Rounds and pairing

Rounds is the screen where a round is drawn, staffed, checked, released to competitors and judges, and started. It is the fourth item in the left rail of the admin area, after Overview, Setup and Field, at /tournaments/{id}/admin/rounds. Use it for every round of every event: the preliminary rounds that everyone debates, and the elimination rounds that follow the break. Ballots for a round are worked on Ballots, and the values that shape a draw are described in Setup.

Before the first round exists, the screen shows a short heading and a Next round panel that prepares Round 1. After a round exists, the screen becomes a console with a round list on the left, a seven step workflow strip across the top, a table of rooms in the middle, an inspector for one room on the right, and a release bar along the bottom. The address takes ?round_id= to open a particular round and ?pairing= to open a particular room, which is how the links in the release bar work.

A round is a set of rooms. A room, also called a pairing, seats two entries, the affirmative side and the negative side, with one judge or a panel of judges. A bye is a round in which an entry is not paired and receives a win. A panel is an odd number of judges who decide one room by majority. A release publishes the round's rooms to competitors, judges and the public page.

Who can use it

Every action on the screen checks admin access again on the server. A visit by an account without a seat ends in You do not have admin access to this tournament. A check that could not run ends in Could not check your admin access. Try again. The first means the account lacks a seat. The second says nothing about the account, and a second attempt is the right response.

How a round moves

The console reads each round through four phases. The phase is worked out from the rooms, and no director sets it by hand.

A round cannot be created until the previous round of the same event is paired and has every ballot in. The screen says which round it is waiting on and how many ballots are out. The workflow strip lights one step at a time, chosen from the state of the rooms, and steps before it show a check mark.

The Rounds item in the left rail shows a count of rounds, and the Ballots item shows how many ballots are out.

The header

The round list in the left column

Below the large breakpoint the column is replaced by a Select round drop down above the rooms. It lists the rounds of the open event, then the newest round of each other event, and offers Prepare Round 1 for an event with no rounds.

The workflow strip

Seven steps run across the top. The step that is lit shows its action buttons. On a narrow screen only the lit step is shown. A preliminary round and an elimination round use different step names and a few different buttons.

Release publishes the postings, so competitors can find their rooms. Start is the clock. The release check already refuses a room with no judge, and Start checks again that every room has one. Starting cannot be taken back.

Controls above the table of rooms

These controls appear once the round has rooms.

When the previous preliminary round still has ballots out and the open round already has rooms, a notice above the table reads Cannot generate the next draw, followed by how many ballots still need a decision and how many earlier rounds are not paired.

The table of rooms

When a round has no rooms, the table is replaced by a heading reading the round name and has no pairings yet. For a round that cannot be created yet, the text names the round it waits on and offers Open ballots for that round and Go to the previous round. For a round that can be drawn, the text and buttons match the Pair step.

Draw types and sides

Setup, under Rounds and break, chooses one draw for the preliminary rounds. Elimination rounds are always seeded from standings. Generate pairings uses the chosen draw and refuses to run when the round already has rooms.

Elimination rounds seed the best entry against the last seed, the second best against the second last, and so on. The first elimination round is seeded from the break. A later round is seeded from the winners of the previous elimination round, re-seeded by preliminary standing. Seeding refuses to run while any room of the previous round has no decision.

Byes

A draw with an odd number of entries leaves one entry without an opponent. That entry is given a bye room, which has no judge, no room name and no ballot. In the power-paired draw the bye goes to the lowest ranked entry in the lowest bracket. A bye counts as a win in the entry's record and is also counted as a bye. A bye room is stored with the same entry on both sides and the status bye, and the release check treats that shape as expected.

A bye room cannot be opened in the inspector and cannot be given a judge. A pairing created by hand cannot be a bye, because the form refuses an entry on both sides.

Seating judges

A room needs one judge in a preliminary round, and as many as Setup sets for an elimination bracket. The default for an elimination bracket is three. Panel sizes are odd so that a majority exists.

• Auto-allocate judges. Reads the round's rooms, skips rooms that are released or decided, and seats judges in the rest. It replaces the judges it seated earlier in those rooms, so pressing it twice leaves one panel and not two. The number of judges a room needs is sent with the button and is limited to 1 through 9.
• What the allocator weighs. A judge's available dates, the judge's own daily limit of rounds, declared school conflicts, declared entry conflicts, household ties and the judge's own school. A repeat of a team the judge has seen costs more, and becomes a hard refusal when Setup's Never seat a judge with a team they have judged is on. Setup's balance of judge categories and accepted judge nominations also move the choice.
• Who is in the pool. Only roster judges who have accepted their place, completed compliance and orientation, and been approved. A judge short of one of those steps is left out, and a failed allocation says how many.
• Moot court. In an event whose format is moot court, the same button also seats clerks, who never receive ballots.
• Assign by hand. The room inspector seats each judge from a searchable list. The first seat is the chair, and the other seats are called Wing.

