Birthday Greeting Contest

[Thantos]

Simple Machines is pleased to announce the start of a new contest!

In SMF 2.0 we are including an option to send a birthday greeting to forum members.  We would like to ask you to write our birthday email.  The winner of the contest will have their submission used as the default SMF birthday email message.

The rules:

• Submit your entries by August 30th, 11:59 PM Server time (The submission page will show all times in your local time, however)
  
• Keep the entries short
  
• American English only
  
• Multiple submissions allowed
  
• The identity of the author will remain hidden from the voters
  
• Current and former SMF Team members are ineligible
  
• The use of HTML and/or BBC is disallowed
  

After the end date for submissions the current and former SMF Team members will review them and pick our top 5.
Those submissions will then be put to a public poll where the community members will decide which one we should use.

While writing your submission, please keep in mind that we are looking for a message that would fit with almost any type of board.

Prizes:
The top 5 authors will each get a SMF T-Shirt
The grand prize submission will be included in the SMF 2.0 package and the author will be given credits for it in the appropriate location.

Legal Notice:  Upong entry all submissions become the property of Simple Machines LLC.  Simple Machines LLC also reserves the right to change these rules at any time.

To submit your entry please fill out the form at http://www.simplemachines.org/birthdaycontest.php.  Please note that only those with a Simple Machines Community Forum account will be allowed to submit.  This is to reduce spam and so we will be able to associate the entries with the author.

[karlbenson]

Are we allowed to use pointers where the persons name would appear? or the forum name
eg {username} or $1 or $user

Example

Happy Birthday {username}
would become
Happy Birthday Lisa


-----

Also I think I've spotted a discrepancy in the end time.


Submit your entries by August 24th, 11:59 PM Server time (The submission page will show all times in your local time, however)

But on the contest page it says
Submit your entry by August 31, 2007, 04:59:59 AM.
Hurry you only have 14 days, 2 hours, 48 minutes, and 30 seconds left to submit your entry.

[Thantos]

Sorry the submission date was wrong.  I wanted to allow 2 weeks to submit not 1.  The submission date is August 30th.

Are we allowed to use pointers where the persons name would appear? or the forum name
eg {username} or $1 or $user

Example

Happy Birthday {username}
would become
Happy Birthday Lisa

There are three variables you may use and they are detailed on the submission page.  They are {REALNAME}, {FORUMNAME}, and {REGARDS}

[Jorin]

Gives the recipient's display name. (i.e. nehcregit)

Whow! Why me?

[shadow82x]

No it's a command they used to display that user logged in.

[Jorin]

Ah! Thanks. Made my entries.

[Jorin]

Another bug: Editing a submission copies it, so there are then two submissions instead of one. 

[Thantos]

Another bug: Editing a submission copies it, so there are then two submissions instead of one. 

Thanks, fixed that.

[Killer Possum]

Sorry but current and form team members are not allowed to submit entries.

[Douglas]

Submissions are still be accepted

(being?)

[karlbenson]

I know we can't use it in this contest.
But in the 2.0.

It would be kind of useful to use the variable {AGE} and {AGEWITHSUFFIX}

eg (the latter) Happy 20th Birthday.

[Thantos]

The problem is that the user might not have filled in the year so SMF can't calculate the age.

[karlbenson]

(Notes from my profile, date of birth 0001/01/01)
So I'd receive a message, Happy 2007th Birthday



I see your point Thantos.

[Miles Marshall]

I submited one

[Gary]

Current and "form" team members? Surly it's supposed to be "former"

Bad Developer! <hit with stick>

-ALM

[karlbenson]

I submited one

Me too, 5 so far.  Although I wrote them very late (well early morning), so they sounded funny at the time, now probably 'not so much'.

[Miles Marshall]

I'am writting a few, Trying to be creative and yet a humor to it

[forsakenlad]

Does this mean I'll have to retranslate the birthday text?

[karlbenson]

I always thought Jokes didnt translate very well.

I'm not so sure about birthday messages.

[Thantos]

Does this mean I'll have to retranslate the birthday text?

I don't know exactly what we are going to do for other languages.  Ideally, each one will come up with their own.  But let's get through this contest first and then we can examine what to do for other languages.