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| ASFL2 uses slow drafts to give members involved in Keeper Leagues and ASASFL leagues a fair chance at making their draft. If a live draft were to be used only a fraction of the members signed up or qualified would likely be able to make any given draft time, giving those that couldn't a strong disadvantage to those that could. The slow draft format allows for all members to have a chance to make all of their picks and gives members a chance to think about their picks for more than 90 seconds which is a bonus given the nature of the leagues involved. |
The slow drafts were originally run on the league message board, but they took a toll on the commissioner as it required he send an email after every pick, update the results on the league website, update the results in Yahoo! itself and handle incoming draft lists via email. After realizing that format wasn't viable for the long term he sought to code an application to do all the work he was required to do on the league website to both save him time and increase website traffic to potentially help keep ASFL2 from charging membership fees. After a month of learning a new programming language it then took two months to code the application and another month to test that it was working properly before being declared functional and ready to go for the 2009-10 Fantasy Football season. |
•Create a draft list | •Designate a player position to be selected in any given round | •Change and set your password | •Change your email | •Set your draft list to be used on a delay of up to 3 hours and 45 minutes after the pick before you is made to allow for a chance to pick before your pick is made from your list | •View your draft list | •Add players onto an already submitted draft list | •Reorder an already submitted draft list | •View the rosters of each team in the league as the draft progresses | •Receive automatic emails as confirmation of your actions in the system or that your pick is up | Your draft page will be available via the league website in the Keeper Leagues or ASASFL sections. Follow the link to the respective draft section and then your respective draft page for your league. There are three sections to the draft page,
The Navigation Area is the first section of the body of the page and has the links to the separate pages that perform the features of the draft application as well as bookmark links to the rounds farther down the page. The Time Guidelines are displayed below and dictate the rules regarding pick time limits. The Draft Results take up the bulk of the page and display each pick in the draft along with the member possessing it. If it is your pick a link in the selection column to "Make Your Pick" will be displayed. After a pick is made the Time Picked/Expires column will show when previous picks were made and when the next pick in line expires. The server time is visible in the navigation section, that is the relevant clock for default pick purposes. All times are Eastern. |
To leave a draft list you must click the "Leave a Draft List" link at the left of the top row of the navigation section. I recommend using this feature in Internet Explorer instead of FireFox for PC users, especially those with subpar computers. It appears as though there is a habbit of lagging when checking a box on the page in FireFox. From there you'll be taken to a page with the database of all players and a checkbox for each. Check the box for each player you want to add on your draft list and then click submit. You can sort the database to help find players, but it will uncheck any boxes you have previously checked. I recommend sorting the page only when you're adding to an already saved draft list. After clicking submit, you'll be taken to another page with the players you selected and a blank text box next to each. This is where you order the list of players you selected. Type only numbers in the boxes ("1", "2", etc, try not to leave any stray characters) and be careful not to repeat a number as the system will not accept your list if you do. You can also set your time offset via this page by selecting the number of hours and minutes to wait from the drop down above the player list. This will determine the amount of time that must pass after the draft pick in front of yours is made before your pick will be determined by your list. Ignore the option to add the players to the end of your current list if this is the first time you're submitting a list. If you already have a list and want to add to it, then select "Yes". If you already have a list and would like to overwrite it, select "No". Once you are finished ordering your draft list enter your name and password and then click submit. Your list will remain in the system until you overwrite it, at no point will it be erased otherwise throughout the draft. Click the "Back to Draft Page" link and you will return to where you started unless you've sorted the database. If you did sort the database you'll need to go back the rest of the way yourself (this will be fixed in the future). Please make sure to use the "View List" feature to check that your list in the system matches what you submitted. You will receive email confirmation of your actions as well. If the draft results section of the draft page is displaying the full time zone (i.e., Eastern Daylight Time) instead of the abbreviation (EDT), you won't be able to leave a list. This is normally due to me having to go into the system to fix something. Please notify me and I will set things to where you can set your list as soon as possible. |
In order to view your list in the system you need to click the "View List" link in the bottom row of the navigation section. From there, fill in your name and password before clicking submit. Provided you've entered your name and password correctly, you'll be taken to a page displaying your draft list with your designated time offset separated directly below and your designated positions by round separated below the time offset. If you notice an error on the page from what you had previously submitted, make sure you use the "Leave a Draft List" or "Reorder List" features to fix the problem. | If you want to change your time offset in the system or reorder the players on your draft list use the "Reorder List" link in the bottom row of the navigation section. From there you can use the drop down boxes to set your time offset and the text boxes next to each player to set the order for your draft list. If you do not want to change one of the two options on the page you must re-enter the information. If you have a time offset of 15 minutes and you want to reorder your draft list, you'll need to enter 15 in the "Minutes to wait:" drop down while setting the desired order of your draft list. If you want to keep your draft list the same as it was, but change your time offset, you'll need to enter the desired time in the respective drop downs while re-entering the proper value for each player on your draft list. As a hint, the players should import to the list in the order you have them set in the system. | Adding to your draft list is an extension of the "Leave a Draft List" link in the navigation section. Follow the link to view the player database with the checkmark options to add any players to your list. Once you have selected the desired players hit submit and you will be taken to the page that allows you to order the players you've selected. Once there you'll need to order the players you've selected taking into account only the players on the page and starting with the number one. Once you're finished fill in your time offset again if you've already set it in the system and then select "Yes" from the drop down at the bottom of the form that asks "Add these players onto the end of your current list?". If you leave the text boxes to order the players blank they will not be added to your list. If you leave the drop down at the bottom of the form blank they won't be added to your list. If you set the drop down at the bottom of the form to "No, overwrite my list" anything you have in the system will be erased and what you have entered will take its place. If you forget to set the time offset boxes to anything you had them previously, you will be setting your list to be used right after any previous pick. It's always best to use the "View List" function after any draft list alteration to verify that everything in the system is how you desire. |
