Firefox 3.5, etc.)

You can NEVER give too much information in a tech support report!

Also, make sure to send all problems and tech support requests to tech@mefawards.org.

Thanks!
Aranel
MEFA Tech Support

Hey guys,

Some of you have come to me or your liaison with suggestions for future
awards. TO help keep track of that, I have set up a virtual suggestion box
at

http://mefas.livejournal.com/266431.html

If there is something you would like us to consider changing for future
years, please suggest it at that website. No LJ account necessary - just
make an anonymous comment if you don't have an account at that website.

Right now, the most common request is to have a character, event, location,
etc. added to our website. Out of fairness we don't do this mid-awards - but
if you think there is something important missing, by all means let us know
so we consider adding it for future years. I also encourage you to mention
the character etc. in your summary. In most cases there is also an "other"
option that points readers to the fact that there is some character or
setting or whatever that was not available to choose specifically.

Marta

I've noticed that every time I load the browse stories page, it's been
randomized again. I click on the icon for story info to find out more about
a particular story, but if I use the back button to go back to the page,
it's changed. Is there a solution to that, or am I doing something wrong?

Dreamflower


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hi Dreamflower,

That is part of the problem with having to keep the Nominations Listing
randomized (which happens on each page load). I will keep searching for a
solution to that (to see if there is a way to allow columns to be sorted by
author or ID).

For now, the best and easiest solution is to open Nomination Info in a new
tab (or window). This is a setting that depends on each browser and OS, but,
for example, I click "Command-Click" to open a new tab in Safari for Mac. I
think that works for Firefox, too. On Windows, I think "CTRL-click" will
work for most browsers.

Aranel

On Sat, Jun 4, 2011 at 9:26 PM, Barbara Rich <aelfwina@gmail.com> wrote:

> I've noticed that every time I load the browse stories page, it's been
> randomized again. I click on the icon for story info to find out more
> about
> a particular story, but if I use the back button to go back to the page,
> it's changed. Is there a solution to that, or am I doing something wrong?
>
> Dreamflower
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> Visit our website: http://www.mefawards.net/MEFA2009/
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

OK, the other day when I was making nominations, I could have *sworn* I saw
a little statement saying "You have X-number of nominations left." But I
can't find that anywhere now. I know we had that on our home page last
year, but not now. Where should I be looking for it? *puzzled*

Dreamflower


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

It's above the countdown box - but do check if you are logged in. I just had
the same reaction before I noticed that I wasn't logged into my account.

Elleth

On 5 June 2011 17:05, Barbara Rich <aelfwina@gmail.com> wrote:

>
>
> OK, the other day when I was making nominations, I could have *sworn* I saw
> a little statement saying "You have X-number of nominations left." But I
> can't find that anywhere now. I know we had that on our home page last
> year, but not now. Where should I be looking for it? *puzzled*
>
> Dreamflower
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hey all,

If you're wondering where the reviews went: Reviews are not supposed to be
publicly visible during nomination season, but I accidentally left in some
code from Beta Testing that allowed reviews to be visible immediately
(during nomination season). I've fixed that, so Reviews are now hidden until
Voting Season (August 1).

Aranel


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Do we indeed lose nominations when we are the second within twenty-four hours to
nominate a story someone else might have been nominating while we were
researching whether or not the story was eligible?
Bonnie L. Sherrell
Teacher at Large

"Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement. For even the very wise cannot see all ends." LOTR

"Don't go where I can't follow."

OK-- yes, I was logged in, but I never thought to look there! *facepalm*

Dreamflower

On Sun, Jun 5, 2011 at 10:10 AM, Elleth <nerdanel.istarnie@googlemail.com>wrote:

> It's above the countdown box - but do check if you are logged in. I just
> had
> the same reaction before I noticed that I wasn't logged into my account.
>
> Elleth
>
> On 5 June 2011 17:05, Barbara Rich <aelfwina@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> >
> >
> > OK, the other day when I was making nominations, I could have *sworn* I
> saw
> > a little statement saying "You have X-number of nominations left." But I
> > can't find that anywhere now. I know we had that on our home page last
> > year, but not now. Where should I be looking for it? *puzzled*
> >
> > Dreamflower
> >
> > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> >
> >
> >
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> Visit our website: http://www.mefawards.net/MEFA2009/
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hi Bonnie,

MEFA policy is,

--- was the original nomination w/I 24 hrs: you do NOT lose the nomination
--- was the original nomination more than 24 hours ago (or in a previous
year): you DO lose the nomination

Please email me privately at support@mefawards.org, with the story you
nominated that you think caused you to lose a nomination. I'll look into it
for you and see what the problem is.

Marta

> -----Original Message-----
> From: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com
> [mailto:MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Bonnie L. Sherrell
> Sent: Sunday, June 05, 2011 3:39 PM
> To: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: [MEFAwards] as a sidenote to Did my eyes deceive me?
>
>
>
> Do we indeed lose nominations when we are the second within twenty-four
> hours to nominate a story someone else might have been nominating while
> we were researching whether or not the story was eligible?
> Bonnie L. Sherrell
> Teacher at Large
>

Hey guys,

The MEFAs have been going for a little over a week now, and there have
already been over 200 nominations. Nice work guys, and do keep it up.

