RefTown Knowledge Base
Table of Contents

Section 1 : What is RefTown? (Category ID: 6)

  • An overview of some of RefTown's features
  • RefTown Game and Assignment Related Features
  • RefTown Directory Features
  • RefTown Financial Features
  • RefTown Information Distribution and Collection Functions
  • RefTown Additional Functions and Services
  • What do I need to begin using RefTown?
  • How much does RefTown cost?
  • Section 2 : User Guide (Category ID: 41)

    Section 2.1 : Getting Started (Category ID: 1)

  • General Tip Sheet on Using RefTown
  • How do I enter information in my availability calendar?
  • Section 2.1.1 : Logging In and setting up your account (Category ID: 2)

  • How do I get a username or a password?
  • How do I log in?
  • How do I change my username?
  • How do I change my password?
  • Does my username have to be my email address?
  • What roster information can an official or school update themselves?
  • What can I use for my username and password?
  • RefTown says my account is locked when I try to login.
  • Moving between linked accounts.
  • IMPORTANT NOTE for Yahoo Users
  • Login Options: Remember Me & Keep Me Logged In
  • Mobile app not finding all organizations
  • Section 2.1.2 : Common Problems (Category ID: 15)

  • How to Enable JavaScript
  • How to Enable Cookies
  • RefTown says my account is locked when I try to login.
  • When I click on an email address on RefTown, I get an error message or it opens the wrong program? (Configuring RefTown to use your preferred email program)
  • Calendar items do not transfer to Outlook properly.
  • I'm on AOL and emails sent by RefTown to AOL addresses always generate delivery error messages....why?
  • Section 2.1.3 : Common Items for ADs/Coaches (Category ID: 55)

  • Moving between linked accounts.
  • Using the Game Search Form
  • How do a find specific games?
  • How do schools request games on RefTown?
  • How can games be added to RefTown?
  • Can I see who is assigned to other games?
  • Can schools see who is assigned to games?
  • How do I approve my school/team schedule?
  • Using the Paysheet System
  • More Info for ADs/Coaches
  • How to add games...
  • Section 2.2 : Roster Functions (Category ID: 30)

  • How do I transfer an official or school/team to my personal address book?
  • What effect do the "Unlisted" options on the registration forms and roster have?
  • When does filling out the registration automatically update my account information?
  • What profile and preference information can a user update?
  • How do I print or export an officials or schools roster?
  • What does "Disable Email" do for email addresses?
  • Various Roster Functions
  • Syncing License/Certification Information with External Systems
  • Section 2.3 : Game/Match Functions (Category ID: 3)

  • How can I transfer Games, Meetings, or Events to my personal calendaring program such as Outlook, Google Calendar, or other calendaring application?
  • How is driving distance calculated?
  • How do I unscubscribe from a RefTown Calendar Feed?
  • Section 2.3.1 : Reading the games page (Category ID: 16)

  • What do the colors mean on the games page?
  • What do the symbols mean on a game listing?
  • How do I print my games?
  • Can officials see who is assigned to games?
  • Can schools see who is assigned to games?
  • Section 2.3.2 : Finding and viewing games/matches (Category ID: 4)

  • How do I view my future assignments?
  • How do I find my past assignments?
  • How do I see all of my assignments?
  • How do I find other games at the same sites as a listed game?
  • How do a find specific games?
  • Can I see who is assigned to other games?
  • How do I find games that are available for self-assignment (or request) and claim (request) the assignment?
  • How do I print my games?
  • How do the Previous and Next links work on the games pages?
  • How do I search for games by game number?
  • What games show by default on the games page?
  • How can I subscribe to a calendar feed (iCal/ics) of my assignments and/or meetings and events?
  • Using the Game Search Form
  • Can on official see assignments before they are published?
  • I'm getting a lot of change reminders about game changes but not from RefTown
  • Section 2.3.3 : Accepting, Declining, or Approving games and assignments (Category ID: 5)

  • How do I accept my assignments (officials)?
  • How do I approve my school/team schedule?
  • Can an official change their response to an assignment after it is submitted?
  • Who receives an email confirmation of accepted/declined assignments?
  • What happens if an assignment remains "unaccepted"?
  • Section 2.3.4 : Availability Calendar and Scratching Schools (Category ID: 18)

  • How does the availability feature work?
  • How do I enter information in my availability calendar?
  • How do I use the boxes on the availability calendar?
  • Can officals "scratch" certain schools, levels, leagues, etc.?
  • Availability - How do I tell the assigner of my work availability?
  • Cross-Organization Assignment-Based Availability
  • Section 2.4 : Voting, Ballots, Quizzes, and Signups (Category ID: 46)

  • What is the difference between a Ballot and a Signup and an Exam/Quiz?
  • How do the instant run-off elections work?
  • How does the ballot/voting/quiz system work?
  • How do I export or import questions to an exam, ballot, or signup?
  • Section 2.5 : General Information and Tips (Category ID: 26)

  • Are there printable versions of pages?
  • How can I transfer Games, Meetings, or Events to my personal calendaring program such as Outlook, Google Calendar, or other calendaring application?
  • What Browsers are supported?
  • How to configure your computer to use an installed application when you click on an email address or email icon.
  • How can I subscribe to a calendar feed (iCal/ics) of my assignments and/or meetings and events?
  • Accessing Archived Information
  • Transfer School/Team Contact Account to New Person (for AD's, Athletic Assistance, Secretaries, Coaches, etc.)
  • Using your phone/tablet for on-site meeting check-in
  • Section 2.6 : Invoices and Finances (Category ID: 53)

  • How do I add or remove bank account information for Direct Deposit?
  • Retrieving and Confirming my 1099
  • Configure an Official's Account to Receive PayPal/Venmo Payments
  • Paying for Invoices Due using PayPal without a PayPal account
  • Getting Paid by PayPal / Venmo as an Official
  • Trouble Opening a 1099 from RefTown?
  • Section 2.7 : Mobile App (Category ID: 67)

  • Clearing App Data
  • Section 3 : Administrator Guide (Category ID: 7)

    Section 3.1 : General Tips and Suggestions (Category ID: 43)

  • Quick entry of times on RefTown
  • Popups on RefTown
  • Add RefTown to Your Safe Senders List
  • Add RefTown to Your Safe Senders List (for Gmail)
  • Section 3.2 : Setup and Configuration (Category ID: 39)

  • SETUP: Overview
  • Section 3.2.1 : Basic Information (Category ID: 52)

  • SETUP: Basic Information
  • SETUP: Organization Contacts
  • SETUP: Menu Control
  • SETUP: Organization Logo/Banner
  • Section 3.2.2 : Email Reminder Options (Category ID: 49)

  • SETUP: Notice Recipients
  • SETUP: Email Reminders for Officials
  • SETUP: Email Reminders for Schools/Teams
  • SETUP: Admin/Assignor Game Status Reminders
  • Section 3.2.3 : Officials Directory Options (Category ID: 50)

  • SETUP: Officials Directory - Profile Display/Edit Options
  • SETUP: Officials Directory - Official Levels
  • SETUP: Officials Directory Privacy Options
  • SETUP: Officials Registration Options
  • SETUP: Official Qualification Options
  • Managing Official's Sports, Zones, and/or Duties.
  • Section 3.2.4 : School Directory Options (Category ID: 51)

  • SETUP: Schools, Locations, Payors, and Teams - General Options
  • SETUP: Schools, Location, Payors, and Teams - Leagues & Levels
  • SETUP: Schools, Location, Payors, and Teams - Gym/Field Details
  • SETUP: Schools, Location, Payors, and Teams - School/Team Roles
  • SETUP: School Contact Privacy Options
  • SETUP: School Contact Registration Options
  • Section 3.2.5 : Game and Assignment Settings (Category ID: 34)

  • SETUP: Games - Display Options
  • SETUP: Games - Error Check Options
  • SETUP: Games - Availability Options
  • SETUP: Games - Assignment Options
  • SETUP: Games - Response Options
  • SETUP: Games - School Options
  • SETUP: Games - Other Options
  • SETUP: Games - Parameters: Types, Levels, & Leagues
  • SETUP: Crews - CrewTypes, Duties, and Crew Duties
  • SETUP: Zones
  • Section 3.2.6 : Finances (Category ID: 37)

  • SETUP: Finances: Basic Configuration
  • SETUP: Finance: Adjustments and Mileage
  • SETUP: Finance: Advanced
  • SETUP: Pay Scale
  • Configuring Reftown to Use the Paysheet System
  • Section 3.2.7 : Interactive Forms (Category ID: 36)

  • SETUP: Interactive Forms
  • Section 3.3 : Association Maintenance (Category ID: 8)

  • About archives, Creating Archives, and Deleting Archives
  • How does the RefTown registration process work?
  • Using the Meeting/Event Calendar
  • Remote Self Check-In
  • On-Site / Location-Based Self Check-In
  • Section 3.3.1 : Officials (Category ID: 10)

  • Add officials to the database
  • How does an administator edit an official's information?
  • How do I add photos to the officials roster?
  • Can more than one account share the same email address?
  • How do I enable my association for online registration?
  • How do I manage officials registration forms?
  • How can I keep track of who has registered for the current season?
  • What happens when I delete an official?
  • How to copy a roster entry from one type of roster to another or from one association to another.
  • How do I manage ratings for officials?
  • What happens when I add an official and how do they get their account log information?
  • What status can an official's account be in?
  • How do I merge duplicated roster entries?
  • How do I add/upload multiple photos to the officials roster?
  • Custom Roster Fields (Schools or Officials Old Version)
  • Custom Roster Fields (Officials New Version)
  • Configuring and Managing Registration Payment
  • How to send a password reset email to Officials
  • Syncing License/Certification Information with External Systems
  • Section 3.3.2 : Schools/Teams (Category ID: 11)

  • Add locations, schools, teams, and/or payors to the database
  • How does an administator edit a school's or team's information?
  • Can more than one account share the same email address?
  • On the schools/teams roster, what do the Payor, Location, Home, and Visitor check boxes mean and how do I change them?
  • How do I enable my association for online registration?
  • How do I manage school/team/location registration forms?
  • How do I merge duplicated roster entries?
  • Using "Plus Codes" to help officials find gym/field entrances
  • Section 3.3.3 : School/Team Contacts (Category ID: 32)

  • Setup school/team personnel to log into to one or more teams
  • How do I merge duplicated roster entries?
  • Give a Payor/Team Contact Access to an entire Group of Payors/Teams at one time
  • Section 3.3.4 : Game/Match Properties (Category ID: 12)

  • What does "Clear Previous Season/Setup for new Season..." do?
  • Section 3.3.5 : Printing and Exporting Information (Category ID: 27)

  • How does an assignor print schedules for officials?
  • How does an assignor print or email schedules for teams/schools?
  • How do I print or export an officials or schools roster?
  • Section 3.3.6 : Access Permissions (Category ID: 28)

  • What are the different permissions groups that an official can be part of?
  • What information do schools/teams have access to?
  • How do I grant an official extra access permissions?
  • How can I, a user with extra permissions, view the site as it is seen by others?
  • Section 3.3.7 : Email Features (Category ID: 31)

  • What options are there in selecting recipients for emails?
  • Can I define custom lists of email recipients?
  • What delivery options are there in composing the email?
  • What if, while composing an email, my browser crashes or I make a mistake that deletes everything?
  • Sending Email to Officials, Coaches, Athletic Directors, etc.
  • Section 3.3.8 : Driving Distances (Category ID: 54)

  • Driving Distance Methods
  • Obtaining a Bing Maps Key
  • Section 3.4 : Game Entry (Category ID: 19)

  • How can games be added to RefTown?
  • How does Batch Add Mode work?
  • How do I import games into RefTown?
  • How do I check the quality of the games that have been entered?
  • What happens when a game is edited?
  • On the schools/teams roster, what do the Payor, Location, Home, and Visitor check boxes mean and how do I change them?
  • How do I enter games such that schools/teams can approve the entered games?
  • How does and assignor notify or remind schools/teams that they have games needing a response?
  • How do schools request games on RefTown?
  • How is the rating for a game determined?
  • How can I completely delete one or more games and all related assignments?
  • How can I enter times in the various forms throughout RefTown?
  • Restoring a Canceled or Postponed Game
  • How to add games...
  • Exporting Games to Excel
  • Duplicating / Replicating a Set of Games
  • Syncing Games from External System (OSAA only)
  • Section 3.5 : Making Assignments (Category ID: 20)

  • What reports are available regarding officials availability?
  • How do you change the response of an official to an assignment?
  • How is driving distance calculated?
  • How do I manage ratings for officials?
  • Can on official see assignments before they are published?
  • Reading Availability Information on the Assignments Screen
  • Limiting Officials from Seeing the Same Teams
  • Using Preset/Predefined Crews
  • Section 3.5.1 : Assigned by Assignor (Category ID: 21)

  • How do I assign officials to Games?
  • How does an assignor publish assignments?
  • What happens when assignments are published?
  • Why do some officials not appear in the list of officials to assign?
  • How do I assign officials that do not appear in the list of assignable officials?
  • Who receives an email confirmation of accepted/declined assignments?
  • Can an official change their response to an assignment after it is submitted?
  • Why does an officials prior response get cleared when part of the crew is changed?
  • How do I set RefTown to not clear a official's prior response when there is a crew change?
  • Can officals "scratch" certain schools, levels, leagues, etc.?
  • How does and assignor notify or remind officials that they have assignments needing a response?
  • How does an assignor manage officials who do not have email?
  • Viewing how many assignments an official already has while making new assignments
  • Limiting the number of times an official will see a specific team
  • Linking games for assignment to same crew
  • How to read the team/location history information while assigning
  • Section 3.5.2 : Automatic Assigning (Category ID: 44)

  • How does automatic assigning work?
  • Section 3.5.3 : Self-Assignment / Assignment Reqeust (Category ID: 22)

  • How does the self-assignment feature work?
  • How does an assignor make a game available for self-assignment or self-request or remove a game from the these lists?
  • Can an official change their response to an assignment after it is submitted?
  • Section 3.6 : Finances (Category ID: 47)

  • How to Create an Invoice
  • Creating custom invoice items
  • Adding/Updating game fees
  • Collecting payments from officials through PayPal
  • Transferring Data from RefTown to Quickbooks
  • Using Custom Invoice Item Categories
  • Transferring Invoice Information from the archives or other sources to be used for 1099 generation
  • Using the Paysheet System
  • Invoice Reconciliation and Verification Functions
  • Tracking Payment Status of Invoices
  • Entering Partial Payments for School/Team Invoices
  • Overriding Game Fees (for officials or payors)
  • How can I completely delete one or more batches or invoices?
  • Section 3.6.1 : PayPal / Venmo Payouts (Category ID: 57)

  • PayPal / Venmo Payouts Overview
  • Electronic Payments / PayPal-Venmo
  • PayPal-Venmo Payouts Setup (part 1)
  • PayPal-Venmo Payouts Setup (part 2)
  • Getting Paid by PayPal / Venmo as an Official
  • Making sure games are correctly entered so that your officials can get paid by PayPal/Venmo
  • Section 3.6.2 : W9's and 1099's (Category ID: 59)

  • Preparing for and Requesting Generation of 1099s
  • 1099 Generation & Distribution
  • Preparing Your Organization, Invoices, and Officials for 1099 Processing
  • 1099 Generation and Distribution Process
  • W9 Collection and Management
  • Printing 1099's
  • Section 3.6.3 : Direct Deposits (Category ID: 61)

  • What happens when an officials direct deposit can't be made due to a closed or invalid account
  • Electronic Payments / Direct Deposits
  • Direct Deposits and/or PayPal/Venmo Payments from Game Payors (School/Teams)
  • Section 3.6.4 : Travel / Mileage (Category ID: 63)

  • Configuring Reftown for the TASO Ring + Portal Mileage System
  • Mileage Calculations
  • Driving Distance Methods
  • Obtaining a Bing Maps Key
  • Section 3.6.5 : Stripe Payments (Category ID: 69)

  • Setting up Reftown to Accept Stripe Payments
  • Section 3.7 : Voting, Ballots, Quizzes, and Signups (Category ID: 45)

  • How does the ballot/voting/quiz system work?
  • What is the difference between a Ballot and a Signup and an Exam/Quiz?
  • How do I configure a new or existing ballot/signup/quiz?
  • How do I add/edit questions on a ballot/signup?
  • How do the instant run-off elections work?
  • Signup Auto-Invoicing
  • Section 3.8 : Custom Content (Category ID: 23)

  • How does an administrator add or edit custom page content?
  • Can I add my own custom pages to RefTown?
  • Section 3.9 : Posting and Managing Documents (Category ID: 25)

  • How do I add documents or document categories/folders to RefTown?
  • How do I change the name, category or permissions of a document?
  • How do I edit a document that is posted on RefTown?
  • What types of documents are supported on RefTown?
  • How do I link to a document posted on RefTown from either inside of RefTown or outside?
  • Section 3.10 : FAQ (Category ID: 40)

  • What do the various admin/assignor symbols mean?
  • Section 3.10.1 : Assignment Options (Category ID: 29)

  • Why does an officials prior response get cleared when part of the crew is changed?
  • How do I set RefTown to not clear a official's prior response when there is a crew change?
  • Section 4 : School/Team Administrator Guide (Category ID: 65)

  • Electronic Payments / Direct Deposits
  • How to Create an Invoice
  • School/Team Administrator Simplified Invoice Creation Process
  • Tracking Payment Status of Invoices
  • What happens when an officials direct deposit can't be made due to a closed or invalid account
  • How do schools request games on RefTown?
  •  

    Section 1 : What is RefTown? (Category ID: 6)
    Top

    An overview of some of RefTown's features
    Article ID:117 Posted:4/22/2008 1:41:45 AM Updated:3/2/2015 9:30:54 PM

    RefTown will revolutionize the way you do business 

    We service multiple organizations of various sizes—from less than 30 to several hundred—across all major sports. Our highly customizable service can be adapted to serve nearly any scheduling need.

    RefTown is the most complete and most comprehensive official’s organization management package available 

    Our features cover not only game assigning but can also provide a full web presence for your organization. We can be your only web site. 

    Our features include a full set of communications options; election, survey, test, and signup functionality; documents archives, payroll calculations, customized interactive forms, and more. 

    We are committed to providing reliable, user-friendly functionality with world-class customer support 

    RefTown is designed with a highly intuitive and consistent theme and usage model throughout the site. Most functions have rollover pop-ups that guide you through the use of the site, eliminating the need for highly technical documentation.

    RefTown is proven reliable and effective

    Organizations that use RefTown have reduced their number of assigning errors as a result. In well over 1,000,000 assignments across multiple organizations representing multiple sports, there have been no missed assignments due to an error on the site.

    The officials who use the site find many benefits—from easily locating schools to clear and efficient communication of their assignments and other information. 

      RefTown adapts to your needs

    If you have features you'd like to see on RefTown, feel free to contact us and request them. We're frequently adding features based on the requests of customers. All new features are available for all customers to use at no additional charge. 

    RefTown guarantees you'll be satisfied 

    We are so confident that you'll like what we offer that we’ll give you a free, fully functional, no-obligation trial and will not ask for payment until you are satisfied.

    When you choose RefTown, you can be confident that it will make big improvements to your organization.

     

    RefTown Game and Assignment Related Features
    Article ID:209 Posted:3/2/2015 10:02:15 PM Updated:3/3/2015 12:26:17 AM
    • Game & Assignment Entry with extensive management and communication features
      • Highly customizable game entry options
        • Program you own lists of sports, leagues, levels, and types of games.
        • Program custom crewtypes or duties for special situations
        • Program locations in custom zones
        • Ability to enter multiple-game sets or to link multiple games together for simultaneous assigning.
      • Multiple Data Entry Modes
        • Direct Game-by-Game Entry
        • Assisted Direct Game Entry to accelerate multiple game entries.
        • Spreadsheet-based game import
        • Spreadsheet-based game export supporting re-importing for mass updates
        • Schools/Teams can be enabled to enter games directly into a "requested games" list where an assignor can approve the games to be moved to the official schedule or reject the request.
          • Notices can optionally be sent to the requesting school/team when action is taken
        • Schools/Teams can be enabled to request changes to existing games directly in the system. Such request are placed in the "requested games" list pending approval.
          • Notices can optionally be sent to the requesting school/team when action is taken
      • Game Management Dashboard for Assigners
        • Numeric and Statistical View of Game and Assignment Details
          • Analyze the status of game and assignment details across multiple categories to ensure
            • Game details are entered correctly
              • Includes communication options with both schools/teams and officials
            • Assignments are covered as desired
            • Officials are used as desired
              • Reports on multiple assignment criteria
                • Assignment counts based on selectable criteria
                • Repeats assignments with teams
                • Repeats assignments with partners
                • Average response time to assignments
    • Multiple Game Assignment Tools
      • The system manages, based on your customized setup, the officials eligible for assigning to any game.
        • Considers
          • Availability
          • Sport specific qualifications
          • Duty specific qualifications
          • Location/Distance
          • Skill level (ratings)
          • Scratches (including team, location, or partner based or several broad categories)
        • Provides information about each official's assignment history with each of the teams involved in the game while making the assignments
      • Automatic assignor that considers all the same criteria of the manual assignment mode
        • Includes controls over several assignment considerations that allow tuning the auto-assignor to provide more desirable results.
      • Option to post specific games for self-assignment by officials
        • Only presents games to officials qualified for those games
        • Alternate mode to allow officials to request the games pending the assigners selection from among those requesting the assignment
        • Ability to block specific officials from access to self-assignment positions
        • Ability to grant specific officials complete access to select from all self-assignment positions
      • Tools to manage assignment responses on behalf of officials
      • Designate officials into pre-determined crews for group assigning
    • Extensive Availability options
      • Fully integrated with scheduling functions
      • Officials have multiple ways to enter information
        • Repeating Day-of-Week entries
        • Date specific for single organizations
        • Date specific for all organizations
      • Information can be very specific or very general
        • Block entire days 
        • Block specific ranges of times
        • Block all but specific times
        • Add comments related to blocks
      • Official selectable automatic availability blocks for assignments in other organizations
      • Officials can designate a maximum number of days to be assigned over a period of time
      • Officials can designate a minimum number of days between games
      • Officials can designate multiple starting points to be used for driving distances depending on time of day
      • Multiple assignor accessible reports on availability
        • View individual officials calendars
        • View single day summaries with varying levels of detail
        • View several multi-day summaries
        • Export most reports to Excel for additional sorting and filtering
    • Communication Tools
      • Email and, optionally, text message announcements of assignment changes
      • Customizable reminder system for schools/teams and/or officials
      • Automatic synchronization "my games" with Outlook, Google Android, or Apple iPhone and other ICS-based calendar programs
      • Automatic synchronization of "my games" with Outlook, Google Android, or Apple iPhone and other ICS-based calendar programs
      • Automatic synchronization of all upcoming games (for assignors) with Outlook, Google Android, or Apple iPhone and other ICS-based calendar programs
      • Manually exportable any list of games for import into Outlook
    • Game View Options
      • Extensive search form options to allow location of games by almost any criteria
      • Several pre-programmed searches for quick and easy access
      • Multiple layout options with customizable levels of content
        • Lists
        • Grids
          • Calendar-based
          • School/Team vs Date
          • Official vs Date
      • Multiple sort options
      • Highly integrated navigation to related information
    • Evaluation Management Tools
      • Designated evaluation/observation manager can schedule evaluators/observers to a game in much the same manner as officials are assigned
      • Evaluation management personnel can generate cross-referenced report of designated evaluators and target officials to determine when and if any of them are assigned games at the same location on the same date.

    RefTown Directory Features
    Article ID:210 Posted:3/2/2015 10:20:58 PM Updated:3/2/2015 11:49:36 PM
    • Directory of Officials
      • Designate officials as eligible to work in specific zone, for specific sports, or for specific duties within the crew
      • Designate ratings levels for officials per sport to aid in assigning
        • Compare given rating with actual assignments including the tools to set ratings based on past assignments
      • Designate officials into pre-determined crews
      • Designate officials membership levels (visible or not visible to other officials)
      • Multiple programmable fields for dates, numerical information, yes/no qualifications, or free form text
        • Each field can be independently programmed to be
          • Visible to all officials
          • Visible to individual official 
          • Editable by individual officials
          • Minimum requirement for assignment eligibility
      • Photos of officials with tools to upload and manage photos
      • Export to Excel spreadsheet
      • Import new officials from Excel
      • Import previously exported lists of officials to update information based on either Reftown ID #'s or alternate ID # (for example, a State ID #)
      • Export of official's list for import into QuickBooks as vendors
      • Multiple printable directory options
      • Flexible controls for multiple contact forms
    • Organization Board/Committee Directory
      • List member officials as part of a board or committee
      • Allows for members to contact other members based on their responsibilities
    • Directory of Schools/Teams/Location/Payors
      • Common list to allow a single entry for entities that are used in multiple ways
      • Designate locations to be in specific zones
      • Designate teams to be in leagues  (conferences/districts) and/or levels (classifications) 
      • Export to Excel spreadsheet
      • Import new schools, teams, locations, or payors from Excel
      • Import previously exported lists of schools, teams, locations, or payors to update information based on either Reftown ID #'s or alternate ID # (for example, a State ID #)
      • Export schools, teams, locations, or payors list for import into QuickBooks as customers
      • Multiple printable directory options
      • Flexible controls for multiple contact forms
    • Directory of School/Team Personnel (coaches, athletic directors, etc.)
      • Affiliate school/team personnel with one or more schools/teams.
      • Affiliate multiple school/team personnel with a school/team
      • Export to Excel spreadsheet
      • Import new officials from Excel
      • Import previously exported lists of officials to update information based on either Reftown ID #'s or alternate ID # (for example, a State ID #)
      • Export of official's list for import into QuickBooks as vendors
      • Multiple printable directory options
      • Flexible controls for multiple contact forms

    RefTown Financial Features
    Article ID:211 Posted:3/2/2015 10:59:49 PM Updated:3/2/2015 11:49:44 PM
    •  Game/Assignment-based Invoice generation for officials and schools/teams.
      • Selectively generate invoices from schedules based on game characteristics for as few or as many as desired
      • Tracks changes to games creating necessary credits/offsets from previously invoiced amounts to current amount
      • Support for multiple game-based fee adjustments
        • Either flat rate or percentage based
        • Either add or subtract amounts
        • Independently programmable for different types of games
      • Multiple travel payment options
        • Flat rate
        • Per-mile rates
          • Minimums
          • Maximums
          • Multiple rate ranges
          • Roundtrip or One-way
        • First game only or per game
        • From a common base locations or from multiple base locations (for officials in different regions)
        • Split travel payments across crew members in programmable percentages
    • Customizable Invoice Categories
      • Enter custom invoice items using a set of programmable categories.
        • Each optionally includable as part of 1099 eligible income
      • Usable for multiple things such as:
        • Dues
        • Equipment
        • Scholarships
        • Fundraisers
        • Government Adjustments such as garnishments
        • Pay advances
        • and more
    • Payment Options
      • Ability to pay officials by true direct deposits executed within 1-2 business days
      • Ability collect payments from officials through PayPal for dues or other fees
    • General Invoice Features
      • Customized invoice content to communicate related information to officials/schools/teams.
      • Track payment status of invoices, either generically or with specific details (method, dates, check numbers, etc.)
      • Communication of invoices to officials/schools/teams by email
      • Printable invoices 
    • 1099 Generation and Distribution
      • Generation of 1099s based on customer selectable thresholds to match various state requirements
      • Electronic distribution of 1099s to officials based on current IRS regulations (encrypted and password protected using official's SSN or TIN).
      • Electronic filing with the IRS and most states
    • Other Functions
      • Tools to reconcile amounts collected from schools/teams and amounts paid to officials on a per-game basis.
      • Tools to compare school/team and officials pay scales
      • Export to QuickBooks for both officials and schools/teams

    RefTown Information Distribution and Collection Functions
    Article ID:212 Posted:3/2/2015 11:35:01 PM Updated:3/2/2015 11:44:47 PM
    •  Document/File Library
      • Post documents or other files such as videos
      • Post links to external sites
      • Control which groups of people can access the documents/files
      • Organization into folds for convenient organization and management
    • Customizable Forms
      • Multiple Types
        • Registration
        • Evaluation/Observation
          • Either linked with games or generic
          • Tools to track games where forms have or have not been submitted
        • Ejection
        • Applications
        • General Feedback
      • All types allow for customizable content 
      • Options to control who can access each form
      • Options to control who receives  email copies of forms and who can view submitted forms
      • Exportable to Excel for detailed analysis
    • Ballot System
      • Can be used for multiple purposes
        • Board elections
      • Supports organization operations by providing a mechanism for voting on different types of things
        • Yes/No
        • Favor/Oppose
        • Lists of Officials (with optional photo-ballot with photos drawn from the roster)
        • Numeric answers
        • Generic lists of choices
        • Text Entries (write-in)
      •  Supports multiple vote formats
        • Select many (within a minimum and maximum number)
        • Ranked lists with Instant-Runoff vote tabulation 
          • For elections where a majority is required to win
        • Ranked lists with point-based rankings
      • Can specify eligible voters in multiple ways
        • All officials/schools
        • Officials/Schools by certain characteristics such as level
        • Specific Officials/Schools
      • Rotates answer order for fairness when there are a large number of candidates....officials with last names starting with Z not always at the end.
      • Option to block votes for self
      • Options to allow candidates to post statements on the ballot
      • Vote reminder tools that provide instructions on how to vote including direct, password-free, access to the ballots for school/teams
      • Ability to export and import lists of questions
      • Options to control when and how much detail is visible to administrators
        • Individual ballots are secret but administrators can choose to see a list of submitters and a list of non-submitters
        • Administrator can choose to see the results as ballots are case or only when the balloting closes
        • The settings for these options are posted on the ballot and can not be changed once the ballot opens
      • Options to control how the results are released to the votes
        • Immediately upon close
        • Only when "Approved"
        • Never
      • Options to control how many times a person can submit an entry
      • Can optionally send confirmation to submitter with or without actual details of submission
    • Signups/Surveys
      • Very similar to ballot system but results are not secret...administrators can see results throughout
      • Useful for things like
        • Banquet or other organization event signups
        • Gethering feedback from membership on various topics
    • Exams/Quizzes
      • Also very similar to ballot system and the signup/survey system. Results are not secret...administrators can see results throughout
      • Adds ability to randomize question order
      • Adds ability to impose a time limit
      • Allows entry of answer key
        • Automatic scoring with programmable pass/fail levels
      • Useful for things like
        • Certification testing
        • Refresher quizzes
    • Ask the Ref function
      • Publicly visible function to allow people (officials, coaches, or even the public) to ask questions
      • Questions must be approved before they are visible to the public
      • Designated individual manage content
    • News Log
      • Feature that allows the posting of headlines that are to appear on the organization's home page
      • Articles are dated and fall off the home page automatically after a few weeks but are still accessible on the New specific page

    RefTown Additional Functions and Services
    Article ID:213 Posted:3/3/2015 12:01:06 AM Updated:3/3/2015 12:18:08 AM

     In addition to RefTown primary (game and game assignment) function and secondary (general information functions), we also provide a variety of other features and services.

    • Consulting and Advising
      • When requested, we can often provide direction and advice in many areas of organization management and operations beyond the immediate use of RefTown.
      • We can assist with some data entry and managment issues
    • Customizable email distribution groups
      • Create a list of people that are frequently addressed in the email system
    • Allow officials to communicate with each other through RefTown
      • You can limit how many people they can email at once to prevent misuse
    • Site Archives
      • RefTown allows organizations to create copies of their site that are frozen in time.
      • Usually executed in the off-season
      • Breaks all dependencies between the current system configuration and prior season's content.
      • Keeps old information accessible but out of the way
    • Customizable content to create a semi-custom website.
      • Available in two places
        • On each regular page, organizations can add areas of fully custom content
        • Customers can add entirely custom pages
      • Fully customizable with a full-featured What-You-See-is-What-You-Get editor.
        • Freely format content with various fonts, colors, tables, etc.
        • Include images, videos, links, etc.
      • Control which groups of people see which content or even disable content as needed
    • Permissions Control

      • Reftown provides approximately 20 different permissions categories to allow organizations to designate various partial administrator right to various members
    • Persistent login
      • Reftown provides a secure persistent login function that grants officials and schools/teams immediate access to the site without logging in.
      • This function doesn't allow access to sensitive information without first providing a password
      • The system using a rolling code type system such that prevent reuse of the automatic login credentials for subsequent accesses. On each use, the site provides the user's browser with a new set of credentials to be used for the next access.
    • Security
      • RefTown utilizes state of the are security measures to ensure your data remains safe
        • All passwords are encrypted using an algorithm that even prevents someone with direct access to the internals of the system from viewing your passwords
        • All sensitive information (SSN's, Birthdates, Banking Information, etc.) is encrypted using state of the art encryption algorithms.
        • After a small number of failed login attempts to an account, the account is locked for a period of time to prevent hackers from attempting to guess a person's password
    • Service Reliability
      • We employ redundant hardware and internet connection strategies to ensure maximum access to our systems including robust power backup systems that can ensure access in the event of most foreseeable situations
      • We implement very extensive rotating backup strategies with partial backups throughout the day along with nightly and weekly backups with varying lengths of retention as well as offsite storage of nightly backups.

    What do I need to begin using RefTown?
    Article ID:15 Posted:4/24/2007 11:29:33 PM Updated:4/2/2015 11:50:36 PM

    All you need to do to start using RefTown is provide an organization name, abbreviation, at least one user/administrator with an email address, and what sport or sports your organization covers.

    You can contact us at webmaster@reftown.com or you can fill out our question/feedback form at https://www.reftown.com/rt_feedback.asp.

     We also offer to import your initial data for you for no charge—rosters, configuration assistance, etc. We aim to help you start using RefTown with as little effort as possible.

    How much does RefTown cost?
    Article ID:14 Posted:4/24/2007 11:23:30 PM Updated:5/8/2024 10:19:58 AM

    BASE SUBSCRIPTION

    • $75 plus
      • $5 per official up to 300 officials in blocks of 10 ($50 for every 10 officials)
      • $4 per official from 301 to 500 officials in blocks of 10 ($40 for every 10 officials)
      • $3 per official over 500 officials in blocks of 10 officials ($30 for every 10 officials)

     Use our Cost Calculator to compute your actual costs.

    Note: All current website features and functions, except for direct deposit and 1099 services, are included in base price.

    Includes 50 text message units (160 characters per unit) per official. Extra text messages units available at $25 per 2000 units.

    DIRECT DEPOSITS, for subscribed officials organizations

    • Annual Fee
      • Per Officials Organization: $50
        • in addition to the base subscription costs for primary subscriber,
    • Wire Funding: $10 per batch plus $0.65 per transaction  (***You will incur a fee from your bank to send the wire)
    • ACH Funding: $0.90 per transaction (***May not  be available to all organizations)
    • Returned Deposit Fee: $5
    • Batch Edit Fee: $25
      • (if a payment batch needs to be modified or deleted after sending to the processor)
    • Insufficient Funds Fee: $50
      • (if a payment batch is to be funded by ACH but is rejected due to insufficient funds)
      • May be higher if our provider's fees exceed $50.

    DIRECT DEPOSITS, for associated schools/districts/leagues/etc

    • Annual Fee
      • For School, Districts, Leagues, etc.: $200
        • one fee for all sports
    • $2.50 per transaction
    • Returned Deposit Fee: $5
    • Batch Edit Fee: $25 (if a payment batch needs to be modified or deleted after sending to the processor)
    • Insufficient Funds Fee: $50 MINIMUM...Based on what our provider charges
      • (if a payment batch is to be funded by ACH but is rejected due to insufficient funds)

    PAYPAL / VENMO

    • For Officials Organizations (in addition to base subscription fees)
      • Annual Fee: $0.00
      • RefTown Transaction Fees
        • $0.40 per transaction
      • PayPal/Venmo Fees (subject to change by PayPal/Venmo)
        • $0.25 per transaction
    • For School, Districts, Leagues, etc.
      • RefTown Transaction Fees
        • $2.25 per transaction
      • PayPal/Venmo Fees (subject to change by PayPal/Venmo)
        • $0.25 per transaction


    1099 GENERATION, ELECTRONIC DISTRIBUTION AND E-FILING

    • +$1 per official over the base subscription rate regardless of how many will receive a 1099
    • Minimum: $50
    Section 2 : User Guide (Category ID: 41)
    Top
    Section 2.1 : Getting Started (Category ID: 1)
    Top

    General Tip Sheet on Using RefTown
    Article ID:164 Posted:11/25/2009 4:38:34 PM Updated:4/8/2024 3:21:56 PM
    USERNAME and/or PASSWORD RETRIEVAL

    ACCOUNT LOGIN 

    On RefTown, you will generally have only one login username/password no matter how many organizations you are part of. When you log in, RefTown will automatically identify all accounts you have access to by searching all rosters for the email address associated with your login credentials.  

    Logging into RefTown: 

    1. Go to www.reftown.com
    2. In the login box on the right side of the home page, enter your username and password
    3. Click the "Login" Button just below the username and password boxes

    You will now be logged into RefTown. Note the red box at the top and near the right that lists your name and the currently active account.

    Moving between accounts/associations/sports/schools: 

    1. Click the red box at the top and near the right that lists your name and the currently active account
      • It will open a list of all accounts that are linked to the currently active account
    2. Locate the association/school you want to access
    3. Click anywhere in the row of the desired account to jump to that account.

    RefTown will also remember the last selected account and will select that account first upon your next login, usually taking you directly to one of your in-season sports.

    If you are affiliated with multiple organizations and do not see all of them in your accounts list, the email addresses on the accounts are not the same. You can "link" them together by updating your email addresses to match (or by having any administrator do so on your behalf).

    UPDATING YOUR PROFILE

    Changing your Contact Information (address, email address, phone, etc.): 

    1.  Log In.
    2. Locate and click on your name in the menu bar at the top of the page (in a red box).
    3. Click "Profile..." (in a red box).
    4. Click the desired category.
    5. Make any necessary changes and click update.
    6. Select the organizations that your wish to save these changes to...this allows you to make the same change to all of your accounts at one time.
    7. Click "Update This Item"

    Note: If you change your email address, it may cause a new username and password to be generated and emailed to you depending on various security criteria. An existing username will remain with the old email address as long as some account still lists that username.

    YOUR GAMES

    Viewing your games: 

    After Logging in, you have a several ways to get to your games. A few of them are:

    1. From the home page, locate your next few games listing in the middle of the page
      • Click "See full schedule" to see all of your future games that are in the system
      • Click "Unaccepted Games" to see any future games that you've not previously confirmed (or that have since been changed)
    2. Click the menu "Schedules" -> "Games" ... this will list all future games that have been entered into the system

    You can optionally use the "Search for Games" filter on the games page to refine the listing of games to only show one subset of games (V, JV, etc) at a time.

    Confirming your games: 

    Once you've reached a listing of your games, you' may need to accept/approve the games/assignments:

    1. Check either "Yes," "No," or "OK" by each game as is appropriate.
      • If "No", enter a reason why.
      • Recommended for Schools/Teams when the organization has the feature enabled: For those that are not OK, enter a "Change Request" to specify what exactly is incorrect.
    2. Once you've responded to all games, click the "Submit Responses" button at the bottom right
      • Note that it is not absolutely necessary that you response to "all" games at the same time. If you choose, you can deal with them in multiple sessions.

    After submitting, you'll be taken to a page that will summarize your responses and, depending on the organization's configuration options, an email will be sent to the assignor(s) with the details of the responses.

    UPDATING YOUR USERNAME OR PASSWORD 

    Changing your Username: 

    After logging in:

    1. Click the red box at the top and near the right that lists your name.
    2. Click "Profile..."
    3. Click "Change Username"
    4. Enter your preferred username
    5. Click the "Change My Username" button

    If the entered username is available, it will be changed immediately; otherwise, you'll be informed that it is not available.

    Changing your Password: 

    After logging in:

    1. Click the red box at the top and near the right that lists your name and the currently active account
    2. Click "Profile...".
    3. Click "Change Password".
    4. Enter your current password.
    5. Enter your preferred password.
    6. Enter your preferred password again.
    7. Click the "Change My Password" button.

    OFFICIALS...

    Officials will need to update several more pieces of information.

    COACHES/ADs...

    • There are many more articles in our Knowledge Base that may be helpful to you.

    How do I enter information in my availability calendar?
    Article ID:53 Posted:4/25/2007 11:34:11 PM Updated:5/12/2023 9:46:41 PM

    Availability information is entered through "Schedules" -> "Availability"

    You have two ways that availability information can be entered.

    1. By day of the week
    2. By specific dates

    If both are entered, the specific date information is used.

    If you have accounts on Reftown with more than one organization, you have two levels where you can ether availability information

    1. Specific to one organization only

    2. For all organizations linked to your primary email address (global)

    If you only belong to one organization, the global options will not appear.

    The system will use the first information it finds by looking at each source in the following order: 

    1. Information for a specific date for the specific organization
    2. Information for a specific date for all organizations (global).
      • This is only available to those that have more than one RefTown account under the same username.
    3. Information for a day of the week for the  specific organization (default).
      • This can be used to establish a standing availability that applies week after week unless more specific information is entered in either of the date specific calendars.

    The priority is determined on a date-by-date basis.

    If in in doubt about how the multiple calendars work, use your organization's date specific calendar.

    To enter availability information for specific dates  for the current organization:

    1. Click on "Schedules" -> "Availability"
    2. Navigate to the desired month.
    3. Click the "Edit Availability" button. (top right corner)
    4. Click "Specific Dates for <organization name> only"
    5. Mark yourself as available or not available for entire dates or specific times on specific dates.
    6. Click "Save Changes"

    To enter availability information for specific dates  for all organizations:

    1. Click on "Schedules" -> "Availability"
    2. Navigate to the desired month.
    3. Click the "Edit Availability" button. (top right corner)
    4. Click "Specific Dates for ALL Organizations"
    5. Mark yourself as available or not available for entire dates or specific times on specific dates.
    6. Click "Save Changes"

    To enter availability information by day of the week for the current organization:

    1. Click on "Schedules" -> "Availability"
    2. Click the "Edit Availability" button. (top right corner)
    3. Click "Day-of-Week Availability for <organization name> only"
    4. Mark yourself as available or not available for entire days or specific times on specific days.
    5. Click "Save Changes"

    TIPS ON ENTERING AVAILABILITY INFORMATION

    To block an entire day/date

      • Click "N/A"
    • To make yourself available for the entire day/date
      • Click "Avail" and leave the times blank
    • To allow a limited range of times for the date
      • Click "Avail" enter times in one or both of the "From" and "To" boxes

    There are also additional slots for up to 2 time windows of availability. To access the additional slots, click the + button after the last visible time slot. If any of the time windows indicates you are available for a given time, you will be considered available for that time.

    Examples:

    If You Enter What it means
    N/A No assignments for that date
    Avail., From 6, To 9 Open for assignments with starting times from 6 to 9
    Avail, From 4 (To is blank) Available for assignments that start at or after 4
    Avail., To 4 (From is blank) Available for assignments that start at or before 4
    Avail. (no times) Available for assignments at any time
    Avail., From 9am, To 11am, and From 6pm, To 8pm You will be available for assignments in the morning from 9 to 11 and again for assignments in the evening form 6 to 8. You will not be available in the early morning, the afternoon, or the late evening.
     

    If you organization use the driving distance feature, each time slot will have a zip code box that you can use to specify where you will be starting from at that time. If you do not enter a zip code in these boxes, your general early/late zip codes will be used or, if those are not entered, your home zip code will be used.

    For example, you could put a zipcode for the east side of your city for a time slot from 3pm to 6pm and then a zip code on the west size of town from 6pm to 9pm to indicate you start in the east side of your town but move to the west side later in the evening. You can have up to 2 different locations each day.


    There are a 4 buttons at the top of the calendar that may assist you in filling out your availability. You can use them to make all days/dates as available, not available, or clear all information, or replicate the first 7 days of the month to the rest of the month. Use this if most of your availability is the same and then fill in the boxes that are different.

    Each date/date box has a button to delete that box's information....it is a small red X at the top of each date's box on the calendar.

    Updates to your availability calendar take effect immediately. However, it is possible that assignments that are made but not yet published might be in conflict with availability data entered after the assignment was initially entered. The assignor also has the option to override the availability and assign you in conflict with your availability.

    It is also possible, in the event of a rescheduled game, for you to be assigned to a game in conflict with your availability. The assignor may, at the time it is rescheduled, choose to leave you on that game or may choose to reassign it to someone else.

    When viewing your availability calendar, you can see which source is being used for any specific date in a gray bar at the top of each date.

    Section 2.1.1 : Logging In and setting up your account (Category ID: 2)
    Top

    How do I get a username or a password?
    Article ID:1 Posted:4/19/2007 11:34:12 PM Updated:4/16/2013 9:36:37 PM

    To get a username and password, your administrator must have entered your account with an email address in the system.
     
    To request a username and/or password:
    1. Go to www.reftown.com
    2. In the login box on the right, click Retrieve Username and/or Password.
    3. Enter your email address
    4. Click "Send My Login Info"
    The officials roster and schools roster of each association on RefTown will be searched for the entered email address.
    • If a match is found you wil be sent an email with your username and a special link that can be used to get and/or set a new password.
      • This link will only be valid for 48 hours after it is generated
      • This link may be invalidated if you repeat this process...only the last genrated link will be valid
    • If your email address is not found, you may need to submit a registration form (under the "Public" menu or on the main RefTown home page). Once it is submitted, your organization's administrator will be notified and may enable your account. Once your account is enabled, you'll receive your account username by email.
      • If the organization is not configured for online registrations, contact the association through other means (phone, email, etc.) to get your account entered into the system (or to get your email address corrected).
    • NOTE for SCHOOLS (or TEAMS for some organizations):
      • The email address entered in the system for your school may belong to any individual in the sports program—Athletic Director, Coach, Secretary, etc. Please try these other addresses. If none of them match, contact the association's administrator to ensure that your school/team is in the system and that your email address is correct.
    To set/reset your password:

    1. In the email that you receive, click the "Create/Reset Password" link.
    2. On the page that opens, you will be given a new password. It will be in a yellow box at the top of the page.
    3. Make note of the password you're provided.
    4. If you wish to choose your own password, you can do so on the same page by following the instructions in the "Choose Your Own Password" box.

    How do I log in?
    Article ID:3 Posted:4/20/2007 12:07:32 AM Updated:9/13/2023 11:19:48 AM

    There are two ways to log in:

    1. (Recommended) Go to login page first:
      1. Go to www.reftown.com
      2. Enter your username (in the login box on the right site).
      3. Enter your password
      4. Click the Login Button

        This will take you to the organization that you most recently accessed. After logging in, you can move to other accounts through your Account menu...Click your name in the top right corner and select a different organization.
         
    2. Select an organization first
      1. Go to www.reftown.com
      2. Click on your organization name
      3. Click Login (In top right corner)
      4. Enter your username
      5. Enter your password
      6. Click the Login Button

    This will take you to the selected organization.

    How do I change my username?
    Article ID:4 Posted:4/20/2007 12:16:10 AM Updated:11/2/2018 12:12:10 AM
    1. Log in
    2. Click on your name in the red box on the RefTown menu bar.
    3. Click on "Profile..."
    4. Click “Change Username”
    5. Enter your preferred username
    6. Click the "Change My Username" button

    If your selected username is available, it will be changed immediately. If it is not available, you'll be informed that it is already taken.

    Note that your username is tied directly to a single email address. Through that username, you'll have access to all accounts that list that email address.

    How do I change my password?
    Article ID:5 Posted:4/20/2007 12:19:21 AM Updated:11/2/2018 12:14:57 AM
    1. Log in
    2. Click on your name in the red box on the RefTown menu bar
    3. Click on "Profile..."
    4. Click on the link "Change My Password"
    5. Enter the old password
    6. Enter the new password in both new password boxes
    7. Click the "Change My Password" button

    Does my username have to be my email address?
    Article ID:67 Posted:4/27/2007 12:43:58 AM Updated:6/21/2010 11:28:45 PM

    No, by default your email address is chosen as your username. However, you can modify your username to be anything you want as long it is not already in use.

    Note, however, that your username will be tied directly to one email address and will give you access to any accounts that list that email address.

    What roster information can an official or school update themselves?
    Article ID:69 Posted:4/27/2007 12:53:25 AM Updated:11/3/2010 12:16:48 AM

    ·      Officials or schools/teams can update their contact information: mailing address, physical address, phone numbers, email addresses, fax numbers, and pager numbers.

    ·      A school/team can also enter a website address.

    ·      Neither officials nor schools are permitted to modify their names—they must contact an administrator to have their name changed.

    What can I use for my username and password?
    Article ID:71 Posted:5/8/2007 1:45:29 PM Updated:11/3/2010 12:16:12 AM

    Your username can be just about anything you like. By default, it is set to your email address, but you can change it. It can include letters, numbers, spaces, and punctuation. The "case" of the letters in your username DOES NOT matter. If your username is or resembles an email address, it must be your own email address.

    Your password can also be just about anything you like. By default, it is set to random letters and numbers, but you can change it. It can include letters, numbers, spaces, and punctuation. The "case" of the letters in your password DOES matter. A password must be at least 6 characters.

