How to use LeagueBucket

The directory lists every published league under its sport. Inside a sport, leagues with at least one finished game come before leagues with none; within each of those, real leagues come before samples. Each row shows the league's size and the towns its venues are in.

The name of every sport is a link to that sport's page. Each sport's header fades in and its leagues then grow into place: as the page opens for the sports on screen, and as they are scrolled to for the rest. Nothing moves for a visitor whose device asks for reduced motion.

The search box at the top finds leagues by name, sport, venue, town or state, and the list updates as you type. Every word has to match, so trivia louisville narrows to trivia leagues playing in Louisville. Show all leagues clears the search.

Sample leagues (made-up data that shows how the product works) carry a Sample tag and are never in search engines or the sitemap.

Each of the twelve sports has its own page under /for/<sport>, saying what the product does for that kind of league and what it doesn't do yet.

Two phone screens of a league of that sport sit beside the headline on a wide screen and under the buttons on a phone: the league's standings, then the screen that is that sport's own (bowling's frames, a team's roster over a diagram of its positions, trivia's rounds, a tennis match set by set, a cornhole result). The screens follow the light or dark theme and never carry the Sample label. A photograph of the sport is faded into the band behind them.

Further down, each section sits in its own tinted box, the same box the league pages use. Each of the first two sections has a picture of the product beside its bullets on a wide screen and above them on a phone: one part of a league page of that sport (a game's result, the results list, the standings, a bowling night's games or the averages), in the light or dark theme. Each bullet has an icon for what it is about (a bell on reminders, a scale on tiebreakers, a calendar on the schedule) in place of a tick.

Each page has a See one running list of leagues of that sport: /for/trivia lists trivia leagues, /for/bowling bowling leagues, /for/kickball kickball leagues.

The hero arrives in order when the page opens: once the first phone screen has loaded, the phones slide in from the right edge of the page, the headline from the left edge, then the text and buttons under it fade in. It arrives all at once for a visitor whose device asks for reduced motion.

Each section's heading fades in as it is scrolled into view, and once it has, each bullet under it grows from a point as it is reached. What is already on screen when the page opens does not move.

leaguebucket.com/faq, linked from the footer (Support) and from the questions on the pricing page.

One page of the questions people ask before starting a league, in five groups: Getting started, Sports and scoring, Players and fans, Plans and money, and Your data and getting help. Plans and money shows the same four answers as the pricing page.

The header shows the league name, sport, the current season and a Season has finished tag once the season is over, with the champion's name beside it when the season was won in a bracket. Every sport has a photo behind the header. A league set to Other / not sport-specific has a plain header.

Overview is the league home: standings, upcoming games and recent results. On Overview the key under the standings is folded behind "What the columns mean"; a click opens it.

Games lists every game, newest first, in three lists: Upcoming, Awaiting results and Results. Each game has its own page with the score, the line score, tennis or volleyball sets, or each bowler's games, trivia rounds and the officials. A game's page boxes each part: the result, a bowling night's games, a box of frames for each game bowled frame by frame (Game 1, Game 2...), side brackets, trivia rounds, lineups and officials.

Teams lists the teams under their division, a box for each, when the season has divisions. Teams appears only when the league has teams.

Playoffs appears when the season has a bracket, Championship when a trivia season ends in a championship night, and Split season when a bowling season is split into halves (each half's winner, the roll-off between them, and the champion). Each names the season's champion when it is decided.

Players and Rosters appear only when the league has them. Rosters has a box for each team. Venues and Officials list where the league plays and who works its games, with a box for each venue.

Rules appears on every league except one set to Other. It opens with This league's rules, read from the league's Settings: how the standings are scored and how ties in them are separated, for every sport; a bowling league's handicap, averages, absent and vacant scores, bye night and Leaders eligibility; a baseball, softball or kickball league's game length, time limit, run rule and forfeit score. Change a setting and the page changes with it; nothing is typed in.

Below that is how the sport is played, LeagueBucket's own plain-language summary, folded by section; a rule the league sets carries an "In this league" line with the league's own value. It is a summary, not an official rulebook, and says so and names the rulebook it follows. A sport played more than one way has a box for each: Football's main box is the classic eleven-a-side game and five-a-side flag football has its own box under it; Softball's main box is what slow pitch and fastpitch share, and each has its own box. Hockey's summary is ice hockey without checking.

The foot of the page lists the Sources, numbered, each with its edition and a link, and each box carries the number of its own; a summary written with no published rulebook says so there. Soccer, baseball, kickball, volleyball, tennis, football, flag football, softball and bowling were read against the published rulebook; basketball and hockey were not (those rulebooks are sold or sit in an app), cornhole only in part, and trivia has none.