During nominations I post a list of nominations whose authors haven't
"checked in" yet. By checking in I just mean giving us some indication you
know you've been nominated. This can include beginning your form at our
website or emailing your liaison to let him or her know that *you* know
you've been nominated. There's still plenty of time to get your nomination
ready. We just want to make sure emails aren't trapped in spam folders, that
everyone knows how to fill in the forms, etc.

So without further ado: here are the authors who have not begun their
nomination forms:

ArmedWIthAComputer (liaison: Inkling, inkling-tcbsATsbcglobalDOTnet)
KyMahalei (liaison: Foxrafer, foxraferATgmailDOTcom)
Levade (liaison: Inkling, inkling-tcbsATsbcglobalDOTnet)
Starlight (liaison: elliska, elliska67ATyahooDOTcom)

If you know any of these authors, feel free to give them a nudge. They can
contact their liaison, or if they have trouble getting through they can
reach me at supportATmefawardsDOTorg. Or they can just start the form at the
website. Doing either will tell us you know you've been nominated and we
won't put you on future lists like this.

Thanks in advance for all your help!

Marta

I alerted kymahalei



________________________________
From: Middle-earth Fanfiction Awards <mefasupport@gmail.com>
To: mefawards@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Fri, June 10, 2011 10:27:13 PM
Subject: [MEFAwards] hard-to-reach authors - June 10


Hey guys,

The MEFAs have been going for a little over a week now, and there have
already been over 200 nominations. Nice work guys, and do keep it up.

During nominations I post a list of nominations whose authors haven't
"checked in" yet. By checking in I just mean giving us some indication you
know you've been nominated. This can include beginning your form at our
website or emailing your liaison to let him or her know that *you* know
you've been nominated. There's still plenty of time to get your nomination
ready. We just want to make sure emails aren't trapped in spam folders, that
everyone knows how to fill in the forms, etc.

So without further ado: here are the authors who have not begun their
nomination forms:

ArmedWIthAComputer (liaison: Inkling, inkling-tcbsATsbcglobalDOTnet)
KyMahalei (liaison: Foxrafer, foxraferATgmailDOTcom)
Levade (liaison: Inkling, inkling-tcbsATsbcglobalDOTnet)
Starlight (liaison: elliska, elliska67ATyahooDOTcom)

If you know any of these authors, feel free to give them a nudge. They can
contact their liaison, or if they have trouble getting through they can
reach me at supportATmefawardsDOTorg. Or they can just start the form at the
website. Doing either will tell us you know you've been nominated and we
won't put you on future lists like this.

Thanks in advance for all your help!

Marta




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

I am in contact with Starlight. ;)
 
Ellyn

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hey guys,

Every year during the awards I send out educational posts about how to do
things at the MEFAs every week or two. Granted, we're a little late getting
started this year - nominations season is half over already! Still time to
get some nominations in, though. To do that you need a membership, and not
just any membership but a particular kind. That's what I want to talk about
today: how do you become a member of our website, and how do you use that
membership.

GETTING STARTED

There are essentially two kinds of accounts at our website, permanent
accounts and ones that will be deleted from year to year. In the past we've
called these types of accounts author and nominator accounts, or author and
MEFAwards accounts, but that's a bit confusing because some authors are also
members of the Yahoo group.

Anyway: getting a temporary account is easy. Simply have a story that is
nominated for our awards, and if you don't already have an account a
temporary account will be set up for you. You will be automatically emailed
a password to use to log in to our website. So you can log in and start
using the site. You will be able to start filling out your forms on your
nominated pieces, or you can start looking at the other nominated stories
and voting for them if you like. Temporary members are invited to vote for
any nomination besides their own of course, in the year they're nominated.
(So you can vote for 2011 nominations but you won't be able to vote for 2012
nominations unless you get another temporary account because you've been
nominated then as well.)

Permanent accounts are more, well, permanent. While temporary accounts only
last for the 2011 awards, permanent accounts are here to stay. They won't be
deleted, which means that whatever password you have in 2011 will also work
for the 2012 site. You can vote for nominations just like temporary accounts
can. You can also nominate up to twenty stories (temporary accounts can't
nominate). Getting a permanent account, though, takes a bit of time. They're
free for the asking, but we want to make sure that you don't already have a
temporary account, and we want to make sure you get important announcements
about the awards.

So here's the process for getting a permanent account.

(1) You join the Yahoo group MEFAwards.
(2) You are sent a short questionnaire asking for some basic information.
(3) Once you complete this questionnaire and email it back, a MEFA volunteer
checks that you don't already have an account. She then sets up a password
and username for you at our website.

Until that time, your Yahoo username and password won't work at our
website. The two are COMPLETELY different things from our website's
password. We'll get things set up as quickly as possible, but I usually tell
people to allow 48-72 hours for the process. Don't wait until the very last
second to set up your account if you want to nominate something.

