The Fixture Upload feature allows organisations to create, update, or extend a fixture by uploading a file in the system. Fixture Upload offers a flexible solution to generate a fixture, regrade teams, and allocate games. An additional benefit is that rounds can also be added or removed for fixtured grades. Use of the Fixture Upload feature is intended for the more advanced administrator who has an unusual/highly specific need to configure fixtures for a given competition season. If in any doubt, please discuss your need with your sports support team before using it.
Note: The Fixture upload feature is disabled for Tournament style competitions due to the added complexity of this style of play. Additionally, if you use the fixture upload feature, the PlayHQ Regrade wizard will be disabled for the corresponding competition season. Regrading is then accomplished via the fixture upload.
More information on using the fixture upload can be found here:
- generating a fixture via the fixture upload feature
- to regrade teams
- add or remove rounds
- game allocations
Below is a list of Frequently Asked Questions grouped in the following sections:
- General file questions
- Fixturing games
- Game allocations and slots
- Regrading
- Finals
General file questions
| FAQ | Answer |
| When and where can I download a fixture upload template? | The fixture upload template can be located in each Domestic Competition Season's Settings tab, in the Fixturing sub-tab. The template includes the correct column names expected. The legend helps you complete the template by viewing formatting examples that the template requires. The legend includes four tabs with the names of the organisation, competition, season, grade, team, venue, and court names required for a successful upload. |
| I have my fixtures in a Word document - is there anything stopping me from uploading that or any other file type? | The system will only accept .csv files, any other file type will be rejected. |
| Can I upload a fixture template .csv that I have created myself and did not download from the admin portal? | Yes, however, the file must contain the exact columns as the fixture upload template. Any deviation from these column names or their order will cause the upload to fail. |
| What needs to be in place before I am able to successfully complete a fixture upload? | You will need to at least have one grade and 2 teams set up in a season. The teams do not necessarily need to be allocated to the grade i.e. you can allocate teams to a grade via the file. Teams cannot have the same name in a season (ie. the team names must be unique). |
| Could a team name appear across multiple grades in a single fixture upload file? | No, team names must be unique across a season or otherwise, the upload will be stopped and an error message will be produced. |
Fixturing games
| FAQ | Answer |
| Can I use the fixture upload to add or remove rounds to shorten or extend my season? | Yes. More information is here adding or removing rounds. |
| What is the minimum number of grades and rounds that need to be completed via a single fixture upload? | A fixture upload file must contain a minimum of one complete round for a single grade. |
| What is the maximum number of grades and rounds that need to be completed via a single fixture upload? | All rounds for a season across all grades can be uploaded via a single upload. However, the file can only have a maximum of 2,000 rows/lines (including the header). We recommend splitting up the file if there are more rows than this. Rounds in a grade will need to be sequenced properly in order to do this i.e. Round 1, Round 2, etc… |
| Can I replace a round that already exists in the system via a fixture upload? | Yes, but only if all games in that round are in UPCOMING status. Games cannot have a PENDING or FINALISED status ie. abandoned, cancelled, final. |
| What happens if I already have a fixture generated for a grade, then replace a single round for that grade via a fixture upload? | Once the file upload is complete, only the single round defined in the file will exist in the grade, all future rounds on the system after this round will be removed. See adding or removing rounds. |
| How do byes work in relation to the fixture upload? | Byes can be given to teams in a fixture upload file by entering the Team Name of the team to receive a bye in the Home Team column for a row. The Away Team column for that same row will need to be entered as "Bye". The grade, round, and round date, still need to be entered and the game allocation details should be left blank for that row. |
| Can I give out multiple byes in the same round? | Yes, you can, however, you cannot give the same team multiple byes in the same round and you cannot give a team that is playing in a round a bye for that same round, as well. |
| Can I give every team a bye in a round? | Yes, you can. However, if it is in the last round you will be unable to complete another fixture upload for this grade because all rounds need to be in upcoming status. To overcome this, you can add a game to the last round and ensure the date is in the future ie. Upcoming. This will then allow you to use the fixture upload feature on this grade. |
| Why do I need to enter a round date for every game in a round? | The system requires a round date to be defined for games so that a game has a date associated with it in lieu of a specific game allocation date and time. |
| Can the round date and a game date for a game in that round be different? | Yes. |
Game allocations and slots
| FAQ | Answer |
| Can some games be allocated to a venue / court / date / time and some be left unallocated in a single fixture upload file? | Yes, the allocation details provided for games in the file will be used to determine game allocations whereas games that have no allocation details provided will be left as TBC (and can be updated through the system). Partially completed game allocations will fail the upload process as the allocations must be fully complete or left empty. |
| What happens to game slots when a fixture upload is completed? | You will no longer be able to use game slots for a grade that is referenced in a successful fixture upload. If the grade is being fixtured for the first time via the file, no slots will be available for that grade. If the grade was already fixtured via the system and is subsequently referenced in a fixture upload file, the slots that did exist will no longer be available. |
Regrading
| FAQ | Answer |
| Why can't I see/use the regrade button on the system? | If a fixture upload within a season has been completed then all future regrades must be completed using the fixture upload. |
| Can a round that I define in a fixture file be the REGRADE ROUND, for example, if I have no more regular season rounds left in a grade’s fixture? | Yes, a new round defined in a fixture upload file can be a REGRADE ROUND if teams are regraded in or out in that round. |
| Does the fixture upload file allow you to regrade teams that not in the file? | No. Both grades involved in a regrade (the from and to grade) must have at least one round defined in the file. |
| Can a team be regraded multiple times in a single fixture upload file? | No, a team will only be able to be regraded once within a single fixture upload file. Therefore a team name cannot appear in multiple grades within the same fixture upload file. A single team name, however, can be defined in multiple games within the same round in a grade i.e. the team needs to play multiple games in the same round. |
Finals
| FAQ | Answer |
| Can I define finals rounds / games via a fixture upload file? | No. The finals can only be set manually by accessing the Grade's Settings 'Fixturing' tab and adding finals to the grade. |
| I generated a fixture in the admin portal (i.e. not using the file), and added Finals in the process - what happens to those Finals rounds / games if I try to add additional rounds via the file? | The fixture upload won't load successfully and will produce an error. Finals formats must be removed in order for a fixture upload to proceed. |