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Build a Multi-day Giveaway Calendar in 12 Steps | Page 1

Build a Multi-day Giveaway Calendar in 12 Steps Plus 6 hacks to help you customize your giveaway!

ShortStack’s templates make it easy to create beautiful Campaigns that

engage your fans and followers. In this Quick Start Guide, we’ll take you

through the 12 steps it takes to set up our popular Holiday Giveaway

Calendar, a Campaign designed for multi-day giveaways. It’s popular during

the Christmas holiday season, but you can use it any time of year.

There are also six popular ShortStack Hacks you can use to alter this

template and customize the calendar. The hacks starts on page 14.

Ready? Let’s get started!

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STEP 1

Log in to your ShortStack account and select “Campaigns” from the menu at the top of the page. Click the orange “New” button. When asked “How would you like to start?”, click the “Start with Template” button.

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STEP 2

Choose the “Holiday Calendar Giveaway” template.

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STEP 3

Choose “Use this Template.”

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STEP 4

Add your own header image. Hover over the default image and click on the pencil icon in the upper left-hand corner. Select your own image. Save and exit.

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STEP 5

Add your own welcome message. Hover over the Welcome message Widget in the Edit Widgets Panel and click on the pencil icon. Write the message and details you want your entrants to see. Save and exit.

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STEP 6

Set the date you want your giveaway to begin. Hover over the “Set Calendar Start Date Here” Widget in the Edit Widgets Panel and click on the pencil icon. Change the numbers next to startYear, startMonth and startDay to reflect the dates your giveaway will run. Save and exit.

If you aren’t adding or removing any dates on the calendar and want to count down to Christmas day, set startMonth to 12 and startDay to 14.

Note: The number images

appearing in the calendar will

not change unless you use Hack

#2 – listed near the end of this

document – to manually change

them one by one.

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STEP 7

Add images of the prizes you will be giving away. Hover over each “Day X Prize Image” Widget in the Edit Widgets Panel and click on the pencil icon. Change the image for each widget to reflect the prize for that day. Save and exit.

Note: You do not need to edit the Controller Widget but if you want to lock all days except the active day, see Hack #4 in this document

for steps on how to do so. Be aware that editing the custom JavaScript incorrectly in this widget can affect the way your Campaign

functions.

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STEP 8

Each day in the calendar has its own Form Widget and associated database, meaning each day is a separate contest. Each Form is identical and simple, consisting of the Name and Email Address fields only. To edit, add, or remove fields, scroll to the bottom of the Edit Widgets Panel, hover over an “Entry Form Day X” Form Widget in the Edit Widgets Panel. Click the Edit Promotion Icon (it looks like a pencil on paper).

You will be directed to the Form Designer to make your changes. When you’re done, click Save Form to return to the Campaign Builder.

Note: If you prefer, you can use a single form with a single

database. See Hack #5 below.

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STEP 9

Customize the share messages. Hover over the Share Widget in the Edit Widgets Panel and click on the pencil icon. In the the Setup tab, use the checkboxes at the left to choose which platforms are available to share to. Then, for each platform available, fill out the Share Title, Description, and Image. Save and exit.

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STEP 10

Edit your links. Hover over the Links Widget in the Edit Widgets Panel and click on the pencil icon. To edit the links your audience will see, click on the individual pencil icons and insert your own link names and URLs. Save and exit.

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STEP 11

Insert your official rules. Hover over the Official Rules Widget in the Edit Widgets Panel and click on the pencil icon. In the text box, write your contest rules. Save and exit.

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STEP 12

Yippee, you’re done! It’s time to publish your Campaign! Click the “Publish Campaign” button at the top of the Campaign Builder to make your Campaign live.

If you would like to publish to Facebook or further customize, you may do so by clicking the options below your link.

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Holiday Giveaway Calendar Hacks Part One of this guide provides step-by-step instructions to make a Campaign

out of the template. Part Two features further customization, including tips and

tricks to:

1. Change all day numbers on calendar to image(s)

2. Change day numbers on calendar to different numbers

3. Change locked days to an image

4. Lock all days except the active day

5. Use a single form with a single database

6. Stop showing previous day’s content and replace with a new popup image

However, if you’re unfamiliar with CSS and JavaScript, we advise you not to use

these hacks so that you don’t break the Campaign.

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HACK #1: CHANGE DAY NUMBERS ON CALENDAR TO

IMAGE(S)

Use the CSS here to change the numbers that appear on the calendar to images. First, open the CSS Editor by clicking on the # icon in the main toolbar. Copy and paste the code, starting at the forward slash and ending with the closed bracket, add it to the code that’s already there, either at the very top or the very bottom of the CSS Editor.

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You will need to replace (YOUR URL HERE) in the code snippet with the URL of the image you want to use. We recommend images that are 128x158 pixels in size. You will also need to change [data-day=”1”] to the number of the day you’re changing.

When finished, click the orange Save CSS button.

You will have to repeat all of these steps for each day.

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HACK #2: CHANGE DAY NUMBERS ON CALENDAR TO DIFFERENT NUMBERS

Use the JavaScript here to change the numbers that appear on the calendar into different numbers. To do this, hover over the Code Widget named “Controller (do not edit)” and click on the pencil icon. Edit the JavaScript to reflect the new numbers you want to display. Save and exit.