GETTING IN

The next step to do is to actually log in and start using the website. To
log in, just visit www.mefawards.org/ and type in our username/email and
your password. The password should have been emailed to you when your
account was first set up.

If you get a problem, here are a few strategies to try.

--- (1) For missing passwords: check your spam folder, to see if your email
program to a little overzealous. Weird, how sending out hundreds of emails
telling people they've been nominated for some new awards program would make
ISPs suspicious... :-P

--- (2) Still can't find your password? Click the "Forgot Your Password?"
link from our login page and follow the instructions.

--- (3) If your password isn't working, first check that you are typing it
in correctly. Caps matter, as do spaces before and after. "Mellon" looks
different from "mellon", " mellon", or "mellon ". This is far and away the
most common cause for password logins.

Other than that, if you have further errors, let me know. Just email me at
supportATmefawardsDOTorg and we'll sort it out.

GETTING HELP

If you need help, there are three email accounts to know:

--- usersATmefawardsDOTorg. Send all questions about passwords or
memberships here.
--- supportATmefawardsDOTorg. Got a question ab0out policy? Just feeling
overwhelmed by it all? Then email me at supportATmefawardsDOTorg.
--- techATmefawardsDOTorg. Getting an actual error message? That's the
domain of our world-class webmistresses. Use this email address and it will
get your post where it needs to go.

If you have more general questions you can also ask them at the MEFAwards
Yahoo group. That listserv exists not just so I can make announcements, but
so you can ask questions where other longtime MEFA participants will read
them and hopefully answer them. Feel free to do just that.

WHAT'S NEXT?

Most MEFA members join our site and log in to do one of three things: tell
us about one of their stories that has been nominated, nominate stories
themselves, or vote for the stories that have been nominated. I'll go over
these in more depth in the coming weeks, but for now, I just want to mention
briefly how to get started on all of these things.

To fill out the form on a piece already nominated:

1. Log in to www.mefawards.org
2. Select "Your Nominations" from the "Nominations" menu.
3. Click "Nomination Form" under the story you want to tell us about.

To nominate a story:

1. Log in to www.mefawards.org
2. Select "Nominate a Piece" from the "Nominations" menu.
3. Fill out the form provided.

To vote for a nominated story:

1. Log in to www.mefeawards.org
2. Select "Browse 2011 Nominations" from the "Nominations" menu.
3. Find a story you want to vote for. Click the "Read the Nomination" link
to read the story. Then click the little pencil icon to write a review of
that story when you're done.

There's obviously a lot more to talk about on any one of those tasks, which
is why I'll be writing in more depth about them in upcoming weeks. But
hopefully that will give you a place to get started.

Elen sila lumenn omentielvo,

Marta
(MEFA Admin.)

Hi Marta and all,

I've now heard from both Levade and ArmedWithaComputer, so no need for anyone to nudge them.

Kathy/Inkling

--- In MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com, "Middle-earth Fanfiction Awards" <mefasupport@...> wrote:
>
> Hey guys,
>
> The MEFAs have been going for a little over a week now, and there have
> already been over 200 nominations. Nice work guys, and do keep it up.
>
> During nominations I post a list of nominations whose authors haven't
> "checked in" yet. By checking in I just mean giving us some indication you
> know you've been nominated. This can include beginning your form at our
> website or emailing your liaison to let him or her know that *you* know
> you've been nominated. There's still plenty of time to get your nomination
> ready. We just want to make sure emails aren't trapped in spam folders, that
> everyone knows how to fill in the forms, etc.
>
> So without further ado: here are the authors who have not begun their
> nomination forms:
>
> ArmedWIthAComputer (liaison: Inkling, inkling-tcbsATsbcglobalDOTnet)
> KyMahalei (liaison: Foxrafer, foxraferATgmailDOTcom)
> Levade (liaison: Inkling, inkling-tcbsATsbcglobalDOTnet)
> Starlight (liaison: elliska, elliska67ATyahooDOTcom)
>
> If you know any of these authors, feel free to give them a nudge. They can
> contact their liaison, or if they have trouble getting through they can
> reach me at supportATmefawardsDOTorg. Or they can just start the form at the
> website. Doing either will tell us you know you've been nominated and we
> won't put you on future lists like this.
>
> Thanks in advance for all your help!
>
> Marta
>

Hey guys,

A few days ago I posted an educational post about the different types of
accounts people can have at the meawards.org website. One of the main points
was, if you had a temporary account you could vote for stories nominated but
you could not nominate stories. (Temporary accounts are mostly for authors
who aren't also members of the MEFAwards Yahoo group, and only last a single
year.)

Some people reading that announcement were really on their toes, and they
noticed that they had temporary accounts and that they *could* nominate
stories. That's because we made a mistake when designing the site.
Particularly, there wasn't enough communication between two groups of
volunteers who work with the MEFAs throughout the year - people like me, who
make policy decisions, and people like Aranel, who actually code the
website. When Aranel was designing the new website, she didn't realize that
temporary accounts shouldn't be allowed to nominate pieces. Understandable,
IMO, since policy questions like that are usually my bailiwick. But it led
her to make a mistake when programming the site. Temporary accounts were
given the ability to nominate pieces, which isn't supposed to be the case.

