Adding Judges

Judges are the people who evaluate submissions using your chosen voting method. Each judge gets a unique voting link that gives them access to score submissions.

Adding a judge

On the Voting tab, scroll to the Judge Voting section and click Add Judge.

Enter the judge's:

• Name: Displayed on their judge card
• Email: Used for sending invitations (optional if sharing links manually)

Judges don't need a HackHQ account. Their voting link is their access token.

For larger panels, click Import next to Add Judge to load up to 1,000 judges from a CSV file. See CSV Import.

Judge cards

Each judge appears as a card showing their progress:

Each card shows:

• Name and email
• Completion percentage (e.g., "73% Complete")
• Submissions voted count (e.g., "11/15 submissions voted")
• Last active date
• A progress bar that fills as they complete reviews

Judges who have scored all assigned submissions show a green Completed badge.

Sharing voting links

You have three options:

• Copy links: Copies all judge voting links to clipboard. Useful for sharing in Slack, email, or a spreadsheet.
• Invite all: Sends email invitations to all judges at once with their unique links.
• Invite (per judge): Sends an email invitation to a specific judge from their card.

Each judge card also has a share button to copy that individual judge's link.

Editing and removing judges

From each judge card, you can:

• Edit (pencil icon): Update the judge's name or email
• Delete (trash icon): Remove the judge and their votes

Tips for managing judges

• Invite at least 3 judges per submission to reduce individual bias
• Brief judges before they start so everyone understands the scoring expectations
• Set a judging deadline and communicate it clearly
• Monitor progress and follow up with judges who haven't started
• Use Copy links to share all links in a single Slack message or email