Each section of the league overview, a team's page and a player's page sits in its own light blue box. So does each table on Standings (one per division, or per half of a split season), each group on Leaders, each team on Rosters, each venue on Venues and each list on Games.

Each tab's heading has an icon: a line chart on Standings, a calendar on Games, a trophy on Leaders, a person on Players, a group on Teams and Rosters, a map pin on Venues and a checked person on Officials. A game's own page has a calendar icon beside its date and time, and the sport's icon beside each bowling game's frames. Every boxed section on the league overview, the Leaders tab, a game's page, a team's page and a player's page has a small icon beside its heading as well (a flag on results, a calendar on schedules and upcoming games, a chart on standings and statistics, a group on rosters, a clipboard on lineups).

The standings chart of points by team has a link under it, Show these numbers as a table, which lists every team's running total after each game date; it is there for anyone who cannot read the lines, and it includes teams past the eighth, which the chart itself leaves out.

A game's page and a league's link preview also describe themselves to search engines and screen readers (the game as an event with its teams and place; the preview image by the league's name and sport); neither changes what a visitor sees. The icons beside headings are decoration and say nothing the heading does not.

The foot of every league page reads "Powered by LeagueBucket. Run your own bowling league free.", naming the league's sport and linked to that sport's page under /for; a league set to Other reads "Run a league of your own? It's free to start.", linked to the home page. A league on a plan that removes the Powered by line loses the whole line. A sample league always shows it, whatever plan its account is on.

Register appears while the league is taking registrations online. A limit or a closing time ends registration on its own.

Email settings for a league are at /preferences/<league>, where <league> is the last part of the league's own address (amber-valley-classic-trivia-league for the sample trivia league). Text-message settings exist, but texts aren't being sent yet.

The owner is whoever created the league; co-admins can do everything except remove admins and delete the league.

An account can run several leagues; the switcher at the top chooses which one the sidebar is for.

Sign up with an email and password and confirm the email.

The first visit asks you to accept the terms (One thing before you continue); nothing else in the admin opens until you do.

Forgotten passwords are reset from /admin/reset; the link works once and for an hour.

Name the league and choose its sport. You become its owner and it starts with a first season.

Create a free league on a sport's page (leaguebucket.com/for/bowling and the rest) carries that sport through signup and the confirmation email, so the first form opens with it already chosen. Someone who already runs a league lands on the create form instead, with the same sport chosen. The choice can still be changed there.

A new league's pages are public from the start; Settings → Public visibility can make it Unlisted or turn its pages Off.

Teams and players belong to the league and carry over from season to season; rosters, divisions and games belong to a season.

New season asks what to bring from an earlier one (divisions, each team's players) and then offers to build the schedule. Copying a season is part of Commissioner.

A season's dates can be extended at any time. Shortening them is refused if it would leave a game outside the season, and you're offered the unplayed games to remove.

Each season has tabs: Overview, Subdivisions (optional groupings such as Division A and Division B), Teams (open one to add or remove players), Games, Roster (everyone rostered this season, read-only), Playoffs, Registration (online registration and fees, below), Schedule a game and Build a schedule (a round robin you can edit afterwards).

On a team under Teams, adding a player who is on another team moves them on the "As of" day, today unless changed, so a move that happened weeks ago can be recorded on its real date. Each roster row has Since and a Left on date beside End stint, and Earlier this season lets both days of a finished spot be corrected.

The league's players, kept across seasons. Putting someone on a team happens per season, from the team's roster page.

Import (linked from Players, a season's Teams and Roster) brings teams, players, venues or a whole roster in from a spreadsheet template.

Every sport enters a score or result per side, and a status (Scheduled, In progress, Final, Cancelled, Postponed). A game past its night with no result shows as awaiting a result.

On either games list, a date with more than one game has Enter this night on one page beside it. It opens every game of that date together, earliest first and in lane order, so a night is entered without opening each game in turn. Each game still has Open this game, for what this page does not take: the home team, innings, set-by-set scores, lineups and officials.

Most sports get a score box for each side and two buttons. Save scores keeps the games open, so a running score can be posted. Save and mark final closes every game that has a score for both sides, and in soccer, basketball, football, hockey and cornhole it records the winner from the scores (a level score is a draw). A game with a score missing is left open and named under the buttons. Nothing is saved if any score is not a number, or if a playoff game would end level.