Several people with temporary accounts have already nominated pieces, and
I'm sure several more planned to but haven't gotten around to it. It's not
really unfair to take those nominations away in either case, because those
participants were only relying on what the website told them. (We do try to
make it accurate!) Because of that, the other volunteers and I have decided
not to change the mistake for this year.

FOR THIS YEAR ONLY, both temporary and permanent accounts can nominate
pieces. Next year things will go back to how they were, where only permanent
accounts can nominate fics.

If you have any questions about this change, please don't hesitate to ask!

Elen sila lumenn omentielvo,

Marta
(MEFA Admin.)

Hey guys,

The following authors (a) have stories that have been nominated at
least a week, and (b) have neither started their forms or contacted
their liaisons to let them know they've been nominated.

Eldalie (liaison: Maethril, warriorprincess01fanficATgmailDOTcom)
Jay of Lasgalen (liaison: elliska, elliska67ATyahooDOTcom)
Permilea (liaison: elliska, elliska67ATyahooDOTcom)

If you know any of these authors, please have them get in touch with
the noted liaison. If they have trouble reaching the liaison - or if
they just need help logging in - have them drop me a line at
supportATmefawardsDOTorg.

On a related note, I'd really like to encourage people to nominate
their favorite pieces. At this moment we have 330 pieces nominated in
the 2011 MEFAs, of which 181 are completely ready to compete. That may
sound like a lot, but given that there's just about a week and a half
to go in nominations we are lagging a bit behind previous years. Some
of that is undoubtedly the fact that the Tolkien fandom has slowed
down a bit as time has passed from the movies, and that's fine. But I
know there's a lot of good fanfic still being produced, and I would
hate for it not to be nominated. In light of that, it might be fun to
give yourself a little challenge. Think of your three favorite Tolkien
pieces you're read in the last year - stories, poems, essays,
drabbles, whatever. Then check whether they've been nominated yet, and
if not, go ahead and nominate them. It's a great way to make the
author's day and contribute to the MEFAs at the same time.

Remember: nominations close at 11:59 PM GMT on June 30. If you need
help getting started email me at supportATmefawardsDOTorg.

Marta
MEFA Admin.

Hi Marta,

Eldalie had gotten in contact with me after I sent her an email explaining
the situation of her story in the MEFAs. She is in an incredibly busy state
right now, with exams looming barely a few days ahead, and she has asked me
for instructions on aspects of her nomination.

Thanks,
Maethril

On Mon, Jun 20, 2011 at 6:03 AM, Marta <marta.fandom@gmail.com> wrote:

> **
>
>
> Hey guys,
>
> The following authors (a) have stories that have been nominated at
> least a week, and (b) have neither started their forms or contacted
> their liaisons to let them know they've been nominated.
>
> Eldalie (liaison: Maethril, warriorprincess01fanficATgmailDOTcom)
> Jay of Lasgalen (liaison: elliska, elliska67ATyahooDOTcom)
> Permilea (liaison: elliska, elliska67ATyahooDOTcom)
>
> If you know any of these authors, please have them get in touch with
> the noted liaison. If they have trouble reaching the liaison - or if
> they just need help logging in - have them drop me a line at
> supportATmefawardsDOTorg.
>
> On a related note, I'd really like to encourage people to nominate
> their favorite pieces. At this moment we have 330 pieces nominated in
> the 2011 MEFAs, of which 181 are completely ready to compete. That may
> sound like a lot, but given that there's just about a week and a half
> to go in nominations we are lagging a bit behind previous years. Some
> of that is undoubtedly the fact that the Tolkien fandom has slowed
> down a bit as time has passed from the movies, and that's fine. But I
> know there's a lot of good fanfic still being produced, and I would
> hate for it not to be nominated. In light of that, it might be fun to
> give yourself a little challenge. Think of your three favorite Tolkien
> pieces you're read in the last year - stories, poems, essays,
> drabbles, whatever. Then check whether they've been nominated yet, and
> if not, go ahead and nominate them. It's a great way to make the
> author's day and contribute to the MEFAs at the same time.
>
> Remember: nominations close at 11:59 PM GMT on June 30. If you need
> help getting started email me at supportATmefawardsDOTorg.
>
> Marta
> MEFA Admin.
>
>


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

I have a temporary account, although I'm a member of this group. Is there a way to make the account permanent?

