Using prizes and prize vouchers

Prizes and prize vouchers available to users of Q_Community can be maintained using Prize Manager.  Panellists can collect a number of reward points and can use these to claim one or more prizes.  Third-party voucher prizes can also be defined.  Prizes set up here can be displayed in Q_Community using the MARSC Prize Claim web part.

From the Community menu, select Prize Manager.  If there are already prizes set up in the database they will be listed.

Prizes are listed by the prize name and number of reward points.  If the prize is a voucher, a summary of the vouchers claimed and unclaimed is also shown.

Currently Start Date and End Date are not used in the system, so these will remain blank.

Create a new prize

To create a new prize, start in Prize Manager and click on New in the toolbar to open the New Prize details dialog.

Enter the properties of the prize using the following fields:

Name

This is a mandatory field and should contain a brief description of the prize which panellists will see.  The prize name must be unique.

Reward Points

This is a numeric field which specifies the number of reward points needed to claim this prize. Rewards points must be greater than or equal to zero, however prizes with zero reward points will not be displayed in Q_Community for the panellists to choose from.  Reward points are set to zero by default.

Minimum Qty

This is a numeric field which specifies the minimum quantity that must be claimed for this prize.  Minimum qty must be greater than or equal to zero. If set to zero the panellist must still claim at least one.

Email

This is a text box used to identify the email address to which a message will be sent whenever a panellist claims this prize.  This field is optional.

External URL

This is a text box used to identify the URL associated with this prize.  This URL is not currently used anywhere within the Q_Community website.  This field is optional.

Large Image URL

This is a text box used to identify the URL which displays a large image of the prize.  This image may be displayed in Q_Community when the panellist clicks on the prize to see a more detailed description.  Images must be available on the internet and may be .jpeg, .gif, .png or .bmp files.  This field is optional.

Small Image URL

This is a text box used to identify the URL which displays a small image of the prize.  This image may be displayed in Q_Community when the list of all prizes is displayed. Images must be available on the internet and may be .jpeg, .gif, .png or .bmp files.  This field is optional.

Prize is Voucher

This check box should be ticked if the prize is a voucher.

Voucher Code is URL

Vouchers may either be in the form of a URL or a code.  This check box should be ticked if the voucher is in the form of a URL. 

Voucher Value

If the prize is a voucher a value must be entered in this field.  This value will be used to identify the voucher import file, and is not related to the number of reward points.

Prize Notes

At the bottom of the screen is an area for adding some notes about the prize.  These notes may be displayed when the panellist selects the prize in Q_Community to see a more detailed description.  This field is optional.

There are three views for the prize notes: Design (default), HTML and Preview. The Design view is a near-WYSIWYG editor; HTML allows you to edit the HTML code directly; Preview shows you the results of your editing in a non-editable preview mode.

The other buttons in the Design view have standard editing functions.

Adding a standard prize

To add a new prize, click on New from the toolbar and enter the prize details.

Save the prize by clicking on the OK button.

Adding a voucher prize

To add a new voucher prize, click on New from the toolbar and enter the prize details.  Clicking on the Prize is Voucher check box will enable the other two vouchers fields which can then be entered.

Save the voucher prize by clicking on the OK button.

Importing prize vouchers

To import vouchers you must first create the prize voucher definition as above.  The prize vouchers can then be imported from an external file using the Import Vouchers function on the toolbar.  The process is described in the following sections.

External file format and content

The file must be a comma-separated file with either a .csv or .txt extension.  It should contain a data row for each prize voucher, and can optionally include a header row.

Each data row of the file must contain three columns:

A typical example could look like this:

DEPT10-VOUCHER-14UD,10,2016-31-12
DEPT10-VOUCHER-15UD,10,2016-31-12
DEPT10-VOUCHER-16UD,10,2016-31-12
DEPT10-VOUCHER-17UD,10,2016-31-12
DEPT10-VOUCHER-18UD,10,2016-31-12
DEPT10-VOUCHER-19UD,10,2016-31-12
DEPT10-VOUCHER-20UD,10,2016-31-12
DEPT10-VOUCHER-21UD,10,2016-31-12
[etc..]

This example uses voucher codes, the value of each of these is 10, and this will be used to help match the imported codes to the right prize voucher using the voucher value specified in the prize voucher definition (not the reward points).  In this example all the vouchers have the same expiry date – but this does not need to be the case.

If there is a voucher value in the file which does not match a prize defined in Q_Panel then the entire file cannot be loaded.  If there is a voucher value which matches more than one prize then it can only be imported for one prize.  Therefore, although vouchers for multiple prizes can be imported at once, the prizes must have distinct voucher values.

Importing prize vouchers example

To import a file, click on the Import Voucher button on the toolbar.

This brings up the Voucher File Import Wizard.

Select a file to import using the Select button.  Navigate to the file you wish to use and click Open:

You will see a preview of how the import wizard will interpret the file. 

