Sorting FAQ
LATEST EDIT: 5/6/15 by Jess/rhye
For Those Being Sorted:
How do I get Sorted?
How do I post my application?
When will my application be posted?
I've made a mistake in my application and need to edit it, but it hasn't been posted yet.
When will I be Sorted?
Can I screen my votes? What about piggyback voting?
How do I avoid getting Muggle'd/No-Voted? (with examples!)
What can I do if I get a lot of "Muggle"/"No Vote"s?
Why can't I reply to comments?
I'm not happy with my House. Is it possible for me to switch Houses?
I keep getting a message saying the queue is full when I try to submit.
I have an additional question/problem that isn't covered here.
For Those Sorting:
Top Sorter levels
How to use the different votes
Tips on interpreting an applicant's answer
For Those Being Sorted:
How do I get Sorted?
It's easy -- just copy and paste the application from the platform_934 profile, and answer all of the questions with as much detail as possible. Do not remove the bold tag or the LJ cut -- however, you may change the LJ cut text if you wish.
You also must be a member of platform_934 to submit your application.
back to top
How do I post my application?
On the platform_934 profile page, at the top there's a menu in blue ("Leave," "Watch," "View Friends Feed," etc.); click "Post".
click for larger view
Copy + paste your completed application in the big textbox, where you would normally type an entry. There is a button at the bottom that says "Post To Platform_934"; click that.
click for larger view
Your entry has been submitted!
Occasionally, you will receive a message telling you that the queue is full; if this occurs, you'll have to wait until more applications are posted to try again.
We strongly encourage you to keep a copy of your application on your hard drive, or as a private entry in your journal, somewhere. Anywhere. It will save us both a lot of trouble if something happens to go wrong with the application process.
back to top
When will my application be posted?
Applications will be posted in the order in which they are received. There will be no more than 15 applications dropped per week, in batches of no more than 5 per day starting on Monday UTC. Even if there are less than 15 applications in the queue, applications must be received no later than Monday at 2:00 AM UTC (timezone converter) to be included in the current week's sorts. If they are received after the Monday deadline, they will be dropped the week after.
Once you've submitted an application and the votingmod has taken a look at it, they'll be sending you a PM through LiveJournal letting you know when your app will be dropped. You may want to have LJ PMs enabled, if only after you submit your application!
back to top
I've made a mistake in my application and need to edit it, but it hasn't been posted yet.
You have two options here. One is to contact the votingmod and have them delete your application that's currently in the queue. When you've made all of your corrections, you can resubmit.
Your second option is to wait for your application to be posted and then edit it. Please note that once your application is posted publicly, it can no longer be deleted. It is also advised that if you go with the second option, try not to delete large chunks of your application, as people who read and sort you right away might become confused during the process of your edit.
back to top
When will I be Sorted?
You will be Sorted the Monday after your application was posted, around 2:00 - 3:00 AM UTC (timezone converter). The votingmod will post the final comment in your app stating which House you've been sorted into, a House graphic, and a link to your common room and hogwartsishome sub-communities. Once you see that message, you can join your common room, start sorting others, and begin participating in hogwartsishome and all of its sub-communities.
You'll be sent an invitation to hogwartsishome (and be sure to accept it) by the Mod; it is mandatory that you join to participate in the rest of our communities.
back to top
Can I screen my votes? What about piggyback voting?
You may not screen any of the comments on your application. However, you may set the privacy of your application to friends-only if you so choose.
As far as piggyback voting, the expectation is that voters will always give careful and thoughtful consideration of their vote, as was expected of the voters who voted on their app. Of course, if you feel like you truly don't belong in the House that you were Sorted into, you may always submit an appeal after one month.
back to top
How do I avoid getting Muggle'd/No-Voted?
To avoid No Votes: Elaborate, elaborate, elaborate! We cannot stress enough how much we appreciate longer answers. Ramble! Use real-life anecdotes! We actually want to get to know you!
While we don't expect you to write a novel, you should be aware that platform_934 is not like a typical stamping community -- you are being Sorted into your House based on your personality, and it is in that House where you will reside and interact for the remainder of your days at hogwartsishome. We obviously want to know more about you than you would normally provide in a simple stamping application. To get a good idea of the length that your application should be, take a look at the examples below. Gauge your own length based on these! (And you can always check the tags for more examples, of course.)