Mirach

--- In MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com, "Marta" <marta.fandom@...> wrote:
>
> Hey guys,
>
> Every year during the awards I send out educational posts about how to do
> things at the MEFAs every week or two. Granted, we're a little late getting
> started this year - nominations season is half over already! Still time to
> get some nominations in, though. To do that you need a membership, and not
> just any membership but a particular kind. That's what I want to talk about
> today: how do you become a member of our website, and how do you use that
> membership.
>
> GETTING STARTED
>
> There are essentially two kinds of accounts at our website, permanent
> accounts and ones that will be deleted from year to year. In the past we've
> called these types of accounts author and nominator accounts, or author and
> MEFAwards accounts, but that's a bit confusing because some authors are also
> members of the Yahoo group.
>
> Anyway: getting a temporary account is easy. Simply have a story that is
> nominated for our awards, and if you don't already have an account a
> temporary account will be set up for you. You will be automatically emailed
> a password to use to log in to our website. So you can log in and start
> using the site. You will be able to start filling out your forms on your
> nominated pieces, or you can start looking at the other nominated stories
> and voting for them if you like. Temporary members are invited to vote for
> any nomination besides their own of course, in the year they're nominated.
> (So you can vote for 2011 nominations but you won't be able to vote for 2012
> nominations unless you get another temporary account because you've been
> nominated then as well.)
>
> Permanent accounts are more, well, permanent. While temporary accounts only
> last for the 2011 awards, permanent accounts are here to stay. They won't be
> deleted, which means that whatever password you have in 2011 will also work
> for the 2012 site. You can vote for nominations just like temporary accounts
> can. You can also nominate up to twenty stories (temporary accounts can't
> nominate). Getting a permanent account, though, takes a bit of time. They're
> free for the asking, but we want to make sure that you don't already have a
> temporary account, and we want to make sure you get important announcements
> about the awards.
>
> So here's the process for getting a permanent account.
>
> (1) You join the Yahoo group MEFAwards.
> (2) You are sent a short questionnaire asking for some basic information.
> (3) Once you complete this questionnaire and email it back, a MEFA volunteer
> checks that you don't already have an account. She then sets up a password
> and username for you at our website.
>
> Until that time, your Yahoo username and password won't work at our
> website. The two are COMPLETELY different things from our website's
> password. We'll get things set up as quickly as possible, but I usually tell
> people to allow 48-72 hours for the process. Don't wait until the very last
> second to set up your account if you want to nominate something.
>
> GETTING IN
>
> The next step to do is to actually log in and start using the website. To
> log in, just visit www.mefawards.org/ and type in our username/email and
> your password. The password should have been emailed to you when your
> account was first set up.
>
> If you get a problem, here are a few strategies to try.
>
> --- (1) For missing passwords: check your spam folder, to see if your email
> program to a little overzealous. Weird, how sending out hundreds of emails
> telling people they've been nominated for some new awards program would make
> ISPs suspicious... :-P
>
> --- (2) Still can't find your password? Click the "Forgot Your Password?"
> link from our login page and follow the instructions.
>
> --- (3) If your password isn't working, first check that you are typing it
> in correctly. Caps matter, as do spaces before and after. "Mellon" looks
> different from "mellon", " mellon", or "mellon ". This is far and away the
> most common cause for password logins.
>
> Other than that, if you have further errors, let me know. Just email me at
> supportATmefawardsDOTorg and we'll sort it out.
>
> GETTING HELP
>
> If you need help, there are three email accounts to know:
>
> --- usersATmefawardsDOTorg. Send all questions about passwords or
> memberships here.
> --- supportATmefawardsDOTorg. Got a question ab0out policy? Just feeling
> overwhelmed by it all? Then email me at supportATmefawardsDOTorg.
> --- techATmefawardsDOTorg. Getting an actual error message? That's the
> domain of our world-class webmistresses. Use this email address and it will
> get your post where it needs to go.
>
> If you have more general questions you can also ask them at the MEFAwards
> Yahoo group. That listserv exists not just so I can make announcements, but
> so you can ask questions where other longtime MEFA participants will read
> them and hopefully answer them. Feel free to do just that.
>
> WHAT'S NEXT?
>
> Most MEFA members join our site and log in to do one of three things: tell
> us about one of their stories that has been nominated, nominate stories
> themselves, or vote for the stories that have been nominated. I'll go over
> these in more depth in the coming weeks, but for now, I just want to mention
> briefly how to get started on all of these things.
>
> To fill out the form on a piece already nominated:
>
> 1. Log in to www.mefawards.org
> 2. Select "Your Nominations" from the "Nominations" menu.
> 3. Click "Nomination Form" under the story you want to tell us about.
>
> To nominate a story:
>
> 1. Log in to www.mefawards.org
> 2. Select "Nominate a Piece" from the "Nominations" menu.
> 3. Fill out the form provided.
>
> To vote for a nominated story:
>
> 1. Log in to www.mefeawards.org
> 2. Select "Browse 2011 Nominations" from the "Nominations" menu.
> 3. Find a story you want to vote for. Click the "Read the Nomination" link
> to read the story. Then click the little pencil icon to write a review of
> that story when you're done.
>
> There's obviously a lot more to talk about on any one of those tasks, which
> is why I'll be writing in more depth about them in upcoming weeks. But
> hopefully that will give you a place to get started.
>
> Elen sila lumenn omentielvo,
>
> Marta
> (MEFA Admin.)
>

Hi Mirach,

I assume since you are replying to this address that you are actually a
member of the MEFAwards Yahoo group. The only other thing we require is that
you answer a few questions to help us set up your account. I included them
below.

If you reply to usersATmefawardsDOTorg with your answers, Elliska will
change your current account to a permanent one. Your password and everything
will stay the same.

