InstantKB.NET v1.3 Knowledge Base

Using the Spawtz scoring application

Administrator — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 11:15:00 GMT

Abstract:

This article briefly explains how to use the Spawtz scoring application.

The application allows you to score fixtures from three sources: Direct from the internet, via a fixtures file or it allows you to create new fixtures which do not need to exist anywhere else.

Choose which method you want to use via the Main menu screen which lists "Open fixtures from a website", "Open fixtures from a file" and "Create a new fixture" as three of its options.

Opening fixtures from a website

This is the best method for scoring fixtures. When using this method, fixture details are fetched from your online Spawtz control panel in real time and when they are saved, the results are uploaded to the control panel immediately as well.

Once you have selected "Open fixtures from a website" you will be presented with a screen that asks you to enter the website details: the website URL, your username and your password. The website URL will be something like "yourcompany.spawtz.com" where your company is your company name. For details on exactly what this URL should be you can contact Spawtz support staff on info@spawtz.com. Once entered, this URL will be saved in the configuration settings, so you will only need to enter it once and then the

Configuring ClickOn remote controls for use with the scoring application

Administrator — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 10:36:00 GMT

Abstract:

This article describes how to link up ClickOn remote controls and receivers and the Spawtz scoring application.

1) Plug the tranceiver in and ensure it is powered on correctly. The LED on the transceiver will be lit green when the tranceiver is powered correctly.

2) Connect the tranceiver to the computer using the serial cable provided. If your computer does not have a serial input you will need to purchase a serial to USB cable converter available at all computer hardware stores and then plug the cable into a USB port.

3) Open the Spawtz scoring application and select "Configuration Settings" from the main menu.

4) Select the "Remote Control Settings" tab.

5) In the "Remote control comm port" field, select the port that the tranceiver is plugged in to (if there is only one serial port on your computer this port will be selected by default)

6) Put the cursor into the "Remote serial number" field and then press any button on the remote control. The serial number should appear in the text box. Alternatively, you can type the serial number in directly (the serial number is printed on the back of the remote controls).

7) Click "Save"

The application should now be linked with the remote. Test this by pressing home team plus or minus or away team plus or minus (buttons 1, 3, 2 and 4 respectively on the remote) to try to move up and down on the main menu. If the linking was successful, the selected item will change as you move up and down the menu.

Register your license in the Spawtz scoring application

Administrator — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 12:26:00 GMT

Abstract:

1) On the main menu select "Add License" or select "Configuration Settings" and then select the license tab in the config settings

2) EITHER open your license file and copy and paste all the information into the textbox, OR browse to the location of the license file and select it.

3) Click "Update License". The application will report "License successfully updated" if the license file was valid.

4) Click "Close"

How do I specify who officiated a particular fixture?

Administrator — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 12:50:00 GMT

Abstract:

Within the Spawtz application you can indicate that certain of your users are people who are available to officiate (umpire, referee etc) fixtures within your league.

To note that a user is available to officiate at a particular venue, do so via the "Official" checkbox within the security section in their profile, as seen in the image below:

To specify that a particular user officiated a fixture, do so via the fixture details screen, or via the duty report.

On the fixture details screen, the "Officials" section at the bottom of the screen will contain a list of all the users who may officiate at the venue the fixture was played at. Select the user or users who officiated and move them into the right hand box, and then click save:

On the duty report screen, fill the officials selection box by clicking "Add" next to the fixture in question. Clicking Add will bring up a popup containing a list of all the users who are available to officiate at the venue in question. You can then select one or more users and click one of the links below the selection box to add them either to that fixture alone, to all the fixtures on that court for that day (as it will often be the case that one particular user officiates all the fixtures on one court on a particular night) or to every single fixture that occurred at that venue on that night. See the image below:

Once officials have been selected for fixtures, you can run reports to see how many fixtures each user has officiated etc via the "Fixtures" group of the "Reports" section.

Fixtures or standings are not being displayed

Administrator — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 08:34:00 GMT

Abstract:

Fixtures, results and standings are only displayed on the external side of your website (ie the part that is visible to your players) during the season to which those fixtures and standings apply. Spawtz decides whether to display the fixtures and standings based on the start and end dates of the relevant season.

