Friday, March 21, 2014

Joining a Challenge

Trying to join a Challenge?  Here's a little more information on how it works.

First, the short-short version:

1) Enter your picks
2) Sign In with a Facebook or Google (Gmail, Google Play, etc.) account
     2.5) If it's your first time taking a challenge, accept our Terms of Use
3) Make any edits you like until the Challenge has been closed for new submissions, and come back to see how you did once it is scored

It's really that easy.

If you're interested in more details and background:

The first step is pretty simple - just enter all of your picks and hit the big Take This Challenge button at the bottom.  But I'm sure you've already figured that part out.

The next step is to log in using a Facebook or Google account.  If you don't already have one, they're both free and easy to create.  If you have a Gmail account, or use the Google Play app store for your Android phone - this is the same ID you already use for those.

You might wonder why you need to sign in at all.  There are several reasons - so we know whose picks are being submitted, to avoid abuse/multiple submissions, and so you can easily go back and edit your picks later if you change your mind.

You might also wonder why it needs to be a Facebook or Google account, as opposed to other accounts or just creating a brand new account with Challenge Builder.  Well, we offer Facebook and Google as options because they are pretty ubiquitous these days, and we thought a large majority of people would already have them (plus they're free and easy to create if you don't).

We chose not to let people just sign up with a new account or email address with our end-users in mind - we don't want you to have to remember a new account/password, or have another password that's vulnerable to hackers.  With Facebook and Google logins, we here at Challenge Builder never even see your password, let alone store it (just Google "OAuth" if you're interested in how this works).

Okay, so you've entered your picks and logged in with a Facebook or Google ID.  There's just one last step - if this is your first time logging in and taking a challenge, you must accept our Terms of Use.  We won't bother you with this step for any future challenges you take, unless the Terms have changed since you last accepted them.

And that's it!  You will now see your picks, and you can edit them if you wish and re-submit them (and since you already have an account and are logged in, you'll skip all those steps) as many times as you want until the challenge has been closed.  And once it is scored, come back and see how you did!

Got any questions, ideas, or suggestions?  We'd love to hear from you - shoot us a note at feedback@challengebuilder.com.  Thanks for playing, and good luck!

- The Challenge Builder Team