Categories by Example: Which Setup Fits Your Competition?

Categories & Judge Assignments explains what each control does. This page is about when to use them. Categories, judge assignments and category-specific scoring criteria can be combined in many ways, and most competitions need only one or two of them.

Start with the three questions below, then find the example closest to your event.

Three questions that decide your setup

1. Should every entry be ranked against every other entry?

If yes, you do not need categories. One competition, one ranking.

If no — solos should not compete against group routines, Year 7 should not compete against Year 10 — give each entry a category. You get one leaderboard per category, plus the overall ranking.

2. Can every judge score every entry?

If yes, leave judge assignments alone. This is the default, and it is the fairest setup there is: every entry is scored by the same people.

If no — there are too many entries, judges are specialists, or a judge knows some of the competitors — use judge assignments. Assign whole categories when you can, and hand-pick entries only when you have to. The examples below show why.

3. Is every entry judged on the same scoring criteria?

If yes, leave the scoring criteria alone.

If some categories are judged on something the others are not — synchronization for duets but not for solos, originality for vintage cars only — restrict that criterion to the categories it applies to.

Example 1: Car show with classes — categories only

The event

45 cars in three classes: Vintage, Modified and Electric. Four judges walk the whole show and score every car on Condition, Craftsmanship and Presentation.

Setup

• Give every car a category: Vintage, Modified or Electric
• No judge assignments — all four judges score every car
• No restricted scoring criteria

What you get

three leaderboards, one per class, and an overall ranking across all 45 cars if you want a Best in Show. Every car is scored by the same four judges, so the results are directly comparable within each class and overall.

This is the setup most competitions with classes need. Use it unless something forces you into the other examples.

Example 2: Science fair with a judge team per year group — assign whole categories

The event

120 projects from Year 7 to Year 10. Four teachers judge each year group, and nobody has time to see all 120 projects.

Setup

• Give every project its year group as a category: Year 7, Year 8, Year 9, Year 10
• Open each judge's assignment picker in the Editor and tick their year group
• Assign the same number of judges to every year group

What you get

each teacher's scoring page shows only the projects in their year group, and their progress bar reaches 100% once those are done. Because every project in a year group is scored by the same judges, the Year 8 ranking is fair.

Watch out for

the overall ranking. Year 7 projects were scored by different judges from Year 10 projects, so a stricter team makes its whole year group look worse overall. Announce the per-category leaderboards, not the overall one.

Example 3: A 250-entry dance competition — two panels, split by category

The event

250 routines across dozens of categories — age group, style, and solo or group, combined into one label such as Junior Jazz Solo or Senior Tap Group. Six judges, running as two panels of three in two rooms.

Setup

• Paste the entries with their categories in one go: two columns from your spreadsheet, name then category (see Adding entries in bulk)
• Panel A (three judges) is assigned the Mini, Petite and Junior categories; Panel B is assigned Teen and Senior
• Every category belongs to exactly one panel

What you get

each category is scored by the same three judges, so every category leaderboard is fair, and each judge only ever sees the routines in their room.

Watch out for

• Never split one category across two panels. If half of Junior Jazz Solo is scored by Panel A and half by Panel B, the category's ranking depends partly on which panel was stricter. Split by category, not by running order.
• Assign judges after the entry list is final. An assignment is fixed when you save it. A routine moved into Junior Jazz Solo later does not appear for Panel A until you re-open each of those judges' pickers and save again.
• An entry can have only one category. Combine the two things you split by into one label — Junior Jazz Solo, not Junior plus Jazz Solo.
• Paste consistent spellings. Case and spacing are matched, so junior jazz solo still joins Junior Jazz Solo. But whichever spelling comes first is the one displayed, so clean up the spreadsheet column before pasting.

Example 4: A hackathon with too many teams — hand-pick entries, no categories

The event

60 teams competing for one prize. Nine judges, each with time for about 20 pitches.

Categories do not fit: all 60 teams compete for the same prize and should end up in one ranking. What you need is a way to share the work.

Setup

• No categories
• Hand-pick 20 teams for each judge in their assignment picker, so that every team is picked by exactly three judges
• Set Combining scores to Average, before the first score arrives

What you get

each judge sees only their 20 teams. Each team's result is the average of its three judges, and all 60 teams share one ranking.