So, for example, if the date today is the 5th of January and the season for the fixtures you are interested in begins on the 10th of January, those fixtures will not be visible on the external part of the website until AFTER the 10th of January. They will continue to be visible there until the END of the relevant season. Say the season ends on the 5th of March, on the 6th of March the fixtures and standings will cease to be visible on the external part of the site.

If you wish to extend the time during which the fixtures and standings are visible, increase the length of the relevant season.

Note that the season start and end dates can either be set in the season itself (via "Leagues" / "Seasons" and the clicking "Details" next to the season in question) or directly within the league details screen for the league in question (via "Leagues" then clicking "Details" next to the league in question and then by selecting specific start and end dates for the season in question within this league).

How do I every fixture for a league at once?

Administrator — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 08:46:00 GMT

Abstract:

To delete all fixtures for a particular season at a particular league, do the following:

Click "Fixtures/Bookings"
Click "List fixtures by League, enter quick results and update statistics"
Select the venue, league, season and if applicable, division that you want to delete fixtures for
Check the checkbox in the header of the fixtures table. This will cause the checkboxes next to all the fixtures to become checked.
Click "Delete" and when the system asks "Are you sure you want to delete these fixtures", click OK

Note that there is no undo when deleting fixtures, so make sure you have checked the checkbox next to only those fixtures you want to delete.

Getting started with the Spawtz scoring application

Administrator — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 22:12:00 GMT

Abstract:

The Spawtz scoring application requires you to download a fixtures file from your online Spawtz control panel before you can score a game using the application.

You can download these files from the Fixtures/Bookings section of the control panel.

Once you have downloaded the file, follow these steps in order to score a game:

Start the Spawtz scoring application
When prompted for a location, click "Browse" and browse to the location of the fixtures file you have downloaded
Once you have located the fixtures file, click "Open"
The Spawtz application will then present you with a list of all the fixtures contained within that file
Double click on any fixture to score that game

All images, colours and game settings are configurable within the scoring application. To modify the configuration, click "Config". You can then change the number of balls per over, players per team, the sponsorship image and any other images.

To score a game, first select the team that is batting first from the first team drop down list. Then, select the names of the first pair of batsmen from the batsmen drop down lists. If the player's name does not already appear in the list you can add it by selecting "New player..." from the drop down list and then typing the player's name in. That player's name will then automatically be added to all the other drop down lists for that team. Similarly, you can select the bowler's name from the bowler drop down list and enter a new player's name in that box if the name does not already appear.

The timer that is displayed in the application has a default time of 60 minutes. To change this time, simply type the number of minutes into the timer textbox. Click start to start the timer. Once the timer reaches zero, the time will appear in red and the timer will continue counting into negative numbers s

Add an advertising banner to fixture reminders

Administrator — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 15:31:00 GMT

Abstract:

To add a banner to the fixture reminder emails:

1) Click Config

2) Click Auto Text Configuration

3) There are two entries for the fixture reminders: "Fixture Reminder Email: Day After" and "Fixture Reminder Email: Day Before". The day after email goes out the day after fixtures reminding about the fixture next week, the day before reminder goes out the day before asking for confirmation of availabilities. Select whichever one you want to update (and if you want to update both, just do the following steps for both entries)

4) All auto text entries can be configured at a venue level. There is a "Company wide" version and a venue version for each entry. As an administrator, you can udpate all the versions, and you can also choose to have the company version override all the venue versions. However, if you have the company version override all the venue versions you must be aware that any venue specific information that venue managers may have entered into their version of the auto text will be overridden as well (such as venue contact details, venue event information etc). You may choose to add the banner to EVERY version of the autotext. Although this is more time consuming it will mean that you are not overwriting venue level information.

5) Select the version you want to update from the Version drop down list

6) Above the text that goes out in the fixture reminder emails is a tool bar. In this toolbar is an icon that says "Source". Click this icon now to go into source mode.

7) You will notice that the text in the section below becomes the actual HTML source of the text. This is what you are going to modify

8) Prepare the html that you want to add to the reminder. This will probably be an image which links to a page on your website. The html for this takes the following format:

<a href="THE

Where can I find the user guide?