    RefTown says my account is locked when I try to login.
    Article ID:75 Posted:5/8/2007 2:27:02 PM Updated:11/3/2010 12:15:17 AM

    This happens when there are too many attempts to log into your account with an incorrect password. When there are more than 5 login attempts in a row with an incorrect password, the account will be locked. When your account is locked, you will not be able to access the account for 30 minutes. You should request that your password be sent to you and try again once you have received your correct password and have waited 30 minutes after your last unsuccessful try.

    Moving between linked accounts.
    Article ID:136 Posted:5/26/2008 10:47:59 AM Updated:5/8/2022 9:00:05 AM

    Accounts are connected through email addresses. You can have access to all of your accounts with a single login (1 username, 1 password). Each username is connected to a single email address and to all accounts that list that address on the roster.

    Once you log in, you can switch between all accounts having that email address.

    To switch accounts

    1. Click the individualized Accounts Menu (a red box at the top with your name that appears after log in)
    2. Locate the account you want to access
    3. Click anywhere on the line for that account

    Notes:

    • RefTown remembers the last account you accessed and returns you to that one the next time you log in
    • When you switch accounts, all permissions will be configured for the new account. You can change back and forth freely....keeping in mind that, if you've opened multiple browser windows/tabs by Shift-Click or Control-Click, all actions will relate to the most recent account you've selected

    IMPORTANT NOTE for Yahoo Users
    Article ID:185 Posted:12/7/2010 2:17:41 AM Updated:9/4/2024 11:20:59 AM

    If you have a Yahoo email address, you will likely have difficulty in receiving emails from RefTown, particularly your username/password email.

    Yahoo, and only Yahoo, actively forces emails from our site into the junk/spam folder. We've yet to find a case of a missing username/password email on Yahoo that is not found there.

    Here are two different sets of instructions to configure Yahoo to allow our emails through (they both do the same thing, just two different approaches, ):

    See the article referenced below on having your username/password sent again if needed.

    We apologize for this problem but the emails are making it to Yahoo but not to the inbox. We've appealed to Yahoo on this issue and they refuse to address this problem. Complaints to Yahoo, from you, may help with this issue for future users.

    Feel free to contact us if you need assistance.

    Login Options: Remember Me & Keep Me Logged In
    Article ID:217 Posted:10/15/2016 11:49:10 PM Updated:11/17/2021 9:40:43 AM

    "Keep me Logged In":

    When returning to the site after being away, the "Keep me Logged In" feature only provides basic official-level or school/team level access. It does not enable administrative or assignor access or any other elevated permissions level. A user with access to anything more than basic permissions will still be logged in (partially), but only with the same permissions as any other official. The primary reason for that is security.

    As a result, the "Keep me Logged In" is more of a benefit for officials than assignors. It can, however, be of some benefit to assignors. You can look up names on the roster and such without full access.

    For access to some functions, even basic level users will need to provide their password to proceed. For example, any profile edits will require a password-based login.

    An indication that you've used the "Keep me Logged In" option is the yellow triangle by your name in the top right:

    If you see that yellow triangle and wish to enable any extra permissions you may have, click on it, then click "Full Login" in order to provider your password.

    "Remember Me":

    This will cause your browser to remember your username but not your password. Other features from your browser may remember your password for you.

    Mobile app not finding all organizations
    Article ID:251 Posted:12/14/2020 3:50:44 PM Updated:12/14/2020 3:57:00 PM

    The RefTown Mobile app only uses the primary email address to associate your accounts together. It accesses accounts where your first email address is the one matching the login info. The website will log you in using any of the three email addresses listed on an account.

    If you are not seeing one or more organizations in the app, you'll need to edit your profile to ensure the email address being used to log into the app is listed as your primary email address in each account.

    To fix it

    1. Log into RefTown from a web browser.(for any of the three accounts)
       
    2. Edit your profile
      • Click your name in the top right corner.
      • Click Profile
      • Click Email
    3. Make sure the desired email address is listed as the first email address, then save the changes.
      • It will save all of the email addresses as listed to all of your organizations, making them all the same.
         
    4. Switch to each association on the website.
      • The app assumes youre already logging into each account from the website.
      • This will initialize each account to be ready to use in the app.

    You should then be able to access all organizations within the app.

    Section 2.1.2 : Common Problems (Category ID: 15)
    Top

    How to Enable JavaScript
    Article ID:16 Posted:4/24/2007 11:32:32 PM Updated:6/21/2010 10:45:50 PM

    To function properly, RefTown functions (particularly menus) require that you enable javascript in your web browser.

    Internet Explorer 7.0 & 8.0

    1. Open Internet Explorer
    2. Click Tools, and then click Internet Options
    3. Click the Security tab
    4. Click Internet to choose the Internet zone
    5. Click the Custom Level button
    6. Scroll down to the Scripting section and then, in Active Scripting, click Enable
    7. Click OK to close Security Settings
    8. Click OK to close Internet Options
    9. Refresh your browser

    iPhone

    1. Go to the Home screen by pressing the Home button or by unlocking your phone.
    2. Press the settings button
    3. Select Safari from the Settings menu
    4. Turn on JavaScript by touching the JavaScript toggle
    5. Press the Home button to return the the iPhone home screen
    6. Select the Safari icon to return to Safari

    Internet Explorer 6.x

    1. Access the Tools menu and select Internet Options
    2. Click the Security tab
    3. In the Security dialog, click on the globe for "Internet" zone
    4. Click on the button labeled "Custom Level"
    5. In the dialog that appears, scroll down to the heading called "Scripting"
    6. Click the "Enable" button under "Active Scripting" to turn JavaScript on

    Firefox 2.x & 3.x

    1. Open Firefox.
    2. On the Tools menu, click Options.
    3. Click on the Content icon. (Fig. 1)
    4. Check the box next to Enable JavaScript. (Fig. 1)
    5. Click the Advanced button to open the Advanced JavaScript Options box. (Fig. 2)
    6. Check the boxes under Allow scripts to section that you want to allow.
    7. Click OK.
    8. Click OK.

    Safari

    1. Open Safari
    2. On the Safari menu, click on Preferences.
    3. Click the Security icon.
    4. Click on Enable JavaScript next to the Web Content section if it is not checked.
    5. Close the Preferences window.
    6. Close and restart Safari.

    How to Enable Cookies
    Article ID:17 Posted:4/24/2007 11:33:57 PM Updated:11/30/2016 10:59:30 AM

    To function properly, RefTown requires that you enable cookies in your web browser. Enabling cookies allows the website to recognize you as you browse through the site. For most functionality, only "Session" cookies are required. These are automatically deleted every time you close your browser. In some browsers, you can enable only session cookies separately from normal cookies. To have the site remember your username and association, you will need "First-Party" cookies. Reftown never requires cookies called "Third-Party" cookies.

    Microsoft Edge

    1. Open Edge
    2. Click the "three dot" menu in the top right
    3. Click "Settings"
    4. Click "View Advanced Settings"
    5. Click the "Cookies" menu
    6. Choose either "Don't block cookies" or "Block only third party cookies"

    Microsoft Internet Explorer 7, 8, 9, 10, & 11

    1. Go to your Tools menu and choose Internet Options
    2. Click the Privacy tab
    3. Click the Advanced button
    4. Mark both checkboxes that appear, and make sure that you have chosen Accept from the "First-party Cookies" radio button
    5. Click OK in both dialog boxes

    Chrome

    1. Either click the triple-bar/dot icon at the upper right of the browser toolbar and click "settings" or type "chrome://settings/" in your address bar. Mac users: If you don't see the wrench icon, go to the menu bar at the top of your screen and click Chrome.
    2. Click the Show Advanced Settings at the bottom of the page..
    3. Click Content settings in the "Privacy" section.
    4. In the Cookies tab in pane that opens, select "Allow local data to be set (recommended)" or, if you choose to block more aggressively, add an exception for RefTown under "Manage Exceptions..."

    (More Chrome Cookie details)

    iPhone

    1. Go to the Home screen by pressing the Home button or by unlocking your phone
    2. Select the Settings icon
    3. Select Safari from the Settings menu
    4. Select Accept Cookies from the Safari menu
    5. Select From visited from the Accept Cookies menu
    6. Press the Home button to return to the iPhone home screen
    7. Select the Safari icon to return to Safari
    8. Before the cookie settings change will take effect, you must restart Safari. To restart Safari, press and hold the Home button (for around five seconds) until the iPhone display goes blank and the home screen appears
    9. Select the Safari icon to return to Safari

    Firefox

    1. Click on your Tools menu and choose Options
    2. In the dialog box that appears, click the Privacy tab
    3. From here you can either enable cookies for all sites, or just for RefTown
    4. To enable cookies for all sites, mark the checkbox and click OK
    5. If you prefer to enable the cookies only for RefTown, click the Exception button, and on the next box, enter https://www.reftown.com and click Allow

    Safari

    1. On the toolbar, click Safari and choose Preferences
    2. On the Preferences menu, choose Security
    3. On the Security menu, you'll see three radio buttons referring to cookies
    4. Choose either to allow all cookies, or to allow cookies for sites you navigate to—either of these will enable cookies for the RefTown site

    RefTown says my account is locked when I try to login.
    Article ID:75 Posted:5/8/2007 2:27:02 PM Updated:11/3/2010 12:15:17 AM

    This happens when there are too many attempts to log into your account with an incorrect password. When there are more than 5 login attempts in a row with an incorrect password, the account will be locked. When your account is locked, you will not be able to access the account for 30 minutes. You should request that your password be sent to you and try again once you have received your correct password and have waited 30 minutes after your last unsuccessful try.

    When I click on an email address on RefTown, I get an error message or it opens the wrong program? (Configuring RefTown to use your preferred email program)
    Article ID:81 Posted:5/8/2007 3:18:07 PM Updated:11/3/2010 1:16:01 AM

    Becasue various email programs are accessed differently, RefTown supports a few methods when clicking on email address links.

    If you have never clicked on an email address on RefTown, we will ask you what method you prefer. You have the chose of having RefTown transfer the email address to your system's default email program or to one of several web-based email services: AOL Webmail, GMail, MSN/Hotmail/Windows Live, or Yahoo.

    When you click on an email address or email icon on RefTown, it attempts to transfer the email address to the email application as you have selected.

    If you receive an error message, it is likely that your computer is not configured correctly to allow you to click on an email address.

    To see what this is set to for Internet Explorer:

    1. Click on the “Tools” Menu
    2. Click on “Internet Options”
    3. Click on the tab “Programs”
    4. Set the “E-mail:” box to your desired email program if not already set

     You can change your preferred email application that RefTown will attempt to use by editing your profile's global preferences.

    This has usually taken care of any issues related to clicking on email addresses on the website. It may be set to run a program you don’t have or don't use. This is a universal setting that should apply to every website, not just RefTown.

     

    If you use a web-based email service, you will need to contact your provider to determine how to configure your browser to use clickable email addresses.

    Calendar items do not transfer to Outlook properly.
    Article ID:78 Posted:5/8/2007 2:56:00 PM Updated:11/2/2018 12:13:34 AM

    There are two file formats in common use for transferring calendar data between various programs. RefTown supports both of the common formats: vCalendar 1.0 and vCalendar 2.0.

    You may need to change a setting in RefTown to have it export the correct version.

    You can select the other main format under:

    • "Your personal accounts menu (red box at the top with your name)"
    • "Profile..."
    • "Calendar Preferences"
    • Check (or uncheck) "Use vCalendar 1.0 Format"

    Are the times of your games transferring incorrectly?

    RefTown supports the automatic padding of start times with a pregame time and/or a travel time. You change the amount of time used in each case as follows:

    • "Your personal accounts menu (red box at the top with your name)"
    • "Profile..."
    • "Calendar Preferences"
    • Enter the number of minutes by which you want to pad the assignment

    I'm on AOL and emails sent by RefTown to AOL addresses always generate delivery error messages....why?
    Article ID:192 Posted:9/21/2011 8:33:21 AM Updated:11/2/2018 12:14:05 AM

    WHAT IS HAPPENING...

    RefTown normally sends all emails out in a form that is commonly used by mailing lists. The email headers are set to show the email was sent by reftown.com on behalf of the person who sent it.

    From: john.doe@aol.com

    Sender: mailer@reftown.com

    Repliy-To: john.doe@aol.com

    When such an email is also sent to either another aol user or copied to the person who sent it, AOL's email system sees that it is "From" an aol address and "To" an aol address. AOL determines that it must be a bogus email since it knows it didn't come from an AOL system....they ignore the "Sender" designation. As a result, AOL generates a bounce message. In most cases, the original email is actually delievered and the bounce message is just a nussaince.

    HOW TO PREVENT IT...

    RefTown offers an option to each user to change how emails are sent that they trigger....they may elect to have the emails sent simply "From" mailer@retown.com. The emails are still sent in such a way that replies will be directed to the actual sender but it will not indicated that it is from AOL.

    To set this option...

    1. Log in to RefTown
    2. Click on your account menu in the upper right of the menu bar
    3. Click "Profile..."
    4. Click "Global Preferences"
    5. Click the checkbox for "Set FROM Address On Emails to Generic RefTown Address"
    6. Click "Update This Item"

    All future emails will then be sent with the headers indicating it was sent by RefTown

    From: mailer@reftown.com

    Sender: mailer@reftown.com

    Repliy-To: john.doe@aol.com

    EFFECT OF THIS OPTION...

    Emails in the recipients inbox will not show as "From" the person who sent it but from "RefTown User (for John Doe)".

    Section 2.1.3 : Common Items for ADs/Coaches (Category ID: 55)
    Top

    Moving between linked accounts.
    Article ID:136 Posted:5/26/2008 10:47:59 AM Updated:5/8/2022 9:00:05 AM

    Accounts are connected through email addresses. You can have access to all of your accounts with a single login (1 username, 1 password). Each username is connected to a single email address and to all accounts that list that address on the roster.

    Once you log in, you can switch between all accounts having that email address.

    To switch accounts

    1. Click the individualized Accounts Menu (a red box at the top with your name that appears after log in)
    2. Locate the account you want to access
    3. Click anywhere on the line for that account

    Notes:

    • RefTown remembers the last account you accessed and returns you to that one the next time you log in
    • When you switch accounts, all permissions will be configured for the new account. You can change back and forth freely....keeping in mind that, if you've opened multiple browser windows/tabs by Shift-Click or Control-Click, all actions will relate to the most recent account you've selected

    Using the Game Search Form
    Article ID:222 Posted:10/16/2016 12:42:20 AM Updated:4/26/2018 9:37:06 AM

    On various game-related pages, you will find a fairly powerful search form. You can search/filter the various pages/reports based on nearly all game criteria: Date, Status, ID #, nature of the game, the participants of the game (by name or by categorizations), by administrative ownership, or by the text in the various comment fields.

    When execution those searches, it is possible to select multiple items in each drop down list. However, to do so, you must first click the "Multi-Search" button at the top in order to enable that functionality. This is not on by default because it can put a large burden on some user's internet browsers, making the loading of the related pages very slow, even if they were not intending to use the search. If it works well on all of the systems you normally use, you can enabled it permanently under your profile options.

    Also, when using the game search, you'll have the option of formatting the output (on some pages) in one of several formats.

    Those formats include:

    • Simply Game lists
    • Calendar Grid formats with or without various game details or counts of games in various states. 
    • Grids of either officials, locations, or teams vs. Dates.

    In most of the Grid-based formats, you have choose whether to include various game details.

    How do a find specific games?
    Article ID:24 Posted:4/25/2007 9:06:41 AM Updated:4/26/2018 9:40:35 AM

    There are several ways to locate games/matches.

    The primary way to access games is through the Schedules - > Games/Matches page search form ("Search for Games/Matches").

    Select the criteria of interest: date(s), schools, levels, leagues, etc. and then click "Search Now."

    Make sure to clear any field you do not wish to search on (e.g., your own name is selected by default under the officials field).

    Note that once you've searched for a set of criteria, the header of the games page will not only list the criteria searched with, but also will, for most fields, have a "Previous" and "Next" link. You can step a day at a time or a school at a time with these links. 

    There are also other ways to locate certain categories of games/matches. Using the QuickLinks at the top of the Games/Matches page, you can access the most commonly used set of searches: today's game, tomorrow's games, etc.

    In addition, Assignors and Administrators can access schedules from the rosters. For each school/team on the roster, there may be several links available to take you to games/matches at that location, have that team as the home team, have that team as the away team, or all of the above.

    How do schools request games on RefTown?
    Article ID:42 Posted:4/25/2007 8:26:40 PM Updated:9/17/2024 12:38:12 PM

    Go to "Schedules" -> "Game Request" (only available to schools and assignors).

    The interface for schools is the same as the assignor's interface (see the related article). The only difference is that the games requested by schools do not go directly to the schedule but into a requested games list where the assignor can choose to put them on the schedule or can delete the request.

    To enable this feature, go to:

    1. Go to Administration -> Configuration
    2. In block #9 GAME PAYOR/TEAM, click on"Response & Request Options
    3. Check "Enable Payors to Request New Games" and/or "Enable Payors to Request Game Changes".
    4. Click Update This Item.

    How can games be added to RefTown?
    Article ID:38 Posted:4/25/2007 8:09:46 PM Updated:5/20/2018 7:27:19 PM

    There are three ways to add games to the system:

    1. Assignors/Administrators clicking the  button on the games page
    2. Assignors/Administrators importing the games from a .csv or .xls file
    3. Enabling schools to request games on RefTown...Schedules -> Game Request

    Can I see who is assigned to other games?
    Article ID:25 Posted:4/25/2007 9:11:27 AM Updated:4/26/2018 9:40:15 AM

    It depends on the settings chosen by your organization.

    By default, officials can only see who is working at games at the same location and on the same date as their own assignments. Other games will only show "Assigned" or "Unassigned" in place of the officials' names. Some organizations even choose to hide from officials the assignment status of games not assigned to the official.

    Some associations choose to reveal all assignments to all officials, but some enable the ability to see the assigned officials' names when searching for games by a specific date or within a certain number of days preceding a game.

    By default, schools/teams can not see the officials. There are options for an organization to reveal the officials names to the payor or to any team on a game. When the names are generally visible, the names can be hidden until the official accepts the assignment.

    Can schools see who is assigned to games?
    Article ID:23 Posted:4/25/2007 8:55:30 AM Updated:4/26/2018 9:41:29 AM

    Yes, depending on the options chosen by the organization.

    By default, schools cannot see who is assigned to games/matches.

    Organizations have the following options, however:

    1. Show All Assignments To All Schools/Teams
      • This allows all schools/teams to see all published assignment for any and every game/match.
    2. Show Assignments To Paying Schools/Teams
      • This allows schools/teams listed as the Payor to see the officials assigned to their games/matches
    3. Show Assigned Officials To Any School/Team on Game
      • This allows any participant in the game to see the officials names

    Administrators can find these options under Association Configuration, "Games/Matches," then "School Options."

    How do I approve my school/team schedule?
    Article ID:20 Posted:4/24/2007 11:53:54 PM Updated:4/26/2018 9:41:52 AM

    Go to "Schedules" -> "Games" then take the following steps:

    1.      By any game that says "Approve?," click the "Yes" button to confirm that the entry is correct or click "No" button if it is incorrect.

    2.      By any game that says "Cancel OK?," click the "OK" button to indicate you are aware that officials will no longer be sent to that event.

    3.      By any game that says "Postpone OK?," click the "OK" button to indicate you agree that the game has been postponed and that, until future notice indicating otherwise, this game will not be scheduled to be played.

    4.      In the comments box (if enabled), you may provide comments regarding your responses.

    5.      Once you have responded to the games, click the "Submit Responses" button at the bottom.

    You'll receive an email confirmation of your responses a short time after clicking “Submit.” If enabled, your assignor will receive a copy of the response by email.

    Using the Paysheet System
    Article ID:216 Posted:10/13/2016 3:38:11 AM Updated:4/26/2018 9:37:21 AM

    Once enabled, youll see some new icons on the game schedule.

    1. There will be an icon for each game in the upper right corner of the officials box that looks like this: https://www.reftown.com/_icons/payments.gif.
      1. This icon will only appear on games which the user (official or payor) has permissions to access the paysheet.
      2. Clicking that will show the paysheet for that individual game
    2. The same icon will also appear in the top of that column. Clicking that icon will take you to a single pay sheet for all games listed on the current page.
      1. Again, it will only show paysheets for which the user has permissions.

    The paysheet page will show the game details followed by the officials assigned along with their details as set on the paysheet configuration page.

    On the paysheet page will be several buttons at the top of the page that will lead to various export options and to a printable version of the pagea much cleaner view without the menus, buttons, and most of the links that appear on the regular view of the page.

    If the paysheet includes more than one game, there will be a summary section at the bottom of the listings that summarizes the total amounts to be paid to each official from each payor represented on the paysheet page.

    When a paysheet page with multiple games is printed, each game will appear on a new page and the summary section for each payor will be on a new page.

    More Info for ADs/Coaches
    Article ID:236 Posted:4/26/2018 9:34:34 AM Updated:4/26/2018 12:30:44 PM

    The game listing shown on the home page is just a summary of the upcoming games. What is included in that summary depends on various settings chosen by your organization. If that list of games doesn't include what you wish to see, there are several ways to see additional games.

    At the bottom of the summary will be several links that will take you to a variety of lists of games based on your teams/schools role in the game. Additionally, you can use the main menus to navigate to the games page (under Schedules). From there, you can use a "Game Search" form to search for games using a large number of criteria. Additionally, on the games page, you will find a "Quick Links" menu near the upper left. In it you will find a large number of pre-configured searches.

    How to add games...
    Article ID:39 Posted:4/25/2007 8:15:34 PM Updated:5/20/2018 7:28:24 PM

    To add games to the system:

    1. Go to the Schedules -> Games/Matches (or, if you are a coach/AD, Schedules -> Game/Match Request)
    2. Click
    3. On the page that opens, enter the game/match data (date, time, league, teams, etc.)
    4. Save the game/match by clicking "Update this Item" or (from many fields) pressing "Enter"

    After saving the game, the add-game/match form will remain open for adding another game. It will be pre-filled with the data from the just saved game/match. You can then modify those items which are not the same as the prior entry and save again without needing to re-enter much of the same info. If you do not need to enter another game, you can simply close the form....click "Close and Reload" to have the main listing show the saved information. Even if you do not click "Save and Reload" the information was already saved at the time of the Update.

    For coaches/ADs...requested games/matches will only appear on the main schedule when the request is approved by an assignor.

    Tips for game entry...

    • "Copy Down"
      • will repeat that line's information on all of the location/home lines below it so that you can enter a school/team just once from the dropdown lists.
    • "Show All"
      • By default, a school/team may be enabled only for some types of use (location, home, or visitor). If you do not see the school in the list, you can click the "Show All" button to override these defined uses and can use any school/team in any spot.
    Section 2.2 : Roster Functions (Category ID: 30)
    Top

    How do I transfer an official or school/team to my personal address book?
    Article ID:84 Posted:6/5/2007 10:21:28 AM Updated:4/16/2013 9:36:37 PM

    RefTown provides users the ability to transfer individual contacts to their personal address books such as Palm, Outlook, etc.

    To do so:

    1. By the desired roster entry, click  
      • This will prepare the contact for transfer to your personal contacts list
    2. Click "Open" on the window that opens
    3. Click "Save" or "Save and Close"

    What effect do the "Unlisted" options on the registration forms and roster have?
    Article ID:85 Posted:6/5/2007 10:25:44 AM Updated:11/3/2010 12:34:06 AM

    When a particular piece of contact information is marked as unlisted, it is only accessible to specific individuals in an association: administrators, assignors, and treasurers. In some cases, otherwise unlisted email addresses may be made accessible to other officials who are assigned to the same games.

    Bear in mind that if you mark all items as unlisted, your fellow officials will not be able to contact you.

    Note: RefTown will never make ANY roster information available to the public. Only logged-in officials have access to roster information.

    When does filling out the registration automatically update my account information?
    Article ID:86 Posted:6/5/2007 10:28:58 AM Updated:6/21/2010 11:42:27 PM

    If an official, school/team, or school/team contact is logged in when filling out the registration form, all contact information will be updated to match what is submitted on the registration form.

    Also, if a user is logged in when filling out the registration form, the form will start will all the currently entered roster information—saving a bit of typing and reducing the possibility of errors.

    What profile and preference information can a user update?
    Article ID:137 Posted:6/19/2008 12:15:24 AM Updated:9/19/2019 1:16:18 PM

    Each user can maintain most of his/her own profile information.

    To do so (after login):

    1. Click on the Accounts Menu (the red box with your name in it) located near the right end of the menu bar.
    2. Click "Profile..."
    3. From that page, there are several areas you can edit:
      • My info
        • Name, Address, Phone, Email, etc.
          • An email notice is sent to the official(s) configured to receive roster update notices
        • Roster Photo (if enabled by your organization)
        • Social Security Number and/or TaxID
          • This is an input only field...the number is never shown here.
            • You can enter your SSN/TaxID only. You'll be asked to enter it twice. If both entries match, it will be updated
      • Account Access
        • Calendar subscriptions from external calendar applications
        • Username
        • Password
      • Assignment Options
        • Availability
        • Availability Priority
          • Enables visibility of your schedules between organizations
          • Declares which of your organizations have priority in assigning
        • Scratches
          • Block assignments to teams, locations, etc., if enabled by your organization
        • Scratched Officials
          • Block assignments with certain other officials, if enabled by your organization
        • Other Assignment preferences as enabled by your organization.
      • Website Preferences
        • Games View Preferences
        • Calendaring preferences: pregame and travel times, export format, etc.
        • Email Sending Preferences
        • Other preferences: to disable the fancy text editor if it doesn't work in your browser

    How do I print or export an officials or schools roster?
    Article ID:56 Posted:4/25/2007 11:52:22 PM Updated:6/21/2010 11:22:29 PM

    The printing of rosters from RefTown is done by exporting the data to your own application (e.g. Excel) for formatting as you wish.

    To export a roster:

    1. Go to the roster you wish to export (officials, schools/teams, or school/team contacts)
    2. Apply any filters you wish in order to export a partial roster
    3. Click "QuickLinks" then “Export/Download . . .”
    4. Save the file on your computer so that you can edit and/or print it

    In order to protect the email addresses of those on the roster from potential junk mail, the exported information will not include email addresses unless you are an administrator.

    What does "Disable Email" do for email addresses?
    Article ID:221 Posted:10/16/2016 12:32:17 AM Updated:11/9/2021 2:59:04 PM

    If "Disable Email" is checked for an email address for an official or school/team contact , it will appear on the roster (for those with permission to see it) but the system will not use that email address when sending notices.

    Individuals may still utilize that email address to send emails outside of RefTown.

    Various Roster Functions
    Article ID:223 Posted:10/16/2016 12:51:36 AM Updated:10/16/2016 12:51:36 AM

    When looking at a roster of schools/teams, school/team contacts, or officials, you may find numerous symbols.

    Those symbols include

    • Map access ?
      • When clicked, this will give you an option of up to 4 map services you can choose from to map the address: Bing, Mapquest, Google, or Yahoo.
      • If it is for your own address, it will also have a link indicating where Reftown thinks your address is (latitude and longitude) for the purposes of distance calculations.
      • For Administrators, it will also include an link that will indicate how far it is from that accounts' address to all locations (for offiicials addresses) or to all officials (for location addresses).
    • Texting Access 
      • When clicked on a mobile device, will take you to the devices default messaging system
      • When click on a desktop device, will take you to a page within Reftown that will allow you to send a text message to that user by way of an email-to-text gateway.
    • Contact Information Download ?
      • Add the user's information to your contact system

    Syncing License/Certification Information with External Systems
    Article ID:321 Posted:9/2/2024 9:57:18 PM Updated:9/8/2024 4:36:47 PM

    Reftown has the ability to synchronize certification/license data with external systems.

    Reftown Syncs with: 

    • USSF
    • Arbiter (Oregon Only for now)

    The synchronization of license info for both systems depends on matching up the officials between the two systems. Each organization can be programmed to match on a variety of criteria, up to 4 different elements.

    Matches can be made using the following:

    Reftown USSF / Arbiter
    Email1, Email2, OR Email3 (any one) Email
    Last Name Last Name
    First Name OR Nickname (either one) First Name
    Date of Birth Date of Birth

    Some organizations require a match on all 4 lines. Some allow for a "3-point" match. A "3-point" match includes Email, Last Name, and either a First Name/Nickname match OR a Date of Birth match. Some organizations may even choose to allow a less precise match using as little as the email address. Note that capitalization does not matter. The actual letters, numbers, punctuation, and spacing does matter.

    If your account is not matching the USSF/Arbiter system, you will need to update your profile on one of the systems to match the information in the other. It doesn't matter which one you update. Note that updates in the external systems may not immediately be available to Reftown. Please allow for a few hours for the changes to appear.

    An official see the status of his or her licenses and registration under their profile by clicking their name in the top right, then "My Profile". The information is in the section for "My Qualifications".

    USSF Name or Date of Birth Updates: https://ussoccerfederation.my.site.com/lcsupport/s/article/Change-Profile-Page-Name-and-Date-of-Birth

    Section 2.3 : Game/Match Functions (Category ID: 3)
    Top

    How can I transfer Games, Meetings, or Events to my personal calendaring program such as Outlook, Google Calendar, or other calendaring application?
    Article ID:77 Posted:5/8/2007 2:53:06 PM Updated:8/5/2022 11:29:12 AM

    Below are the instructions for transferring games, meetings, or events from RefTown to your personal calendaring program. Even though all applications are not mentioned, the steps for at least one of the three below should work for nearly any calendar application...only the steps taken within the calendar application should vary.

      Note the following:

    • No canceled or reschedule game will be removed from your calendar by this action.
    • If you import the same game twice, it may appear twice.
    • You must delete canceled games  manually.
    • You can modify your calendar options through your personal accounts menu (red menu with your name):
      • Click your name
      • Click Profile...
      • Select Calendar Preferences to change the calendar version or to change the various time options (length, travel time, etc.)

     

    OUTLOOK (single or multiple games):

    1. SINGLE: Click on the calendar icon  to start the transfer. The icon is by the date and time on the schedule
    2. MULTIPLE: Click the multiple calendar icon  on the listing of games you want to import to your calendar (located at the top of the date/time column)
    3. Click Open
    4. Outlook will open to where you can merge the new items into your calendar 

    Depending on how Outlook is configured, it may add the games as a 2nd calendar. If you're rather have the items imported to the main calendar, follow these steps...

    1. Start as above to obtain the files but instead of Clicking "Open", click "Save".
    2. Open Outlook if it is not already open.
    3. In Outlook 2010+ Click on the File Tab -> Open -> Import
      In Outlook 2007 Click on the File Menu then click on Import and Export
    4. Highlight "Import an iCalendar (.ics) or vCalendar file (.vcs)" then click Next
    5. Choose the location where the iCalendar (.ics/.vcs) file was saved (from step 1) and Click on Ok.
    6. Once the file is chosen the data will import to Open as New or Import
      • When the Open as New is chosen the file will open as a separate Calendar. Click the Import to actually import the data to your calendar.

    GOOGLE Calendar:  (single or multiple games):

    1. SINGLE: Click on the calendar icon  to start the transfer. The icon is by the date and time on the schedule
    2. MULTIPLE: Click the multiple calendar icon  on the listing of games you want to import to your calendar (located at the top of the date/time column)
    3. Save file to your computer (Desktop recommended)
    4. Go to your Google Calendar
    5. Click the Add down-arrow button at the bottom of the calendar list on the left side of the page, and select Import Calendar
    6. Click Browse and choose the file that contains your events, then click Open
    7. Select the Google Calendar where you'd like to import events, then click Import
    8. Delete file saved in step 3

    Other Calendar Applications:

    See their documentation for how to import .ics or .vcs files. It is likely:

    1. SINGLE: Click on the calendar icon  to start the transfer. The icon is by the date and time on the schedule.
    2. MULTIPLE: Click the multiple calendar icon  on the listing of games you want to import to your calendar (located at the top of the date/time column)
    3. Save file to your computer (Desktop recommended)
    4. Open your application and find its import function
    5. Delete file saved in step 3

    How is driving distance calculated?
    Article ID:133 Posted:5/20/2008 9:16:16 AM Updated:11/2/2018 12:12:25 AM

    Driving distance is an approximation based on the address or zip code of the game site and the address or zip code of the official. RefTown converts each person/location's address to latitude and longitude if that can be determined and, if not, uses a database of the latitude and longitude of the center of each zip code to calculate approximate driving distance. The calculation assumes a straight route plus an extra 20% to account for the fact that the roads will not actually be a straight line. 

    The game site address and zip code is taken directly from the Schools/Teams roster for the site listed as the location of the game. If no address or zip code is entered for the location, the driving distance will be assumed to be 0everyone will be eligible to drive to that location no matter the actual distance.

    By default, the official's zip code is taken from the official's roster entry. Optionally, each official can specify two alternative zip codes under their "Account" profile. An official can specify two zip codes and a time if they generally transition between the two. Additionally, an official can specify zip codes on their availability calendar to apply to the day/date and window of time being entered on that calendar. This can be used to influence the assignment of games to be near two different places depending on the time of day and on various days. If no zip code is listed for an official, the driving distance will be assumed to be the official will be considered eligible to drive to any location.

    An official can update their effective zip codes by:

    1. Click your "Account" menu in the top right.
    2. Click "Profile..."
    3. Click "Assignment Preferences"
    4. Optionally, enter a zip code where you leave from for earlier games.
    5. Enter a time when you leave that zip code
    6. Optionally, enter a zip code where you leave from for later games.
    • In any location where the zip code is left blank, the home location will be used for the relevant date/date/time.

    How do I unscubscribe from a RefTown Calendar Feed?
    Article ID:202 Posted:12/12/2013 12:39:04 AM Updated:11/17/2021 9:48:06 AM


    To unsubscribe from Google Calendar:

    1. When you are in Google Calendar look on the left hand side for "Other Calendars" and from menu (the downward facing arrow) select "Settings"
    2. Find your team's calendar and on the far right-hand side select Unsubscribe
    3. Select Unsubscribe again at the prompt and the team will be removed


    To unsubscribe from Outlook 2010:

    Go to the Calendar and find the list of calendars on the left hand side
    Right-click on the calendar you want to get rid of and click on Delete Calendar Name (or you can leave the calendar and just uncheck temporarily)

     To unsubscribe from your Mac:

    1. Open up iCal
    2. Click on the Calendar button (top left-hand side of the calendar) to show all your calendars
    3. Right-click on the name of the subscribed calendar and select Delete

    To unsubscribe from your iPhone:

    1. Go to the Settings app
    2. Go to Mail, Contacts, Calendars
    3. Go to Subscribed Calendars
    4. Select the team calendar you wish to delete
    5. Select Delete Account
    6. Select Delete again to confirm
    Section 2.3.1 : Reading the games page (Category ID: 16)
    Top

    What do the colors mean on the games page?
    Article ID:12 Posted:4/20/2007 12:51:25 AM Updated:6/21/2010 10:37:02 PM

    Assignment Change
    Unpublished
    (visible only to assignors)

    These assignments have not been published. Until they are published, the officials will not be able to see the assignment.

    Accepted/Unchanged

    This game is already accepted or has passed.

    Declined

    You have declined this game, but it has not yet been reassigned.

    New

    This game is new to your schedule.

    Changed

    Something about this game has changed. The column with the changes will be the only one with the yellow background.

    Canceled

    Either this game has been canceled or you have been removed from the assignment.

    Postponed

    This game has been postponed—be alert for a reschedule.

    Assignor-note

    Information only visible to the assignor, administrator, and, optionally, any one in the finances group.

    What do the symbols mean on a game listing?
    Article ID:13 Posted:4/20/2007 1:00:17 AM Updated:4/16/2013 9:36:37 PM

     

    Open your default mail program to email this official

     

    Open your default mail program to email the entire crew

     

    Transfer this game to an external calendaring program such as Microsoft Outlook, Palm, etc.

    Transfer all listed games to an external calendaring program such as Microsoft Outlook, Palm, etc.

     

    Show all games at this location and on the same date

     

    This assignment is awaiting a response—either as a new game, change, cancellation, or postponement

     

    This assignment has been accepted

     

    This assignment has been declined

     

    This assignment has been invoiced and is current (no changes have been made to the game or assignment since it was invoiced)

     

    This assignment has either never been invoiced or and it is not current (changes have been made to the game or assignment since it was invoiced)

    This assignment/game is exempt from invoicing

    Submit a game report

    How do I print my games?
    Article ID:57 Posted:4/25/2007 11:55:16 PM Updated:6/21/2010 11:23:17 PM

    To print your games in a more printable form:

    1. Go to "Schedules" -> "Games"
    2. Use the "Search for Games" filter or "Quicklinks" to get to the games you wish to print
    3. Click the printer icon at the right end of the menu bar
    4. Either press Ctrl-P or click your browser’s print button on the window that opens

    Note: If you're using a recent generation browser, you can even scale the page to fit more on a page by clicking the % at the bottom right.

    Can officials see who is assigned to games?
    Article ID:22 Posted:4/25/2007 8:54:11 AM Updated:10/16/2016 12:33:33 AM

    Yes, depending on the options chosen.

    By default, officials can only see who is assigned to games/matches that are on the same date and at the same sight as their own assignments. They can access this information by clicking .

    Each organization also has three additional options:

    1. Show All Assignments To All Officials
      • This allows all officials to see all published assignments for any and every game/match.
    2. Show All Assignments To All Officials when searched by date
      • This allows all officials to see all published assignments for any and every game/match but ONLY when searched by a specific date.
    3. Show All Assignments To All Officials when searched within number of days
      • This allows all officials to see published assignments but only for a specified number of days before a game.

    Administrators can find these options under Association Configuration -> "Games/Matches" then "Display Options."

    Can schools see who is assigned to games?
    Article ID:23 Posted:4/25/2007 8:55:30 AM Updated:4/26/2018 9:41:29 AM

    Yes, depending on the options chosen by the organization.

    By default, schools cannot see who is assigned to games/matches.

    Organizations have the following options, however:

    1. Show All Assignments To All Schools/Teams
      • This allows all schools/teams to see all published assignment for any and every game/match.
    2. Show Assignments To Paying Schools/Teams
      • This allows schools/teams listed as the Payor to see the officials assigned to their games/matches
    3. Show Assigned Officials To Any School/Team on Game
      • This allows any participant in the game to see the officials names

    Administrators can find these options under Association Configuration, "Games/Matches," then "School Options."

    Section 2.3.2 : Finding and viewing games/matches (Category ID: 4)
    Top

    How do I view my future assignments?
    Article ID:7 Posted:4/20/2007 12:29:04 AM Updated:6/21/2010 10:28:03 PM

    By default, you can get to your own games/matches by clicking on the "Schedules" menu and then selecting "Games" (All references to "Games" may say "Matches" or "Meets" depending on your sport).

    If you have set your default view to show "Today's Games," click on the "Schedules" menu and then select "Games." Once there, you can get to your future games by clicking on "My Future Games" within the QuickLinks menu.

    Alternatively, from any game view, open the search form by clicking on "Search for Games," then select "From Today" and clear all other fields or checkboxes, then click "Search."

    How do I find my past assignments?
    Article ID:8 Posted:4/20/2007 12:32:17 AM Updated:3/23/2018 2:08:28 PM

    There are a few wayshere are two:

    1. Click on the "Schedules" menu and then select "Games"
    2. Click on "QuickLinks"
    3. Click on "My Games"
    4. Click on a option corresponding to which of your games you wish to see.

    Or...

    1. Click on the "Schedules" menu and then select "Games"
    2. Click on "Game Search"
    3. Change the date from "From Today" to "Between"
    4. Leave the first date blank
    5. Enter today's date for the second date
    6. Click Search

    NOTE: 

    If you are looking for games from a prior season, your organization may have moved them to an archive. You may need to enter the archives as described in order to access past seasons.

    How do I see all of my assignments?
    Article ID:9 Posted:4/20/2007 12:33:04 AM Updated:10/16/2016 2:27:56 AM

    There are a few was...here are two:

    1. Click on the "Schedules" menu and then select "Games"
    2. Click on "Quick Links"
    3. Click on "My Games"
    4. Click on the desired time frame.

    Or...

    1. Click on the "Schedules" menu and then select "Games"
    2. Click on "Game Search"
    3. Change the date from "From Today" to "All Dates"
    4. Click Search

    How do I find other games at the same sites as a listed game?
    Article ID:10 Posted:4/20/2007 12:35:17 AM Updated:4/16/2013 9:36:37 PM

    Adjacent to the date and time for the game of interest, click on the icon with the two black arrows—one pointing right, one pointing left:

    An officials assigned to the location and date access will also see the officials assigned to all games at the same site on the same date, regardless of the assignment visibility settings.

    How do a find specific games?
    Article ID:24 Posted:4/25/2007 9:06:41 AM Updated:4/26/2018 9:40:35 AM

    There are several ways to locate games/matches.

    The primary way to access games is through the Schedules - > Games/Matches page search form ("Search for Games/Matches").

    Select the criteria of interest: date(s), schools, levels, leagues, etc. and then click "Search Now."

    Make sure to clear any field you do not wish to search on (e.g., your own name is selected by default under the officials field).

    Note that once you've searched for a set of criteria, the header of the games page will not only list the criteria searched with, but also will, for most fields, have a "Previous" and "Next" link. You can step a day at a time or a school at a time with these links. 

    There are also other ways to locate certain categories of games/matches. Using the QuickLinks at the top of the Games/Matches page, you can access the most commonly used set of searches: today's game, tomorrow's games, etc.

    In addition, Assignors and Administrators can access schedules from the rosters. For each school/team on the roster, there may be several links available to take you to games/matches at that location, have that team as the home team, have that team as the away team, or all of the above.

    Can I see who is assigned to other games?
    Article ID:25 Posted:4/25/2007 9:11:27 AM Updated:4/26/2018 9:40:15 AM

    It depends on the settings chosen by your organization.

    By default, officials can only see who is working at games at the same location and on the same date as their own assignments. Other games will only show "Assigned" or "Unassigned" in place of the officials' names. Some organizations even choose to hide from officials the assignment status of games not assigned to the official.

    Some associations choose to reveal all assignments to all officials, but some enable the ability to see the assigned officials' names when searching for games by a specific date or within a certain number of days preceding a game.

    By default, schools/teams can not see the officials. There are options for an organization to reveal the officials names to the payor or to any team on a game. When the names are generally visible, the names can be hidden until the official accepts the assignment.

    How do I find games that are available for self-assignment (or request) and claim (request) the assignment?
    Article ID:33 Posted:4/25/2007 7:19:13 PM Updated:9/9/2024 9:33:06 PM

    The two most common ways:

    Home Page Link:

    From the homepage, there will be a notices box indicating the presence of games that have been posted for self-assignment but have not yet been claimed. You can click on the link on the home page to go directly to the list of available games.

    Games Page Search:

    Go to the Games page under the Schedules menu and click on "QuickLinks" -> "with Open Self-Assignments."

    When you see a game you'd like to take, click the "Claim" or "Request" link by the position you wish to fill. The system will first verify that you do not already have a game on the same date. While it will NOT prevent you from taking multiple games on a single date, it will caution you about the possibility of conflicting assignments and will ask for confirmation.

    When you confirm the "Claim", your name is put on the game, you are marked as accepting the game, and the game is no longer listed on the open games list as available (if all slots have been claimed).

    When you confirm a "Request", you name is added to a list for an assignor to review when making assignments to a that game. The specific position you've requested is indicated, but the assignor will still see your name for other positions on the same game that you would be qualified for.

    If you then change your mind about the assignment, you must contact your assignor to have your name removed from the assignment OR, if the organization has it enabled, you can "Turnback" the game.
     

    Note, you can only self-assign into games your organization has deemed you to be qualified for. 

    This might include things like:

    • The "Sport" of the game
    • The "League" of the game...potentially editable by the official under "My Profile"
    • Skill level required for the game
    • Licensing requirements
      • This may be manually managed by an organization or be automated (e.g., for USSF in some organizations)
    • Registration on Reftown (reminder on the home page if missing)
    • SSN/W9 provided (reminder on the home page if missing)
    • etc. 

    The specific requirements depend on your organization's configuration. 

    If you are missing some fundamental requirement, you may see the list of games but will see a noticed indicating what you're missing. If your organizations do not have you as qualified for a game, you will not see those games.

    If you do not see games you believe should be available to you, you will either need to complete the elements you're missing that can be done by you OR you will need to contact your assignor to have them enable your account.

    How do I print my games?
    Article ID:57 Posted:4/25/2007 11:55:16 PM Updated:6/21/2010 11:23:17 PM

    To print your games in a more printable form:

    1. Go to "Schedules" -> "Games"
    2. Use the "Search for Games" filter or "Quicklinks" to get to the games you wish to print
    3. Click the printer icon at the right end of the menu bar
    4. Either press Ctrl-P or click your browser’s print button on the window that opens

    Note: If you're using a recent generation browser, you can even scale the page to fit more on a page by clicking the % at the bottom right.

    How do the Previous and Next links work on the games pages?
    Article ID:79 Posted:5/8/2007 3:04:26 PM Updated:11/3/2010 12:40:43 AM

    There will be "Previous" and "Next" links on each games page in the area that lists the current filter criteria.

    The links present themselves when the current view is based on a specific date, location, home team, visiting team, etc. These links will analyze the games data to take you to the next item in the list (by date or alphabetically) that actually has a game.

    For example, clicking “next” after searching for games on 12/5/2008 will take you to the next date with games. If there are no games on 12/6/2008, it will move on to the next date that has games.

    Note, however, that the previous/next links do not consider other filter criteria. For example, if the next date that has some type of game is tomorrow but none of tomorrows games fit your current search criteria, the next button will still take you to tomorrows games....but will list nothing since there are no games on that date that match the other criteria.

    How do I search for games by game number?
    Article ID:91 Posted:6/5/2007 4:15:26 PM Updated:6/21/2010 11:44:56 PM
    1. Go to Games -> Schedules
    2. Click on Game Search
    3. In the game number box, you can enter one of several things:
      1. A specific game number
      2. A mathematical comparison, such as:
        • Greater than a specific game number (.e.g. > 73)
        • Less than a specific game number (e.g. < 1235)
        • Greater than or equal to a specific game number (e.g. >= 3774)
        • Less than or equal to a specific game number (e.g. <= 7377)
    4. Click Search

    What games show by default on the games page?
    Article ID:94 Posted:6/5/2007 4:58:55 PM Updated:11/2/2018 12:11:59 AM

    Normally, your own games from today and forward will show when you first access the games page.

    However, under your Account Menu (red box with your name at the top):

    1. Click on Profile...
    2. Click on Local Preferences
    3. Choose what game you prefer by default
      • You can set it show "Today's" games regardless of who is assigned to the game. This is primarily useful for assignors 

    How can I subscribe to a calendar feed (iCal/ics) of my assignments and/or meetings and events?
    Article ID:186 Posted:6/29/2011 2:58:34 PM Updated:12/29/2022 11:27:41 AM

    To subscribe to a RefTown calendar feed in the iCal/ics format in another application you wil need to obtain a special RefTown address that is unique to you.

    There are four ways to get to the addreses for the subscriptions (all take you to the same place)....

    1. Through your Profile
      1. Click on your account menu in the RefTown menubar
      2. Click on "Profile..."
      3. Click on "Calendar Feed"
    2. From the Meetings/Events Page
      • Under Quick Links ....click  "Calendar Feed"
    3. From your individual Game Schedule
      • Under Quick Links ....click  "Calendar Feed"
    4. Go to  https://www.reftown.com/profile.asp?Focus=ShowPAK

    Once there, you will then need to decide if you wish to access a single "global" feed for all organizations on one calendar or a separate single-organization feed...if you only belong to a single organization, the two choices are equivalent.

    If you have not previously generated a key, click the "Generate New Key". This will create three options that will grant read-only access to information from your account:  your game schedule, your meeting/event schedule, or a combination of the two.

    You can use any of these addresses in other calendar programs to show your schedule without needing to manually import your schedule in those programs. Updates to your schedule will automatically be synchronized (a few times a day in most cases).

    You can also share one or more addresses with mentors, spouses, etc. so they can stay up-to-date on your schedule in their own calendar application without requiring you to communicate the details of your schedule to them.

    At any time, you can return the subscription page to invalidate and replace the keys you've generated. Doing so will block all further accesses to your schedule that use the old key.

    Subscribing to the Calendar

    Note: Changes to your RefTown schedule may take up to 24 hours to refresh in some calendar applications...particularly any web-based calendar application where the update rates are controlled by the calendar application provider.

    Outlook and iCal and other desktop-based calendar applications can update more frequently as controlled by a combination of desktop application's settings and information from RefTown.

    RefTown provides the calendar application suggested update rates that will depend on the contents of your calendar. If your calendar has no future events, RefTown will suggest daily updates. If your calendar has upcoming items, the suggested update rate will be more frequent....every few hours.

    iPhone

    1. Click on the webcal link as generated under your RefTown profile.
    2. Accept the subscription following the prompts on your phone

    See http://www.iphonefaq.org/archives/97782 and http://www.iphonefaq.org/archives/97922 for more info.

    Outlook

    1. Click on the webcal link as generated under your RefTown profile.
    2. An Outlook box should appear asking you to "Add this Internet Calendar to Outlook and Subscribe to Updates".
    3. Click Yes, and the Calendar will automatically be added to Outlook.