Watch out for

• Use Average whenever entries in the same ranking can end up with different numbers of judges. With Sum, a team scored by two judges totals less than an identical team scored by three, and loses for that reason alone. Average divides by the number of judges who actually scored the entry, so the two come out equal. The setting locks once the first score is submitted, so decide before judging starts.
• Different judges score differently. Even with Average, a team that drew three strict judges is at a disadvantage against a team that drew three generous ones. Mixing the judges between teams (not keeping fixed trios) and giving each team as many judges as you can both reduce this. If the prize matters, have the top five or so teams judged again by everyone in a final round.

Example 5: A judge who knows some of the competitors — hand-pick around them

The event

a regional dance competition. One of the five judges teaches at Northbridge Dance, which has eight routines entered.

Setup

• In that judge's assignment picker, hand-pick every entry except Northbridge's eight
• Set Combining scores to Average, before the first score arrives
• If Drop Score is on, check that Northbridge's routines still have enough judges for it

What you get

the judge never sees Northbridge's routines, and a score for one of them would be refused. Those eight routines are scored by four judges instead of five, and Average makes their totals comparable with everyone else's.

Watch out for

• With Sum, those eight routines are penalized. Four judges' scores add up to less than five. This is the most common way assignments make results unfair without anyone noticing.
• Drop Score only counts assigned judges. With drop 1 highest, 1 lowest, an entry needs three finished judges before anything is dropped, and only judges assigned to that entry count towards the three. With four judges left, it still applies. Had the panel been three judges, Northbridge's routines would be left with two, and Drop Score would never apply to them while it applies to everyone else. See Drop Score.
• New entries are not added to a hand-picked list. A routine added after you saved the assignment is not on this judge's sheet until you tick it.

Example 6: Categories judged on different things — restrict a scoring criterion

The event

a dance competition with solos, duets and group routines. All are scored on Technique, Performance and Choreography. Duets and groups are also scored on Synchronization, which means nothing for a soloist.

Setup

• Categories: Solo, Duet, Group (or combined labels such as Junior Duet)
• Open the pill under Synchronization in the Editor's Scoring Criteria card, and tick only the duet and group categories
• No change to the judges: whoever scores a duet sees Synchronization on that entry, and whoever scores a solo does not

What you get

solos are totaled over three criteria, duets and groups over four. Nobody's progress is held up by a criterion that does not apply to them, and the exports leave that cell blank for solos rather than filling in a zero.

Watch out for

• Overall splits into two rankings. A solo scored out of 30 and a duet scored out of 40 cannot fairly be ranked together, so ScoreJudge ranks them separately: one Overall for the three-criteria entries and one for the four-criteria entries. Category leaderboards are unaffected. If you need a single overall winner across all of them, give every category the same scoring criteria instead.
• Restrict criteria to categories, not to judges. There is no way to give one judge a different set of criteria from another. A "technique judge" and a "performance judge" scoring different things on the same entry is not something one competition can do.
• Unticking the last category turns the criterion off for everyone, not on. To make it apply everywhere again, use Apply to every category in the picker.

Which combination fits?

Your situation	Categories	Judge assignments	Restricted scoring criteria	Combining scores
Classes that are ranked separately, and every judge sees everything	✓	—	—	Sum or Average
A judge team per class	✓	Whole categories	—	Sum or Average
Too many entries for one panel	✓	Whole categories, one panel per category	—	Sum or Average
One ranking, too many entries for every judge	—	Hand-picked entries	—	Average
A judge who must not score some entries	Optional	Hand-picked entries	—	Average
Some categories judged on extra things	✓	Optional	✓	Sum or Average

Sum or Average means the choice is yours only as long as every entry in a ranking is scored by the same number of judges. The moment that stops being true, use Average.

Before judging starts

A quick check, in this order:

1. The entry list is final and every entry has the category you want. Late changes are fine, but assignments do not follow them automatically.
2. Every judge's assignment is saved. Open the dashboard's Matrix view: Not assigned marks entries a judge will never score, which is different from an assigned judge who has not scored yet.
3. No red pills. A judge showing Nothing to score or a criterion showing Applies to no category is almost always a mistake.
4. Combining scores is set. If any entry will be scored by fewer judges than the others in its ranking, choose Average now. It cannot be changed after the first score.
5. Open one judge's link yourself and check they see what you expect.

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