• Specify which column of the file matches the code, value and expiry value, and select the correct date format from the drop-down list. 
• If the file contains column headers in the first row click on the First row column headers check box.

Click the Next button to confirm the mappings.

Any errors at this stage, such as an invalid date format, will be reported and the file and/or mappings can be corrected before retrying.

If the file and mapping pass these checks you will then be asked to map the voucher to the value.  Each voucher value can be mapped to one prize.

There must be a prize voucher defined in Prize Manager for every value found in the file or you will not be able to proceed.  Map each of the values to a prize voucher and click on Next.

Click Next again and the file data is imported:

There will be a summary of the prize vouchers imported, and any duplicate voucher codes (or voucher URLs) in the import file that have already been imported for the prize.

When you click Close and return to the Prize Manager screen you can see that the voucher summary has been updated.

The voucher summary will also be updated whenever prize vouchers are redeemed by panellists.  The voucher summary ignores the expiry date, so unclaimed vouchers may include those that have expired.

Note that prize vouchers are not reserved when a prize is claimed, only when they are redeemed.

Vouchers can be used right up until the end of their expiry date, but cannot be claimed after this date.

Edit and existing prize

To edit an existing prize, select the prize either by clicking on the prize name within the Prize Manager screen, or by checking the box next to the name and selecting Properties from the toolbar.  The Edit Prize dialog will be displayed and changes can be made to any of the fields.

Save changes by clicking on the OK button, or click Cancel to cancel any changes.

How prizes are displayed in Q_Community

The list of prizes available to a panellist can be displayed on the Q_Community website using the MARSC Prize Claim web part.

The screen shots shown for Q_Community are just an example of how the website could look using the MARSC web parts – the exact design and functionality will be different on your website.

If the panellist clicks on the prize name to get more details, they will be shown the Prize Details screen which shows the large image and the prize notes.

If the panellist has enough reward points they may click on Add to add the prize to their Prize Basket.  The prize can then be viewed using the MARSC My Prize Basket web part.

The final stage in claiming the prize is to click Redeem.

Redeeming prize vouchers

Prize vouchers can be added to the prize basket as long as the quantity of vouchers requested is available within the expiry date.

Prize vouchers can be claimed and redeemed right up until the last day of their expiry date, but cannot be claimed or redeemed after this date.

Note that prize vouchers are not reserved when they are added to the prize basket.  Vouchers are only reserved when they are redeemed using the MARSC My Prize Basket web part.  Depending on the how the web part is defined, the number of vouchers currently available can be shown:

It is possible that there may no longer be the quantity of vouchers available that the panellist originally claimed.  This could be because some vouchers have now exceeded their expiry date, or have been redeemed by other panellists in the time between the panellist adding the prize to their prize basket and redeeming it.

Deleting prizes

Prizes may be deleted from Prize Manager, but are not permanently removed from the database.  Deleted prizes will not be displayed by the MARSC Prize Claim web part. 

This is known as a soft-delete.  Deleting a prize in this way means that it can be un-deleted if necessary at a later stage.  This can be useful as a way of making a prize temporarily unavailable.  Historical prize data will also be retained.

A prize cannot be deleted while it is in the process of being claimed by a panellist i.e. while it is in a Prize Basket.

To delete a prize select it by clicking on the check box next to the prize name, then click on Delete in the toolbar.

The prize will disappear from the screen.

By default, Prize Manager does not show deleted prizes.  To see the deleted prizes select the Show Deleted check box on the toolbar.  Any deleted prizes will be shown in red.

More than one prize may be deleted at a time by selecting more than one prize before clicking on Delete.

Undo deleted prizes

Prizes that have been deleted can be made available again by un-deleting.

To un-delete a prize select it by clicking on the check box next to the prize name, then click on Undo Delete in the toolbar.

The deleted prize will now be available to be claimed.

More than one prize may be un-deleted at a time by selecting more than one prize before clicking on Undo Delete.

Sorting Prizes

There are two methods of sorting prizes within Prize Manager. 

Prizes can be sorted alphabetically by Name or Reward Points by clicking on the appropriate column header.  This method of sorting has only a temporary effect which lasts until you have has finished using Prize Manager.  It has no effect on the sort order when using the MARSC Prize Claim web part.

To change the default order that prizes are shown when using the MARSC Prize Claim web part, the Sort function on the toolbar can be used.

More complex ordering and/or prize filtering can also be done using the data filter properties of the MARSC Prize Claim web part.

From the Prize Manager screen click on Sort on the toolbar.

A dialog box will appear showing a list of prizes.  Deleted prizes will also be shown in red.

To change the sort order use one or more of the sorting options.

Once you are satisified with the order click on the OK button, or click Cancel to leave the order as it was.  Prizes in Q_Community will now be displayed in the specified order.

Note that if the MARSC Prize Claim web part uses customised data filter options, then sorting prizes within Prize Manager may have no effect, as the web part options will over-ride it.