Choosing a template

CommunATI ships 66 event templates. A template is a starting point: pick one and the new event arrives with a sensible schedule and scoring already chosen, instead of a blank form.

Start at New event → Start from a template.

What a template actually sets

Two things, and you can change both afterwards:

• The schedule — how the day is structured.
• The scoring — what gets recorded.

Everything else is yours: the name, the date, who is invited, what the displays show.

Reading the schedule

| You'll see | What happens | |---|---| | No fixed schedule | An open session — people come and go | | Fixed time blocks | Set start and end times | | Repeats | A standing item, like a weekly assembly | | Groups rotate | Stations, and groups move between them | | Heats | Several rounds of the same race | | Round robin | Everyone plays everyone | | Bracket | Single elimination | | Round robin, then a bracket | Group stage first, then knockout from the standings | | Pool play, then a bracket | Split into pools, then knockout from the pool standings | | Swiss rounds | Paired by running score each round, nobody is eliminated | | Qualifying, then eliminations | A ranking round, then knockout |

The last four are multi-stage — the earlier stage decides who goes into the later one.

Reading the scoring

Placements, points, times, sets, goals, percentage, rubric judging, or audience votes — whichever the activity actually uses. A swim meet records times; a volleyball tournament records sets.

Some templates track two things at once — a track meet is placements and times; a talent show is a rubric and audience votes. CommunATI records the primary measure, shown in each template's entry. Keep the second one in your own notes for now.

Awards

A template's name or description often says whether the event gives an overall top three, a medal per category, a participation award for everyone, or some mix — that comes baked into the template, not something you set separately. Once competitions are finalized, use Compute awards on the event's admin page to have CommunATI work out the real medal and podium results from that template's award kind — see Compute awards and print the run-sheet.

If nothing fits

Use the custom event builder and start from scratch, or ask for a new template — templates ship as data, so a new one does not need an app update.