Play-Cricket now allows the use of various templates to create fixtures that can be imported into a competition site.

The attached document describes the process.

The Excel spreadsheets are provided as is.

Due to the use of macros, Mac users with Excel for Mac 2016 will not be able to use them in a Mac OS environment. The solution is to run Windows in a virtual machine using VMware or Virtualbox and then the Excel spreadsheets will work as described.

Fixture Generation and Upload Using Templates

Play-Cricket now allows the use of various templates to create fixtures that can be imported into a competition site.

Before you can create fixtures, you must have been through the following steps:

1. Add clubs to your competition site via Admin Home>Competitions>League Members
2. Create or Generate divisions for the new season
3. Add teams to the divisions
4. Set up ground shares to record details of teams that share the same ground to avoid clashes

Steps 1-3 are documented in the Help Guides topic “Competition Site Administration”.

Step 4 is documented in the Help Guide topic “Shared Grounds”.

 

Templates

This feature allows the upload of templates to create a library that may be used by any league administrators to help generate their fixtures. You might have a template that works for your league which could be shared or you may find that someone else has uploaded one that suits your needs.

Alternatively, there is a simple Fixture Upload Template that is available from the Admin Home>Fixtures>Upload Fixtures page.

Whichever template is used, it must be in .xlsx format and have the correct headings for the upload to work.

The templates and associated documentation/guides need to be forwarded to the Play-Cricket Helpdesk (play.cricket@ecb.co.uk) for addition to the list.

Please note that these spreadsheets are provided as is. Any support is only on a best efforts basis. If as a community, you feel there are better tools please contact the Play-Cricket Helpdesk as we might want to include these for other to use in the future.

Note: At the time of writing, Mac users wishing to modify templates with macros are advised run Excel in a Windows environment. This may be done either by installing Windows on a virtual machine (via Parallels, Virtualbox or VMWare Fusion).

To access the templates, go to Admin Home>Fixtures>Templates.

 

 

 The following screenshot shows an example templates page:

 

You would select a template for the number of teams in your division, using the next size up if there are an odd number of teams.

Click on the template file to download it and download the associated guide.

Depending on the person who supplied the template, there may be notes on how to use it as part of the template.

 

Upload Fixtures

Having downloaded a template, you must acquire the Play-Cricket system IDs for the divisions, teams, grounds and umpires in your league. This download must be done each season to ensure that the latest IDs are selected. To do this, go to the Admin Home>Fixtures>Upload Fixtures page.

 

You may also access the Upload Fixtures page from the Fixture Management tab as below:

 

Click the System IDs and Umpires buttons to download the appropriate data. If you have set up ground shares, the System IDs spreadsheet will include that information.

When you have filled in your chosen template and saved it, click the Browse button to find the file on your computer.

Choose the file to be uploaded.

 

 

Now select the Upload button.

 

Validation Checks

If the file that has been uploaded is not in the correct format, a message telling you to use the template from the Upload Fixtures page is displayed:

If there are data issues – e.g. the Ground ID has been copied into the Division ID field by mistake, you will see a screen like the following:

 

 

You are given the option to cancel or continue with the successful entries. If you opt to cancel, you will get a prompt to confirm that you wish to do this.

There is a fixture count check, which is desirable when a whole season’s fixtures are to be uploaded.

 

 

The fixture import may be cancelled at this point if you wish to correct the spreadsheet.

The screenshot below displays a list of potential issues to be checked.

 

 

You may untick the check boxes for any issues that you do not wish to be reported. In the above example, the ‘ground not populated’ box has been unticked before continuing.

Here is an upload summary which highlights that one of the teams has consecutive away games on four dates so these fixtures may need to be reviewed.

 

 

You can choose to publish all fixtures, cancel the upload and remove the fixtures or select Review to get the following screen:

 

 

Tick the checkboxes for all of the fixtures to be published, then select the Publish button to continue.

Alternatively, select the Remove button to remove the fixtures and move on to the next division.