Celebrating the All Things Plants Database...with a contest!

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Posted by @dave on
Almost every feature of All Things Plants taps into the database in one way or another, and this week we are celebrating this aspect of ATP! Come in and read what activities we have planned for the week, and to learn about our contest with prizes offered by Victory Seed Company!

The many excellent individuals who comprise this wonderful community here at ATP are, of course, what makes the site so special and great, and technically speaking, at the center of this community sits the plants database.

We currently have 648,772 plants and 281,036 images in the database. Members are able to maintain their own inventory of plants that they personally own, and 87,132 plants are in those lists. A new feature we added this past year is the Growers Reports, where members can give reports on when certain things happened to plants they have (such as they obtained it, it grew, it produced fruit, or bloomed, etc.) 3,685 growers reports have already been filed.

On top of this, each time a member posts a photo to the database, that becomes a potential discussion thread. Members can start conversations around these photos and conversations ensue. We have had almost 9,000 posts centered around the photos in the database.

18 months ago we created another feature of the database, called the "Multi-Plant Images", where members can post photos from their garden, then draw boxes around each plant and indicate which plant is depicted. Over 2,100 Multi-Plant photos have been published and it remains a favorite feature of many members.

This week we're going to publish numerous "how to get the most out of the database" type articles. We'll show you things that you may not know, and encourage you to try out areas that you may have never seen before. We'll open the doors to some behind the scenes aspects of the database that might surprise you, and along the way we'll make you a better gardener by exposing you to new plants and new ways of learning about them.

We're also hosting a contest, with prizes sponsored by our friends at Victory Seed Company! In recommending this company, @Toni said, "Victory Seed has been a very valuable seed company. They have a very informative web site that I frequent often. They have always, promptly answered all of my questions. I also find great value in their seed preservation effort, and wonderful selection of rare, open pollinated, and heirloom seeds. Everything I have ordered from them over the years has performed wonderfully. I highly recommend this company." The winners will be thrilled with their choice of seeds from this great company. Thank you for sponsoring this contest! * Due to circumstances beyond our control, the seeds can only be shipped to United States addresses.

Now the details. All this week, starting right now and ending on Friday, February 6th at 6:00pm CT, I will be counting all contributions made to areas listed below. Scores will be given for each contribution, and some contributions are worth more than others. The member with the highest score will receive a $50 gift certificate to Victory Seed Company. The 2nd place winner will receive a $25 gift certificate. (Important note, the gift certificate is for their seeds only. Books, tools, etc, are excluded. This is a timely prize, since we're coming up on vegetable seed starting season!)

So, how to compete? Do what you always do! Use the database, enjoy it, and post stuff. Specifically, I will be assigning points for the following:

1) Proposing databox updates to plants that don't have yet any data details. Do you see a plant with absolutely no data details? Submit a data proposal including at least 5 data items. You can check off that it's an annual or perennial, wants sun or shade, blooms yellow, etc. 5 points per approved proposal.

2) Post Growers Reports to the database. Do you have dates on when certain things happened to various plants that you grow? Submit growers reports! Go to the plant in question, scroll to the bottom and click on "File a growers report." Share the progress of your plants! 1 point per report.

3) Discuss plant photos! Each photo in the database can be discussed by posting a comment under the photo. You can start a new thread or join an existing thread, but it has to be attached to a photo in the database. Every post gets you a point. Off-topic posts will get deleted so please keep them on topic to the plant in question. Smiling

4) Share your plant list to your facebook friends. Do you keep a plant list at ATP, and are you also on Facebook? If so, share a link to your plant list on your facebook page, and let us know you did it by giving us a link to your timeline by posting it to this thread right here. 5 points.

5) Posting reviews to the Green Pages! Which garden companies have you ordered from in the past year or two? Were you happy with your order? Then find their entry in the Green Pages and leave them a review! You have two choices for each company: either endorse them without a review (you get 1 point) or leave a full review of at least a couple sentences and get 5 points per review.

6) Post photos to the database. Every photo posted to a plant in the database (not in a thread) will garner you another point.

7) Post and tag Multi-Plant images. Each photo you post that has at least two plants tagged will net you a sweet 5 points.

As mentioned above, the contest closes on Friday, February 6th at 6:00pm CT after which time I will announce the winners.

This is all meant to be fun and engaging, and to encourage more people to spread out into the database and have fun, so please enjoy yourself, and have fun as we celebrate the All Things Plants Database this week!

 
Comments and Discussion
Thread Title Last Reply Replies
And the winners are...! by dave Feb 7, 2015 7:01 PM 22
Post your facebook shares to this thread! by dave Feb 7, 2015 3:31 PM 12
Contest by treehugger Jan 31, 2015 12:30 PM 0

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