In addition to selecting pre-built Challenge Templates, you can also build your own Challenges from scratch.
Access to this feature depends on your organization's plan limits and your user permissions. If you aren't able to create your Challenge, get in touch with the manager of your PreprLabs organization account. Your permissions may need to be upgraded.
In the header bar, hover over Create, and select Create a Challenge. This will open a popup window.
Here, you can select a template, or choose to make one from scratch. Select Create from Scratch. This will take you to the Challenge creation interface.
This interface is divided in 9 sections:
Challenge details: Basic information about your Challenge.
Timeline: Your Challenge's deadlines.
Incentives: Prizes for participation and more.
Pitch & assessment: Expected format for projects, plus assessment criteria.
Invite users: Notify users to join your Challenge, or add them directly.
Sponsors: Inform participants about partners and sponsors for your Challenge.
Agreement: Intellectual property agreements between you and your participants.
Labs & Resources: Which Labs you want to attach this Challenge to, and which Resources you want to attach to this Challenge.
Campus Connect: Whether you want to make this Challenge available through Campus Connect.
Step 1: Challenge Details
The Challenge details section contains basic info about your Challenge, including:
Title, description, and banner image
Privacy settings
Admission requirements
Maximum number of submissions
For more details on the fields in the Challenge details section, see this article.
Step 2: Timeline
The Timeline section lets you set deadlines for your Challenge. There are two kinds of deadlines: Restricted Dates and Flexible Dates.
Restricted Dates: These are fixed, absolute deadlines.
Flexible Dates: These are deadlines based on when the participant started the Challenge.
For more details on this step, see this article.
Step 3: Incentives
The Incentives section lets you set up awards for participation and outstanding work. To learn more about this section, see this article.
Step 4: Pitch & Assessment
The Pitch & Assessment section lets you set what written materials participants need to provide in their project.
The Pitch Template dropdown hosts a variety of default options, in addition to:
Any pitch template: Lets participants choose which pitch they want to use.
Create a new pitch template: This allows you to build a custom pitch template.
For more details on this section, see this article.
Step 5: Invite Users
The Invite Users step lets you add participants to your new Challenge. This feature works for people on and off the platform, for a smoother integration into your workplace or classroom.
There are two controls for inviting users: By Email, and From Network
Invite Users by Email
Selecting 'By Email' lets you invite people to join your Challenge using their email addresses. Email invitees don't need to be on PreprLabs to act on their invitation: when they create an account using their email, they will gain access to your Challenge.
If you have a large number of emails to invite, the Upload CSV/Copy feature lets you load them via a CSV file. The Download Sample CSV button provides the column and file structure that our invite system expects.
The Edit Invitation Email section allows you to edit the subject line and message your contacts receive when you send your invitation.
The final set of radio buttons let you select between Auto Add and Ask for Permission. These have the following effects:
Auto Add: Automatically makes invitee a member of this Challenge.
Ask for Permission: Waits until invitee accepts before making them a member of this Challenge.
Invite Users from Network
Selecting Invite Users from Network lets you search for invitees by their PreprLabs username. Like the email invitation option, it has fields for your message, and lets you decide whether to automatically add the invitee or wait for them to accept the invitation.
Step 6: Sponsors
The Sponsors section lets you communicate which organizations have are supporting the deployment of your Challenge. These organizations may be funders, they may be contributing prizes, or they may be contributing learning materials.
You can detail who your sponsors are using the following fields:
Search sponsor accounts: This field lets you search through existing PreprLabs organization accounts to find your Challenge sponsors.
Add new sponsor: This sub-section lets you specify a sponsor who is not on PreprLabs yet. It consists of the following fields.
Sponsor name: The name of the sponsor organization you want to add.
External link: The website of the sponsor organization you want to add.
Image: The sponsor organization's logo.
You can add as many sponsors as you want using the 'Add Sponsor' button.
Step 7: Agreement
The Agreement section lets you provide a legal agreement between you and your participants.
Step 8: Labs & Resources
The Labs & Resources section lets you select which Lab you want to attach this Challenge to, and which Resources you want to use to support it.
For more information on Resources, see this article.
Step 9: Campus Connect
This final section lets you decide whether to make your Challenge available on Campus Connect.
For more information on Campus Connect, see this article.