Marta



Questions to Answer:

1. What name would you like to appear on our website?

2. Are there any other pennames you use in fandom?

3. Are there any alternate email addresses you use, that other members in
fandom might know about? (You don't need to give us personal/professional
email addresses you'd like to keep private, but if someone may have
nominated you under another email address, we need to know it.)

4. Have you participated in the MEFAs in any way in the past (i.e.: author,
nominator, voter, volunteer)? If so, under what name (or email, if you do
not remember your name)? Describe the details of your participation - for
example, how you participated and in what year, as much information as you
can remember.

On Tue, Jun 21, 2011 at 4:31 AM, Mirach <mirach_ravaia@yahoo.com> wrote:

> **
>
>
> I have a temporary account, although I'm a member of this group. Is there a
> way to make the account permanent?
>
> Mirach
>
>
>


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Thank you! I sent the replies from my other email, as I use this account only for the groups.

--- In MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com, Marta <marta.fandom@...> wrote:
>
> Hi Mirach,
>
> I assume since you are replying to this address that you are actually a
> member of the MEFAwards Yahoo group. The only other thing we require is that
> you answer a few questions to help us set up your account. I included them
> below.
>
> If you reply to usersATmefawardsDOTorg with your answers, Elliska will
> change your current account to a permanent one. Your password and everything
> will stay the same.
>
> Marta
>
>
>
> Questions to Answer:
>
> 1. What name would you like to appear on our website?
>
> 2. Are there any other pennames you use in fandom?
>
> 3. Are there any alternate email addresses you use, that other members in
> fandom might know about? (You don't need to give us personal/professional
> email addresses you'd like to keep private, but if someone may have
> nominated you under another email address, we need to know it.)
>
> 4. Have you participated in the MEFAs in any way in the past (i.e.: author,
> nominator, voter, volunteer)? If so, under what name (or email, if you do
> not remember your name)? Describe the details of your participation - for
> example, how you participated and in what year, as much information as you
> can remember.
>
>
> On Tue, Jun 21, 2011 at 4:31 AM, Mirach <mirach_ravaia@...> wrote:
>
> > **
> >
> >
> > I have a temporary account, although I'm a member of this group. Is there a
> > way to make the account permanent?
> >
> > Mirach
> >
> >
> >
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>

Hi Marta,

I'll give Permilea a nudge.

Inkling

--- In MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com, Marta <marta.fandom@...> wrote:
>
> Hey guys,
>
> The following authors (a) have stories that have been nominated at
> least a week, and (b) have neither started their forms or contacted
> their liaisons to let them know they've been nominated.
>
> Eldalie (liaison: Maethril, warriorprincess01fanficATgmailDOTcom)
> Jay of Lasgalen (liaison: elliska, elliska67ATyahooDOTcom)
> Permilea (liaison: elliska, elliska67ATyahooDOTcom)
>
> If you know any of these authors, please have them get in touch with
> the noted liaison. If they have trouble reaching the liaison - or if
> they just need help logging in - have them drop me a line at
> supportATmefawardsDOTorg.
>
> On a related note, I'd really like to encourage people to nominate
> their favorite pieces. At this moment we have 330 pieces nominated in
> the 2011 MEFAs, of which 181 are completely ready to compete. That may
> sound like a lot, but given that there's just about a week and a half
> to go in nominations we are lagging a bit behind previous years. Some
> of that is undoubtedly the fact that the Tolkien fandom has slowed
> down a bit as time has passed from the movies, and that's fine. But I
> know there's a lot of good fanfic still being produced, and I would
> hate for it not to be nominated. In light of that, it might be fun to
> give yourself a little challenge. Think of your three favorite Tolkien
> pieces you're read in the last year - stories, poems, essays,
> drabbles, whatever. Then check whether they've been nominated yet, and
> if not, go ahead and nominate them. It's a great way to make the
> author's day and contribute to the MEFAs at the same time.
>
> Remember: nominations close at 11:59 PM GMT on June 30. If you need
> help getting started email me at supportATmefawardsDOTorg.
>
> Marta
> MEFA Admin.
>

Hey guys,

Last week I mentioned several ways people can use the MEFA website.
This week, I want to walk through in more detail one of the most
common reasons people use the website: nominating a story and, for
nominated authors, completing the nomination form.

*************************

STEP 1 - GETTING A MEMBERSHIP

Before you can nominate a story you have to be able to log in. If you
were nominated you already have an account set up for you. Everyone
else, things get a little more complicated, but basically you need to
join the MEFAwards Yahoo group, and then you need to send in the
questionnaire sent to you. Once you do BOTH of those things Elliska
will set up your account within a day or two. The site will
automatically send you a password that you can use to log in.

If you don't know your password, first try to retrieve it yourself
using the "forgot password" link. If that doesn't work you can email
me at supportATmefawardsDOTorg.

****************************

STEP 2 - BEFORE YOU NOMINATE

Once you have your account set up, you next want to make sure the
story is eligible. The two most common problems are (1) issues with
the URL, and (2) that the piece has already competed in the past.

