Tutorial - Post .TXT start list to Webscorer.com

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OVERVIEW

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Introduction

  • While you can create the start list on Webscorer PRO, you may have an existing racer list as an Excel file you want to transfer over
  • Your online registration is hosted on a site other than Webscorer.com and you need to import the registered racers to Webscorer PRO
  • The start list can be maintained as an Excel spreadsheet and then saved as a tab-delimited .TXT file for importing to Webscorer
  • Posted start lists can be viewed on Webscorer.com and downloaded to the Webscorer FAN or PRO app
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Two ways to import start list

  • Webscorer PRO supports importing the .TXT start list via 2 methods:
    • You can upload the .TXT file to Webscorer.com from your computer and then download it from Webscorer.com to Webscorer PRO
    • You can transfer the .TXT file from your computer to Webscorer PRO via iTunes
    • The same .TXT file works with either method
  • Reasons to transfer the start list to Webscorer PRO via Webscorer.com:
    • The upload to Webscorer.com is easier & quicker
    • The transfer via iTunes requires that you are at your own computer (and have access to your own iTunes)
    • You may be transferring the start list to an iPad or an iPhone that is not your own (and cannot be synced with your iTunes)
    • The start list can easily be made available to racers, spectators and coaches
  • The transfer via iTunes is practical when you do not have Internet access to upload the start list to Webscorer.com from your computer
    • Note that you can also post the start list to Webscorer.com from the app once you have loaded it to Webscorer PRO via iTunes
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.TXT file format

  • The .TXT file must be in a tab-delimited format
  • The start list file must be in the format supported by Webscorer PRO and encoded as Unicode, UTF-8 or UTF-16 to ensure special characters display correctly
  • Use of Excel as the authoring tool to create the start list file is recommended but not required
    • You can use either the Windows or Mac version of Excel
    • In Windows Excel, save as file type = Unicode text
    • In Mac Excel, save as file type = UTF-16 Unicode Text (.txt)
    • Note that if you use the file type = Text (tab-delimited), this will work but special characters don't transfer correctly
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Pricing / licensing

  • Posting start lists via .TXT 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, all you need is to supply an email address and pick a password
  • Downloading start lists to Webscorer FAN is free
  • Downloading start lists to Webscorer PRO requires a PRO subscription
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POST .TXT START LIST PAGE

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Introduction

  • To post .TXT 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 .TXT start list menu button
  • When your .TXT 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
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Input fields

  • Race name (default name is the name of your .TXT file)
  • Race date
  • Race time (enter start time of the race)
  • Time zone (GMT is the standard time in England)
  • Race location (click the green button to locate the race site on a map)
  • Sport type (this is used to 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 - this is optional)
  • Race website (enter your own website, e.g. www.webscorer.com - this is 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.)
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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 .TXT 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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.TXT START LIST FILE

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How to use the sample files

  • Go to Webscorer.com / Help resources / .TXT start lists
  • The sample files are offered both in .XLS (Excel 97-2003) and tab-delimited .TXT (Unicode) file formats\
  • There are 2 sample files that cover the various start type and race setup options available in Webscorer PRO:
    • Sample start list (for individual races)
    • Sample start list for relay races
    • The start type is selected after loading the .TXT start list file
  • Load the sample file that matches your start type into Excel and replace the sample racer data with your own
  • Or modify your own start list file by modifying the column headers to match with what Webscorer requires
  • Note that you can download the start list as .TXT from any race posted from Webscorer PRO:
    • Click on the Download start list as .TXT menu button on any start list page posted before a race
    • Click on the Start list menu button on any results page to see the actual start list for that race
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Valid column headers

  • Bib
  • Name
  • First name
  • Last name
  • Team name
  • Team name 2
  • Distance
  • Category
  • Wave
  • Age
  • Gender
  • Handicap
  • Start time
  • Leg (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 Number of legs 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
    • Duplicate racer name is ok if the assigned bib is different
  • Valid values for the gender column are Male, Female - or M, F
  • Age is a number from 1 to 100
  • 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 25 characters
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Saving .TXT file in Excel

  • Once you've entered all your racer data in Excel, save the file as:
    • Windows Excel - Unicode Text
    • Mac Excel - UTF-16 Unicode Text (.txt)
    • Excel will give you a warning that the saved file may not be compatible with Unicode Text. Choose Yes to save anyway.
    • If special characters (e.g. ä, ö) are not showing properly, your uploaded .TXT file was not saved as Unicode text
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Excel tips

  • When saving the .TXT 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, make sure all the columns containing times are specified as type=Text, as the default type=General will lose the hh from any time in the format hh:mm:ss
  • If there are any special characters in the file, the website assumes these to be in UTF-8 or UTF-16 format
  • 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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Sample start list for individual races

  • The sample file includes all possible columns, delete the ones you don't need
  • Note that the start type is defined after uploading the .TXT start list file
  • The racer name can be supplied in 2 ways:
    • Name column, or
    • First name / Last name columns
  • 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
    • The 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
  • Racers who start at the normal time are assigned a wave name that's the same as the distance name
  • Racers who start early are assigned a custom wave name
    • You can also setup a "Fully custom" wave start by assigning custom wave names to all racers
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Sample start list for relay races

  • Team members can share the same bib or use a different bib number
  • The Leg column is required and is used to denote which order the team members race
  • The same team member can do multiple legs
  • Start time column is required only if the start type is interval wave start
  • Team name column is used as the relay team name, Team name 2 column is optional