Submit a build

Open Contests in the top menu. Type in the search box to look for a contest by name, or use the theme buttons (Castle, Space, Pirates and so on) to narrow the list down. Every card shows a badge telling you whether the contest is Upcoming, Running or Ended, plus how much time is left.

Open the contest and work through three tabs. About holds the full rules the organizers shared: what counts, what does not, prizes, deadlines. Categories lists what you can enter, sometimes with example images. Scoring lists exactly what the jury hands out points for.

Go to the Submissions tab and click Submit Entry in the top right.

Click the dashed box and pick your photo (PNG, JPEG or WebP, up to 10 MB). You get a preview straight away, and can click Change Image if you grabbed the wrong file.

There is no cropping step here, so crop before you upload. A 4:3 photo fills the entry card and the jury view exactly; anything else gets letterboxed. You can upload only one photo per entry, so pick the shot that shows the build best - there are fields further down for linking a full photo set.

Give your entry a Title - this is what the jury and everyone else sees. Then choose a Category. The category decides who you are compared against, so read the descriptions if you are unsure. A small people icon next to a category name means that this category is collaborative.

The Description is your chance to talk the jury through your submission: the idea behind the build, the techniques you are proud of, or some witty pun. It supports Markdown, so **bold**, *italic*, links and bullet lists all work.

If your build lives on Flickr, Instagram or YouTube, paste the links into the three optional fields at the bottom. They show up on your entry and next to your build in the jury view, so a jury member who wants a closer look at that hidden interior can find it.

Click Submit Entry. The button stays greyed out until you have added a photo and filled in the required fields, so if it will not click, scroll up and look for the red hints.

After submitting you land back on the contest page and your build appears in the Submissions tab with your name on it.

Entries cannot be edited. If you picked the wrong category or a better photo turned up, open your entry, scroll down and use Delete Submission - you have to type the entry title to confirm - then submit again. This only works while the contest is still running.

Once the organizer publishes the standings, a Results tab appears on the contest page. Your own entry is highlighted, and underneath it you get your points broken down per criterion - so you can see whether you lost out on presentation or on parts usage.

Scores are averaged across the jury: each criterion is the average of what every jury member gave, and your total is those averages added up.