Configure crowd/public Voting

Setting up Voting for applications in Good Grants is easy and can be done in a few simple steps:

• Creating a Voting score set
• Configuring a reviewing round
• Setting up a reviewing panel

To configure the Voting reviewing stage, you can follow the steps below or simply utilise the reviewing fast start. 

Create a Voting score set

1. From the Manage workspace, go to Reviewing > Settings > Score sets
2. Click New score set
3. Provide a name for your score set
   
   Note: this name will be visible to voters within the navigation of your program. As such the naming convention should be clear.
4. Select the Voting radio button under 'Reviewing mode'
5. If you choose to allow voters to self-register, select your desired role from the If registration is required, use this role registration form drop-down
6. Voting configuration options include:
   • Vote limits
     This setting refers to if/when the number of votes a user can allocate reset and become available again. The 'Reset daily' and 'Reset weekly' rules are dictated by the timezone associated with the account.
     
     Note: votes will reset at midnight in the timezone selected in Settings > General > Account.
   • Maximum votes per user
     Limit the number of votes a user can make across all applications.
   • Maximum votes per application
     You can allow users to submit multiple votes per application, up to the maximum. Set this to 1 if you only want one vote per user per application.
   • Maximum votes per category
     Limit the number of votes a user can use in each category.
   • Votes can be revoked by users
     You can allow a user to revoke a vote they make. With this active, when a vote is made, an Unvote button appears on the application view.
   • Total votes per application visible to all users
     You can allow the total number of votes for each application to be visible to participants, or keep it secret.
   • List length default
     You can choose the number of applications your voters see in their list view. This setting makes it easier for voters who have a lot of applications to view everything at once. Options include 10, 25, 50, and 100 applications per page.
   • Image layout
     You can choose from Masonry (original image proportions) or Square (images cropped to square) layouts depending on your program's needs.
   • Registered users can comment
     You can permit users to comment on applications. This is only an option for registered users, to avoid spamming and trolling.
   • Users can see each others' comments on this score set
     To encourage dialogue, you can activate commenting and allow comments to be visible to all users.
7. Save when you've finished

Learn more about score sets here: Configure score sets.

Configure a reviewing round

1. In the Manage workspace, navigate to Reviewing > Settings > Rounds
2. Click Add round
3. Set the round type to Reviewing
4. Set start and end dates for the Voting period
5. Save

For more detailed instructions, see Round configuration.

Set up a Voting panel

1. In the Manage workspace, go to Reviewing > Settings > Panels
2. Create a New panel
3. Choose Voting as the reviewing mode, and select the score set created earlier
4. In the Applications section, check the categories / chapters / tags for applications that can be voted on
5. In the Who section select who will be allowed to vote either by selecting a specific role (or roles) or by choosing Invited users
6. In the When section, check the round configured earlier, for when Voting will be permitted
7. Save

Use case: public Voting with registration

To facilitate Voting, you may wish to configure a dedicated role for voters complete with a role registration page. 

1. From the Manage workspace, go to Settings > Users > Roles
2. Click New role
3. Assign a name to your new role, i.e. "Voter"
4. Select the Registration form for this role is active checkbox
5. Click Advanced near the top of the page
   
6. Set the Scores (own) permissions for Create, View, Update, and Delete to Allow
7. Save
8. Open the new voter role to reveal the registration URL 
   
   Note: provide this URL to anyone that you would like to vote in your program. Existing users that log in through this registration URL will be provided the voter role in addition to their existing role(s). Any new users that register through this URL will receive only the voter role.
9. If desired, select a content block from the Content block for registration form drop-down
   
   Note: this content block must have 'Role registration form' selected from the Content location drop-down during configuration. For instructions on how to create a content block, see our guide: Content configuration and management.
10. Under 'After form submission' choose what you wish for voters to see:
    • Display a confirmation page: configure a content block with the 'Role registration completed' location to provide additional instructions to your voters and select it from the Content block for confirmation page drop-down. 
    • Redirect to a score set: select which score set you'd like your voters to be redirected to; i.e. your judging score set from the Configure a Voting score set section of this guide
11. Navigate to Reviewing > Settings > Panels
12. Open your Voting panel
13. In the Who section, select the new voter role 
14. Save 

Learn more about role registration here: Role registration forms.

Use case: public viewing but register to vote

If you would like to allow the general public to view your program's Voting page but require them to register in order to cast their vote, follow these steps.

1. In the Manage workspace, go to Settings > Users > Roles
2. Click on your guest role or configure one if it does not exist (see: Ultimate guide to user roles)
3. Ensure that the Guest account role for anonymous users checkbox is selected
4. Set the Scores (own) permission for 'View' to Allow
5. Save
6. Navigate to Reviewing > Settings > Panels
7. Open your Voting panel
8. In the Who section, select the guest role 
9. Save

Revoke a vote

A voter can revoke and re-allocate votes if this option is enabled in the score set. This is helpful when someone accidentally votes for an entry or changes their mind at a later stage. To enable this: 

1. From the Manage workspace, go to Reviewing > Settings > Score sets 
2. Select a score set or create a new one
3. On the right side, check the Votes can be revoked by users box
4. Click Save

During Voting, a user may revoke their vote by clicking on the entry and clicking the Unvote button which appears above the Voted+1 button as shown below.

Tip: to help reviewers isolate the applications they've voted on, they can switch on the Show only my votes toggle.

Share your Voting page

Depending on your program's configuration, users may be able to view the Voting page without registering or logging into the platform. To share this specific page URL with the desired audience, navigate to Reviewing > Settings > Score sets in the Manage workspace. From here, the Voting URL will be visible as shown below.

Tip: need to link to a specific application? Simply add the application's slug to the end of the URL.

To learn more about slugs, see our dedicated guide: What is a slug?

Video overview