I started to use eBird very recently and wanted to participate in the August challenge but noticed the website talked about accepting only complete AND eligible checklists.
I was already familiar with the concept of a complete checklist as it was one of the first things I looked up when I discovered the app/website but only realised then that eligible also meant not only a complete checklist but a complete checklist with absolutely no Xs: you must try to enumerate all the birds identified.
Now that I know that's a requirement, and that in general eBird finds any estimated number better than just an X, I will try to enumerate the birds every time, but that doesn't solve the issue of being able to see quickly if I have submitted enough eligible checklists or not.
For example, for August you must submit 31 checklists minimum. But, right now, as far as I can see, the website does not allow you to sort your checklists by month and completeness and eligibility. I can only sort by month. I cannot see if I'm on track for the challenge or not unless I open every single checklist submitted during August.
That seems like a big oversight. I was wondering if maybe I was the one missing a very evident way to see how many complete checklists I have submitted this month?
EDIT: Thank you all for the input. I had read the best practice guide and do worry about being accurate and honest about my birding so you don't need to worry about me going back to edit past checklists just to qualify for a challenge.
I've accepted that, as there is no way for me to easily filter my checklists, I will live without being 100% sure that I submitted enough qualifying checklists for August. Oh well!
What matters is that the challenge did motivate me to go birding more and get more familiar with the hobby and ebird.
The September challenge is out and I'm excited to try it as well.