Scoring rubric and points competitions — judge workflow

For competitions that use rubric scoring, points, time, or rank (science fairs, talent shows, track events, robotics inspection — anything that is not a head-to-head bracket match), here is how judging works in CommunATI.

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Competition scoring types

| Type | Used for | How scores work | |---|---|---| | Rubric (judge score) | Science fair, project showcase, talent show | Multiple judges each score on criteria; CommunATI averages and weights the scores | | Points | Math relay, robotics match points, relay race | Numeric score per round, accumulated total | | Time | Sprint events, obstacle courses | Elapsed time; lowest wins | | Rank | Judges directly pick 1st, 2nd, 3rd | Ordinal placement, no numeric score |

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Viewing the run order (heat schedule)

The judge page shows the Today's schedule panel at the top when an organizer has added schedule items for the event (admin page → Schedule). This lists each time slot, its label, location, and status (Up next / Live / Done) in run order.

Within each round, competitors are listed in competitor-number order, providing a consistent scoring sequence.

Note: Schedule items are event-wide time slots (e.g. "Round 1 – 2:00 PM", "Lunch – 12:30 PM"). Linking individual schedule slots to specific competitors requires the organizer to set up schedule items that match the heat or station rotation. A future update will add per-competitor scheduling.

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Who's being scored in each session

On the judge page (/events/[id]/judge/), each competitor appears as a card with their display name and competitor number — never a real student name. Judges tap a card to open the scoring form for that competitor.

For rubric competitions with multiple judges, each judge scores independently on their own device. CommunATI collects all judge scores and computes the weighted composite.

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Entering scores

1. Go to Event → Judge (or open the judge link from the event page).
2. Tap the competitor you are scoring.
3. Fill in the criteria or enter the numeric score / time / rank.
4. Tap Submit.

Scores are saved to the server immediately. If you lose signal, the entry is held locally and synced when signal returns. If two judges submit for the same competitor while offline, both entries are kept — the later one shows on top in the audit log for organizer review.

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Marking a round complete

When all competitors in a round have been scored, tap Mark round complete in the scoring panel. This:

• Persistently locks the round in the database (scores become read-only for that round on all judge devices).
• If this was the last open round for the competition, CommunATI automatically finalizes the competition — computing placements and sending result notifications to participants.

The round tab shows a Closed badge once a round is locked. To re-open a closed round, contact your organizer — they can do so from the competition admin page.

For multi-round competitions (e.g. a math relay with three rounds), close each round in sequence. Finalization only triggers automatically when every round is closed.

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Finalizing and computing results

Finalization happens automatically when the last judge closes the last round. It can also be triggered manually by an organizer from the competition admin page (Scores → Finalize competition). Either path:

1. Aggregates all judge scores using the competition's weighting rules.
2. Ranks competitors (highest total wins for points; lowest time wins for time trials; direct ordinal for rank).
3. Locks in placements (1st, 2nd, 3rd…).
4. Triggers advancement rules if this competition feeds an upstream event.
5. Sends placement notification emails.

Then use Compute awards on the event page to generate the awards run-sheet with medals and certificates.

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TV display

For rubric and points competitions, the Scoreboard board on the paired TV shows live standings as scores come in. Push it from the TV management page (event admin → TVs → choose a TV → Scoreboard).