Issue 21 - 12/01/00

This is the Schedule Star and HighSchoolSports.Net weekly newsletter.
Tips and tricks for using Schedule Star to your best advantage.


In this Issue...
ELIGIBILITY FLAGS
LIST ADD AND BASKETBALL SCHEDULING
CLEAN OUT YOUR SCHEDULE STAR BINDER


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ELIGIBILITY FLAGS


Schedule Star is equipped to track and print eligibility information for all your athletes. If your state uses a standardized form for eligibility, this form is included when you install Schedule Star, and all eligibility reports will print in your state's format.

However, your school may have specific eligibility requirements that even your state form does not reflect. This is where Schedule Star's customizable eligibility flags can save you time and paperwork.

Click on STUDENTS on the main calendar screen to open your student directory. Notice the three check boxes in the lower left corner of the window. These three customizable eligibility flags let you track any other eligibility requirements that may not be covered by your state's eligibility form.

To enable these flags, click on UTILITIES, then ELIGIBILITY SETTINGS. The flags are the first three items listed. Click the check boxes to the right to enable them, then click into the fields to change the labels. You may enable just one flag, or all three. It's entirely up to you.

Once enabled, you can return to the Student Directory to check the boxes accordingly for athletes that have met these eligibility requirements.

So where do these flags tie into printing eligibility? From the main calendar screen, click TEAMS to open the Athlete Information Center. Select a team using the pull-downs, then click ADD. This takes you to the Student Directory. Select a student and click ADD TO TEAM. This bring up the participation information screen for this athlete. Notice the three eligibility flags across the bottom: Physical, Academic, and Other.

The "Other" setting is where the custom flags tie into determining eligibility. If you have any of these flags enabled and any of them are not checked, the "Other" setting will default to "No" for that athlete. Therefore when an eligibility form is printed for the team, any students with the "Other" flag set to "No" will not appear.

For more information on these flags, consult page 105 in your User's Guide.

If used correctly, these eligibility flags can expand Schedule Star's capability by letting you tailor the program to your school's own eligibility requirements.


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LIST ADD AND BASKETBALL SCHEDULING


One of Schedule Star's most time-saving but overlooked features is the LIST ADD button on the sporting event screen. This feature is explained on page 18 in your User's Guide, and was covered in past issues of this newsletter. However, with basketball season right around the corner, LIST ADD is worth revisiting since it can be especially useful for scheduling basketball games.

Our tech support team receives several questions regarding how to schedule multiple levels of basketball for one evening. LIST ADD is the answer.

From the main calendar screen, select a day you want to schedule basketball games. Click the ADD button to bring up the Sporting Event screen. Schedule the first game of the evening (typically the sophomore team) as you would any other stand-alone game.

Instead of clicking on OK, click on LIST ADD. A new list Window will appear in the background showing the game you have just entered. A red screen will also appear with the message, "Event Added.. continuing event entry... press any key." Click on the screen or press any key.

This will return you to the SPORTING EVENT screen, but instead of an empty screen with all the fields blank, notice that most of the settings from the last game are still in place. Change the level to the next game of then night (probably Junior Varsity) and adjust the game time, then click LIST ADD again.

Click through the "Event Added" prompt, change the level to Varsity and the game time, then click OK to return to the main calendar screen. Notice that you now have three basketball games listed on the right, one for each level that night.

By using this method, you can add an entire evening of games all at once. This will save you literally hundreds of clicks as you schedule an entire season in blocks instead of individually, one game at a time.

Use LIST ADD every chance you get when you're inputting those basketball schedules. It will save you time!


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CLEAN OUT YOUR SCHEDULE STAR BINDER


If you have been using Schedule Star for a year or more, chances are you've accumulated a small collection of additional CDs and/or diskettes. We are constantly improving Schedule Star with features designed from your suggestions. Most of you have probably received at least one new CD since purchasing to incorporate the latest improvements and enhancements into your copy of Schedule Star.

If you have two or more Schedule Star CDs, or more than one set of diskettes, it's a good idea to throw away all but the very latest version. Every version we release is a full install. There are no "upgrade only" CDs or disks. In other words, if you ever need to reinstall the program, there is no need to install Version 4.0 first, then upgrade it by installing Version 4.1. Simply install from the latest CD.

Cleaning older versions out of your Schedule Star binder will avoid confusion and prevent you from accidently installing a wrong or older version or build. Accidently installing build 4106 when you are currently running build 4155, for example, can cause problems with your program.

Check the build numbers on each CD and keep the one with the highest build number. Make sure this build number matches the build number on the Schedule Star program you are currently running. It's easy to miss upgrading to a newer build if the latest CD gets lost amidst older ones in your binder (another reason for getting rid of those older CDs). If you need to upgrade, do so following the instructions supplied with the CD. Keep the newest CD and throw the rest of the CDs away.

As for diskettes, KEEP ALL OF YOUR BACKUP DISKS. Also keep your latest REGISTRATION DISK, and your CUSTOM LOGO and CUSTOM SIGNATURE disks if you ordered these add-ons. If you are running Version 4.0 or higher and find an old set of Version 3.6 diskettes, throw them away or reformat them to use as backup disks.

Be sure to keep your latest CD, your backup disks, and your registration disk handy. You will need all three if something happens to your computer and you need to reinstall Schedule Star.


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