Back

Setting up the predictions contest

Tutorial

PronoContest offers a wide range of possibilities in the configuration of a predictions contest. We review them in detail in this article.

To go onto the contest's settings page, select it in the "Contest" list at the top of the page, then select the "Manage settings" entry in the Actions menu at the top right of the page. All the settings described in this article will be visible to users under the "Rules" tab of the contest.

General settings

Setting up predictions contest

When you create a predictions contest, this one is already pre-configured with the parameters generally used. Then you can adjust them according to your preferences.

The "Basic Settings" section allows you to customize the following items:

  • Name: The name of the contest as displayed on the main page.
  • Open to new participants: leave it "Open" until all users have registered. If "Closed", the contest will no longer accept the registration of new participants.
  • Contest duration: Limit the duration of the Prediction Contest to 1 thor 2 halfof the competition. Useful for example on a long championship season, or to start a new contest on the tournament phase while the group phase is already well underway.
  • Prediction mode:
    • Match Score: the participants make their predictions by giving the score they think is most likely for each of the contest matches. This mode allows participants to earn extra points when they find the exact score of a match in addition to the result.
    • Results only: match predictions are only about their outcome (either team wins, or the result is a draw).
  • Other players' predictions visible: by default, we can not see the predictions of other players until the deadline for entry is exceeded and participants can not modify them, but we can change this behavior to make them visible at any moment of the competition.
  • Display predictions trends to users: if unchecked, this box will make the global predictions trends view button invisible to contest members.
  • Display the contest's discussion feed: if unchecked, this box will make the contest thread invisible and will disable the ability to post messages.
  • Display individual ranking: if unchecked, this box will make the tabs of the individual ranking of the contest invisible.
  • Display group ranking: see the Enable team contest tutorial.
  • Prizes: see the List prizes and generate settlement tutorial.
  • Announcement: see the Animating the contest tutorial.

Matches settings

Matches settings

Now we come to the heart of the subject. It is in this section that the allocation of points to the participants is regulated.

  • Bets on games closed (cups only): by default, users can predict matches until the start date of the match. But we can force them to make all their predictions before the start of the competition by modifying this parameter.
  • End of game: allows you to decide when the score and the result of the match will be taken into account in case of extra time. Also in case of penalties, the result of the match will be counted as a draw.
  • Points allocation mode: there are 3 different ways of awarding points.
    • Prediction trends: uses the predictions made by all site users to assign points to each result. Thus, the less a result has been predicted, the more points it will give if it succeeds.
    • Fixed odds: The points to win for each result are given in advance based on the percentage of a team's chance to win the match. The less likely the result is, the more points it will give.
    • Points scale: allows points to be allocated according to a predefined scale. See the "Points scale" section below for more details.
  • Exact scores multiply points by: when the points allocation mode mode is "Fixed odds" or "Prediction trends", and the scoring mode is "matches scores", finding an exact score on a match multiplies the number of points awarded by the multiplicative factor shown here.
  • Tolerance on exact scores (rugby and basketball only): number of points of difference between the actual score and the prediction for each team of a given match, so that the prediction is counted as having an exact score. In this case, the good result of the match must have been found.

The modification of the prediction parameters on the matches is retroactive: if it intervenes during the competition, the points associated with each prediction as well as the rankings will be recalculated according to the new configuration.

The points scale

The choice to use a standard point scale allows a finer management of allocated points than the 2 other modes proposed.

Points scale

The point scale also allows you to give "penalty" points in case of incorrect predictions (that is, when the result of the predicted match is not the correct one). You can possibly disable this behavior by setting the "Bad prediction" field to "0".

Moreover, the scale may be different depending on the different stages of the competition. Useful if you want to increase the intensity and suspense throughout the contest!

Finally, it is possible to add points scales to specific matches, taken individually. For example, we can make sure that the matches with the English team playing bring back more points than the others.

Predictions on teams settings

Additional option to add even more stakes to the contest, the predictions on the teams will allow the participants to give their prediction on the performance of the teams in the competition.

Bets settings

Predictions on teams are disabled by default. If they are activated, they will appear in a sub-tab of the "Predictions" section on the contest page.

If you choose to activate the predictions on teams setting, make sure to adjust the points scales, so that they form a coherent whole with the predictions on matches.

The Bets on teams closed field allows you to set a deadline for their entry. By default, it corresponds to the start of the 1st match of the competition.

There are 5 types of predictions on teams, each of which can be excluded individually:

  • Competition winner: team that wins the competition.
  • Best Attack: The team that scored the most goals.
  • Best defense - the team with the least amount of goals. Caution: all the matches of the competition are taken into account, which implies that the teams eliminated in group stage also have their chances to qualify as "Best defense".
  • 1st qualified for each group: team that finishes first in their group. This prediction will be made for each of the pools in the tournament.
  • 2nd qualified for each group : team that finishes second in the pool. This prediction will be made for each of the pools in the tournament. The team selected by the users will have to be different from the one selected for the 1st position.

On the "Best Attack" and "Best Defense" predictions, if more than one team finishes with the same number of goals, then the tied teams in 1st position give the points at stake.

Exclude some matches

Games exclusion

Finally, since a predictions contest has many games, it is possible to exclude some to keep only the most interesting. To do so, the "Games" tab lists all the matches of the competition. Just select the games to exclude and you will no longer see them appear on the contest page.

Once you are satisfied with your settings, do not forget to save your changes by clicking on the "Save" button.

Did you find this article useful?
4.9 on 22 votes

Vote added. Thanks!