Contest

Default settings for contests, entry forms, voting rules, anti-fraud checks, and verification codes.

The Contest tab defines default behaviors for entry submissions, voting mechanics, vote frequency limits, anti-fraud telemetry, and one-time verification codes (tokens). These settings act as global defaults and can be overridden within individual contest settings.

Entry Form Options

• Entry Count (app_forms_per_competition) — Maximum number of entries a single contestant can submit to a contest (default: 1).

• Entry Approval (competition_apps_approve) — Default moderation workflow for entries: None (all moderated), New (new submissions auto-approved), Changed (edits auto-approved), or All (no moderation).

• Notification Emails (notification_emails) — Email addresses to receive submission notifications when entry moderation is active.

• Additional Photos (competition_multiple_photos) — Enables uploading extra gallery photos displayed alongside the main photo or video entry.

• Photos Limit (competition_multiple_photos_limit) — Maximum number of additional gallery photos allowed per entry (default: 5).

• Total Entries Limit (competition_total_entries_limit) — Global cap on the total number of approved entries allowed in the contest (0 = unlimited).

• Guest Entry Creator (competition_app_forms_user) — Selects the default Joomla user account assigned as author when submissions by unregistered guests are enabled.

• Captcha (appform_show_captcha) — Shows captcha protection on the entry submission form for guest users (supports Joomla Captcha plugins, Turnstile, reCAPTCHA).

• Contestant IP (competition_entry_form_ip) — Stores the submitter's IP address with the entry for audit and anti-spam inspection in the backend.

Voting Options

• Enable Rating (enable_rating) — Global toggle enabling voting functionality in active contests.

• Vote Mode (vote_mode) — Choose between two voting mechanics:

  • Vote (Simple) — Standard one-click vote incrementing the entry's vote counter by 1.

  • Rating (Score) — Star/score-based evaluation where voters submit a numerical rating.

• Rating Max (rating_max) — Defines the rating scale when Vote Mode is set to Rating: 1 - 5 stars or 1 - 10 stars.

• Count Past Votes (count_past_votes) — When enabled, votes cast in previous voting stages remain included in the current standings. When disabled, only votes cast within the current active voting period count (ideal for multi-stage tournaments).

• Vote for Own Entry (vote_own_participant) — Allows or forbids contestants from voting for their own entries.

• Unvote Period (vote_unvote_period) — Grace period in minutes during which a voter can retract or change their vote (0 disables unvoting).

• Vote Modal Confirmation (vote_modal_form) — Displays a confirmation modal dialog before casting a vote: Off, Guests only, or All voters.

Contest Voting Options

• Max Votes per Contest (competition_allowed_votes) — Total number of votes an individual voter can cast across the entire contest (0 = unlimited).

• Vote Frequency (cvote_frequency) — Preset interval between votes in the contest: No limit, 1 hour, 6 hours, 12 hours, 1 day, 1 week, 1 month.

• Custom Vote Frequency (cvote_frequency_custom) & Mode (cvote_frequency_mode) — Custom interval value and unit (seconds, minutes, hours, days) overriding preset frequency.

Entry Voting Options

• Max Votes per Entry (participant_allowed_votes) — Maximum number of votes a single voter can cast for the same entry (0 = unlimited).

• Vote Frequency (vote_frequency) — Preset interval between repeat votes for the same entry: 1 hour, 6 hours, 12 hours, 1 day (default), 1 week, 1 month.

• Custom Vote Frequency (vote_frequency_custom) & Mode (vote_frequency_mode) — Custom interval value and unit (seconds, minutes, hours, days).

Voting Check Options (Anti-Fraud)

NorrCompetition features multi-layered voter identification to safeguard contests against voting manipulation:

• Check IP (vote_check_ip) — Checks the voter's IP address against existing vote records.

• Check IP + Fingerprint (vote_check_ip_fingerprint) — Evaluates the combined IP and browser device fingerprint (active when standalone IP check is disabled).

• Check Fingerprint (vote_check_fingerprint) — Evaluates client browser/device fingerprinting independently.

• Check Cookie (vote_check_cookie) — Sets a secure tracking cookie in the voter's browser.

• Cookie Expiration (cookie_expire_time) — Cookie validity duration in days (default: 365 days).

• Tracking Data (vote_track_data) — Logs detailed voter telemetry (User Agent, operating system, screen resolution, browser language, platform) to the Votes Log for forensic review.

Verification Code Options (Vote Tokens)

Enforces vote confirmation via one-time verification codes (OTP) delivered via email (plg_competition_token_email):

• Verification Code Required (vote_token_required) — Enforces OTP verification: Off, Guests only, or All voters.

• Code Length (vote_token_length) — Number of digits in the generated verification code (range: 4 to 8, default: 6).

• Code Expiration (vote_token_expires) — Code lifetime in minutes before expiration (range: 5 to 60, default: 15).

• Max Attempts (vote_token_max_attempts) — Maximum failed verification code attempts before the session is locked (range: 3 to 10, default: 5).

• Resend Cooldown (vote_token_resend_cooldown) — Waiting period in seconds before a voter can request another code (range: 30 to 300, default: 60s).

• Max Resends (vote_token_max_resends) — Maximum code resend requests permitted per voting attempt (range: 1 to 5, default: 3).

• Flood Window (vote_token_flood_window) — Time window in seconds for rate-limiting verification requests (default: 3600s / 1 hour).

• Max Requests per IP (vote_token_max_per_ip) — Maximum OTP generation requests allowed per IP address within the flood window (default: 10).

• Max Requests per Recipient (vote_token_max_per_recipient) — Maximum OTP generation requests allowed per email address within the flood window (default: 5).