Special Rules Associated with Checkbox Voting by Category

The custom error message text box of the Voting Rules section is used in conjunction with checkbox voting (set at the top of the Voting Profile) to set and enforce certain requirements on how many items in a category may be selected. (The number of overall selections for the whole topic is set in the Column Max field.) Special rules are enforced as a participant saves and submits their voting ballot; she will receive an error message explaining the rules that have been broken and given an opportunity to change their votes and submit again. The ballot will not be accepted until the rules are correctly adhered to.

The following format must be followed for special rules for voting by category. The categories are referenced in the same order as they appear on the voting screen (by category number or alphabetically). Click on the Help icon next to this section to review the code format and cut and paste and example into your voting profile.

<!-- Special Rule Format: Create a value for each category in order.0 means that no items can be checked in this category; positive value (e.g., 1) means no than; a negative value (e.g. -1) means no less than; NA means no rules apply. -->

<Start Special Category Rule> 0,NA,1,4,-1,0,NA,-3<End Special Rule> For <i>xSRCategoryNamex</i> you may select XNoMoreNoLessX than xSRAllowedx itemxSRAllowedPluralx. You have selected xSRActualx itemxSRActualPluralx.<br>

Special Rule Error Message Parameter	Description
xSRCategoryNamex	The name of the category that was assigned too many or too few times.
XSRAllowedX	The total value allowed for the category.
XSRAllowedPluralX	If the total allowed equals 1 this is replaced with a blank for any other value it is replaced with an "s".
XSRActualX	The total value they have attempted to submit for the category.
XSRActualPluralX	If the total value submitted for a category equals 1 this variable is replaced with a blank for any other value it is replaced with an "s".
XNoMoreNoLessX	If the allowed value is a positive number this variable is replaced with the text "no more." If it is a negative number it is replaced by the text "no less."