Admin Dashboard Guide
The admin dashboard is where you'll spend most of your time during a live event. It shows you what's happening, who's scoring, and what needs your attention.
The Four Main Sections
Competition Status sits at the top. You'll see your event name, whether you're in Setup, Live, or Complete mode, and quick stats: total scores submitted, completion rate, current average, and when the last score came in.
Judge Monitor is the section you'll check most often. It shows each judge's status, how many contestants they've scored, and when they were last active.
Live Results displays the current leaderboard with admin controls for score corrections and display settings.
Event Management handles contestant additions, removals, and technical monitoring.
Watching Your Judges
During a live event, the judge monitor tells you who's keeping up and who's falling behind.
The status indicators are straightforward:
- ✅ Active — submitted scores recently
- ⏸️ Inactive — hasn't submitted scores in a while (might need a nudge)
- 🔄 Scoring — currently looking at a contestant
- ✓ Complete — finished all contestants
- ❌ Not Started — hasn't accessed their link yet
A judge showing "Not Started" ten minutes before the event ends is a problem. You'll want to call them directly rather than sending another email they might not see.
Resending Links and Reminders
If a judge lost their email, click "Resend Link" next to their name. If spam filters are the issue, you might need to text them the link directly — that's why we recommend keeping phone numbers handy.
The "Send Reminder" button sends a gentle nudge via email. Use it for judges who have started but fallen behind. Don't spam reminders; one or two is plenty.
If a judge's link gets compromised somehow (forwarded to the wrong person, posted publicly), generate a fresh link. The old one will stop working.
Managing Scores
Making Corrections
Judges make mistakes. They fat-finger a 3 when they meant 8, or score the wrong contestant. You can fix these from the Live Results section.
Every correction gets logged with a timestamp and the original value. If anyone asks about changed scores, you have an audit trail.
Manual Entry
Sometimes a judge can't access the system — dead phone, no wifi, whatever. You can enter their scores manually. Write "manual entry for [Judge Name]" in the notes so it's clear what happened.
Hiding Results
During deliberation or before a big reveal, you can freeze the public leaderboard. Scores still come in and calculate on your end, but the audience sees the frozen state until you release it.
Contestant Changes Mid-Event
Late entries and no-shows happen. You can add contestants after the competition starts — judges will see them appear in their scoring interface. You can also remove contestants who don't show up, which excludes them from rankings.
Update contestant names or details anytime if you caught a typo.
When Things Go Wrong
Judge Not Responding
Start with the admin dashboard: have they accessed their link at all? If not, the email probably got lost — resend it, or call them.
If they've accessed the link but aren't scoring, they might be confused about the interface. Send clear instructions or have someone walk them through it.
Last resort: enter their scores manually. Paper backup forms are useful here.
Scores Not Calculating Right
Check that all judges have actually submitted scores for that contestant (clicking around without submitting doesn't count). Verify your calculation method — average and sum produce very different results.
If you spot obviously wrong scores (all 10s or all 1s), talk to that judge before making corrections.
Technical Issues
Real-time updates need a stable internet connection. If the leaderboard stops updating, check your wifi first.
Judges on flaky connections should refresh their browsers. If the whole system seems slow, clearing browser cache sometimes helps.
Have a backup plan. If the internet dies completely, switch to paper scoring and enter results manually after the event.
Display Controls
Hide/Show Results — toggle whether the public leaderboard updates live or stays frozen.
Highlight Winners — emphasizes top positions for the announcement moment.
Reset Display — clears the board for intermission. Use carefully.
Advanced Features
Weighted Categories let you make certain criteria count more than others. Configure these in setup, not during the event.
Drop Scores automatically removes the highest and lowest judge scores to reduce outlier impact. Useful for larger judge panels.
Bonus/Penalty Points let you award or deduct points outside the normal scoring. Use sparingly.
Getting Help
During your event, email [email protected]. Include your competition name and what's happening.
For pre-event setup questions, the same email works. We typically respond within a few hours.
Practice first. Create a test competition and click through everything before your real event. Five minutes of practice prevents most day-of confusion.