Competition Management

It's easy to use RecordRanks for creating and managing different types of competitions. Only competition types enabled for the space can be selected when creating a new competition. The following competition types are available:

• Competition: in-person events with higher levels of scrutiny
• Online: remote events; members can submit results using an honour system or video evidence
• Meetup: more casual single-day events; no strict schedule

Creating new competition

Click "Create New Competition" in the Dashboard. In the competition creation form, you have to first select the competition type you want to hold. Then, enter the basic details following the form instructions.

Events

Once you've entered the basic competition details, go to the Events tab. This is where you can select your list of events and rounds. One competition event can have multiple rounds, with some number of competitors being eliminated after each round, and the final round determining the final standings.

Each event round has to have a round format selected. Once a round has started, the format can no longer be changed. The following formats are available:

• Best of 1: everyone gets one attempt, which determines the standings in the round
• Best of 2: everyone gets two attempts, the best one determining the standings
• Best of 3: everyone gets three attempts, the best one determining the standings
• Best of 5: everyone gets five attempts, the best one determining the standings
• Mean of 3: everyone gets three attempts, the mean of all three determining the standings
• Average of 5: everyone gets five attempts, the mean of the three middle attempts (excluding worst and best) determining the standings

Each round of an event using the Time event format also has to have a time limit. Any results equal to or above the time limit will be recorded as DNF (Did Not Finish). The time limit can be cumulative, which means that the sum of all attempts must be below the time limit; the first attempt that goes over the cumulative time limit is recorded as DNF, with all subsequent attempts recorded as DNS (Did Not Start).

A round for an event with the Time event format can also optionally have a cutoff time, which means that the first one or two attempts (this is configurable) must be strictly below the cutoff time. If a cutoff is enabled and the competitor doesn't meet it in their first one or two attempts, the rest of the attempts are not recorded (this is different from an attempt being recorded as DNS).

Schedule

Each competition also has to have a schedule, except for competitions with the type Meetup. A schedule helps competitors know when to show up to their rounds. It can be created and edited in the Schedule tab.

First, the rooms have to be added, and they'll then be used to specify which room (or location in a bigger hall) each round/schedule activity takes place in. If you are only using one room, simply enter it as "Main room" or "Main hall".

Once you have your list of rooms set up, you can add your rounds to the schedule, specifying the start time, end time, and room for each round. You can also add a custom schedule activity using the same process (e.g. Lunch break | 11:30 - 12:30 | Main hall).

Moderation system

RecordRanks has an end-to-end moderation system that helps ensure data integrity for your space. Admins are always able to review data submitted by moderators before it gets integrated into the public rankings and records. Once a competition is created, it is initially hidden from the public competitions list (although it can be accessed by anyone using the direct link to the competition page). The full lifecycle of a competition goes as follows:

1. A competition organiser (i.e. space admin or moderator) creates a new competition, giving it the initial state of created. Before the competition becomes public, a space admin has to review it using the Dashboard.
2. A space admin approves the competition using the Dashboard, giving it the state approved and making it publicly accessible (or only accessible to logged in space members, if the space is set to private). Moderators can then no longer edit some of the details, and they cannot add new events.

3. When the competition begins, an organiser with access starts entering live results, automatically changing the competition state to ongoing. The results can also be entered after the competition, which works the same way.
4. Once the results have been fully entered and double-checked, an organiser with access finishes the competition using the Dashboard, changing it to state finished. A space admin can then review the competition results.
5. A space admin publishes the competition, changing it to state published. Then, the results start being displayed on the rankings and records pages.

RecordRanks always sends out emails with important notifications: competition created/approved/finished/published/deleted, member role added, etc.

Both moderators and admins can edit existing competitions using the Dashboard. However, moderators have more limited access. They can only edit the competitions where they are listed as an organiser, and they cannot edit finished competitions. Moderators also can't add new events to approved competitions — they have to ask an admin to do this. But they can add additional rounds for existing events without admin approval.