How to build a Manual playoff schedule (add each playoff game yourself)

With the Playoff Type set to Manual, you build the playoffs one game at a time. Click Manual on 4 Create Schedule > Playoff, add each game with Add Game (its week, round, game number and time slot, and where each team comes from), then click Calc & Save. A team comes from a standings place or from the winner or loser of an earlier game. Manual playoffs don't draw a bracket diagram.

Applies to: Admins and schedulers · All plans (2nd Playoff: Enhanced, Elite and Enterprise; 3rd and 4th Playoff: Elite and Enterprise) · League divisions (tournament divisions build brackets on their own pages)

Where: Schedules > Leagues & Divisions > (division) > 1 Configuration > Scheduling, then More Options > 4 Create Schedule > Playoff

Before you start

The division needs at least 2 teams on 2 Teams and at least one time slot on 3 Time Slots. Playoff games use the division's time slots.
Playoff games must come after the last regular-season game. Note your last regular-season week on 4 Create Schedule > Regular. Week 1 is the week of the division's Day of First Game.

Step 1: Set the Playoff Type to Manual

Go to Schedules > Leagues & Divisions and click the division's Edit Division icon (pencil). Its 1 Configuration > Scheduling page opens.
Under Division Schedule Types, check Playoff.
Under Playoff Configurations, set Playoff Type to Manual.
Set # of Playoff Teams to Manual, its only choice for this type.
Choose the Playoff Seed Method: By Standings to take the first-round teams from the regular-season standings, or Manual or Manual Across Divisions to pick them yourself.
With By Standings, set Playoff Seed Source to Top - Regular Season.
Click Save.

Optional: on 1 Configuration > Display, set Playoff Numbering to Round & Game. Games then show as R1-G1, R1-G2, R2-G1 and so on, the same Round and Game you pick in Add Game.

Step 2: Start the empty playoff schedule

On Leagues & Divisions, open the division's More Options menu and choose 4 Create Schedule > Playoff.
Click Manual.

What you'll see: "An empty schedule has been created. Use the Add Game function to add games to the schedule. Click Save when schedule is complete." The Save it means is Calc & Save. Until you add the first game, Copy Games can copy another division's playoff games instead (see Good to know).

Step 3: Add the games, round by round

Click Add Game.
Week: the schedule week of the game, after your regular season's last week.
Round: the playoff round, 1 to 10.
Game: the game's number within its round, 1 to 15. Start at 1 in each round: R1-G1, R1-G2, then R2-G1.
Time Slot: the day, time and location, from the division's time slots.
Home: choose Standings or Game, then pick in the list beside it. Standings offers places such as 1st and 4th (or TBD, with manual seeding). Game offers each game already added, as its winner (for example R1-G1 Winner) or its loser (R1-G1 Consolation).
Away: the same.
Click Add. The game joins the list, grouped by Playoff Round.

Repeat for every game. Add all of a round's games before the games that use their results: the Game list offers only games already in the schedule, so round 1's games use Standings. When every game is in, click Calc & Save.

What you'll see: "The Schedule has been calculated, saved, and is shown below. You can now view this schedule on the Standings & Results page." Games you add aren't saved until you click Calc & Save.

For example, four teams with a final and a third-place game:

Round	Game	Home	Away
1	1	Standings: 1st	Standings: 4th
1	2	Standings: 2nd	Standings: 3rd
2	1	Game: R1-G1 Winner	Game: R1-G2 Winner
2	2	Game: R1-G1 Consolation	Game: R1-G2 Consolation

Round 2's game 1 is the final and its game 2 the third-place game. Give each round its own Week.

Step 4: Pick the teams (manual seeding only)

With Playoff Seed Method Manual or Manual Across Divisions, the places from Standings show TBD. On 4 Create Schedule > Playoff, choose each of those games' Home and Away teams in their lists, check that no team is picked twice, and click Calc & Save. The manual seeding article below has the details. With By Standings, the teams fill in once every regular-season game has a result, and winners move on as you enter playoff scores.

Change the schedule

Week or time: change the game's Week and Time Slot in its row, or choose Edit Game in its menu (Week, Day, Time, Location), then click Calc & Save.
Swap Teams (game menu) switches Home and Away.
Delete Game (game menu) removes a game that's still Not played; then click Calc & Save. A game's Round, Game, Home and Away can't be edited, so to change them, delete the game and add it again. If a later game used the deleted game's result, add that one again too.
Home and Away take no free text. To explain a game to families, for example how its teams are chosen, type a note in its comment box on Edit Scores.

If it doesn't work

There's no Manual button. Check that the Playoff Type is Manual (otherwise Create shows instead) and that the division has 2 teams and a time slot; if not, the page shows an "Important Note" listing what's missing. If a playoff schedule already exists, delete it first.
"Week selection required.", "Round selection required.", "Game selection required." or "Time Slot selection required." Choose that field.
"Home placement type selection required." or "Home placement source selection required." (or Away) Choose Standings or Game, then a place or a game in the list beside it.
"Round and Game combination already exists." Another game has that Round and Game. Use the next game number in that round.
Choosing Game for Home or Away offers no games. No earlier games exist yet. Add the earlier round's games first; round 1's games use Standings.
"Review the start of your Playoff Rounds. There is at least one Playoff Round that starts before the end of your Regular Season." A playoff game is on or before the last regular-season game. Pick a later Week.
"Review the order of your Playoff Rounds. There are at least two Playoff Rounds that have the same Date/Time Slot combination." Two games share a week and a time slot. Change one game's Week or Time Slot. TBD time slots can be shared.
"The Schedule has changed since you started editing it. Please re-calculate the schedule and try again." Someone else saved this playoff schedule while you worked. Reload the page and make your changes again.
A game shows as G0, or a later game as G0 Winner. With Playoff Numbering set to Game Only, TeamSideline numbers the games G1, G2 and so on by going through each round's games from game 1 up, and stops a round at the first missing number. Games in a round that doesn't start at 1, skips a number or comes after an empty round get G0. Set Playoff Numbering to Round & Game on 1 Configuration > Display, or delete those games and add them again numbered from 1 in each round.
There's no bracket diagram. Manual playoffs don't have one. To list the games on your website, set Show Playoff Grid to Yes on 1 Configuration > Display.
A game has no menu. It has a result (Played, a forfeit or Scoring in progress). To delete it, set it back to Not played on Edit Scores first.

Good to know

Copy Games appears after you click Manual and before you add a game. Choose the League and Division to copy from and click Copy. It copies that division's playoff games with their rounds, game numbers, Home and Away, puts round 1 in the first week after this division's regular season and each later round a week after that, and uses this division's time slots in the same list order. It saves at once ("Playoff Games Copied."), so check the weeks and time slots afterward.
The 2nd, 3rd and 4th Playoff are built the same way on their own pages under 4 Create Schedule.
Once any playoff game is Played or forfeited, Delete (the whole playoff schedule) disappears and the playoff settings stay locked.

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