On the second point: I really recommend you check whether a piece was
nominated before using the OFFICIAL MEFA RECORD. You can see whether
someone else has already nominated it in 2011 using the current MEFA
website. You should also check http://archive.mefawards.org/, to see
if it was nominated in a previous year. In general things are only
eligible once; the main exception is if it has a WIP beside it in the
archive and it's now finished, the story is eligible again.

With URL's, you want to watch out for a couple of things. Does the URL
require you to log in if you aren't a site member? (It's okay to be
asked to click a link verifying you're an adult; not okay if you need
a password to see the actual story.) Also, if the link is posted on
more than one page is there a clear way to get from one page to
another? Table of contents work, as do previous/next links on each
page.

While there are occasionally other wrinkles that make a nomination
ineligible, these are by far the most common reasons for why we have
to withdraw nominations. That and just not being able to reach the
author. Which brings eme to a last thing you might want to do before
submitting your nomination: email the author. We don't require this
because there's really no way to check, but it really does help us get
in touch if the author knows we're trying to contact them.

***********************************

STEP 3 - ENTERING THE NOMINATION

Now you're ready to enter your nomination. To do this:

--- (1) Log in to www.mefawards.org/
--- (2) Select the "Nominate a Piece" link from the "Nominations" menu.
--- (3) Select the author's name from the list provided, or add the
author using the steps provided.
--- (4) Enter the title as it appears at the URL you are using.
--- (5) Enter a URL where the story can be read. (See above re:
eligibility and URLs.)
--- (6) *If you know it*, enter some other ways to contact the author
- alternate emails, blog addresses, etc.
--- (7) Click the submit button at the bottom of the form.

If you're not also the author, your work is then done. Here's what
happens at this point.

--- (A) If you added the author, the website automatically sends the
author an email with their password.
--- (B) The author is also automatically assigned a LIAISON, a
volunteer who will work with the author to answer any questions the
author has and to check over their form.
--- (C) That liaison will look over the information you provide and
make sure it's eligible. If it is, they will send the author an email
getting them started.

At this point the ball is in the author's court. In most cases she'll
simply begin work on the form at our website. Occasionally she'll
email the liaison to let us know that *the author* knows she's been
nominated. Maybe she doesn't have time to fill out the form right
away? That's okay. We just need some indication that the author knows
she's been nominated.

At some point the author will fill out the form at our website and
signify she's done with it. At that point:

--- (D) The liaison and the administrator (that's me) will check over
the form for errors.
--- (E) Assuming everything is okay, I will finalize the nomination.
That means it's 100% ready to compete.

And *voila*, the nomination process is done.

******************************************

STEP 4 - FILLING OUT THE NOMINATION FORM (for authors)

If your story was nominated - by yourself or someone else - you will
need to fill out a form describing your piece.

--- If you are also the nominator, once nominating a story you will be
given the option to continue on telling us about your story.
--- If someone else nominated your story, you can get to this form by

(1) Logging in to www.mefawards.org/
(2) Clicking "Your Nominations" from the "Nominations" menu.
(3) Clicking the "Form" link beside your piece's title.
(4) Clicking the "Edit Basic Data" link.

In any case, you will eventually be taken to a form divided into
several sections. Here are some specific things to keep in mind when
feeling out this form.

--- Screen One: Basic Information

1. Change the story title if needed
2. Confirm the main URL and add a back-up.
3. Enter a summary.
4. Select a story type (for categorization).
5. Select a story length (for readers).

--- Screen Two: Award Categories

Choose three main categories where you would like to complete, ranked
in order of preference. You must select three, and you must be willing
to complete in all three.

--- Screen Three: Details for Readers

1. Select a rating and the reason for that rating, if applicable.
2. Enter any romance partners, if applicable. You may use 'm' for male
and 'f' for female if it is an OC or if you need to keep the
characters a surprise.
3. Select characters, sub-genres, events, and sources to describe your story.

--- Screen Four: Details for Categorization

Narrow down your previous lists to what you want the categorizers to
consider. For exmaple, you may want readers to know the story involves
Legolas, Merry and Pippin, but you only want it to compete against
other Legolas-centric stories, not hobbit-centric ones that might have
nothing to do with Legolas. Then you would select all three as
characters for readers, but only Legolas as a character for
categorizers.

When done:

1. Click the "Nomination Summary" button.
2. Change the status to "Author Satisfied with form."
3. Tick the box saying you are satisfied with the form.
4. Click the "Submit Nomination Form" button.

At that point the form is saved. Your liaison will be in touch if
there are any problems. Otherwise your piece is ready to compete in
the MEFAs.

***************************

STEP 5 - WHAT NOW?

Once authors are done with the form, it will be looked over by that
author's liaison and by myself. Everyone else, your work is
done.(though authors should keep an eye on their email address).

Authors are invited to use a banner to brag about their MEFA
nominations. These are available at
http://mefa-banners.livejournal.com/

Everyone is also welcome to start voting for their fave MEFA story
(other than their own, of course). I'll go more into how next week.

Elen sila lumenn omentielvo,

Marta
(MEFA Admin.)

