Creating a tournament

Creating a tournament files a new tournament under an organization, writes its first event and a starting set of tab and ballot rules, and opens its Overview. The form is a single page, not a stepped wizard. It is offered in two places that post the same fields to the same action: the page at /tournaments/new, which the tournament admin index and the organization list link to, and the Create tournament pane inside an organization's own console, which adds a live preview of the public page. A preset is a starting choice of format, venue and pacing that fills several fields at once and seeds the tab rules. Nothing is written until Create tournament is selected.

Who can use it

An account that administers no organization sees the heading You need to administer an organization first, the line Tournaments are created under an organization, and a link Create an organization →, which opens organization creation. Creating an organization makes its creator the owner at once. See Organization and account.

Before the form opens

• Setup steps first. If the organization has not finished its onboarding steps, the page sends the visitor to the organization's onboarding wizard instead of showing the form. The check applies to the organization named in the link, or to the only organization the account administers. With several organizations and no organization named in the link, no check runs at this point.
• Which organization is preselected. A link that names an organization the account administers selects it. Otherwise an account with exactly one organization has it selected. An account with several organizations must choose one, and Create tournament stays disabled until a choice is made.
• Organization picker. Shown only when the account administers more than one organization. With one, the organization is filled in silently.

The form

The page at /tournaments/new is titled Create a tournament, with the line that the creator can manage the tournament immediately as an admin of its organization. Fields run in the order below. A field marked required must be filled before Create tournament enables.

The first event section is headed First event, or Events once a split is chosen. The line under it reads: Registration and scoring are organized by event, and every tournament needs at least one. Add more from Setup later.

The organization console pane

Inside an organization's console, the Create tournament pane holds the same fields grouped under the headers Identity, Rounds, Venue & dates, Entry, First event or Events, and Public page. It posts to the same action, so every limit above applies. It differs in these ways.

Presets

There are eight presets: four formats, each in person or online. A preset label reads In-person or Online followed by the format name.

A points-derived ballot scores each speaker in four categories, each from 4 to 8 points: Content, Delivery, Organization and Responsiveness, and the ranks follow from the totals. A judge-assigned rank ballot has the judge rank the speakers directly. See Ballots.

With Divisions set to Novice and Varsity, a preset supplies two events. The first is Varsity, named Varsity followed by the format and coded V followed by the format code, for example Varsity Team Policy, VTP. The second is Novice, for example Novice Team Policy, NTP. Both follow the tournament wide rules until Setup gives one its own. Choosing another preset after a split refills both events. Choosing Configure manually clears the split.

Choosing a preset changes Format, the event fields, Venue format and Pacing in the form. Each remains editable before submitting. A manual creation starts with every field empty or at its default, and its first event takes one entry per competitor.

What a new tournament starts with

These tab rules and the ballot are written at the tournament level. With a split, neither event has its own copy, so both follow the tournament level rules until Setup gives one its own.

After Create tournament

The browser opens the new tournament's Overview at /tournaments/<id>/admin?created=1. A banner at the top reads Tournament created, followed by a sentence saying that everything entered can be changed in Setup, with Setup as a link. Overview then lists the next steps in four phases: prepare, preliminaries, eliminations and wrap-up. See Overview.

If the second event could not be added, the browser instead opens Setup at the Events section with a message naming the event and saying the tournament was created with its first event only. The form is not shown again, since submitting it a second time would create a second tournament.

Tasks

Create a tournament from a preset.

1. Open the organization's console and select Create tournament, or open /tournaments/new.
2. Choose a Starting preset, for example In-person Lincoln-Douglas.
3. Set Divisions to Novice and Varsity if the tournament runs both. Check the two event names and short codes.
4. Enter Tournament name and Location. Enter Start date and End date. Check Time zone.
5. Check Max participants, Registration fee and Who may register.
6. Add a Description if the public page should open on text.
7. Select Create tournament.

The Overview opens with the Tournament created banner. Registration is closed and the tournament is private until Setup changes them.

Create a tournament without a preset.

1. Leave Starting preset on its first option.
2. Enter Format, and choose Venue format and Pacing.
3. Enter the first event's Event name and Short code.
4. Fill the remaining fields as above and select Create tournament.

The tournament starts with the default tab rules listed above and a judge-assigned rank ballot. Add more events and adjust the ballot in Setup.

Troubleshooting

Limits and notes

• There is no way to cancel, archive or delete a tournament from the product today. The name is read only in Setup, so check it before creating.
• Hybrid pacing exists in the database but is not offered here or in Setup.
• The organization onboarding check runs only when the page can tell which organization is meant.
• The tournament starts in Planning Phase with registration closed, whatever Who may register says. That field decides who may register once registration opens.