Step 8: Setting up judging

What's the difference between offline and online judging?

Offline judging means that you can run judging however you want whether it be through expos, demos, presentations, or any other judging method. Once hackers submit, you will have the submission data on-hand so you can export it into a CSV file and use it for judging. Offline judging is usually used at in-person hackathons.

If you are using offline judging and need a way to assign projects, Devpost has a built-in feature to auto-assign table numbers and share them with your hackers, judges and sponsors. Read more about assigning table numbers through Devpost.

Online judging allows you to have judges sign up for Devpost accounts, login, and review projects based on the judging criteria you set. Online judging is usually used for online hackathons.

Setting up offline judging

Start by adding a list of your judges. The name, company/title, and picture added to the Judges section are publicly displayed on your hackathon. Make sure to list all criteria judging decisions will be made by.

Once you're finished adding judges and criteria save the page and move onto prizes.

Setting up online judging

Setup for online judging is similar to setup of offline judging except it adds 2 extra steps.

Judging period

You will need to set the time and date of your online judging period. This will show when the judging period starts and ends.

The judging period sets the overall judging timeline, but the following criteria determine the timing of the beginning and end of judging:

• Judging cannot start until all submissions have been reviewed and marked “Judge” or “Don’t Judge.”
• A hackathon admin must click “Start Judging” to start the judging process.
• Judging does not end automatically. A hackathon admin must click “Finish Judging.”

Adding judges

When adding your list of judges you will be prompted to add an email or an existing Devpost account (if they have one). Adding their email address will invite them to sign up for a Devpost so they can logon and judge the projects through Devpost.

You can add anyone with an email address as a judge. When the judging period starts, each judge will receive an email that provides a link for judging submissions. The email will also ask the judge to create an account, if they don't have one already.

Judging criteria

The criteria you set for online judging will be what's used to rate each project (on a 1-5 scale) when judges login and begin deliberating.

Once you're finished setting up judges, criteria, and your date you can click "Save".