After a successful allocation the banner reads Seated N judges, and adds across panels of K when the panel is larger than one. Allocation does not choose rooms.

Unseatable judges

The seat picker lists the judges who can be seated first. Below them, in grey and marked unavailable, it lists each roster judge who lacks a step, with the step as the tag. A line under them reads that N judges are not available to seat until their steps are done, with the link Open Field > Judges. Search in the picker covers both lists.

A judge who loses a step after being seated stays in the seat, and the check then blocks the release with a finding that names the step. Replacing the judge clears it.

In the picker, each seatable judge carries a tag. Free means seated nowhere else this round and no conflict with either entry. A conflict tag reads Conflict followed by the school or a competitor here. A judge seated elsewhere reads Seated in and the room, and a judge with no days recorded carries that note. Free judges sort first, then tagged judges, then conflicts.

Room assignment

Rooms come from the room list on Setup, described in Rooms. Only rooms marked available are offered. Prepare gives rooms to the new round's debates in the order of room names, and Generate pairings leaves every room blank. A room left blank blocks the release with No room assigned.

• In the inspector, the Room chips list every available room, with the count of free rooms beside the heading. A room taken by another pairing this round is disabled. With no rooms defined, the chip row is replaced by a text field with the placeholder Room.
• A room name is used by one pairing. Two unreleased pairings in one room produce a finding on every pairing but one, saying the room is also used by another pairing.
• A named room that is too small for the people in it is refused. The count is every speaker on both sides plus the judges seated. A room with no recorded capacity, or a name that matches no defined room, is accepted.
• Moving a released room notifies both entries and every judge in the room with an urgent notice naming the old and the new room.

The room inspector

The inspector opens beside the table for the selected room, or for a new pairing. Its title is the room name, with the room's status and a close button. On an online tournament a link Open link opens the room's meeting link in a new tab.

Under the buttons a line reads Released rooms need a typed reason. for a public room, and Unreleased: no reason needed. Findings re-run on save. otherwise. A competitor who already sits in another room of the round shows a notice naming that room, and the save button is disabled. The notice suggests moving them out of that room first. No control swaps two rooms in one step, so a competitor is freed from the other room by changing that room's entry, or by deleting that room while it is unreleased.

Saving a change to a room writes the old and new values to the room's edit history, and a released room also records the reason. A save that changes nothing returns No changes to save.

Round settings

Edit beside the round name opens the settings in the inspector. Reveal and spectating can change after release.

A line under the buttons says the window and break size cannot change after release. The save itself does not check whether the round is released, so a window saved after release is stored. The round name is not editable on this screen.

The release check

The release check is a set of tests run over the round's rooms. In the product's own messages it is also called the disaster check. It runs when the page loads for every round in the left column, again after most edits on this screen, and again on the server at the moment Release is pressed. A finding is either blocking or a warning. Any blocking finding refuses the release, and no override exists.

The console adds two advisories of its own. A judge with no available days recorded gets a note that they should be seated only if they said they can judge. A judge declared against a school, where the declaration was marked soft, gets a school conflict note. A soft declaration never blocks.

Findings that belong to no room, for example a checked in competitor left out of the draw, appear only in the release bar. Findings that belong to a room appear in the room's inspector and in the bar.

Recommended fixes

For a double booking, a school or household conflict, a judge who is not ready, a repeat, a short panel, an empty seat or a missing room, the console works out one fix and says why. A seat fix names the judge, the judge's years of experience, and that the judge is free this round with no conflict. A room fix names the first free room. Apply all N fixes computes each fix against the ones before it, so one free judge is never given to two rooms. A double booking is cleared by moving the judge out of every room but one, keeping the released room, or the first room in the draw.

A fix is offered for an unreleased room only, since a released room needs a typed reason. A daily limit finding has no recommended fix. A repeat has one only when a free judge has heard neither entry.

Releasing and un-releasing

The release bar runs along the bottom. Its dot and sentence say where the round stands, and its buttons act on the whole round.

The release confirmation reads Release and the round name, adds with N advisories open when there are any, and says that competitors and judges are notified now. It has the buttons Release and Cancel, and Escape cancels. A release writes every room's public flag in one save, then sends one in-app notice to each entry and one to each seated judge. The notice title is Pairings are out. A competitor's notice names their room, or says they have a bye. The banner afterward reads Round released. Pairings are now public. and, when notices were sent, the number sent and that a release sends no email.

Releasing again after a room was added tells only the entries and judges of the rooms that were still unreleased. Setup's switch Release rounds automatically when the check passes releases a round after a Rounds save, a Prepare, or a check-in desk change that clears the check, and never releases a round that has a blocker. The banner then reads The check passed, so the round released itself. Pairings are now public. The check runs after a pairing is created by hand, but the automatic release does not, so a round drawn by hand is not released by its first pairing.