    Google Calendar

    1. Sign into your Google Calendar account through a web browser
    2. On the left side, under "Other Calendars",click  "Add by URL"

    1. Click on "Add by URL."

    1. Copy and paste the calendar feed URL from your RefTown page into the URL field.
    2. Click Add Calendar.

    Windows Live

    1. Sign into your Windows Live account
    2. Go to Calendar
    3. Go to Subscribe
    4. Select "Subscribe to a public calendar
    5. On Calendar URL field enter the URL provided from RefTown
    6. On Calendar name field write the name you want your calendar to have
    7. Click to "Subscribe to calendar" and "done"

    Mac iCal

    1. Open iCal
    2. Right click under the region titled Subscriptions
    3. Then click Subscribe...
    4. Next, enter the RefTown calendar feed URL into the field titled Calendar URL.
    5. Click subscribe

    Android

    Android does not directly support calendar subscriptions. Follow the instructions above for Google Calendar.

    Then, under your phone's calendar options, select/enable this calendar to be shown.

    On the phone, go to

    1. Applications -> Calendar
    2. Menu -> More -> Settings
    3. Calendars
    4. Check the calendars you wish to view

    Using the Game Search Form
    Article ID:222 Posted:10/16/2016 12:42:20 AM Updated:4/26/2018 9:37:06 AM

    On various game-related pages, you will find a fairly powerful search form. You can search/filter the various pages/reports based on nearly all game criteria: Date, Status, ID #, nature of the game, the participants of the game (by name or by categorizations), by administrative ownership, or by the text in the various comment fields.

    When execution those searches, it is possible to select multiple items in each drop down list. However, to do so, you must first click the "Multi-Search" button at the top in order to enable that functionality. This is not on by default because it can put a large burden on some user's internet browsers, making the loading of the related pages very slow, even if they were not intending to use the search. If it works well on all of the systems you normally use, you can enabled it permanently under your profile options.

    Also, when using the game search, you'll have the option of formatting the output (on some pages) in one of several formats.

    Those formats include:

    • Simply Game lists
    • Calendar Grid formats with or without various game details or counts of games in various states. 
    • Grids of either officials, locations, or teams vs. Dates.

    In most of the Grid-based formats, you have choose whether to include various game details.

    Can on official see assignments before they are published?
    Article ID:225 Posted:10/16/2016 2:31:04 AM Updated:10/16/2016 2:31:04 AM

    By default, game assignments are not visible in any form until they are published. However, an optional feature can allow officials to see that they have "something" on a given date without any details aside form the date and the general time of day.

    To enable this feature...

    1. Go to Admin -> Configuration.
    2. Click on Visibility Options in the Games Section
    3. Check "
    4. Click Update.

    I'm getting a lot of change reminders about game changes but not from RefTown
    Article ID:272 Posted:5/19/2021 2:37:41 AM Updated:5/19/2021 2:38:03 AM

    If you are receiving a lot of emails indicating that there has been a change to your game but there doesn't seem to be a change, first note where the email is actually coming from.

    RefTown's notices always come from mailer@reftown.com. If the emails are coming from somewhere else, it isn't RefTown that is sending them. Often, Google calendar mistakenly sends an update as if games have changed when they haven't. Their emails come from calendar-notification@google.com.

    You can disable these notifications.

    To do so:

    1. Go to https://calendar.google.com
    2. In the Other calendars section near the bottom of the left column, click on the  vertical dots for the RefTown calendar, then settings.

    1. In the Other notifications section, change all 5 options to None

    Section 2.3.3 : Accepting, Declining, or Approving games and assignments (Category ID: 5)
    Top

    How do I accept my assignments (officials)?
    Article ID:11 Posted:4/20/2007 12:44:00 AM Updated:10/16/2016 12:30:33 AM

    Click on "Unaccepted Games" on the home page listing of your upcoming games.

    Alternately, you can go to "Schedules" -> "Games." If you're using the default settings, you'll get a list of your own games. If not, click on either Quick Links -> "My Games" -> "Unaccepted" (or Future).

    Then do the following:

    1.      By any game that says "Accept?," click the "Yes" button to take the assignment or click the "No" button to decline it. If you click "No", a "Reason" box will appear. Some organization will require that you enter something for the reason.

    2.      By any game that says "Cancel OK?," click the "OK" button to indicate you are aware that you are no longer assigned to that game or that the game has been canceled.

    3.      By any game that says "Postpone OK?," click the "OK" button to indicate that you are aware the game has been postponed and that, until future notice indicating otherwise, you will not be expected to fill the assignment.

    4.      In the comments box (if enabled) you may provide comments regarding your responses. Some organization will require a response when an assignment is declined.

    5.      Once you have responded to the games, click the "Submit Responses" button at the bottom.

    You'll receive an email confirmation of your responses a short time after clicking "Submit". If the feature is enabled, your assignor will receive a copy of the response by email.

    How do I approve my school/team schedule?
    Article ID:20 Posted:4/24/2007 11:53:54 PM Updated:4/26/2018 9:41:52 AM

    Go to "Schedules" -> "Games" then take the following steps:

    1.      By any game that says "Approve?," click the "Yes" button to confirm that the entry is correct or click "No" button if it is incorrect.

    2.      By any game that says "Cancel OK?," click the "OK" button to indicate you are aware that officials will no longer be sent to that event.

    3.      By any game that says "Postpone OK?," click the "OK" button to indicate you agree that the game has been postponed and that, until future notice indicating otherwise, this game will not be scheduled to be played.

    4.      In the comments box (if enabled), you may provide comments regarding your responses.

    5.      Once you have responded to the games, click the "Submit Responses" button at the bottom.

    You'll receive an email confirmation of your responses a short time after clicking “Submit.” If enabled, your assignor will receive a copy of the response by email.

    Can an official change their response to an assignment after it is submitted?
    Article ID:89 Posted:6/5/2007 4:03:33 PM Updated:6/21/2010 11:36:37 PM

    If an official wants to change a response from decline to accept, that official should contact the appropriate assignor. The assignors have the ability to change the response.

    If an official wants to change a response from accept to decline, the official will have one of two options, depending on the settings that official’s organization has chosen.

    If the organization has enabled the turnback option and the deadline for a turnback has not passed (another option that is usually set to 2 or 3 days before the game), the official should see a "Turnback" link directly under the game number on that official’s schedule.

    If no turnback link appears, the feature is not enabled and the official is not permitted to change previous responses through RefTown once they are submitted.

    When the turnback feature is either not enabled or the turnback deadline has passed, the official should contact the assignor so the assignor can change the response.

    Who receives an email confirmation of accepted/declined assignments?
    Article ID:93 Posted:6/5/2007 4:39:18 PM Updated:11/3/2010 12:45:30 AM

    When a set of games is assigned, an email confirmation is generated. That email is sent to the following:

    • The official submitting the response
    • Assignors

    For the purposes of these responses, the assignors who will receive the email are defined in 3 ways as defined under the association's configuration:

    • A list of any number of people to receive such notices as defined in the association configuration
      • These receive the entire submission any time it is sent
    • To the specific assignor who made the assignment (with assignments filtered by assignor)
      • If there are two (or more) assignors involved, they'll only receive emails about the games/matches they assigned
    • To all assignors of any assignment in the submission
      • All assignors who have an assignment in the submission will receive a full copy of the submission

    NOTE: An association can, to reduce unnecessary email, choose to disable emails in two cases:

    1. All assignments are accepted—no declines
    2. There are no comments entered in the comment box

    What happens if an assignment remains "unaccepted"?
    Article ID:226 Posted:10/16/2016 2:39:35 AM Updated:10/16/2016 2:39:35 AM

    If an assignment remains in unaccepted state, normally nothing happens. It is merely a communication indication. It has no effect on any other site function.

    The exception to that is the "Assignment Expiration Deadline". If that function is being used by an organization, it is possible that the assignment will be canceled by either the administrator or, if enabled, automatically by the system when the deadline is passed.

    A game/assignment in unaccepted state will still be invoiced the same as any other game.

    Section 2.3.4 : Availability Calendar and Scratching Schools (Category ID: 18)
    Top

    How does the availability feature work?
    Article ID:51 Posted:4/25/2007 11:11:46 PM Updated:10/29/2013 10:30:02 PM

    The availability feature allows officials or administrators to enter information about when an official is available to take an assignment.

    • Times relate to game start times, not end times....Enter times based on when you can or can not START an assignment.
    • The colors on the calendar mean the following:
      • Green indicates available
      • Red indicates not available
      • Yellow indicates partialy available
      • Grey indicates that no data has been entered for that date or weekday.

    Availability is determined in the following order:

      1. Information for a specific date for a specific organization
      2. Information for a specific date for all organizations
      3. Information for a specific day of the week  for a specific organization
      4. Organization defaults:
        • Organizations have a choice on what to assume if no availability information is entered for any given day or date
          • By default, the assumption is that every official is available unless otherwise specified
          • A few organizations choose to assume that an official is NOT available unless otherwise specified
          • You can determine which is used by your association by viewing your availability calendar under "Schedules" -> "Availability"

    Most organizations also make use of RefTown's cross-organization assignment-to-availability blocking....if you have an assignment for organization A, the site can automatically block you for organization B. Each official can specify a priority order between organizations such that a more preferred organizations will always block less preferred organizations but the less prefereed organization will not block the more preferred organization. The priority preferences can also be configured to allow the first organization to enter and publish an assignment to claim the date. Each official will also have the control over how much information regarding their assignments is shared with other organizations.

    The date/time at the bottom of each box is the last time that entry was updated.

    How do I enter information in my availability calendar?
    Article ID:53 Posted:4/25/2007 11:34:11 PM Updated:5/12/2023 9:46:41 PM

    Availability information is entered through "Schedules" -> "Availability"

    You have two ways that availability information can be entered.

    1. By day of the week
    2. By specific dates

    If both are entered, the specific date information is used.

    If you have accounts on Reftown with more than one organization, you have two levels where you can ether availability information

    1. Specific to one organization only

    2. For all organizations linked to your primary email address (global)

    If you only belong to one organization, the global options will not appear.

    The system will use the first information it finds by looking at each source in the following order: 

    1. Information for a specific date for the specific organization
    2. Information for a specific date for all organizations (global).
      • This is only available to those that have more than one RefTown account under the same username.
    3. Information for a day of the week for the  specific organization (default).
      • This can be used to establish a standing availability that applies week after week unless more specific information is entered in either of the date specific calendars.

    The priority is determined on a date-by-date basis.

    If in in doubt about how the multiple calendars work, use your organization's date specific calendar.

    To enter availability information for specific dates  for the current organization:

    1. Click on "Schedules" -> "Availability"
    2. Navigate to the desired month.
    3. Click the "Edit Availability" button. (top right corner)
    4. Click "Specific Dates for <organization name> only"
    5. Mark yourself as available or not available for entire dates or specific times on specific dates.
    6. Click "Save Changes"

    To enter availability information for specific dates  for all organizations:

    1. Click on "Schedules" -> "Availability"
    2. Navigate to the desired month.
    3. Click the "Edit Availability" button. (top right corner)
    4. Click "Specific Dates for ALL Organizations"
    5. Mark yourself as available or not available for entire dates or specific times on specific dates.
    6. Click "Save Changes"

    To enter availability information by day of the week for the current organization:

    1. Click on "Schedules" -> "Availability"
    2. Click the "Edit Availability" button. (top right corner)
    3. Click "Day-of-Week Availability for <organization name> only"
    4. Mark yourself as available or not available for entire days or specific times on specific days.
    5. Click "Save Changes"

    TIPS ON ENTERING AVAILABILITY INFORMATION

    To block an entire day/date

      • Click "N/A"
    • To make yourself available for the entire day/date
      • Click "Avail" and leave the times blank
    • To allow a limited range of times for the date
      • Click "Avail" enter times in one or both of the "From" and "To" boxes

    There are also additional slots for up to 2 time windows of availability. To access the additional slots, click the + button after the last visible time slot. If any of the time windows indicates you are available for a given time, you will be considered available for that time.

    Examples:

    If You Enter What it means
    N/A No assignments for that date
    Avail., From 6, To 9 Open for assignments with starting times from 6 to 9
    Avail, From 4 (To is blank) Available for assignments that start at or after 4
    Avail., To 4 (From is blank) Available for assignments that start at or before 4
    Avail. (no times) Available for assignments at any time
    Avail., From 9am, To 11am, and From 6pm, To 8pm You will be available for assignments in the morning from 9 to 11 and again for assignments in the evening form 6 to 8. You will not be available in the early morning, the afternoon, or the late evening.
     

    If you organization use the driving distance feature, each time slot will have a zip code box that you can use to specify where you will be starting from at that time. If you do not enter a zip code in these boxes, your general early/late zip codes will be used or, if those are not entered, your home zip code will be used.

    For example, you could put a zipcode for the east side of your city for a time slot from 3pm to 6pm and then a zip code on the west size of town from 6pm to 9pm to indicate you start in the east side of your town but move to the west side later in the evening. You can have up to 2 different locations each day.


    There are a 4 buttons at the top of the calendar that may assist you in filling out your availability. You can use them to make all days/dates as available, not available, or clear all information, or replicate the first 7 days of the month to the rest of the month. Use this if most of your availability is the same and then fill in the boxes that are different.

    Each date/date box has a button to delete that box's information....it is a small red X at the top of each date's box on the calendar.

    Updates to your availability calendar take effect immediately. However, it is possible that assignments that are made but not yet published might be in conflict with availability data entered after the assignment was initially entered. The assignor also has the option to override the availability and assign you in conflict with your availability.

    It is also possible, in the event of a rescheduled game, for you to be assigned to a game in conflict with your availability. The assignor may, at the time it is rescheduled, choose to leave you on that game or may choose to reassign it to someone else.

    When viewing your availability calendar, you can see which source is being used for any specific date in a gray bar at the top of each date.

    How do I use the boxes on the availability calendar?
    Article ID:54 Posted:4/25/2007 11:34:54 PM Updated:8/24/2016 1:12:12 AM

    RefTown availability works solely based on the start time of an assignment.

    • If you can start a game at ANY time on that day of the week,  click "Avail." and leave the times blank
    • If you are NOT available for ANY assignment on that day of the week, click "NA" and leave the times blank
    • If you can start a game anytime after a specific time click "Avail" and add the time in the "From" box
    • If you can start a game anytime before a specific time click "Avail" and add the time in the "To" box
    • If you are available only during a certain time window click "Avail." and enter the earliest time you can start in the "From" box and the latest time you can start an assignment in the "To" box
    • If you are available anytime EXCEPT during a certain time window enter two or more availability windows to represent the times you are available.

    Can officals "scratch" certain schools, levels, leagues, etc.?
    Article ID:70 Posted:4/27/2007 1:01:03 AM Updated:10/5/2016 12:41:10 PM

    Yes. An official can enter a restriction into the system that they should not work for particular school, team, level, league, etc. or any combination of these items. Official can scratch locations or even locations by zipcode.

    To do so:

    1. Go to "Schedules" -> "Scratches"
    2. Enter the desired restriction...
      1. Click 
      2. In the window that opens, select the type of game to be scratched.
        • Example: enter XYZ High School and Boys Varsity to exclude yourself from working that level of game at that school.
        • Any of the available fields can be left blank as long as at least one field has a value.

    Assignors can also fill out scratches on behalf of officials. Assignors can choose whether or not to allow officials to see those scratches.

    Some organizations may not allow officials to manage this data....only permitting assignors to enter scratch data.

    Availability - How do I tell the assigner of my work availability?
    Article ID:150 Posted:2/27/2009 8:08:06 AM Updated:11/3/2010 1:10:01 AM

    To notify the assigner of your availability, go to Schedule->Availability.

    There are two levels of identifying availability:

    1. General availability, where you indicate the time you are unavailable Sunday through Saturday
    2. Specific availability by month. Select the month and indicate a specific date you will be available/unavailable.

    Specific availability takes priority over General Availability.

    Cross-Organization Assignment-Based Availability
    Article ID:199 Posted:10/11/2013 1:07:50 AM Updated:3/12/2024 10:49:52 AM

     RefTown has a feature where officials can have the system automatically share basic assignment information between organizations so that they do not need to update each organization's availability calendar each time they get an assignment.

    The official (and only the official) can, under his/her profile settings, define a set of priorities between organizations. Administrators and assignors can not see each official's settings in this area and can not change them.

    • When accounts have equal priority, the first to receive an assignment will block the other equal account(s).
    • Accounts with a higher priority (lowest number) will not be blocked by assignments from lower priority accounts.
    • Accounts with a lower priority (highest number) will be blocked when an assignment is received from a higher priority account.
    • You can specify how long to block for each game.
      • If you have assignments from an higher/equal priority account, you'll be considered unavailable to start another assignment:
        • For the specified time before the start time of the other assignment (default, 2.5 hours)
        • For the specified time after the start time of the other assignment  (default, 2.5 hours)
        • Times are extended for each game in a multiple-game assignment
    • An account that is isolated will not participate in automatic cross-organization blocking in any way...no information will be shared between the isolated account and other accounts.
      • You will need to manually update the availability calendar for the isolated account.
      • You will need to maintain other organizations availability calendars with respect to assignments from the isolated account.
    • Any automatic blocking will be combined with manually entered availability...
      • If you block a day or part of a day, you'll be blocked for the combination of the manual block and the automatic block.
      • If you manually block an entire day, the system will show you as not available and will not show other assignments.
    • NOTE: A person that is an assignor in both organizations will not be restricted by the isolation or priority settings...they will have full visibility into both organizations.

    CONFIGURING YOUR AVAILABILITY PRIORITY

    1. Click on your "Account Menu" (top right with your name)
    2. Click on "Profile..."
    3. Click on "Availability Priority"
    4. Set a Priority for each organization and what kind of information to share from that organization 
      • Optional
        • Change the amount of time to block out for pre-game travel & preparation.
        • Change the length of time to block out for each game for each organization.
        • Change how much detail is shared from each schedule
    5. Click "Save Changes"

    NOTES

    • Equal priorities allow the first to assign to block the other.
    • Higher priority organizations are not blocked by lower priorities and do not see any assignment information from them.
    • Lower priority organizations are always blocked by higher priority organizations and can see whatever information you choose to reveal.
    • Organizations marked as "isolated" will not participate in this feature.
       
    • Note, any information about assignments only becomes visible to other organizations once the assigning organization publishes the assignment. As a result, it is possible for two organizations to make assignment for the same times if the first to assign does not publish the assignment immediately and the second organizations makes an assignment prior to the first publishing its assignments.

    Section 2.4 : Voting, Ballots, Quizzes, and Signups (Category ID: 46)
    Top

    What is the difference between a Ballot and a Signup and an Exam/Quiz?
    Article ID:140 Posted:10/14/2008 8:27:34 AM Updated:11/16/2010 12:55:59 AM

    They are the same in nearly every way.

    The ballot is a "secret" ballot system. No one has access to the details of the ballot submissions. Depending on options selected, administrators of the ballot may be able to see a list of who has submitted a ballot (but, again, not thier choices). The option selected will be shown on the ballot.

    The signup is much like the ballot except that the administrators can see the details of the submissions....who selected what.

    The quiz/exam allows you toenter a "correct" answer and will generate a % correct score.

     

    How do the instant run-off elections work?
    Article ID:144 Posted:10/14/2008 9:24:32 AM Updated:6/22/2010 11:53:09 AM

    The instant runoff voting tabulates votes based on the principle that any vote cast for a last-place candidate shall be transferred to the next-choice candidate on that ballot until one candidate has a majority of votes. This ballot-count method duplicates what would occur if all voters participated in a graduated series of runoff elections.

    Vote counting shall start with a tabulation of first-choice votes. If a candidate receives a majority of the first-choice votes, then that candidate shall be declared elected. If no candidate receives such a majority, then the candidate with the fewest first choices shall be declared defeated. Ballots cast for this defeated candidate shall be transferred at full value to the next-choice candidate marked on each ballot. Last-place candidates are eliminated and their supporters' ballots transferred to next-choice candidates who are still in the race in a similar manner until a candidate receives a majority of votes that have not been exhausted.

    If a ballot has no more available choices ranked on it, that ballot shall be declared "exhausted."

    If there are two candidates with fewest number of first place votes, the number of second-place votes are included. If that still doesn't break the tie, third-place votes are included, and so on. It's still possible, but highly unlikely, that there will still be a tie.

    Example:

    4 candidates, 50 voters

    A: 22 first-place votes

    B: 16 first-place votes

    C: 6 first-place votes

    D: 6 first-place votes

    No candidate has a majority of the first-place votes. This voting method drops the one with the fewest votes. In this case, there are two. Which one to declare defeated? Since they have the same number of first place votes, the second-place votes for those two are considered for the tie-breaker.

    C: 10 second-place votes

    D: 13 second-place votes

    C is eliminated and D remains. The 6 ballots that have C as their first choice are referenced for their second choice (they be come first choice votes now that C is no longer in the race, the 3rd place votes become 2nd, etc.)

    Of those six votes, two have A second, and 4 have B second.

    That gives the following:

    A: 24 first place votes

    B: 20 first place votes

    D: 6 first place votes

    Still no majority.

    D is alone in last place, so D is eliminated. The 6 ballots that have D as their first choice are referenced for their second choice. Those votes are added to A and B. One of them will now have a majority or there will be a tie.

    If there is still a tie, the one with the greater number of first place votes in the prior round is declared the winner—having more natural first place votes.

    How does the ballot/voting/quiz system work?
    Article ID:143 Posted:10/14/2008 9:09:19 AM Updated:2/28/2017 11:41:04 PM

    The Reftown Ballot/Signup system provides a secure, independent method of collecting votes for various purposes.

    The system remembers who has voted and when. It will not permit a revote by the same individual.

    The details of a submitted ballot are not available to anyone else in your organization.

    • All that is revealed is the number of votes cast for each question, the number of votes cast for each option, and, in the case of ranked-list ballots, ranking information.

    Once votes are cast, removing options is not permitted or supported—that would corrupt the votes already cast.

    A voter can confirm that the voter’s own ballot was received by returning to the ballot—the time and date of the submission will be displayed with a notice that the voter can not vote again.

    Like game assignments, ballots/signups remain invisible to the members until published.

    Ballots/signups open and close automatically based on the dates entered. Once a ballot/signup opens, changes are not permitted.The results are automatically tabulated online and the winners determined. The actual ballots are stored in the database but are not visible.

    How do I export or import questions to an exam, ballot, or signup?
    Article ID:187 Posted:8/16/2011 2:54:21 PM Updated:3/28/2021 10:07:21 PM

     The import and export functions can be used in a few ways. Most commonly, they can be used to enter multiple questions using Excel rather than through the website. These features can also be used to share entered exams between different organizations....export from one, import to the other.

    EXPORT:

    1. Preview or View the desired Exam, Ballot, or SIgnup.
    2. Click the Export Button
    3. Save the file to your computer.

    IMPORT:

    In order to import questions for an exam, ballot, or signup, you must first configure the basic exam, ballot, or signup.

    1. Preview the desired Exam, Ballot, or SIgnup"
    2. Click the Import Button (only present if the exam, ballot, or signup is unpublished)
    3. Locate the desired file on your computer.
    4. Click "Upload File Now"

    CREATING A NEW SPREADSHEET READY FOR IMPORT:

    1. First, create the exam, ballot or signup without any questions using the website
    2. Export the questions....even if there are none.
      • This will provide you with the spreadsheet in the right format.....and the correct columns
    3. Enter the questions as needed
      • NOTE: The "RefTown ID" column should be left blank for new questions. That column is an ID# used to identify existing question when importing updates to those existing questions.
    4. Proceed to Import

    You do not need to import everything at once. You can import a few questions at a time. Note, however, that every question in the import will be added regardless of whether it was previously imported or not.

    Section 2.5 : General Information and Tips (Category ID: 26)
    Top

    Are there printable versions of pages?
    Article ID:55 Posted:4/25/2007 11:44:59 PM Updated:4/16/2013 9:36:37 PM

    For most pages, there will be a printer icon  at the right end of the menu bar. Clicking it will reopen the current page in a new window with several elements removed—such as the menus, headers, etc. Some pages are further customized than others to optimize the page for printing. 

    How can I transfer Games, Meetings, or Events to my personal calendaring program such as Outlook, Google Calendar, or other calendaring application?
    Article ID:77 Posted:5/8/2007 2:53:06 PM Updated:8/5/2022 11:29:12 AM

    Below are the instructions for transferring games, meetings, or events from RefTown to your personal calendaring program. Even though all applications are not mentioned, the steps for at least one of the three below should work for nearly any calendar application...only the steps taken within the calendar application should vary.

      Note the following:

    • No canceled or reschedule game will be removed from your calendar by this action.
    • If you import the same game twice, it may appear twice.
    • You must delete canceled games  manually.
    • You can modify your calendar options through your personal accounts menu (red menu with your name):
      • Click your name
      • Click Profile...
      • Select Calendar Preferences to change the calendar version or to change the various time options (length, travel time, etc.)

     

    OUTLOOK (single or multiple games):

    1. SINGLE: Click on the calendar icon  to start the transfer. The icon is by the date and time on the schedule
    2. MULTIPLE: Click the multiple calendar icon  on the listing of games you want to import to your calendar (located at the top of the date/time column)
    3. Click Open
    4. Outlook will open to where you can merge the new items into your calendar 

    Depending on how Outlook is configured, it may add the games as a 2nd calendar. If you're rather have the items imported to the main calendar, follow these steps...

    1. Start as above to obtain the files but instead of Clicking "Open", click "Save".
    2. Open Outlook if it is not already open.
    3. In Outlook 2010+ Click on the File Tab -> Open -> Import
      In Outlook 2007 Click on the File Menu then click on Import and Export
    4. Highlight "Import an iCalendar (.ics) or vCalendar file (.vcs)" then click Next
    5. Choose the location where the iCalendar (.ics/.vcs) file was saved (from step 1) and Click on Ok.
    6. Once the file is chosen the data will import to Open as New or Import
      • When the Open as New is chosen the file will open as a separate Calendar. Click the Import to actually import the data to your calendar.

    GOOGLE Calendar:  (single or multiple games):

    1. SINGLE: Click on the calendar icon  to start the transfer. The icon is by the date and time on the schedule
    2. MULTIPLE: Click the multiple calendar icon  on the listing of games you want to import to your calendar (located at the top of the date/time column)
    3. Save file to your computer (Desktop recommended)
    4. Go to your Google Calendar
    5. Click the Add down-arrow button at the bottom of the calendar list on the left side of the page, and select Import Calendar
    6. Click Browse and choose the file that contains your events, then click Open
    7. Select the Google Calendar where you'd like to import events, then click Import
    8. Delete file saved in step 3

    Other Calendar Applications:

    See their documentation for how to import .ics or .vcs files. It is likely:

    1. SINGLE: Click on the calendar icon  to start the transfer. The icon is by the date and time on the schedule.
    2. MULTIPLE: Click the multiple calendar icon  on the listing of games you want to import to your calendar (located at the top of the date/time column)
    3. Save file to your computer (Desktop recommended)
    4. Open your application and find its import function
    5. Delete file saved in step 3

    What Browsers are supported?
    Article ID:161 Posted:9/17/2009 12:41:50 AM Updated:11/3/2010 1:13:15 AM

    Supported Browsers

    Browser

    Version

    Windows

    Linux

    Mac

     

    Internet Explorer

    7.0+
    (6.0 works but we recommend upgrading to 8.0 or newer)

    Yes

    -

    -

     

    FireFox

    2.0+

    Yes

    Yes

    Yes

     

    Safari

    -

    Yes

    -

    Yes

     

    Chrome

    -

    Yes

    Yes

    Yes

     

    iPhone

     

     

     

     

    Others

    Several others, including mobile browsers, have been reported to work but are not tested

    How to configure your computer to use an installed application when you click on an email address or email icon.
    Article ID:180 Posted:1/6/2010 11:20:05 PM Updated:11/3/2010 1:14:18 AM

    When you click on an email address on RefTown, you should be taken to your personal email program if it is properly configured and email links are supported by your email program.

    On Windows XP, Vista, and 7, you can set the default email program in the Internet Options dialog box.

    Open Internet Explorer and click the Tools menu, choose Internet Options. Click Programs tab and select your email client from the drop-down list. Once selected, click OK button and close the dialog. If you do not see your email program listed, you may need to contact support for that program for information on how to make it your default email client.

    Note that you will require an Administrator-level account to change the default email client as this is a system-wide setting.

    For instruction on configuring GMail to be your default client, see http://email.about.com/od/gmailtips/qt/et_default_prog.htm

    How can I subscribe to a calendar feed (iCal/ics) of my assignments and/or meetings and events?
    Article ID:186 Posted:6/29/2011 2:58:34 PM Updated:12/29/2022 11:27:41 AM

    To subscribe to a RefTown calendar feed in the iCal/ics format in another application you wil need to obtain a special RefTown address that is unique to you.

    There are four ways to get to the addreses for the subscriptions (all take you to the same place)....

    1. Through your Profile
      1. Click on your account menu in the RefTown menubar
      2. Click on "Profile..."
      3. Click on "Calendar Feed"
    2. From the Meetings/Events Page
      • Under Quick Links ....click  "Calendar Feed"
    3. From your individual Game Schedule
      • Under Quick Links ....click  "Calendar Feed"
    4. Go to  https://www.reftown.com/profile.asp?Focus=ShowPAK

    Once there, you will then need to decide if you wish to access a single "global" feed for all organizations on one calendar or a separate single-organization feed...if you only belong to a single organization, the two choices are equivalent.

    If you have not previously generated a key, click the "Generate New Key". This will create three options that will grant read-only access to information from your account:  your game schedule, your meeting/event schedule, or a combination of the two.

    You can use any of these addresses in other calendar programs to show your schedule without needing to manually import your schedule in those programs. Updates to your schedule will automatically be synchronized (a few times a day in most cases).

    You can also share one or more addresses with mentors, spouses, etc. so they can stay up-to-date on your schedule in their own calendar application without requiring you to communicate the details of your schedule to them.

    At any time, you can return the subscription page to invalidate and replace the keys you've generated. Doing so will block all further accesses to your schedule that use the old key.

    Subscribing to the Calendar

    Note: Changes to your RefTown schedule may take up to 24 hours to refresh in some calendar applications...particularly any web-based calendar application where the update rates are controlled by the calendar application provider.

    Outlook and iCal and other desktop-based calendar applications can update more frequently as controlled by a combination of desktop application's settings and information from RefTown.

    RefTown provides the calendar application suggested update rates that will depend on the contents of your calendar. If your calendar has no future events, RefTown will suggest daily updates. If your calendar has upcoming items, the suggested update rate will be more frequent....every few hours.

    iPhone

    1. Click on the webcal link as generated under your RefTown profile.
    2. Accept the subscription following the prompts on your phone

    See http://www.iphonefaq.org/archives/97782 and http://www.iphonefaq.org/archives/97922 for more info.

    Outlook

    1. Click on the webcal link as generated under your RefTown profile.
    2. An Outlook box should appear asking you to "Add this Internet Calendar to Outlook and Subscribe to Updates".
    3. Click Yes, and the Calendar will automatically be added to Outlook.

    Google Calendar

    1. Sign into your Google Calendar account through a web browser
    2. On the left side, under "Other Calendars",click  "Add by URL"

    1. Click on "Add by URL."

    1. Copy and paste the calendar feed URL from your RefTown page into the URL field.
    2. Click Add Calendar.

    Windows Live

    1. Sign into your Windows Live account
    2. Go to Calendar
    3. Go to Subscribe
    4. Select "Subscribe to a public calendar
    5. On Calendar URL field enter the URL provided from RefTown
    6. On Calendar name field write the name you want your calendar to have
    7. Click to "Subscribe to calendar" and "done"

    Mac iCal

    1. Open iCal
    2. Right click under the region titled Subscriptions
    3. Then click Subscribe...
    4. Next, enter the RefTown calendar feed URL into the field titled Calendar URL.
    5. Click subscribe

    Android

    Android does not directly support calendar subscriptions. Follow the instructions above for Google Calendar.

    Then, under your phone's calendar options, select/enable this calendar to be shown.

    On the phone, go to

    1. Applications -> Calendar
    2. Menu -> More -> Settings
    3. Calendars
    4. Check the calendars you wish to view

    Accessing Archived Information
    Article ID:235 Posted:3/23/2018 2:01:23 PM Updated:3/23/2018 2:12:31 PM

    Archives contain a frozen snapshot of an organization's data. Archives allow a user to view the organization's information as it was on date the archive was made.

    To access an archive:

    1. Go to "Other..." -> "Site Archives"
    2. Click the "View" button for the archive you wish to access.
      • The archives are identified by when they were created.
      • You can navigate the entire site normally, viewing the data from that archive, as if it were the moment the archive was made.

     When you are in the "archive" mode, a few things happen:

    • A yellow box indicating the archive you are accessing will appear at the top of the page.
    • Any changes you attempt to make will be ignored
    • No emails will be sent from the system
    • You will retain all permission as you had in the live system whether you had those permissions at the time the archive was made or not.

    To exit archive mode and return to viewing your current data:

    1. Click "Back to live" in the title area of the page

    OR

    1. Go to "Other Info" -> "Archives"
    2. Click "Return to live database"

    OR

    1. Log out / Close your browser

    Transfer School/Team Contact Account to New Person (for AD's, Athletic Assistance, Secretaries, Coaches, etc.)
    Article ID:293 Posted:5/16/2022 12:29:28 PM Updated:5/16/2022 12:33:29 PM

    As a school/team contact (Athletic Director, Athletic Assistant, Athletic Secretary, Coach, etc.), you may need to transfer your account to a new person. If you are the owner of the account for your school/team, you can update your profile information to transfer the account to the new person. Depending on the nature of the transition, this can be done in one of a few ways.

    Will the two individuals overlap in their time of service or will there be complete transition all at once? Is the current account holder still available?

    Current Contact Present:

    This procedure can update the information for ALL connected accounts (those with the same email address as used to log in to this session) in one pass.

    1. Log In

    2. Click on your name in the top right corner.

    3. Click Profile.

    4. Under the school section, enter the Phone & Email sections and update the general information for the school if needed.

    5. Under the individual section enter the Name, Address, Phone, Email sections and update the info for the new contact. Note, do Email last as that ultimately moves the account to the new person.

    NOTE: In the section for Apply Changes to for each type of information, uncheck the any box for accounts you do not wish to change....typically, all boxes are left checked.

    Allow Access to Both for a Period of Time

    1. Change some or all of the information above to the new person but keep BOTH email addresses in the Individual Email section.

      • Anyone that has an email address there can log into that account. If both emails are kept, both individuals will be able to log in.

      • The newly added person may need to request a password if they do not already have one.

    2. When the outgoing contact is no longer involved, either person can repeat the above process changing any remaining information and removing the old contact's email address.

    Current Contact No Longer Present:

    Contact the assignor/administrator for each of your organizations   and request that they move the current account to your name. If they merely change the email address, you can then log in with that information and follow the steps above to change the rest of the information.

    Contact Page: https://www.reftown.com/rt_feedback.asp?fbtarget=Assoc

    Using your phone/tablet for on-site meeting check-in
    Article ID:301 Posted:11/5/2022 6:39:29 PM Updated:11/5/2022 6:46:38 PM

    Reftown has a function available to organizations that allow people to check themselves into an event based on their presence near a defined location.

    To use the check-in, log into your organization's account on Reftown. The check-in button will appear in the upper left corner of your organization's home page when a check-in is available. For it to be successful, the person checking in must be within a specified distance of a specific location set by your organization's administrators during a specified time window.

    For some people, the function may not initially work due to settings on your devices that prevent your location from being accessible by your web browser. Due to default settings on the phone/tablet, the issue is more common on Apple/iOS devices than Android. Below are some instructions on updating your settings to allow your location to be sent to Reftown.

    Enabling iOS Location Services

    1. Go to Settings > Privacy > Location Services.

    • The settings button is the grey cogs/gears icon. 

    2. Make sure that Location Services is on.

    3. Scroll down to find the Safari app (or whichever browser you're using on your device)

    4. Tap the app and select an option:

    • Ask Next Time: This allows you to choose Always While Using App, Allow Once, or Don't Allow.

    • While Using the App: Allows access to Location Services only when the app or one of its features is visible on the screen.

    Alternate instructions for iPhones

    Android 12 & higher

    1. Swipe down from the top of the screen.

    2. Touch and hold Location .

      • If you don't find Location :

        1. Tap Edit  or Settings .

        2. Drag Location  into your Quick Settings.

    3. Tap Location Services and then Google Location Accuracy.

    4. Turn Improve Location Accuracy on or off.

    Android 11 & lower

    1. Swipe down from the top of the screen. 

    2. Touch and hold Location .

      • If you don't find Location :

        1. Tap Edit  or Settings .

        2. Drag Location  into your Quick Settings.

    3. Tap Advanced and then Google Location Accuracy

    4. Turn Improve Location Accuracy on or off.

    Section 2.6 : Invoices and Finances (Category ID: 53)
    Top

    How do I add or remove bank account information for Direct Deposit?
    Article ID:191 Posted:9/13/2011 1:55:58 AM Updated:10/18/2023 1:46:10 AM

    1. Log in
      • If needed, switch to the desired organization. Setup for direct deposit is specific to each organization.
    2. Click on your name in the red box on the RefTown menu bar.
    3. Click on "Profile..."
    4. Click "Direct Deposit Account Info"
    5. Click "Add Account Information" or "Replace Account Information"
    6. Enter your account information...personal checking or savings accounts are supported
    7. Read and agree to the terms and conditions.
    8. Submit by clicking "I Agree"

    For security, your entered account information is NOT redisplayed to you. You will be asked to enter each number twice in order to ensure it is entered accurately. You entire account number will not even be displayed to your administrators unless the deposit fails....a few digits are shown. These measures are taken to increase the security of this information.

    IMPORTANT: You are responsible for entering correct account info.

    If you enter an incorrect info, your payments may be made to an account owned by someone else. It may not be possible to correct.

    • If your account number has dashes, please include them
    • Do not include the check number as part of your account number

    Retrieving and Confirming my 1099
    Article ID:206 Posted:1/8/2014 10:47:05 PM Updated:1/8/2014 10:47:05 PM

     If your organization has chosen to use RefTowns 1099 services, you should receive an email announcing its availabiity sometime in the month of January.

    To retrieve your 1099 from RefTown, follow the following steps:

    1. Go to Pay -> My Invoices and 1099s
    2. in the lower part of the page, click on "View" or "Download" for the appropriate Tax Year
    3. Open the file using your Social Security Number or Tax ID Number as the password
    4. Click the link "Confirm Receipt".
      • The IRS required your organization to use this information to confirm receiopt in order to electronically distribute 1099s.

    Configure an Official's Account to Receive PayPal/Venmo Payments
    Article ID:259 Posted:1/4/2021 6:37:11 PM Updated:3/26/2021 4:39:03 PM
    1. After logging into your account, click your name in the upper right corner.
    2. Click on "Profile..."
    3. On the left side, click "PayPal / Venmo Payouts"
    4. Choose a payment option (based on email address/phone numbers on the officials profile):
      • PayPal
        • By Email 1
        • By Email 2
        • By Email 3
        • By Cell Phone 1
        • By Cell Phone 2
      • Venmo
        • By Cell Phone 1
        • By Cell Phone 2
    5. Click "Update This Item"

    • If the email address or phone number is subsequently changed on the official's profile, an existing PayPal or Venmo selection will be directed to the new email address or phone number.
    • If the PayPal or Venmo account is subsequently closed. Payments made to the defunct email addresses or phone numbers will be "unclaimed" and returned to the originating account after 30 days but it is best to update your RefTown profile 

    Paying for Invoices Due using PayPal without a PayPal account
    Article ID:265 Posted:3/15/2021 8:27:50 PM Updated:3/15/2021 8:34:00 PM

    Organizations may create invoices for registration dues or other fees charged to officials. If your organization has configured an invoice to be payable by PayPal the instructions below cover how to pay the invoice without needing a PayPal account.

    Depending on the configuration of your organization's PayPal account, you may not need a PayPal account to compete the payments....you can often "Pay as a Guest"


    To pay as a guest....

    1. From your invoice on RefTown, click on the Pay with PayPal button.

     

    1. On the window  that opens, click this

    If you do not see this section, your organization is not configured to receive guest payments.

    1. Then, in the form that appears, enter your card number, name, address, etc.

    2. If you DO NOT want to start a PayPal account, uncheck the box that says this:

    1. Then click Review and Continue

    2. Complete the process through PayPal 

    Getting Paid by PayPal / Venmo as an Official
    Article ID:277 Posted:8/26/2021 3:00:41 PM Updated:10/13/2021 11:57:45 PM
    1. You need to specify how you want to be paid.
      • If you have not previously configured your account, you will see a notice on your home page indicating that no PayPal/Venmo account information was found for your account. Additionally, if you have an assignment with a school/team that pays using this service, this reminder will indicate how many games you currently have for such schools/districts. If you do not see such a reminder, you've already signed up for the service.
    2. On your game schedule, the comment column will indicate if the game will be paid by PayPal / Venmo with the following symbol
    3. By your name on the schedule, you'll see how you have signed up to be paid:
      •  - Not signed up
      •  - Signed up with Venmo
      •  - Signed up with PayPal

    Assignors can see this signup status for all officials on the relevant games.

    When a payment is made, RefTown will send you an email with the details of the payment...the game(s), the amounts, etc.

    Once you receive the money in your PayPal or Venmo account, you can spend in from that account using a variety of options including debit cards issued by PayPal or Venmo or you can have the money moved to your bank account whenever you like. 

    To sign up for PayPal or Venmo, you must first have your PayPal or Venmo ID (email address or phone number) listed as on your RefTown profile's email address or cell phone number fields. Once you have the email address or phone number entered in your profile as an email address or phone number, you will then be able to choose that number/email as the PayPal/Venmo account ID.

    To make any of these changes to your profile, click your name in the top right corner and then click "Profile". On the Profile page, you'll find all of the necessary links to update your phone numbers, emails, or PayPal/Venmo preferences.

    Trouble Opening a 1099 from RefTown?
    Article ID:311 Posted:1/31/2024 8:31:27 PM Updated:1/31/2024 8:34:07 PM

    The 1099 that you receive from Reftown is password protected. The password is your SSN (or other TaxID in some cases), without any dashes.

    Example: If your SSN is 123-45-6789, your password will be 123456789.

    If you are haivng trouble  opening your 1099 received from Reftown, you may have an incorrect Social Security Number in your profile. It is most often due to a simple typo in teh SSN entry in your profile.


    To fix the problem:

    1. Log in to the organization where you're having difficulty
    2. Click your name in the top right corner
    3. Click "Profile"
    4. Depending on your orgnaization and the type of number you have, click one of the following:
      1.  Add/Edit/View W9
      2. "SSN"
      3. "TaxID"
    5. Provide the correct SSN/TaxID by competing the relevant form.
    6. Notify RefTown Support that you have updated your SSN and need a new 1099.

    IMPORTANT: The 1099s are NOT regenerated automatically. We generate them offline and will send you the updated copy when it is ready...usually within 1-2 days.

    DO NOT SEND US YOUR SSN BY EMAIL OR IN OUR SUPPORT FORM.
    It must be entered directly into the approriate profile entry.

    Section 2.7 : Mobile App (Category ID: 67)
    Top

    Clearing App Data
    Article ID:303 Posted:12/27/2022 12:15:58 PM Updated:12/27/2022 12:18:34 PM

    In a few rare cases, the data stored on your phone may be come corrupted. It may be necessary to clear the data and force the app to re-obtain current information from the server.

    The method to clear the app data varies based on the brand of phone but the steps are similar. See the options below for several common phone models.

    After clearing all the app data for Reftown Mobile, you'll need to log into the app again.

    How to clear app cache and data on Google Pixel

    1. Open Settings.
    2. Scroll down and select Apps.
    3. Tap the See all option at the bottom.
    4. Tap RefTown Mobile.
    5. Tap Storage and cache.
    6. Select Clear cache.
    7. Tap Clear storage to clear data and cache.

    How to clear app cache and data on Samsung Galaxy phones

    1. Open the Settings menu.
    2. Scroll down and select Apps.
    3. Tap RefTown Mobile.
    4. Scroll down and select Storage.
    5. Tap Clear data to clear data.
    6. Tap Clear cache to clear the app cache.

    How to clear app cache and data on OnePlus phones

    1. Open Settings.
    2. Scroll down and select Apps and notifications.
    3. Tap See all to list all installed apps.
    4. Tap RefTown Mobile.
    5. Select Storage and cache.
    6. Tap Clear cache to clear the cache.
    7. Tap Clear storage to clear data and cache.

    How to clear cache and data on Xiaomi phones

    1. Open Settings.
    2. Scroll down and select Apps.
    3. Tap Manage apps.
    4. Tap RefTown Mobile.
    5. Select the Storage option.
    6. Tap Clear cache to clear only the app cache, or tap Clear data to clear data and cache.
    Section 3 : Administrator Guide (Category ID: 7)
    Top
    Section 3.1 : General Tips and Suggestions (Category ID: 43)
    Top

    Quick entry of times on RefTown
    Article ID:129 Posted:5/1/2008 11:46:34 PM Updated:6/22/2010 11:38:11 AM

    Throughout Reftown, you can enter times in several different formats as follows:

    The colon is optional

    500pm and 5:00pm are the same.

    Periods are optional

    7:00 PM is the same as 7:00 P.M.

    Minutes are optional

    1 pm is the same as 1:00 pm

    Military time acceptable

    1300 is the same as 1:00pm

    Assumed AM/PM

    (when AM or PM is not specified)

    AM is assumed if the time you enter begins with 9: 10: or 11:

    PM is assumed for all other times

     

     

     

    A few more examples

    The following are all interpreted the same:

    • 5:00
    • 500
    • 5
    • 1700
    • 5pm
    • 5 pm
    • 5 p.m.

    Popups on RefTown
    Article ID:181 Posted:1/6/2010 11:33:56 PM Updated:9/5/2016 9:41:56 PM

    Adminstrator functions depend heavily on "pop-ups." It is quite possible that you may have a program installed on your system that blocks annoying pop-ups/ads from many sites. You will either need to disable that program or, more likely, add RefTown to a list of sites allowed to have pop-ups.

    For specific instructions to disable, configure or remove some of the most common pop-up blockers and toolbars, select the appropriate section below:

    Note: Toolbars may be hidden but still functioning.  To view a hidden toolbar, go to the top of your Internet browser and select View > Toolbars > click to check the desired toolbar. Only the checked toolbars in the list will be visible in your browser. 

    Internet Explorer Integrated Pop-Up Blocker

    Beginning with Service Pack 2 for Windows XP, pop-up blocking has been integrated into Internet Explorer and is enabled by default. To configure IE's pop-up blocking:

    1. Open Internet Explorer
    2. Click Tools > select Pop-Up Blocker 
    3. To disable pop-up blocking in IE, select "Turn Off Pop-up Blocker"
    4. To allow pop-ups on approved sites, select "Pop-up Blocker Settings"
      Pop-Up Blocker Settings scfeen
      • In "Address of Web Site to allow" box, type reftown.com
      • Click the Add button. The website *.reftown.com should appear under Allowed sites.
      •  Click the Close button.

    If pop-up blocking is turned on in Internet Explorer, it will generate an "Information Bar" the first time you go to a website that uses pop-ups or graphical code resembling pop-up code. Click where indicated inside the Information bar and select one of the following:

    1.  "Temporarily Allow Pop-Ups" to view blocked information just during the current session
    2. "Always Allow Pop-ups from this Site" to always see pop-ups at this web site 
    3. "Settings" to allow pop-ups on multiple sites you specify. 

    Mozilla Firefox

    Firefox blocks pop-ups by default. To configure Firefox's pop-up blocking:

    1. Open Firefox
    2. Select Tools > Options > Content
    3. To disable pop-up blocking, un-check "Block pop-up windows" > click OK.
    4. To allow pop-ups on approved sites, verify that "Block pop-up windows" is checked and click the “Exceptions” button beside it. This opens the Allowed Sites-Pop-ups window
      Firefox Pop-Up Blocker Settings
      • In "Address of Web Site" box type www.reftown.com
      • Click the Allow button. The website www.reftown.com should appear under Site with an "Allow" Status.  
      • Click the Close button.

    Google Toolbar

    Google Toolbar

    To stop the Pop-Up Blocking feature in Google Toolbar, either:

    1. Click on the Pop-Up Blocker icon Google PopUps Blocked icon  in the toolbar to allow pop-ups on this site PopUps Allowed icon, or 
    2. Right-click on the toolbar and un-check Google in the Drop Down menu to temporarily disable blocking pop-ups.

    Yahoo Toolbar

    Yahoo Toolbar

    To disable the Pop-Up Blocking feature in the Yahoo Toolbar:

    1. Click the Down arrow beside the Pop-Up Blocker icon Yahoo Pop-Up Blocker icon 
    2. To disable the blocker, un-check "Enable Pop-Up Blocker" in the Drop Down menu
      MSN Toolbar Menu.
    3. To configure the blocker, check  "Enable Pop-Up Blocker" and select "Always Allow Pop-Ups from..." on the same Drop Down menu
    4. In the Yahoo! Pop-Up Blocker dialog screen, select reftown.com in the "Sources of Recently Blocked Pop-Ups"
    5. Click the Allow button and then the Close button.