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For example, if you wanted the numbers to begin with 12 and increase to 24, you would change this line of JavaScript:

to this:

// setup links for each day

for (i=1; i<=totalDays; i++) {

$cal.append(‘<a class=”day’ + ((i > currentDay) ? “ locked” : “ unlocked”) + ‘” href=”#” data-day=”’ + i + ‘”>’ + i +

‘</a>’);

}

// setup links for each day

for (i=1; i<=totalDays; i++) {

$cal.append(‘<a class=”day’ + ((i > currentDay) ? “ locked” : “ unlocked”) + ‘” href=”#” data-day=”’ + i + ‘”>’ +

(i+11) + ‘</a>’);

}

Note: The section of the updated JavaScript that reads `(i+11)` will dictate the number the calendar starts with. So, if you prefer the number

begin with 6, then you would use `(i+5)`

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HACK #3: CHANGE LOCKED DAYS TO AN IMAGE

Use the CSS here to help you change out the locked day numbers for images. First, open the CSS Editor by clicking on the # icon in the main toolbar. Copy and paste the code, starting at the forward slash and ending with the closed bracket, add it to the code that’s already there, either at the very top or the very bottom within the Editor window.

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You will need to replace (YOUR URL HERE) in the code snippet with the URL of the image you want to use. We recommend images that are 128x158 pixels in size. You will also need to change [data-day=”1”] to the number of the day you’re changing.

When finished, click the orange Save CSS button.

You will have to repeat all of these steps for each day.

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HACK #4: LOCK ALL DAYS EXCEPT THE ACTIVE DAY

Use the JavaScript here to lock all the days of the calendar except the active day. To do this, hover over the Code Widget named “Controller (do not edit)” and click on the pencil icon. Copy the code, starting with <script type=”text/javascript”> all the way down to </script> and replace all of the code that appears in the window. Save and exit.

Be aware that editing the custom JavaScript incorrectly in this widget can affect the way your Campaign functions.

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HACK #5: USE A SINGLE FORM WITH A SINGLE DATABASE

To show the same form each day of the contest and collect all the days’ entries in the same database, make sure the form you want to use is associated with the Form Widget named “Entry Form Day 1.” Then, delete the other Form Widgets so the only Form Widget that remains is “Entry Form Day 1.” Next, hover over the Links Widget named “Day 2 Link” and click on the pencil icon. On the edit screen, click the pencil icon to edit the link. Make sure Take Action is selected and choose the Form Widget named “Entry Form Day 1” from the “Choose a widget…” dropdown. Then choose Popup from the “Choose an action…” dropdown. Save your changes and repeat for the remaining Links Widgets named “Day 3 Link,” “Day 4 Link” and so on.

Note: You will not need to modify the Links Widget

named “Day 1 Link.”

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HACK #6: STOP SHOWING PREVIOUS DAY’S CONTENT AND REPLACE WITH A NEW POPUP IMAGE

To stop showing certain content on a certain day and at a certain time, replace the past content with an image notifying the entrant that s/he has missed that day’s entry. Use time-based visibility settings to schedule when this image will be displayed.

First, add a new Image Widget to the Day 1 Container Widget. You will be prompted to select your own image. Once selected, while still in the popup Image window, click on the Visibility tab and set it to Start Showing on the date, time and zone you choose. Save and exit.

Note: You may also use a Rich Text Widget

to display this message instead of an

image.

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Name the new widget “Day 1 Over Image.”

Next, hover over the “Day 1 Prize Image” Widget in the Edit Widgets Panel and click on the eye icon. Set the visibility to Stop Showing on the same date, time and zone you used in the “Day 1 Over Image” Widget. Save and exit.

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Then hover over the “Day 1 Link” Widget in the Edit Widgets Panel and click on the pencil icon. Set the visibility to Stop Showing on the same date, time and zone you used in the “Day 1 Over Image” Widget. Save and exit.

Repeat the above steps for each day.

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You can test your dates using the Preview Controls Panel and modifying the date, time and zone. To do this, find the Preview Controls Panel on the right side of your window. Click the arrows in the top right to expand the panel. Click the “Test Mode” toggle to the “On” position. Now, enter the date you would like to test into the date/time field.

Example 1: If the Day 1 active date is today, here is how the Campaign will display when clicking Day 1. As you can see the “Day 1 Prize Image” and the “Day 1 Link” Widgets are showing as expected.

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Example 2: If Day 1 is no longer the active day, here is how the Campaign will display when clicking Day 1. As you can see the “Day 1 Over Image” Widget is showing as expected.

Find more information about “Time-Based Visibility.”

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Advanced Features, Help & ResourcesNow that you’ve built a ShortStack Campaign, you might be ready to get fancy with your next one. Here are a few of the

resources that can help:

• Refer-a-Friend

• Points Per Field

• Sharing

• Build a Vote-to-Enter Sweepstakes Campaign in 12 Steps

And there you have it. A ShortStack Holiday Calendar Campaign in 12 easy steps!

If you have other questions about your Holiday Giveaway Calendar, please email theteam@shortstacklab.com and

someone from our fantastic customer support team will help you.

NEXT STEPS.....

Promote Your CampaignFor tips on how to promote your Campaign, check out 40 Ways to Promote Your Campaign.