Choosing your setup
Two questions shape every tournament you run with bracket-creator. First, how digital your venue is: whether you print and score on paper, keep one device per shiai-jo, or run fully on-screen scoreboards with real-time mobile pages. Second, who runs and scores the matches: trained staff behind an admin password (officiated) or competitors scoring their own bouts with no password required (self-run). You choose each one separately, with one constraint described under Operating model.
Digitisation level
How far you digitise determines which surfaces you use on the day. Refer to Three ways to run a tournament for a full explanation of each level.
- Offline. Print the Excel brackets and score on paper. No networked devices are needed at the courts.
- Partially connected. One device per shiai-jo keeps courts in sync through the tournament app.
- Fully digital. On-screen scoreboards and real-time mobile pages show scores and standings to everyone in the hall.
Operating model
The operating model controls who can record scores and advance matches. In officiated mode, staff authenticate with the admin password and run every match. In self-run mode, competitors report their own results with no password. Refer to Operating modes for the full rules on both models, including guidance on when to choose each one. Self-run needs the tournament app, so it requires at least the partially connected level. An officiated event can run at any level, including fully offline.
Choose by how you run the day
The following table maps common event configurations to the right starting point.
| Scenario | Digitisation | Who scores | Start here |
|---|---|---|---|
| Print and run on paper | Offline | Staff | Generate brackets |
| Officiated event | Partial or full | Staff | Run a tournament |
| Self-run event | Partial or full | Competitors | Run a tournament and Operating modes |
Choose by your role
If you know your role at the event, the following table takes you directly to the guide written for you.
| Role | What you do | Start here |
|---|---|---|
| Organiser | Set up and run the event | Run a tournament |
| Court operator | Score matches at a shiai-jo | Scoring a match |
| Competitor | Register and report your own results in self-run | Self-run |
| Spectator | Follow scores and standings | Following a tournament |
Devices and screens
The app runs on several screens at the same time, and each surface is designed for a different one. Nothing needs installing on any of them. Every surface is a web page served by the tournament app. Each device only needs a current browser and a way to reach the server.
| Surface | Who uses it | Device to plan for |
|---|---|---|
| Operator console | Court operators and organisers | A tablet or a laptop. For a tablet, plan on an iPad Air or better, or an Android tablet of equivalent size and age. Use it in landscape. |
| Court display | Everyone at the shiai-jo | A screen or TV at the court, showing /display?court=A. Read-only, so it needs no password. |
| Lobby display | People waiting to compete or watch | A screen in the lobby or waiting room, showing /display?court=all for every court at once. |
| Viewer pages | Spectators and competitors | Their own mobile phone. These pages are designed mobile-first. |
A few consequences worth planning around:
- The operator console is the one surface with a real minimum. Scoring screens put a full team encounter, its bout rows, and the controls on one screen. A small phone is not a practical operator device. A laptop works equally well if you have one per shiai-jo.
- Display screens are optional. Without them you are at the partially connected level of Digitisation level. Results still reach phones, but you also print scoreboards for the courts. Competitor tags are printed at every level, so they are not a cost of skipping the screens.
- The court display is usually driven from the operator's own machine over an HDMI cable rather than from a separate device. The console and the board are then two tabs in one browser on one computer. Scores reach the board without a network hop, and it keeps updating through a Wi-Fi drop. This is a client-side arrangement at the court and holds whichever way you host the server. Refer to Keep the court scoreboard alive on the same machine.
- Spectator phones may be on cellular rather than venue Wi-Fi when the app is cloud-hosted, so they do not add to your local network load.
Refer to Following a tournament for the full list of display and viewer URLs, including the streaming overlay variant.
Start with your first tournament
If this is your first time using the app, work through Your first tournament for the fastest path from an empty server to real-time results on a screen.