    In Windows XP or earlier:

    1. Open or Run the uninstall.html file and follow the prompts
    2. In Windows Vista or Windows 7,
    3. Save uninstall.html file
    4. Double-click on the saved file and select the appropriate options
    5. Close all web browser screens to clear the add-on out of memory. If the add-on persists, restart Windows. 
    1.  
    2. Select the "Services Settings" tab
    3. Check the box beside Popup Blocker and click the Settings button
       
    4. Under the General tab select Disable 
    5. Click the Apply button and then the OK button

    To configure the Pop-Up Blocking feature in the Crawler Toolbar:

    1. Go to the Crawler Toolbar Settings 
    2. Select the "Services Settings" tab
    3. Check the box beside Popup Blocker and click the Settings button
    4. Select the Advanced tab
    5. Click the Add Website button
    6. Enter www.reftown.com as the "Site host name"
    7. Click the Apply button and then the OK button

    To Uninstall the Crawler Toolbar either use Add/Remove Programs in Windows Control Panel, or:

    1. Click on the "Crawler" button, select the "Help" and then the "Uninstall" option
    2. Select the component(s) to remove and click the Uninstall button
    3. Click Yes to close IE windows
    4. Click Yes to reboot windows.

    Crawler Toolbar

    Like Ask.com/FunWebProducts, the "sponsor supported" Crawler toolbar is included with thousands of FREE downloadable products (such as screensavers, wallpaper, animated cursors, desktop weather or traffic utilities, radio & MP3 players, online games, smileys, eCards and IE skins). 

    To disable the Pop-Up Blocking feature in the Crawler Toolbar:

    1. Go to the Crawler Toolbar Settings

     MSN Toolbar

    MSN Toolbar image

    1. Click the Down arrow beside the Pop-Up Blocker icon MSN Pop-Ups Blocked icon 
    2. Check "Allow Pop-ups" in the Drop Down menu
      MSN Pop-Up Blocker Menu screen 

    AOL Toolbar

    Aol Toolbar

    To stop the Pop-Up Blocking feature in AOL Toolbar, click on the Pop-Up Blocker in the toolbar AOL Pop-Ups Blockedto toggle it to allow pop-ups AOL Pop-ups Allowed icon.


    Ask Toolbar with Popswatter

    To disable the PopSwatter popup blocker in the Ask Toolbar:

    1. Display the Ask Toolbar if not visible (at the top of your Internet browser select View > Toolbars > click to check "Ask Toolbar") 
    2. Click the PopSwatter icon (looks like a yellow flyswatter) on the Ask Toolbar
    3. Click Disable PopSwatter.

    To configure PopSwatter to allow pop-ups on selected sites such as reftown.com:

    1. Go to the web site (www.reftown.com)
    2. Click the PopSwatter icon on the Ask Toolbar
    3. Click "Change Preferences"
    4. Add the site to the "Safe List" (click "Safe List" tab > Allow Popups for www.reftown.com > click Allow > X to close).

    Ask.com, FunWebProducts, MySearch Toolbar/browser add-on

    The Ask.com, FunWebProducts, or MySearch toolbar/browser add-ons are embedded in many FREE downloadable products (such as Smiley Central, Cursor Mania, My Mail Signature, My Mail Stamp, and Popular Screensavers). These toolbars may then be activated whenever a new browser window is opened automatically—such as when viewing linked MLS documents, IDX search screens, tutorial movies, or calendars.

    To remove the Ask Toolbar from Internet Explorer:

    1. Close all browser screens
    2. Go to the Start menu and click on Control Panel
    3. In the Control Panel, double-click on Add/Remove Programs
    4. Select Ask Toolbar from the Programs list
    5. Click the Change/Remove button to uninstall.

    To remove the Ask Toolbar from Firefox:

    1. Click on Tools near the top of your Firefox browser window
    2. Select Extensions or Add-Ons
    3. Select the Ask Toolbar
    4. Click Uninstall to remove (or click Disable to temporarily disable), then click OK.

    If you continue to experience problems with the Ask.com, FunWebProducts, or MyWebSearch browser add-on (after completing the above removal steps):

    Add RefTown to Your Safe Senders List
    Article ID:184 Posted:9/22/2010 12:15:00 AM Updated:2/27/2024 1:25:02 PM

    Because all IT departments are different, and spam filters sometimes filter legitimate email, it is highly recommended that you add the RefTown domain to your Safe Senders list in your email client. This will help ensure that our emails will get to you safely.

    Either add the entire @reftown.com domain to your safe sender's list (if your email program allows adding domains) or add the email address mailer@reftown.com

    (Another site that may also be useful for configuring your email settings for RefTown emails: Safe Sender List How To)

    For Outlook

    Add known valid sender to the Safe Senders list to ensure that their email will not go to your Junk E-mail folder.

    1. On the Ribbon, from the Home tab, in the Delete group, select Junk
      .Select Junk

    2. From the drop-down list, select Junk E-mail Options.

    Select Junk E-mail Options

    1. Select the Safe Senders tab.

      Select Safe Senders Tab

    2. Click Add

      .Click Add

    3. In the Add address or domain dialog box, type an email address or domain.

      Type Address or Domain

    4. Click OK.

      Click OK

    5. In the Junk E-mail Options dialog box, click Apply. Emails from this sender will now be prevented from being moved to your Junk E-mail folder.

      Click Apply to Save

    Apple Mail
    1. Open the email from the sender you would like to add to the safelist.
    2. Click on the senders email address at the top of the email
    3. A list of options will appear on a drop down
    4. Click on Add to Address Book
    5. Your sender will be automatically added to your Apple Mail safe senders list.
    Yahoo!
    1. Open the email sent to you by the contact you wish to label as safe. Be sure to check both the inbox folder and junk or spam folder.

    2. Copy the email address

    3. Click the Contacts icon located in the upper right-hand corner of your Yahoo! Mail Inbox Homepage. When you scroll over the first icon, it should say Contacts.

    4. Click Add a new contact located below the list of your contacts.

    5.  Fill in the contact details and paste the email address you wish to add to your contact list.

    6.  Click Save.

    Gmail
    1. Open the email from the sender you would like to add to the safelist.
    2. Click on the arrow next to an email icon on the far right.
    3. Select Add To Contacts.
    4. You will see the text Added *Email Address* to contacts. Appear at the top of the screen, meaning your new contact has been added to your Gmail Safe senders list.

    iPhone/iPad
    1.  Open the email

    2. Tap the email address or email the user name of the sender (at the top of the screen)

    3. Tap Create New Contact from the menu at the bottom of the screen.

    Gmail Phone App
    1. Open the email of the contact you wish to add to your safe sender list

    2. Tap the contact name, email or contact card. You might have to click the downward-pointing arrow to reveal the contact name.

    3. Tap the Add Contact icon located in the top right-hand corner.

    Add RefTown to Your Safe Senders List (for Gmail)
    Article ID:234 Posted:12/20/2017 4:14:40 PM Updated:12/20/2017 4:34:22 PM

    Because all IT departments are different, and spam filters sometimes filter legitimate email, it is highly recommended that you add the RefTown domain to your Safe Senders list in your email client. This will help ensure that our emails will get to you safely.
     

    This page covers how to do so for Gmail...

    1. Log into your Gmail Account.
       
    2. Click the gear and choose Settings

    1. Click the tab for Filters:


       
    2. Click Create a new filter


       
    3. Enter mailer@reftown.com as the from, leave the rest blank and click Create filter with this search

    1. Choose Never sent it to Spam and click Create filter

    Section 3.2 : Setup and Configuration (Category ID: 39)
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    SETUP: Overview
    Article ID:97 Posted:4/21/2008 6:24:32 PM Updated:6/23/2010 12:58:22 AM

    SETUP: Overview

    There are several steps you will need to take in order to set up RefTown for your organization. Among them, you will need to set up various options, configure basic data, and input officials, team, and location roster. Below is a good way to approach setting up your data. For most settings, you can return to the configuration page and make changes at any time.

    1. Go to "Admin" -> "Configuration" and step through the following areas:
      1. BASIC INFORMATION
        • General information about your association
        • Logos, etc.
      2. EMAIL NOTICES
        • Notices to be sent to officials, teams, administrators about upcoming games
      3. OFFICIALS ROSTER
        • Options to control how your roster is listed and how your official's registration forms are configured
      4. SCHOOLS, LOCATIONS, PAYORS, and TEAMS
        • Options to control how your roster is displayed
        • Options to define the roles of individuals associated with your schools/teams.
      5. GAMES
        • Options to control the display of games/matches, availability calendar, assignment responses, school game approval, and game parameter
      6. CREWS
        • Define your crewtypes and duties
      7. OFFICIAL'S FINANCES 
        • Define your crewtypes and duties
      8. SCHOOL/TEAM FINANCES 
        • Define your crewtypes and duties

    2. Enter/Import Rosters
      1. Enter/Import Officials
        • Grant extra permissions for anyone who should have them
      2. Enter/Import Schools/Teams/Locations/Payors
      3. Enter/Import School/Team Contacts

    While there are several more functions on the site, this concludes the initial setup. You’re now ready to start adding games and making assignments.

    Section 3.2.1 : Basic Information (Category ID: 52)
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    SETUP: Basic Information
    Article ID:98 Posted:4/21/2008 6:42:14 PM Updated:2/7/2016 2:50:42 AM

    Under Basic Information, you will set up the following:

    State

    The primary state where your organization is located

    • Allows non-members to use web searches to identify where your organization is located

    Do not display association name on pages

    Set this option to not list your organization title/name on the top of pages. This is mostly commonly used when a banner image is loaded that includes the name.

    Submit RefTown Bill To

    Who, in your organization, is responsible for paying for RefTown services

    Association Tax ID

    A Tax ID # to be displayed on invoices for Schools/Teams

    Unlisted

    Setting this option will prevent your organization from being listed on the RefTown directory. Non-members can still reach your site, but only if they know the site's direct address.

    Direct addresses are of the form https://www.reftown.com/?Assoc=ABOA, where the latter part of the name is the association's account ID.

    Enable Multiple Sports

    Enable the use of multiple sports—if your organization covers more than one.

    This on way that can be used to assign officials to certain types of games or in certain regions.

    Event Name

    The title of your events (game, match, meet, etc.)

    Time Zone

    Atlantic, Central, Mountain, Pacific, etc.

    Automatically Adjust for Daylight Savings

    Disable if your area does not observer Daylight Savings Time

    Show Meeting Summary to Public

    Allows the public to see the meeting summary on the homepage—off by default

    Meta Description

    Keywords that can be picked up by various internet search engines—can improve the likelihood of your organization being found in web searches

    SETUP: Organization Contacts
    Article ID:83 Posted:6/5/2007 10:14:27 AM Updated:4/16/2013 9:36:37 PM

    The contacts page provides access to some of your most commonly contacted people. RefTown provides a contact page that is accessible, in part, to the public, and more fully available to schools, teams, and officials.

    For each person listed on the contacts page, you can specify a Title (e.g., Commissioner, Webmaster, Recruiter, etc.).

    For each of these individuals, you can also specify exactly what pieces of contact information to list on the contact page. You can specify a different set of contact information to be revealed for the public than for officials, schools, and teams. For example, you could reveal only a single email address to the public, while revealing mailing addresses, phone numbers, and all email addresses to logged-in users.

    To set up your contacts, go to "Public" -> "Contact," then:

    • To add a contact, click
    • To edit/modify a contact, check the box for the desired contact and click
    • To remove a person from the contacts page (but keep that person on the roster), check the box by the person’s name and click

    SETUP: Menu Control
    Article ID:183 Posted:6/23/2010 1:05:45 AM Updated:6/23/2010 1:05:45 AM

    The items under Menu Control can be used to block access to certain pages if your organization doesn't make use of those pages or you wish to only have those pages available to administrators.

    SETUP: Organization Logo/Banner
    Article ID:99 Posted:4/21/2008 6:51:24 PM Updated:2/7/2016 2:52:46 AM

    Under Association Logo, you can upload your own logo to replace the RefTown logo in the upper left corner of all pages.

    Under Association Banner, you can upload an image that will be located across the page just below the title area.

    • Both of these images should be "small" images in jpeg format
    • The maximum recommended size for the logo is 150 pixels wide x 150 pixels tall.
    • The maximum recommended size for the banner is 120 pixels tall—the width is not as important.
    • These images will be loaded on every page. Since they are commonly used, the file size should be less than 25 KB. Since these images are best optimized manually in order to maintain quality while reducing the size, RefTown will not resize the photo and will reject any that are too large. Please use your favorite photo editing software to resize the images appropriately.
    Section 3.2.2 : Email Reminder Options (Category ID: 49)
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    SETUP: Notice Recipients
    Article ID:165 Posted:12/7/2009 3:44:00 PM Updated:4/16/2013 9:36:37 PM

    Under notice recipients, you define who shall receive basic automatic emails triggered by actions on RefTown.

    Below are the available categories and what causes them to be sent:

    Type
    Topic
    Description

    Availability Update

    Availability Calendars

    Generally sent when an official makes an update to the official’s availability calendar.

    The sending of this report can be further refined under "Availability Options" to only be sent when comments are entered.

    Game Acceptance

    Game Responses

    Generally sent when an official/school/team responds to a game/assignment.

    These reports can be further refined under "Response Options" to not be sent if all games are accepted/approved and there are no comments.

    Game Status

    Game Management Dashboard for Administrators

    Sent, if scheduled, with the nightly reminders.

    Roster Update

    Roster Changes entered by an official

    Sent when officials change their own phone number, email, etc.

    Automatic Reminder Reply-To

    What person(s) should receive replies to nightly automatic reminders.

     

     To add a person to one of these groups:

    1. Click the Edit Recipients symbol by the notice
    2. Select the official's name that is to receive the notice
    3. Click "Save Changes"

    To remove a person from one of these groups:

    1. Click the Edit Recipients symbol by the notice
    2. Click "Remove" by the officials name to be removed
    3. Click "Save Changes"

    SETUP: Email Reminders for Officials
    Article ID:166 Posted:12/7/2009 9:48:04 PM Updated:6/22/2010 12:25:40 PM

    Game reminders can be configured to be sent to official through a flexible set of options. The available options offer the the ability to send a reminder 48 hours before a game, 72 hours before a game, the day of a game, twice a week, weekly—just about any combination you might prefer. Notices are sent at approximately 3 a.m. Pacific.

    To set reminders for Officials, select the days of the week that reminders will be sent on.

    Under “Include Games Starting on,” enter the number of days from the day of the notice to start including games.

    Under “For This Many Days,” enter the number of days of games to include in the notice.

    EXAMPLES:

    For a 48-hour notice, check all days, and enter 1 for “Include Games Starting on and 1 for “For This Many Days.”

     For a 72-hour notice, check all days, and enter 2 for “Include Games Starting on and 1 for “For This Many Days.”

    For a weekly notice starting with games on the day of the notice check, check ONE day, and enter 0 for “Include Games Starting on and 7 for “For This Many Days.”

    For a weekly notice starting with games the day after the notice, check ONE day, and enter 1 for “Include Games Starting on and 7 for “For This Many Days.”

    To have automatic new game reminder sent on the days checked above, select “New Games.”

    SETUP: Email Reminders for Schools/Teams
    Article ID:167 Posted:12/7/2009 9:48:48 PM Updated:6/22/2010 12:26:06 PM

    Game reminders can be configured to be sent to officials through a flexible set of options. The available options offer the the ability to send a reminder 48 hours before a game, 72 hours before a game, the day of a game, twice a week, weekly—just about any combination you might prefer. Notices are sent at approximately 3 a.m. Pacific.

    To set reminders for officials, select the days of the week that reminders will be sent on.

    Under “Include Games Starting on,” enter the number of days from the day of the notice to start including games.

    Under “For This Many Days,” enter the number of days of games to include in the notice.

    By default, schools reminders are sent to the listed Payor of the game. These reminders can also be sent to other parties involved in the game. You can specify that the reminders should also be sent to any or all of the following: Home Team, Visiting Team, or Location.

    By default, reminders are only sent to teams that have games as specified above. However, you can cause reminder to be sent to all teams on your roster whether they have games or not by selecting “Copy To All Schools/Teams.” This would also cover the possibility that a team is missing a set of games in a given time. These notices are only sent when there are active games for some team in the specified time frame.

    EXAMPLES:

    For a 48-hour notice, check all days, and enter 1 for “Include Games Starting on and 1 for “For This Many Days.”

     For a 72-hour notice, check all days, and enter 2 for “Include Games Starting on and 1 for “For This Many Days.”

    For a weekly notice starting with games on the day of the notice check, check ONE day, and enter 0 for “Include Games Starting on and 7 for “For This Many Days.”

    For a weekly notice starting with games the day after the notice, check ONE day, and enter 1 for “Include Games Starting on and 7 for “For This Many Days.”

    To have automatic new game reminder sent on the days checked above, select “New Games.”

    SETUP: Admin/Assignor Game Status Reminders
    Article ID:168 Posted:12/7/2009 10:02:10 PM Updated:6/22/2010 12:26:30 PM

    This set of reminders is for administrators/assignors.

    The reminder includes a snapshot of the Game Management summary page.

    To enable reminders, select the days of the week that reminders will be sent on.

    Under “Include Games Starting on,” enter the number of days from the day of the notice to start including games.

    Under “For This Many Days,” enter the number of days of games to include in the notice.

    EXAMPLES:

    For a 48-hour notice, check all days, and enter 1 for “Include Games Starting on and 1 for “For This Many Days.”

     For a 72-hour notice, check all days, and enter 2 for “Include Games Starting on and 1 for “For This Many Days.”

    For a weekly notice starting with games on the day of the notice check, check ONE day, and enter 0 for “Include Games Starting on” and 7 for “For This Many Days.”

    For a weekly notice starting with games the day after the notice, check ONE day, and enter 1 for “Include Games Starting on and 7 for “For This Many Days.”

    A few of the checks on the Game Management page will be made without regard to date (e.g., checks for unusual dates/times or checks for missing details).

    Section 3.2.3 : Officials Directory Options (Category ID: 50)
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    SETUP: Officials Directory - Profile Display/Edit Options
    Article ID:100 Posted:4/21/2008 7:18:34 PM Updated:8/12/2021 10:30:00 AM

    For the officials roster, you have the following options:

    If selected, officials will only be able to see other officials on the roster if they are assigned on the same game at some point.
    If officials are restricted to seeing only their partners (above), further restrict their view to partners on future assignments.
    On the directory, enable the display of each official's 1st Year, Overall to all officials.
    Further, you set it to be shown by default on the directory or that an official can edit that info.
    On the directory, enable the display of each official's 1st Year for your organization to all officials.
    Further, you set it to be shown by default on the directory or that an official can edit that info.
    Member Levels are only Visible to Administrator, Financial, or Assignor groups. This can be used if you want to use member levels to rate officials rather than a general membership type.
    Show the officials state/national ID on the directory
    Show the officials spouse/partner on the directory

    Allow all school personnel to view the officials roster with all contact information that is not otherwise marked as unlisted.

    Show the official's member level on his/her profile, even if not shown on the directory
    Show the official's rating on his/her profile. This is not otherwise shown to an official.

    Allow Officials to Upload Their Own Directory Photos

    Normally, only administrators or other designated people can add or remove photos on the officials directory. With this option checked, officials are permitted to manage their own photo.

    Allow an official to edit his/her state/national ID.

    SETUP: Officials Directory - Official Levels
    Article ID:101 Posted:4/21/2008 7:24:58 PM Updated:8/12/2021 8:39:31 AM

    This is a list of the various member types your organization uses to classify its members. As part of this list, you can give officials in each category a "Rating." Examples of possible rating levels include Probationary, Regular, Certified, Associate, Registered, etc.

    This is a coarse level rating that can be used in making assignmentsif you have the rating feature for assigning enabled.

    The order established in this list will be used in any dropdown lists throughout RefTown.

    In the case of a multi-sport organization, a different level can be specified for each sport.

    To enable this option, go to Admin -> Configuration - Finances. In the officials section, click on "Fee Calculation Options". Check "

    Then, to use this feature...

    1. Go do Directories -> Officials
    2. Click on Quick Links -> Edit All Officials -> Sports
    3. Optionally, choose a specific sport to work on.
    4. Choose a level for each sport an official works
    5. Click Update
    6. Repeat for each page of 25 officials. (or click List All between steps 2 and 3 to get them all on one very large page).

    SETUP: Officials Directory Privacy Options
    Article ID:169 Posted:12/7/2009 10:39:05 PM Updated:8/12/2021 8:39:45 AM

    Each element of the officials roster can be configured to one of the following options:

    1. Force Privatethat roster element will never be visible to other officials
    2. Allow Individual Choiceeach official can choose whether to show or hide each roster element
    3. Disallow Privatethat roster element will always be visible to other officials

    SETUP: Officials Registration Options
    Article ID:170 Posted:12/7/2009 10:40:51 PM Updated:6/23/2010 1:13:06 AM

    Under this section, you can enable a few extra fields on the Registration form that are not included by default and can also define which fields are required versus optional.

    Optional Fields for Officials Registration Forms 
     
     
     
     
    Required Fields for Officials Registration Forms 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     

    SETUP: Official Qualification Options
    Article ID:273 Posted:8/11/2021 11:05:38 PM Updated:8/11/2021 11:34:36 PM
    Enables the use of multiple sports on games and the ability to tag each official as eligible to be assigned to one or more sports.
    Enables a function to tag locations by customizable Zone names. Also allows each official to be tagged as eligible to be assigned in one or more zones.
    Enables the ability to tag each official as eligible to be assigned to one or more duties. 

    By default, all officials are eligible for all duties.

    As part of this feature, some duties (under the duty configuration section) can be labeled as "Universal". Doing so makes all officials eligible for that duty automatically without requiring the official to be individually enabled for the duty.
    • These elements can optionally be shown on either the officials directory.
    • These elements can be made editable by each official.
    • NOTE: With any of these features enabled, an official without any Sport/Zone/Duty qualifications entered will not appear as eligible to be assigned unless overrides are applied.
    Enables a field where officials can rate each other. The officials 
    • This info can optionally be shown on each individual official's profile.

    Managing Official's Sports, Zones, and/or Duties.
    Article ID:275 Posted:8/11/2021 11:29:45 PM Updated:8/11/2021 11:30:52 PM

    When the option to tag officials with Sports/Zones/Duties is enabled, you can manage these items in a couple of ways.

    The first option is to edit selected officials from the directory.

    Steps:

    1. From the officials directory, click the checkbox for the subject official(s)
    2. Click one of the following buttons to edit, respectively, sports, zones, or duties:

      

    1. On the page that opens, check the boxes for each official as desired.
    2. Click Save Changes

    The next option is to edit blocks of officials or all officials at one time.

    Steps:

    1. From the officials directory, click on Quick Links -> Edit All Officials, then choose either Sports, Zones, or Duties.
    2. This will open the same type of page described above with checkboxes for each official for each Sport, Zone, or Duty.
    3. Check the boxes as desired.
    4. Click Save Changes

    Both of these paths ultimately do the same thing but target different groups of officials.

    On the page to edit the Sports for officials, you'll also have an option to specify a different membership level for each official for each sport.

    On the pages to edit the Sports/Zones/Duties, you will find several aids that may expedite the configuration. At the top of each column, you'll will find a check-all and a clear-all button. Selecting one of those will check (or clear) all of the boxes in that column. Similarly, in each row (for each official) will be the same pair of buttons. With those, you can check (or clear) all Sports/Zones/Duties for that official. This can make it a lot quicker if an official need to have all (or most) items checked.

    At the top of this page will be some controls that will allow you to show a list of officials that do not have any Sport/Zone/Duty specified without having to search through the lists.

    Also at the top of the page will be controls to show either blocks of 25 officials or the entire roster. For very large rosters, the page can become quite unwieldy when the entire roster is shown with multiple sports/zones/duties.

    Uniquely for duties is an option to declare one or more duties as universal. This simplifies the configuration when there may be some duties that every official is qualified for. The designation of "universal duty" is done on the duty configuration. That option only appears when the option to specify specific duties is enabled. 

    Section 3.2.4 : School Directory Options (Category ID: 51)
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    SETUP: Schools, Locations, Payors, and Teams - General Options
    Article ID:102 Posted:4/22/2008 12:15:47 AM Updated:6/23/2010 1:14:05 AM

    For the schools, locations, payors, and teams roster, there is only one option on RefTown at this time:

    Use School League

    Turn this on to enable the field that can be used for what is often called Leagues/Conferences/Divisions

    Hide School Level Do not display the school/team level on the roster

    Include Hidden Schools in Selection Lists

    Normally, schools marked as hidden are not included in the selection lists. Setting this option will allow you to hide schools (e.g., out-of-area teams) but still have them available under the various dropdown lists

    SETUP: Schools, Location, Payors, and Teams - Leagues & Levels
    Article ID:105 Posted:4/22/2008 12:37:39 AM Updated:6/21/2010 11:51:06 PM

    School/Team Leagues is a list of the various school/team leagues your organization serves. This is generally used to classify schools/teams into conferences/leagues but not individual teams associated with a school.

    • Examples of possible levels include Pac-10, Metro League, Southwest Conference, etc.—but NOT 5th grade, Freshman, Varsity, etc.

    School/Team Levels is a list of the various school/team levels your organization serves. This is generally used to classify schools/teams into very large categories but not conferences/leagues or individual teams associated with a school.

    • Examples of possible levels include Division 1, Division 2, 4A, 3A, Rec League, etc.—but NOT 5th grade, Freshman, Varsity, etc and not Metro League, City League, etc.

    You can give each level on each list a "Rating." This rating is a part of the equation you can use to calculate a game rating to use in making assignments—if you have the rating feature for assigning enabled.

    The order established in each list will be used in any dropdown lists throughout RefTown.

    SETUP: Schools, Location, Payors, and Teams - Gym/Field Details
    Article ID:106 Posted:4/22/2008 12:41:10 AM Updated:6/21/2010 11:51:23 PM

    This is a list of general supplementary data used to identify the specific location of an event at a larger facility. Use generic terms where possible to maximize reuse.

    Examples include: Field 1, Field 2, Back Gym, Main Field, etc.

    This is NOT intended to be used as a list of primary locations. The primary locations (with addresses) will be entered under the location/school/team roster.

    SETUP: Schools, Location, Payors, and Teams - School/Team Roles
    Article ID:103 Posted:4/22/2008 12:30:07 AM Updated:6/23/2010 1:15:33 AM

    This is a list of the various member types of individuals associated with schools and teams.

    Examples of possible levels include Coach, Athletic Director, Secretary, League AD, etc.

    These titles are used to associate the school/team personnel with the schools/teams—a single person can be affiliated with one or more schools/teams and a single school/team can be associated with one or more individuals in various roles.

    The order established in this list will be used in any dropdown lists throughout RefTown.

    The association between personnel and the schools/teams is done elsewhere...this only configures the types of roles.

    SETUP: School Contact Privacy Options
    Article ID:171 Posted:12/7/2009 10:45:21 PM Updated:6/22/2010 12:27:27 PM

    Each element of the school contact roster can be configured to one of the following options:

    1. Force Private—that roster element will never be visible to officials
    2. Allow Individual Choice—each official can choose whether to show or hide each roster element
    3. Disallow Private—that roster element will always be visible to officials

    All elements are always visible to administrators.

    SETUP: School Contact Registration Options
    Article ID:172 Posted:12/7/2009 10:46:30 PM Updated:6/22/2010 12:27:50 PM

    Under this section, you can enable a few extra fields on the Registration form that are not included by default and can also define which fields are required versus optional.

    Section 3.2.5 : Game and Assignment Settings (Category ID: 34)
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    SETUP: Games - Display Options
    Article ID:107 Posted:4/22/2008 12:47:11 AM Updated:6/23/2010 1:21:24 AM

    General Display Options

    Use Count Field

    Select to enable a field to specify the number of games represented by each entry. This is most often used for events where the specific number of matches being played/assigned is not known at the time of scheduling but will be updated after the event

    Use Reference ID

    Select this to enable a field you can use to identify your games by your own numbering/labeling system

    Use Payor Field

    Select to enable the Game Payor field for games—if not selected, the value for this field is set to the Home team (if specified) or the Location (if home is not specified). This field is used when schools click on Games in the menu. It is not, however, available in the Game Filter unless the user is an assignor, treasurer, or administrator

    Use League Field

    Enable the use of the League field. This often used to differentiate between men’s leagues, high school leagues, college leagues, etc. This is NOT the same as school/team league, although they can be used in similar ways

    Use Type Field

    Enable the use of the Type field (often but not necessarily used for gender: boys, girls, men, women, co-ed, etc.)

    Number of Extra Visitors

    Games normally list 1 visitor....enter a number here to enable additional visitor fields. These are in addition to the default home & visitor fields.

    MAXIMUM EXTRA: 4 (for a total of 6 teams)

    Any number greater than 4 will be capped at 4.

    These extra visitors are not included when analyzing scratched teams or other statistical information

    Number of Extra Levels

    Games normally list 1 level....enter a number here to enable additional level fields.

    MAXIMUM EXTRA: 2 (for a total of 3 levels)

    Any number greater than 2 will be capped at 2.

    These extra levels are not included when analyzing scratched teams or other statistical information nor are they used in financial calculations.

    Assignment Visibility to Officials

    Show All Assignments To All Officials

    Select to allow all officials to view all assigned officials on all games—but only after assignments are published

    Show All Assignments To All Officials when searched by date

    Select to allow all officials to view assigned officials when searched by a specific date—but only after assignments are published

    Show All Assignments To All Officials when searched within number of days

    Enter a number to allow all officials to view assigned officials when a game is within the specified number of days

    Allow Finance Group to See Assignor Notes

    Allows any official in the finance permissions group to see the "assignor-only" notes on games

    Do Not Show Assignment Status To Officials Select this to not permit officials to see whether games (that they are not assigned to) have been assigned or not. Officials will only see that the game exists.
    Restrict Officials to Only Their Assignments and Open Assignments Select this option to prevent officials from accessing any information about any game that they are not assigned to.

    Show Payor to Officials

    Normally, the paying school/team is not shown to officials. Setting this option will list that piece of information on the official's view of the page

    Enable No Payroll

    Allows you to specify that the selected game shall not be included when creating invoices for either schools/teams or for officials

    SETUP: Games - Error Check Options
    Article ID:111 Posted:4/22/2008 1:18:13 AM Updated:6/21/2010 11:53:32 PM

    Game Conflict Check 

    Minimum Spacing, Different Site (minutes)

    Enter the number of minutes between game start times where a game is considered to in conflict with another game at a different site

    Minimum Spacing, Same Site (minutes)

    Enter the number of minutes between game start times where a game is considered to in conflict with another game at the same site

    Time of Day Checks 

    Early Morning Time Warning

    Enter the time before which weekday games are flagged as possibly having an incorrect time entered

    Last Night Time Warning

    Enter the time after which weekday games are flagged as possibly having an incorrect time entered

    Early Morning Time Warning Weekend

    Enter the time before which weekend games are flagged as possibly having an incorrect time entered

    Last Night Time Warning Weekend (inc. Friday)

    Enter the time after which weekend games are flagged as possibly having an incorrect time entered

    Date Checks 

    Future Days Warning (days)

    Enter the number of days before which a game is flagged as possibly having an incorrect date entered

    Past Days Warning (days)

    Enter the number of days beyond which a game is flagged as possibly having an incorrect date entered

    Generic Visitor Team

    Specify a generic team you will use to fill in for out-of-area visitors or otherwise unknown teams—entering this team will prevent it from being used in repeat assignment checks

    SETUP: Games - Availability Options
    Article ID:108 Posted:4/22/2008 12:58:51 AM Updated:11/7/2017 2:52:41 PM

    Availability 

    Assume official is unavailable unless explicitly specified (default is to assume availability)

    Only allow date specific availability and no general (perpetual) availability.

    Send availability update notice only if there are comments

    Select this to allow officials to add scratches for certain teams, levels, etc.

    Suppress Availability Update Emails in the Following Months 

    Select to suppress availability update emails in specific off-season months.

    This can be useful when you have officials who officiate for multiple organizations on RefTown and make use of RefTown's global availability features.

    SETUP: Games - Assignment Options
    Article ID:110 Posted:4/22/2008 1:13:05 AM Updated:6/23/2010 1:54:43 AM
    Enable Officials Duty Qualification Enables a function to indicate which officials are qualified to fill specific duties on a crew....can be overridden while assigning if needed.
    Enable Sport/Area Override Normally, officials registered to work one sport will not work other sports but this function allows an override of an officials sport/area while assigning if needed.
    Enable Crew Chief Indication Enable a checkbox on the assignment page to allow the designation of the crew chief without regard to the duties assigned.

    Self-Assignment/Assignment Request

    Enable Self-Assignment/Assignment Request

    Enable self-assignment feature—games selected by assignor are opened for members to claim

    Send Email Notice For All Self-Assignments

    Select to always send an email notice to all parties when a self-assigned game is taken

    Apply Official Ratings To Open Assignments

    If ratings are enabled, only allow officials to take open games that they are qualified for

    Enable Open Game Request Mode

    Rather than allowing an official to actually claim the game under Self-Assignment, only send the request to the assignor by email for the assignor to pick from among those who have requested

    Send Email On Open Game Request When a request for an open game is made, send an email noticed to the assignors.

    Change Notices 

    Send Change Notice (days)

    Enter the number of days for which game change notices should be sent. If you enter 1, notices are sent for changes on games occurring today or tomorrow; 2, today, tomorrow or the next day. Entering 0 turns off this feature

    Disable Past Game Change Notices

    Disables all notices for changes for games that are in the past

    Email Crew Changes to Entire Crew

    This option will cause an email to be sent to all current members of a crew when assignments are published for a game—whether it is a new assignment or a replacement

    Email Crew Changes to School

    This option will cause an email to be sent to the payor school/team when assignments are published for a game—whether it is a new assignment or a replacement

    Assign Using Ratings 

    Use Ratings for Assignments

    Enable Ratings system—determines qualification for games. If desired, ratings can be overridden when assigning games

    Minimum Official Rating

    The amount below the game rating that a single official still remains eligible

    Maximum Official Rating

    The amount above the game rating that a single official still remains eligible

    Average Official Rating Must Exceed Rating

    Require that the average rating of all officials be above the game rating—to allow lower rated officials to be assigned but not all on same game (used only for auto-assignment—not yet available)

    Calculate Ratings

    Enables the calculation of ratings from the various game attributes. Without this option, ratings must be entered for each and every game individually. With this option on, individual games can still be manually rated

    Driving Distance 

    Maximum Distance for Official to Travel

    This is the maximum distance an official will be assigned to travel

    Entering a number other than 0 here enables this feature.

    An officials’ distance from the game location will be used to determine eligibility for an assignment. Driving distance can be easily overridden when assigning games if desired

    SETUP: Games - Response Options
    Article ID:109 Posted:4/22/2008 1:05:35 AM Updated:10/16/2016 12:28:03 AM

    Official Responses 

    Require Official Response on ...

    Turn these on or off to control when a previously accepted official must make a new response.

    Decline/Turnback Options

    Disable Online Decline

     The ability for an official to decline an assignment is disabled—to decline, the official must contact the assignor by phone, email, etc.

    Require Comments On Decline

     If the official declines an assignment, this option will require that the official enter comments to be sent to the assignor—not applicable if no recipients are specified to receive a response by email

    Mark Unavailable on Decline

    If the official declines an assignment and the official's availability shows that official is available, mark the official as unavailable for that day

    Turnback Limit

    Removes the turnback option this many days before an assignment. If you do not wish to enable turnbacks, put a large number in this box....e.g. 1000.

    Set this feature so that an official who declines an assignment does not have to make an acknowledgement when they are removed from that assignment.

    Response Deadline Calculation Default 

    Enable Response Deadline

    Enable this function to track how long an official has to respond to a game assignment

    Minimum Days to Accept

    Allow an official at least this many days to accept an assignment before considering the offer expired

    Maximum Days to Accept

    Allow an official no more than this many days to accept an assignment before considering the offer expired

    Minimum Days Before Assignment to Accept

    Require an official to respond to an assignment at least this many days prior to the game before considering the offer expired

    Report Near Deadline Days Enabled a report on the game management page showing any unaccepted assignments nearing the deadline.
    When a deadline has passed without an official accepting the assignment, automatically remove that official from the assignment. This is done overnight (early morning around 2 AM Pacific time) on the day after the expiration date.

    Send Responses To...  

    Note: If neither of these is selected, responses go only to those listed under Always Send Responses to...

    Send Response To All Assignors In Submitted Batch

     Send entire response to all assignors with a game in this submission

    Send Response Only To Actual Assignor

    Send response to actual assignors with only the games they've assigned. If this is not selected, responses go only to those selected as explicit recipients on the notice recipients page

    Don't Send For …


     Send Accept/Decline notices only when additional comments are entered

     Disable the general comment box.

    SETUP: Games - School Options
    Article ID:173 Posted:12/7/2009 10:49:47 PM Updated:6/22/2010 12:28:17 PM

    Assignment Visibility to Schools/Teams 

    Note: If none of the following options is selected, schools/teams can only see that their games have been assigned or not—without the officials’ names.

    Show Assigned Officials To All Schools/Teams

    Select to allow all school/teams/payors to view all assigned officials

    Show Assigned Officials To Any School/Team on Game

    Select to allow all any school on a game (payor, home, visitor, location) to view all assigned officials

    Show Assigned Officials To Paying Schools/Teams

    Select to allow the school/team listed as a payor (home team if payor field is no enabled) to view assigned officials

    Show Official’s SSN to Paying School

    This will include an official’s Social Security number on the school's single game view—useful in areas where the schools require the official's SSN in order to pay the officials

    Show Official’s Contact Info to Schools

    This will reveal the assigned official's contact info to the paying school on the single-game view

    School Games Default to Any Game Listing School

    Normally, schools will only be shown games where they are the paying school. This option changes the default view for schools to include all games where they are listed on the game in any way

    School/Team Responses 

    Require School/Team/Payor Response on Change to Notes

    Turn this on to require a new school/team/payor approval even if only the game's notes/comments are changed

    Require School/Team/Payor Response on Change to Crew Type

    Turn this on to require a new school/team/payor approval even if only the game's crew type is changed

    School/Team Entry and Approval Options

    Enable Schools to Request Online

    Allow schools/teams/payors to request new games online—they enter all details and the assignor can approve or decline the request

    Enable Schools/Teams/Payors to Approve

    Allow school/teams/payors to mark games as acknowledged/approved—much like officials’ accept/decline

    SETUP: Games - Other Options
    Article ID:112 Posted:4/22/2008 1:19:46 AM Updated:6/21/2010 11:53:53 PM

    Typical Duration (minutes)

    The number of minutes to use for the game duration when exporting games to Outlook or other calendar software

    Enable Multiple Assignor Searches

     Enabled game searches based on the person who added or last changed the game and the person who assigned or added the game to the open list

    SETUP: Games - Parameters: Types, Levels, & Leagues
    Article ID:115 Posted:4/22/2008 1:24:56 AM Updated:6/21/2010 11:54:14 PM

    1.    Sports (if enabled) are a list of the various sports your organization serves.

    2.    Leagues are a list of the various game leagues your organization serves. This is generally used to classify games into general categories. Examples of possible levels include High School, College, Rec League, etc.

    3.    Types are a list of the various game types your organization serves. This is generally used to classify games into genders. Examples of possible types include G, B, M, W, Co-Ed, etc.

    4.    Levels are a list of the various game levels of games your organization serves. This is generally used to classify games into competitive levels. Examples of possible levels include Varsity, JV, U12, U16, 14U, 7th, etc. This is also often used to indicate double headers: "JV+V," "7/8," etc.

    As part of each list, you can give each type a "Rating." This rating is a part of the equation used to calculate a game rating to be used in making assignments—if you have the rating feature for assigning enabled.

    The order established in each list will be used in any dropdown lists throughout RefTown

    These are only a few examples of how these lists can be used. Other options are possible, but the suggested uses work best for most organizations.

    The order you choose for these lists will be the order the items appear through out the remainder of the site.

    SETUP: Crews - CrewTypes, Duties, and Crew Duties
    Article ID:116 Posted:4/22/2008 1:31:04 AM Updated:1/25/2018 10:19:40 PM

    The CrewTypes list on RefTown is where you list all the possible crewtypes your organization uses: 1-person, 2-person, 5-person, etc. You can also give your crews names that indicate a style of crew rather than just the number of people involved.

    The Duties list is where you list all the possible crew duties utilized in your organization.

    As part of this list, you can give each crewtype/duty a "Rating" (if the rating feature is enabled). This rating is a part of the equation used to calculate a game rating to be used in making assignments.

    The orders established in these lists will be used in any dropdown lists throughout RefTown

    The "Crew Duties" page is where to define the relationship between the "Crew Types" and the "Duties," By each crew, check each duty that is part of that crew.

    To add a new crew type:

    1. Go to Admin -> Configuration
    2. Under CREWS, click on CrewTypes.
    3. Click the  and add a title for the new crew type and sort the order as you wish
    4. Go to Admin -> Configuration
    5. Click the  and add a title for the new duty and sort the order as you wish.
    6. Go to Admin -> Configuration
    7. Click on CREW, Crew Duties
    8. Click the checkboxes in the new crewtype for the duties that should be part of the new crewtype.
    9. Save the changes.

    SETUP: Zones
    Article ID:218 Posted:10/15/2016 11:56:48 PM Updated:10/15/2016 11:56:48 PM

    Reftown's Zone feature allows you to designate locations to be in your own customizable list of "Zones" and to designate officials as eligible to work in any number of those zones. As with all other assignment restrictions, an assignor can override the zone restrictions if desired.

    There are 3 parts to setting up the use of zones:

    1. Set up basic zone configuration:
      1. Under Admin -> Configuration, SCHOOLS, Click Enable Location Zones.
      2. Under Admin -> Configuration, SCHOOLS, Click Zones
      3. Add the names of the zones you wish to create.
    2. Designate a zone for each location
      1. Under Directories -> Schools/Teams, click on Quick Links -> Manage Zones
      2. Designate a Zone for each location
    3. Designate one or more zones for each officials
      1. Under Directories -> Officials, click on Quick Links -> Edit All Officials -> Zones
      2. Designate one or more zones for each official

    Section 3.2.6 : Finances (Category ID: 37)
    Top

    SETUP: Finances: Basic Configuration
    Article ID:145 Posted:10/15/2008 12:30:16 AM Updated:8/20/2019 8:59:24 AM

    SETUP: Finances - Basic Configuration

    The configuration for officials and schools finances are completely separate. However, they work the same in nearly every aspect.

    Throughout the configuration of the finance options, you can place your cursor over the question mark symbol () by any option for more information about that option.

    STEP 1: Enable the desired feature.

    1. Go to the Association Configuration - Finances screen
    2. Click on the Main Enable under Officials Finances (or School/Team/Payor Finances).
    3. Click Official's Financial Features Mode or (School/Team' Financial Features Mode) and click Update.

    For officials finances, you can also enable the game fees to be listed on the game schedule.

    STEP 2: Define how the basic game fees are determined.

    In this step, you'll be defining the pieces of information that will be used to differentiate the amount to be paid for each type of game. This may include information about the game itself, the crewtype assigned to the game, the duty of the official assigned to the game, and the participants in the game.  Getting this step correct will, for some organizations, require the most thought. It may require changes in how your enter and define games if there is not enough detail in the game data to determine the amount to be paid. Additionally, all fields you select must actually be entered for every game/school/official. (NOTE: The invoice creation process verifies that all games include all necessary fields and provides a method to add any missing information.)

    1. Go to the Association Configuration - Finances screen
    2. Click  Fee Calculation Options Factors
    3. Choose the fields used to determine the pay for officials: often, but not limited to, Game Level and School Level and perhaps CrewType.
      • Example: If you chose school level as a factor in determining pay, all schools that participate in games as the home team must have a school level designated.
      • Example: If you chose game type as a factor in determining pay, all games must have a game type
    4. Click Update

    Note: For schools, you need not normally make the assignments to generate the school invoices. In a few situations, you might be finished at this point.

    STEP 3: Define and enable adjustment options

    Under adjustment options, you can define how the game fees are treated based on the game counts and define up to 3 categories of other adjustments that may depend on the game fee. Examples of this might be a percentage taken from each game as an assignors fee.

    The first setting is to enable a per-duty multiplier (not frequently used). This can be used to handle situations where each official on an assignment might perform a different number of events (i.e., volleyball tournaments). The effect of the number entered  is to multiple the game fees by the multiplier. 

    The second option defines whether the game count will affect payroll as a multiplier.

    Also at this point, you will enable and name any adjustments to be applied to your invoices. An adjustment category is enabled merely by giving it a name. Note that it is not necessary for any specific adjustment be applied to all games. The amount of the adjustment is configured separately and can have different values for different kinds of games.

    1. Go to the Association Configuration - Finances screen
    2. Click Adjustment Options
    3. Optionally, enabled the game count multiplier
    4. Optionally, give one or more adjustments a name
    5. Click Update

    STEP 4: Define and enable basic mileage adjustments

    In this step, you'll define the basic mileage payment methods. The actual amounts paid can vary based on the criteria defined in step 2 and will be set up later.

    1. Go to the Association Configuration - Finances screen
    2. Click Travel Options
    3. Click Choose the Travel Mode
      • If you pay travel from a single reference point, choose single base mileage table.
      • If you pay travel from more than one reference point, choose a multi-base travel option
      • If you pay travel from the officials home, choose  the distance from home option.
    4. If the amount to be paid to the officials can differ according to their duty, select Enable Different Travel Per Duty
    5. If you need to ability to customize the amount to be paid per official from one game to the next, select Enable Individualized Travel Rates
    6. If you want to enter the actual number of miles driver for each official, select Enable Actual Miles Travel Per Official
    7. Enable the number of different travel levels you need to specify if needed.
    8. Click Update

    SETUP: Finance: Adjustments and Mileage
    Article ID:147 Posted:10/15/2008 1:21:35 AM Updated:8/20/2019 9:28:28 AM

    RefTown supports the definition of multiple sets of adjustments and travel options. You can predefine as many variations as needed: different mileage rates, different methods of calculating mileage, different adjustment amounts, etc. Each adjustment set can be use with one or more items on the fee table. In many cases, only one adjustment set needs to be defined. In a few cases no adjustment set needs to be defined.

    The adjustment recipes and travel recipes are tied together but are entered on separate screens.

    Adjustments

    1. Go to the Association Configuration - Finances screen
    2. Click on Adjustment Recipes
    3. Add a new (or Edit an existing) Adjustment Recipe
      1. Give it a name
      2. Enter an amount for all enabled adjustments (can be zero).
        • Check the percentage box if the number is a percentage, leave it uncheck for a flat rate
        • Enter a "-" if it a deduction
      3. Click Update

    Travel

    1. Go to the Association Configuration - Finances screen
    2. Click on Travel Recipes
    3. Add a new (or Edit an existing) Travel Recipe
      1. Give it a name, if needed
      2. Enter the mileage calculation details
        1. For each range, enter the point at which distance payments start
          1. The first one is usually 0.
        2. Enter the rate and mode
        3. Repeat for each relevant range.
        4. In the Travel Limits Section, enter how the travel pay may be limited
          • You can have only one travel per set of games if needed
            • If travel is only to be paid once when an official works multiple games at a single site on a single date, check Pay Travel -> Per Date, Per Location
          • If the mileage is doubled to account for round trip payments
          • If you have enabled duty-specify mileage percentages but wish to ignore them for this recipe, select Pay Full Travel Rate Per Duty.
          • If the assignment multiplier should be applied to the mileage, check Apply Multiplier to Travel.
          • Establish any overall minimum or maximum to be used.
            • If there is a maximum mileage that will be paid, enter it under Maximum Mileage Amount
            • If there is a minimum mileage that will be paid, enter it under Minimum Mileage Amount
        5. Select when and how the limits are to be applied
        6. Optionally, enter Meal/Per-Diem amounts.

    Additional help can be found by putting your mouse over the .

    SETUP: Finance: Advanced
    Article ID:146 Posted:10/15/2008 12:58:43 AM Updated:8/20/2019 9:32:05 AM

    The configuration for officials and schools finances are completely separate. However, they work the same in nearly every aspect.

    Under Admin -> Configuration - Fiances, then Advanced Invoice Options, there are several general options that affect how the overall feature works.

    Safety Overrides

    • Zero Fee
      • By default, the invoice generation process ensures that amounts entered in the game fee table are not zero. To override this check, select Allow Officials/Schools Fees to be Entered as Zero.  When this is checked, you must manually ensure that any game fee entered as zero is what you intend
    • Zero Distance
      • By default, the invoice generation process ensures that, when mileage is enabled, amounts entered for mileage to locations are not zero. To override this check, select Allow Zero Distance on Officials/Schools Invoices.  When this is checked, you must manually ensure that any game fee entered as zero is what you intend
    • Location for team details
      • When details of the participating teams are to be used to calculate the game fee, the invoice generation process normally requires the home team to be entered. To allow the "Location" to be used in absence of a home team, select Allow Location For School/Team Details. The home team will still be used when present.
    • Use the Payor for the team details.
      • You can specify that when a team detail is to be used, it should be taken from the Payor and not the home team.

    Other Invoice Options

    • Invoices can be browsed numerically or alphabetically. Select Sort Invoices By Invoice Number to browse invoices in numeric order. This affects invoice summary tables and the next/previous buttons used to move from one invoice to the next.
    • When viewing the School Invoice Master (a view of the official's invoice items organized by school), you can show or hide the "Comments." By default, the comments are included. To not show the comments, select Hide Comments on School Invoice Master.
    • By default, the officials assigned to a game are not show on the invoice. To always show all officials assigned to a game, select Show Crew Names On Invoice.
    • Invoices can be email to the respective parties. By default, the invoice is included in the body of the email. To instead include the invoice as an attachment on the email, select Email Invoice as Attachment.
    • For school/team invoices, you can specify who the school/team should remit their payment to by choosing an official under Remit Payment To.

