It may not be that number depending on several factors. An editor can give more insight, but the queue isn't exactly like that.

So how does the quiz queue work then, if not by order of submission?

A gap from October 2011 to August 2012 in this thread doesn't seem to indicate a very pressing need for such a counter. As has been explained in different threads, authors with a proven track record are often handled more quickly. Quizzes from authors who have require more input and corrections are sometimes put off a bit longer. This is why there is no particular counter. Every time an author looks at their quiz again and edits it, it gets pushed to the end of the queue. As dgdave said, the editors in each queue can give you further insight as to how each one is operating at any particular time.

Ok thanks and by the way, my topic was lumped into this one by a moderator. I just created this as a new topic today.

Shadowstar, it's a good idea in theory but in practice the queues don't work like that. The editors do try the first-come, first-served approach but we do skip items in the queue for several reasons, including:
- Having already edited a quiz and knowing that it will be a quick edit
- Leaving a quiz on an unfamiliar topic to an editor with more experience in the topic
- Leaving a quiz that, upon first glance, is going to require a lot of time to edit in order to get other quizzes out of the queue quickly (this is where it's better that you have created a well-written quiz, have read the guidelines, etc. before submitting)

In addition, quizzes are also submitted to the queue by a quality rating. Authors who require little or no editing have a quicker wait and those whose quizzes continually need a lot of effort editing-wise and/or have previously plagiarised will have to wait longer.

To add to what LadyMacb29 has said, familiarity with the subject matter plays a large part. In Movies, for example, we prefer taking on quizzes about films we've already seen, although that isn't always possible. For movies that we know are going to generate a lot of quizzes, like the upcoming 'Twilight' conclusion for example, we may ask one editor to take on all quizzes about the film for consistency's sake.

How strange. I've never heard of topics being lumped together. Sorry for the wrong assumption.

I've seen it a few times, but not often, and it does have to do with queues and waiting time, so that may be why.

Okay then, thanks to all for the feedback

Aren't there also quizzes that jump to the front of the line for quiz races and such? I also don't think I've ever heard of the 'quality rating' you mention in the last paragraph. Is there some way an author can find out this rating? Are Single Questions included into the rating calculation?

I didn't know about that.
But you ask about the "quality rating." From what I've read in some other posts, editors will skip over quizzes that will take a while, saving them for last. I don't think there is actually any official rating of submitters.

Mehaul, we have always been told for quiz races that our quizzes are in the queue just like everyone else's. They aren't hurried through - although an editor in that category may get a 'heads up' a couple of days beforehand and will clear their category queue in preparation for a bucket-load of quiz racers. This is the way it was explained to us in the Author Lounge when it was questioned a few months ago.

Of course, many of the participants in the races are established authors familiar to the editors, who will expect them to be a fairly quick edit, and may take them ahead of quizzes from new writers, who often need a lot more time to help them understand what is required in writing a good quiz.

No.




How you're received in the queue should be apparent if your quizzes are being looked at quickly or if your quizzes have been plagiarized in the past. You're not going to take longer to get edited for no reason. If you're concerned as to why your quizzes keep taking longer and longer to get checked it may be a case of choosing busy categories or it may be a case of consistent issues. If you're making the same mistakes over and over and over despite editors asking you to be aware and make fixes accordingly, we'll know about it and your quiz will take longer to look at because we expect the same issues to keep cropping up. If you show the effort and work constructively to improve your submissions, then we'll give the same in return. In other words, there is no way to tell you a 'quality rating'; you should know your own submissions better than we do because you should be taking past corrections into account.

Note: These comments aren't aimed at any specific person.




Single questions and full quizzes are not submitted to the same queue, but authors are the same across the board. If you've plagiarized in one, we know about it. If you're banned from one, we know about it.



Edited to respond:


Editors do get a heads up; for the race they knew weeks ahead to plan accordingly, especially towards the end when the tasks were issued so close together. Editors were recommended to work on them in the order they were submitted for the race but it was not required whatsoever. For those wondering, all categories did edit them in the order they were submitted.

Editors are aware of all active challenges in the Author's Lounge. Authors need to be aware that the status of 'Lounge Quiz' does not grant special privileges. You are still your own authors with your own quiz histories. If you've had issues in the past you still need to ensure they're dealt with. No exceptions.

The queue is sorted by date submitted. It shows quiz title, author, and date submitted (if an author resaves a quiz while it's in the queue, the date stamp is updated and goes to the back of the queue). Editors can see the entire queue for a category on one page.

