Contest & Experience Entry Issues: Troubleshooting Guide
If you or your listeners are having trouble entering a contest or Experience, this guide covers the most common causes — from browser settings blocking entry, to form configuration issues in the builder. Follow the relevant section below.
Listener-Side Issues (Entering a Contest)
If a listener is reporting they can't enter — often seeing a red box around the email field or the Submit button not responding — the issue is almost always caused by browser privacy settings or extensions.
Ad or Javascript Blocker
One common reason why you may be unable to enter the giveaway is due to an ad or javascript blocker on your browser. These blockers are designed to prevent ads and scripts from running on websites, which can sometimes interfere with the giveaway entry process.
If you suspect that this may be the issue, try disabling your ad or javascript blocker and then attempt to enter the giveaway again. If this does not work, you may need to try a different device or browser.
Cross Site Tracking (Safari)
If you are using Safari on an iPhone, the issue may be related to Cross Site Tracking being turned off in your settings. Cross Site Tracking is a feature that allows websites to track your browsing activity across multiple sites. In some cases, this feature may need to be enabled in order for the giveaway entry process to work properly.
To check if Cross Site Tracking is turned off, go to your iPhone's settings and navigate to the Safari section. From there, make sure that the "Prevent Cross-Site Tracking" option is turned off. Once you have done this, try entering the giveaway again.
Reduce Privacy Protections (Safari)
If the contest entry form isn't loading or the "Submit Your Entry" button isn't responding, your iPhone's Safari browser may be blocking certain elements needed to complete your registration. Apple's iOS 18 introduced a "Reduce Privacy Protections" setting in Safari that can help resolve this. To access it, tap the page controls icon (the magnifying glass with lines) in the bottom-left corner of your Safari browser bar, then select "Reduce Privacy Protections." This temporarily relaxes Safari's built-in tracking and content blockers for this page, allowing the contest form to fully load and communicate with our entry system. Once enabled, refresh the page and try submitting your entry again.
Microsoft Edge Browser
Contest and Experience pages rely on JavaScript to load and accept entries. Microsoft Edge's built-in tracking prevention and ad blocker can interfere with this, preventing the page from loading correctly.
A common symptom in Edge is a "contest not found" message that loops back to itself when clicked. If a listener reports this on Edge, ask them to try the following:
Disable any ad blocker or tracking prevention in Edge: go to Settings → Privacy, search, and services → Tracking prevention, and set it to Basic, or turn off the built-in ad blocker for the contest page.
Try opening the contest page in a new InPrivate window (Ctrl+Shift+N) — this disables extensions by default.
If the issue persists, switch to Chrome or Firefox, which are fully supported browsers for contest entry.
If the listener can access the page in Chrome or Firefox but not Edge, the issue is confirmed as Edge's privacy or ad blocking settings.
Alternative Entry Methods
If you are still unable to enter the giveaway, there are a few alternative methods you can try. First, you can try using a different device or browser to see if that resolves the issue. If that is not an option, you may be able to enter the giveaway by signing in through Google or Facebook on Step 1 of the giveaway page.
Clear Browser Cache & Cookies
If none of the above steps resolve the issue, ask the listener to clear their browser cache and cookies, then reload the contest page and try again. This resolves a large number of persistent entry errors, especially for listeners who have entered contests before.
National or Main Link Working for Some Users, Not Others
If a national or main campaign link is working for some users but not others, the campaign itself is almost certainly fine — this is a user-side issue, not a problem with the contest setup.
Ask the affected users to work through the following steps in order:
Restart their computer or device.
Check whether any ad blockers or popup blockers are enabled and disable them.
Clear browser cache and cookies, then reload the page.
Try opening the link in an incognito or private browsing window.
Try a different browser (Chrome is recommended).
Try on a mobile device using mobile data, with Wi-Fi turned off — this rules out a network-level block.
Check that the browser is up to date.
If one or more of these steps resolves the issue, the cause is a browser setting or network restriction on the user's device. If none of them work and the issue persists for multiple users in the same organisation, contact support — this may indicate a firewall or network-level block on their end.
Admin-Side Issues (Form Builder)
If you are building or editing an Experience and encountering issues with the form itself — such as a frozen builder, missing elements, or broken links — follow the steps below.
Form Builder Freezing or Elements Not Appearing
If the Experience form builder becomes unresponsive or an element you added doesn't appear (especially when working on a second page of the form), try the following:
Save your progress and do a hard refresh of the page (Ctrl+Shift+R on Windows, Cmd+Shift+R on Mac).
If the element still doesn't appear, exit the builder and re-open the Experience from the dashboard.
Check that you are adding elements to the correct page/step — each step in a multi-page Experience has its own element list.
If the builder remains frozen, try a different browser (Chrome is recommended) or clear your cache and cookies before re-opening.
