Entry settings control how customers enter your contest and how winners are chosen. You'll find these options on the **Setup** tab of any contest.

## Winner Selection Method

Choose how winners will be picked:

**Random draw**
Winners are selected randomly from all eligible entries. When you draw a winner on the Winners tab, the system picks a random entry — entries with higher total entry counts have proportionally better odds.

**Manual selection**
You hand-pick the winners yourself. On the Winners tab, you'll see a list of all entries and can select specific ones as winners.

## Entries Per Customer

This sets how many times a single customer can enter the contest. Entries are deduplicated by **email address**.

- Minimum: **1** (each email can enter once)
- Maximum: **10**
- Default: **1**

When a customer enters with the same email a second time, their total entry count increases (improving their odds in a random draw), but no duplicate entry record is created.

## Optional Form Fields

By default, the entry form only asks for an email address. You can collect additional information:

**Collect name**
Adds an optional name field to the entry form. The field is labeled "Your name (optional)" and uses the `name` autocomplete attribute for convenience.

**Collect phone**
Adds an optional phone number field to the entry form. The field is labeled "Phone number (optional)" and uses the `tel` autocomplete attribute.

Both fields are optional for the customer — they can enter without filling them in. All personal information (email, name, phone) is encrypted at rest for privacy.

## How Entry Deduplication Works

When a customer submits the entry form:

1. The system checks if that email has already entered this contest.
2. If it's a new email, a new entry is created.
3. If the email already exists and the customer hasn't reached their entry limit, the total entry count on the existing entry is incremented.
4. If the email already exists and the limit is reached, the customer sees a message that they've already entered.

This means each unique email address has exactly one entry record, with a `total_entries` count that tracks how many times they've submitted.