Proven Winners Sweepstakes

This isn't a complaint; I'm all for a gardening sweepstakes, and I appreciate that DG keeps my email and contact information private unless *I* choose to give it out.

I just wanted to let admin know that the sweepstakes page was pretty jumbled up, with text and links and images on top of each other. I didn't take a screenshot, but I bet I'm not the only one seeing it like this... I'm running the latest version of Firefox on Vista, on my laptop with a 12" screen.

You can still make out most of the information, and I didn't have any trouble submitting an entry. It did look like there were supposed to be checkboxes at the bottom for receiving some sort of book and receiving the PW newsletter, but there weren't any buttons to check off next to the text.

You're probably already all over this, but I figured I'd let you know just in case and see if anybody else was seeing the scrambled version...

The page was fine here - no problems at all.

*ditto* what pirl said

Well, maybe it is just me, LOL. I can't seem to figure out where my computer is putting screenshots, sorry, know it would be better if admin could see what I'm seeing! If need be, I can do it by the brute force method (take a photo with my camera).

I checked it with Safari & Firefox on my Mac and it's fine with both of those too. Have you tried restarting your browser and/or rebooting your computer? That sometimes fixes things like this.

I rebooted it last night, but I'll try that again... maybe it's just a "local issue" :-)

It's just too bad that they can't filter it and have it show to just the US members.

It's a bit disheartening to see a big Sweepstakes banner just to be told when you click on it that it's just open to residents of the US.

I checked it this morning on IE, and I'm running the latest version of Firefox as my main browser. It looked fine here...

We tested it across OS/browsers but there is always the chance that we missed a particular set up. Please let me know if you still see jumbled text and we will get right on it.

On my Mac the last line at the bottom was jumbled .. the last line was under the "Submit" button on both Safari and Firefox. On Firefox it was a little further down and I could read it ... I subscribed to the newsletter and didn't know it! It's okay, though. I love gardening newsletters.

I restarted my laptop, and when I clicked the link again it's still jumbled. It's not unintelligible, just things on top of each other. But I tried it on the other computer (don't remember which OS it has, but it's not Vista, which is what is on the laptop), and it looked fine. *shrug* sounds like it's not a widespread problem, anyway.

I guess I'm the only person a little uncomfortable with Dave's Garden giving Proven Winners access to its members for marketing purposes?

Granted, they don't get your personal info unless you sign up. But exposure is exposure. And I subscribe to this site to avoid ads and come ons.

We have always been VERY selective about who we partner with for anything. Early on, we were small enough that we didn't have to worry much about it - the national advertisers just weren't interested in a fledgling site :-)

But for several years now, we have been big enough to be approached by many would-be advertisers and sponsors. In this case, PW is a well-respected brand name of plants, and it's a nice sweepstakes prize they are offering. We hope our members will like it as much as they have the other promotions we've hand-selected to share over the years. And - as you pointed out - no one gets any information about you unless you choose to participate.

"Access" is fine with me... PW only has my email address now because I chose to participate. I appreciate DG's privacy policies and the care with which marketing is done.

critter, do you have a zoom function? I had the same problem as you but it was because I have Firefox with NoSquint and I have DavesGarden set on a higher zoom level so I can read text easier. Once I set it back to default the sweepstakes page was perfect. I just had to 'squint' to read it. :-p
I like the sweepstakes offer. I hope I win!!! I'm all for any such offers.

That might be the answer, wabbit... I think I do have my browser set to increase the text size one notch on my laptop.

Talia,
I have an iMac/Intel/OS 10.6.7 with Safari 5.0.5 and Firefox 4.0. They are supposedly the most recent versions for the Mac.

Judy, I use Firefox and have Opera on hand if I need it. Is Safari a better browser? In what ways?

ah yes - when I zoom in on that page some of the elements overlap or disappear.

Talia: I just updated my Firefox to 4.0.1 and it still overlaps at the bottom. Just around the "submit" button. Must be a Mac thing. No big deal. Just a little annoying.

Kildawabbit: They are about the same. I use Firefox to stay open with my AOL mail all the time. I browse Facebook and Dave's with Safari at the same time Firefox is keeping account of my mail. I get work mail at home and it gets pretty busy at times (I am a newspaper person/editor/writer).

Thanks for letting me know, most of us here in the office have Windows. I'll have our tech team take a look at that particular set up.

Thanks again for your help.

It's not a Mac thing either--I've got a Mac and it works fine on mine in both Firefox and Safari. (My Firefox is also 4.0.1)

Thanks, Judy. :-)

eCrane,
Do you have a Mac/Intel or just a regular Mac? I've heard that sometimes the Intel causes problems that regular Macs don't encounter. Of course, when I got my new Mac I had to have the latest thing, LOL. Upgraded from an eMac.

Anyway, I just entered the Sweepstakes -- again. The submit button works just fine, even if it does cover up some of the text.

My Mac is relatively new too (about a year old) so it's also got the Intel processor.

I get that problem on a few threads here at DG--usually just refreshing the page works, but not always. But I'm on dial-up, so I'm used to problems, lol!

KyWoods: Bless your heart! I thought dial-up was a thing of the past. I guess technology isn't spreading as fast as I thought.

I live 13 miles from the nearest big city. They still don't have cable or DSL out here:-p I'm on Hughesnet.

How long do I have to put up with that "The Proven Winners Sweepstakes is open for entry! Enter now!" message on the top of my DG page? I took a look. I'm not interested in the least. There should be an option to get rid of it.

It will be gone by the end of June, I think.

Not available to Canadians :-( And yet I sell oodles of PW product. Like dangling a carrot infront of a rabbit with a window between the rabbit & the carrot. Puts my nose out of joint...running into the window, that is.

I've bought PW stuff up here too, so it isn't as if they can't ship over the border...

To our Canadian members, we are VERY sorry about that - it probably has to do with contest and sweepstakes rules and laws :-(

RE the Mac questions/issues, I've been using an Intel Mac for 5+yrs and have never had any problems. My Intel Mac behaves much better than any of my Windows PC's ever did. Just wanted to clarify.

What happened to the Proven Winners Sweepstakes link at the top of the page? I have ads turned off, but was receiving (and was okay with) this one....Gone today.

Yea...I thought it lasted till the end of June.

Well since we can't participate in Canada, I'm just as happy that it's finally gone.

The sweepstakes are still in effect, but we felt it was time to remove the box. It'll be back before the sweepstakes ends for one last reminder :-)