THANKS FOR USING THIS PAGE! It should make tournament directing quick and easy. Tournament entries can be uploaded (avoiding manual entry), contestant and judge lists are automatically updated on the site (avoiding the need to post team lists), and you can do judge preference sheets on-line. The preference sheets automatically count the number of judges in each category, making it easier for contestants to fill them out correctly. For now, the system is fully compatible with Rich Edwards' TPRC, and I hope it will soon be compatible with Gary Larson's STA.
INSTRUCTIONS ALL SHOULD READ: Use the setup page to enter the information for the tournament you offer. Make sure that you enter deadlines for entries and preference sheets, using both dates and times. No entries will be accepted after the deadline you indicate, no preference sheets will be accepted after the time that you specify. Please make sure that the dates and times you enter follow the format indicated on the page, and especially note the use of military time. Only the tournament director can alter information on-line after the deadline; if you log in as the director you will still be able to add and drop teams and judges after the deadline.
You can alter the setup information at any point you want, but you will do well to make the information correct and accurate as early as possible. As soon as you hit the "submit" button, the file will be set up and contestants can enter your tournament. Obviously, if you make changes later on, it may alter the way that contestants would have entered the tournament. For example, if you add or delete a division, teams may have already entered the division you deleted or would have entered a different division had they known that they could.
As the tournament director, you have the ability to manually over-ride any entry that is made. Simply go to the tournament entry function from the main page and select your tournament. You can add or drop any team or judge. This means that if some contestants have sent you their entry information directly, you can enter them into the tournament via the web page.
IF you are using judge preference sheets, there is a consequence to you taking over entry duties. ONLY schools that have registered accounts can use the on-line pref sheets. The reason is that pref sheets must be password protected, and otherwise other schools could change other teams' pref sheets. Thus, I recommend two procedures. FIRST, STRONGLY recommend that everyone who enters your tournament sign up via the web and set up an account. This will, incidentally, assist in the on-line points project. SECOND, if you have done the entry for a school via the web, YOU should enter their preference sheets on-line. If you prefer, you can manually enter them into the TRPC AFTER you have uploaded everyone else's sheets.
TO USE PREFERENCE SHEETS ON-LINE: When you first submit your tournament a blank judge preference file will be created. An old option is the "Initialize judge preference sheets" button. You are advised against using this, but if you click it the page will create a blank judge preference file. You can initialize the file multiple times, but each time you click it the file will be blanked and any existing information lost. Thus, if anyone enters their pref sheets between the first and second time you hit the initialize button, they will think they have entered their pref sheets but you will have erased all their information.
The web page will automatically update any adds or drops to teams in judges in the judge preference file. The danger you face is that some judge changes might occur AFTER some teams have entered their pref information. For example, imagine a judge named "Greg Achten" has entered your tournament. Several teams have filled out their pref information and ranked Achten as a "1" judge. The morning of the tournament, Achten decides not to come. The result is that your competitors will THINK they have the correct number of 1 judges, but will be one short. Here are issues that arise:
A) You can instruct competitors not to enter pref sheet information until after the registration deadline has passed. That way you are the only one who can drop judges.
B) You can have particpants alter their preference information at registration. For example, 3 hours before registration you can download the data from the web and upload it into the TRPC and printout out pref sheets for all teams. At registration, you can hand them their on-line pref sheets and ask them to check them for accuracy. If a judge they ranked has dropped, you can instruct them to alter the pref sheets accordingly, and then enter the changes into the TRPC.
If you download the entry information separately from the judge preference information (you should NOT need to do this), try not to make many changes to the entries before you load the pref sheet information into the TRPC. AT A MINIMUM, DO NOT DELETE TEAMS FROM THE TRPC SYSTEM. If a team drops, click on the "stop scheduling" button instead.
RECOMMENDED STEPS:
1) Do tournament set-up early and accurately. Double-check all of your settings.
2) Post your invitation; indicate that entry is available on this page.
3) Check the page often to trouble-shoot problems.
4) Just before the entry deadline, post a message encouraging everyone to enter BEFORE the deadline and to make all the adds and drops on-line. If you have people who can't enter the tournament themselves, enter them yourself. Encourage everyone to review their entries to make sure that they are accurate, haven't been deleted, etc.
5) Enter your rooms into the TRPC.
6) If adds and drops for teams or judges occur after the entry deadline, keep a list of those changes on ONE piece of paper you can readily find. Record all judge anomolies like rounds they would like off, etc., on that piece of paper.
7) A few hours before registration, download the entries and the pref sheets and upload them into the TRPC. After this point, all changes should be made manually into the TRPC; you need not consult the web page again. Print out the pref sheets from Rich's program for distribution at registration.
8) At registration, it is important that you do the following:
A) Print out judge conflict sheets and have all judges complete them. These are NOT completed on-line.
B) Hand each team a copy of their pref sheets and have them verify that the information on the sheets is correct.
C) Enter all the information you've been keeping on a separate piece of paper (rounds off, etc.). Unless something unusual happens, this should not take very long.
D) Enter the judge conflicts.
E) When all the preference, team, and judge information is entered, produce the pairings.