Proposing a Campaign
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Start a thread in the Campaign Forum with the general rules of the campaign. Be sure to name it something like "Sign Up for the XX Campaign". The initial purpose of the thread is to see how many people are interested in your campaign. A proposal needs a certain number of people replying to the thread saying they would join to move to the next step (Armorama:10, Historicus Forma and Automodeler: 5). The number may be different for other Kitmaker sites so check their Campaign Guidelines. The name of the campaign should be less than 27 characters so the yellow CAMPAIGN tag can be put in front of the title of the official thread.
There are three rules you really should specify. For Armorama, these are now required.
1. A photo of the final build MUST appear in the campaign gallery to qualify for a ribbon. Campaign threads can get lost amongst all the other threads so it's good to have these pictures in an easy to find spot. In-progress photos can also go into the campaign gallery, especially if the photos are of major scratch building/conversion work that will not be as noticeable after more plastic and paint have been put over the model.
2. Whether or not you desire that kits for the build not be started before the campaign starts. This is the normal rule but it is really up to the leader. For example, the "Get the Job Done" campaigns are specifically for kits that were started then put on the back burner and forgotten and "Tank Overhaul" is for updating the job you did on a previous build. It is up to the leader how much has been built that will qualify. You might allow someone to finish a partially kit he bought on Ebay or was given to by a friend, maybe a kit where only a few pieces were glued together, or maybe a kit where only the decals and protective coat are needed. At least be aware that you may have to make a ruling on entries during the campaign.
3. Whether builds from other campaigns are allowed. I have assumed "one build - one campaign unless allowed in the rules" however there are other seasoned Armorama vets who assume "one build - multiple campaigns unless prevented by the rules". So now it must be explicitly stated in the rules.
Armorama campaigns without at least these three rules will not be approved until the rules are added.
Another rule that I strongly recommend is to have people post in-progress photos either in the thread or in the gallery. I am afraid we have had people entering models they built several years ago or that they didn't build themselves.
** "advertising a campaign in other forums **
If either your campaign is a Kit Maker-wide campaign or you just want to "advertise" your campaign in other forums, after posting in another forum, send a PM to the Campaigns Manager of that forum containing a link to that thread with a request to lock it. Your message should have a link to the actual campaign thread. This way you won't go crazy checking threads in umpteen forums.
Once the required number of people have shown interest in signing up in your thread, go to the Campaign page and click on the "Guidelines for Starting Campaigns" link. Read the page and figure out as much as you can. Note that the start date you pick is not guaranteed as it depends on how many other campaigns are running at that time. Click on the "Propose a Campaign" link and fill out the form. Submit the form and wait for the Campaign Manager to approve your campaign. When this happens, the official campaign page will appear in the Campaign section of the site.
During the Campaign
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Once the campaign has started, you should be assigned an official (sticky) campaign thread and a photo gallery. If not, bug the Campaign Manager as these are essential. Usually the initial proposal thread is used for the campaign thread but you can create another one and request that as your official thread. Now that the official campaign page is visible to everyone, more will come on board. Don't forget to have the people who responded to your sign-up thread enlist on the official campaign page.
The campaign leader should also get the campaign ribbon designed as early as possible since this can be quite a motivator for people to finish the campaign. A campaign ribbon is a GIF file that is 50 pixels wide by 20 pixels tall. The leader can make a design or have someone else do one, but it is up to the leader to get it designed and uploaded. To upload the ribbon image, campaign leaders will see an extra link on their campaign page labelled "Create Award". Clicking on that link takes you to the Create Award page. Fill in the two text fields: "Award Name" and "Award Description". Typical entries are "XX Campaign" and "This award signifies this person completed the XX Campaign". Click on the "Add Award" button.
** New ribbon uploading method **
Two new buttons appear. One is "Choose File". Clicking that will bring up a chooser box that allows you to navigate to the GIF file on your computer. Once that is done, click on the "Add/Update Award" button and your file will upload. You can go back to your campaign page to see the results. (For old hands, there is no longer a requirement to give the file a special name).
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Another duty of the leader is to enforce the rules of the campaign. The more exact your campaign description is, the fewer people will be confused as to what won't be allowed. The leader should keep up to date on the postings of their campaign thread. Encouraging your fellow campaigners is also a good thing to do, especially if others in the thread aren't. If you see a real knock-out of a build, you might want to send a PM to the builder and suggest that there could be a possible Feature here and to contact the Features Manager about it. One rule that you must enforce is that a build can only qualify for one campaign. Someone may post a question or they may just post that they are building a kit for more than your campaign.
As the campaign nears the ending date, some will ask for more time. This is entirely the campaign leader's decision. If you want an extension, figure out for how long an extension you want, then PM the campaign manager with your request. One of the problems with a formal extension is that more people might join during the extension and they may need a further extension to finish. Another choice is an informal extension where the campaign isn't officially extended (the campaign page still disappears from the Current Campaign list) but the leader awards a ribbon for a late finisher.
Editing Your Campaign Page
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If you look near the top of your campaign page, you will see this: "ADMIN:[EDIT]". This allows you to make changes to your campaign page. This is handy when it turns out your rules were too ambiguous and you need to tighten them up. Here are some extra fields that were not in the Campaign Submission form.
Postscript Text
This is for adding something after the campaign ends. It might have a count of how many finished. Totally optional.
Additional Info/Images URL:
Not sure what this is yet.
_AWARDIMAGE:
Not sure what this is yet.
_BANNERIMAGE:
An option is to have a campaign banner. These are 468 pixels wide x 60 pixels high. The size is just right to be used as a signature image in people's profiles. Having the banner in signatures makes for a great advertisement of a campaign as it gets seen in all messages posted on Armorama. It is up to the campaign leader to have someone design one then add the URL to the "_BANNERIMAGE:" field. Just the URL is needed, no [IMG] tags are necessary.
Don't forget to bookmark your campaign page. Once the campaign ends, the page will disappear from the main campaign page. It will be easier to find when it's time to hand out ribbons.
After the Campaign
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Awarding Ribbons
The first step is to go through the gallery and make a list of all the people who uploaded photos of their finished model. You should also go through the official thread and send PMs to those who uploaded their images there but not to the gallery and get them to upload to the gallery. To qualify for ribbons, it is now a requirement that the images MUST be in the campaign gallery. This makes it much easier to create a Feature of the campaign.
The next step is to go to the campaign page where you should see a link saying "Add/Remove Awards". Clicking it will provide a list of all who enlisted with a "Give Award" button on the end of each name. When you click on it, the ribbon will be awarded. Notice that after awarding someone, the link turns into "Remove". This way you can easily fix things if you give an award to the wrong person. Also note the check box by all the names. You can award multiple ribbons by clicking on the check box for all the awardees then clicking one of the "Give Award" buttons.
After you are done, don't forget to click on the "update" button at the bottom of the page.
Finding the Campaign Page After the Campaign is Over
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Don't worry, it's still around! If you go to the Campaigns page, you will see a list of categories (Armor/AFV, Dioramas, Figures, KitMaker University,...). Click on the one that your campaign belonged to and you will get a page with a list down the left hand side of past campaigns. The fastest way to find your campaign is to use your browser's text search as I am not sure there is a pattern to the order that past campaigns are listed in.
Cautionary Note
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Things happen in real life. If you can't come by often enough to lead the campaign, notify the campaign manager so a new leader can be found.
For Amorama campaigns: If I notice that you haven't signed on in a month, I will assume something has happened to you and I will find another to replace you.
