1. SweepsU.com does not support Internet Explorer 6.  The Sweeps and Contests section will likely look horrible and not function correctly.  There are no plans to support IE6 at this point as it is a very small portion of internet users, it's very old and outdated at this point,  and it takes a great deal of work above and beyond the other browsers.  We strongly recommend Firefox for your browser as there is a LOT of flexibility and tools that can make sweeping easier.  However, modern Chrome, Internet Explorer (versions 7 and 8), Safari, Opera, etc are all supported.  I'll post links at the bottom for these downloads.
2. In order for the SweepsU.com Enter Sweeps to work, you must set all pop-up blockers to allow SweepsU.com to open pop-ups.  Otherwise SweepsU.com will not be able to open the pages for you.
3. SweepsU.com was designed to use resolutions of 1024x768 and greater.  As I develop and test the system I have my browser sized to look as though that's the resolution I'm running on.  Anything lower than 1024x768 isn't supported.  The reason for this is that there is a lot of information and functionality I need to put in front of you to help you be productive.  At lower resolutions that becomes VERY difficult to do.   1024x768 is also the commonly accepted standard for web design currently.  Due to the nature of SweepsU.com's utility, phones and small screen netbooks probably will not give you a very good experience.  At some point in the future, if it's requested by enough folks, I'll create a "light" version that can be used on these devices.
4. SweepsU.com does not enter contests for you.  When you click the Enter button it will open the contest entry form (or as close as I can get to it) in another tab or window of your browser.  From there it's up to you to fill in the form, submit, and close that tab or window.  Therefore the information you used to register for SweepsU.com does not necessarily have to be the information you use to enter sweeps and contests.  Automated is a big and interesting subject that we will talk about more as time goes on.  However, it's typically very frowned upon by the folks running these promotions (and can disqualify you in some cases).  However. . .
5. There are a number of tools that are commonly used to help you fill out forms.  The two I am most familiar with are Roboform and Sxipper.  Roboform works on Internet Explorer and Sxipper works on Firefox.  There are a ton of these out there and I'm sure something for just about every flavor of browser.  If somebody has other form fillers that they like, please post a link in the comments below.  These tools are pretty much invaluable to a sweeper.
6. Don't burn out.  Sweepstaking is a marathon sport, not a sprint.  Successful sweepers are those that continue at a regular pace over a long period of time.  Don't start out trying to enter every sweepstakes and contest listed.  My personal advice (and this is MINE, I do not claim to be a great sweeper and haven't been doing it all that long.  Gwen will have other articles talking about this later):  Figure out how much time a day you want to spend, 30 minutes, 2 hours, 6 hours, whatever and search for sweeps that are offering prizes you really want that fill up that time to enter.  I try to do about 30 minutes a day and I can go through 30-50 sweeps following the above advice regarding browsers, tools, etc.  I'm seeing a lot of the new folks get on, spend 5-10 hours tracking and entering sweeps then not seeing them again.  Remember consistency is the key, and as Gwen tells me all the time, "Luck is spelled W O R K".

Ok, Sam's getting hungry so I have to go for now.  I hope this helps you folks and please do let us know if you have other comments or questions (can post comments in response to this blog post, or use the forums, etc).

Gerald

Browser Links:

Firefox 3.6 (All platforms) (SweepsU.com Recommended)

Internet Explorer 8 (Windows)

Chrome (All platforms)

Safari 4 (Windows, Mac OSX)

Form Fillers:

Roboform (Internet Explorer)

Sxipper (Firefox)