File every contest entry for the judging panel
Each entry becomes a file in its category folder in OneDrive, so the judging panel opens a sorted set rather than an inbox.
New submission on your event or contest entry form
Create a text file for the entry in an Entries folder in OneDrive, sorted into its category
One-directional. A submission triggers the action — nothing is written back into your form.
Judging goes quickly when the entries are already sorted and slowly when they are still in an inbox. A contest that runs for six weeks and closes on a Friday needs the pile in order on the Monday, not assembled that morning.
Marketing teams and camera clubs use this for seasonal competitions. Each entry becomes its own file in a category folder on OneDrive, so the panel can open the same shared folder, work through one category at a time, and see the entrant's caption and rights confirmation next to the picture.
Setting it up
- 1
Publish the Photo Contest Entry Form template and add a File Upload question so entrants attach the shot itself. Uploads cap at 2 MB per file, so keep a URL question as well and ask for a link to the full-resolution original — that is the copy a printer or an exhibition wall needs.
- 2
Use conditional logic so the category-specific questions appear only after Contest Category is answered, and a landscape entrant is never reading the portrait rules.
- 3
In Zapier, create a Zap on formformform's New Submission trigger and select the entry form.
- 4
Add OneDrive as the action app, choose Create New Text File, and connect the account that owns the shared judging folder.
- 5
Set the destination path from Contest Category, so /Entries/Landscape and /Entries/Portrait fill themselves and each judge opens only the category they are scoring.
- 6
Name each file from Photo Title, and keep Photographer Name out of the file name if the contest is judged blind.
- 7
Put the full-resolution image link on the first line of the body so a judge can open the picture without scrolling, then the caption, the equipment note and the rights confirmations — the attached copy stays in formformform rather than travelling into OneDrive, so the link is what makes an entry viewable from the shared folder.
- 8
Enter a test submission, check which category folder it chose, delete the test entry, then turn the Zap on.
What maps where
Using the Photo Contest Entry Form as the starting point. These are its real fields — swap in your own and the mapping works the same way.
| Form field | OneDrive |
|---|---|
| Contest Category | The OneDrive folder the file is written into, one per category |
| Photo Title | File name, so the folder listing reads as a list of entries |
| Photographer Name | Entrant line inside the record, kept out of the file name for blind judging |
| Photo Description or Caption | Body of the record, the text judges read beside the image |
| Camera Equipment Used | Body, under the technical notes the panel uses for the technical prize |
| Do you confirm this is your original work and you hold all rights to it? | Body, so the rights check is filed with the entry rather than looked up later |
Variations worth knowing
Add an Excel action writing Photo Title and Contest Category as a row in a workbook kept in the same folder. Judges score in the grid and open the individual file only when they want the caption and the technical notes behind an entry.
An Outlook step after the OneDrive action can send the entrant their Photo Title and category. Contest organisers get noticeably fewer messages asking whether an entry arrived in the last week before the deadline closes.
If something isn't arriving
The path needs the mapped Contest Category value rather than typed text. If a category label contains a slash or a colon, OneDrive reads it as part of the path or rejects it outright, so clean the value with a Formatter step first.
Put the Zapier submission time after Photo Title in the file name. The listing still reads by title, and identical titles stop colliding during the busiest week of the contest.
Frequently asked questions
Do the judges need a Zapier account to see the entries?
No. Zapier runs on the account that owns the drive, and the judges only need access to the OneDrive folder. Share /Entries with them and they open the files in a browser or the OneDrive app like any other shared folder.
Can we judge without seeing who entered?
Keep Photographer Name out of the file name and out of the top of the body, and it stays in the record without being the first thing a judge reads. Anyone opening the file can still scroll to it, so agree the convention with the panel.
How do we stop one person entering fifty times?
Nothing on the form caps entries, so handle it in the Zap: a filter on Email Address, or a lookup step that stops when the address already appears. State the entry limit in the contest terms too, since a filter only enforces what the rules say.
Related automations
- Create a project folder when a client signs on
Each new engagement gets a named OneDrive folder, the standard subfolders, and the scope written in before the kickoff call.
- File each bug report where support can find it
Each bug report becomes a file in a OneDrive support folder, ordered by severity and carrying the screenshot link.
- File every completed waiver in one audit folder
Each completed waiver lands as a dated record in a restricted OneDrive folder, ready for the day someone asks for it.
- Keep a text-file archive of every business inquiry
Every inquiry is written to a dated text file in OneDrive, giving you a searchable second copy of the response.
- Save every job application to a hiring folder
Every application becomes a candidate file in a shared OneDrive folder, named by role and ready for the hiring panel.
- Append every support request to a running log
Every help desk submission appends a line to one shared Dropbox text file, so the team reads the day's requests in order.
Build the form first
The automation needs somewhere to fire from. Publish a form, connect it once, and every submission from then on runs this flow.
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