A bowling night shows each match's cards, the same ones as on the game's own screen, one match under another; each team's card has its own Save. Mark the night final, at the foot, closes every game whose teams all have a score. A trivia night is listed with a link to its own screen, where rounds and places are entered. Cancelled and postponed games, and games with more than two sides, are listed but not scored here.

Add each round with its category, difficulty and each team's correct answers, or enter an overall score. Tied places share a place.

A cancelled game counts as done when the season is judged finished; a postponed one doesn't.

Tap a box and type the game's score, 0 to 300. The Team row under the bowlers adds up as you type.

Type the team's lane number in the Lane box beside its name.

Tap the up or down arrow beside a bowler's name. With All games lit the move is for the whole night; tap G1, G2 or G3 first to move them in that game only.

The substitute takes the bowler's seat and any scores already in it.

Tap ⋯ on the bowler's row, then the game beside Did not bowl, or All night. Tap the same button again to take it back.

Tap ⋯ on the bowler's row, then the game beside Score ball by ball. The keypad has its own guide, Entering a bowling game frame by frame.

Tap ⋯ on the bowler's row and type it in Entering average. Only a bowler on the team's roster has the box.

Tap ⋯ on the bowler's row, then Make this seat vacant. The seat stays on the card with nobody in it.

Tap ⋯ on the bowler's row, then Not bowling tonight. The button is there until the team's card is first saved.

Under the card, beside On the roster, not bowling tonight, tap + and the bowler's name.

When a team is a bowler short, tap + Vacant seat under its card, once for each empty spot.

Tap the X at the end of a new vacant seat's row to take it off. Once the card has been saved the row has ⋯, with Fill with a substitute and Remove this seat.

Pick anyone in the league from + Add bowler under the card.

Tap + Game under the card for a column for one more game.

Tap Save and the team's name. Each team is saved on its own, and the handicaps and the Night total fill in when you do.

Under each name is the bowler's average. Across are their handicap, scratch and total for the night; the rows at the foot are the team's for each game.

Leave Game over unticked and tap Save results: fans see the running score, and the standings wait. The Game box says which game is being bowled; leave it blank to say nothing.

When both cards are saved, tick Game over — scores are final at the foot of the page and tap Save results.

A score over 300, which it names: "a score is a whole number from 0 to 300." A lane has to be a number from 1 to 200.

Tap ⋯ at the end of the bowler's row, then the game's button beside Score ball by ball. On a phone, slide the table to the left to bring ⋯ into view.

Tap the number of pins knocked down. The ball goes in the lit box and the next box lights up; keys for more pins than are standing are greyed out.

After a frame's first ball the key under X turns into /. Tap it and the rest of the pins are filled in.

Tap X. The frame is finished and the next one lights up.

Tap - for a ball that knocked nothing down, a gutter ball included.

Tap the two-pins key under X, then the number of pins. The ball is circled on the sheet.

Tap the ball's box on the sheet, or step to it with the arrow keys, then tap the right key. Changing a ball to or from a strike or a spare clears the balls after it, so enter those again.

The big number is the score so far. MAX is the best score the bowler can still finish with.

The tenth has three boxes. The third opens after a strike or a spare; without one the game ends on the second ball.

Tap Save at the top. A game can be saved part-way through and finished later.

On the team's card a game entered ball by ball is a dashed box with its score. Tap the box.

Tap Score at the top of the sheet and type the game's total. Saving a total replaces the frames entered for that game.

Tap Absent, then Save. The game is scored by the league's absent rule in Settings.

Open the game and tap Delete at the foot. The key is greyed out until the game has been saved once.

Tap Close at the foot, or the X at the top left. Anything tapped since the last Save is dropped.

A game with no ball in it. Save then says "Enter at least one ball first."

Head-to-head sports get a single-elimination bracket.

Trivia leagues get a championship night instead: the top teams qualify in standings order, everybody starts at 0 or each seed gets a head start, and one final night is created. Enter it like any night and mark it final; the highest total wins the season, and a tie at the top waits for you to record the tiebreak winner.

Bowling leagues set a position round here instead. Pick the night (it offers the first one nothing has been entered for) and the standings set who bowls whom: 1st v 2nd, 3rd v 4th, and so on, within each division if the season has them. With an odd number of teams the last one has no game that night. Each game keeps its lanes and time, the top pair takes the lowest lanes, and the games are titled "Position round · 1st v 2nd" on the schedule. It counts in the standings like any night. It can only be set once everything before the night is final, and re-paired until a score is entered. Any plan.

A bracket or a championship night can be deleted and made again until a result is entered. Making one needs Commissioner.

A split can be moved or removed until the roll-off exists, and the roll-off can be deleted until it has a score.