Broken Official Rules or Terms of Use Links
If the Official Rules or Terms & Conditions link on your entry form is broken or pointing to the wrong page:
Go to the Official Rules Checkbox element in your entry form and click to edit it.
Verify the URL entered is correct and publicly accessible — open it in a private browser window to confirm.
If you cloned the Experience from a template, the link may still point to the original station's URL. Update it to your own Official Rules page.
After updating, save the Experience and test the link again in a private browser window.
UGC Submissions Not Appearing After Entry
If a listener has submitted a photo, essay, or other UGC entry but it's not showing up under User Submissions, check the following:
Open the Experience and navigate to the UGC element settings.
Check the element's scheduling settings — if the submission window is closed or hasn't opened yet, submissions will not display.
Ensure the Experience is Published and Active, not in Draft or Paused state.
If the submission window is open and the entry still doesn't appear, contact support with the listener's email address and the Experience URL for investigation.
Entry Form Field Errors & Submission Problems
If your entry form is throwing errors on specific fields, preventing submission, or collecting data that isn't appearing correctly in your account, the steps below cover the most common admin-side causes.
Email Field Showing a Red Error on Submission
A red error around the email field on submission usually means one of the following:
The email field is set to required but the field validation rule doesn't match the format listeners are entering (e.g. a custom regex that's too strict).
The field is configured to accept only certain domains — check the entry form's email field settings and remove any domain restrictions you didn't intend to add.
Duplicate entry detection is enabled and the listener has already entered. If this is intentional, the error is expected; if not, check your frequency limit settings.
To check field settings: open the Experience, go to the Entry Form tab, click the email field, and review the Validation and Restrictions options.
Form Submits But Data Isn't Appearing in the Userbase
If listeners are completing the form but their entries or data fields aren't showing up in your account, check the following:
Confirm the Experience is Published and Active — entries submitted while the Experience is in Draft or Paused state are not recorded.
Check whether the field you're looking for is mapped to a Userbase column. Go to Entry Form → field settings → and confirm the 'Save to Userbase' option is enabled for that field.
If you recently added or renamed a field, data collected before that change won't backfill — only new entries will reflect the updated field.
For custom fields, verify the field name in the Entry Form exactly matches the column name in your Userbase (case-sensitive).
Spacing, Styling, or Layout Issues on the Entry Form
If the entry form displays correctly in the builder but looks broken on the live page (elements overlapping, spacing off, buttons misaligned):
Open the live Experience on the affected device and browser, and take a screenshot to share with support — layout issues are often device- or browser-specific.
Check whether you have custom CSS applied to the Experience. Custom styles can conflict with form elements, especially after platform updates.
Try previewing the Experience in the builder using the Preview button and switching between mobile and desktop views — this isolates whether the issue is display-size related.
If the issue only appears on a specific browser, try the steps in the Microsoft Edge section above, or contact support with the browser version and a screenshot.
Bonus Entries Not Working
Bonus entry issues are one of the most common admin-side configuration problems. If bonus entries aren't being awarded, aren't showing in the userbase, or listeners aren't seeing the bonus entry options, work through the checklist below.
Bonus Entries Not Showing in the Userbase After Setup Changes
If you added or changed bonus entry actions and existing entries aren't reflecting the new counts:
Bonus entry counts in the userbase only update when a listener actively completes a bonus action after the change was saved. Entries submitted before the configuration change are not retroactively recalculated.
Verify the bonus entry action is enabled — go to the Bonus Entries tab in the Experience builder and confirm the toggle is on for each action you want active.
Check that the Experience has been saved and republished after making bonus entry changes. Changes made in draft do not affect the live Experience.
Bonus Entry Actions Not Appearing to Listeners
If listeners are completing the initial entry but don't see bonus entry options on the confirmation page:
Confirm the bonus entry section is set to display on the confirmation/thank-you step — go to the Experience builder, navigate to the confirmation step, and check that the Bonus Entries element is placed there.
Check whether bonus entries have a start/end date configured. If the bonus window hasn't opened or has already closed, the options won't display.
If you are using a social share bonus action (Facebook, Twitter, etc.), ensure the social platform OAuth connection in your account settings is active. A disconnected integration will hide the corresponding bonus action from listeners.
If only some listeners see the bonus entries, check whether you have an eligibility rule applied to bonus actions (e.g. only showing to listeners in a specific segment).
Bonus Entries Awarded But Count Seems Incorrect
If bonus entry totals don't match what you expect:
Each bonus action can only be completed once per listener per entry period unless you've enabled repeating entries. Check the bonus action's 'Allow repeat completions' setting.
Verify the point value assigned to each bonus action. If multiple actions have different point values, the total may differ from a flat-count expectation.
If you recently changed a bonus action's point value, the new value applies only to completions after the change was saved — prior completions retain the original value.
If you've worked through these steps and bonus entries are still not working as expected, contact support with the Experience URL, the specific bonus action affected, and an example listener email address. This gives the support team everything they need to investigate quickly.