Theme of the Month update - Gearbert waddles in

Published by Vlasta about 3 hours ago.

There is a small change to how the Theme of the Month (TOTM) contests are organized. From now on, they will be announced and managed by a bot named Gearbert instead of being handled manually by me.

This doesn't mean the contests are fully out of human control. I still oversee the process and can edit the final announcement when needed. The difference is that most of the routine work is now automated. Gearbert will create the forum topic (including button prizes), generate the introductory paragraph with a few suggestions, and even produce a contest icon. The icon generator is... barely functional. If the result is particularly questionable, I'll replace it. If it's just mildly questionable, it may stay.

The theme selection process has also been adjusted. As before, I can directly choose the theme. If I don't, the system will pick one automatically using a few inputs:

• It generates candidate topics based on the current month and what has been recently popular in the library.
• It includes themes suggested by members (you can post suggestions by commenting on Gearbert's profile, and vote for an existing theme by posting a comment like "I like the XYZ theme" or something similar).
• It counts votes and selects a theme related to the current month with the most support.

In practice, not much changes. I can still set the theme if needed, but everyone now has a more direct way to influence it. Suggestions that are not used will carry over to the next month.

This is the first month where Gearbert is handling the announcement. The theme itself was chosen manually this time and is related to my previous post. The generated icon is...somewhat funny regarding the theme, and so I'll probably leave it as it is.

As a sidenote, anyone with enough karma and buttons can run their own contests, not just the admin. If the TOTM format doesn't suit you, nothing is stopping you from organizing an alternative.

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The Male Boss about 21 minutes ago 0

Welcome, Gearbert, to the Real World Community. There is also a welcome gift in your messages.