Tutorial - Post start list from file to Webscorer.com

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OVERVIEW

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Introduction

  • While you can create the start list on the Webscorer PRO app, a large start list can be uploaded as an XLS, XLSX, CSV or TXT file to Webscorer.com
  • If your online registration is hosted on a site other than Webscorer.com, you'll need to import the registered racer list to Webscorer PRO
  • If you’re using Webscorer online registration, there’s no need to post the start list (the registration list is the start list)
  • Posted start lists can be viewed on Webscorer.com and downloaded by the organizer to the Webscorer PRO app
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Two ways to import start list to Webscorer PRO

  • Webscorer PRO supports importing start lists to the app via 2 methods:
    • You can upload the start list file to Webscorer.com from your computer and then download it to Webscorer PRO from Webscorer.com
    • You can transfer the start list file from your computer to Webscorer PRO via iTunes for the iPad / iPhone, or via the Android file system
    • When posting the start list file to Webscorer.com, the file type can be XLS, XLSX, CSV and tab-delimited TXT
    • When importing the start list via iTunes or via Android’s file system to the app, the file type must be tab-delimited TXT
  • Reasons to transfer the start list to Webscorer PRO via Webscorer.com:
    • The upload to Webscorer.com supports native Excel file types
    • The transfer via iTunes (to an iPhone or iPad) requires that you are at your own computer (and have access to your own iTunes)
    • The start list posted to Webscorer.com can easily be shared with racers, spectators and coaches
  • The reason to transfer the start list to Webscorer PRO via iTunes or Android file system is if you don’t have access to the Internet from the race site
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Start list file format

  • The start list file can be XLS, XLSX, CSV or in tab-delimited TXT format
  • The start list file must have column headers that match those supplied in the sample start list files
  • Use of Excel as the authoring tool to create the start list file is recommended but not required
    • When using Excel, you can save the start list file as XLS or XLSX for uploading to Webscorer.com
    • When using other tools, you can choose to use CSV or tab-delimited TXT format
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Pricing / licensing

  • Posting start lists from file to Webscorer.com is free
    • All you need is to sign up for a free Webscorer account to so we can keep track of your own races under your user ID
    • To sign up for an account, you just need to supply an email address and pick a password
  • Downloading start lists to the Webscorer app requires the PRO subscription
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FILE UPLOAD TOOL

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Introduction

  • To post start lists to Webscorer.com, you'll need to first sign in to Webscorer.com with your email address / password
    • If you don't yet have a Webscorer account, you can sign up as follows:
    • Click on the Sign in link on the top right corner of Webscorer.com
    • On the next page, click on the green Sign up now button
    • Type in your email address and choose a password (minimum of 6 characters)
  • Click on the Race organizers section and choose the My start lists option, and then click on Post start list from file menu button
  • When your start list file is ready, first click on the Browse... button to locate the file on your computer
  • Once located, click Upload to transfer the contents of the file from your computer to the web page
  • Thereafter, fill in the required field on the page and finally click on the Post start list menu button
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Input fields

  • Race name (default name is the name of your start list file)
  • Race date
  • Race time (enter start time of the race)
  • Time zone (GMT+0 is the standard time in England)
  • Race location (locate the race site on a map)
  • Sport type (this is required to easily find your race on the website, app)
  • Start type (how you plan to start the racers – you can change this on the app later)
  • Race visibility (public races are searchable by anyone, Private races are accessible only by knowing the URL)
  • Organized by (enter club name or race organizer name - optional)
  • Race website (enter your own website, e.g. www.webscorer.com - optional)
  • Race photo (upload a custom photo to be displayed on the start list page - if no photo is supplied, a stock sports photo is used)
  • Race notes (enter up to 2000 characters to describe the race, course info, start instructions etc. - optional)
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Additional notes

  • Note that after posting the start list, you can click on the Edit race info button on the start list page to make changes
  • If you make changes to the start list file, click on Edit race info, upload the updated file again and click on Save changes
  • You can delete your own posted start lists via the Race organizers section, under the My start lists option
  • If you accidentally delete a posted start list, it can be recovered by emailing us at support@webscorer.com
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VALID COLUMN HEADERS AND DATA

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Valid column headers

  • Bib
  • Bib (alphanumeric)
  • Name
  • First name
  • Last name
  • Team name
  • Team name 2
  • Distance
  • Category
  • Wave
  • Age
  • Gender
  • Year of birth
  • Info 1
  • Info 2
  • Info 3
  • Info 4
  • Info 5
  • Chip id
  • Chip id2
  • Email
  • Handicap
  • Predicted time
  • Start time
  • Leg 1 / Leg 2 etc. (applies to relay races only)
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Additional column notes