    Quickbooks Options

    Reftown supports the exporting of financial information to Quickbooks. In this section, you will define how the data is to be exported.

    1. Select the detail level of the data to be exported under QuickBooks/Excel Export Type. There are six options, ranging from exporting only the net amount to be paid to each official/from each school all the way to exporting all amounts for each and every game, along with all adjustments.
    2. If you want the actual game details (type, level, etc.) to be exported in the comment/memo field for Quickbooks, select Include Game Details
    3. Enter the name of the QuickBooks account to where the RefTown data will be imported.
      • Note that this must be an account of type "Accounts Payable" for officials invoices and "Accounts Receivable" for schools/teams invoices. It will not work with any other account types.
    4. Enter the name of the sub-account/category in which to enter the details of the data imported into QuickBooks.

    SETUP: Pay Scale
    Article ID:148 Posted:10/21/2008 5:01:05 PM Updated:8/20/2019 9:36:18 AM

    Payscales can be set up in two ways: manual and semi-automatic. Both modes require that any needed adjustments and travel options be previously configured.

    1. Manual

    This method can be used to add new items to the payscale, but is not nearly as efficient the semi-automatic method

    1. Go to the Association Configuration- Finances page
    2. Click View/Edit Game Fees under the appropriate section (Officials or Schools/Teams)
    3. Click the  button
    4. In the window that opens, enter a value for every field
      • Adjustment-Travel Recipe may be left blank if you do not need any adjustments or travel for this entry
      • NOTE: For schools, the amount to be entered will be the total base fee for the entire crew while it is the per-official amount on the official's table.
    5. Click Update
    6. Repeat steps 3-5 for each of the needed combinations

    2. Semi-Automatic

    There are two methods that are semi-automaticl

    1. On the payscale, click "Show Missing Fees" to get a list of the fees needed based on the games that are entered in the system. This will give you preconfigured entry forms where you can easily enter all the fees.

    2. As you create invoices.

    In this mode, the amounts to be added to the payscale are generated in the process of creating an invoice.

    During the invoice generation process, you'll be asked for the amount to be paid and the adjustments to be made for any game type that is not found in the payscale. Amounts entered will be stored for use with any other game of the same type.

    When you use this method, you don't have to think of the possible combinations that can occurthe invoice process will detect all actually used combinations.

    Configuring Reftown to Use the Paysheet System
    Article ID:215 Posted:10/13/2016 3:34:38 AM Updated:10/13/2016 3:35:30 AM

    Note that some of these steps may already be done in your setup

    • Main Finance Enable
      1. Go to Admin -> Configuration Finances
      2. Click on Main Enable
      3. Check Enable Official's Financial Features
      4. Click Update

    • Main Paysheet Enable
      1. Go to Admin -> Configuration Finances
      2. Click on Paysheet Mode Options
      3. Check Enable Paysheet Mode
      4. In the Access Options Section, choose who, in addition to administrators, should be able to access the Paysheet on Reftown.
      5. In the Driver Options Section
        • Click Enable Driver Designation to allow drivers to be specified
        • Choose who should be allowed to designate drivers
        • Choose the maximum number of drivers that can be selected
      6. In the Officials Contact Display Options
        • Choose whether the payor will have access to the officials address, phone, and email contact information.
      7. In the SSN/TIN Display Options
        • Choose whether the payor will have access to the officials SSNs
        • Choose whether they will get the last 4 digits only (or the full number)
        • Choose whether to allow a payor to view an officials w9.
          • This is function is not yet available but you can select this option for when it is made available in the near future.
      8. Click Update
    Section 3.2.7 : Interactive Forms (Category ID: 36)
    Top

    SETUP: Interactive Forms
    Article ID:124 Posted:4/22/2008 9:42:57 PM Updated:4/25/2017 8:10:57 PM

    Types of Interactive Forms

    RefTown supports several types of interactive forms:

    • Registration
    • Game Reports
    • Evaluation/Observation
    • Ejection/Incident Reports
    • plus a couple more miscellaneous forms

    All form submissions are, by default, archived on RefTown. If desired, the archiving of the submissions can be disabled for each form if there is at least one designated email recipient.

    Registration forms

    • There are 3 types of registration forms:
      • for officials
      • for schools/teams
      • for school/team personnel.
    • Preformatted
    • Supports the collection of some supplemental information, but only needs to be given a title to be enabled

    Game Reports

    • Game reports are tied to specific games—game data is automatically included with the form
    • Game reports can be filled out by members of the crew or by designated evaluators/assignors/administrators 
    • The links for the game reports normally only appear on the game schedule after the game has taken place. There is an option to make the forms available prior to the game.

    Evaluation/Observation Forms

    • There are 3 types of evaluation forms
      • by any other official
      • by assigned observers
      • by coaches/schools

    Ejection Forms, Sportsmanship Form, & Payroll Error Form

    • Like the other forms, if you do not see a form you like, let us know.

    NOTE: The email addresses for the recipients of forms are drawn from the current roster at the time of a form submission. There is never a need to change the form configuration unless you want a different person to receive the form.

    Previewing Available Forms

    We have a number of forms already created and available for your use. You can browse these forms to see if one meets your needs or comes close to what you need.

    1. Go to Other Info -> Interactive Forms
    2. At the bottom, select a form number under "Preview available forms"
    3. Step backwards/forwards throughout the available forms

    If you see one you like, note its number to use in setting up your form. If you can't find one that fits your needs, let us know and we can make a new one. Let us know which one of the available forms is similar to what you need if there is such a form

    Enabling an Interactive Form

    • Set up the basic form options
      1. Go to Other Info -> Interactive Forms
      2. Click the  symbol
      3. Pick a form category
      4. Pick a form number
        • not required for registration forms—they have the basic contact info as part of the form by default, but additional questions can be included by selecting a form number
      5. Give your form a title
      6. Choose who will be allowed to submit the form
      7. If it is a game report, open the game report section for more options.
      8. Optionally, enter a description/instructions that will appear at the top of the form
      9. Select who will have access to the form
      10. Select whether the subject officials (for game reports or evaluation forms) will receive a copy of the submission
      11. Optionally disable the archiving of the submitted forms (email delivery only if archive is disabled)
      12. Click Update
    • Additional Game Report Options:
      1. Some forms automatically expand to create the same question regarding each member of the crew. Select "Loop Through All Officials" to enable that feature. You can also have the expansion skip the person submitting the form if they are in the crew.
      2. You can select the target group of officials if the form has a dropdown list of officials to be selected from.
      3. Select who gets a copy of the form and how the copy is sent.
      4. You can make the form required by the crew chief and/or the entire crew. This will place a reminder on the home screen for an official who is missing a report.
      5. You can optionally show the official's gender, age, and state ID on the form.

    • Select who, if any, will receive an email copy of the submitted form
      1. Go to Other Info -> Interactive Forms
      2. Select the desired form's checkbox
      3. Click the  symbol
      4. Select the desired recipients (no limit on how many are selected)
      5. Click "Save Changes"
    Section 3.3 : Association Maintenance (Category ID: 8)
    Top

    About archives, Creating Archives, and Deleting Archives
    Article ID:162 Posted:10/13/2009 7:00:31 PM Updated:3/23/2018 2:09:45 PM

    Archives contain a frozen snapshot of an organization's data allowing a user to view the organization's information as if it were the date the archive was made.

    To create an archive of your current data (administrators only):

    1. Go to "Other Info" -> "Archives"
    2. Click the symbol....and the archive is done.

    To add a custom name to an existing archive (administrators only):

    1. Go to "Other Info" -> "Archives"
    2. Click the symbol.
    3. Enter a name (or change/delete an existing name).
    4. Click Update

    To delete a previously created archive (administrators only):

    1. Go to "Other Info" -> "Archives"
    2. Click the symbol by the archive you want to delete

    IMPORTANT NOTES REGARDING ARCHIVING

    If you use RefTown's invoicing features AND plan to use RefTown's 1099 services, you must ensure that your settings of what should and should not be included in the 1099 amounts are correct prior to creating the archive.

    How does the RefTown registration process work?
    Article ID:176 Posted:12/28/2009 1:14:06 PM Updated:6/22/2010 12:30:05 PM

     The RefTown registration function can be utilized to both register new members to your organization as well as to manage your returning members.

    For registrations submitted by someone who is not logged in, the form will be placed into a pending status where an administrator can either reject or approve the registration. When approving the registration, there are two options:

    1. Move the registration  to the roster as a new entry
    2. Update an existing roster entry for an existing officials, school, or school/team contact

    If the form is submitted by someone who is already logged in, it will update that person’s roster entry with the information as entered on the registration form and will mark that person’s status as “registered.”

    In the off-season, you can clear the "registration" status of your current officials. It does nothing except for clearing that status bit. You can then request that each person log into their account and fill out the registration form—in order to determine who is returning and who is not.

    There is an option on the email page to address the email to only those who have not registered—allowing you to communicate with just those who have not yet registered for the new season.

    Using the Meeting/Event Calendar
    Article ID:178 Posted:1/6/2010 10:04:37 PM Updated:7/10/2020 11:39:19 AM

    The meeting event calendar can be used to post organization meetings, training, and various events other than games. Information about the item can include date, time, location, and general details.

    By default, the meeting/event list will show only recent and future items. All items can also be access through a "Show All Dates" that will appear at the top of the listing.

    Attendance can also be recorded with each meeting/event. The following symbols are used for attendance:

     - No data has been entered for this meeting

     - Data entered for this meeting but you were not recorded as present

    - Data entered for this meeting and you were recorded as present

    The next 3 events (a programmable number) on the calendar will also be listed on the site homepage.


    To add a new meeting/event, click the  symbol and enter the desired info then click "Update."

    To edit an existing meeting/event, click the checkbox for the desire item, then click the   symbol and changed the desired info then click "Update."

    To delete an existing meeting/event, click the checkbox for the desire item, then click the   symbol.

    ATTENDANCE

    To edit the attendance for an event, you have three options:

    1. Online Update:
      1. Click the checkbox for the desired event
      2. Click the  symbol
        • (instead of 1 and 2, you can also click the number that appears in the "Total Attending" column, which is only visible to administrators or those with permissions to edit the meeting calendar)
      3. Check the officials who attended...you also have the option of recording the official as "Excused".
      4. Click Update
    2. Export/import:
      1. Export the meeting details and list of possible attendees
        • (under Quick Links -> Export Attendance)
      2. Edit the spreadsheet placing a 1 in the box for the attending officials.
      3. Save the changes
      4. Click on Quick Links -> Import Attendance
      5. Select the file
      6. Click Import Now

    Remote Self Check-In
    Article ID:239 Posted:7/10/2020 11:37:18 AM Updated:2/24/2023 4:31:55 PM

    Remote Self Check-In is a way to verify attendance in remote/teleconference meetings using RefTown's Meeting/Event schedule. In summary, you enable a meeting for Remote Check-In. During the meeting, a present provides a 4-digit code to the attendees to enter into a check-in window on RefTown. That will record the person as present at that moment. The Remote Check-Ins can be done up to 4 times to verify continued attendance for longer meetings.


    PRE-MEEETING SETUP

    1. Go Schedules -> Meetings/Events

    2. Click the + to add a new meeting or select an existing meeting and click the edit button.

    3. Set up the meeting details (date, time, etc.) as desired

    4. Under the Remote Self Check-In section

      1. Click the enable box

      2. Enter a number of minutes that you want to have the check-in window open (perhaps 5 minutes, maybe 10)

        • If you plan to do multiple check-ins, enter the minimum number you are going to require for an official to be counted as present.For example, you might plan to do 3 but count someone as present if theyre present for at least

        • This has no effect until after the meeting when you process the attendance.you can change it later.

      3. You can pre-enter codes for each check-in if you want or you can let the system create them for you on the fly.

      4. You can pre-enter check-in start times if you want or you can open the Check-Ins on-demand.

        • We recommend on-demand so that you can coordinate the distribution of the Check-In code with when youre actually ready to do it in case youre ahead or behind schedule.

    5. Click Update


    IN-MEETING CHECK-IN

    1. If not pre-configured, an administrator clicks a button that says Get Code.

      • That will give the administrator a 4 digit code.

    2. An Administrator, on the teleconference, tells those in attendance the 4 digit code.

      • This can be done either verbally or perhaps putting it on screen in any number of ways so everyone can see it.

    3. If not configured to open at a pre-set time, an administrator,  clicks a button that says Open Check-In. That makes the check-in available to the officials.

      • If you have pre-set a start time but want to start it early, you can click the Open Check-In button at any time.

    4. Each official logs into RefTown.

      • On the home page will be a button that says Check-In.

    5. Each official should enter the provided code to complete the check-in.
       

      • If the official clicks the check-in button before check-in window closes, the system records their presence for that check-in.

    6. The check-in window closes automatically after the number of minutes specified in the setup.

    You can repeat this up to 3 more times throughout the meeting to ensure continued attendance.

    You can also copy a link from the meetings/events page for each check-in to be provided to your attendees, perhaps through a chat window such that they can click on the link to check in. If they're already logged into Reftown, it will record their check-in automatically. if they're not logged in, it will ask them for a username and password first.


    POST-MEETING PROCESSING

    1. An administrator returns to the meetings/events page and clicks on the edit attendance button.
       
    2. The site will tentatively count a person as present if their number of check-ins is at least the minimum configured in the setup.
       
    3. If you agree with the proposed Present status (already checked based on the count), you simply click the Update Attendance button.
    • You can manually check or uncheck some if you wish.
    • You can return to the attendance later to make updates if needed.
    • You can export the attendance data to Excel to do what every you want with it.
    • Officials can see their attendance status for each meeting.

    On-Site / Location-Based Self Check-In
    Article ID:241 Posted:7/10/2020 12:07:55 PM Updated:7/10/2020 12:12:33 PM

    On-Site / Location-Based Self Check-In is a feature that allows officials to check themselves in to a meeting/event based on their location as determined by the location functionality in a phone, tablet, or other device.

    PRE-MEEETING SETUP

    1. Go Schedules -> Meetings/Events

    2. Click the + to add a new meeting or select an existing meeting and click the edit button.

    3. Set up the meeting details (date, time, etc.) as desired

    4. Under the Location-Based Self Check-In section

      1. Click the enable box

      2. Enter how close a person must be to the designated check-in spot to be counted as present.
        • Note that indoor locations can be less precise and you may need to allow a larger range.
      3. Specify how early (in minutes before the scheduled meeting start time) an official is permitted to check-in.

      4. Specify how late (in minutes after the scheduled meeting start time) an official is permitted to check-in.

      5. You can pre-enter check-in location's latitude and longitude OR and administrator can, when you arrive at the location, click a button on the meeting check-in window to establish the check-in spot.

    5. Click Update


    IN-MEETING CHECK-IN

    1. If not pre-configured, an administrator, while at the preferred check-in location, clicks a button that says Set Location to define the latitude and longitude of check-in spot.

      • Ideally, this should be done on a device with GPS functionality at a location where the device is receiving a GPS signal.

    2. Each official logs into RefTown.

    3. On the home page will be a button that says Check-In.

      • If the official clicks the check-in button before check-in window closes while close enough to the designated check-in location, the system records their presence for that check-in.


    POST-MEETING PROCESSING

    The on-site check-in directly records an official as present for the meeting. There is no additional action needed by an administrator. However, an administrator may revise the attendance information as needed.
     


    NOTES:

    • GPS locations work best outdoors.
    • GPS locations my be impossible deep inside some buildings, particularly schools or in lower floors of multi-story buildings.
    • The GPS location may be possible near a door/window.
    • Sometimes, Wi-Fi can be used to identify a location in absence of a GPS lock. You may have to test this out. It is a case-by-case situation.
    • A GPS location last obtained by a device before entering a building can still be considered valid for the check-in for several minutes after losing the GPS signal....allowing a person to enter a building and still check-in for a while after losing the signal.

    Section 3.3.1 : Officials (Category ID: 10)
    Top

    Add officials to the database
    Article ID:125 Posted:4/22/2008 10:30:25 PM Updated:3/16/2021 8:26:04 PM

    There are two ways to add officials to your RefTown database:

    1. Direct entry on the website
    2. Import from an external source

    For large numbers of officials, the import method can be the most efficient.

    To add an official directly on the website, one at a time:

    1. Go to "Directories" -> "Officials"
    2. Click 
    3. A form will open for you to fill out (if it does not open, check your popup blocker)
    4. Enter the official's data
    5. Click "Update This Item" to submit/save the data
      1. Forms can also be submitted by pressing "Enter" when in simple text entry fields

    To add multiple officials by importing from an .xls/.xlsx file

    1. Go to "Directories" -> "Officials"
    2. Click "Quick Links" -> "Import / Export" -> "Import Officials" (direct link: Import Officials to Roster)
    3. Follow the instructions that appear on the page

    How does an administator edit an official's information?
    Article ID:34 Posted:4/25/2007 7:29:17 PM Updated:4/16/2013 9:36:37 PM

    To edit one or more official(s):

    1. Go to the officials roster (Directories -> Officials)
    2. Click the selection box in the rightmost column for the desired official(s)
    3. Click the "Edit Official" button
    4. Make the desired changes
    5. Either click "Update this Item" or (from some types of fields) press "Enter"
    6. The page will reload with the next selected official, or, if it is the last selected official, will disappear and return you to the roster

    Selecting more than one official in step 2 is the most efficient way to edit multiple officials.

    How do I add photos to the officials roster?
    Article ID:18 Posted:4/24/2007 11:39:40 PM Updated:6/21/2010 10:31:29 PM

    Organizations have the option to enable officials to upload their own photos or to have administrators upload the photos.

    To upload photos:

    1. Go to the officials roster
    2. Click on the placeholder or existing picture of the desired individual
    3. On the upload page that opens, click "Browse" and select the picture file for that individual
      •  This will not appear if you do not have permissions to add photos
    4. Click submit
    • Recommended size: between 320x240 and 800x600 pixels. Uploading high-resolution photos will work but the process will be much slower

    Can more than one account share the same email address?
    Article ID:48 Posted:4/25/2007 10:46:08 PM Updated:6/21/2010 11:10:03 PM

    Yes. Multiple accounts (Officials, School/Teams/Locations/Payors, or School/Team Contacts) can share the same email address.

    If the same address is used multiple times, each person will have access to the others’ information and will also have the same username and password.

    How do I enable my association for online registration?
    Article ID:88 Posted:6/5/2007 10:38:57 AM Updated:4/16/2013 9:36:37 PM

    To enable online registration for your organization: 

    1. Go to "Other Info" -> "Interactive Forms"
    2. Click the  symbol.
    3. For Category, select either "Registration for Officials," "Registration for Schools/Teams," or "Registration for School/Team Personnel"
    4. Optionally, select a Form #. The registration form, by default, includes all the basic contact info. The extra forms extend the form to include other topics
    5. Enter a "Title"
    6. You do not need to select who will have access to this form—since it is a registration form, it will be accessible to the public
    7. Click "Update this Item"
    8. Next, select the newly entered form from the of available forms
    9. Click the  symbol
    10. Select those who should receive an email copy of the submitted forms

    How do I manage officials registration forms?
    Article ID:87 Posted:6/5/2007 10:34:36 AM Updated:12/12/2020 11:31:12 PM

    Registration forms filled out by logged-in officials automatically update their roster entries.

    For users who are not logged in at the time of filling out the registration form, the information is stored in a "Potential Members" list. There are two ways to get to pending registrations:

    1. From the home page, click on the number by the "Pending Registrations" notice
    2. Go to the officials roster and click on Manage Registrations in the "QuickLinks" menu

     On that page, you can

    • Move a person to the roster as a new official (not already on the roster). To do that:
      1. Click the checkbox by one or more of the registrations you want to approve
      2. Click 
         
    • Match a submission with an existing official---transferring all registration information to the roster as if they were logged in when filling it out
      1. Click the checkbox by one or more of the registrations you want to approve
      2. Click "Select an Existing Official" for that registration
      3. Select that official's name on the dropdown box of existing officials
      4. Click
         
    • Delete the registration
      1. Click the checkbox by one or more of the registrations you want to delete
      2. Click 

    How can I keep track of who has registered for the current season?
    Article ID:68 Posted:4/27/2007 12:49:20 AM Updated:12/13/2020 12:09:49 AM

    After clearing your previous season's registration status through the the new season setup page, you can have your officials fill out the online registration form (if enabled). This will mark them as registered on the roster.

    • You can identify who has registered by the background color in the "Account Status" column after enabling "Account Status" under the "Official Search" form.
    • You can also apply a search filter on the roster to show only those who have registered or only those who have not.
    • Common predefined searches for registration status can be found under the Quick Links menu on the officials directory.

    From the email page, you can choose to send an email to only those who have not registered to remind them to log in and register for the new season.

    What happens when I delete an official?
    Article ID:138 Posted:6/19/2008 12:43:55 AM Updated:6/22/2010 11:32:43 AM

    When you attempt to delete an official, several things are done:

    1. First, the official is checked to see if the official is set to receive various site notices (roster updates, game acceptances, etc.)
      • If so, you'll be asked to update those items before proceeding
    2. The official is removed from any extra functions on the site:
      • extra permissions, if any
      • association contact
      • etc.
    3. Various data regarding the official is deleted
      • board/committee membership
      • availability
      • school/team scratch info
      • document authorship is cleared (document not deleted)
    4. The games database is check for assigned games
      • If the official has games in the system in any form (archived, canceled, or active), they will not be deleted but will be placed in a disabled status that is all but deleted (no login, not list in roster, etc) but is accessible to administrators.
      • If the official has no games in the system, that official’s account is completely deleted

    How to copy a roster entry from one type of roster to another or from one association to another.
    Article ID:177 Posted:1/6/2010 1:09:23 AM Updated:4/16/2013 9:36:37 PM

    To copy an official to the school/team contact roster or to copy a school/team contact to the officials roster, do the following:

    1. Click the checkbox by the person’s name you want to copy
    2. Click the  button
    3. Select where to copy the entry to
    4. Click "Copy"

    This also works between association/organizations if you are an administrator in both.

    How do I manage ratings for officials?
    Article ID:188 Posted:8/16/2011 3:10:54 PM Updated:8/3/2024 3:05:31 PM

    There are two ways to edit the ratings for officials....individualy or for you entire group.

    To edit a single official's rating

    1. Go to the officials directory
    2. Edit the official's entry
    3. Enter a number in the rating box.
    4. Click Update

    To edit your entire group of officials

    1. Go to the officials roster.
    2. Click QuickLinks -> "Edit All Officials" -> "Status, Levels & Ratings"
    3. Enter one or more numbers as desired
    4. Click "Save Changes"

    Ratings can also be managed by exporting the roster to Excel, updating the ratings column, then importing the modified spreadsheet back into Reftown.

    What happens when I add an official and how do they get their account log information?
    Article ID:193 Posted:12/7/2011 11:58:30 PM Updated:4/21/2021 4:52:15 PM

     If you add officials (or school/team contacts) directly on the website roster and include a primary email address, the official (school/team contact) will automatically recieve two emails. One will be a RefTown welcome letter giving them an overview of the RefTown system. The second will include their username and a link through which they can establish a password..

    If you import the officials through an Excel spreadsheet, the above notices are not automatically sent. The accounts are active, but the official will not be made aware of their account and will not be notified of their account credentials.

    To notify them, you have a few options.

    1. You can send login credentials to all officials (school/team contacts), new or otherwise.
      • Look under the Quick Links menu on the directory page for options to send login information to all active officials (school/team contacts)
    2. You can send login credentials indivudually from the roster.
      • Near each name on the roster will be a "More" menu. Under that menu will be an entry to send any official their login info. This will unlock their account if locked as well.
    3. You can search for send to new officials by using the find user function.
      • Go to Admin -> Find User.
      • Type in any part of a name/email you wish to search for.....leave all fields blank to search for all.
        • Form the list that is returned, you'll be able see who has logged in and the last time they did so, if at all.
        • The same padlock from option #2 is also here. Click it to send a person their login info.
        • If it shows "none" for their password or their username is blank, they've not yet initialized their account....and have never been notified.
        • If they already have an account with another organization using the same email address, they may already have a username and password but will still show as having never logged into your system. You can send them their login info to alert them to the fact that their account is now linked to your system.
        • Note that when an official has multiple email address, they only need to establish a username and password for one. You need not send login info for the additional email address if the person has login info for at least one.



    What status can an official's account be in?
    Article ID:197 Posted:10/12/2012 12:41:42 AM Updated:10/12/2012 12:41:42 AM

     An officials account can be placed in one of 3 options....

    1. Active:
      • Can log in
      • Can be assigned
      • Receives emails to members
      • Appears on roster to all
    2. InActive:
      • Can log in
      • Cannot be assigned
      • Does not receive emails to members unless explicitly included
      • Does not appear on roster to all by default but can be found by all members if they search for those with inactive status
    3. Disabled
      • Cannot log in
      • Cannot be assigned
      • Cannot be addressed through internal email system
      • Appears on roster only to administrators.
      • Virtually the same as deleting from the roster but you keep their info in the system.

    How do I merge duplicated roster entries?
    Article ID:200 Posted:10/30/2013 3:32:57 PM Updated:10/30/2013 3:32:57 PM

     In the event you end up creating more than one roster entry for the same person or team, you can use the merge feature to blend the two entries into a single entry. This operation will move all games associated with both entries to be associated with the one combined entry. Other secondary data, such as permissions and scratches and availability will be merged. In the event of conflicting information in the two availability calendars, only one calendar will effectively be saved.

    To merge to duplicates, you must first location the two so that they appear on the same screen. Some duplicates can be found using the "Show Duplicates" report under the QuickLinks menu for each roster type (Officials, Schools/Teams, or School/Team Contacts). You can also use the search form on each of these pages to search for a part of the name that is common to both entries. It may also be easier if you edit one of the two entries to have a name similar to the other (e.g. School ABC and School ABC 1). It is possible to merge more than two down to a single entry. There is technical no limit on how many duplicates you can select to be combined at one time but it may be easier if you only merge 2-3 to 1.

    Once you have the duplicate entries listed, click both entry's selection checkboxes. Then click the merge button: .

    This will open a new page that will list each of the entreis, one per column. If the type of data is not the same between the entries, you will have a choice of which data to keep in the final entry. Once you have selected the data you wish to keep, click "Merge" at the bottom of the form.

    How do I add/upload multiple photos to the officials roster?
    Article ID:227 Posted:5/27/2017 11:25:07 AM Updated:5/27/2017 11:26:45 AM

    If you have several photos of officials to add to the roster, the best option is a bulk upload where you add all of the photos to the site then match the photos to the correct officials.

    First, youll need to upload the photos

    1. Click on Directories -> Officials
    2. Click on Quick Links -> Roster Management -> Roster Photos
    3. Click on "Bulk Upload"
    4. Click the Upload Button...
    5. Drag your photo files into the upload box
      1. This will place all photos into a temporary location on Reftown
    6. Wait for all photos to upload.

    Next, you need to match the uploaded photos to the right officials.

    1. Click on Directories -> Officials
    2. Click on Quick Links -> Roster Management -> Roster Photos
    3. Click "Match Uploaded Photos"
    4. Select the name by the appropriate photos (one or more at a time)
    5. Click Save Matched Photos to save those that have been selected.

    Note, you can match just one photo at a time or many at a time. We recommend matching 5-10 and then saving. As you save a few, the list photos to work with will be reduced, making it easier to manage.

    Custom Roster Fields (Schools or Officials Old Version)
    Article ID:230 Posted:9/20/2017 12:03:17 AM Updated:4/27/2021 12:56:04 AM

    NOTE: The "Officials" version of this feature is deprecated. The Schools/Team version is still availableExisting users may still make use of it but it will be removed at some future date. Those who have never used this function will not have access to it. A replacement function exists allowing unlimited numbers of custom fields with greater configuration options.

    RefTown offers several customizable roster fields. Those fields can be programmed to control who can see the information and who can edit the information, and whether the field has any bearing on assignments.

    Currently, we offer 5 each of the following types of fields (Dates, Yes/No Checkboxes, Numerical, and General Text). These custom fields are available for both officials and for schools/teams.

    To enable one or more of these fields,

    1. Go to Admin -> Configuration.
    2. Click on Custom Fields, Individual Options (under the appropriate section, Schools/Teams or Officials)
      1. In this section
        1. give the field a name
        2. define whether the official can see or edit the information stored in this field
        3. define how it affects assigning, if needed.
    3. Go to Admin -> Configuration
    4. Click on Custom Fields, Directory Display Options 
      1. In this section
        1. Define who else can see the information
        2. Define whether the information, if it is visible, should be shown on the default roster or  visible only if selected in the search form.

    Custom Roster Fields (Officials New Version)
    Article ID:271 Posted:4/27/2021 12:54:50 AM Updated:4/27/2021 1:15:12 AM

    RefTown offers customizable roster fields. Those fields can be programmed to control who can see the information, who can edit the information, and whether the field has any bearing on assignments.

    To configure the fields:

    1. Go to Admin -> Configuration
    2. Under OFFICIALS DIRECTORY, click on Custom Fields (right column)
    3. In the top right corner, click "Configure"
    4. Click 
    5. In the form that appears, enter:
      • The field name (required)
      • The field type (required)
        • Checkbox, Number, Date, or Text
      • Optionally, Enter
        • A Category (a folder if previously configured) if you want to organization many fields in to groups
        • How many times the field can be entered for a person
        • Who can see the field
        • Whether the field will be show on the directory by default (vs. on demand)
        • Whether the official can edit his/her own information for this field
        • Whether the field must be set for the official to be assignable
          • A threshold if the field is a number
          • A date if the field is a date.
    6. Click Update

    There are several ways to Access or Enter Data:

    1. From the Officials Directory under Quick Links -> Edit All Officials -> Additional Info.
    2. From the Officials Directory, click the "More" menu for a specific official, then choose Additional Info
    3. From Admin -> Configuration, under OFFICIALS, click on "Custom Fields"

    From a listing of all of the fields, click on either the field name or the Record Count to see a listing of all who have info for that field. From there you can search for entries based on several criteral or add or delete more entries for that field.

    From a listing of all fields for a single official, click on the value column to add a new value or edit an existing value for that person.

    This data can also be viewed on the main officials directory and exported/imported along with the directory.

    To show certain data

    1. Expand the "Official Search" form.
    2. In the bottom right of the search form, click "Additional Info" to select one or more fields to display
    3. Click Search.

    The selected fields will be show in a new column for each official. If the field is not listed for an official, no value has been set for that official.

    Additional Usage Tips

    • Once the field has been displayed on the directory, an export of the directory will also include the info.
    • Once the field has been displayed on the directory, you can re-open the search form to access additional function that allow you to further filter the directory based on the additional info.
    • Once the field has been displayed on the directory and you have used the filtering functionality, you can then use the quick access buttons (the symbols in the column header for the names column) to email the displayed list of officials, the games assigned to the listed officials, or the game statistics for the listed officials.

    Configuring and Managing Registration Payment
    Article ID:295 Posted:6/9/2022 12:25:57 PM Updated:6/9/2022 12:34:51 PM

    To enable payments related to officials registrations, assuming you have already enabled a registration form...

    1. Go to Other -> Interactive Forms
    2. Click "Configure Types"
    3. Add/Edit/Delete registration types as needed.
    4. Edit each registration type to declare what fee is associated with each type
    5. Return to Other -> Interactive Forms
    6. Click "Configure Options"
    7. Add the PayPal email address to which the registrations fees should be paid
    8. Optionally, declare that the official is responsible for paying the PayPal fees...this will increase the amount the official pays such that the amount you receive will be the exact amount defined for the registration types. Otherwise, the amount you receive will be reduced by the amount of the PayPal fees.

    One you have registrations in place, you can filter the pending registrations by payment status and selectively accept those that have paid.

    How to send a password reset email to Officials
    Article ID:307 Posted:1/2/2023 11:33:21 AM Updated:1/2/2023 11:37:28 AM

    You have 3 options for sending password reset emails to officials.

    1. Send to an individual
    2. Sent to all active officials who have never logged in
    3. Send to all active officials regardless of a prior login

    To Send to An Individual

    1. Go to Directories -> Officials
    2. Locate the individual on the directory
    3. Click the "More" menu
    4. Click "Send Login Information"

    NOTE: This is automatically done when you add a new official through the web interface, but not if you add officials through an excel import.

    To Send to All Active Officials who have never logged in:

    1. Go to Directories -> Officials
    2. Click on Quick Links
    3. Click "Send Login Information"
    4. Click "New"
      • New indicates that you want to send to accounts that are new where new is determined by their login history....no prior login is considered new, even if a prior password reset email was sent.

    To Send to All Active Officials who have never logged in:

    1. Go to Directories -> Officials
    2. Click on Quick Links
    3. Click "Send Login Information"
    4. Click "All Officials"
      • This sends password reset emails to ALL active officials

    NOTES:

    • When a password reset email is sent to an official that has never logged in, regardless of the method above, your "Welcome Letter", if configured, will also be sent to that official. The Welcome Letter can be configured under Admin -> Configuration, OFFICIALS RWGISTRATION / NEW OFFICIAL, Welcome Letter.
    • When you send a password reset email, any account "lock" on that is set due to incorrect password attempts is reset.
    • The password reset emails are sent only to the primary email address on the officials account.
    • All password reset emails are time limited. The link in the email expires after 72 hours. However, from within the email, the official can request a new reset email and start again.

    Syncing License/Certification Information with External Systems
    Article ID:321 Posted:9/2/2024 9:57:18 PM Updated:9/8/2024 4:36:47 PM

    Reftown has the ability to synchronize certification/license data with external systems.

    Reftown Syncs with: 

    • USSF
    • Arbiter (Oregon Only for now)

    The synchronization of license info for both systems depends on matching up the officials between the two systems. Each organization can be programmed to match on a variety of criteria, up to 4 different elements.

    Matches can be made using the following:

    Reftown USSF / Arbiter
    Email1, Email2, OR Email3 (any one) Email
    Last Name Last Name
    First Name OR Nickname (either one) First Name
    Date of Birth Date of Birth

    Some organizations require a match on all 4 lines. Some allow for a "3-point" match. A "3-point" match includes Email, Last Name, and either a First Name/Nickname match OR a Date of Birth match. Some organizations may even choose to allow a less precise match using as little as the email address. Note that capitalization does not matter. The actual letters, numbers, punctuation, and spacing does matter.

    If your account is not matching the USSF/Arbiter system, you will need to update your profile on one of the systems to match the information in the other. It doesn't matter which one you update. Note that updates in the external systems may not immediately be available to Reftown. Please allow for a few hours for the changes to appear.

    An official see the status of his or her licenses and registration under their profile by clicking their name in the top right, then "My Profile". The information is in the section for "My Qualifications".

    USSF Name or Date of Birth Updates: https://ussoccerfederation.my.site.com/lcsupport/s/article/Change-Profile-Page-Name-and-Date-of-Birth

    Section 3.3.2 : Schools/Teams (Category ID: 11)
    Top

    Add locations, schools, teams, and/or payors to the database
    Article ID:126 Posted:4/22/2008 10:35:51 PM Updated:4/16/2013 9:36:37 PM

    There are two ways to add locations, schools, teams, or payors to your RefTown database:

    1. Direct entry on the website
    2. Import from an external source

    For large numbers of locations, schools, teams, or payors , the import method can be the most efficient.

    To add a location, school, team, payor directly on the website, one at a time:

    1. Go to "Directories" -> "Schools/Teams"
    2. Click 
    3. A form will open for you to fill out (if it does not open, check your popup blocker)
    4. Enter the official's data
    5. Click "Update This Item" to submit/save the data

    ·        (Forms can also be submitted by pressing "Enter" when in simple text entry fields)

    To add multiple locations, schools, teams, and/or payors by importing from an .xls file

    1. Go to "Directories" -> "Schools/Teams"
    2. Click on "Quck Links"
    3. Click on "Import to Directory"  (direct link:Import Schools/Teams/Locations)
    4. Follow the instructions that appear on the page

    How does an administator edit a school's or team's information?
    Article ID:35 Posted:4/25/2007 7:31:09 PM Updated:4/16/2013 9:36:37 PM

      To edit one or more school or team:

    1. Go to the school/team roster (Directories -> Schools/Teams)
    2. Click the selection box in the rightmost column for the desired school(s)
    3. Click the "Edit School" button
    4. Make the desired changes
    5. Either click "Update this Item" or (from some types of fields) press "Enter"
    6. The page will reload with the next selected school, or, if it is the last selected school, will disappear and return you to the roster

    Note: Selecting more than one school in step 2 is the most efficient way to edit multiple schools.

    Can more than one account share the same email address?
    Article ID:48 Posted:4/25/2007 10:46:08 PM Updated:6/21/2010 11:10:03 PM

    Yes. Multiple accounts (Officials, School/Teams/Locations/Payors, or School/Team Contacts) can share the same email address.

    If the same address is used multiple times, each person will have access to the others’ information and will also have the same username and password.

    On the schools/teams roster, what do the Payor, Location, Home, and Visitor check boxes mean and how do I change them?
    Article ID:80 Posted:5/8/2007 3:10:04 PM Updated:11/17/2017 2:51:26 PM

    By default, a school/team entry is a payor, a home team, a visiting team, and a location. You can, however, define which lists a given school will appear in.

    A school will only show up in the defined fields when entering games. In order to make the game entry more efficient, you should deselect the options that are not relevant. If you leave only "Location" selected, that entry will only be a selected item in the location field. It will not appear as a possible home/visiting team or as a payor. If you deselect all options, it will remain in the roster but will not be selectable in any of the matching fields on the game entry page (You can also "hide" a school").

    To change the category of a school, you have two options:

    1.      To edit all of them (or just several) at once, go to "Directories" -> "Schools." Then click on "QuickLinks" (red box in the upper left area of the page). Select "Manage Categories." This will give you a long list of schools with checkboxes for the 4 different types of lists. Make your changes and click Update.

    2.      Alternately, to edit just a few, go to "Directories"-> "Schools/Teams." Search for the school of interest. Click its checkbox and "edit" that school to set the desired school type.

    Upon returning to a game entry page, the lists should now reflect the selections made.

    How do I enable my association for online registration?
    Article ID:88 Posted:6/5/2007 10:38:57 AM Updated:4/16/2013 9:36:37 PM

    To enable online registration for your organization: 

    1. Go to "Other Info" -> "Interactive Forms"
    2. Click the  symbol.
    3. For Category, select either "Registration for Officials," "Registration for Schools/Teams," or "Registration for School/Team Personnel"
    4. Optionally, select a Form #. The registration form, by default, includes all the basic contact info. The extra forms extend the form to include other topics
    5. Enter a "Title"
    6. You do not need to select who will have access to this form—since it is a registration form, it will be accessible to the public
    7. Click "Update this Item"
    8. Next, select the newly entered form from the of available forms
    9. Click the  symbol
    10. Select those who should receive an email copy of the submitted forms

    How do I manage school/team/location registration forms?
    Article ID:127 Posted:4/22/2008 11:29:47 PM Updated:4/16/2013 9:36:37 PM

    Registration forms filled out by logged in schools automatically update their roster entries.

    For schools that are not logged in at the time of filling out the registration form, the information is stored in a pending registration list. To get to pending registrations, go to the schools roster and click on Manage Registrations (just above directory table).

     On that page, you can:

    • Move the school/team/location to the roster as a New school/team/location (not already on the roster)
    • Match the submission with an existing school/team/location—transferring all the information to the roster as if they were logged in when filling it out
    • Delete the registration

    How do I merge duplicated roster entries?
    Article ID:200 Posted:10/30/2013 3:32:57 PM Updated:10/30/2013 3:32:57 PM

     In the event you end up creating more than one roster entry for the same person or team, you can use the merge feature to blend the two entries into a single entry. This operation will move all games associated with both entries to be associated with the one combined entry. Other secondary data, such as permissions and scratches and availability will be merged. In the event of conflicting information in the two availability calendars, only one calendar will effectively be saved.

    To merge to duplicates, you must first location the two so that they appear on the same screen. Some duplicates can be found using the "Show Duplicates" report under the QuickLinks menu for each roster type (Officials, Schools/Teams, or School/Team Contacts). You can also use the search form on each of these pages to search for a part of the name that is common to both entries. It may also be easier if you edit one of the two entries to have a name similar to the other (e.g. School ABC and School ABC 1). It is possible to merge more than two down to a single entry. There is technical no limit on how many duplicates you can select to be combined at one time but it may be easier if you only merge 2-3 to 1.

    Once you have the duplicate entries listed, click both entry's selection checkboxes. Then click the merge button: .

    This will open a new page that will list each of the entreis, one per column. If the type of data is not the same between the entries, you will have a choice of which data to keep in the final entry. Once you have selected the data you wish to keep, click "Merge" at the bottom of the form.

    Using "Plus Codes" to help officials find gym/field entrances
    Article ID:299 Posted:7/31/2022 7:41:19 PM Updated:7/31/2022 7:50:23 PM

    Plus codes are a location identifier that can be used to mark a very specific location far more precisely than an address. You can use them to indicate a specific entrance to a facility to help officials locate where they need to go.

    Once added to Reftown, there will be a plus code symbol by the address of the location. It looks like this:

    To add a plus to to a location (assuming you already have an address for the location.

    1. Find the location in the Reftown directory.
    2. Click on the address.
    3. Choose "Google Maps"
    4. Locate the preferred entrance
      • It may be helpful to turn on satellite view by clicking the "layers" button at the bottom left...then zooming/panning as needed to locate the entrance.
    5. At the point of the preferred entrance, click your right mouse, then left click on the latitude and longitude (top of the list).
      • This automatically copies the latitude and longitude into your clipboard
    6. In a new window, go to https://plus.codes/maps
    7. At the top of the new window, paste the latitude and longitude that you copied in step 5 (Control-V or right mouse and select the paste option in the context menu).
    8. Press Enter
      • The map will update to show a small reddish box indicating your preferred location
    9. Highlight the code as that appears at the bottom of the screen.
      • It will look something like this: 86CQ2FXX+F2
    10. Copy the code by pressing Control-C (or right mouse and choose copy)
    11. Return to Reftown
    12. Check the box for the location and then click edit (shortcut...double click the area of the box for a quick edit)
    13. Paste the code into the box for "Plus Code"
    14. Click "Update".

    Done! Now, when a user clicks on the plus code symbol, it will show them the location of that exact entrance...they can even navigate to that point.

    Repeat for other locations as necessary.

    Section 3.3.3 : School/Team Contacts (Category ID: 32)
    Top

    Setup school/team personnel to log into to one or more teams
    Article ID:135 Posted:5/26/2008 10:44:18 AM Updated:9/28/2023 12:02:21 PM

    A payor/location/team contact can be configured to have access to one or more payor/location/teamwith one username and one password.

    A payor/location/team can be configured to grant access to one or more payor/location/team contactseach with their own username and password.

    For a person affiliated with a payor/location/team to have access, 3 things must be done:

    1. The payor/location/team must be listed on the payor/location/team directory
    2. The person must be listed on the payor/location/team contacts directory
    3. The payor/location/team and the payor/location/team contact must be linked together

    To link a payor/location/team contact to a payor/location/team:

    1. Go to the payor/location/team directory
    2. Locate the payor/location/team of interest
    3. Click the checkbox(es) to select the payor/location/team contact(s) of interest
    4. Click the assign/link button
    5. Select the title of the person (titles are managed through the configuration pages)
    6. Select the name of the contact
    7. Click "Save New Role"
    8. Repeat for all persons you with to link to the selected school
    9. Click "Close Window" when done

    Alternative Method:

    To link a payor/location/team to a payor/location/team contact :

    1. Go to the payor/location/team contact directory
    2. Locate the payor/location/team contact(s) of interest
    3. Click the checkbox(es) to select the payor/location/team contact(s) of interest
    4. Click the assign/link button  
    5. Select the title of the person (titles are managed through the configuration pages)
    6. Select the payor/location/team
    7. Click "Save New Role"
    8. Repeat for all payor/location/team you with to link to the selected contact
    9. Click "Close Window" when done

    How do I merge duplicated roster entries?
    Article ID:200 Posted:10/30/2013 3:32:57 PM Updated:10/30/2013 3:32:57 PM

     In the event you end up creating more than one roster entry for the same person or team, you can use the merge feature to blend the two entries into a single entry. This operation will move all games associated with both entries to be associated with the one combined entry. Other secondary data, such as permissions and scratches and availability will be merged. In the event of conflicting information in the two availability calendars, only one calendar will effectively be saved.

    To merge to duplicates, you must first location the two so that they appear on the same screen. Some duplicates can be found using the "Show Duplicates" report under the QuickLinks menu for each roster type (Officials, Schools/Teams, or School/Team Contacts). You can also use the search form on each of these pages to search for a part of the name that is common to both entries. It may also be easier if you edit one of the two entries to have a name similar to the other (e.g. School ABC and School ABC 1). It is possible to merge more than two down to a single entry. There is technical no limit on how many duplicates you can select to be combined at one time but it may be easier if you only merge 2-3 to 1.

    Once you have the duplicate entries listed, click both entry's selection checkboxes. Then click the merge button: .

    This will open a new page that will list each of the entreis, one per column. If the type of data is not the same between the entries, you will have a choice of which data to keep in the final entry. Once you have selected the data you wish to keep, click "Merge" at the bottom of the form.

    Give a Payor/Team Contact Access to an entire Group of Payors/Teams at one time
    Article ID:309 Posted:9/28/2023 9:29:47 AM Updated:9/28/2023 9:29:47 AM

    To give a payor/team contact visibility to all his/her teams at one time, youll need to group her teams into a League or District. 

    Steps.

    Create the District/League

    1. Go to Admin Configuration
    2. In block #5, click on Districts/Leagues
    3. Click
    4. In the window that opens, add a new District/League (your choice of what to call it)
    5. Click Update

    Add teams to the District

    1. Go to Directories -> Teams
    2. Open the Team Search Form
    3. Search for the teams to group together
    4. Click Search
    5. Check the boxes for all of the relevant teams.
    6. Click
    7. In the window that opens, under District/"League", choose the appropriate District/League name
    8. Save
    9. Repeat 8-12 (or 12-13 if you had multiple teams selected) until youre through all teams.

    Give the Contact access to the entire District/League

    1. Go to Directories -> Payor/Location/Team Contacts
    2. Check the box for contact person
    3. Click
    4. In the window that opens, choose the By District/"By League" tab.
    5. Under Role choose a relevant role
      • More/Different roles can be created if youd like other titles
    6. Under District/Leauge, choose the appropriate District/League
    7. Click Save New District/League Role.
    Section 3.3.4 : Game/Match Properties (Category ID: 12)
    Top

    What does "Clear Previous Season/Setup for new Season..." do?
    Article ID:64 Posted:4/27/2007 12:24:35 AM Updated:6/21/2010 11:27:33 PM

    This link, found on the "Admin" -> "Configuration" page, takes you to a page that provides several functions to prepare for a new season. Among those options are:

    • Archiving of prior season's information
      • Administrators, assignors, officials, or schools can “archive” data to move it out of the standard system while retaining it for future reference
    • Resetting of all availability calendars and scratched schools entries
    • Clearing all game requests
    • Clearing registration status
    • Clearing all games and assignments, including invoices
      • NOTE: This will also delete all archived games
    • Clearing all invoices
    • Clearing the events/meetings calendar
    • Clearing the potential members list
    Section 3.3.5 : Printing and Exporting Information (Category ID: 27)
    Top

    How does an assignor print schedules for officials?
    Article ID:58 Posted:4/26/2007 12:01:02 AM Updated:6/21/2010 11:23:34 PM

    You have two choices when printing schedules for officials or schools/teams:

    1. Print only for those without email
    2. Print for all

    You can also print by date.

    To print the schedules:

    1. Go do "Schedules" -> "Game Management"
    2. Click "Print/Email Schedules"
    3. Select the date range to print
    4. Select who you are printing (emailing) for—by date, official, or school/team (and which games to include if for schools/teams)
    5. Select whether to print the officials’ names on the output
    6. Select whether to print assignor-only notes on the printouts
    7. Click "Search Now"

    A page will open listing all schedules based on the chosen criteria. When printed, this page will place each official’s schedule on a separate page.

    How does an assignor print or email schedules for teams/schools?
    Article ID:59 Posted:4/26/2007 12:03:58 AM Updated:11/14/2019 11:30:58 AM

    To print/email the schedules:

    1. Go to "Schedules" -> "Game Management"
    2. Click "Print/Email Schedules" (bottom right)
    3. Select the date range to print
    4. Select how to group the schedule (by School)
    5. Select the the role to include for each school/team
      • Include the game for a school/team if they are the Payor, the Location, the Home team, or the Visiting team.
    6. If you want the officials' names to be shown, click "Show Officials' Names"
    7. If this is for printing, click the "For Printing" checkbox...this changes the format to be better suited for printing.
    8. Click "Search Now"

    A page will open listing all schedules based on the chosen criteria. Depending on your search terms, this page can take a while to load.

    At this point, you can remove some schools from the list of recipients if needed. You can also add an optional message to the email that will be sent.