In order to designate a position to be drafted from your list in any given round you must first have a draft list in the system. If that's not the case, go through the steps to create a draft list before continuing here. If you have a list in the system, but select a position which is not represented on the list no player will be used from your list at any point- if time runs out in that scenario your pick will be defaulted. The feature is particularly useful for those at the corners of the drafts who want to rank their players outright but prevent the same position from being selected back-to-back. Once you decide to designate a position for a particular round, click the "Designate a Round's Position" link. There will be 16 drop down boxes. Use the drop down box corresponding to the round you want to designate a position for to select the position you desire to be taken in that round. Please note that the rounds are given left-to-right then top-to-bottom. Once you've accounted for all rounds desired please fill in your name and password and hit submit. Every time you submit round designations you will overwrite any previous submissions. Make sure to fill in positions for all rounds desired, even if you have filled in a position for a round previously. You will receive email confirmation of your actions as well. |
All members will have a random password assigned by the league which they can then change via the "Change Password" link as part of their confirmation for participation in the draft. Once at the "Change Your Password" link, simply enter your name, old password and your new, desired password twice. Your password must be 20 characters or less and contain only alphanumeric characters. You will receive email confirmation of your actions as well. |
All members will have their email initially set to the league email address, commish@theasfl.com. In order to confirm yourself in the system, you need to change your email via the "Change Your Email" link. Once at the "Change Your Email" link, simply enter your name, the old email and the new email for the system twice. This can also come in handy should you only be able to access certain email addresses in different locations. You will receive email confirmation of your action to both email address. |
When your pick is up you can scroll down to the draft results section of the page or click the appropriate round bookmark in the navigation section to get to your pick. You will see a "Make Your Pick" link in the "Selection" column that will take you to the appropriate page to move you toward drafting a player. Once you have clicked the link you will see the database of players with a "Draft" column and an "Available" column as well as the player's position and team. You can sort the database by position or team to help locate the player you desire to pick. Once you've found the player, click the "Pick" link to the left of the table. If you don't see a pick link and instead see "-", the player has been drafted. You can look at the "Available" column to see when he was taken and who selected the player. Once on the page to submit your draft pick, please verify the player is correct on the "You're about to select:" line. If this is correct, fill out your name and password and click submit. If it is your pick, you'll be taken to a confirmation page and an email will be sent as verification of your selection. You can also make your pick via the "Player Database" link in the navigation section. |
Delayed picks are picks made in the system by any Member "A" for Member "B" from Member "B"'s list once Member "B"'s time offset has passed. The commissioner will place a person in charge of each draft to watch for delayed picks and he will personally be monitoring all drafts as well. Without someone clicking the "Delayed Pick" link delayed picks won't be made. Please do not click the "Delayed Pick" link without asking the commissioner ahead of time, likely in his absense. If you do click the "Delayed Pick" link and it is before the required amount of time has passed, the proper time to click the link will be displayed. If you click the link and the person in question does not have a list, you will receive a message saying that is the case. It is planned to have this automatically done in the future, but do to the speedy nature of the coding and testing of the draft application this method was necessary. | I'll start the default pick explanation by saying that the original rule that all empty starting positions will be filled with default picks before those that are filled will no longer be observed. The highest ranked player on the default rankings will be selected if your pick is defaulted. There is no reason for your team to be defaulting a pick given all the options available with the draft applications to prevent it. If you default a pick twice in a row your third pick will be automatic. An automatic pick is a default pick without the time limit being observed. You must have a list when your pick comes up or your pick will be defaulted right away. That being said, should time expire for a pick a default pick will be able to be made. The default pick will only be made if the "Default Pick" link is clicked at this point in time with hopes that it can be programmed to be automatic before Fantasy Baseball next season. A member can make his pick even if the time has run out so long as no one has clicked the "Default Pick" link yet. The commissioner will appoint a member to look after each draft running as well as monitoring the drafts as a whole himself to watch for default picks. Should you see that time has run out on a pick in your draft you can click the "Default Pick" link in the navigation section provided you have permission from the commissioner ahead of time (likely in his absense). Always click the "Delayed Pick" link before clicking the "Default Pick" link to make sure a player is taken off a member's list before the default list. |
This is the simplest option of the draft application. Simply click the "View Rosters" link in the bottom row of the navigation section to see the rosters of each team in your respective league as the draft goes on. A count by position will be available as well underneath each roster. | If at any point you are confused by the application or need clarification on anything please email the commissioner and/or post about your problem in the "Draft Thread" link on your draft page. It's always better to act well before a problem could arise to prevent anything that cannot be undone. There will be no re-picking of draft picks unless there was a mistake made by the commissioner directly, or in coding the application, and a reasonable solution can't be determined otherwise; this exception may also extend to website downtime. There is a statute of limitation of 36 hours on any draft reset. If you notice the mistake more than two days afterward, it's too late for me to revert the draft. | •In the future it is hoped that delayed and default picks will be checked for and made automatically by the system. | •Create a page in the application to search for players you want on your list instead of having to pick them off of the database page. | •Allow for saving of member name and password from page to page in the system. | •Allow for a position to be excluded from being selected at a certain round. |
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