Examples:
Great! This applicant was Sorted.
...Not so great. This applicant was No-Voted.
To avoid Muggle votes: Be genuine. hogwartsishome is not an RP community; we're not looking for either characters or caricatures. Fill the application out to the best of your ability without lying about who you are, or tailoring your answers to fit into a certain House. If you are pretending from day one, how can you expect to really feel at home with the rest of your House? It's your own best interests to be honest, and to let us sort you as you are.
Bottom line: Don't push for a certain House. If we see it, we'll call you on it.
back to top
What can I do if I get a lot of "Muggle"/"No Vote"s?
Again, there are two options:
1) You can edit your application and provide the necessary details. The votingmod will post an elaboration notification to the community on Thursdays, providing you somehow let them know you've edited your application. After that's been posted, most members will come back to reevaluate you so as long as you make your edits before Thursday.
After you edit your app, make sure to leave a message saying you've edited somewhere in your application (preferably in the subject line, the beginning, or the end of it, OUTSIDE of the livejournal cut). Or you can contact the votingmod directly.
2) Submit a new and improved application. It will be dropped the following week, if you receive a majority of No Votes on your current application. Note: Muggle-voted applications must wait two weeks before they can reapply.
back to top
Why can't I reply to comments?
In the past, replies to comments have caused drama. (End of story.) Also, it's easier for the Mod to tally votes when they doesn't have to sift through so many extraneous comments. If you think you're being flamed, do not reply -- contact the votingmod and they will take care of it (if they haven't caught it already).
back to top
I'm not happy with my House. Is it possible for me to switch Houses?
You can always submit an appeal; simply go to the community hih_appeals (but only after one month of participation in your current House), and follow the instructions listed in the profile.
back to top
I keep getting a message saying the queue is full when I try to submit.
If you see this message, this can mean one of two things:
1) The queue is currently at its limit. Please save your application and contact the votingmod for more information on when the queue will be open again.
2) You have already sent an application into the queue which has not yet been approved or rejected.
New applications are posted every Monday - Wednesday at a limit of five per day, so please be patient. Remember, you will be sent a PM by the votingmod as to when you can expect your app to drop.
back to top
I have an additional question/problem that isn't covered here.
Contact the Mod through the votingmod account, email, or the current term's Comments and Queries post.
back to top
For Those Sorting:
What are the Top Sorter levels?
The top sorter levels are as follows:
1 to 5applications - 30 points/15 knuts
6 to 10 applications - 45 points/22 knuts
11 and over - 60 points/30 knuts
These will be calculated by your Prefects each week.
back to top
What votes should I be using?
Generally, you simply vote for whichever House you feel the applicant fits into: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, or Slytherin. Simple, right?
The other variations of voting are "Muggle" or "No Vote". When should you use these?
A No Vote is given when either the applicant doesn't give enough information to base your vote on, or when you simply can't get a good grip on where they belong. IMPORTANT: This vote is not for: house pushing (see the "Muggle" explanation below), incorrect coding/html, grammatical errors, etc. This vote should be based solely on not getting a feel for a particular House from an app. The votingmod will take care of anything else.
A Muggle vote is only used when an applicant is pushing for one particular House and/or bashing the other Houses. However, keep in mind that using keywords does not necessarily equal pushing! Pushing for Slytherin might entail details such as, "I'd take over the world and kill all the Muggles" or, "I'd marry Draco and have tons of Draco babies!!!" These are our infamous Muggles. Do not Muggle someone just because they say they have great ambition; try and read into where that ambition comes from, what their motivations are, and so on.
back to top
How should I be interpreting an applicant's answer?
More often than not, people vote on the feel they get from an applicant. One can answer the application with all the buzzwords in the book, yet explain their answers in a very Gryffindor/Slytherin/Ravenclaw/Hufflepuff sort of way. An example is below:
An old question that we had was "Which would you rather have? Friends/Family or Money/Success?" Someone might expect a Slytherin answer to be "money/success" and a Hufflepuff answer to be "friends/family". But look at the reasoning behind each one of these answers!
"Money/Success, because my friends and family could really use it. I'd try my best to be as successful as I possibly could so that I could help everyone else out. After all, if I don't choose friends/family, it's not like they'll disappear. Money doesn't disappear when you put the latter forward!"
That is a very Hufflepuff answer! It centers around the loyalty of the applicant to its core people.
