Firefox Screencast Contest - Guidelines

Posted May 18th, 2008 by djst

Follow these simple rules and guidelines and you will significantly increase your chances in the contest. Be sure to read the full contest rules too.

Use Firefox 3: Yes, we mean that! Although Firefox 3 hasn't yet been released, we really want the new screencasts to be featuring it so they don't become obsolete anytime soon. Firefox 3 Release Candidate 1 was just released -- download it from mozilla.com! (Be sure to pick the English version for the screencasts; see below.)
Use an English copy of Firefox: The Firefox Support website will allow localized screencasts in the future, but for this contest, the screencasts must be using the English (en-US) version of Firefox.; Did we mention that Firefox 3 Release Candidate 1 was just released? :) download it from mozilla.com!
Create Flash based screencasts: Because we want to ensure the screencasts are viewable by as many people as possible, they must be saved in the Flash format. On Windows or Mac, we really recommend that you use Jing Project to create your screencasts. It's super easy to use, and it provides free hosting of your screencasts on the web!
Don't add audio/narration: Please only use video for the screencasts. Audio adds complexity to the screencasts because it limits the abilities to change the wordings of the instructions, and it makes the screencasts less consistent.

Stay on topic: Try to stick to the instructions in the article as closely as possible. Many articles include more than one set of step-by-step instructions. For such instructions, it probably makes more sense to create separate screencasts for the different sections.; For example, the Blocking pop-ups article has one section called "Turning the pop-up blocker on or off" and another one called "Allowing blocked pop-ups." In this example, two separate screencasts for the different sections would be more useful to the reader.; By the way, the SUMO knowledge base is a community authored wiki, so if the instructions in the article aren't fully correct, please update them!
Keep things small: When creating screencasts, only show the part of the screen that is relevant to the instructions. For example, if you're creating a screencast for the Search Bar, there's no need to show the full Firefox window.; Please do not submit screencasts larger than 640x480 pixels, as they will not be viewable on all screens.

User login