Hey guys,

Just a friendly reminder: if you want to nominate a story for the 2011
MEFAs, you need to get it in soon.

--- Nominators: You MUST submit your nomination by June 30.
--- Authors: You MUST finish the form for your story by July 6.
Preferably a few days earlier, in case there are any errors that need
working out.

And remember, all deadlines are based on Greenwich Mean Time, not your
local time. For instance, I live on the US east coast, which means I'm
four hours behind GMT. So the MEFA day ends, not when my clock says
11:59 PM, but when it says 7:59 PM. You can see exactly how much time
you have left by going to http://www.mefawards.org/ and checking out
the countdown in the top-right corner.

Marta
(MEFA Admin.)

Hey guys,

Nominations for the 2011 awards close tonight. That means nearly all
the stories poems, etc. that will be competing in this year's awards
have been nominated. By next week, all the nominations that *aren't*
competing will be withdrawn from the MEFA website.

In short, it's time to get reviewing.

The MEFA website helps you find stories to vote for. All of these are
available off of our list of stories. To get to this page, just log in
to the MEFA website and then select the "Browse 2011 Nominations" link
from the Nominations menu. This will bring up a randomized list of the
nominations, displayed twenty-five nominations at a time. You can just
start browsing to find the ones you like - or you can use the filter
options available.

To open up the filter just click on the bar that says "Nomination
Filter." From here you just select the options you want to display and
click the "submit" option, and this will display all the nominations
that meet those requirements. One big difference from previous years
is something called the "Genres, Races, Times" menu. In the past, if
you selected (say) Hobbits for your story but it didn't end up
competing there, we still offered a way to find it. Readers selected
"Hobbits" from the GRT menu and it pulled up all the stories that had
selected Hobbits as any category choice, no matter where they ended up
competing.

With the new website, Aranel developed a nifty way to do this in
conjunction with the character listings. Basically, to pick a
character you first pick a race (e.g. Hobbits) Then you can narrow
that down to a sub-groups (e.g., Bagginses, Boffins, Bolgers, etc.),
and then to a specific individual. You can go as specific or as
general as you want. Searching for just Hobbits will bring up all the
nominations where an author chose any of the hobbit characters to
describe that work. You can do the same thing with time periods.
That's not *quite* the same as the old GRT menu, but it's close enough
that we decided not to offer that other menu option. It's a pretty
rare story that is about a certain race but doesn't pick a character
from that race.

Genres are a little different. They don't break down like Races and
Times do. So if you want to find (say) all the Horror stories, or all
the Romances, we do offer a Genres menu to do this. This *does* pull
off of the category selection, so filtering for Mystery will show all
the entries that selected Mystery as any of the category choices. This
is different from "subgenres," btw. Subgenres are descriptions like
"Vignette," "Angst" or "Family" and they can apply to nominations that
fit in any of the different genre categories. Authors choose the
subgenres in the same place they choose what characters and canonical
events describe their story.

Another filter that is different than before is the "Reviews" filter.
That still lets you find stories you have/haven't reviewed, or that
have received two or less reviews in total. But in the past you could
also access your skip and wish lists from that menu. Instead, we now
have links directly to them, directly below the filter. If you don't
know what those are, don't worry; I'll talk more about them in a
future admin post.

One thing you have to watch about the filter is that it only displays
pieces that meet all of the options listed. So selecting Mysteries as
the Genre and Second Age as time period will only display nominations
that (a) selected Mystery as a category choice AND (b) selected a
Second Age event. Throw in a length requirement and an author name and
you could get a very small list indeed - perhaps no nominations at
all. You may in fact want all of those things, but maybe not. I
personally recommend clicking "Clear Filter" before you start a new
search, to make sure you cleared out your last search.

Once you find the stories you are interested in, it's time to read
them. Simply click the "Read the Nomination" link. On the off-chance
that the link doesn't load you can also click the "Alternate Location"
link to read it. This will open up in a new tab or window, depending
on your browser. When done reading it, just close the window. Then
click the little pencil icon by the nomination to enter a vote for it.
This will take you to a page where you can type a review of it. The
review is then scored based on length (more characters = more points),
and the author gets that number of points available. The nomination
will eventually be assigned a category and subcategory, and the
stories with the most point in their respective subcategory. And your
comments will be made available to all site users (including the
author) so it's a great way to share recommendations.

Do mind the log-in window, though. You stay logged in for two hours.
If it's a particularly long story or you are taking a long time to
review it, you may run up against that window. If you time out while
reading a story, that's not such a big deal - just log in again and
find the story you were reading when you're ready to vote for it. If
you time out while writing your review, that's a bigger problem
because the website won't save your review unless you're logged in. I
personally copy the review to the clipboard (highlight all the text,
then type control-C) before submitting it. That way, if anything goes
wrong, I can paste in what I wrote. Some people prefer to type their
reviews in a Word Processor and just paste in their review to the
webpage when they're ready. Other people just keep an eagle eye on the
countdown and save often as a "draft" review. You might develop your
own system. But whatever you do, do be mindful of it.

Happy reviewing!

Marta