Topic of the month Contest - Rules?

Hi, administrators of this wonderful forum!

I just saw the Topic of the month Contest and I'd really like to participate. Since this is the first time I'm going to be a part of any contest on IL, I have a few questions about the rules. I searched and also went through the previous contest threads, but did not find satisfactory answers.

My questions are:

1. Apart from the details given when the contest is announced, are there specific rules to each contest every month, for example - the length of the article to be submitted?

2. Who is on the panel of judges? Is it the same panel for every contest?

3. It would help if there is a short description given on what exactly the article will be judged for. Will the judges give more importance to content (individuality of ideas or experiences) or presentation (including grammar and punctuation)?

This, of course, will depend on the topic given for that month. I saw this being mentioned in some contests but not in others. I think it would help to have a standard template that any IL-ite who is announcing the contest can follow. I don't know if there is already one in place, but I'm suggesting this since I could find some contests clearly explained and some not so much.

4. Why was the PM method discontinued for submitting articles? I think it was a good idea.

I hope this is the right place for my questions and that they will be answered soon so I can begin writing my article for the contest!

Thanks
Jyothi