Ask the Experts, Question 14:

Are status pages helpful and what details should they include?

by Geetha Thirunakkarasu, Webmistress, Geetha Zone Design
15 November 2002

Print Version

Dave Selig, Webmaster Ultraweb Awards

Editor's Choice

Ms. Thirunakkarasu poses a very interesting and challenging question. Over the past several years, I have visited many fine programs with and without status pages. I do not believe that they are essential for an award program, but they can add interest, utility and interactivity to one.

Status pages come in at least two varieties. One type displays information about the status of individual applications. Another provides information about the status of your award program and administrative information.

Individual Status Pages

An individual status page is especially useful if your award program attracts a large volume of applicants and you do not expect to review applications within a short time. It informs your existing applicants that their applications are being reviewed or will be reviewed within a certain time. It also shows potential applicants that your award program is active.

A status page could include basic information such as when the application was received, when the review will commence, when the review is expected to be completed, and when the review has been completed.

I recommend keeping the identities of applicants confidential (not showing first or last names or revealing website information). I do not recommend displaying an individual's interim or final results on a status page. If you generally complete your website reviews within a couple of weeks of receiving the applications, an individual status page may be excessive.

Award Program Status Pages

Information about the administrative and statistical status of an award program is fascinating and useful. By looking at the total number of applicants and percentage of those who win your award, a potential applicant can quickly determine whether you have a popular award program and whether you have high, medium, or low expectations and conditions for granting an award.

For example, if your statistics show that only 3 to 5 percent of all applicants win your award, potential applicants are on notice that you expect high quality work from webmasters (even if they do not read your criteria).

Aside from general statistics, it is appropriate to include information about the schedules of your judges, non-active periods, and other relevant information that will keep applicants and other visitors informed about the status of your award program.

Dunja Zeyss, Webmistress
Dream Worker Award

Status pages are helpful because applicants can see how their site evaluations are progressing. They don't have to email the award giver to find out what's happening, which reduces the demands on the award giver's precious time.

A status page should only include the name of the webmaster, the name of the website, and the number of visits to the applicant's site. Details such as the number and date of the application are acceptable, but not necessary. Status pages which only list current applications are also OK, in my opinion.

Status pages which list unsuccessful applicants, especially those with comments such as "no" or "no award," are definitely not acceptable. They are discouraging and demeaning to applicants and should never be used.

Wendy Sears, Webmistress
Assess Risk Web Award

The answer to the question "are status pages helpful" will often depend on two things:

Status pages are provided by award givers to enable their applicants to follow the evaluation process. To this end, they must contain three basic elements:

However, there are additional elements that can be included:

More personalised status pages can provide further information that is accessible to, or only identifiable by, the specific award applicant. For example:

So, how helpful are status pages? If applicants simply want to know whether or not they have gained an award, then status pages are very helpful. Often the alternative is to hear nothing, as many award givers reserve the right to notify winners only. Applicants tend to assume the worst in this situation.

If award applicants are expecting a detailed analysis of their site or an explanation for their failure to attain an award, then they will not find the status page particularly helpful, unless it is personalised. The reality is that personalised status pages are the exception rather than the rule.

Do status pages help award givers? Often they are created to eliminate the need to write to unsuccessful applicants, and they are very helpful in this respect. But if award givers expect to eliminate all enquiries from unsuccessful applicants, then they will find that a status page is not much help, unless they apply a more personalised approach. And even with personalised status pages, the elimination of all enquiries is never guaranteed.

Debra Sharp, Webmistress
Mesweet's Awards

As an award applicant, I think status pages are very helpful. They tell me if my site has actually been seen by an evaluator. As an award giver, I think it's a very nice addition to an program, if you have the time to keep it up to date.

In my opinion, there is a right way and a wrong way to present status pages.

WRONG: Indicating the actual name of the site or the person who applied for the award.

It's already a gut-wrenching feeling when you learn that you didn't win an award. But to let the whole world know that you applied for one and didn't receive it can be quite humiliating.

RIGHT: Using codes or numbers instead of the actual name of the site or the person who applied for the award.

Codes and numbers keep it between the applicant and the evaluation team. The information remains private. Using codes and numbers shows respect and consideration for the feelings of the people who apply for your award, which is the right way to do it.

Due to time constraints, I do not have a status page at my site, although I feel it would be helpful to my applicants. If time ever allows me to create and maintain one, then it would contain the following:

Fabian Lorenzen, Webmaster
El Fabi Awards

There is a lot of controversial discussion these days about the usefulness of status lists, especially in the German speaking awards community. Most people agree that a status list can be very helpful to both awardmasters and applicants. If it's done right, a status list will help to organize an award program and give applicants a clear idea of how their site evaluations are progressing.

Some awardmasters use the status list to provide more than basic information about the date of an application and whether or not the site has been visited. They publish comments about their impressions of the applicant's site, which is causing most of the controversy. People have different opinions about publishing this kind of feedback in public. Some think it should be sent by personal eMail.

In my opinion, it's good to give applicants some feedback about the outcome of their evaluations and, perhaps, a little information about why they were not successful in winning an award. Publishing this feedback in public will give all applicants a better understanding of what it takes to win the award.

However, I don't think it is good to criticize anyone in public. The comments should always be polite and objective, never insulting or supercilious. Applicants want feedback when they apply for an award, so they should be tolerant of suggestions and polite criticism. This doesn't mean they deserve to be treated with disrespect by an awardmaster.