    Finally, click "Send Schedules by Email"

    When printed, this page will place each schools schedule on a separate page.

    This function is the same function that is used to send schedule reminders as configured under the configuration pages.

    How do I print or export an officials or schools roster?
    Article ID:56 Posted:4/25/2007 11:52:22 PM Updated:6/21/2010 11:22:29 PM

    The printing of rosters from RefTown is done by exporting the data to your own application (e.g. Excel) for formatting as you wish.

    To export a roster:

    1. Go to the roster you wish to export (officials, schools/teams, or school/team contacts)
    2. Apply any filters you wish in order to export a partial roster
    3. Click "QuickLinks" then “Export/Download . . .”
    4. Save the file on your computer so that you can edit and/or print it

    In order to protect the email addresses of those on the roster from potential junk mail, the exported information will not include email addresses unless you are an administrator.

    Section 3.3.6 : Access Permissions (Category ID: 28)
    Top

    What are the different permissions groups that an official can be part of?
    Article ID:61 Posted:4/26/2007 11:52:26 PM Updated:9/13/2023 2:03:50 PM
    Administrator
    • Association Admins have access to ALL site functions. An administrator is automatically part of all other groups. There is no need for an administrator to be given any other permissions.

    Assignment & Game Statistics, View
     

    • View numerical reports of games and game assignment statistics by level, league and other game parameters.
    Assignments, View All
    • View (but not modify) all game assignments

    Assignor

    Other than the Association Admin, the Assignor group has the most extensive permissions. This group can:

    • Manage all roster information for schools or officials
    • View and manage all game entries
    • View and manage all game assignments
    • View and modify all availability calendars
    • Manage the scratched schools list
    • Manage configuration settings related to games and assigning
    • Manage game requests from schools/teams
    Assignor, Limited A limited assignor can
    • Enter games
    • Assign games they enter
    • Assign games where they are marked as the owner (by full assignor or administrator)
    • View all games
    • Manage Availability/Scratches
    Assignor, Limited 2 A limited assignor "2" can
    • Enter games
    • Assign games they enter
    • Assign games where they are marked as the owner (by full assignor or administrator)

    They cannot:

    • See officials assigned to games they do not own unless those assignments are otherwise visible to the general membership
    • Manage or see an officials availability or scratch details.
      • They can see the impact of those as visible from the assignments screen.
    Availability Reports
    • View reports across one or more days regarding officials' availability information.

    Ballot/Signup/Quiz Management

    • Configure and manage signups, quizzes, and ballots
    • Have access to the results of ballots that are closed but have not been published (if the ballot is not configured to automatically publish the results)
    • Can designate others to manage specific ballots/signups/quizes (view the results) once entered

      (These are now 3 separate permissions)
    Board/Committee Management
    • Can edit the board and committee directory pages
    Custom Text Management
    • Manage the areas for custom text at the top and bottom of each page

    Document Manager

    • Add or remove documents from the Documents page.
    Document Viewer
    • View documents that do not have permissions for all to see

    Email

    • Send email through the Email page on the site to preconfigured groups of officials and/or schools/teams

    Email Group Management

    • Can add, edit, or delete groups and who is in those groups

    Evaluation Management

    • Have access to all schedules and assignments
    • Have access to a page that will generate a list of games that are cross-referenced between designated evaluators and all other officials
    • Designate other Evaluators

    Evaluator

    • Are permitted to fill out evaluation forms identified as "Observer" evaluation forms

    Events

    • Manage items on the Meetings/Events page

    Finances

    • Has view access to all games and assignments
    • Manage the creation of invoices for schools or officials
    • View all roster information (including phone numbers and addresses marked private)
    Form Management
    • Can configure interactive forms
    • Can view submitted forms

    Forums

    • Manage contents of online forums (not interactive forums at this time, just announcement forums)
    Officials Directory, Additional Info Editor
    • Allows a person to edit additional info fields for officials without having full roster editing permission.
    Officials Directory, Additional Info View All
    • Allows a person to view additional info fields for officials without having full roster viewing permission.

    Officials Directory, Edit

    • Manage the normal officials directory with full edit privileges
    • Manage the pending registration list
    Officials Directory, View All
    • View all roster information (including phone numbers and addresses marked private)

    Registration Management

    • Have access to the list of registration forms submitted by individuals who are not logged into RefTown (a.k.a., Potential Members)
    • Are permitted to delete such submissions and are permitted to add the individuals to the main roster or update an existing official with the information submitted on the registration form

    School/Team Directory, Edit

    • Manage the normal school/team directory with full edit privileges
    • Manage the pending registration list

    What information do schools/teams have access to?
    Article ID:62 Posted:4/27/2007 12:14:02 AM Updated:6/21/2010 11:26:55 PM

    Schools/Teams have access to a very limited set of information:

    • Schools can view all games entered in the system
    • Schools, by default, can view the games that have been assigned or not but not the names of the assigned officials
      • Options are available, under the configuration pages, to allow schools to see the officials’ names
    • Schools/Teams can see a roster of officials that includes ONLY names and photos—by default no contact information is made available to schools
      • Options are available, under the configuration pages, to allow schools to see the officials’ contact information
    • Schools can view ballots/signups that are enabled for schools to vote on

    How do I grant an official extra access permissions?
    Article ID:95 Posted:6/5/2007 5:19:00 PM Updated:7/11/2023 9:48:07 AM

    There are two ways to manage the extra access permissions for officials:

    1. From the officials roster, click on the "More..." menu by the desired officials then click Permissions/Groups ().
    2. Under the Administration menu, select "Permissions"

    Once on this page, you can add/remove officials from the various groups.

    If you entered through the group symbol for a specific official, you'll have direct access to remove that official from any of the groups the official is already part of.

    If you entered through the "Permissions" menu item, you'll have a list of groups and can manage additions and subtractions for all.

    Note that "inactive" or "disabled" officials can not be added to a group. However, officials previously part of a group remain part of that group even if made inactive. If updates are made to such a group after one of the officials is made in active, that official will then lose his/her access to that group.

    To add an official to a permissions group:

    1. Go to Admin -> Permissions
    2. For the group you wish to add the official to, click 
    3. Choose the name form the dropdown list
    4. Click Save Changes

    If the newly added official is already logged in, they must logout and log in again to activate any new permissions. (Switching accounts for those that multiple accounts does the same thing).

    Using Extra Permissions

    Note that any extra permissions are not activated when a user is logged in automatically by way of the "Keep Me Logged In" option. They can still use that option but will only have basic level official permissions while doing so.This will be indicated by the presence of a warning triangle by the user's name in the top right: 

    To access any extra permissions when using the "Keep Me Logged In" option, a user must complete a "Full Login" by clicking their name in top right corner (or the yellow warning triangle") and provide their password.

    How can I, a user with extra permissions, view the site as it is seen by others?
    Article ID:163 Posted:11/23/2009 11:40:03 PM Updated:9/28/2016 3:57:17 PM

    All administrators, assignors, or anyone else with permissions that allow them access beyond that of a general account can choose to temporarily disable their access to those permissions in order to view the site as others see it.

    When you disable such permission, you will view the site as someone who doesn't have such permission until you either re-enable those permissions or you log out and log in.

    In order disable a set of permissions:

    1. Click on your personal account menu----the red box with your name in it at the top right
    2. Select "Advanced Options"
    3. Click, under "Your Group Membership," the name of the permissions group you want to temporary disable

    To re-enable a set of permissions:

    1. Click on your personal account menu---the red box with your name in it at the top
    2. Select "Advanced Options"
    3. Click, under "Your Disabled Groups", the name of the permissions group you wish to re-enable.
    Section 3.3.7 : Email Features (Category ID: 31)
    Top

    What options are there in selecting recipients for emails?
    Article ID:130 Posted:5/2/2008 12:05:17 AM Updated:6/22/2010 11:38:45 AM

    There is a large set of options for addressing the email to various groups of people affiliated with your organization.

    • You are provided with 8 main types of lists from which to select your recipients.
      1. Schools and School Contacts
        • To All
        • By School Level
        • By School League
        • To school contacts by role
      2. Officials
        • By member level
        • To "unregistered" officials
          • those who are not marked as having filled out a registration form since you last reset the registration status—it ignores other officials selections
        • To "Inactive" officials
          • To officials marked inactive on your roster—it ignores other officials selections
        • By Sport (if multiple sports are enabled)
      3. Standard Groups
        • These are the permissions groups predefined by RefTown: administrators, assignors, evaluators, etc.
      4. Custom Groups
        • These are the definable by you—you can create custom lists of people you wish to frequently contact as a group
      5. Board / Committees
        • If you list your Board and/or Committees on the respective pages under Directories, you can conveniently email them here
      6. Selected Schools
        • You can select one or more individual schools to send the email to
      7. Selected School Contacts
        • You can select one or more individual school contacts to send the email to
      8. Selected Officials
        • You can select one or more individual officials to send the email to
    • You can, except where noted, select any combination of these items. Each selection under "Officials" ADDS more recipients to the list
      • If you select a group and a level, all officials of that group will get the email and all official of the level will also get the email
    • You can, except where noted, select any combination of these items. Each selection under "Schools" REDUCES the recipients to the list
      • If you select a level and a league, only those of the selected league and level will receive the email
    • If you select any of the "All" buttons, it will ignore the subcategories. For example, if you select "All Schools" and also select a school league, it will send to all schools regardless of which league was selected
    • Selected Individual Recipients will always receive the email regardless of what other selections are made.
    • Groups/Level/League/etc. selections are not impacted by the selection of individual recipients—both selections will receive the email

     A Preview Recipients Option is available to see who will be sent the email before it is sent if it is at all unclear how the selections will be processed.

    Can I define custom lists of email recipients?
    Article ID:96 Posted:6/5/2007 5:22:52 PM Updated:9/19/2017 11:38:37 PM

    Yes. Under the same interface used to grant and manage access permissions, you can also define "custom" groups. These groups are used only for the purposes of creating a list of people you regularly send email to (to avoid having to select each name every time).

    You can find this option in two places:

    1. Under the Email Menu under "Official Groups"

    What delivery options are there in composing the email?
    Article ID:131 Posted:5/2/2008 12:15:09 AM Updated:6/22/2010 11:39:07 AM

    Under "More Send Options," the following options exist in selecting how an email is delivered:

    • You can specify an alternative Reply-To address
      • The email will still be delivered, indicating that you sent it, but when the recipient clicks "Reply," it will go to the specified recipient
    • You can enabled recipients to reply to all other recipients
      • Normally, emails are sent out one at a time to each recipient to prevent replies to the entire group. You can, on an email-by-email basis, override this function and allow replies to the entire list of recipients
    • You can include up to 4 attachments, which can, optionally, be saved to your Documents page.
    • The body of the email is composed using a word processor like interface that supports a wide variety of layout and formatting options. In fact, you can paste content from many other applications.

    What if, while composing an email, my browser crashes or I make a mistake that deletes everything?
    Article ID:174 Posted:12/7/2009 11:43:27 PM Updated:6/22/2010 12:28:37 PM

    Normally, if you navigate away from the email composition page, your work will be lost. However, the editor on RefTown automatically saves the content of your composition every couple of minutes to a location on your computer. How much it is able to recover depends on the Browser you use. Some can save just about anything you might compose, but others are more limited.

    To restore a lost composition, click the "life preserver" symbol at the top right of the email editor.

    Sending Email to Officials, Coaches, Athletic Directors, etc.
    Article ID:269 Posted:4/21/2021 4:09:16 PM Updated:4/21/2021 4:09:53 PM

    All users can use the built in email function to email others listed on the various rosters in your organization account. The function is accessed under the menu "Email" -> "Send Email / Text".

    Administrators have access to email to all potential recipients, including the ability to select recipients based on a variety of criteria or simply by name. The email permissions group grants specific individuals complete access to the email function as if they were an administrator.

    Officials can use the email function but only in a limited capacity. By default, Officials can only email up to 3 other selected individuals or the other members of a crew on a game he/she is working. The number 3 can be customized on the configuration page. Access to the email function by officials can also be disabled. Officials do not have the option of choosing officials by all of the criteria available to administrators, but only by name or by game.

    School/Team contacts also have access to the email function in some cases but their access is more limited if the options to allow them to see the contact info for officials is disabled. 
     

    Section 3.3.8 : Driving Distances (Category ID: 54)
    Top

    Driving Distance Methods
    Article ID:228 Posted:6/14/2017 10:40:49 PM Updated:11/5/2021 2:53:28 PM

    RefTown supports to modes of driving distances.

    The first and default method uses an approximated distanced based on latitude and longitude derived from officials and location addresses. The latitude and longitude of each official and location is stored on RefTown and an equation is used to calculate the line-of-site distance between the two points. That distance is then padded about 20% to account for the fact that the roads are rarely that direct. This number is generally good enough when identifying officials closer or farther from a given game location. This method would be insufficient in the presence of rivers, lakes, mountains or other obstacles that lead to longer driving distances despite the fact that the two locations are not that far apart or when the route might be very straight.

    RefTown, also supports a mode that actually queries Bing Maps for the actual route between the official's location and the game's location. This provides a very accurate driving distance. This is much more complicated and resource intensive than the simple latitude/longitude calculations but it will be accurate if the addresses in the system are correct and accurate. Enabling this mode also allows for drive time estimations in addition to distance.

    To enable the more precise distance mode, your organization must first obtain a "key" from Bing Maps that allows access to their service. See the related articles for information on obtaining a key. This key must be entered on RefTown's configuration page under Admin -> Configuration, GAMES, Bing Maps Key for Precise Driving Distance. This key will be string of 64 seemingly random letters and numbers. Once the key is entered, all calculations of distances will use actual routes instead of the approximated distances.

    Note that the first accesses after entering this key to pages that reference driving distances will be very slow as the distances are calculated. Depending on the number of officials and locations your organization has, the first accesses may be extremely slow. However, subsequent accesses will process at typical speeds.

    Obtaining a Bing Maps Key
    Article ID:229 Posted:6/14/2017 11:01:40 PM Updated:8/18/2023 10:39:26 AM

    Logging Into a Bing Maps Portal Account

    1. Go to the Bing Maps Portal
    2. If you do not have a Microsoft Account,
      • click the Create One link.
        • Fill out the form to create an account with Microsoft
    3. If you have a Microsoft Account
      • Enter your Email/Phone/SkypeID
      • click "Next"
      • Enter your Password
      • Click "Sign In"
    4. After signing into the Bing Maps Portal, you may be asked some questions regarding the name of your organization. 

    Creating a Bing Maps Portal Key

    After logging into the Bing account as described above, execute the following steps to create your Bing Maps key.

    1. Click on My Account -> My Keys
    2. Click the link for creating a new key at the top of the page.
    3. Enter an "Application Name"....typically the name of your organization, e.g., "XYZOA - Reftown"
    4. Enter an "Application URL" : https://www.reftown.com
    5. For Key Type: Choose  Basic
    6. For the Application Type, choose the one that most accurately fits your organization, often Not-for-profit but possibly Private Website or Public Website

    Applying the Key for Use on Reftown.

    After creating the key on the Bing Maps Portal, you will then need to copy the key and paste it into the Reftown configuration pages.

    1. First, go to the Bing Portal Key pages as mentioned above.
    2. Copy the key by selecting the entire key and pressing Ctrl-C
    3. Navigate, on Reftown, to Admin -> Configuration, ASSIGNMENTS, Limits
    4. Paste the key copied above into the setting called "Bing Maps Key for Precise Driving Distance"
    5. Click Update
    Section 3.4 : Game Entry (Category ID: 19)
    Top

    How can games be added to RefTown?
    Article ID:38 Posted:4/25/2007 8:09:46 PM Updated:5/20/2018 7:27:19 PM

    There are three ways to add games to the system:

    1. Assignors/Administrators clicking the  button on the games page
    2. Assignors/Administrators importing the games from a .csv or .xls file
    3. Enabling schools to request games on RefTown...Schedules -> Game Request

    How does Batch Add Mode work?
    Article ID:40 Posted:4/25/2007 8:21:55 PM Updated:6/21/2010 11:04:21 PM

    Batch Add Mode is extremely useful for entering multiple games that have one or more things in common. It uses previously entered information to pre-fill the entry form. All you need to do is change the items that are different than the previously entered game.

    For example, you’ll save a lot of entry time when you are entering a schedule for a school that has 10 varsity games all played at 7:30 p.m. with only the dates and visitors differing. On the first game, you'll enter all the details. If you save the game with the batch mode enabled, the entry form will reappear. Rather than being blank, it will have the first game's info filled out. Just change the date and the visitor and save. Repeat for all games in the list.

    A similar approach is beneficial if you're entering a sequence of games that occur at the same location in a short amount of time. In this case, you'll change the time and teams—and any other piece that remains the same.

    To exit the mode, uncheck the mode prior to saving the last game or click "Cancel Changes and Close Window."

    How do I import games into RefTown?
    Article ID:41 Posted:4/25/2007 8:24:56 PM Updated:5/11/2021 9:57:40 AM
    1. Prepare a spreadsheet (Get Template...you must be logged into get a copy of this template):
      • All columns are optional....you can delete those that are unneeded.
      • Column order is not important...the column headers define the column
    2. After entering your data, save as either an .xlsx, .xls or a .csv file
    3. Go to "Schedules" -> "Game Management." Select "Import New Games from Excel/CSV."
      • Alternately, you can import through the Games page under the Quick Links menu.
    4. Data will be validated for correct names. The entire upload will be rejected if any data is in error (non-existent school, officials, etc. or bogus date or time)
      • There are several options at your disposal to automatically add missing items to the system.
    5. Correct any error reported, save as an .xls/.csv, and re-upload the file
    6. Spelling is important. By default, the upload will be rejected if a field does not match the predefined lists for the field. There is some flexibility in not spelling out High School or Middle School (HS or MS is adequate). Punctuation is optional when you use HS or MS. In fact, if there is only one school of a given name, the match will still be successful if you can leave off the HS or MS part in either or both of the schools directory or imported data.
    7. Case (upper-case or lower-case) is not important.
    8. Fields can be left blank if not applicable or not known
    9. Officials listed, if any, will fill the crew duties in order and will be accepted in either of the following forms: John Doe or Doe, John.
    10. The times field has some flexibility. It will infer AM or PM if it is not specified in the same manner as the online game entry form. Normal daytime/evening hours are assumed. The following will all be interpreted the same: 5, 5 p.m., 5:00 PM, 500, and 1700.
       
    11. The import function can also be used to modify existing games. If a line in the import spreadsheet has a game number (Reftown ID), it will attempt to update a game with the matching number. If no number is specified, the line will be treated as a new game.

    How do I check the quality of the games that have been entered?
    Article ID:43 Posted:4/25/2007 8:38:32 PM Updated:6/21/2010 11:05:45 PM

    Go to "Schedules" -> "Game Management."

    On that page, there are several reports than can be viewed. The available reports are under "Game Quality Checks." These checks look for critical fields (such as date, time, location, etc.) that are missing data, for dates and times that are suspicious, and for potentially duplicate entries in the system.

    What happens when a game is edited?
    Article ID:65 Posted:4/27/2007 12:32:04 AM Updated:6/21/2010 11:28:06 PM

    When a game is edited, several things happen:

    • If the game is assigned, and the change potentially affects the official,  the acceptance status of the officials is cleared and a new acceptance is required
      • Examples of things affecting the official are date, time, location, level, etc.
      • An example of things not affecting the official is who is paying for the game
    • If the game is (or was) to take place within the number of days configured by the association (usually 14), the official will be sent an email with the changed items highlighted in red. If it is beyond the configured number of days, no notice is sent
    • If the game date has passed, a notice is sent
    • If previously invoiced, a game will be marked for reanalysis on the next invoice generation that would include the game
    • If school approvals are enabled, the school's response is also reset

    On the schools/teams roster, what do the Payor, Location, Home, and Visitor check boxes mean and how do I change them?
    Article ID:80 Posted:5/8/2007 3:10:04 PM Updated:11/17/2017 2:51:26 PM

    By default, a school/team entry is a payor, a home team, a visiting team, and a location. You can, however, define which lists a given school will appear in.

    A school will only show up in the defined fields when entering games. In order to make the game entry more efficient, you should deselect the options that are not relevant. If you leave only "Location" selected, that entry will only be a selected item in the location field. It will not appear as a possible home/visiting team or as a payor. If you deselect all options, it will remain in the roster but will not be selectable in any of the matching fields on the game entry page (You can also "hide" a school").

    To change the category of a school, you have two options:

    1.      To edit all of them (or just several) at once, go to "Directories" -> "Schools." Then click on "QuickLinks" (red box in the upper left area of the page). Select "Manage Categories." This will give you a long list of schools with checkboxes for the 4 different types of lists. Make your changes and click Update.

    2.      Alternately, to edit just a few, go to "Directories"-> "Schools/Teams." Search for the school of interest. Click its checkbox and "edit" that school to set the desired school type.

    Upon returning to a game entry page, the lists should now reflect the selections made.

    How do I enter games such that schools/teams can approve the entered games?
    Article ID:92 Posted:6/5/2007 4:24:01 PM Updated:6/21/2010 11:45:13 PM

    School/Team approval of games (if enabled) is based on the Payor field. This field is only displayed to administrators and assignors. A game can only be approved or rejected by the team/school listed in the Payor field.

    How does and assignor notify or remind schools/teams that they have games needing a response?
    Article ID:50 Posted:4/25/2007 10:56:00 PM Updated:6/21/2010 11:20:11 PM
    1. Go to "Schedules" -> "Game Management"
    2. Click on "List Officials with New/Changed Games"

    It opens with a template email at the top and a list of every school/team that has games to be approved. You can sort that list by name, by email address, or by date of the first game that needs a response by clicking on the column title.

    How do schools request games on RefTown?
    Article ID:42 Posted:4/25/2007 8:26:40 PM Updated:9/17/2024 12:38:12 PM

    Go to "Schedules" -> "Game Request" (only available to schools and assignors).

    The interface for schools is the same as the assignor's interface (see the related article). The only difference is that the games requested by schools do not go directly to the schedule but into a requested games list where the assignor can choose to put them on the schedule or can delete the request.

    To enable this feature, go to:

    1. Go to Administration -> Configuration
    2. In block #9 GAME PAYOR/TEAM, click on"Response & Request Options
    3. Check "Enable Payors to Request New Games" and/or "Enable Payors to Request Game Changes".
    4. Click Update This Item.

    How is the rating for a game determined?
    Article ID:134 Posted:5/20/2008 9:22:09 AM Updated:11/6/2017 2:00:53 PM

    By enabling this feature, assigning your officials a rating, and setting up rating values for the various game attributes (level, type, league, etc), you can develop a list of officials to select from whose skill levels approximately match the games.

    The rating for a game can be determined in one of two ways:

    1. An assignor can explicitly specify a rating for each and every game when entering/editing the game
    2. The rating for a game can be calculated from a recipe based on the following criteria:
      • Sport
      • Payor/Home School League
      • Payor/Home School Level
      • Game League
      • Game Level
      • Game Type
      • Crew Type

    These various attributes can be configured to adjust the required rating by a different value for each of the various options. For example, you might set a varsity game to have a rating of 20 points, a JV game to 10, freshman to 5, and the rest to 0. You might then assign League A to 20 points, League B to 10, and all other leagues to 0. Then, you could put a rating on the crewtypes such that 1-person crews are a 10 and 2 person crews are a 0. You could set men's games to 15 and boys games to 5. The effect of this is that for a given game, each of the values are added together to get a rating for each game. The values to be used for each attribute can be set under the configuration pages for the various lists.

    The maximum rating is 100any calculated value that exceeds 100 will be changed to 100. The minimum is 0.

    The final rating required for a specific assignment is based on the specified or calculated game rating plus an offset for the specific duty being assigned (if entered) in combination with an allowed range above/below the game rating.

    Then, based on the officials' rating and the size of the allowable range above/below the game rating, you'll get a list of officials who are capable of working the assignment. This list will be used in manual assignment mode to reduce the default list of selectable officials and will be use in auto-assign mode to generate a list of officials that can be selected.

    How can I completely delete one or more games and all related assignments?
    Article ID:139 Posted:6/19/2008 12:51:05 AM Updated:12/28/2022 10:05:42 AM

    To completely delete one or more games:

    1. You'll need to enter a special mode that is normally hidden to keep you from accidentally using functions that may have unintended consequences.
      1. Under the "Account" Menu, select Advanced Options...
      2. On the page that loads, click on "Enable" for "Advanced Game & Invoice Functions".
         
    2. Go to the games page and use the filter to search for all your older games
      1. Select an appropriate date range
      2. Select "Include Canceled" if needed
      3. Optionally increase the number of games to list on one page
         
    3. Click the check boxes of the ones you want to delete
       
    4. Click  (at the right end of the action buttons)

    All of the selected games will be fully and permanently deleted. (Note, this affects only live database entries...archives are unaffected). You will NOT have to option to restore games deleted in this manner.

    How can I enter times in the various forms throughout RefTown?
    Article ID:66 Posted:4/27/2007 12:39:31 AM Updated:6/21/2010 11:28:25 PM

    The format in which you can enter times is very flexible. RefTown applies basic logic to complete the time if you enter a shorthand time:

    • You can include the colon or leave it out
    • If you leave off the minutes, it will assume it is on the hour
    • You can put space between the number and AM/PM or leave it out
    • You can have periods on the AM/PM or not
    • If you leave off the AM/PM, it will assume AM if the hour is 9, 10, or 11 while all other times will be assumed to be PM
    • You can use military time

    For example, all of the following are converted to the same time:

    • 3
    • 300
    • 1500
    • 3pm
    • 3 pm
    • 3 p.m.
    • 3 PM
    • 3 P.M.
    • 3:00
    • 3:00 pm
    • etc.

    Restoring a Canceled or Postponed Game
    Article ID:224 Posted:10/16/2016 2:24:31 AM Updated:10/16/2016 2:24:31 AM

    In restoring a canceled or postponed game, you must first locate the game. You can do so in one of may ways:

    • From the "Game Management" page, you can find canceled or postponed games within the reports for the various game states.
    • You can also find these games under a game search by checking the "Include Canceled Games" or "Include Postponed Games".

    Once you have located the game you wish to restore, you can edit the game entry and deselect the checkbox for Canceled or Postponed.

    If postponed, you can simply change the date to the new date and, upon saving, it will be restored to active status.

    If canceled, it does not, however, restore any assigned officials.

    If you wish to restore a canceled game and the previously assigned officials, you can do so either manually or with an automated function by check the games checkbox and clicking the button: 

    How to add games...
    Article ID:39 Posted:4/25/2007 8:15:34 PM Updated:5/20/2018 7:28:24 PM

    To add games to the system:

    1. Go to the Schedules -> Games/Matches (or, if you are a coach/AD, Schedules -> Game/Match Request)
    2. Click
    3. On the page that opens, enter the game/match data (date, time, league, teams, etc.)
    4. Save the game/match by clicking "Update this Item" or (from many fields) pressing "Enter"

    After saving the game, the add-game/match form will remain open for adding another game. It will be pre-filled with the data from the just saved game/match. You can then modify those items which are not the same as the prior entry and save again without needing to re-enter much of the same info. If you do not need to enter another game, you can simply close the form....click "Close and Reload" to have the main listing show the saved information. Even if you do not click "Save and Reload" the information was already saved at the time of the Update.

    For coaches/ADs...requested games/matches will only appear on the main schedule when the request is approved by an assignor.

    Tips for game entry...

    • "Copy Down"
      • will repeat that line's information on all of the location/home lines below it so that you can enter a school/team just once from the dropdown lists.
    • "Show All"
      • By default, a school/team may be enabled only for some types of use (location, home, or visitor). If you do not see the school in the list, you can click the "Show All" button to override these defined uses and can use any school/team in any spot.

    Exporting Games to Excel
    Article ID:237 Posted:11/9/2018 12:29:41 PM Updated:12/17/2023 12:04:16 PM

    To export games (matches) from RefTown to Excel (.xlsx):

    1. Browse to the list of games you wish to export...
      1. Go to Schedules -> Games
      2. Use the search options, if needed, to obtain the list of games of Interest.
    2. Click on Quick Links -> Export -> Export to Excel
      • This will export all games that are identified by the search in step 1.

    For administrators/assignors, you can use this export to make modifications to game details such that you can import the changes back to the system. See the attached article on importing games for more information.

    Duplicating / Replicating a Set of Games
    Article ID:267 Posted:4/14/2021 10:30:08 PM Updated:4/14/2021 10:35:18 PM

    If it is necessary to duplicate a previous schedule to just changing the date and/or time:

    1. Click Schedule > Games and do a game search for the dates you wish to duplicate.
       
    2. Export the schedule (Click Quick Links > Import/Export > Export to Excel (from current search)
      • This file will typically be saved in your "Downloads" folder. It will be named "games_" followed by some numbers. Those numbers are the year, month, day, hour, minute, and second that you performed the export.
         
    3. Edit the Excel spread sheet
      1. Blank the data under the column GameID (or delete the entire column...hiding is not enough)

    WARNING: If you do not remove the GameID, the following import will not add a new game but will modify the game identified by that GameID to match what you now have in your spreadsheet.

    1. Remove the officials under the columns Official_1, Official_2, etc. if they contain names to avoid assigning those same officials to the new games.
      • Alternately, delete the Official columns
    2. Change the data under the column(s) Date and/or Time and any other columns as necessary.
    3. Save your changes.
      • Note: When saving, do a Save As to a different name and location if desired.
    4. Import the saved spread sheet to RefTown
      1. Click Schedule > Games
      2. Click Quick Links > Import/Export > Import From Excel
      3. Choose the Excel file
      4. Make any changes to the import function options (normally not necessary when importing from a duplicated schedule)
      5. Click Import Now

    Syncing Games from External System (OSAA only)
    Article ID:313 Posted:5/10/2024 9:41:25 AM Updated:5/10/2024 10:06:37 AM

    These instructions are for schools in Oregon that use OSAA.org to manage their games.

    1. Enter the games on OSAA.org like you have to do at some point anyway
    2. On Reftown, Go to Schedules -> Game Requests.
    3. Click on Quick Links (top left corner) -> Sync from External Source


       
    4. Select the schedule from osaa.org that you want to sync:
      1. Choose the school year (e.g., 2024-25)
      2. Choose the Activity (Boys Basketball, Girls Basketball, Football, Volleyball, etc.)
      3. Choose your school
      4. Choose a team (V, JV, JV2, etc.)

        This will give you a list of games as listed on OSAA.org.

        (note, Reftown will only read from OSAA.org once every few minutes to limit the demand on the OSAA website).
         
    5. For each game on the schedule, click "Request New Game"
       
      • This will open a new window where you can manage the transfer of information between the two sites. The left side will have the game from OSAA.org. The right will have the game as it will be saved on Reftown. The specific mapping of information from OSAA.org to Reftown can be saved so that as you enter more games, you will have less information to actually enter.

        For example, the following screen for a BBX, V game on OSAA.org will be saved on Reftown as a High School, Boys, V, game with a 3-person crew. The check boxes on the right tell Reftown to remember those choices. The next BBX, V game you save will already know to use the same settings.



        You'll have a similar set of mappings from the facility and team names:

    Once you have all the pieces entered, click the save button:



    If you check the "Save" check boxes, every mapping from OSAA.org to Reftown you enter will be remembered to be reused in the future. The mappings you save are only saved for you, not anyone else, and they can be deleted or updated.

    After adding a few games, the only things you might need to select will be the sub-location (gym #) since that information is not present on OSAA.org.

    If you originally add the game to Reftown through this method, this function can also be used to request changes to games. The action of Saving the Game Request saves a request to update the existing game (but only if the original game was entered this way).

    For now, this is only enabled for games where you are listed as the Home Team on OSAA.org. You'll need to enter tournaments or other Neutral Site games the old ways.

    Section 3.5 : Making Assignments (Category ID: 20)
    Top

    What reports are available regarding officials availability?
    Article ID:52 Posted:4/25/2007 11:21:21 PM Updated:6/21/2010 11:21:06 PM

    Availability information is entered through "Schedules" -> "Availability"

    You can enter availability in one of two ways:

    1. By day of the week
    2. By specific date

    If both are entered, the specific date information is used.

    To enter availability information by day of the week:

    1. On the General Availability area, click "Edit"
    2. For each day, enter your information
    3. Enter comments, if desired
    4. Click "Submit Changes"

    To enter availability information for specific dates:

    1. Navigate to the desired month
    2. In the monthly calendar area, click "Edit"
    3. For each date, enter your information
    4. Enter comments, if desired
    5. Click "Submit Changes"

    There are a three buttons at the top of the form that may assist you in filling out your availability. You can use them to designate all days/dates as available, not available, or clear the times. Use this if most of your availability is the same and then fill in the boxes that are different.

    How do you change the response of an official to an assignment?
    Article ID:76 Posted:5/8/2007 2:32:12 PM Updated:4/16/2013 9:36:37 PM

    Only assignors can change the response to an assignment once it is submitted.

    To do so:

    1. Click the checkbox for the game that has the incorrect response
    2. Click the question mark button
    3. Modify the response for the official/school with the incorrect response
    4. Click "Save Responses"

    How is driving distance calculated?
    Article ID:133 Posted:5/20/2008 9:16:16 AM Updated:11/2/2018 12:12:25 AM

    Driving distance is an approximation based on the address or zip code of the game site and the address or zip code of the official. RefTown converts each person/location's address to latitude and longitude if that can be determined and, if not, uses a database of the latitude and longitude of the center of each zip code to calculate approximate driving distance. The calculation assumes a straight route plus an extra 20% to account for the fact that the roads will not actually be a straight line. 

    The game site address and zip code is taken directly from the Schools/Teams roster for the site listed as the location of the game. If no address or zip code is entered for the location, the driving distance will be assumed to be 0everyone will be eligible to drive to that location no matter the actual distance.

    By default, the official's zip code is taken from the official's roster entry. Optionally, each official can specify two alternative zip codes under their "Account" profile. An official can specify two zip codes and a time if they generally transition between the two. Additionally, an official can specify zip codes on their availability calendar to apply to the day/date and window of time being entered on that calendar. This can be used to influence the assignment of games to be near two different places depending on the time of day and on various days. If no zip code is listed for an official, the driving distance will be assumed to be the official will be considered eligible to drive to any location.

    An official can update their effective zip codes by:

    1. Click your "Account" menu in the top right.
    2. Click "Profile..."
    3. Click "Assignment Preferences"
    4. Optionally, enter a zip code where you leave from for earlier games.
    5. Enter a time when you leave that zip code
    6. Optionally, enter a zip code where you leave from for later games.
    • In any location where the zip code is left blank, the home location will be used for the relevant date/date/time.

    How do I manage ratings for officials?
    Article ID:188 Posted:8/16/2011 3:10:54 PM Updated:8/3/2024 3:05:31 PM

    There are two ways to edit the ratings for officials....individualy or for you entire group.

    To edit a single official's rating

    1. Go to the officials directory
    2. Edit the official's entry
    3. Enter a number in the rating box.
    4. Click Update

    To edit your entire group of officials

    1. Go to the officials roster.
    2. Click QuickLinks -> "Edit All Officials" -> "Status, Levels & Ratings"
    3. Enter one or more numbers as desired
    4. Click "Save Changes"

    Ratings can also be managed by exporting the roster to Excel, updating the ratings column, then importing the modified spreadsheet back into Reftown.

    Can on official see assignments before they are published?
    Article ID:225 Posted:10/16/2016 2:31:04 AM Updated:10/16/2016 2:31:04 AM

    By default, game assignments are not visible in any form until they are published. However, an optional feature can allow officials to see that they have "something" on a given date without any details aside form the date and the general time of day.

    To enable this feature...

    1. Go to Admin -> Configuration.
    2. Click on Visibility Options in the Games Section
    3. Check "
    4. Click Update.

    Reading Availability Information on the Assignments Screen
    Article ID:315 Posted:8/22/2024 12:29:23 AM Updated:8/22/2024 12:29:23 AM

    Given a game that starts at 4:00 PM, you might see the following info on a when assigning officials:

    Looking at the line highlighted in RED:

    1. Note the ">4:00pm". That means the official has indicate he/she can start a game beginning at 4:00pm or later near where they are departing from.
    2. Next, note the estimated drive time of 25 minutes (8 miles).
    3. Next, note the "-25". Since the availability time was 4pm and the drive time was 25 minutes, that official would be 25 minutes late to that game.

    Looking at the line highlighted in yellow:

    1. Note the ">3:30pm". That means the official has indicate he/she can start a game beginning at 3:30pm or later near where they are departing from.
    2. Next, note the estimated drive time of 22 minutes (10 miles).
    3. Next, note the "+8". Since the availability time was 3:30pm and the drive time was 22 minutes, that official would arrive at the game with 8 minutes to spare.

    Looking at the line highlighted in blue:

    1. Note the "<4:00pm". That means the official has indicate he/she can start a game beginning BEFORE 4:00 (note the < symbol) near where they are departing from/going to...indicating they need to be done by a certain time.
    2. Next, note the estimated drive time of 33 minutes (10 miles).
    3. Next, note the "-33". Since the availability time was until 4:00pm and the drive time was 33 minutes, that official might not have enough time to work that game before needing to be elsewhere.

    Any availability space that is blank indicates that the officials doesn't have a time limit close enough to that game to matter. They may have something for that date, but it is more than an hour to spare.

    Limiting Officials from Seeing the Same Teams
    Article ID:317 Posted:8/22/2024 12:39:52 AM Updated:8/22/2024 12:41:58 AM

    There are configuration options available where you can limit how often an official will see the same team.

    There are 4 types of limits:

    1. Maximum number of times for a team in a season
    2. Maximum number of times for both teams in the same game in a season
    3. Minimum number of days since the last game for the same team
    4. Maximum number of times at a location regardless of the teams.

    In general, the "same team" is determined by both the team name and the game attributes (sport, league, type, and level).

    To set the numbers for the maximums/minimums for same teams/locations, go to Admin -> Configuration,  ASSIGNMENTS -> Limits. Look for the section called "Team Repeat Limits". You might wish to set these limits lower as you start assigning and move them up as you work through a season.

    Any of the game attributes can be disabled when considering what defines a team. To ignore given game attributes, go to  Admin -> Configuration,  GAMES -> Check Options. Look for the Same Team Check Exceptions.

    Additionally, you can specify up to 3 teams that don't get counted. These are typically generic placeholder teams like "TBD" or "TBA". Those options are also under Admin -> Configuration,  GAMES -> Check Options in the section "Team Check Exceptions".

    The numbers will appear in boxes on the assignment screen and can be overridden while making assignments.

    The above values will keep an official from seeing the same team more than 2 times and never closer than 14 days apart and will prevent the officials from seeing the same two teams play each other more than 1 time.

    Note, these limits apply to all games. If you want them to apply to one set (e.g., HS) but not another (e.g. MS), you will either need to change the configuration as you assign different sets of games OR override the values when making assignments. Note that when you make overrides when making assignments, those overrides carry through all games that you had selected when starting to make the assignments.

    Using Preset/Predefined Crews
    Article ID:319 Posted:8/27/2024 11:14:52 AM Updated:8/27/2024 11:14:52 AM

    This function can be used to select a group of officials you wish to assign as a group. This is most often used by Football groups but may be useful in other sports or situations such as Mentor/Mentee pairs.

    To create crews:

    The first step is to create the crew structure: a name, a type of crew

    1. Go to Admin -> Configuration and scroll down to the "CREWS" block.

    2. Click on "Predefined Crews"

    3. Click 

    4. Give the Crew a Name

      • Often the crew chief's last name, but can be any recognizable name

    5. Choose the base CrewType for which this crew will normally be used.

    6. Optionally, choose additional CrewTypes where you might wish to use this Crew

    7. Click Update

    8. Click "Close and Reload"

    The second step is to add members to the crew

    1. For the crew you wish to modify, click 

    2. Choose a person for each position

      • This selection obeys Duty qualification settings if you have that function enabled.

      • You can leave positions blank

    Repeat for each crew.

    To use crews:

    1. Enter the assignment function as you normally would
    2. Note a "Crew" dropdown just to the right of the "CrewType" box.
      • This will list all of the crews and will indicate how many of the positions on the game would be filled by each crew (e.g., 4 of 6). That number is based on the number of eligible officials as determined by the current assignment filters. You can adjust the filters as needed in the same way you do for individual assigning.
    3. Choose a crew by Crew Name.
      • This will fill in the eligible names.
      • You can then change any name or fill in the blanks as desired.
    4. Save the assignments as you normally would.

    Other:

    On the Predefined Crews page, there are a number of reports you can run to find officials not in a crew or a list of officials and what crew they are in.

    Section 3.5.1 : Assigned by Assignor (Category ID: 21)
    Top

    How do I assign officials to Games?
    Article ID:82 Posted:6/5/2007 10:08:21 AM Updated:1/5/2018 11:41:03 AM

    There are a couple of ways to start:

    1. You can use the Game Management item called "Unassigned Games"
      • That will show you all the games needing assignment start with the earliest...you can use the game filters to narrow the set of games you need to work on
    2. You can also go through the games page and use the filter to select the games you need to assign (by date, by school, by level, etc.)

    Once you have the list of games you want to assign:

    1. Check the boxes beside the games you want to assign
    2. Click the button with the 3 people on it
    3. A new window will open with the game and a list of officials to select from
      • The lists, by default, will only show those who are eligible to be assigned.
      • There are checkboxes that will expand the list to include officials that were considered ineligible. When the list is expanded, the details of why the official was considered ineligible will be included by each name in the list
    4. Once you've chosen the officials, click "update"
    5. Continue with all assignments until you're ready to publish them
    6. At this point, you can do one of two things:
      •  Publish all assignments (a button will appear on all games pages to do that)
      • Publish selected games. To do that, check the boxes for the desired games and click the purple "Up Arrow"  This will send a notice to officials about their assignments 
    1. Once assignments are published, emails will automatically be sent to all officials affected by the newly published changes

    TIP: It is much faster to select several boxes and assign a group of games at a time so that you can avoid reloading the games page between each one.

    How does an assignor publish assignments?
    Article ID:30 Posted:4/25/2007 6:44:15 PM Updated:4/16/2013 9:36:37 PM

    There are two ways to publish new or changed assignments:

    1.      When there are assignments needing to be published, there will be a button appearing at the top of most games pages that permits the publication of all games.

    2.      Alternatively, specific games can be published by selecting the desired games and clicking .

    What happens when assignments are published?
    Article ID:63 Posted:4/27/2007 12:19:38 AM Updated:6/21/2010 11:27:13 PM

    On publishing an assignment, a few things occur:

    1. The details of the assignment become visible to any official on the game (before this time, only assignors/administrators can see the pending assignments)
    2. The current acceptance status of officials on the assignment is reset (the option to disable this exists)
    3. All officials involved (those being added or removed) will be sent an email that indicates they have new, changed, or canceled games

    Why do some officials not appear in the list of officials to assign?
    Article ID:31 Posted:4/25/2007 7:03:23 PM Updated:6/21/2010 10:55:51 PM

    There are several possible reasons an official does not appear in the default list of officials to choose from:

    • The official is already working at another location on that date
    • The official is not available at that time on that date
    • The official is scratched by either the home or visiting team
    • The official is underqualified for the game
    • The official is overqualified for the game
    • The official's driving distance is too far for the location of the game

    All of the above reasons can be overridden by using the "Include Officials" options.

    When editing multiple assignments, the settings you select on one game will carry forward to the following game.

    How do I assign officials that do not appear in the list of assignable officials?
    Article ID:32 Posted:4/25/2007 7:11:02 PM Updated:6/21/2010 10:56:38 PM

    To make officials who are, by default, not assignable, check one or more of the boxes in the "Include Officials" options.

    The available boxes are:

    Unavailable

    Checking this box will make an official appear in the list of assignable officials, regardless of that official’s availability.

    Scratched

    Checking this box will make an official appear in the list of assignable officials, regardless of the schools/teams that official has scratched.

    Working

    Checking this box will make an official appear in the list of assignable officials, even if that official is already working on this date.

    Overqualified

    Checking this box will make an official appear in the list of assignable officials, even if that official’s individual rating is above the rating range for the assignment.

    Underqualified

    Checking this box will make an official appear in the list of assignable officials, even if that official’s individual rating is below the rating range for the assignment.

    Driving Distance

    Changing the mileage limit will include more/fewer officials in the list of assignable officials.

    All Officials

    All officials will be listed as assignable.

    Note: When these overrides are used, those officials who would have been excluded from the list of assignable officials will appear on the list along with the basic details of why they were not originally listed.

    Who receives an email confirmation of accepted/declined assignments?
    Article ID:93 Posted:6/5/2007 4:39:18 PM Updated:11/3/2010 12:45:30 AM

    When a set of games is assigned, an email confirmation is generated. That email is sent to the following:

    • The official submitting the response
    • Assignors

    For the purposes of these responses, the assignors who will receive the email are defined in 3 ways as defined under the association's configuration:

    • A list of any number of people to receive such notices as defined in the association configuration
      • These receive the entire submission any time it is sent
    • To the specific assignor who made the assignment (with assignments filtered by assignor)
      • If there are two (or more) assignors involved, they'll only receive emails about the games/matches they assigned
    • To all assignors of any assignment in the submission
      • All assignors who have an assignment in the submission will receive a full copy of the submission

    NOTE: An association can, to reduce unnecessary email, choose to disable emails in two cases:

    1. All assignments are accepted—no declines
    2. There are no comments entered in the comment box

    Can an official change their response to an assignment after it is submitted?
    Article ID:89 Posted:6/5/2007 4:03:33 PM Updated:6/21/2010 11:36:37 PM

    If an official wants to change a response from decline to accept, that official should contact the appropriate assignor. The assignors have the ability to change the response.

    If an official wants to change a response from accept to decline, the official will have one of two options, depending on the settings that official’s organization has chosen.

    If the organization has enabled the turnback option and the deadline for a turnback has not passed (another option that is usually set to 2 or 3 days before the game), the official should see a "Turnback" link directly under the game number on that official’s schedule.

    If no turnback link appears, the feature is not enabled and the official is not permitted to change previous responses through RefTown once they are submitted.

    When the turnback feature is either not enabled or the turnback deadline has passed, the official should contact the assignor so the assignor can change the response.

    Why does an officials prior response get cleared when part of the crew is changed?
    Article ID:72 Posted:5/8/2007 1:57:30 PM Updated:6/21/2010 11:32:13 PM

    Be default, RefTown is set to require a new response from every crew member when part of the crew is changed. This ensures that all members of the crew have the most current information.

    This function can be disabled to require a new response only from officials directly affected by the change (i.e., the official added or removed).

    How do I set RefTown to not clear a official's prior response when there is a crew change?
    Article ID:73 Posted:5/8/2007 2:03:14 PM Updated:6/21/2010 11:32:35 PM

    Go to:

    • Administration
    • Configuration
    • Response Options

    and uncheck "Require Official Response on Crew Change."

    "Require Official Response on Crew Change ".

    Can officals "scratch" certain schools, levels, leagues, etc.?
    Article ID:70 Posted:4/27/2007 1:01:03 AM Updated:10/5/2016 12:41:10 PM

    Yes. An official can enter a restriction into the system that they should not work for particular school, team, level, league, etc. or any combination of these items. Official can scratch locations or even locations by zipcode.

    To do so:

    1. Go to "Schedules" -> "Scratches"
    2. Enter the desired restriction...
      1. Click 
      2. In the window that opens, select the type of game to be scratched.
        • Example: enter XYZ High School and Boys Varsity to exclude yourself from working that level of game at that school.
        • Any of the available fields can be left blank as long as at least one field has a value.

    Assignors can also fill out scratches on behalf of officials. Assignors can choose whether or not to allow officials to see those scratches.

    Some organizations may not allow officials to manage this data....only permitting assignors to enter scratch data.

    How does and assignor notify or remind officials that they have assignments needing a response?
    Article ID:49 Posted:4/25/2007 10:53:45 PM Updated:6/21/2010 11:03:53 PM

    Notices are automatically sent when assignments are published.

    Notices about changes to games are automatically sent when the change involves a game within the time frame configured by the association (defaults to 14 days).

    To send additional notices:

    1. Go to "Schedules" -> "Game Management"
    2. Click on "List Officials with New/Changed Games"

    It opens with a template email at the top and a list of every official who has a game or games to accept or acknowledge. You can sort that list by name, by email address, or by date of the first game that needs a response by clicking on the column title.

    You can alter or add to the email template that is started, except for the very first part, which says:

    As of Date/Time, you have Count new, changed, and/or canceled games posted on RefTown.

    Once you have the email content to your liking, click “Send Notice.” This will send a customized email to each official who has games needing a response. It will tell officials how many they have and, unless you alter it, prompt them to log in and respond to them.

    How does an assignor manage officials who do not have email?
    Article ID:60 Posted:4/26/2007 11:25:50 PM Updated:6/21/2010 11:24:57 PM

    The assignor can mark off the games on behalf of the official who does not email. To do so, the assignor will need to get to the official’s games. There are two ways to do so:

    1. Go through the officials roster and click the "Games" link by the official's name
    2. Go the games page and use the "Search for Games" and select the desired official

    Through either method, you'll be taken to the games page as it would look for the selected official. Mark the official’s games as accepted/declined/etc., in the same manner as accepting your own games.

    Viewing how many assignments an official already has while making new assignments
    Article ID:231 Posted:11/2/2017 10:35:21 PM Updated:11/2/2017 10:35:21 PM

    Reftown's assignment function provides an assignor information while assigning about how many games an official has already been assigned and how many times each official has been previously assigned to other games with the team currently being assigned.