Opening registration needs League Pro and a payout account Stripe has finished verifying (Billing → Payouts); until then the page says which is missing, and you can still fill the form in ahead of time.

Connecting the payout account (the owner, on Billing → Payouts) goes through Stripe's own sign-up, about 10 minutes. The league's name, what it charges for and, if the league is published, its public page are filled in. Stripe has you create a Stripe password and two-step sign-in; keep both, because Open your Stripe dashboard and any later change of details sign in with them. Pick a daily or weekly payout schedule (Manual leaves the money in Stripe until you move it) and Radar Lite for fraud protection: it's free, and the paid tiers charge per payment, which Players pay the processing doesn't cover.

Stripe usually verifies within minutes; if it wants more (often the full Social Security number), the panel says what and Update details with Stripe takes you back. If the owner ever disconnects LeagueBucket inside Stripe, online registration stops and the panel says so; connecting again sets up a new account.

Set the fee ($1 to $2,000), an optional limit on paid players, an optional closing time (league time), details shown above the form, and an optional waiver. A player who starts paying holds a place for 31 minutes; an abandoned payment gives it back.

Players pay the processing is on by default: the player pays the fee plus a processing line covering card fees and LeagueBucket's 1.5%, so the league receives the whole fee. Turn it off and the league pays those out of the fee.

Each charge is the league's own, made on its Stripe account, so disputes and refunds come out of the league's Stripe balance. Card payments only (including Apple Pay and Google Pay). LeagueBucket does not collect sales tax on registration fees.

Registrations lists everyone who started: Paid, Paying now, Not completed or Refunded, with contact details, the team they asked for and the total collected. Add as player puts a paid registrant in the league's players (a player of the same name is linked instead), ready to put on a team. Refund (owner only) returns whatever hasn't been refunded yet, LeagueBucket's share included; Stripe keeps its processing fee. A refund made in Stripe's dashboard shows here too, and a partial one keeps the player registered.

Who belongs to the league and who has been invited. Invite by email with a role; making someone an admin is a separate, deliberate step.

Player-link requests are approved or declined here.

Only the owner can remove an admin; a co-admin who tries is told so.

League story counts what happened in your league from its own records (seasons, teams, players, games), for a sponsor pitch; case studies built from it are private until you approve them.

The profile holds what can't be counted (what kind of league it is, who turns up); every field is optional.

Sponsor kit (League Pro) is linked from League story.

Name, timezone, public visibility, the standings method, win, draw and loss points, the progression chart, and bowling's rules.

Public visibility has three choices. Public: anyone can open the pages, and the league is in the directory, on its sport's page and in search engines. Unlisted: anyone with the link can open every page, follow, add the calendar and see the widget, and fees and sponsor payment links work, but the league is left out of the directory, its sport's page, the sitemap and search engines; the header shows an Unlisted tag to admins. Off: only the league's admins can open its pages, and calendar links, the widget, short links and payment links stop and game reminders are not sent. Nothing is deleted by any of them. A new league starts as Public.

The standings method (choosing a non-default method is part of Commissioner), win, draw and loss points, and the progression chart. A bowling league sets its standings points here too.

Bowling's handicap, absent and vacant rules. Choosing Handicap league opens its Base and Percent right under it, above the Scratch option. A bowler's average and handicap are worked out again after each night's series and are the same for every game of a night; they never change between games on the same night.

Innings rules (baseball, softball, kickball): regulation innings, run rule, forfeit score and more.

The order the table separates level teams, ending in a coin flip you record.

The page is laid out as cards. Sport and scoring, Bowling rules, Time zone, Public visibility and Standings chart share one button, Save league settings. Innings rules and Tiebreakers each have their own Save.

Delete league: owner only.

Profile is your own account.

Free covers a real league and doesn't expire.

Paid tiers are priced on the pricing page. A plan that is not on sale reads "Not on sale yet" there and has an "Email me when it opens" field, which takes an address for one email on the day that plan goes on sale. A plan that is on sale reads "On sale" and has a "Create a league, then upgrade" button to sign-up; the purchase itself is made from the league's Billing page.

Billing and Your plan appear once billing is switched on. Billing has a Monthly / Yearly switch above the plans (yearly is ten months' price for twelve). A plan that is not on sale reads "Not on sale yet" and has no button, and the server refuses a purchase however it is asked; once on sale, Upgrade buys the plan for the period shown. An owner who already pays changes plan, or monthly to yearly, under Manage billing, where Stripe works out the difference.

When a plan lapses, leagues the plan no longer covers become read-only, never hidden.