Upload
The import tools in Play are designed to be as flexible as possible so that you don’t have to spend a lot of time manipulating your files and naming columns a specific way to get it working with PLAY. A template is provided for convenience, but it’s not required.
Note there are a number of different ways of writing dates and unfortunately not all of them are unambiguous. e.g., Is 06-05-2024 in June or May?
By default, the expected format follows the ISO-8601 standard of YYYY-MM-DD, but additional options are provided. The dropdown provides examples using the current date.
Select Columns
The tradeoff of allowing flexibility is the app needs to confirm if it’s on the same page as you. It will try to automagically guess the columns assuming they’re named obviously, but it doesn’t always get them right.
Always make sure you review the selected columns. If you have two team columns, one for the name and the second for the ID, the name may be automatically selected instead of the ID which will become more helpful in the next step.
All columns are optional, since this creates draft games which can have all fields as optional. You can create a bunch of games with only teams, or a bunch of games with only dates and no teams, or whatever you can imagine. It’s your mess to clean up if you don’t like what you created.
Some columns impose a validation constraint. If a date is selected, it must conform to the date format selected in the first step. Times must be formatted as HH:mm (24h). Statuses must match what Play provides, or they'll be ignored as Active.
The teams and surfaces can be named however you like, that’s what the next step is for.
Match Columns
Now that you’ve told Play what your columns are, it can start to parse the rows.
On the left, you’ll see the values from your file, and on the right is what they match to in Play. it’ll
An initial attempt is made to automatically match the teams and surfaces based on the values provided, but this isn’t always 100%. Make sure to always review the values to be sure the right one was picked.
If you don’t see the correct values in the left column, go back to the previous step and check the columns you’ve selected.
It is also possible that you’ll see the same team multiple times if you haven’t written it exactly the same every time. You don’t need to correct your data, you may select the same team on the right multiple times.
If you don’t select a team, it’ll be considered a TBD. If you don’t have any teams (or surfaces) showing up because you didn’t select team (or surface) columns in the previous step, all the games will be parsed as TBD.
Review
This is a preview of the draft games will be created if you continue. Review the data and make sure it’s what you expect because it’s easiest to go back now and correct the columns, otherwise you will need to delete the draft games and start over.If you wish to generate your schedule with a CSV file, you must select the Import file option when you click on Create in the Inverter tab of your schedule.
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Click on the Download template button to obtain the CSV template and ensure that the columns and formatting of your documentation are correct. Select the date format you are using in your file. To convert a CSV file, please consult the documentation Converting a CSV file to an XLS file.
The columns in your document must be in the following order:
Game date
Start time
End time
Home team
Home team number
Visiting team
Visiting team number
Field name
Stage (if applicable)
Game number
We strongly suggest that you enter your team numbers. This will ensure that you select the right team. If you enter the team number, you won't need to enter the team name, because with the team number, the system will find the right team quickly.
Once you've completed your document, be sure to save it in . CSV FORMAT.
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If a team present in the imported file does not yet exist in the system, it will be added automatically. |
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Important: Your file must be saved in CSV format. When you save your file, you must select the CSV format type (separator: semicolon) (*.csv) in the drop-down menu under your file name. |
You must then add your file by clicking on Upload your draft game file here. Then click on Next at the bottom left of the page.
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The system will try to game the headers provided in your file with the required headers. If you have named one of your headers incorrectly, the corresponding column will remain empty. Click on the box to display the header drop-down menu for your file. Select the header that corresponds to the one you are trying to fill in.
If you've used team numbers instead of team names, use the drop-down menu in the Local and Visitor boxes to select the team options with the ID number.
The Status and Comments headings are optional; you can leave them empty.
If you have already created games in this schedule and wish to keep them, simply click on the toggle button at the bottom of the Update existing games page. The system will then keep your games and the game numbers.
When finished, click Next at the bottom of the page.
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The system will ask you to confirm the names of the teams and fields it has game with your file. If no teams or fields are selected, they will be indicated as yet to be determined.
If teams or fields are to be changed, click on the drop-down menu in the left-hand column to select another team or field.
Once all your teams and fields game your schedule, click Next.
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Note: You can always click Back to modify information or import a new file. |
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The system will then ask you to review your schedule to ensure that it match the one in your file. If everything conforms, click on Import in the bottom right-hand corner. Otherwise, click Back to make any necessary changes or import a new file.
Your games will then be imported in draft form, so it's always possible to make changes in the scheduler before publishing your schedule.
Once you're ready to publish your schedule, simply click on Publish in the top right-hand corner.
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