Whenever I take a poke around the main site where all the submitted sprites end up, I see the words "Submit" near the top of the page in bold letters. Obviously, if you were to click it, it would take you to a section of the site where you have the chance to submit your own sprites to the main site. Considering this, I find it extremely odd if you take into account how the general submission process works.

You see, if anyone wants to submit a sprite sheet to the main site, they would actually have to go to the submissions board and post the submission in question in a thread. Then, after the administrative staff says their thoughts on the matter, the sheet is (usually) approved and the team puts it up on the site. If anyone is given the means to bypass the critique process and directly submit the sheet onto the site, then what's the point of the submission boards? If a lot of other users figured out about that submission button, it makes me wonder why there are not as many submissions as there are now. Heck! If the submission button works how I think it does, then this site would be filled to the brim with shoddy custom sprites that have yet to be critiqued in order for them to reach their full potential.

As much as I would like to try out this submission button for myself, I know better than to actually go through with it. When I was about to submit a custom Mario item sprite sheet by using this button, I stopped myself at the last minute because I was afraid of what would happen if I were to make an "unauthorized" upload of my sprite sheet instead of just letting the friendly staff of this site give me their "seal of approval." As a result, I don't know anything else about the submit button you see on the main site.

Still, it does make me curious about why such a button exists. If the site just leaves a way for any registered user to submit sprites, then there has to be some kind of catch, right? Besides, a tool like this feels morel like what should only be in the hands of the administration team instead of the common user.

The submitted sheets are submitted to a temporary hidden location until they are approved or denied by the administrators. Approved sheets are then moved automatically by the system into the actual database. You don't have to worry about "unauthorized" or "shoddy" sheets showing up because they are viewed by the mods first.

You wouldn't get in trouble for anything you submitted that was subpar. At the very worst it would simply be unapproved.

Interesting thought, Drshanps! I might have to try submitting my sheets that way for now on, but would the staff rather have me getting them approved the "traditional" way instead?

From what I was told, using the submission button makes things easier for the admins, since all they have to do is click a button to approve it rather than uploading each file to the correct location individually, which is time consuming when you consider how many they have to do.

Actually while we're on this topic I have a question; I've never had any of my submissions denied so I don't really know, but do users get some sort of message when their submissions are disapproved, telling them why? If not it seems like a pretty big flaw in the system compared to submitting them via the forum, since in forum topics people can tell you what needs improved on in order to make it acceptable.

(11-07-2013, 01:42 PM)Drshnaps Wrote: From what I was told, using the submission button makes things easier for the admins, since all they have to do is click a button to approve it rather than uploading each file to the correct location individually, which is time consuming when you consider how many they have to do.

Actually while we're on this topic I have a question; I've never had any of my submissions denied so I don't really know, but do users get some sort of message when their submissions are disapproved, telling them why? If not it seems like a pretty big flaw in the system compared to submitting them via the forum, since in forum topics people can tell you what needs improved on in order to make it acceptable.

Definitely use the site's submission system - it was created for a reason. The old upload method was inefficient and dated but we kept the boards for two reasons. First, so you could continue to keep a running list of your sheets if you so desired and second, so you could get feedback from the community if you were interested in it (either before uploading or after having a sheet rejected).

As for rejected sheets, yes, a PM is sent with the reason and an optional custom message (that is almost always filled out) explaining why.

I'm pretty sure you get a PM when your sheet is declined, with reasons why. You can turn off acceptance PMs in the control panel, but you should always get one if it's declined.

As for the submission process itself, Drshnaps is pretty much spot-on. Obviously I don't know exactly how it works, but when it was introduced Petie explained it pretty thoroughly. But yeah, submission threads are unnecessary, at least for sprite rips (not sure about customs). If you're getting lots of declined sheets you'll probably want to make one to get critique, but they're not required for the submission process itself.

Personally, I still post in my submission thread just so that I have a record of submissions. Also, due to my submissions having instant approval, I like to show what I've submitted to see if someone might see something I can improve on. I may be experienced, but I can still slip up and appreciate any advice.

Ninja'd by Petie just when I finished writing this, but whatever.