    This information is off by default but can be enabled by clicking a checkbox on the assignment screen that will reveal the information...

    Each assignor change choose the opposite default (to show the information) under his/her account profile.

    When the information is enabled, the assignor will be given the following:

    • the total number of games an official has beeen assigned
    • the total number of times an official has been assigned to the current home team, regardless of the game's location
    • the total number of times an official has been assigned to the current visiting team, regardless of the game's location
    • the date of the most recent assignment to both the home and visiting team


    In this example, the total number of assignments is shown first, followed by the team specific info. Virginia Duffy has a total of 8 games and saw the home team of this game 1 time with the most recent date (relative to the current game date) being 12/8. Similarly for David Reed but on 12/1. Further down the list, Richard Howard shows that he as see the current games visitor one time on 12/6.

    Limiting the number of times an official will see a specific team
    Article ID:232 Posted:11/2/2017 10:40:49 PM Updated:12/11/2021 11:27:59 AM

    The assignment function can be programmed to exclude officials from being eligible for assignment to the same team over a certain number of times. There are four options for this function. Maximum per location, Maximum per team, Maximum for both teams, and Minimum Days since last seen.

    • If an official has seen either team equal to or greater than the number programmed under "Max Games for Team" (aka, "Max, Each Team"), the official will be excluded from being assigned to the current game.
    • If an official has seen both teams in the same game (a rematch) equal to or more than "Max Games for Teams, Rematch" (aka "Max, Both Teams") the official will be excluded from being assigned to the current game.
    • If an official has seen either team more recently than "Minimum Number of Days Between Team Assignments" (aka "Minimum Days") the official will be excluded from being assigned to the current game.
    • If an official has been to a location (regardless of who the teams are) more equal to or greater than the number programmed under "Max Games for Location" (aka "Max, This Location").

    All of these numbers can be programmed to preferred values but can be overridden on the assignment screen. Early in the season, it might be useful to set the Maximum games per team numbers fairly low but increase them as the season progresses.

    The default settings can be made under Admin -> Configuration, ASSIGNMENTS, Assignment Options.

    The place to override the numbers while assigning is in this section:

    Linking games for assignment to same crew
    Article ID:233 Posted:11/2/2017 11:46:11 PM Updated:11/2/2017 11:46:11 PM

    Games in Reftown can be linked together so they will be treated as one assignment. Such a link is valid if the games are on the same date and at the same location (including gym/court/field). When games are linked, the times of all such games are considered when evaluating officials' availability. 

    It is acceptable to link large number of games together in one action. The system will automatically split them up based on date/location.

    Games that occur after midnight up to 2 AM will be considered as if they were on the previous date if they are linked to games after 6pm on that previous date. This is to allow linking of late night games in areas that play such schedules.

    To link a set of games, click the checkboxes for all of the games to be linked. Then click 

    To split a set of games that were previously linked, click the checkbox(es) of the game to be split out and click .

    When assigning a set of linked games, the assignor will have the option of rotating the officials between positions for each game in the link set. The rotation can be in either direction, up or down as needed.

    How to read the team/location history information while assigning
    Article ID:285 Posted:11/5/2021 6:40:49 PM Updated:11/5/2021 6:42:01 PM

    If you have enabled the team history information for assigning, either by default or on demand, you will presented with a lot of information. In order to not take up a lot of space, the information is compacted into a fairly dense format. This page describes how to read the information.

    • The info can include how many games an official has.
    • The info can indicate how many times the official has been scheduled for the current game's home team and whether the other games were with that team at home or as a visitor.
    • The info can indicate how many times the official has been scheduled for the current game's visiting team and whether the other games were with that team at home or as a visitor.
    • The info can indicate how many times the official has been schedules for a game at the current game's location...regardless of who was playing that that game.

    The team history information considers the game level and game type when deciding to count the number of times a person has seen a particular team. For example, with Boys JV will not count against Boys V, Girls V will not count the same as Boys V, etc.

    The location history doesn't consider anything about the game aside from its location.

    In addition to the counts provided, the date of the most recent and/or next assignment relative to the current game will be shown so you can decide if it has been enough time since the official has seen that team.

    Example Listing:

    H:3-1, 11/10, V:0:2, 10/21, @5 12/3

    Starting from the left, this say that the official has seen the current game's home team 3 times at home and 1 time on the road. The last time the official had seen the team was on 11/10.

    Next, this official has seen the visiting team for this game 0 times at the visiting team's home and 2 times as a visitor somewhere. The last time the official had seen this team was on 10/21.

    Lastly, this official has been to this game's location 5 times, the last of which was on 12/3.

    These items can be enabled while assigning by clearing the "Location History" and "Team History" boxes or can be enabled by default under your profile settings.

    Section 3.5.2 : Automatic Assigning (Category ID: 44)
    Top

    How does automatic assigning work?
    Article ID:132 Posted:5/20/2008 8:48:16 AM Updated:4/16/2013 9:36:37 PM

    To activate the auto-assignment function, select the game(s) you want to assign and click

    The auto-assignment feature (prior to actually making any assignment) allows you to fine tune the selection parameters, takes each game you've selected, compiles a list of eligible officials, applies a weighting factor to each eligible official, and then randomly selects an official to fill each open assignment. It will report whether it was able find an official for all selected games and will provide a list of its selections for your review prior to saving the officials to the database. You will have the opportunity to either back up and revise the selection parameters or confirm the selections given.

    In compiling a list of eligible officials, several factors are considered—much as if they are manually assigned. For each and every game, the following factors determine if the official is eligible:

    • The availability calendar shows that the official is available
    • The scratch list shows no scratches related to the particular assignment
    • The official is not already working on the same date
    • Driving distance to game site (if enabled)—you also instruct the auto-assignor to ignore driving distance
    • The official's rating relative to the rating specified or calculated for the game being assigned (if enabled). You can also instruct the auto-assignor to ignore ratings.

    Once the list of eligible officials has been calculated for a game, that list is then, optionally, weighted to prefer some officials over others based on their rating or their driving distance.

    • By default (weight = 1), all otherwise available officials under the specified distance limit are equally likely to be assigned to the game. By selecting a weighting other than 1, officials closer to the game site are more likely to be chosen. The higher the weight, the more likely the auto-assignor will pick an official closer to the site.
    • By default (weight = 1), all otherwise available officials under the specified maximum rating and over the specified minimum rating are equally likely to be assigned to the game. By selecting a weighting other than one, officials closer to the game's rating are more likely to be chosen. The higher the weighting, the more likely the auto-assignor will pick an official with a rating closer to the game's rating. Two separate controls are provided for over/under rated.

    You will then be presented with a detailed list of the selections proposed by the system and will be given a chance to back up and re-do the selections or confirm the selections. The selections will be saved in an "Unpublished" state. You will still have the opportunity to make modifications if there are a few things you'd like to adjust. Positions assigned by the auto-assignor will be marked as such when an assignor views a single game's details (by clicking on the game number where ever it appears).

    IMPORTANT NOTES:

    • If you plan to use ratings, review the ratings of your games and your officials before using the auto-assignor for the first time (See attached articles for more on ratings)
    • If you enable driving distance calculations, ensure that your game locations and officials have a zip code entered on the rosters—driving distance is a rough estimation based solely on the zip code (See attached articles for more on driving distances)
    Section 3.5.3 : Self-Assignment / Assignment Reqeust (Category ID: 22)
    Top

    How does the self-assignment feature work?
    Article ID:26 Posted:4/25/2007 6:34:45 PM Updated:7/15/2024 11:30:39 AM

    The self-assignment/assignment request feature makes an assignment open for any official to claim/request. Here is how it works:

    1. An assignor marks a game as open for self-assignment
      1. In making it open for self-assignment, the assignor will pick from one of 5 modes
    2. The game appears to the officials on a list of games with open positions
    3. An official "claims"/"requests" the game

    When a game is in "claim", the official is placed in the slot when making the claim.

    When a game is "request" mode, the official's request is (optionally) emailed to the assignor so the assignor can make the final decision.

    If the official later cannot do the game, the assignor reassigns the position to another official or removes the official from the duty. Upon removing the official from the duty, the position will reappear on the open games list.

    The 5 modes (and the symbols shown on games in that mode):

      CC - Claimable by ALL, Any Rating
      CR - Claimable by officials with Rating for Game, Requestable by Others
      Cx - Claimable by officials with Rating for Game
      RR - Requestable by All, Any Rating
      Rx - Requestable by officials with Rating for Game(CC) Claim by ALL (any Rating)

    Note: if you do not use Ratings, only the claim/request by all options will appear to you.

    Symbols/Codes:

    •  is Claimable (C)
    •  is Requestable (R)
    • The first symbol/colde is for officials with ratings within the configured range.
    • The second symbol/code (if any) is for official with ratings not within the configured range.

    Mode Cx will operate the same as before if your organization uses the Claim mode.

    Mode Rx will operate the same as before if your organization was using the Request mode.

    Other non-rating requirements are applied to all self-assignment games the same as before.

    It will be possible, depending on your ratings settings for one duty to be Claimable by and official while another duty (on the same game) could be Requestable.

    How does an assignor make a game available for self-assignment or self-request or remove a game from the these lists?
    Article ID:27 Posted:4/25/2007 6:36:27 PM Updated:4/16/2013 9:36:37 PM

    To add a game to the self-assignment or requestable list, select the desired game by clicking the checkbox by the game then click .

    To remove a game to the self-assignment or requestable list, select the desired game by clicking the checkbox by the game then click .

    Any official already on the game will remain on the game.

    Can an official change their response to an assignment after it is submitted?
    Article ID:89 Posted:6/5/2007 4:03:33 PM Updated:6/21/2010 11:36:37 PM

    If an official wants to change a response from decline to accept, that official should contact the appropriate assignor. The assignors have the ability to change the response.

    If an official wants to change a response from accept to decline, the official will have one of two options, depending on the settings that official’s organization has chosen.

    If the organization has enabled the turnback option and the deadline for a turnback has not passed (another option that is usually set to 2 or 3 days before the game), the official should see a "Turnback" link directly under the game number on that official’s schedule.

    If no turnback link appears, the feature is not enabled and the official is not permitted to change previous responses through RefTown once they are submitted.

    When the turnback feature is either not enabled or the turnback deadline has passed, the official should contact the assignor so the assignor can change the response.

    Section 3.6 : Finances (Category ID: 47)
    Top

    How to Create an Invoice
    Article ID:155 Posted:6/10/2009 12:48:27 AM Updated:6/15/2022 2:47:30 PM

    Assuming the invoice functions are enabled under the configuration options:

    1. Click either
      1. "Pay" -> "Official's Invoices"
      2. "Pay" -> "School/Team Invoices"
    2. Click the  symbol to either start a new batch or add to an existing unpublished batch
    3. Fill out the search form to select the games you need to invoice.
    4. Click "Search Now"
    5. The next page will list all games the system believes need invoicing that match the search criterea in step 4
    6. Select the batch you wish to work with or select "New Batch",'
      • If you choose "New Batch" for officials invoices, you will also have to select a "Tax Year"
    • Each game listed, when working on official's invoices, will list all officials associated with the game.
    • Those prefixed with a "-" and in green are currently on the game and will be paid.
    • Those prefixed with a "+" and in red are no longer on the game and will not be paid.
      • This will not include games marked as "Invoice Current". If you wish to force the system to recalculate the invoices for games it believes are already calculated, you have two options. 
        1. Force Recalculation (Keep Overrides)
          • This will cause the system to ignore its indication that a game has already been paid. It will reanalyze the selected games and will recalculate the amount that should be paid. If the amount is unchanged, it will do nothing. If the amount is different than previously paid, it will re-invoice the game with the new amount with a credit for the previously invoiced amount.
          • If you manually override any invoice amount for the game on a prior invoice, this option will keep those overrides.
        2. Force Recalculation (Ignore Overrides)
          • This does the same as the above step but discards any overridden amounts and will use the calculated amounts.
      • You can also further modify the search criteria if needed.
    1. Once you have the list of games that you wish to invoices, click "Create Officials Invoices" or "Create Schools/Teams Invoices"
      • The program will verify that all of the selected games have all of the information necessary for generating invoices and will ask for any missing data
    2. Once all data is entered, the invoices will be generated
      • The dollar amounts generated will be drawn from the appropriate payscale and will be modified by any modifiers entered on the game/assignment.
      • For any games previously invoiced, one of three things will happen.....
        1. If the game is in an existing unpublished batch, it will be deleted from that batch and a new entry will be created in the current batch.
        2. If the game is in a existing and published batch, and now results in a different amount, the system will create a credit on the new batch to offset the amount(s) in the existing batch and will create a new entry on the current batch reflecting the correct amount.
        3. If the game is in a existing and published batch, and now results in the same amount, the system mark the game/assignment as invoiced and will not add a new item to the current batch.

    Creating custom invoice items
    Article ID:156 Posted:6/10/2009 1:00:05 AM Updated:10/31/2017 9:26:29 AM

    Most invoice items are derived from games and game assignments. However, you may occasionally need to include items on the invoice that are not tied to a specific game.

    RefTown supports this in three ways:

    1. Custom Items for Individual Invoices
    2. Custom Items for Multiple Invoices
    3. Custom Items for Multiple Invoices by Excel Import

    Entering them is largely the same except for how you get to the entry form.

    To add Custom Items for Individual Invoices:

    1. Browse to the specific invoice, and click 
    2. Enter an amount
    3. Enter a description of what the item is for
    4. Optionally, enter a date and category.
    5. Click "Update"

    To add Custom Items for Multiple Invoices with the same category & amount:

    1. Click either
      • "Pay" -> "Official's Invoices"
      • "Pay" -> "School/Team Invoices"
    2. Click 
    3. Click "Direct Entry"
    4. Select the batch you want to work with or select "Start a New Batch"
    5. Enter a Date
    6. Enter a Category
      • The list of categories is maintained under Admin -> Configuration, Finances.
    7. Enter an amount(s)
      • This is the only field that is actually required.
    8. Enter Notes if desired (recommended)
    9. Select the officials/schools/teams to invoice.
      • Choose either all officials by sport (if multiple sports are enabled)
      • Choose officials/schools/teams by level.
      • Choose individual officials/schools/team.
    10.  Click "Submit"

    To add Custom Items for Multiple Invoices by Excel Import:

    1. Prepare an Excel Spreadsheet to be imported.
      • The spreadsheet must have following columns:
        • RefTown ID, Name, Date, Category, Amount, Comments
      • A template of this spreadsheet can be obtained under Directories -> Officials (or schools/teams), Quick Links -> Import/Export -> Export Roster for Invoice Import
        • This template will include each official/school once with only their RefTown ID and Name.
      • You can include any number of items in this import, including multiple items per official or school.
      • You can include an official (or school/team) more than one time to create multiple line items.
      • Each line in the spreadsheet can use a different category.
      • The official (school/team) is matched by their RefTown ID if it is listed or by Name if no RefTown ID is listed.
    2. Import the spreadsheet:
      1. Click either
        • "Pay" -> "Official's Invoices"
        • "Pay" -> "School/Team Invoices"
      2. Click  
      3. Click Import.
      4. Select the batch you want to work with or select "Start a New Batch"
      5. Click the "Import" link at the top fo the page.
      6. Choose the file to be imported
      7. Click "Upload File Now"

    Notes:

    For official invoices:

    • positive amounts increase their pay (e.g., reimbursements, etc.)

    • negative amount reduce their pay (e.g., dues, equipment purchases, etc.).

    For schools/teams invoices:

    • positive amounts increase the amount due (e.g., assignment fees, etc.)

    • negative amount reduce the amount due (e.g., discounts/refunds of fees, etc.).

    Adding/Updating game fees
    Article ID:157 Posted:6/10/2009 1:12:18 AM Updated:6/22/2010 11:43:18 AM

    There are two basic approaches you can choose from to enter game fees (for either officials or schools/teams):

    1. At the time of invoice generation
    2. Prior to invoice generation

    With approach #1, the program analyzes the games being invoiced and will search the database for matching game fees. If no match is found, the system will ask you for the amount and will remember that amount for any future games with the same parameters.

    You can also pre-enter your game fees (or update existing game fees) under "Pay" -> "Officials Fees" or "Pay" -> "School/Team Fees." 

    1. To add a new fee:
      • To add a new fee, click the  symbol.
      • To update a single existing fee, click the "edit" link by the fee to be edited
      • To update multiple existing fees, click the "edit all" link at the top of the right column
    2. Enter the game parameters used to define the amounts to be paid/charged
    3. Enter the amount to be paid/charged.
    4. Select and adjustment set (to control any deductions, mileage, etc.)
    5. Click Update

    Note that ALL fields except "duty," if enabled, must be filled in.

    When you leave the duty field blank, that fee entry will match any duty not otherwise specified in the fee table. This can be useful and will greatly simplify your game fee table when you have most of your crew members paid the same but have an occasion to specify a different amount for one or more members of some of your crews, such as a crew chief.

    Normally, game fees are not permitted to be "$0.00." However, this is a configuration override that will allow "$0.00" fees to be entered—use with caution.

    Collecting payments from officials through PayPal
    Article ID:190 Posted:9/13/2011 1:28:19 AM Updated:6/6/2018 5:27:26 PM

    You can collect payments from officials through PayPal by generating invoices with a negative balance and supplying the PayPal email address that is connected to the account that will receive the money.

    After creating a negative balance invoice for one or more of your officials...perhaps for dues, banquets, equipment purchase, etc. usually using the "Custom Invoice Item" feature, you simply edit the batch properties to supply an email address associated with the PayPal account that will recieve the money.

    Officials can pay with an eCheck, their paypal balance, or a credit card.The official doesn't even need a PayPal account if the recipeint's account is a PayPal verified account

    RefTown provides this feature for no additional cost. However, PayPal will charge transaction fees for all such transactions. You can designate whether their fees will be added onto the invoice amount paid by the sender (official) or deducted from the amount received by the designated account.
     

    Enabling Guest Checkout for PayPal

    Guest checkout for PayPal allows your officials to pay via PayPal without signing in to a PayPal account. Guest payments are available for Business or Premier PayPal accounts.

    To enable guest checkout in PayPal:

    1. Sign in to your PayPal account

    2. Click the Profile icon at the top right.
    3. Click Profile and settings.
    4. Click My Selling Tools or My Selling Preferences under My Profile on the left.
      Note: This button might differ depending on your PayPal account.
    5. Click Update next to Website Preferences.
    6. Select On under PayPal Account Optional.
    7. Click Save.

    Transferring Data from RefTown to Quickbooks
    Article ID:198 Posted:1/10/2013 5:22:43 PM Updated:5/3/2021 5:29:28 PM

    First, your roster may need to be cleaned up a bit...any one who has entered a "Business Name") should be verified....some officials mistakenly put their place of employment there when it is intended to be used when they officiate as a corporation (which is not common).

    One Time Setup:

    RefTown needs to know the name of the account in QuickBooks that is used to track the amounts due to the officials (vendors).

    1.       Admin -> Configuration - Finances, OFFICIALS FINANCES, Advanced Invoice Options

    2.       Under QuickBooks Options, enter the name of the Accounts Payable account from QuickBooks. If you haven't changed it to something else in QuickBooks, it should already be set as it needs to be.

     

     

    Steps to import:

    1. Export Roster from RefTown
      1. Directories -> Officials, QuickLinks -> Import/Export -> Export Roster for QuickBooks
      2. Save this file to a convenient place on your computer
    2. Import Roster to QuickBooks (becomes vendors)
      1. File -> Utilities -> Import -> IIF Files
      2. Locate the file saved above and import it (click Open)
    3. Export Invoice Batch from RefTown
      1. Pay -> Officials Invoices
      2. Click the Batch # you want to export
      3. QuickLinks -> Export -> for Quickbooks (.iif)
      4. Save this file to a convenient place on your computer (each export will be named with the batch number in the name).
    4. Import Transactions to QuickBooks
      1. File -> Utilities -> Import -> IIF Files
      2. Locate the file saved above and import it (click Open)

     

    Repeat steps 1 & 2 as needed whenever you have a change in the roster (new names, changed names, new SSN's etc.)

    The roster export/import is based on the official's name. What this means is that you can't have two officials with the same name. If you have such a case, you'll want to make sure to use middle initials or something to distinguish between the two. This is a limitation imposed by QuickBooks using the names for importing.

    Repeating 1 & 2 should not create duplicates as long as the names remain the same.

    If a person changes from "James" to "Jim", the 2nd roster import will create a new vendor. In QuickBooks, you'll want to merge the two back into one. To do so, in QuickBooks, edit the obsolete name to have the new name. QuickBooks will then recognize that the two are the same and will ask if you want to merge them.

     

    Repeat steps 3 & 4 as many times as necessary, once per batch that you wish to transfer.

    If you try to reimport the same batch, it will give  a bunch of error message about duplicate bill numbers. It is using the invoice # from RefTown to uniquely identify each invoice so you shouldn't be able to create duplicate payments for the same invoice.

    Once you do the invoice batch export/import, I strongly recommend that you publish the RefTown invoice batch and leave it alone. Any corrections should be done in a new batch. If you don't do that, you'll need to make manual adjustments to what you had imported into QuickBooks.

    Once everything is imported into QuickBooks, you can "Pay Bills" (Vendors -> Pay Bills) to start your check writing process. See QuickBooks documentation for more info.

     

    Using Custom Invoice Item Categories
    Article ID:204 Posted:1/8/2014 8:15:30 PM Updated:8/14/2022 1:26:27 PM

    RefTown allows each non-game line item on an invoice to be categorized into any number of organization definable categories.Using such categories can allow an organization greater flexibility with managing finances. They can also be used to control what items are counted towards an official's 1099 income.

    Categories are not needed for game line items on invoices....they are automatically included in a "game" category.

    To create a category...

    1. Go to Admin -> Configuration - Finances
    2. Click on "Invoice Categories" (either under the officials or the schools sections)
    3. Click on 
    4. Enter a Category Title
    5. Enter an additional description if desired (not required)
    6. Select whether items in this category should be included in an officials 1099 income.
      • The same category can be used in either official or school/team invoicing but this option will have no effect on a school/team invoice.

    When adding a a custom invoice items, choose one of available categories. Custom invoice items without a specified category will automatically be included in a miscellaneous category.

    CATEGORIZED INVOICING SHORT-CUT

    When you are looking at a list of invoices for officials or schools/teams, you can quickly add a custom item for each of the listed invoices.

    To do so, click the checkboxes for all of those you wish to add an invoice item to. Then, click . This will initialize the custom invoice page with the names of the officials/schools/teams preselected.

    AUTO INVOICING

    Invoice categories can be configured to be auto-invoiced on official or school/team invoices. When enabled, an official/school/team, when otherwise invoiced, will automatically have a custom line item added for the category if that official/school/team has not yet reached the limits for that category.

    • The amount to be added/subtracted is defined in the category configuration.
    • You can specify how many times it should occur.
    • You can specify a maximum dollar mount to be applied over the course of multiple invoices if it is configured to occur multiple times. If the maximum dollar amount is not yet reached but a new entry would exceed the maximum, the new entry is reduced to an amount to reach the maximum.
    • All prior entries in a category, whether manually entered or automatically entered, count towards the maximum.

    Example 1: You've configured a category called "Dues" to auto-invoice officials 1 time for negative $50. You create invoices for games covering week 1 of your season. Any official working in those two weeks would get a charge of $50 added to his/her invoice. Next, you create invoices for week 2 of your season. In that second week, 30 of the officials were previously invoiced in week 1. Those officials will not get a new charge for dues. However, there are 10 additional officials that had not worked in week 1. Those 10 officials will get a deduction of $50.


    Example 1: You've configured a category called "Dues" to auto-invoice officials 2 time for negative $50 with a maximum of $75. You create invoices for games covering week 1 of your season. Any official working in those two weeks would get a charge of $50 added to his/her invoice. Next, you create invoices for week 2 of your season. In that second week, 30 of the officials were previously invoiced in week 1. Those officials will get a new charge for dues. However, since a 2nd charge would exceed the maximum, the 2nd deduction will be for only $25. The 10 additional officials that had not worked in week 1 will get a deduction of $50.

    Transferring Invoice Information from the archives or other sources to be used for 1099 generation
    Article ID:207 Posted:1/8/2014 11:55:12 PM Updated:1/8/2014 11:55:12 PM

     If some of your financial data is either in a RefTown archive or is in some other form, you can bring it into RefTown to be included in the official's 1099.

    If it is in the archives, you will first need to transistion to viewing the archives to start (Other -> Site Archives)

    Once in the appropriate archive...

    1. Go to Pay -> Officials Invoices
    2. Click the Tax Year that you wish to export

    POTENTIAL PROBLEMS:

    • NO batch from the archive should exist in the archive and the live system where both have the tax year specified.
      • This will lead to a duplication of amounts if such data is imported into the live system. If you have the same data in the archive and the live system, you should either delete such batches from the live account since they are already archived OR not mark both as part of the tax year being processed. If you wish to remove the tax year indication from the archived batch, contact us for assistance.
    • If you have used miscellaneous custom items in your archived invoices that should not be included in the 1099 totals and you have not set the archived version of your account to exclude them, contact us for assistance.
      • The default settings will include all uncategorized miscellaneous items in the 1099 total and your permissions will not allow you to edit any archived settings or values.
      • Examples of items that should not be included in a 1099 total are dues, equipment purchanse, etc.

    Using the Paysheet System
    Article ID:216 Posted:10/13/2016 3:38:11 AM Updated:4/26/2018 9:37:21 AM

    Once enabled, youll see some new icons on the game schedule.

    1. There will be an icon for each game in the upper right corner of the officials box that looks like this: https://www.reftown.com/_icons/payments.gif.
      1. This icon will only appear on games which the user (official or payor) has permissions to access the paysheet.
      2. Clicking that will show the paysheet for that individual game
    2. The same icon will also appear in the top of that column. Clicking that icon will take you to a single pay sheet for all games listed on the current page.
      1. Again, it will only show paysheets for which the user has permissions.

    The paysheet page will show the game details followed by the officials assigned along with their details as set on the paysheet configuration page.

    On the paysheet page will be several buttons at the top of the page that will lead to various export options and to a printable version of the pagea much cleaner view without the menus, buttons, and most of the links that appear on the regular view of the page.

    If the paysheet includes more than one game, there will be a summary section at the bottom of the listings that summarizes the total amounts to be paid to each official from each payor represented on the paysheet page.

    When a paysheet page with multiple games is printed, each game will appear on a new page and the summary section for each payor will be on a new page.

    Invoice Reconciliation and Verification Functions
    Article ID:219 Posted:10/16/2016 12:05:22 AM Updated:10/16/2016 12:05:22 AM

    If you use both the official invoice function and the school/team invoice function, you can make use of two features that will aid you in verifying that you have the system configured correctly, have your game fees entered correctly, and that both sides are in general agreement with how much money is being charged/paid.

    Fee Comparisons

    Under the  Pay Menu, click on Fee Comparison. This will be available and useful if the same terms  (aside from Duty) are used to calculate invoice amounts for both officials and schools/teams.

    This page will list all currently entered fee combinations in either fee table and compare them with the opposite table.

    • If you see red/missing, that fee is only in one table. You can use the << or >> buttons to copy the fee matching fee to the other table (it accounts for the crew size by either multiplying or dividing the amount depending on which way youre going).
    • If you see green, the total of game fees from both sides match.
    • If you see yellow on both sides, the amounts dont match. In some cases, this may be correct.
      • From there you can either copy from the correct side to the other or use the <-> button to edit that entry.

    Invoice Reconciliation

    Under the Pay Menu, click on "Invoices Reconciliation".

    This page will compare, on a game-by-game basis, the total amount of money charged to a school/team with the total amount of money paid to officials. It compares only the base game fee as well as the travel fee. This can be a great way to ensure all of your financial transactions match. This report can be filtered based on various game details.

    Tracking Payment Status of Invoices
    Article ID:255 Posted:1/3/2021 11:37:29 PM Updated:6/15/2022 2:43:47 PM

    There are a few options for manually tracking invoice payment status. One option is very simple and meant to track paid or not paid, the others are a little bit more involved and allow you to enter check numbers and more. Note, this is NOT used when using our Direct Deposit or other automated payment function. This is only meant to be used to track payments made outside of Reftown.

    The simple methods use a payment type of "Other" and the current date for the payment date.

    The detailed method allows you to choose a payment method, payment date, and a payment #.

    First, locate the invoices of interest (not, not all methods are available to school/team administrators):

    • By Invoice
      • Go to Pay -> Officials Invoices (or School/Team Invoices)
      • Click on the batch # where the invoice is located
    • By Official or School/Team
      • Go to the directory entry for the official (or School/Team)
      • Click on the "More..." menu,
      • Click on Invoices
    • By Current Payment Status
      • Go to Pay -> Officials Invoices (or School/Team Invoices),
      • Use the "Invoice Search" form to filter by payment status

    Simple Method from a Listing of Invoices

    1. Click the checkbox for the relevant invoice(s)
    2. Click  to mark the selected invoices as paid
      • or  to mark them as unpaid.
    3. In the popup window that appears, click the "Confirm" button.
    4. Click "Close & Reload" to refresh the main window in order to see the new status
      • The work was complete at step 4, but this allows you to see the effect

    Simple Method from within a Single Invoice

    1. Once in the invoice, click on Quick Links -> Payments then
      •   to mark the current invoice as paid
      • or  to mark the current invoice as unpaid
    2. In the popup window that appears, click the "Confirm" button.
    3. Click "Close & Reload" to refresh the main window in order to see the new status
      • The work was complete at step 4, but this allows you to see the effect

    Detailed Method from a Listing of Invoices

    1. Click the checkbox for the relevant invoice(s)
    2. Click 
    3. In the popup window that appears, enter the payment dates, payment methods, and payment/check #.
      • If editing payment status for multiple invoices, the top row is a "global" entry that, upon saving, will be applied to all rows below that do not have information provided for a given column.
        • Example: Use this to apply the same payment date for all payments, then enter different check #'s for each invoice.
      • You can mark an invoice as unpaid in this window if all fields are blanked for an invoice and there is no global entry in the top row (if applicable).
      • Click "Update Payment Data"

    Detailed Method from a Listing of Invoices

    1. Once in the invoice, click on Quick Links -> Payments then 
    2. In the popup window that appears, enter the payment dates, payment methods, and payment/check #.
    3. Click "Update Payment Data"

    Entering Partial Payments for School/Team Invoices
    Article ID:257 Posted:1/3/2021 11:50:18 PM Updated:1/3/2021 11:50:18 PM

    You can now record partial payments to be applied to school/team invoices.

    To do so,

    1. Locate the invoice for which you have received a partial payment.
    2. Click 
    3. Enter apayment date
    4. Enter a payment method
    5. Enter a check/payment # (or comments)
    6. Enter an amount.
    7. Click "Update This Item"

    Any amount entered here will be deduced from the remaining balance due only. It will not change the overall invoice totals. They will remain unchanged in order to reflect the correct amounts billed regardless of whether the invoice has been paid or not paid.

    You can enter multiple partial payments.

    NOTE: The overall invoice will only show in the "Paid" reports when the general payment status is marked as paid, even though the balance remaining may be $0.00.

    Overriding Game Fees (for officials or payors)
    Article ID:287 Posted:11/10/2021 9:55:02 PM Updated:11/10/2021 9:55:02 PM

    Occasionally, it may be necessary to charge/pay an amount different than the norm for a particular game in a way that wouldn't be worth trying reconfigure the system to handle. The system allows you to manage this in two possible ways.

    1. Once an invoice is created, you can navigate into the invoice and edit any line item to be different than calculated. This is easy to do, but you must remember to do it. Sometimes, the situation may occurs weeks prior to when you create the invoices and you're likely to forget.
       
    2. The best way to handle exceptions is to force an override through the game itself. With this option, you specify, on the games page, that the amounts should be different when the invoice is eventually generated.

    To specify an override on a game, click the checkbox for the game, then click .

    In the window that opens, you'll generally have 3 sections:

    1. A section affecting the entire game for every one where you can specify "No Payroll". That shuts off all finance functions for that game.
    2. A section to override the fees to be charged to the payor.
    3. A section to override the fees to be payed to the officials.

    In the sections to override the fees, you'll be provided boxes to individually override any of the elements related to the fees. Leave a box blank unless you want to force it to be something different than normally calculated.

    For all items, you can specify either

    1. A specific amount to be charged (positive or negative, where a positive amount increase the amount paid TO and official for officials or increased the amount owed from a payor)
      • entered as either of these to set it to exactly 45.50
        • =45.50
        • 45.50
    2. A relative adjustment to the dollar amount
      • entered as one of these to increase or decrease the amount by 12.15
        • -10.25
        • +10.25
    3. A relative adjustment as a percentage
      • entered as follows to increase or decrease the amount by 15%
        • -15%
        • +15%

    Any amounts entered will be apply the next time the invoice is generated. Changes to these override do NOT change existing invoices.

    If you need to make a change to an override after making the invoice, you'll need to do one of a few things. At a minimum, you'll want to refresh or regenerate the invoice(s) affected. If those invoices are published but not paid and you want to update the existing invoice, you need to unpublish the batch first. If the invoice is paid, you just need to generate a new invoice. The new invoice will account for the amount previously plaid when providing the new invoice.

    How can I completely delete one or more batches or invoices?
    Article ID:305 Posted:12/28/2022 9:57:26 AM Updated:12/28/2022 10:03:21 AM

    To completely delete one or more batches, even if marked paid or published:

    1. You'll need to enter a special mode that is normally hidden to keep you from accidentally using functions that may have unintended consequences.
      1. Under the "Account" Menu, select Advanced Options...
      2. On the page that loads, click on "Enable" for "Advanced Game & Invoice Functions".
         
    2. Go to the invoices page and use the filter to search for the desired batches or invoices
       
    3. Click the check boxes of the ones you want to delete.
       
    4. Click  (at the right end of the action buttons)

    All of the selected batches and invoices fully and permanently deleted from the live database. (If they are also in an archive, the archive will be unchanged). USE CAREFULLY.

    Section 3.6.1 : PayPal / Venmo Payouts (Category ID: 57)
    Top

    PayPal / Venmo Payouts Overview
    Article ID:261 Posted:1/5/2021 12:35:57 AM Updated:8/12/2021 12:25:31 AM

    RefTown integrates with PayPal's Payouts service to offer a fast and inexpensive option for paying officials to either PayPal accounts or Venmo accounts.

     This service uses 95% of the same functionality as our other financial services that have been available for a long time. The calculations of how much to pay, who to pay it to, and the documentation of what the payment is for have been around since the mid 2000's (with several enhancements along the way). New is the system used to transfer the money.

    Requirements:

    • First, the official needs either a PayPal or Venmo account.
      • Either one works. As a paying administrator, you don't need to know which one an official has...your work is the same either way. The payments are sent to PayPal and PayPal directs the money to either the PayPal account or the Venmo account.
    • For your organization to use this service...
    1. You will need a PayPal business account
    2. You will need to apply to PayPal to allow Payouts (we have setup instructions).
    3. You enter into RefTown, an account access code to the PayPal account to connect our system with theirs.
    • To make payments using this service...
    1. You transfer your funds into your PayPal account ahead of time. You allow for 3-4 business days for the money to transfer (EFT/ACH like above) or you can wire it same day for a fee from your bank.
    2. After the game(s), generate invoices to calculate how much is to be paid.
    3. Direct RefTown to send instructions to PayPal to transfer money to the officials' accounts.
      • The money is then instantly transferred form your PayPal account to the officials PayPal/Venmo account.

    Benefits:

    • Full RefTown Integration
    • Instant Payments
      • Money is transferred to officials accounts in seconds where they can 
    • Inexpensive
      • Highest cost scenario is still lower than our lowest cost situation with direct deposit
    • Tax Reporting Responsibility moved to PayPal
      • According to the IRS documentation, payments made to vendors through payment services like PayPal are reportable by PayPal, not PayPal's customers (you). You would no longer need to issue 1099's to your officials paid using PayOuts.
      • From the IRS Instructions:

    Payments made with a credit card or payment card and certain other types of payments, including third-party network transactions, must be reported on Form 1099-K by the payment settlement entity under section 6050W and are not subject to reporting on Form 1099-NEC. See the separate Instructions for Form 1099-K.

    Other Notes:

    • Can co-exist with other payment options such as direct deposit/
    • Officials can transfer the money to their bank accounts/
    • Officials can get a PayPal or Venmo debit card to spend the money as soon as it is transferred/
    • Officials can use PayPal or Venmo to make purchases wherever those are accepted.

    Electronic Payments / PayPal-Venmo
    Article ID:243 Posted:12/12/2020 4:39:07 PM Updated:8/30/2021 12:25:08 PM

    RefTown, in combination with PayPal, offers an optional payment service that is integrated with our financial invoicing features. Once an invoice is created, it is only a couple additional steps to make the payments directly to your officials PayPal or Venmo accounts.

    Officials choose their preferred option (PayPal or Venmo by Email or Phone number) under their account profile. Once officials have entered their info, you can make payments.


    The steps to make PayPal or Venmo payments are:

    1. Load money into your PayPal account. The funds must be present in the PayPal account in order to make payments with this service.
      • To add money to your PayPal account, click the 3 dots, then click "Add Money".


     

    1. Generate officials invoices..
      • this can be done prior to transferring the funds into PayPal if you need to determine an amount to transfer.
    2. Select invoices you wish to pay
      1. Browse to a single batch
        1. Pay -> Officials Invoices
        2. Click a Batch #
        3. Select the invoices you wish to pay
        4. Click
        5. Click "PayPal Payouts"
      2. Search for unpaid invoices
        1. Pay -> Officials Invoices
        2. Click
        3. Select the invoices you wish to pay
        4. Click 
        5. Click "PayPal Payouts"
    You will now have a list of invoices that have a balance needing to be paid. This will list all selected invoices whether the official has entered their PayPal/Venmo preferences or not. Each line item (one per invoice) will indicate whether account information exists for that official.
    This listing will also provide a total for the cost of the batch (not including any fees for transactions to bad account numbers).
    1. Select the invoices you still wish to pay
      •  If you select fewer than all listed invoices, you can click "Preview Selected PayPal Payouts" to revise the transaction totals
    2. Click "Send Authorization Codes..."
      • This sends a code by text message to a pre-designated number or numbers that must be entered in order to complete the transaction.
    3. After receiving the code(s), enter them in the box(es) provided.
      • The codes will only work if the set of transactions is entirely unchanged...no changes to amounts or recipients.
    4. Click "Execute"
      • NOTE: The funds to complete the payments must already be in the source PayPal account prior to clicking Execute.
         
    At this point the the instructions will be sent to PayPal and the funds will be moved from your PayPal account to the officials' PayPal or Venmo account.
    At no time will your organization's money ever be in an account operated by RefTown...all funds will be transferred directly from your account to PayPal, and then to your officials' accounts.

    All fees incurred as a result of submitting a batch will automatically be charged to the organization as an additional payment to in PayPal.

    The overall cost per transaction can be cheaper than printing and mailing checks and is far more efficient.

    PayPal-Venmo Payouts Setup (part 1)
    Article ID:245 Posted:12/12/2020 5:09:30 PM Updated:12/20/2020 2:22:55 PM

    RefTown integrates with a PayPal service called Payouts. It allows immediate payments to PayPal or Venmo accounts through an official's email address or phone number. When making a payment, you do not need to know and do not care about which type of account it is going to...that all happens at PayPal / Venmo (both are owned by PayPal).

    For more info on payouts, see https://www.paypal.com/us/smarthelp/article/what-is-the-payouts-api-and-how-do-i-enable-it-on-my-account-ts2075

    There are several steps needed to set up a PayPal account to be used for PayPal Payouts.

    To send payouts, you'll need:

    1. A PayPal business account
    2. A confirmed identity, email, and bank account linked to your PayPal business account
    3. Access to PayPal Payouts
    4. RefTown configured to use your PayPal Payouts
    5. Sufficient funds preloaded in your PayPal business account

    Detailed Steps:

    1. Open a PayPal business account (if you do not already have one)
    2. Link your bank account to the PayPal account
    3. Access to PayPal Payouts
      • After establishing the PayPal business account, you must apply to PayPal to have access to the Payouts feature
        1. Log into PayPal
        2. Click "Pay and Get Paid"
        3. Click "Payouts"
        4. Fill out the application and submit
        5. WAIT for PayPal Approval.
          • This may take up to 5-10 business days.

    After getting approval from PayPal, you need to configure PayPal to allow access from RefTown.

    PayPal-Venmo Payouts Setup (part 2)
    Article ID:249 Posted:12/12/2020 5:21:54 PM Updated:8/30/2021 12:15:49 PM

    This page includes the instructions on configuring your PayPal account to communicate with RefTown. If you do not yet have an approval for using Payouts from PayPal you cannot access the items mentioned in these instructions. Make sure you have applied for PayPal Payouts and have received the approval before proceeding with these instructions.

    To configure PayPal to allow it to work with RefTown, complete the following steps:

    1. Log into PayPal
       
    2. Try clicking this link (https://developer.paypal.com/developer/applications)
      • If you see a page with following content at the top of the page, you can jump to step 10. Otherwise, continue with step 3.
         

        •  
    3. At the top right, click on "App Center" then "Make Payments"

      •  
    4. Click on the Payouts box (anywhere in the box)
       

      •  
    5. Click the blue "Get Started" button

      •  
    6. On the right, click "Get Started" under Payouts API (right side)

      •  
    7. Under "Set up your development environment" click "Get Started"

      •  
    8. Under GET API credentials, click "Log in to the Developer Dashboard" under step 1

      •  
    9. Under the DASHBOARD menu, select My Apps & Credentials
       

      •  
    10. Under "My apps & credentials", click "Live"
       

      •  
    11. Under REST API app / App name, click "Create app"
       

      •  
    12. Under the App Name, enter something like "RefTown Payouts" then click "Create App"
       

      •  
    13. On the page that then opens, you will see a Client ID and a Secret
      • You will need to click the "Show" button to be able to see the secret.
      • These will both be about 80 characters long.
      • You will need these two items to configure RefTown
        • You can follow the above steps to return to this page to retrieve them if needed.
      • You will need to copy and paste them to use them.            

        • This example is from a "SANDBOX" account. Your screen will say "LIVE".

    Getting Paid by PayPal / Venmo as an Official
    Article ID:277 Posted:8/26/2021 3:00:41 PM Updated:10/13/2021 11:57:45 PM
    1. You need to specify how you want to be paid.
      • If you have not previously configured your account, you will see a notice on your home page indicating that no PayPal/Venmo account information was found for your account. Additionally, if you have an assignment with a school/team that pays using this service, this reminder will indicate how many games you currently have for such schools/districts. If you do not see such a reminder, you've already signed up for the service.
    2. On your game schedule, the comment column will indicate if the game will be paid by PayPal / Venmo with the following symbol
    3. By your name on the schedule, you'll see how you have signed up to be paid:
      •  - Not signed up
      •  - Signed up with Venmo
      •  - Signed up with PayPal

    Assignors can see this signup status for all officials on the relevant games.

    When a payment is made, RefTown will send you an email with the details of the payment...the game(s), the amounts, etc.

    Once you receive the money in your PayPal or Venmo account, you can spend in from that account using a variety of options including debit cards issued by PayPal or Venmo or you can have the money moved to your bank account whenever you like. 

    To sign up for PayPal or Venmo, you must first have your PayPal or Venmo ID (email address or phone number) listed as on your RefTown profile's email address or cell phone number fields. Once you have the email address or phone number entered in your profile as an email address or phone number, you will then be able to choose that number/email as the PayPal/Venmo account ID.

    To make any of these changes to your profile, click your name in the top right corner and then click "Profile". On the Profile page, you'll find all of the necessary links to update your phone numbers, emails, or PayPal/Venmo preferences.

    Making sure games are correctly entered so that your officials can get paid by PayPal/Venmo
    Article ID:279 Posted:8/26/2021 3:07:35 PM Updated:8/26/2021 3:33:13 PM
    1. You must have the RefTown system configured to know how much each official should be paid for each assignment. 
      • Indications that you've met these requirements:
        • The system shows the correct dollar amounts by a person's name.
          or
        • The paysheets function is enabled such that the paysheets show the correct amounts.
           
          • If the dollar amounts are incorrect, you may need to update the pay scale under Pay -> Officials Fees.
          • If there are not dollar amounts at all, you may need to configure the payment functions.
    2. You must enter the games with the Payor that is enabled to use the PayPal / Payout feature
      • If the game is entered correctly for a school/district that is using this feature, the PayPal / Vemno symbol will appear in the comments for the game.
      • If you do not see this symbol for a game, either the school/district has not signed up for the service or you have not chose the correct Payor for the game.
    Section 3.6.2 : W9's and 1099's (Category ID: 59)
    Top

    Preparing for and Requesting Generation of 1099s
    Article ID:253 Posted:12/20/2020 12:31:46 PM Updated:12/20/2023 5:21:12 PM

    To check your account for 1099 readiness:

    1. Go to Pay -> Officials 1099 Management
       
    2. Click on "Edit Configuration" (top).
      • Ensure that all "required" fields are both filled in and are correct
         
    3. Return to Pay -> Officials 1099 Management
       
    4. For the current tax year, click on "Prepare"
       
      1. The officials will be divided into 3 groups.
        1. Officials making over $600 but missing some required information (SSN, Address, etc).
          • These will be listed at the top.
          • For any official missing information, obtain the necessary info and add it to the system.
            • Use the email icon in the "Missing Info" area to contact those with missing items.
               
        2. Officials making over $600 with all necessary information
        3. Officials making less than the minimum (typically $600)
           
      2. This report will gather the amounts made by all officials from invoices marked as part of the current tax year regardless of whether that invoice is live or in an archive.
         
        • Ensure all officials income (including any officer income) is represented
          • Verify that invoice batches list the correct "Tax Year". The "Tax Year" determines what is included in the 1099s.
             
        • If you have batches in both an archive and the live system, the system compare thier contents to ensure they are the same.
          • If they differ, compare the batch from the archive with the batch from the live system. If the archive copy fully represents the necessary content and the live batch was incompletely cleared when creating the archive it will need to be manually deleted. Contact us for assistance if needed.
             
      3. This report also indicates whether an official's SSN/TIN has been verified with the IRS and, if so, if it is a match or not.
        • You can file with mismatches in this column but you need to ensure you are protected from potential IRS fines for filing with potentially incorrect information. You can do so by requesting a w9 from all officials with an indicated mismatch. Requesting and obtaining a w9 puts the greater burden for the incorrect information on the official.
           
        • Use the email icon in the "Incorrect Information" section to notify those officials that the system believes they have an incorrect SSN/Name.
           
        • SSN/TIN Status 
          • "do not match" or "never issued"
            • The name is not the one listed with the IRS for that SSN/TIN.
            • Possible reasons for failures:
              • Typo in SSN/TIN
              • Recent name changes  (marriage/divorce/etc,).
              • The use of nicknames instead of a legal name
              • The use of part of a hyphenated last name instead of the full hyphenated last name
          • "Not Yet Verified" just means the SSN/TIN was added after our last verification run.
            • This number may or may not be correct but we have not yet determined its status.
               
    5. When all data is complete and ready, click the button "Request Generation of 1099s".
      • We will NOT generate any 1099's prior to your requesting them since we do not know when your data is complete.
      • Your request for generation MUST be received by our deadline in order to assure completion by the IRS deadline of January 31st.
        • Our deadline is typically around January 24th.

    1099 Generation & Distribution
    Article ID:203 Posted:1/8/2014 8:06:47 PM Updated:2/24/2022 2:54:40 PM

    RefTown offers the option of generating 1099's. This includes electronic distribution your officials as well as electronic filing with the IRS and most states.

    1099 GENERATION

    Once your data is complete and we are notified, we will typically generate your 1099s within 1 to 2 days. 

    Once we have generated your 1099s, they will be posted to your account as follows:

    1. An individual PDF for each official.
    2. An All-in-one PDF file with all officials, 1 official per page, that can be used for printing and, if needed, distribution to officials that can not download and open the form from RefTown.

    All PDF files are individually encrypted and password protected.  The password for an individual official's 1099 is the officials SSN (or TIN)...digits only, no dashes. The password for the All-in-one PDFs will be a randomly generated set of characters that will be provided directly to those that need access to those files.

    1099 DISTRIBUTION

    Once we have generated the 1099s for your officials, we will post the encrypted PDF file on Reftown for access by each official. We will also email a copy of the 1099 to the email address on file.

    Each official can access their 1099 on Reftown at any time:

    1. Log into RefTown
    2. Go to Pay -> My Invoices & 1099s.
    3. Click either "View" or "Download" for their current 1099
    4. Enter their SSN (or TIN) to open the file
    1. Confirm Receipt
      • The IRS requires that the officials individually confirm that they were able to download their 1099 AND that they were able to open the 1099.
      • Officials can also opt-in to electronic delivery ahead of time by pre-consenting.
      • Reftown provides a mechanism where the official can confirm they were able to do these things.
        • They can also confirm receipt by email, or phone and an administrator can mark the official as confirmed.
      • If the official does NOT confirm receipt by some method, they will be considered to have not received a 1099 according to the IRS and you may need to print and mail a copy to that official.

    1099 FOLLOWUP

    Periodically, it is recommended to send out reminders through Reftown to those who have not yet confirmed receipt. The system provides an email function on the 1099 management page to do exactly that. It will only send the notice to those who have not yet confirmed receipt.