Administrator — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 11:57:00 GMT

Abstract:

For more information regarding teams, seasons, leagues, divisions, statistics, payments, line items, statements, users, fixtures, fixture generation etc, please see the Spawtz user guide at http://www.spawtz.com/userguide.doc

How Do Conditions work exactly when generating new fixtures?

Administrator — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 09:04:00 GMT

Abstract:

You can create fixture conditions to make the system try to ensure that all teams play a certain number of games at a certain time or on a certain day etc.

So for example, if you create a fixture condition on step 6 of the fixture generation process that states "All teams must play fewer than 3 games on any day at 21:00", the system will try to ensure that no team plays more than 2 games at 9pm.

Fixture conditions take precidence over team preferences, and if the system cannot ensure that all teams adhere to the conditions (say because there are not enough playing areas available, or because some conditions prevent others being satisfied) it will warn you of that fact on the suggested fixture list.

You can also add conditions to a league via the "Conditions" button next to the league in the league list. Adding conditions to the league means you do not have to add them every time you generate fixtures - they remain in place at all times.

Resend all fixture reminders for a particular league

Administrator — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 20:13:00 GMT

Abstract:

In some instances you may wish to resend all the fixture reminders that would have been sent out for a particular league on a particular date. This is especially useful if you create your fixtures only one week in advance, or when you are creating your finals series. In these instances, you may be creating the fixtures at a later date than the reminders would have been sent out, so often the first reminders do not get sent. To remedy this situation you can resend all the reminders for a particular league by following the following steps:

1) Click "Leagues"
2) Click the "Reminders" button next to the league you are interested in
3) Above the fixture reminder schedules for the league is a link entitled "Resend reminders for this league for a particular date". Click this link.
4) You will be presented with a screen that looks like this:

Select the reminder type and date that you want to resent reminders for from the textboxes at the top. This screen will then show a list of all the teams that will be sent the specified reminder on the specified date. Note that if the fixture about which they would be reminded is in the past, or if they have the specified reminders turned off (see the team's details page to change that setting) the screen will inform you of that fact and indicate that reminders will not be sent.

Once you are sure that the reminders that will be sent are the reminders that you want to be sent, click the "Send Reminders" button at the bottom of the screen. The system will send the reminders and report a list of all the recipients of the reminder.

For information on how to send or resend fixture reminders for a specific fixture only, see the article entitled Resend fixture reminder emails for a par

Resend fixture reminder emails for a particular fixture

Administrator — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 20:12:00 GMT

InstantKB.NET v1.3 Knowledge Base

Using the Spawtz scoring application

Configuring ClickOn remote controls for use with the scoring application

Register your license in the Spawtz scoring application

How do I specify who officiated a particular fixture?

Fixtures or standings are not being displayed

How do I every fixture for a league at once?

Getting started with the Spawtz scoring application

Add an advertising banner to fixture reminders

Where can I find the user guide?

How Do Conditions work exactly when generating new fixtures?

Resend all fixture reminders for a particular league

Resend fixture reminder emails for a particular fixture

How do I change the fixture reminder schedule for my league or venue (including turning reminders off)?

Fixture reminder emails were not sent out

How do I get The printer version invoice not to print the url of the page at the bottom or top of the printout?

Send a communication to all players of a particular sport

I can''t modify the venue version text

Explanation of Team Count and Allow Registration fields

Emailing your database or getting everyone's email addresses

I can't generate fixtures because Spawtz says that a playing area is locked

No recipients are selected when sending a communication

Starting a new season of a league

Team counts are incorrect when generating fixtures

How can I add an attachment to a communication?

Marking a game as forfeited

Cross League Fixtures show up twice in the control panel fixture list

Fixtures are displayed incorrectly on the external website

Line items do not affect the outstanding balance

Swapping teams between divisions

Sending a communication

All fixtures have clashes or errors when generating fixtures

Explanation of deposit, full price and cost per round fields

Team league fees

A team has paid, but they still have an outstanding amount on their statement

Team and Individual registration emails