  • Most of the columns are optional, the only required fields are as follows:
    • Name or First name / Last name (if both are provided, the Name field is used)
    • Team name, Name and Leg 1 / Leg 2 etc. are required for relay races
    • A wave start without the Wave column requires Distance or Category (or both)
    • An interval wave start requires the Start time column
  • Column data issues:
    • The column headers must have the exact same text as shown on the sample files
    • If you're not using an optional field, you can leave the column header in the file, with no data in the column
    • Or, you can delete the column altogether
    • The order of columns does not matter
    • The uploaded file can have additional columns, they will be ignored during the upload
    • You can leave some columns empty and configure the data on the app (such as bib numbers, start times)
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Valid data

  • Bib can be any number from 1 to 99999
    • Duplicate bib numbers are not allowed
    • Either all racers must have an assigned bib, or none have an assigned bib
    • Duplicate racer name is ok if the assigned bib is different
  • Bib (alphanumeric) can contain letters and numbers (maximum of 15 characters)
  • Gender can be Female, Male, Female/Male - or F, M, F/M
  • Age is a number from 1 to 100
  • Year of birth is a number from 1915 to 2015
  • Start time can be any clock time from 00:00:00 to 23:59:59
  • Handicap can be any number from 0.0001 to 999.99
  • If you enter names that are longer than the specified limit, the names will be truncated from the end:
    • Name, Team name and Team name 2 fields can be maximum of 40 characters
    • Distance, Category and Wave fields can be a maximum of 40 characters
    • Info 1 through Info 5 fields can be a maximum of 256 characters
    • Email field can be a maximum of 255 characters
    • Chip id amd Chip id2 fields can be a maximum of 50 characters
  • Info 1, Info 2, Info 3, Info 4, Info 5, and Email are not shown on the website, but are downloaded to Webscorer PRO
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Excel tips when using tab-delimited TXT format

  • When saving the file as Unicode text, Excel may give two warning popups - answer Yes / OK to each:
    • The [Race name] may contain features that are not compatible with Unicode text. Do you want to keep the workbook in this format?
    • The selected file type does not support workbooks that contain multiple sheets. To save only the active sheet, click OK.
  • When reading in a .TXT file into Excel, the columns with times must be specified as type=Text (with the default type=General will lose the hh from hh:mm:ss
  • If special characters (e.g. ä, ö) are not showing properly, the TXT file was not saved as Unicode text
  • If you're using Excel as the authoring tool, use file type = Unicode text in Windows Excel and UTF-16 Unicode Text (.txt) in Mac Excel
  • If you are using some other tool, the easiest way to convert the file to UTF-8 is to open the saved .TXT file in Windows Notepad or Mac Text Edit
    • Once loaded, do a Save as and choose the Encoding to be UTF-8
    • On Windows Notepad, the Encoding option is next to the Save button
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SAMPLE START LIST FILES

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How to use the sample files

  • Go to Webscorer.com / Help resources / Sample files / Start lists
  • The sample files are offered both in .XLS and tab-delimited TXT file formats
  • There are 2 sample files that cover the various race setup options available in Webscorer PRO:
    • Sample start list for individual races
    • Sample start list for relay races
  • Load the sample file into Excel (or another authoring tool) and replace the sample racer data with your own
  • Or modify your own start list file by modifying the column headers to match with those in the sample files
  • Note that for additional sample files, you can download the start list from any race posted on Webscorer.com:
    • Click on the Download start list menu button on any posted start list page
    • Click on the Start list menu button on any posted results page to download the start list for that race
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Sample start list for individual races

  • You can download the samples here
  • The sample file includes all possible columns, delete the ones you don't need
  • Note that the start type is defined after uploading the start list file
  • The racer name can be supplied in 2 ways:
    • Name column, or
    • First name / Last name columns
    • If both are supplied, the Name column value is used
  • The Start time column applies only to the following start types:
    • Interval start
    • Pursuit start
    • Interval wave start
  • The Wave column can be used with the following start types:
    • Manual wave start
    • Interval wave start
    • Wave is used to determine the starting wave of racer regardless of distance or category
    • The sample shows how you can set up an "early start" for a few racers
    • You can also setup a "Fully custom" wave start by assigning custom wave to all racers
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Sample start list for relay races

  • You can download the samples here
  • The sample file includes all possible columns, delete the ones you don't need
  • Team members can share the same bib, or use a different bib number
  • If members of the same team uses different bib numbers, the bib numbers must be listed in the Bib column, separated by a comma
  • The Leg 1, Leg 2 columns are used to denote which order the team members race
  • The same team member can do multiple legs (repeat Name)
  • Start time column can be used for interval start, pursuit start or interval wave start
  • Team name column is used as the relay team name
  • Team name 2 column is optional and can be used for hometown, sponsor etc.