All editors in this place will usually edit by date-sequence, but there are exceptions - some examples of exceptions:

• if there's a quiz about rugby league in the Sports queue, I will probably look at that
  one first (as it's a topic I am familiar with), before going to the top of the queue.
  
• ditto a quiz on UK football.
• if there's a quiz by an author who has built-up a favourable submission history, I will
  probably look at that one first; before going to the top of the queue.

The system tracks an author's submission/rejection/acceptance history, and every editor can view that history across all categories, not just the category in which they edit. For the record, the system also tracks/records abuse thrown at editors by authors, authors who comply with reject notes sent to authors, and authors who ignore reject notes etc.

---

a reminder for non-editors:

Please re-read the message in blue at the top of the this forum:
If you do not know the answer to a question, please leave it for an editor to reply.

Please do not post I believe it's such and such or I think it's such and such. That is mere speculation and is completely unhelpful for your fellow authors. In other words, don't answer a question posted in this forum unless you are 100% sure the answer is correct.

Another reason that a quiz might have a longer wait than simple "first in, first edited" is if it could possibly fit better in a different category, or if there is some other unusual aspect of it. Editors will discuss the quiz privately, and since we are all in different time zones, a discussion can easily take several days.

I have a quiz "in the queue".

I clicked on the "edit" button a couple of days ago and the top line said that it was being edited by *****. I clicked again just now and there is nothing there.

As the quiz has already been seen by three editors, one of whom changed the category to the one that they chose five days ago, it does seem rather strange.

Note to self: Avoid November for writing quizzes in future.

Not particularly; there are many reasons as to why an editor could be in your quiz before you get a note of some sort. For instance, if they only have time to edit a portion of it and plan to come back.


The only category currently experiencing longer-than-usual waits is General, partly because of the popularity of AinA. This has nothing to do with Quiz-Writing Month (during which there seems to be an even spread around all categories). Once authors move on from the early rounds of the game and spread out over the different tasks, the wait in General will smooth out. In the meantime, the General eds. are doing what they can to make the wait as short as possible.

I will go back to writing my next quiz in the meantime then

Sometimes an editor will enter a quiz just to see if it is one of theirs, if the name sounds familiar. This doesn't really qualify as having "seen" the quiz. Nor does changing categories - this is something that takes a couple of seconds and is the kind of housekeeping task that is akin to you bringing your empty coffee cup with you when you pass through the kitchen.

In some cases that must be true, but not this one.

Patience is a virtue that I must cultivate.

Sometimes my quizzes take weeks, even months, in preparation. I don't expect an editor to place them on-line immediately... I don't really care if it takes weeks before they make it on-line :-)

What I would like to be able to do though, is have more than one quiz submission at a time. When I'm on a roll and the creative juices are flowing, its very frustrating to be held back haha

This is what I was going to come back to recommend; it can save a lot of time to just have submissions ready to go.

Even if you can only have one templatesubmitted at a time, you can still keep writing. If you write your quiz as a Word document, then it can easily be copied and pasted into the template when you are able to set up the next one. You can even have several on the go at once!

When I first started writing quizzes I would always write directly into the template. Now I have more experience I do tend to write into a Word document and then copy/paste to the template. It does give more flexibility that way and it means that I can select the order of questions to give the quiz a feel of flowing more smoothly... That's the theory anyway!

Hi, I submitted a quiz on Sunday night and was wondering what's happening to it (it's a constitutional amendments quiz, by the way). I know I've mucked up big time with my previous ones but I thought I would've heard something by now.

Apparently, the quiz queue is big enough (or the editors are taking their time) that it takes a while longer than might be expected to check a quiz.
I've had a (resubmitted) quiz in the queue since December 6 and haven't heard anything back. However, I know the editors are doing the best they can and that the queue may be longer than expected.

Waits of up to a week before hearing anything are quite common during busy times. (Busy both in terms of the number of people writing quizzes and in the festivities of the season impinging on editors' time.) This is even more true for quizzes in specialized categories, which may be left for the specialist editor to look at. And resubmissions will usually be left for the original editor to handle - if they are too busy with real life to have as much editing time as usual, that can slow things down. The Rough Queue Sizes chart in Quiz Author Central will give you an idea about the number of quizzes currently queued in various categories and how quickly they are being handled, but it is only rough.

There is no substitute for patience; asking about it doesn't speed things up. "Are we there yet?" from the kids in the back seat doesn't make the traffic clear so the car can go faster.

I should probably add that having had serious issues in the past with your quizzes does tend to slow the process down, as noted in the guidelines.

When are the busiest times, and when are the least busy times (if it is possible to find any easily describable pattern)?