    For those who have not confirmed near the end of January, it is required by the IRS that you print and mail paper copies by January 31st. The All-in-one file with 1 official per page is designed for this purpose. When printing, you can either print the entire file or select specific pages to be printed.

    Near the middle to end of January, we will electronically file all 1099s with the IRS and most state agencies, including: 

    • Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin. 
    • We also support filling in Oregon through a separate process.

    We will provide a confirmation to you once we have filed your 1099s with the IRS.

    Preparing Your Organization, Invoices, and Officials for 1099 Processing
    Article ID:205 Posted:1/8/2014 9:58:42 PM Updated:1/5/2021 12:56:23 AM

    Preparing  and/or Verify your Organization's Account for 1099 processing

    1. Go to Admin -> Configuration - Finances
    2. Click on "1099 Setup"
    3. Fill in all relevant data as it will appear on the 1099 and will be reported to the IRS.
      • Required:
        • Legal Organization Name
        • Tax ID
        • Organization Address, City, State, Zip
        • Organization Contact Name, Title, Phone, and Email
    4. Choose a minimum amount needed to trigger a 1099.
      • NOTE: The IRS requires 1099s for all offiicals paid $600 or more.
      • Some states may have lower limits. Set the amount to the lowest of the two values.
      • You can safely issue 1099s for lower amounts if desired.
    5. Select whether uncategorized non-game custom items should be included in the 1099 total.

    Preparing Invoices to be Included in 1099 Processing

    1. Go to Pay -> Officials Invoices
    2. Click the checkbox for any batch that does not have a Tax Year specified that should be included.
    3.  Click 
    4. Enter the appropriate Tax Year.
      • This will be the year in which the payments were actually made...not the year the games occured in.
        • Example: If games played in December 2013 were not paid until January 2nd, 2014, they should be marked with the Tax Year of 2014.
    5. Click "Update This Item"

    Preparing officials for inclusion in 1099 Processing

    1. Go to Pay -> Officials Invoices
    2. On any one of the batches for the Tax Year of interest, click on the year of interest

    OR

    1. Click on Pay -> Official 1099 Managment
    2. Click on the year of interested under "Report of Official's 1099 Readiness"

    This will generate a summary of which batches are being included in the totals.

    It will also generate a report of:

    1. How many officials are missing an SSN/TaxID (you want this number to be 0)
    2. How many officials are under the limit for requiring a 1099
    3. How many officials are ready to have a 1099 generated

    For officials without a valid SSN/Tax ID, the report will include a link where you can edit the official's account to add an SSN or Tax ID.

    1099 Generation and Distribution Process
    Article ID:208 Posted:1/5/2015 7:49:41 PM Updated:12/20/2023 5:19:24 PM

    RefTown offers the option of generating 1099's. This includes electronic distribution your officials as well as electronic filing with the IRS and most states.

    1099 REQUIREMENTS

    • Prepare your organization's account to be ready for 1099 generation.
      1. You must prepare invoices on RefTown to show the accurate amounts that should be included on an official's 1099.
        • These invoices can generated within the RefTown system from game schedules or can include non-game related entries that can be input directly within RefTown or can be imported from an Excel spreadsheet.
      2. You must mark the invoice batches to indicate the correct Tax Year

    1099 PREPARATION

    1. Go to Pay -> Officials 1099 Management
    2. Click on "View/Manage" or "Prepare" for the year of interest
      • This will list all batches that are being included and where they are found
        • If the data is incomplete, find the missing batch (either in the live system or in an archive) and mark it with the appropriate Tax Year....you may wish to review invoice batches in your recent archives to be sure they have been marked with the appropriate tax year.
      • This will list each official that received payment in a batch marked with the specified tax year .
        • The officials will be divided into 3 groups.
          1. Officials making less than the minimum (typically $600)
          2. Officials making over $600 with all necessary information
          3. Officials making over $600 but missing some required information (SSN, Address, etc).
            • These will be listed at the top.
            • For any official missing information, obtain the necessary info and add it to the system.
    3. Once all officials have complete information, or you have obtained all information that you can, click the big green button that says "Request Generation of 1099s".
      • Until we receive your request and payment we will not process any information.
        • You can pre-pay for the 1099 services with your annual subscription.

    1099 GENERATION

    Once your data is complete and we are notified, we will typically generate your 1099s within 1-3 days. 

    Once we have generated your 1099s, they will be posted to your account as follows:

    1. An individual PDF for each official.
    2. An All-in-one PDF file with all officials, 1 official per page, that can be used for printing and distributing to officials that can not download and open the form RefTown.

    Per IRS regulations, all PDF files are individually encrypted and password protected.  The password for an individual official's 1099 is the official's SSN (or TIN)...digits only, no dashes. The password for the All-in-one PDFs will be a randomly generated set of characters that will be provided directly to those that need access to those files.

    1099 DISTRIBUTION

    Upon completion of the forms, we will email them to the officials..

    Each official with a 1099 will need to do two things:

    1. Download their 1099
      • Log into RefTown
      • Go to Pay -> My Invoices & 1099s.
      • Click either "View" or "Download" for their current 1099
    2. Confirm Receipt
      • The IRS requires that the officials individually confirm that they were able to download their 1099 AND that they were able to open the 1099.
      • RefTown provides a mechanism where the official can confirm they were able to do these things. They can also confirm receipt by email, or phone and you can mark them as confirmed.
      • If the officials does not confirm receipt, they effectively did not receive the 1099.
      • Officials can "pre-consent" to receiving them by email, eliminating the need to confirm receipt.

    1099 FOLLOWUP

    Periodically, send out reminders to those who have not yet confirmed receipt. The system provides an email function on the 1099 management page to do exactly that. It will only send the notice to those who have not yet confirmed receipt.

    For those who have not confirmed near the end of January, it is required by the IRS that you print and mail paper copies (deadline of January 31st). The All-in-one file with 1 official per page is designed to be used in that manner. When printing, you can either print the entire file or select specific pages to be printed.

    1099 IRS FILING

    In late January, we will then file your 1099's with the IRS and (through the IRS) with the respective states. 

    We will provide a confirmation to you once we have filed your 1099s with the IRS.

    W9 Collection and Management
    Article ID:263 Posted:1/5/2021 1:29:18 AM Updated:1/5/2021 1:29:18 AM

    As a substitute for paper W9's, the IRS authorizes electronic versions that collect the same information as the paper forms.

    Organizations can enable this feature under Admin -> Configuration - Finances, Payments, W9 Setup

    Once configured, you can view a report of the status of the officials' W9's under Pay -> Officials SSN and W9 Management. While this report does not show you an officials SSN, it does indicate if they have one, if they have a W9, if the W9 information matches what is now on the roster (in case of an address change), and if the officials name is a match for the provided SSN (according to the IRS).

    Printing 1099's
    Article ID:289 Posted:2/24/2022 2:59:19 PM Updated:2/24/2022 3:02:56 PM

     In the event you need to print 1099's for one or more of your official, you have two options:

    1. Open a 1099 for a single official
      1. Note the officials SSN/TIN from the official's directory entry
      2. Go to Pay -> Officials 1099 Management
      3. Click on "View / Manage" for the relevant tax year
      4. For the official of interest, click on either the view  or download  button.
      5. Enter the officials SSN/TIN (no dashes, numbers only)
      6. Print using your browser or PDF viewer
         
    2. Open a file with all 1099s for all officials
      1. Go to Pay -> Officials 1099 Management
      2. Click on "View / Manage" for the relevant tax year
      3. If you do not have the password for the all-in-one file, click "Get Password for All-in-One File".
        • This will cause the system to send you an email with the password for the file
      4. Click on either the "View All in Browser" or "Download All"
      5. Enter the password obtained in step "C"
      6. Print all of the pages or specific pages using your computers print dialog to specify specific pages.
        • If you wish to print all of those that haven't confirmed receipt, there is a button labeled "Show Unconfirmed Page Print List" that will give you a list of page numbers that you can copy/paste into your print dialog in order to more easily print just those pages.
    Section 3.6.3 : Direct Deposits (Category ID: 61)
    Top

    What happens when an officials direct deposit can't be made due to a closed or invalid account
    Article ID:220 Posted:10/16/2016 12:20:54 AM Updated:6/15/2022 2:45:15 PM

    Occasionally, direct deposits can not be completed. This can happen when an official provides an incorrect routing number or account number. This can also occur when an account is closed.

    When that occurs,

    1. Reftown receives a notice that the deposit was unsuccessful....usually within 1-3 days after the scheduled deposit posting date.
    2. The funds will be reversed to the organization's bank account within 3-5 business days.
    3. Reftown will send both the official and organization administrators an email indicating that the deposit was unsuccessful.
    4. The invoice associated with that deposit will be marked as not paid.
    5. The officials account information will be deleted from the system to prevent additional unsuccessful deposits.

    Electronic Payments / Direct Deposits
    Article ID:189 Posted:9/13/2011 12:29:27 AM Updated:6/15/2022 2:44:25 PM

    RefTown, in combination with KotaPay, offers an optional direct deposit service that is integrated with our financial invoicing features. Once an invoice is created, it is only a couple additional steps to make the payments directly to your officials accounts.

    Officials can enter their checking account information into RefTown under their account profile. The complete account numbers will not be displayed back to the official or an administrator of the organization...only partial account numbers. The entered routing number will be validated against legal routing numbers. Due to the pattern rules of valid routing numbers, single digit typos can be detected and rejected. Account numbers have no specific pattern that can be checked. Officials will be asked to enter their account number twice to greatly reduce the risk of an error. If the two numbers don't match, it will be rejected.

    Once officials have entered their direct deposit info, you can make direct deposits.

    High Level steps to make direct deposits are...
    1. Generate officials invoices
    2. Select invoices you wish to pay for by direct deposit
      1. There are a variety of ways to reach the list of payable invoices
    3. Click
    4. Click "Direct Deposit"
      • You will now have a list of invoices that have a balance needing to be paid. This will list all invoices whether the official has entered their direct deposit information or not. Each line item (one per invoice) will indicate whether account information exists for that official.
      • This listing will also provide a total for the cost of the batch (not including any fees for transactions to bad account numbers).
    5. Verify items to be paid
    6. If your account is configured to fund the payments with an ACH transfer, click "Send Authentication Codes for Selected Direct Deposits"
      • This will send a text message to a predefined phone number with a 6-digit code.
      • Enter the provided code in the appropriate box that will be shown on RefTown.
    1. Click "Execute Selected Direct Deposits".
    At this point the deposits will be submitted to our Banking partner and will be processed.

    At no time will your organization's money ever be in an account operated by RefTown...all funds will be transferred directly from your bank account to KotaPay, a long established electronic funds processing operation that is a subsidiary of Wells Fargo Bank, and then to your officials' bank accounts.
    These transactions will be started through either a wire from your bank to KotaPay or an ACH transfer to KotaPay. A wire guarantees the funds to KotaPay and allows the payments to be made more quickly---next business day if the batch is submitted before the cutoff time. An ACH transfer is held until the fund clear before making payments.

    All fees incurred as a result of submitting a batch will automatically be charged to the organization as an additional direct deposit from the account from which your direct deposit funds are also drawn.

    The overall cost per transaction can be cheaper than printing and mailing checks and is far more efficient.

    This function requires that your organization enter a 3-way contract with KotaPay and RefTown allowing RefTown to facilitate electronic transactions initiated by you to be processed by KotaPay.

    Direct Deposits and/or PayPal/Venmo Payments from Game Payors (School/Teams)
    Article ID:291 Posted:4/1/2022 9:33:24 PM Updated:4/1/2022 9:33:24 PM

    In some areas, the schools/teams are responsible for making payment to the officials. RefTown offers a service to those organizations for making payments. This process for schools/teams to make payments is practically identical to the process used when officials organizations make payments.

    1. A representative of the paying entity (school, district, coach, etc.) processes a select set of games to create an "invoice" (aka, paysheet).

    2. The representative will execute payments using either direct deposit (directly to the official's designated checking/savings account) or through PayPal/Venmo.

    There is no cost to the official for receiving payment through this method. The paying entity bears all of the costs. 

    What does the officiating organization need to do? If you already have the system set up to show game fees...nothing. There will be some options enabled that put reminders to sign up for direct deposit on the officials' home pages. Just leave those enabled so your officials can access the signup. 

    Section 3.6.4 : Travel / Mileage (Category ID: 63)
    Top

    Configuring Reftown for the TASO Ring + Portal Mileage System
    Article ID:214 Posted:10/13/2016 3:30:45 AM Updated:1/13/2021 7:24:05 PM

    There are several steps to getting this right, but it is a onetime configuration:

    • Main Finance Enable
      1. Go to Admin -> Configuration -- Finances
      2. Click on Main Enable
      3. Check "Enable Official's Financial Features"
      4. Click Update

    • General Fee Amount Setup
      1. Go to Admin -> Configuration -- Finances
      2. Click on Fee Calculation Options
      3. Check the boxes for the elements that will affect how much is to paid for a game...usually just 2-4 items, perhaps as few as 1 in some cases.
      4. Click Update

    • General Travel Enable
      1. Go to Admin -> Configuration -- Finances
      2. Click on Travel Options
      3. For "Travel Mode" choose "Single-Base" Mileage Table
      4. Click Update

    • General Fee Display...to have the fees shown on the game schedule for each reference
      1. Go to Admin -> Configuration -- Finances
      2. In the Miscellaneous section at the bottom, click on Game Schedule Fee Display
      3. Set the options as follows:
      4. Click Update

    • Specific Mileage Configurations...to tell the system how to calculate mileage
      1. Go to Admin -> Configuration -- Finances
      2. Click on Adjustment & Travel Recipes
      3. Click the https://www.reftown.com/_icons/add.gif button.
      4. Complete this option page as shown in this screenshot
        • the name can be whatever you want it to be.
        • Take note to set the mileage rate mode correctly

    • Per Site Configuration....to tell the system which sites fall within which mileage ranges.
      1. Go to Pay -> Distance Chart
      2. Click the "Edit" button in the top right
      3. Put in each box, the distance to each location
        • Precise distances may be best for long term flexibility should the ranges ever change but you can put any number up to 30 for those within the 30-mile ring, any number above 30 and up to 40 for those in the 40-mile ring, and any number above 40 for those outside the 40-mile ring.
      4. Click Update

    • Game Fees
      1. You can pre-enter you game fees.
        • Go to Pay -> Officials Fees
        • Click the https://www.reftown.com/_icons/add.gif button.
        • Select the all the attributes for type of game you are adding
        • Enter the game fee amount, per person.
        • Select the Mileage Recipe you created above.
          • If this is not selected with the fee, no mileage will be paid relating to that entry.       
        • Click Update
      2. Or, you can review your schedule to view what fees are present or not present. For those indicating "Missing Fee".
    1. Click the https://www.reftown.com/_icons/add.gif on the game with the missing fee.
    2. A small window will open with the game attributes pre-filled.
    3. Add the game fee for that game type.
    4. Select the mileage recipe created above.
    5. Click Update.

    Mileage Calculations
    Article ID:179 Posted:1/6/2010 10:11:25 PM Updated:6/22/2010 12:32:56 PM

    Mileage is calculated through several parts that come together to generate the mileage. The mileage calculation, if enabled, normally starts with the mileage/adjustment set as specified on the fee tables. If the matching mileage/adjustment set has specified that mileage should be calculated, the school/team roster is checked for a distance. The mileage/adjustment set is then referenced for how much to pay per mile, how much to limit the total to (maximum and/or minimum), whether to pay by round trip, and whether to pay more than one mileage per date per location.

    Driving Distance Methods
    Article ID:228 Posted:6/14/2017 10:40:49 PM Updated:11/5/2021 2:53:28 PM

    RefTown supports to modes of driving distances.

    The first and default method uses an approximated distanced based on latitude and longitude derived from officials and location addresses. The latitude and longitude of each official and location is stored on RefTown and an equation is used to calculate the line-of-site distance between the two points. That distance is then padded about 20% to account for the fact that the roads are rarely that direct. This number is generally good enough when identifying officials closer or farther from a given game location. This method would be insufficient in the presence of rivers, lakes, mountains or other obstacles that lead to longer driving distances despite the fact that the two locations are not that far apart or when the route might be very straight.

    RefTown, also supports a mode that actually queries Bing Maps for the actual route between the official's location and the game's location. This provides a very accurate driving distance. This is much more complicated and resource intensive than the simple latitude/longitude calculations but it will be accurate if the addresses in the system are correct and accurate. Enabling this mode also allows for drive time estimations in addition to distance.

    To enable the more precise distance mode, your organization must first obtain a "key" from Bing Maps that allows access to their service. See the related articles for information on obtaining a key. This key must be entered on RefTown's configuration page under Admin -> Configuration, GAMES, Bing Maps Key for Precise Driving Distance. This key will be string of 64 seemingly random letters and numbers. Once the key is entered, all calculations of distances will use actual routes instead of the approximated distances.

    Note that the first accesses after entering this key to pages that reference driving distances will be very slow as the distances are calculated. Depending on the number of officials and locations your organization has, the first accesses may be extremely slow. However, subsequent accesses will process at typical speeds.

    Obtaining a Bing Maps Key
    Article ID:229 Posted:6/14/2017 11:01:40 PM Updated:8/18/2023 10:39:26 AM

    Logging Into a Bing Maps Portal Account

    1. Go to the Bing Maps Portal
    2. If you do not have a Microsoft Account,
      • click the Create One link.
        • Fill out the form to create an account with Microsoft
    3. If you have a Microsoft Account
      • Enter your Email/Phone/SkypeID
      • click "Next"
      • Enter your Password
      • Click "Sign In"
    4. After signing into the Bing Maps Portal, you may be asked some questions regarding the name of your organization. 

    Creating a Bing Maps Portal Key

    After logging into the Bing account as described above, execute the following steps to create your Bing Maps key.

    1. Click on My Account -> My Keys
    2. Click the link for creating a new key at the top of the page.
    3. Enter an "Application Name"....typically the name of your organization, e.g., "XYZOA - Reftown"
    4. Enter an "Application URL" : https://www.reftown.com
    5. For Key Type: Choose  Basic
    6. For the Application Type, choose the one that most accurately fits your organization, often Not-for-profit but possibly Private Website or Public Website

    Applying the Key for Use on Reftown.

    After creating the key on the Bing Maps Portal, you will then need to copy the key and paste it into the Reftown configuration pages.

    1. First, go to the Bing Portal Key pages as mentioned above.
    2. Copy the key by selecting the entire key and pressing Ctrl-C
    3. Navigate, on Reftown, to Admin -> Configuration, ASSIGNMENTS, Limits
    4. Paste the key copied above into the setting called "Bing Maps Key for Precise Driving Distance"
    5. Click Update
    Section 3.6.5 : Stripe Payments (Category ID: 69)
    Top

    Setting up Reftown to Accept Stripe Payments
    Article ID:323 Posted:10/8/2024 10:49:24 AM Updated:10/8/2024 11:45:06 AM

    Reftown can be configured to accept stripe payments for your organization.

    1. First, you must set up and account with Stripe.com.
    2. From, stripe.com, you must set up an API key (https://dashboard.stripe.com/apikeys).
      • You can use a Standard Key or, if you want to be more restrictive on what Reftown has access to, a Restricted Key. With a Restricted Key, you will need to choose the right resource(s) for the API. Specifically, Reftown uses the "PaymentIntents" resource.
    3. Copy your publishable key and secret key from the stripe API setup into Reftown's configuration:
      • Admin -> Configuration-Finances, Stripe Configuration (bottom)
         
    4. If you want Reftown to be aware of payments made through Stripe, you must also set up a webhook endpoint on stripe (https://dashboard.stripe.com/workbench/webhooks)
      1. Click "Create New Endpoint" (top left)
      2. Select Events (Payment Intents)
      3. Click Continue
      4. Under Endpoint URL, enter the Reftown Endpoint URL
        • (the URL can be found on the Reftown Stripe configuration page)
      5. Click "Create destination"
      6. Next, copy from stripe, you "Signing Secret" for that endpoint and paste it into the Reftown Stripe Configuration options
    Section 3.7 : Voting, Ballots, Quizzes, and Signups (Category ID: 45)
    Top

    How does the ballot/voting/quiz system work?
    Article ID:143 Posted:10/14/2008 9:09:19 AM Updated:2/28/2017 11:41:04 PM

    The Reftown Ballot/Signup system provides a secure, independent method of collecting votes for various purposes.

    The system remembers who has voted and when. It will not permit a revote by the same individual.

    The details of a submitted ballot are not available to anyone else in your organization.

    • All that is revealed is the number of votes cast for each question, the number of votes cast for each option, and, in the case of ranked-list ballots, ranking information.

    Once votes are cast, removing options is not permitted or supported—that would corrupt the votes already cast.

    A voter can confirm that the voter’s own ballot was received by returning to the ballot—the time and date of the submission will be displayed with a notice that the voter can not vote again.

    Like game assignments, ballots/signups remain invisible to the members until published.

    Ballots/signups open and close automatically based on the dates entered. Once a ballot/signup opens, changes are not permitted.The results are automatically tabulated online and the winners determined. The actual ballots are stored in the database but are not visible.

    What is the difference between a Ballot and a Signup and an Exam/Quiz?
    Article ID:140 Posted:10/14/2008 8:27:34 AM Updated:11/16/2010 12:55:59 AM

    They are the same in nearly every way.

    The ballot is a "secret" ballot system. No one has access to the details of the ballot submissions. Depending on options selected, administrators of the ballot may be able to see a list of who has submitted a ballot (but, again, not thier choices). The option selected will be shown on the ballot.

    The signup is much like the ballot except that the administrators can see the details of the submissions....who selected what.

    The quiz/exam allows you toenter a "correct" answer and will generate a % correct score.

     

    How do I configure a new or existing ballot/signup/quiz?
    Article ID:141 Posted:10/14/2008 8:45:57 AM Updated:1/14/2021 8:08:29 PM
    1. From the ballot/signup/quiz page, Click on  to add a new item or  to configure an existing item.
    2. Enter a title, a start date and time, and an end date and time
    3. Select the people who will be participating
      1. All Officials
      2. All Schools/Teams
      3. Officials by level...levels to be selected later
      4. Schools/Teams by level....levels to be selected later
      5. Specific Officials ---to be selected later
      6. Specific Schools/Teams ---to be selected later
    4. Indicate how you want to reveal the results to your members:
      1. When Certified: The results become visible to administrators when the polls close and await approval from an admin before they're visible to the members. (Recommended for ballots)
        1. (You can select ballot administrators specifically for a single ballot).
      2. After Close: The moment the end date and time pass, the results are visible.
      3. Always: The results are live...visible every moment
      4. Private: never revealed online...you reveal them by your own methods
    5. How do you wish to reveal the results to ballot administrators:
      1. After Close: The moment the end date and time pass, the results are visible. (Recommended for ballots)
      2. Always: The results are live...visible every moment
    6. Should a confirmation email be sent to the submitter and should it include the details of the ballot or just that a ballot was submitted?
    7. If desired, enter general notes about the ballot/signup/quiz.
    8. Click "Update This Item"
    9. Preview the Ballot
      • If you configured the ballot to be based on level or for specific official or schools/teams, click on the eligibility type to select the eligible levels.
      • If you wish at add ballot administrators (in addition to your general administrators), click on "Admins (edit)"

        Notes:

        • All configuration options are shown to all members
        • Most of the configuration options disappear (can not be changed) once the ballot is published and the start date/time has passed

    How do I add/edit questions on a ballot/signup?
    Article ID:142 Posted:10/14/2008 8:58:48 AM Updated:8/28/2016 8:26:37 PM

    ADDING QUESTIONS

    1. Preview the ballot/signup/quiz
    2. Click Add/Edit a question
    3. Enter the question (e.g. Vote for President, On what day should XYZ have its meetings?, How many points are scored on a touchdown?)
    4. Select the type of answer expected:
      1. Yes/No
      2. Favor/Oppose
      3. True/False (only available on a quiz/exam)
      4. Multiple Choice  (only available on a quiz/exam)
      5. Officials - Select One/Many
        • This option allows you to provide a list of several candidates and allows the voter to select one or more candidates as configured in the next step.
        • All selections are equal.
        • This is often used for tournament voting, where each official picks at least some number and no more than another number of candidates
      6. Officials - Ranked List - Instant Runoff
        • In this one, the voter will rank the options from most preferred to least preferred.
        • This method is used when a majority vote is required to win an election.
        • The rankings are used to eliminate the least-preferred option and reallocate the votes for that option to the remaining option . This avoids the need for runoff elections when there is a plurality.
        • There are several websites that detail this form of voting.
      7. Officials Ranked List - Generic
        • The votes are cast as above.
        • A table of who received how many votes in each ranked position is provided for your own use.
        • The site provides one possible scoring of the rankings by assigning a number of points to each submissions....the higher the ranking, the more points....but you are free to use the provided raw data to tabulate the results in a different way.
      8. General - Select One/Many
        • Like #5, but use freeform text as the choices
      9. Number
        • The answer is expected to be a number
      10. Text - One line
        • Good for simple surveys or write-in votes
      11. Text - Multiple lines
        • Good for surveys
    5. If the vote type is a "One/Many" or a "Ranked List", enter a minimum number of selections and a maximum number of selections for the submission to be valid.
      • In the case of ranked lists, this will greatly simplify the ballot/signup form in addition to restricting the number that can be selected
    6. Check the "Allow Candidate Statement" box if you want to enable candidates to enter their own position statements
    7. Optionally, enter a detailed explanation and chose whether it will be displayed with the question, or if the explanation will be shown only if the voter clicks on the "Explanation" link on the ballot
    8. Click "Update This Item"

     CONFIGURING OPTIONS FOR SELECTION LISTS

    • If you chose a question type that has a list of officials, click by the target question to choose your list.
    • If you choose a question type that has general items, click  by the target question to enter your list
      • Note that you can cause options on general item questions to expire before the entire ballot/survey/signup/quiz closes.
      • This can be used for signups where various options become unavailable at different times...e.g., repay, pay-at-the-door, etc.
    • Options can not be modified after the opening time 

     FINAL STEPS

    • Sort your questions and/or options as desired using the up/down sort arrows
    • If it is an exam/quiz, edit the answer key from the main quiz listing
    • Publish when ready
    • Send Reminders periodically
      • None are sent automatically at this time
      • Only those who have not made a submission will be reminded.

    How do the instant run-off elections work?
    Article ID:144 Posted:10/14/2008 9:24:32 AM Updated:6/22/2010 11:53:09 AM

    The instant runoff voting tabulates votes based on the principle that any vote cast for a last-place candidate shall be transferred to the next-choice candidate on that ballot until one candidate has a majority of votes. This ballot-count method duplicates what would occur if all voters participated in a graduated series of runoff elections.

    Vote counting shall start with a tabulation of first-choice votes. If a candidate receives a majority of the first-choice votes, then that candidate shall be declared elected. If no candidate receives such a majority, then the candidate with the fewest first choices shall be declared defeated. Ballots cast for this defeated candidate shall be transferred at full value to the next-choice candidate marked on each ballot. Last-place candidates are eliminated and their supporters' ballots transferred to next-choice candidates who are still in the race in a similar manner until a candidate receives a majority of votes that have not been exhausted.

    If a ballot has no more available choices ranked on it, that ballot shall be declared "exhausted."

    If there are two candidates with fewest number of first place votes, the number of second-place votes are included. If that still doesn't break the tie, third-place votes are included, and so on. It's still possible, but highly unlikely, that there will still be a tie.

    Example:

    4 candidates, 50 voters

    A: 22 first-place votes

    B: 16 first-place votes

    C: 6 first-place votes

    D: 6 first-place votes

    No candidate has a majority of the first-place votes. This voting method drops the one with the fewest votes. In this case, there are two. Which one to declare defeated? Since they have the same number of first place votes, the second-place votes for those two are considered for the tie-breaker.

    C: 10 second-place votes

    D: 13 second-place votes

    C is eliminated and D remains. The 6 ballots that have C as their first choice are referenced for their second choice (they be come first choice votes now that C is no longer in the race, the 3rd place votes become 2nd, etc.)

    Of those six votes, two have A second, and 4 have B second.

    That gives the following:

    A: 24 first place votes

    B: 20 first place votes

    D: 6 first place votes

    Still no majority.

    D is alone in last place, so D is eliminated. The 6 ballots that have D as their first choice are referenced for their second choice. Those votes are added to A and B. One of them will now have a majority or there will be a tie.

    If there is still a tie, the one with the greater number of first place votes in the prior round is declared the winner—having more natural first place votes.

    Signup Auto-Invoicing
    Article ID:283 Posted:10/26/2021 10:39:20 PM Updated:10/26/2021 10:39:20 PM

    This feature allows you to create custom invoice items automatically based on the selections made as part of a signup/survey.

    To use this feature...

    1. Create the signup where  the main configuration for the signup has:
      1. "Enabled Auto Invoicing" checked.
      2. If there is an existing batch that should be used to collect the new invoices, select that invoice. Otherwise choose New.
        • When a "New" is selected, the first person to place an order will cause a batch to be created. That batch will then be set as the target batch for all new signups. You can, at any time, return to the configuration to specify that future submissions should go to a different existing batch or yet another new batch. You can also designate whether to use the batch based only if it is not published and how to leave the batch if it was published prior to adding a new invoice.
      3. Optionally, choose an invoice category to group the items under.
    2. Next, add a question that has a set multiple choice options that will lead to an amount being added to an official's invoice.
      1. In the question setup:
        1. Enter how much that option should cost...enter the actual price, not a negative number. The system will convert the cost of the item to a deduction for the invoice (normally relative to how much the official should be paid for games worked).
        2. Optionally, enter how many are available.
          • This option will block additional signups for that item if the maximum is reached. This can be used without the invoicing functionality as well.

    Section 3.8 : Custom Content (Category ID: 23)
    Top

    How does an administrator add or edit custom page content?
    Article ID:36 Posted:4/25/2007 8:00:19 PM Updated:11/6/2014 9:52:02 PM

    There are 3 regions on nearly every page where you can add your own freeform content:

    • The Header area will appear just below the Menu and Page Title and before the page's main content
    • The Footer area will appear just below the page's main content and before the time/date/copyright information
    • The Left area appears just below the Menu and Page Title and before the page's main content

    To add fully customizable information to a page, click on the menu labeled "Custom" then "Customize this Page."

    A page will open where you can select the area of the page to add to or and item to edit or delete.

     On the editing screen, you will be presented with a full featured editor that allows extensive page formatting: fonts, colors, tables, etc. You will have several options that control who can see the custom content and when it apears.

    After editing the content, click "Update Custom Header" to save the changes. Hover your mouse over the  symbol for more info on each option.

    Editing Tips:

    To add a link to another page or document:

    1. Type the text that you wish to appear for the link.
    2. Highlight that text
    3. Click the button that looks like a chain link 
    4. Paste the address into the "Link URL" box
    5. Choose whether the link will open in the current window or in another window.
    6. Click "Insert"

    Can I add my own custom pages to RefTown?
    Article ID:37 Posted:4/25/2007 8:06:00 PM Updated:6/21/2010 10:59:52 PM

    Yes, you can add complete pages to RefTown.

    To do so, click the "Custom" menu then select "Add Custom Page."

    A page will open with a full-featured editor that allows extensive page formatting: fonts, colors, tables, etc.

    You may make the pages accessible only to officials, or you may also allow schools and/or the public to access the new pages by checking the appropriate boxes.

    Give each page a "Menu Title" (the name that will appear in the menus) and a "Page Title" (the name that will appear at the top of the page once opened).

    Create the content.

    After editing the content, click "Update This Item" to save the changes.

    The added pages can be reached through the "Custom" menu by the "Menu Title."

    Section 3.9 : Posting and Managing Documents (Category ID: 25)
    Top

    How do I add documents or document categories/folders to RefTown?
    Article ID:44 Posted:4/25/2007 8:43:32 PM Updated:11/6/2014 9:45:05 PM

    Add new Documents:

    1. Go to "Other..." -> "Documents"
    2. Click ""
    3. In the page that opens, select the file to upload, using the "Browse..." button
    4. If you wish to rename the file, enter a new name
    5. Select a folder for the document
    6. Choose who will have access the document
    7. Click "Upload Now"

     

    Add new Document Categories/Folders:

    1. Go to "Other..." -> "Documents"
    2. Click " "
    3. Enter a name for the new folder 
    4. Select a parent folder for the new folder
    5. Click "Update This Item"

    Reference Uploaded Documents for use in Other Places

    1. Right mouse on the document of interest and left click the item that is similar to  "Copy link address" or "Copy Shortcut".
    2. Paste the copied address into the desired place.

    How do I change the name, category or permissions of a document?
    Article ID:45 Posted:4/25/2007 8:46:19 PM Updated:6/21/2010 11:07:27 PM

    To modify the details of a document already on RefTown:

    1. Go to "Other Info" -> "Documents"
    2. Click the checkbox beside the desired document
    3. Click ""
    4. In the new page that opens:
      1. Choose whether to allow the public and/or school to access the document
      2. Enter a new category for the document
      3. Enter a new name, if desired
      4. Click "Update This Item"

    How do I edit a document that is posted on RefTown?
    Article ID:46 Posted:4/25/2007 8:48:21 PM Updated:12/8/2013 11:34:25 PM

    Documents posted on RefTown cannot be directly edited.

    To change their content:

    1. Download the current version to your computer
    2. Make the desired changes
    3. Click the checkbox for the old document
    4. Click
    5. In the new page that opens, select the file to upload—using the "Browse..." button
    6. If you wish to rename the file, enter a new name
    7. Select a folder for the document
    8. Choose whether to allow the public and/or schools/teams to access the document
    9. Click "Upload Now"

    What types of documents are supported on RefTown?
    Article ID:47 Posted:4/25/2007 8:49:27 PM Updated:4/16/2013 9:36:37 PM

    .doc
    .docx
    .docm

    Microsoft Word

    .gif

    GIF Image

    .htm
    .html
    .mht

    standard web html

    .jpe
    .jpg
    .jpeg

    JPEG Image

    .pdf

    Adobe PDF

    .ppt
    .pps
    .pptx
    .pptm
    .ppsx
    .ppsm

    Microsoft Powerpoint

    .rtf

    RTF Document

    .tif
    .tiff

    TIFF Image

    .txt

    Text Document

    .csv
    .xls
    .xlsx
    .xlsm

    Microsoft Excel

    .wmv
    .wma
    Windows Media
    .flv Flash Video

    How do I link to a document posted on RefTown from either inside of RefTown or outside?
    Article ID:201 Posted:12/8/2013 11:33:22 PM Updated:12/8/2013 11:33:22 PM

    To create a link to a document posted on your documents page,

    1. Locate the document on RefTown's Documents page
    2. Right mouse on the document of interest and click "Copy URL" or "Copy Address" (the exact wording may vary depending on what browser you use).

    Paste the above copied address/url into the desitnation location.

    If the destination location is a custom text area within RefTown:

    1. Open the editor of the item where you wish to place the link.
    2. Where you wish the link to appear, type the text you wish to use for the link
    3. Click the "Insert/Edit Link" button on the editor toolbar (looks like a link from a chain)
    4. Paste the address/url copied above into the "Link URL" box.
    5. Update when done.
    Section 3.10 : FAQ (Category ID: 40)
    Top

    What do the various admin/assignor symbols mean?
    Article ID:175 Posted:12/27/2009 1:41:10 AM Updated:4/16/2013 9:36:37 PM

    Action Button Symbols Used Throughout RefTown

    Symbols used throughout the site.
    These have the same general meaning in each case.

    Go to first page (active/disabled)

    Go to last page (active/disabled)

    Go to previous page (active/disabled)

    Go to next page (active/disabled)

     

    Check all items on page

     

    Uncheck all items on page

     

    Reverse checkmarks on page

     

    Add an item (official, game, school, etc.) to current page

     

    Edit the selected items/games

     

    Delete the selected items/Cancel the selected games

    Specific Purpose Symbols that Appear in a Few Places

     

    • DIRECTORIES: Merge the selected official, school, or school contact roster entries into one entry

     

    Symbols that Associate People with Things:

    • GAMES: Assign officials to games
    • ROSTERS: Connect school personnel (AD's/Coaches) with Schools
    • EVENTS: Meeting attendance
    • NOTICES: Select/Edit recipients of various RefTown email notices.
    • VOTE/SIGNUP: Select administrators for ballots, signups, etc.

     

    • GAMES: Mark the selected game(s) as open for self-assignment

     

    • GAMES: Mark the selected game(s) as not open for self-assignment

     

    • GAMES: Published the assignments for the selected games
    • DOCUMENTS: Revise the selected document

     

    • GAMES: Edit the responses for the selected game(s)

     

    • GAMES: Postpone the selected game(s)
    • INVOICES: Review selected officials invoices grouped by Payor
    • ROSTERS: Copy the selected roster entry to another roster

     

    • GAME MANAGEMENT: Mark the selected game(s) as "OK"—used to waive warnings on the game management page

     

    • GAME REQUEST: Move selected game to main schedule
    • INVOICES: Review selected invoice

     

    • GAMES: Automatically assign the selected game(s)
    • INVOICES: Create Custom Invoice Items

     

    • INVOICES: Email selected invoices to officials/schools

     

    • DOCUMENTS: Add a new document folder

     

    • INVOICES: Mark the selected invoice(s) as paid
    • GAMES: Modify fees and related info for the assignments of the selected game(s)

     

    • INVOICES: Mark the selected invoice(s) as not paid
    • INVOICES (batch level): Show Unpaid Invoices

     

    Move this item to the top

     

    Move this item up one

     

    Move this item down one

     

    Move this item to the bottom

    Section 3.10.1 : Assignment Options (Category ID: 29)
    Top

    Why does an officials prior response get cleared when part of the crew is changed?
    Article ID:72 Posted:5/8/2007 1:57:30 PM Updated:6/21/2010 11:32:13 PM

    Be default, RefTown is set to require a new response from every crew member when part of the crew is changed. This ensures that all members of the crew have the most current information.

    This function can be disabled to require a new response only from officials directly affected by the change (i.e., the official added or removed).

    How do I set RefTown to not clear a official's prior response when there is a crew change?
    Article ID:73 Posted:5/8/2007 2:03:14 PM Updated:6/21/2010 11:32:35 PM

    Go to:

    • Administration
    • Configuration
    • Response Options

    and uncheck "Require Official Response on Crew Change."

    "Require Official Response on Crew Change ".

    Section 4 : School/Team Administrator Guide (Category ID: 65)
    Top

    Electronic Payments / Direct Deposits
    Article ID:189 Posted:9/13/2011 12:29:27 AM Updated:6/15/2022 2:44:25 PM

    RefTown, in combination with KotaPay, offers an optional direct deposit service that is integrated with our financial invoicing features. Once an invoice is created, it is only a couple additional steps to make the payments directly to your officials accounts.

    Officials can enter their checking account information into RefTown under their account profile. The complete account numbers will not be displayed back to the official or an administrator of the organization...only partial account numbers. The entered routing number will be validated against legal routing numbers. Due to the pattern rules of valid routing numbers, single digit typos can be detected and rejected. Account numbers have no specific pattern that can be checked. Officials will be asked to enter their account number twice to greatly reduce the risk of an error. If the two numbers don't match, it will be rejected.

    Once officials have entered their direct deposit info, you can make direct deposits.

    High Level steps to make direct deposits are...
    1. Generate officials invoices
    2. Select invoices you wish to pay for by direct deposit
      1. There are a variety of ways to reach the list of payable invoices
    3. Click
    4. Click "Direct Deposit"
      • You will now have a list of invoices that have a balance needing to be paid. This will list all invoices whether the official has entered their direct deposit information or not. Each line item (one per invoice) will indicate whether account information exists for that official.
      • This listing will also provide a total for the cost of the batch (not including any fees for transactions to bad account numbers).
    5. Verify items to be paid
    6. If your account is configured to fund the payments with an ACH transfer, click "Send Authentication Codes for Selected Direct Deposits"
      • This will send a text message to a predefined phone number with a 6-digit code.
      • Enter the provided code in the appropriate box that will be shown on RefTown.
    1. Click "Execute Selected Direct Deposits".
    At this point the deposits will be submitted to our Banking partner and will be processed.

    At no time will your organization's money ever be in an account operated by RefTown...all funds will be transferred directly from your bank account to KotaPay, a long established electronic funds processing operation that is a subsidiary of Wells Fargo Bank, and then to your officials' bank accounts.
    These transactions will be started through either a wire from your bank to KotaPay or an ACH transfer to KotaPay. A wire guarantees the funds to KotaPay and allows the payments to be made more quickly---next business day if the batch is submitted before the cutoff time. An ACH transfer is held until the fund clear before making payments.

    All fees incurred as a result of submitting a batch will automatically be charged to the organization as an additional direct deposit from the account from which your direct deposit funds are also drawn.

    The overall cost per transaction can be cheaper than printing and mailing checks and is far more efficient.

    This function requires that your organization enter a 3-way contract with KotaPay and RefTown allowing RefTown to facilitate electronic transactions initiated by you to be processed by KotaPay.

    How to Create an Invoice
    Article ID:155 Posted:6/10/2009 12:48:27 AM Updated:6/15/2022 2:47:30 PM

    Assuming the invoice functions are enabled under the configuration options:

    1. Click either
      1. "Pay" -> "Official's Invoices"
      2. "Pay" -> "School/Team Invoices"
    2. Click the  symbol to either start a new batch or add to an existing unpublished batch
    3. Fill out the search form to select the games you need to invoice.
    4. Click "Search Now"
    5. The next page will list all games the system believes need invoicing that match the search criterea in step 4
    6. Select the batch you wish to work with or select "New Batch",'
      • If you choose "New Batch" for officials invoices, you will also have to select a "Tax Year"
    • Each game listed, when working on official's invoices, will list all officials associated with the game.
    • Those prefixed with a "-" and in green are currently on the game and will be paid.
    • Those prefixed with a "+" and in red are no longer on the game and will not be paid.
      • This will not include games marked as "Invoice Current". If you wish to force the system to recalculate the invoices for games it believes are already calculated, you have two options. 
        1. Force Recalculation (Keep Overrides)
          • This will cause the system to ignore its indication that a game has already been paid. It will reanalyze the selected games and will recalculate the amount that should be paid. If the amount is unchanged, it will do nothing. If the amount is different than previously paid, it will re-invoice the game with the new amount with a credit for the previously invoiced amount.
          • If you manually override any invoice amount for the game on a prior invoice, this option will keep those overrides.
        2. Force Recalculation (Ignore Overrides)
          • This does the same as the above step but discards any overridden amounts and will use the calculated amounts.
      • You can also further modify the search criteria if needed.
    1. Once you have the list of games that you wish to invoices, click "Create Officials Invoices" or "Create Schools/Teams Invoices"
      • The program will verify that all of the selected games have all of the information necessary for generating invoices and will ask for any missing data
    2. Once all data is entered, the invoices will be generated
      • The dollar amounts generated will be drawn from the appropriate payscale and will be modified by any modifiers entered on the game/assignment.
      • For any games previously invoiced, one of three things will happen.....
        1. If the game is in an existing unpublished batch, it will be deleted from that batch and a new entry will be created in the current batch.
        2. If the game is in a existing and published batch, and now results in a different amount, the system will create a credit on the new batch to offset the amount(s) in the existing batch and will create a new entry on the current batch reflecting the correct amount.
        3. If the game is in a existing and published batch, and now results in the same amount, the system mark the game/assignment as invoiced and will not add a new item to the current batch.

    School/Team Administrator Simplified Invoice Creation Process
    Article ID:297 Posted:6/15/2022 3:32:16 PM Updated:6/15/2022 3:45:25 PM

    While School/Team administrators can follow the standard invoicing procedure outlined in other articles, they also have some aids available to them that are not available to officials organizations that pay the officials internally.

    On the home page, a school team administrator will get a notice indicating that:

    1. There are past games that have not yet been added to a payment invoice.
    2. There are payment invoices that have not yet been pad.

    That notice will look something like this:

    It tells you

    1. How may past assignments are not yet invoiced, the number of games that have assignments that are not yet invoiced, and the number of officials affected.
    2. How many invoices have been created but not yet paid

    To create invoices for the uninvoiced games....

    1. Click the Prepare Invoices button.
      • This will show a list of past games with at least 1 unvoiced official.
    2. On that list, there will be a checkbox for each game. If checked, that game will be invoiced, if unchecked, that game will not be invoiced.
      1. Note that creating the invoice for a game doesn't mean it has to be paid at this time. The choice of what invoices to actually pay will be made later.
    3. Choose a "Batch" in which to group the invoices being generated
      • You can choose a new batch or have the newly created invoiced grouped in an existing batch (as long as the existing batch is not "published").
    4. If choosing a new batch, choose a "Tax Year" in which to include the paid invoices
    5. Click "Create Official's Invoices"

    You will then see the following:

    1. Click one of the 3 buttons to proceed to all invoices in that batch, all unpaid invoices in that batch, or all unpaid invoices regardless of batch.
    • The "all unpaid invoices" option takes you to the same set of invoices as returning to the home page and clicking the "Pay Invoices" notice.

    Continue with the payment instructions under https://www.reftown.com/kbp/index.php?View=entry&EntryID=189

    Tracking Payment Status of Invoices
    Article ID:255 Posted:1/3/2021 11:37:29 PM Updated:6/15/2022 2:43:47 PM

    There are a few options for manually tracking invoice payment status. One option is very simple and meant to track paid or not paid, the others are a little bit more involved and allow you to enter check numbers and more. Note, this is NOT used when using our Direct Deposit or other automated payment function. This is only meant to be used to track payments made outside of Reftown.

    The simple methods use a payment type of "Other" and the current date for the payment date.

    The detailed method allows you to choose a payment method, payment date, and a payment #.

    First, locate the invoices of interest (not, not all methods are available to school/team administrators):

    • By Invoice
      • Go to Pay -> Officials Invoices (or School/Team Invoices)
      • Click on the batch # where the invoice is located
    • By Official or School/Team
      • Go to the directory entry for the official (or School/Team)
      • Click on the "More..." menu,
      • Click on Invoices
    • By Current Payment Status
      • Go to Pay -> Officials Invoices (or School/Team Invoices),
      • Use the "Invoice Search" form to filter by payment status

    Simple Method from a Listing of Invoices

    1. Click the checkbox for the relevant invoice(s)
    2. Click  to mark the selected invoices as paid
      • or  to mark them as unpaid.
    3. In the popup window that appears, click the "Confirm" button.
    4. Click "Close & Reload" to refresh the main window in order to see the new status
      • The work was complete at step 4, but this allows you to see the effect

    Simple Method from within a Single Invoice

    1. Once in the invoice, click on Quick Links -> Payments then
      •   to mark the current invoice as paid
      • or  to mark the current invoice as unpaid
    2. In the popup window that appears, click the "Confirm" button.
    3. Click "Close & Reload" to refresh the main window in order to see the new status
      • The work was complete at step 4, but this allows you to see the effect

    Detailed Method from a Listing of Invoices

    1. Click the checkbox for the relevant invoice(s)
    2. Click 
    3. In the popup window that appears, enter the payment dates, payment methods, and payment/check #.
      • If editing payment status for multiple invoices, the top row is a "global" entry that, upon saving, will be applied to all rows below that do not have information provided for a given column.
        • Example: Use this to apply the same payment date for all payments, then enter different check #'s for each invoice.
      • You can mark an invoice as unpaid in this window if all fields are blanked for an invoice and there is no global entry in the top row (if applicable).
      • Click "Update Payment Data"

    Detailed Method from a Listing of Invoices

    1. Once in the invoice, click on Quick Links -> Payments then 
    2. In the popup window that appears, enter the payment dates, payment methods, and payment/check #.
    3. Click "Update Payment Data"

    What happens when an officials direct deposit can't be made due to a closed or invalid account
    Article ID:220 Posted:10/16/2016 12:20:54 AM Updated:6/15/2022 2:45:15 PM

    Occasionally, direct deposits can not be completed. This can happen when an official provides an incorrect routing number or account number. This can also occur when an account is closed.

    When that occurs,

    1. Reftown receives a notice that the deposit was unsuccessful....usually within 1-3 days after the scheduled deposit posting date.
    2. The funds will be reversed to the organization's bank account within 3-5 business days.
    3. Reftown will send both the official and organization administrators an email indicating that the deposit was unsuccessful.
    4. The invoice associated with that deposit will be marked as not paid.
    5. The officials account information will be deleted from the system to prevent additional unsuccessful deposits.

    How do schools request games on RefTown?
    Article ID:42 Posted:4/25/2007 8:26:40 PM Updated:9/17/2024 12:38:12 PM

    Go to "Schedules" -> "Game Request" (only available to schools and assignors).

    The interface for schools is the same as the assignor's interface (see the related article). The only difference is that the games requested by schools do not go directly to the schedule but into a requested games list where the assignor can choose to put them on the schedule or can delete the request.

    To enable this feature, go to:

    1. Go to Administration -> Configuration
    2. In block #9 GAME PAYOR/TEAM, click on"Response & Request Options
    3. Check "Enable Payors to Request New Games" and/or "Enable Payors to Request Game Changes".
    4. Click Update This Item.
    Generated: 10/11/2024 16:05:15 Pacific *** Content © 2024 RefTown , Design © 2003-2024
    Camron Rust / RefTown Sports Services, LLC *** RT4.42
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