Technically no, you do not have to register. Without registering, you will still be able to browse all the Schwippy Photo Scavenger Hunt entries and even the forum posts. Without registering, you will not be able to upload your own Scavenger Hunt entries. Registering is definitely worth the 30 seconds it takes though. And you don't have to fear that your e-mail address will be compromised either. We will not sell your information.

Our most recently updated copy of the Schwippy.com Terms of Service is available at the following link: Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Some people may wish to play alongside with somebody else while doing the hunt. There's absolutely no problem with that. The only thing is the fact that you will all have to play under one name. While it would be possible to make some spiffy stuff that lets you sync two or more accounts up, it has been done before and it just didn't seem to work :) So for the time being, if you would like to team up with somebody, just either have one person post all the pictures, or hand out the account name and password and let all your members post whenever they want.

To change your user details, such as your Altervar, you do so through the forums user control panel. Click on the "Forums" link in the SPSH toolbar to be taken to the forums, sign in, then click the "Schwippist CP" link in the forums to change your details. You may also click here to be taken straight to the CP (Control Panel). You may need to sign into the forums before you will be able to change things.

You can upload any kind of picture or image that you feel meets the description of each SPSH topic. For example, if the topic title were 'Undercover Cop', you could take a picture of a police officer looking stealthy, or you could simply take a picture of a sausage link wrapped in a pancake (A pig in a blanket!). The point is that each topic is completely up to your interpretation. Just have fun with it.

There are not many rules when it comes to what you can and can not upload, but here are the obvious things we don't want to see uploaded to the SPSH.
  1) No nudity.
  2) No "R Rated" content. (Let's keep this a family-safe site please).
  3) No posting of images that do not belong to you.
  4) No posting of low quality web images. (Nobody really wants to see a jumping happy face)
If a moderator sees an image which has broken any of these rules, it will be immediately deleted and any Schwillings you earned for the image will be subtracted from your account.

Note: Continuous posting of inappropriate images is grounds for account deletion.

Other than those rules, have fun!

If somebody has posted an image that should not be on the site, please help us out. There is no easy way for us to check every single picture on the site, so if you see something, you can alert us of it by clicking the "Report" link next to every picture on the site. This will alert the moderator team to go inspect the picture and decide if it should be taken down or not.

There is a maximum amount of pictures you are allowed to upload to any one topic. Currently, that limit is 3 images. Once you upload the maximum amount of images, you will need to delete one or more of your images if you would like to upload another.

Of course! Some people may just like to touch up the brightness and color, while others might want to add things, like thought bubbles, or props to the pictures they take. Just make sure you follow the other image posting rules.

As long as it applies to the current hunt theme, then yes. But it would be much more creative if you did another picture specifically for the new hunt, don't you think? :)

Nope! Although you may see many pictures that people have taken which have themselves in the picture, it is not required to do so. It just makes it a little more fun :)

If you are uploading a large image, it will take longer than a smaller image. Once your image is uploaded, it will then be resized to fit the website. One way to shorten the wait time on uploading your image is to resize it before you upload it. All images will be resized to 640x480 if they are bigger than that, so if you resize them to those dimensions before you upload them, the website will have to do less work, which means a much shorter wait time.

Once a Photo Hunt has passed its open time period, it goes into a voting state. You are now allowed to view all the images that have been posted by other users, and you can vote on the image that you like the best in each topic.

No. You can only vote once in each topic. You may however change your vote to a different image if you change your mind.

Yes.

You may see places on the site where you have the ability to add a topic idea. If you think that the topics of the SPSH's are a little boring, or just aren't what you would expect, then we want to hear what you think would be a good idea for a topic. Each SPSH is made from the ideas of our users. When you think of an idea, you are keeping the SPSH's new and original, so submit an idea whenever you think of one!

You can submit as many ideas as you can think of!

Each topic idea can be placed into a topic group. By default, your idea will be placed into the 'General' group. Sometimes, you will be allowed to place ideas into other themed group, such as a group for a specific holiday. Ideas that are in these groups will later be used for a corresponding scavenger hunt with the same theme.

When you submit an idea, your idea goes into a pool of other pending ideas. When a moderator visits the site, he or she will then look at your topic idea and will decide if it is a good topic suggestion. If he or she thinks it is, then they will approve the idea. Once it is approved, your idea will randomly be used in future SPSH's.

While we would like to approve all the ideas that users submit to us, we need to think about the fact that all the users of Schwippy are going to be using this topic. There may be several reasons that a topic would get denied. For instance, if your topic idea is location specific, then most users are going to be unable to participate in that topic. If a topic idea is considered rude or obscene in any way it will be denied. Maybe there is already a topic in the rotation that closely matches your idea. We don't want duplicates in the system. There really are several other reasons that an idea would get denied. It will always be a good reason by one of our moderators. If you feel that your idea should be reviewed again, simply submit another one.

