2011 SPF Community Awards
Deadline for nominations: November 28th, 2011
Every day of the year the Sitepoint Community Forums are bustling with questions, advice and debates covering every area of Web Design, Development and the ins and outs of doing business online. We’re lucky to have a community full of knowledgeable, friendly and helpful members, who are more than happy to share their experiences, or just to join in the conversation. Each year we like to take a little time to thank some of these members for their contributions over the past twelve months.
Whether it’s the person who has provided the most answers, the one who is involved in the most discussions, or the one providing the most thought provoking topics within the forums, who do you think added the most value to the forums over the last year?
You may nominate up to two people per award. Note: You do not HAVE to nominate two, but sometimes there is just more than one person you feel is deserving of the award - this is their chance to shine too!
Note:
For a person to be eligible for an award, they must have been a member of the SitePoint Forums for at least three months and have been active in the appropriate sub-forum at some point during 2011.
We will be verifying that the nominee actually wants to be in the running for the awards. While this is all in good fun and we want to recognize achievement and participation in the awards, there are those that would rather not participate for one reason or another. But we will look at each nominee!
Content For Your Site
Content Writer of the Year
“Location, Location, Location”? Not in today’s web. Now it’s “Content, Content, Content!” The best design in the world will fail if the content is not there, so the Content Writing forum is there to help SPF members build effective and engaging content. Please nominate the members that you think have best helped others build their content and make their websites grow.
Multimediac of the Year
If a picture is worth a thousand words, how many words are a video worth? How about a game? A podcast? Whatever is used, the multimedia content forums help our members get that content right. Please nominate the members you think have best helped others provide effective multimedia content to their audience.
Photographer of the Year
Imagery forms one of the foundations for web design, and one of the most powerful elements is the use of photography. This award is for the member who has displayed the best eye for photography this year, displaying dazzling images, whether through one of the monthly memes or just in showing off their portfolio.
Social Media Guru of the Year
Social Media has become one of the most powerful tools in any web developers arsenal, but using it correctly can potentially make or break a site. Nominate the person(s) you think has the best understanding of social media AND has helped guide others in finding their way into that whole other world.
Design Your Site
CSS Guru of the Year
CSS is one of those banes of the design world. You’ve got to know the ins and outs of each browser and how CSS plays with each one. You’ve got to know the box model, the IE6 annoyances, how the doctype plays havoc, etc. Who do you think can make css get up and dance? Please nominate the members that who you think have made the greatest contributions to the CSS forum.
COLOR=#0099ffHTML Guru of the Year[/COLOR]
Where is a table effective? Do you need a div or a span or a p? What is the difference between ul, ol and dd? What is XHTML and where should it be used? These questions (and more) are what is covered by the (X)HTML guru. Please nominate the members that you think have best shown that they know these topics and beyond, and can share (and has done so) with everyone at SPF.
Graphic Design Guru of the Year
What makes a good graphic? What is color theory? What Font is used in the logo for Flickr? Wanna have a battle? These are the types of questions asked within the Graphics Forums. Whether it’s helping to build a specific image, or just showing off a new tip they’ve learned, please nominate the members you think have best helped the members of SPF to develop their graphical skills.
The Dan Schulz Award for Web Design Guru of the Year
There is a lot more to a solid design than just the placement of images. Web design incorporates all the skills. You’ve got to know some graphics design, you’ve got to make CSS be able to at least hum if not sing, you’ve got to be able to know when a p element is a better use than a div. You’ve got to know about accessibility and usability and balance. Please nominate the members you think have shown the best grasp of all these skills, and have been able to help others improve their own skills.
Program Your Site
PHP Guru of the Year
This award goes to the member who has made the greatest contribution to the PHP and PHP Application Design Forums. These forums are among our most popular at SitePoint, so whether you’re a novice or are enthralled by the depths of OOP and making PHP sing, please nominate the members you think have made the greatest PHP contribution.
JavaScript Guru of the Year
This award goes to the member who has made the greatest contribution to the JavaScript Forum. Who has the helped the most with AJAX, or has made your JavaScript efficient and effective? Please nominate the members you think have made the greatest JavaScript contribution.
Database Guru of the Year
This award goes to the member who has made the greatest contribution to the Database and MySQL Forums. This can be the master of SQL, the performance expert, or the database administrator who has helped you with installation and database management issues. Please nominate the members you think have made the greatest Database contribution.