"Friends/Family, they're already rich enough to live off of for the rest of my life if I wanted it! Of course I'd go far on my own, but honestly, why choose when they have both?"
That's a Slytherin-esque answer. It's very deviant and cunning, and it takes into account that one doesn't have to always choose! ;)
ALWAYS REMEMBER:
Applicants cannot respond to your votes; it's in the platform_934 rules. Therefore, you need to be courteous. Remember, you were Sorted once, too!
back to top
For Those Being Sorted:
How do I get Sorted?
How do I post my application?
When will my application be posted?
I've made a mistake in my application and need to edit it, but it hasn't been posted yet.
When will I be Sorted?
Can I screen my votes? What about piggyback voting?
How do I avoid getting Muggle'd/No-Voted? (with examples!)
What can I do if I get a lot of "Muggle"/"No Vote"s?
Why can't I reply to comments?
I'm not happy with my House. Is it possible for me to switch Houses?
I keep getting a message saying the queue is full when I try to submit.
I have an additional question/problem that isn't covered here.
For Those Sorting:
Top Sorter levels
How to use the different votes
Tips on interpreting an applicant's answer
For Those Being Sorted:
How do I get Sorted?
It's easy -- just copy and paste the application from the platform_934 profile, and answer all of the questions with as much detail as possible. Do not remove the bold tag or the LJ cut -- however, you may change the LJ cut text if you wish.
You also must be a member of platform_934 to submit your application.
back to top
How do I post my application?
On the platform_934 profile page, at the top there's a menu in blue ("Leave," "Watch," "View Friends Feed," etc.); click "Post".
click for larger view
Copy + paste your completed application in the big textbox, where you would normally type an entry. There is a button at the bottom that says "Post To Platform_934"; click that.
click for larger view
Your entry has been submitted!
Occasionally, you will receive a message telling you that the queue is full; if this occurs, you'll have to wait until more applications are posted to try again.
We strongly encourage you to keep a copy of your application on your hard drive, or as a private entry in your journal, somewhere. Anywhere. It will save us both a lot of trouble if something happens to go wrong with the application process.
back to top
When will my application be posted?
Applications will be posted in the order in which they are received. There will be no more than 15 applications dropped per week, in batches of no more than 5 per day starting on Monday UTC. Even if there are less than 15 applications in the queue, applications must be received no later than Monday at 2:00 AM UTC (timezone converter) to be included in the current week's sorts. If they are received after the Monday deadline, they will be dropped the week after.
Once you've submitted an application and the votingmod has taken a look at it, they'll be sending you a PM through LiveJournal letting you know when your app will be dropped. You may want to have LJ PMs enabled, if only after you submit your application!
back to top
I've made a mistake in my application and need to edit it, but it hasn't been posted yet.
You have two options here. One is to contact the votingmod and have them delete your application that's currently in the queue. When you've made all of your corrections, you can resubmit.
Your second option is to wait for your application to be posted and then edit it. Please note that once your application is posted publicly, it can no longer be deleted. It is also advised that if you go with the second option, try not to delete large chunks of your application, as people who read and sort you right away might become confused during the process of your edit.
back to top
When will I be Sorted?
You will be Sorted the Monday after your application was posted, around 2:00 - 3:00 AM UTC (timezone converter). The votingmod will post the final comment in your app stating which House you've been sorted into, a House graphic, and a link to your common room and hogwartsishome sub-communities. Once you see that message, you can join your common room, start sorting others, and begin participating in hogwartsishome and all of its sub-communities.
You'll be sent an invitation to hogwartsishome (and be sure to accept it) by the Mod; it is mandatory that you join to participate in the rest of our communities.
back to top
Can I screen my votes? What about piggyback voting?
You may not screen any of the comments on your application. However, you may set the privacy of your application to friends-only if you so choose.
As far as piggyback voting, the expectation is that voters will always give careful and thoughtful consideration of their vote, as was expected of the voters who voted on their app. Of course, if you feel like you truly don't belong in the House that you were Sorted into, you may always submit an appeal after one month.
back to top
How do I avoid getting Muggle'd/No-Voted?
To avoid No Votes: Elaborate, elaborate, elaborate! We cannot stress enough how much we appreciate longer answers. Ramble! Use real-life anecdotes! We actually want to get to know you!