You are free to edit or delete your submitted idea while it is pending, but once it has been approved, it is locked into place and cannot be changed. If it has been denied, you can still delete it, but you will not be able to edit it. If you wish to change your topic that got denied, the best thing to do is retype your topic idea into a brand new submission. All topics that have been denied will automatically be deleted after a given amount of time.

Before approving ideas, moderators are required to check each idea to make sure it has proper grammar and is easy to understand. Sometimes, this requires changing the original text to something else.

Moderators, also known as Schwipperators, are the selected members that are given a little more privileges than the rest of us. Moderators can do a few things that we can't. For one thing, they can delete improper pictures that were posted. They can also delete improper or vulgar posts that were made. When you submit an idea for a topic, the moderators are the ones who vote on whether or not it will be accepted. In short, moderators are the ones who keep the peace. You can always go to one of them if you need some help.

To become a moderator, you must be one of the most trustworthy and dedicated members on the site. Moderation privileges are granted with very strict policies in force, therefore not just anybody can become a moderator. If you think you are dedicated to the site enough, just show yourself in the forums. You WILL get noticed. Trust us.

A Schwilling is the standard form of currency here on Schwippy.

There are several ways to get Schwillings.
  1) You get 1 Schwilling for every image you upload.
  2) You get 1 Schwilling for every idea you submit that gets approved.
  3) You get 5 Schwillings for submitting an image which gets voted 1st place on a hunt topic.
  4) You get 3 Schwillings for getting 2nd place on a hunt topic.
  5) You get 1 Schwilling for getting 3rd place on a hunt topic.

Currently, you can not use your Schwillings. In the future, you will be able to use your Schwillings to pay for items in the Schwippy Store, or you can use them to bid for items in any auctions that Schwippy hosts. Announcements will be made as these develop.

The most likely answer is that an image you posted has been deleted. If an image were to be deleted, any Schwillings you gained in submitting it would be subtracted from your account. See "What can I NOT upload" to find reasons your post may have been deleted.

If you can't find your question listed here, or if you are still unsure of something, your best bet is to go to the Forums and post a topic. The Schwippistrators and Schwipperators are all available and willing to help you out.

Please please PLEASE tell me you're not using Internet Explorer. :(

Internet Explorer tends to make a lot of websites ugly. We, as webmasters, try our best, but the wacky things that Internet Explorer does keeps us from making perfect sites. If you want to view this site as best as you can, then we here at Schwippy would recommend you use something besides Internet Explorer. Try something like Firefox. Or if you're more adventurous, try something like Opera, Safari, or even Google Chrome. Just try SOMETHING else besides Internet Explorer! It will not only make OUR website look and work better, but pretty much 90% of all the websites on the internet. You will thank us later. :)

Only 3 people know :) Good luck.

Altervar (noun):

Timelessblurian translation of Avatar

Example:

Hey there, buddy! That's a mighty bodacious Altervar you've got there!

Schwipperator (noun):

Your friendly, yet powerfull keepers of the Schwippy Forums. Also known as a Moderator

Example:

So I was posting some spam on the Schwippy Forums today, and for some reason, I got banned by a Schwipperator. I don't get it!

Schwippification (noun):

The process of raising Schwippiness

Example:

I just went through Schwippification! Now I can be a real Schwippist!

Schwippicity (adjective):

An absolute measurement of ambient Schwippiness

Example:

Woah! Look at his Schwippicity! It's over NINE THOUSAND!

Schwippified (transitive verb):

The result of Schwippification

Example:

Yeah, we used to know that guy. Until the day he got Schwippified. Since then, he's just been way too cool for any of us

Schwippifier 9000 (noun):

Device used to bring an unruley Schwippist to their demise

Example:

Hey, did you hear what happened to that spammer? They hit him with the Schwippifier 9000. Yeah, it was pretty bad. The place smelled for hours

Schwippiness (noun):

A measure of being Schwippy

Example:

Well gee, you sure are full of Schwippiness today, aren't you!

Schwippish (noun):

The language of the elder Schwippists

Example:

They say that Schwippish is the true language of insanity. Do you speak it?

Schwippist (noun):

One who has been Schwippified

Example:

There goes one hoopy Schwippist. He really knows where his towel is.

Schwippistrator (noun):

The ruler, and most powerfull, of all the Schwippists. Also known as the Administrator.

Example:

And the Schwippistrator will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who would attempt to poison and destroy his Schwippists

Schwippling (noun):

One who has very recently become a Schwippist.

Example:

Awww... who's a cute little Schwippling? Is it you? Yes it IS you! You are so CUTE, yes you are... awwww....

Schwilling (noun):

The standard currency unit used by a Schwippist.

Example:

Seven Schwillings, you say? Hmmm....... Well, I will gladly pay you tuesday for a hamburger today.

Schwippy (adjective):

A state of being.

Example:

I just won 7 million Schwillings?? Now THAT'S Schwippy!

Timelessblurian (noun):

An ancient language similar to today's American English that is said to be fully understood by one person and one person alone. We await the day the prodigy Schwippist returns.

Example:

I think you would have to be lysdexic to be able to understand Timelessblurian.