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Participant Management

Learn how to manage participants in your tournaments, from registration to seeding and removal.

Understanding Participant Types

Dutchieb supports two types of participants:

Quick Session Participants

Characteristics:

  • Joined with just a display name
  • No email or password
  • Session-based authentication
  • Token stored in browser localStorage

Session Details:

  • Expires 30 days after tournament ends
  • Tied to specific tournament
  • Can update display name
  • Cannot join other tournaments (without creating account)

Best For:

  • In-person events
  • Casual tournaments
  • Quick registration

Full Account Participants

Characteristics:

  • Created a full user account
  • Email and password authentication
  • Can join multiple tournaments
  • Persistent user profile

Account Benefits:

  • Join any tournament
  • Tournament history
  • Email notifications (if enabled)
  • Profile customization

Best For:

  • Online tournaments
  • Repeat participants
  • Organizers and administrators

Registration Process

How Participants Join

Quick Join Flow

  1. Participant receives invite link

    https://dutchieb.com/join/ABC123

  2. Opens link and sees:

    • Tournament name and details
    • Sport type
    • Start date
    • Current participant count
    • Spots available

  3. Enters display name

    • 1-50 characters
    • Can include spaces and special characters
    • This name appears in bracket

  4. Clicks "Join Tournament"

    • Session created instantly
    • Participant added to tournament
    • Redirected to tournament page

  5. What happens in background:

    • QuickSession record created in database
    • Participant record linked to QuickSession
    • Session token stored in browser
    • Organizer sees new participant in real-time

Full Account Flow

  1. Participant receives invite link

  2. Opens link and sees requirement

    • "This tournament requires a full account"
    • "Sign In to Join" button
    • "Create Account" button

  3. Signs in or creates account

    • If new: Complete registration form
    • If existing: Enter email/password

  4. Clicks "Join Tournament"

    • Participant record created
    • Linked to User account
    • Display name from user profile

  5. Benefits:

    • Can join from multiple devices
    • Won't lose access if browser clears data
    • Organizer has email contact

Viewing Participants

Participant List

Access your participants:

  1. Go to tournament dashboard
  2. Click "Participants" tab
  3. View all registered participants

Information Displayed

ColumnDescription
Display NameName shown in bracket
TypeQuick Session or Full Account
JoinedRegistration timestamp
SeedPosition in bracket (if set)
StatusACTIVE, ELIMINATED, WITHDRAWN

Filtering Participants

By Status:

  • Active: Currently in tournament
  • Eliminated: Lost in elimination formats
  • Withdrawn: Removed by organizer or self

By Type:

  • Quick Sessions
  • Full Accounts
  • All

Sorting Participants

Click column headers to sort by:

  • Name (alphabetical)
  • Join time (chronological)
  • Seed (numerical)
  • Status

Adding Participants

Via Invite Link (Primary Method)

Most common method:

  1. Share invite link or code
  2. Participants self-register
  3. Real-time updates in participant list

Advantages:

  • No manual work
  • Participants control their name
  • Reduces typos
  • Instant registration

Manual Addition (Admin Only)

For special cases, organizers can manually add:

  1. Go to Participants tab
  2. Click "Add Participant"
  3. Enter display name
  4. Click "Add"

When to Use:

  • Participant unable to self-register
  • Adding a "bye" or placeholder
  • Testing bracket generation
  • On-site registration without devices

Note: Manual participants:

  • Created as Quick Sessions
  • Won't receive updates/notifications
  • Organizer responsible for informing them

Editing Participants

Editing Display Names

Quick Session Participants:

Participants can edit their own name:

  1. Visit tournament page
  2. Click profile icon
  3. Select "Edit Name"
  4. Enter new name
  5. Save changes

Organizers can also edit:

  1. Participants tab
  2. Click participant
  3. Edit "Display Name" field
  4. Save changes

Full Account Participants:

  • Name comes from user profile
  • Must edit in account settings
  • Changes reflect everywhere

Changing Participant Status

Organizers can change status:

  1. Go to Participants tab
  2. Click participant
  3. Select new status:
    • ACTIVE: Participating normally
    • WITHDRAWN: No longer participating
    • ELIMINATED: Lost and out (set automatically)

Effects:

  • WITHDRAWN: Removed from future matches
  • ACTIVE: Re-added to bracket (if before tournament start)

Removing Participants

Before Bracket Generation

Freely remove participants:

  1. Go to Participants tab
  2. Click participant to remove
  3. Click "Remove Participant"
  4. Confirm removal

Effects:

  • Participant removed from tournament
  • Spot becomes available
  • Can rejoin via invite link (if still open)

After Bracket Generation

WARNING: More Complex

Once brackets are generated:

Option 1: Withdraw

  • Marks participant as WITHDRAWN
  • Keeps in bracket history
  • Future matches show as forfeits
  • Recommended

Option 2: Remove and Regenerate

  • Remove participant
  • Delete bracket
  • Generate new bracket
  • WARNING: Loses all match results

Best Practice:

  • Use WITHDRAWN status
  • Don't remove after bracket generation
  • Preserve tournament integrity

Seeding Participants

Seeding determines initial bracket matchups.