While we don't expect you to write a novel, you should be aware that platform_934 is not like a typical stamping community -- you are being Sorted into your House based on your personality, and it is in that House where you will reside and interact for the remainder of your days at hogwartsishome. We obviously want to know more about you than you would normally provide in a simple stamping application. To get a good idea of the length that your application should be, take a look at the examples below. Gauge your own length based on these! (And you can always check the tags for more examples, of course.)
Examples:
To avoid Muggle votes: Be genuine. hogwartsishome is not an RP community; we're not looking for either characters or caricatures. Fill the application out to the best of your ability without lying about who you are, or tailoring your answers to fit into a certain House. If you are pretending from day one, how can you expect to really feel at home with the rest of your House? It's your own best interests to be honest, and to let us sort you as you are.
Bottom line: Don't push for a certain House. If we see it, we'll call you on it.
back to top
What can I do if I get a lot of "Muggle"/"No Vote"s?
Again, there are two options:
1) You can edit your application and provide the necessary details. The votingmod will post an elaboration notification to the community on Thursdays, providing you somehow let them know you've edited your application. After that's been posted, most members will come back to reevaluate you so as long as you make your edits before Thursday.
After you edit your app, make sure to leave a message saying you've edited somewhere in your application (preferably in the subject line, the beginning, or the end of it, OUTSIDE of the livejournal cut). Or you can contact the votingmod directly.
2) Submit a new and improved application. It will be dropped the following week, if you receive a majority of No Votes on your current application. Note: Muggle-voted applications must wait two weeks before they can reapply.
back to top
Why can't I reply to comments?
In the past, replies to comments have caused drama. (End of story.) Also, it's easier for the Mod to tally votes when they doesn't have to sift through so many extraneous comments. If you think you're being flamed, do not reply -- contact the votingmod and they will take care of it (if they haven't caught it already).
back to top
I'm not happy with my House. Is it possible for me to switch Houses?
You can always submit an appeal; simply go to the community hih_appeals (but only after one month of participation in your current House), and follow the instructions listed in the profile.
back to top
I keep getting a message saying the queue is full when I try to submit.
If you see this message, this can mean one of two things:
1) The queue is currently at its limit. Please save your application and contact the votingmod for more information on when the queue will be open again.
2) You have already sent an application into the queue which has not yet been approved or rejected.
New applications are posted every Monday - Wednesday at a limit of five per day, so please be patient. Remember, you will be sent a PM by the votingmod as to when you can expect your app to drop.
back to top
I have an additional question/problem that isn't covered here.
Contact the Mod through the votingmod account, email, or the current term's Comments and Queries post.
back to top
For Those Sorting:
What are the Top Sorter levels?
The top sorter levels are as follows:
1 to 5applications - 30 points/15 knuts
6 to 10 applications - 45 points/22 knuts
11 and over - 60 points/30 knuts
These will be calculated by your Prefects each week.
back to top
What votes should I be using?
Generally, you simply vote for whichever House you feel the applicant fits into: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, or Slytherin. Simple, right?
The other variations of voting are "Muggle" or "No Vote". When should you use these?
back to top
How should I be interpreting an applicant's answer?
More often than not, people vote on the feel they get from an applicant. One can answer the application with all the buzzwords in the book, yet explain their answers in a very Gryffindor/Slytherin/Ravenclaw/Hufflepuff sort of way. An example is below:
An old question that we had was "Which would you rather have? Friends/Family or Money/Success?" Someone might expect a Slytherin answer to be "money/success" and a Hufflepuff answer to be "friends/family". But look at the reasoning behind each one of these answers!
"Money/Success, because my friends and family could really use it. I'd try my best to be as successful as I possibly could so that I could help everyone else out. After all, if I don't choose friends/family, it's not like they'll disappear. Money doesn't disappear when you put the latter forward!"
That is a very Hufflepuff answer! It centers around the loyalty of the applicant to its core people.
"Friends/Family, they're already rich enough to live off of for the rest of my life if I wanted it! Of course I'd go far on my own, but honestly, why choose when they have both?"
That's a Slytherin-esque answer. It's very deviant and cunning, and it takes into account that one doesn't have to always choose! ;)
ALWAYS REMEMBER:
Applicants cannot respond to your votes; it's in the platform_934 rules. Therefore, you need to be courteous. Remember, you were Sorted once, too!
back to top