Programming Guru of the Year
This award goes to the member who has made the greatest contribution in any of the following forums: Classic ASP, ASP.NET, Java and JSP, Cold Fusion, Ruby and “Perl, Python and Other Languages”. Please nominate the members you think have made the greatest Programming contribution.
Host Your Site
Web Hosting Guru of the Year
Web hosting is required for each and every website. Whether internet or intranet, hosting is the only way to get your website online. Please nominate the members whose contribution you feel have most helped other members find (or provide) the best web hosting solution for their website’s needs and crosses OS, server technology, server-side and client-side scripting, databases, et al.
Server Guru of the Year
Internet (and intranet) servers take on two basic flavors: IIS and Apache, each in their multiple active versions. This “choice” opens a world of problems as people must choose one over the other AND configure it to meet their needs. Please nominate the members you feel have made the most helpful contribution to the discussion of Web Servers.
Apache Guru of the Year
Apache is the dominant web server for good reason: It’s inexpensive (open source), it operates identically across multiple OS’s (there are WAMP and LAMP programs built around Apache) and it’s proven its power around the world many times over. Apache configuration isn’t tricky but there are a few tweaks that must be made to the configuration file to allow you to setup your test server (or manage a production server). Apache’s core features allow webmasters plenty of creative manipulation yet using Apache’s .htaccess (configuration by directory) files, even further tweaking is possible and the gains can be trememdous! Please nominate the members you feel have made the best contribution to the Apache forum.
Domain Guru of the Year
Domain names are the underpinning of your website. Who would go to wxyz54321.com to use as a search engine? All you have to do is know that “Google” is now a verb, not just a domain name, to understand the power of a domain name and the identity it brings to a website and the company it supports! How to select a domain name, where to register and other tips are offered in the Domains forum. Please nominate the members you feel have made the most helpful contribution to the discussion of Domain Names.
Manage Your Site
SEO Guru of the Year
One of our most popular forums of all - both for the legitimate and the not so legitimate. Unfortunately those in the know seem to spend more time dispelling myths than anything else, but if that’s not a good reason to earn an award, I don’t know what is! So if you have spotted someone that knows what they’re talking about, takes the time to read a thread before replying and has the patience of a saint, then put their name forward!
Marketing Guru of the Year
Ah - the worthy topic of Online Marketing is one that shouldn’t be ignored by any of us. It’s only the truly talented among us that can take a website and get rich off it. If someone has caught your eye by handing out good advice, handy tips or is just a generally welcoming and knowledgeable presence around the place, then please make sure you nominate them.
eCommerce Guru of the Year
Ugh - the mere mention of eCommerce freaks out the majority of us, so those that do know what they are talking about a few and far between! If you’ve spotted one such guru, make sure you nominate them.
Business Guru of the Year
It’s one thing to know how to design a pretty site, another to have the skills to write it, but knowing how to utilise that site to it’s maximum capacity as part of a viable business is a skill that I think we’d all like to have. If there is anyone lurking around that has outstanding knowledge when it comes to the business side of web development, then they deserve a nomination in this category.
Ad & Affiliate Guru of the Year
You’ve got to respect someone with backbone enough to put their hand up and say that they are an expert in those things that are the bain of our lives - yup, I’m talking about ads. If someone has caught your eye then make sure they get the recognition they deserve and put their name forward.
Community Awards
Community Spirit Award
The Forums are nothing without the people that spend their lives…erm time visiting the various areas of the forums. And community spirit is that feeling of helpfulness and warmness which makes a place feel like home, even if you’ve never laid eyes on the people in person. Please nominate the person(s) that have demonstrated the best community spirit over the past year.
Computer Helper of the Year
Whether your machine of choice is a Mac or a PC running some version of Windows or Linux, everyone has issues with their machines from time to time. Please nominate the members you feel have been the most helpful in resolving the various issues the SPF community members have encountered.
Staff Member of the Year
This award is open to any mentor, advisor, team leader or administrator of SitePoint Forums. Whether it’s starting valuable topics of conversation, being helpful to the most members, or being the most welcoming - what traits do you find most endearing and important in our staff? Please nominate the staff members you feel have added the most value to the forums.
Member of the Year
What SitePoint considers the most prestigious award of all - the member of the year. This member has made the most memorable, positive impact on the forums. This person will have been active throughout the forums, been helpful, engaging and has left behind the best impressions on the other members of the forums. They are embodiments of all that a community should be. Please nominate the members you think have best reflected the spirit of SPF over the past year.
** NOTE ** No staff members are eligible for the Member of the Year award - if they have worn or wear an orange, green, blue, red or black badge at some point over the past year, they don’t count.