Nikola Kitanovic, Webmaster
Absolut Awards (site closed)

I am both an award giver and an award seeker, and the status list does not mean anything to me personally. It is a temporary fad that was introduced some time ago by European award indexes which don't exist anymore.

Really, if you think about it, do you spend much time on the status list when you visit someone's award program? The answer is clearly "no, I do not!" You spend your time on other pages. I am one of those who would rather spend time studying the mission, criteria and features of the program.

If I applied for some award, would I go back later? Yes, I would. If the program was not interesting to me, I would never have applied for the award. When I visit the program again, I really don't go to see the status list. I just want to take another look at some of the things that interested me during my first visit.

If I win an award, I would rather be notified by email. I don't want to read about it in a status list. Waiting for the email creates an atmosphere of uncertainty and makes the whole process more interesting and mysterious. It's part of the charm of applying for awards, in my opinion.

Paul Moss, Webmaster
HomeGrown Award of Excellence

Are status pages helpful and what details should they include? A nice, tidy little two-part question. Part one: Are status pages helpful? To whom? The award program? Only if they are employed as a tool to keep track of applicants and their progress through the evaluation process, but it's a rather inefficient method. There are spreadsheets and databases that can do the job a lot better and with less effort.

How about the award applicant? Absolutely! A well thought out and maintained status page can be a tremendous help to applicants. How? Simple. If the status page is well planned and maintained, applicants can track their sites' progress ... relieving any suspense. Plain and simple.

Part two: What details should they include? Let's see ...

"Billy-Bob" has submitted his site to "Mary Lou's Marvelous Menagerie" award program and, since "MLMM" has a status page, he is tracking his progress. He really wants this award!

On this particular visit he sees that "Billy-Bob's Beautiful Bananas" has been disqualified. Poor Billy-Bob :( He's not only disappointed, but he is now publicly embarrassed. How can he face his online friends who have supported and encouraged him? What did "MLMM" do wrong? She gave too much information on her status page.

Now back to reality. I don't use a status page. My award program is small and reasonably well known. I get my share of traffic, but not enough for me to justify adding a status page yet. However, I understand the suspense an award applicant goes through, and I know how it feels to not win that much desired award. With this in mind, I believe that a status page should:

The codes will have to be sent to applicants by e-mail. The information presented in the status page should be short, sweet and to the point: Site Code, Application Received, Evaluation in Process and Evaluation Completed. "Billy-Bob" gets the progress information he wants, and his privacy is protected.

Jerry Tucker, Webmaster
JerryD's Online Award Program

Status pages are very important because most award seekers don't keep a list of the award sites they apply to. They can check the status page to see if they have already applied and avoid being rejected due to duplicate applications. Status pages also save award givers time and additional emails.

The status page we use is designed for 3 visits to the applicants' sites, the date they applied, and their URLs. We display a graphic for each visit and indicate whether the evaluation process is completed or pending. This way, award seekers can see where they stand during the process and, hopefully, will not re-apply for the same award.

Vitor Oliveira, Webmaster
BigEye Award Program

As an award program owner, I realize that a "status" page can be a valuable tool if properly incorporated into the awards program. However, they should be designed with the needs of the applicant in mind first.

After someone submits an application for an award, he is left wondering if it has been received or if his site is in the process of being evaluated. If the process takes more than a week, most applicants will begin to get anxious about their status. To relieve this anxiety, award owners can offer a courtesy or status page to keep them informed.

A status page, which applicants can check from time to time, will help to eliminate repeat applications and to maintain peaceful relations. It also allows applicants to see how many sites are in the queue ahead of them. A status page requires a little more effort on the award owner's part, but it adds to the commitment of the award program and shows respect to the applicants.

Applicants will realize they have applied to an awards program that is serious about providing an in-depth evaluation and awarding only those sites which meet the criteria. When compared to less credible award programs, which use the "give away" process and have little or no waiting time, it may encourage them to respect the evaluation process a little more.

Since serious evaluations can take some time, a status page will offer some comfort to applicants while they wait for their evaluations to be completed. Is it worth the effort? I think so, and I will do my best to continue to offer this courtesy.

Dave Edmonds, Webmaster
EddNet Awards (site closed)

Your average status page tells award seekers how far through the review their sites are and when the process will be complete. But is this really telling them any more than they already know? The award program will have already told them the expected time frame for evaluations, and all but the most eager of award seekers will be happy to sit and wait.

To justify the effort put into status pages, they need to offer something extra, something of real benefit for the award seeker. I think AljapaCo Webb Award has done this beautifully with its private feedback from the judges via password access. Now that's useful!

Personally, I do not have the time or resources to create anything more than a list of sites with a review status, and I have come to the conclusion that it would be a waste of my time anyway. I'd be spending a significant amount of time on a resource that would only be of use to very few of my applicants.

75% of my applicants don't bother to read the criteria, and another 20% just read the bare minimum. This leaves a maximum of 5% who are actually serious about winning my award. How many of these applicants will bother to check back after two weeks to find out where their sites are in the review process? I can't say. Not many, I would guess.

Even fewer will find any value in a status page, other than confirmation that their review is underway. A simple e-mail upon receiving their application, restating the evaluation period, will confirm this for them. So my time would be better spent elsewhere.

I'm not dismissing status pages as a bad idea. But in considering their use, you have to ask yourself if the award seeker will gain any real benefit from them. Would your time be better employed elsewhere, such as evaluating sites or providing a more personal service to those who genuinely want to earn your award?