Adding coupons to the coupon database correctly

[queenofthehivemomof5]

Just a quick note about adding coupons to the coupon database.

First of all, if you have not read the instructions on how to use the coupon database you can find that in the footer at the bottom of each Hotcouponworld page. Or at the following link: How to Use the Coupon Database

Second, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE search the database before entering coupons. I am carpel tunnel in my fingers from verifying entries and so many of them are duplicate entries. I am begging you to please search. When searching leave off all punctuation when you search (Example: Kellogg NOT Kellogg's) and make sure you check multiple pages if you get multiple pages in your search results.

Third, make sure you put your coupons as the right source and give all the important fine print when adding.

Of note a lot of what I am seeing being added wrong are the following.

Mail In Rebates - No matter if your rebate was found as a tearpad, peelie, winetag, home mailer, insert, etc...it is a Mail In Rebate. You can denote that it was found as a whatever in the description.

Try-Me-Free - This is the same as mail in rebate except that you are getting the item for free. Again it does not matter if it is a peelie, tearpad, or printable...it is still a Try-Me-Free. The value on all TMF's should be "FREE"

Special Promo - This is for mail in forms where you send off UPC's and sometimes money to cover postage and get a physical item via mail. For example send Kellogg's UPCs and get a free Ball Cap, that sort of thing. Again this is for FORMS...not coupons.

Winetags - If it is a coupon (not a rebate, special promo or try-me-free) and it is sponsored by a wine, beer or other alcoholic beverage company it is considered a winetag. It does not matter if it is a hangtag, peelie or tearpad or booklet. Again sponsored by booze company = winetag

Home Mailer - Any coupon that you got via snail mail in your mail box that did not come from a trade...it is a home mailer. Got a freebie and it came with a coupon? Its a home mailer. Complimented your favorite ketchup brand and they sent you a coupon? Its a home mailer. Your local grocery store sent you coupons in the mail? Its a home mailer.

Other - This category gets a lot of overuse I think. People dump all sorts of coupons here and frankly we don't have the time to weed through them all to see what is mis-categorized. This category is for the oddball coupon that otherwise does not have a source. Like you got a coupon in a trade, and you have searched the heck out of the coupon database and you just have no idea where it came from, go ahead and put it here. Or you are shopping and find this random coupon on the ground, you have no idea where it came from and there is not one like it in the coupon database already, then go ahead and source it as "other". Also please do not put other coupons you know belong to another source here. Printable coupons that the link is no longer valid...yeah sorry those are still printable coupons. And for some reason I just had to change over a bunch of insert coupons that were sourced as "other" when they were copied and pasted insert coupons with different values.

Read the guide (link above) for explanation of the other sources in the coupon database.

Fourth - Check your spelling

Fifth - Format your entry the right way.

• All entries should start with a brand name (Not "Save", "Any" "$1.00 Off" etc) - this is important for those members that use the database to publish thier wish/have lists so that they can be posted in alphabertical order...plus it just looks better expecially when posted along with coupon match ups in the store forums!

[IMG]file:///C:/Users/display/AppData/Local/Temp/moz-screenshot-16.jpg[/IMG][IMG]file:///C:/Users/display/AppData/Local/Temp/moz-screenshot-17.jpg[/IMG] Correct: Kellogg's Cereal, Any 10 Oz. +

Incorrect: save $1 on any 10oz or larger kellogg's cereal

Incorrect: $1.00 off any kelloggs cereal 10z or larger

Incorrect: Any Kellogg's Cereal, 10 Oz. +

• Put all the details in the entry. Include any small print. Such as DND 5, DND 9, state restrictions, sizes, excluding trial sizes, specified flavors, one coupon per person, one coupon per transaction, etc.
• The store field is only for if the coupon is a store only coupon, not for where you found the coupon or where you should use it to get a hot deal. If its a Kroger coupon, Walgreens coupon, CVS coupon, Commissary coupon, then use the store field. If you found the coupon at Albertsons and it is a manufacture coupon, then leave the store field set as "Any". If the coupon is a manf. coupon with a store logo on it...its not a store coupon. Usually store coupons have a different type of barcode than manf. coupons. Please note that the coupon has a store logo but don't mark it as a store coupon unless there is some sort of wording on the coupon that makes you think it is only good at that particular store.

Anyways...I so appriciate everyone for adding entries, really I do. We get on average 300 new entries a day and most of them are fine. But there are still a lot of entries that are formatted wrong or are duplicates. There is just a small team of mods that verify entries and we too have lives outside of HCW so please do us a favor and all users of the database too and please add new entries the right way.

And if you ever have questions about how to add a coupon, you can ask , sbp, Mrspinecone, NrPeace17, mama22qts, Pennywatcher, Shoppingcartdiva, or myself (I think that is the database team LOL) and we would be happy to help you.

OK I am off to rub Ben Gay into my aching hands (cheap with coupon of course).

If you have questions about any of this you can of course ask in this thread too.

[Merczilla]

My question: When I find one (especially in printables) that's expired, link is dead, it's just not there anymore....how do I report/delete/let someone know to delete it? All I can find is to change/correct it, which doesn't really help me. Or do i just delete all fields?

[queenofthehivemomof5]

Select the report action next to the entry and put somewhere in the description field of the report field (DEAD) or (CAMPAGNE OVER) or (BROKEN LINK) or something, anything really to let us know that something is wrong with the coupon.

I would say that 50% of the reported entries we get in the database are blank...and we don't know what is wrong with them so we just set them back to normal and hope that if something is wrong with them someone will fill out the report and let us know what is wrong with the entry.

[queenofthehivemomof5]

I am going to get something up here soon with detailed instructions on how to report a coupon. For now this thread is for questions about adding new entries.

[queenofthehivemomof5]

Just giving this a bump :)

[carisal]

bump ;)

[vwdentley]

I was at a website that I had signed into. I was allowed to print some coupons twice, so I printed them off while I was there. I left the website, cut out the coupons. I went to key the ones I didn't need into the db and it would not let me key them in as printables without a link, which I no longer had because I left the website and cut out the coupons. I keyed them in as "others", but was contacted and told this was wrong. For future reference, what should I do when I do not have a link to put in and it will not let me go any further? Thanks for everything you do for us!

[kval07]

Queen-Is there a way this can get stickied? Every single thing you mentioned in this post are things that annoy the heck out of me about the database. And I don't even have to handle anything behind the scenes?

[MrsPinecone]

Stuck.

[carisal]

Originally Posted by MrsPinecone Stuck.

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