Un-release

Un-release takes the postings down for competitors, judges and the public page and withdraws the notices the release and any room move sent. The draw, the judges, the rooms and any draft ballots stay, so a director can fix the cause and release again. The confirmation says so, and its button is Un-release.

The button is offered only while the action would be taken. It is refused when no room is released, when any ballot is submitted, when any room has a recorded result, and when the round has started. A ballot that arrives while the postings are coming down puts them back up and names the reason.

Online tournaments

On an online tournament, a room is the meeting link. Competitors set and change the link from their own room page, and it must start with https://. The console shows such a room as Online room and its number in Setup's room list, and the inspector's Open link opens it. A link that is not in the list reads Online room.

Each room page on an online tournament also carries Round Chat and an evidence exchange. Chat is open to the two sides, the judges seated in the room and tournament staff, up to 2,000 characters a message. After the round is over, its chat is kept as a record and accepts no new messages. An in-person room has neither. The room page offers the report types The meeting failed and The room or link is broken only on an online tournament.

The code keeps spectating closed on demo tournaments, because an open round shows its meeting links to any signed-in account.

Preparing the next round

The Next round panel appears on the empty first screen and at ?view=prepare. It lists each event, scoped to one event when the address names it, and hides itself for a completed or cancelled tournament. For each event it says what to do next, in one sentence.

A tournament with the By hand draw opens the new preliminary round empty. A prepared round saves nothing unless every room gets a full panel, so a shortage of judges refuses the whole round. The line under the form reads Pairings and assignments stay private until you review and release the round. After a successful preparation the console opens on the new round, and the automatic release runs its check.

Requests from rooms

Under the table of rooms, the console lists what participants and staff have raised. The section is hidden when there is nothing to show.

A request raised here lands in the same list as a room's Ping Tab and a judge's request. Names that cannot be read show as Unnamed account, and a note under the list says some names could not be read and suggests reloading.

Tasks

Prepare and release a preliminary round, with the draw Setup chose.

1. Open Rounds. When no round exists, or when the previous round has every ballot in, select Add Round N in the left column, or Prepare next round in the Next round panel.
2. Check Judges per room, then select Prepare next round. The round opens with rooms, judges and room names filled in, and nothing public.
3. Read the release bar. When it lists blockers, select the link beside each one, or select Apply N recommended fixes.
4. Review the table. Select any room to change its competitors, judges or room, and select Save.
5. Select Release round, then select Release in the confirmation.

Afterward the bar reads that the round is fully released, and each competitor and judge in it has an in-app notice.

Draw a round without Prepare.

1. Open Rounds and select the empty round in the left column.
2. In the Pair step, select Generate pairings. For a draw set to By hand, select Add a pairing and choose both competitors.
3. In the Judges step, select Auto-allocate judges, or Auto-fill panels in an elimination round.
4. In the Check step, select Apply all N fixes to give a room to every pairing that has none.

Afterward the banner reads Generated N pairings. and then Seated N judges.

Fix a blocked room.

1. Open Rounds. Select Blocked, or select Show in the release bar.
2. Select the room. Read the finding and the Recommended fix.
3. Select Apply, or select Choose someone else and pick from the list.
4. For a competitor whose partner is marked absent, select Open the check-in desk in the release bar and correct the check-in there.

Afterward the status reads Ready or Advisory and the blocker disappears from the bar.

Change a room after release.

1. Open Rounds and select the released room.
2. Change the judge, the room or the competitors. Competitors and sides cannot change once a ballot is in.
3. Type the change in Reason for change.
4. Select the button that reads Save and the room name.

Afterward both competitors and every judge in the room receive an urgent notice when the room moved, and the edit history holds the old value, the new value and the reason.

Start a round.

1. Open Rounds and release the round.
2. Seat a judge in every room that lacks one.
3. Select Start round in the Start step.

Afterward the Live pill appears in the header, and the step text reads that the round is under way.

Take a release back.

1. Open Rounds and select the released round.
2. In the release bar, select Un-release round, then select Un-release in the confirmation.
3. Fix the cause, then select Release round again.

Afterward the banner reads that the round is un-released and that its postings are down, and the notices are withdrawn.

Move the day when it runs late.

1. Open Rounds. Select Edit beside the round name in the left column.
2. In Running late, type the minutes and select Shift what is left.

Afterward the banner reads how many rounds moved, whether later or earlier, and by how many minutes.

Raise a support request from the tab room.

1. Open Rounds. Scroll below the table and select Raise a support request.
2. Choose the room, the issue and the urgency. Leave the owner or choose another staff member.
3. Describe what was reported in What happened, and select Raise it.

Afterward the banner reads Support request raised., and the request appears under Open incidents.

Troubleshooting

Messages appear in the banner at the top of the console, in the release bar, in a room's inspector, or on the Next round form. A name in braces stands for the competitor, judge, room or round in the real message.

Release check messages

Release bar and release messages

Drawing and seating messages

Room editing messages

Settings and schedule messages

Request messages

Access and loading messages

Settings read by this screen