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How do I start writing on the Plugin Blog and submit my ideas for feedback from readers?
After you have registered yourself on the Plugin Blog or if you already have a registration but do not have author permissions, please contact us with your details and a little information about the plugin(s) you are planning to enter into the competition and we will enable your account. This is a security precaution and we apologize for any inconvenience.

When should I submit my plugin?
We recommend that you submit your plugin to us at the end of the competition. This will give you enough time to test the plugin for any bugs and resolve them. You will have time to look into feature requests from your visitors. This will also ensure that you don’t need to submit multiple bugfixes to us. We prefer receiving a single final version for our records.

Won’t I be at a disadvantage if I submit it at the end?
No, of course not. Voting will begin only after the plugin competition ends. Also, our judges will take a look at the plugin only after the end of the competition.

Is okay to release it prior to submitting it for the contest?
Plugins released in these two months are eligible for the competition. In fact if you release it now, you have time to test it and receive feedback from the community so an early release to public is a good thing. Conversely, an early release to the public does not mean an automatic submission to the competition.

How do I know the plugin is new?
You can search to see if a similar plugin is available in WordPress Extend. You can also use any search engine to see if a similar plugin is available.

What about the plugins in last year’s competition
If you need an idea of the type of plugins that have been submitted in the past, here is a list of plugins from last year’s competition.

I am a WordPress user. I have an idea, where do I submit it?
You can also post them in this post or this posting in our News Forum.

How do I sponsor a prize?
If you would like to sponsor a prize or donate some money to the competition, please contact us. We are actively looking for prize money.

Do you have any other questions about the competition? Please post them in the comments section below.

It is time for another WordPress Plugin Competition. Plugin competitions of the past have seen fantastic code, extremely useful and fun plugins and have generated a lot of interest in WordPress and plugin development. Prizes have been very generously donated by readers and well wishers and we already have some donations towards this year’s competition and are looking for more. The final list of prizes will be determined very soon. If you would like to sponsor a prize or donate some money to the competition, please contact me. Lots of eyes see these competitions and your encouragement goes a long way in helping provide incentives. The plugin competition will begin on the 10th of May and will last till the 10th of July.

There will be prizes for first, second and third places and a consolation prize. The plugins should be officially submitted through email and the Plugin Competition Blog (which will be cleaned for the new competition) should be used as a launching ground for plugin ideas, updates, development news etc. The plugins will be judged by a panel of at least three judges and reader feedback will be an essential part of the judging process. At the end of the contest, we will put up posts for each submission and will open them up to our readers for two weeks. The contest results should be declared by the beginning of August.

All code must be GPL (or compatible) and should be available for download through the Competition Blog and preferably through WordPress Extend. The plugins can be modified and tweaked till the last day of the competition or until the author sends us an email with the final version of the code. In essence, the Plugin Competition Blog is the preferred vehicle of communication for all contestants.

Some relevant details:

• Running time for competition = 2 months starting the 10th of May till the 10th of July.
• True Wordpress plugins only. No manual modifications can be required of users.
• You cannot submit plugins that have been released already. New code only please.
• Plugins can only be submitted via email. We will make that email address public later on in the competition.
• Plugins cannot have opt-out links back to the authors’ pages (from the main blog pages, admin pages are fine). If you have links or donation forms, please make them opt-in.
• All plugins require documentation as in the Wordpress Extend pages. Documentation will be one of the judging criteria.
• Preliminary support for the plugin has to be provided to the public.
• We are looking for innovation, documentation and elegant code.
• Any and all prizes/controversies/issues will be judged and decided at our sole discretion.

More details to be added with time.

Stay tuned and please help spread the word.

After running around like a chimpanzee with its head cut off (check out the animatronics chimp from WowWee, thus the similie) with the last Wordpress Plugin Competition, I would like to be better prepared.

We are about to embark upon another Wordpress Programming Competition (notice the change in the name) starting at the beginning of December and lasting through the end of May next year. Much of the competition will remain the same but I would like to give authors the chance to strut their stuff and get their code together and published and advertised for everyone to make a good determination.

However, this post is about the judges. If you would like to be considered as a judge, please send me an email with a list of stuff that makes you eligible. Mark the subject as “Wordpress Programming Competition Judge”. Though the judges’ names will not be made public, I do expect you to be responsible, available for a reasonable amount of time (I try to be as accomodating as possible) and try to follow the requested schedule. You will be asked to judge every entry into the competition (be it 10 or a million) but there will be adequate time for everyone to carry on with their lives. I know some of the previous judges expressed eagerness to judge again, if you still feel the same way, please drop me a small note.

It is never too soon to start asking for help in funding the competition. So if you would like to be involved in making this possible financially (aka donate your money/time/resources/advertise/sponsor) please send me an email at mark @ wltc . net