Automatic Seeding

Default Behavior:

  • Random seeding
  • First-come-first-served order
  • Simple and fair

When It's Used:

  • No manual seeding configured
  • Quick tournaments
  • Casual play

Manual Seeding

Setting Seeds:

  1. Go to Participants tab
  2. Click "Seed Participants"
  3. Drag participants into desired order
  4. Or enter seed number manually
  5. Click "Save Seeding"

Seeding Best Practices:

For Competitive Tournaments:

Seed 1: Best player
Seed 2: Second best
Seed 3-4: Next tier
Seed 5-8: Average players
Seed 9+: Beginners

Bracket Matchups (8-player Single Elimination):

Round 1:
  Match 1: Seed 1 vs Seed 8
  Match 2: Seed 4 vs Seed 5
  Match 3: Seed 2 vs Seed 7
  Match 4: Seed 3 vs Seed 6

Why This Works:

  • Best players don't meet until later rounds
  • Fair distribution of talent
  • Exciting finals matchups

Skill-Based Seeding

Dutchieb supports optional skill levels:

Participant Metadata:

  • Beginner (Skill 1)
  • Intermediate (Skill 2)
  • Advanced (Skill 3)
  • Expert (Skill 4)

Setting Skill Levels:

  1. Edit participant
  2. Set "Skill Level"
  3. Save changes

Auto-Seed by Skill:

  1. Participants tab
  2. "Seed by Skill" button
  3. Highest skill = Seed 1
  4. Lowest skill = Seed N

Participant Limits and Capacity

Checking Capacity

Current Count:

  • Dashboard shows: "12 / 16 participants"
  • Green when spots available
  • Yellow when nearly full
  • Red when full

In Participant Tab:

  • Header shows count
  • Progress bar shows capacity
  • List shows all participants

Tournament Full

What Happens:

  • Registration closes automatically
  • Invite link shows "Tournament Full"
  • New participants cannot join
  • Organizer can still edit participants

Opening Spots:

  1. Remove a participant
  2. Spot becomes available
  3. New participant can join
  4. Or increase max participants (if no bracket yet)

Participant Minimums

Generating Bracket:

  • Minimum: 2 participants
  • Recommended: 4+ participants
  • Ideal: Power of 2 (4, 8, 16, 32)

Fewer Than Minimum:

  • Cannot generate bracket
  • Must add more participants
  • Or reduce max participants to match

Participant Communication

Sharing Tournament Info

Via Participant List:

  1. Export participant list (if enabled)
  2. Download CSV with contact info
  3. Use for email campaigns
  4. ⚠️ Only available for Full Account participants

In-App Notifications:

  • Real-time updates via WebSocket
  • Participants see:
    • Match assignments
    • Bracket updates
    • Tournament status changes

Participant Experience

What Participants See:

Tournament Page:

  • Current bracket
  • Their upcoming matches
  • Match history
  • Tournament standings

Real-Time Updates:

  • New match assignments
  • Match results
  • Bracket progression
  • Tournament completion

Actions They Can Take:

  • View tournament details
  • See bracket
  • Check schedule
  • Update display name (if Quick Session)
  • Withdraw from tournament

Participant Data Management

Privacy

Quick Session Data:

  • Display name only
  • No email or personal info
  • Session token in browser
  • Auto-expires after tournament

Full Account Data:

  • Name and email stored
  • Password hashed
  • Subject to privacy policy
  • Can request deletion

Data Retention

During Tournament:

  • All participant data active
  • Accessible to organizer
  • Visible in bracket

After Tournament:

  • Quick Sessions expire in 30 days
  • Full Accounts remain active
  • Historical data preserved
  • Can export for records

GDPR Compliance

User Rights:

  • Access their data
  • Request deletion
  • Export their information
  • Withdraw consent

Organizer Responsibilities:

  • Only collect necessary data
  • Secure storage
  • Respect participant privacy
  • Honor deletion requests

Troubleshooting Participant Issues

Participant Can't Join

Check:

  1. Registration is open
  2. Tournament not full
  3. Invite link is correct
  4. Participant meets requirements (if Full Account required)

Common Issues:

  • Tournament already started
  • Invite code expired/invalid
  • Browser blocking cookies (for Quick Sessions)
  • Already registered (check for duplicate)

Duplicate Participants

Identifying Duplicates:

  • Same display name
  • Joined multiple times
  • Different session tokens

Removing Duplicates:

  1. Ask participant which entry to keep
  2. Remove duplicate entries
  3. Keep most recent or preferred one

Preventing Duplicates:

  • Use "Require Full Account" setting
  • Check participant list before finalizing
  • Remove test entries

Participant Lost Access

Quick Session Participants:

If browser was cleared:

  1. Cannot regain access automatically
  2. Organizer can update on their behalf
  3. Or participant creates new entry (if registration open)

Full Account Participants:

  1. Sign in from any device
  2. Access all tournaments
  3. No data loss

Wrong Display Name

Fix:

  1. Go to Participants tab
  2. Find participant
  3. Click to edit
  4. Update display name
  5. Save changes

Or participant can self-edit (Quick Sessions).

Best Practices

Before Tournament

Best Practices:

  • Review all participant names for typos
  • Remove test/duplicate entries
  • Seed participants appropriately
  • Verify participant count matches expected
  • Close registration before generating bracket

During Tournament

Best Practices:

  • Use WITHDRAWN status instead of removing
  • Don't edit bracket after it starts
  • Keep participant list for records
  • Communicate changes to participants

After Tournament

Best Practices:

  • Export final participant list
  • Preserve match results
  • Thank participants
  • Archive tournament data

Next Steps

Need Help? See FAQ or Troubleshooting.

Previous
Tournament Management
Next
Running Tournaments

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