SMSDash - Run Your Tournament with Text Message Notifications

[Dan Salvato]

SMSDash (Alpha)

http://wavedash.org/smsdash

Streamline your tournaments by sending text message
notifications to alert participants of their matches.​

​

Usage

1. First create your tournament on Challonge (no need to add participants yet). Leave Challonge open in a tab for later.
2. Go to SMSDash and input your Challonge username and API key to log in. Input your subdomain if applicable. (Image)
3. Select your new tournament from the list of open tournaments. (Image)
4. Click on "Event Name" to name the event, eg. "Melee Singles". (Image)
5. Add your participants' names and phone numbers as they register. If there is no phone number, leave it blank. (Image)
6. Once you are done adding your participants, go to Challonge and start the tournament. The Matches field will automatically populate. (Image)
7. Click "Send" to send a text message notifying the players of their match. As you record results on Challonge, the Matches field will update in real-time to show you the next available matches.

Hints

• Quickly add participants by using the Tab and Enter keys to keep the line moving.
• You can update phone numbers anytime by clicking on a phone number in the participants list.
• You can open multiple tabs of SMSDash to manage multiple events simultaneously.
• This is NOT a full replacement for calling out matches! Always have a backup system in place!

International Support

SMSDash now supports international SMS through most providers. However, it is very expensive for me to provide this, so I would like to ask any non-US users for a small compensation before using the service. Please message me for details.

Planned Features

• Option to automatically send notifications as new matches become available.
• Option to track the number of open setups to intelligently send notifications as setups become available.
• Allow players to submit their results via text message, automating the entire bracket.

Feedback

This is BRAND NEW software that may not always work as intended. Please reach me via Twitter or message me on Smashboards with your experiences. I highly appreciate anybody who provides detailed information on their experience, so that I can make SMSDash the best it can be!

Discussion is also welcome in this thread. Enjoy this release!

 

[LLDL]

Alpha tested this out at super smash sundays EC # 5, event ran smooth and everyone got their texts : D

VERY useful program. I recommend asking people if they want to participate at signups if you are hosting a large event. People like to wander off and at the very least they will be notified that they have a match if they go get something to eat for example. Still though, run the event normally, calling out matches. This is a good security.

 

[Vestboy_Myst]

IE does it again. i'm sure other fgcs are going to pick this up as well. perfect niche that needed filling

 

[sinth]

So since this seems to basically be a website that sends out text messages, the big question is...

Will this work for tournaments outside of America?

 

[Dan Salvato]

So since this seems to basically be a website that sends out text messages, the big question is...

Will this work for tournaments outside of America?

At the moment, only US is supported. I will add international support down the line.

 

[Ansem]

I cant believe this wasnt done sooner. Youre the man IE!

 

[Soupeschleg]

Great work! Seems very easy to use/intuitive.

 

[Redd]

Going to try and see if we can use this at ECE on the 28th. =) thanks!

 

[ScubaF_ingSteve]

This is brilliant. I already messaged some TOs in the area and I want to start using this to help with tournaments.

 

[OninO]

Hey, I'm from NZ. I know the software isn't supported overseas, I'm just curious how texting works in the states? Who pays to send the texts? In NZ, the person who wants to send a text has to pay a small fee to do so (unless you're on a plan where you might have unlimited texts or something similar.)

 

[Dan Salvato]

Hey, I'm from NZ. I know the software isn't supported overseas, I'm just curious how texting works in the states? Who pays to send the texts? In NZ, the person who wants to send a text has to pay a small fee to do so (unless you're on a plan where you might have unlimited texts or something similar.)

I'm currently using Gmail to send text messages. Every carrier supports email SMS, which makes this possible. Once I implement a carrier lookup system, SMSDash will work internationally. Carrier lookups cost money, but it's very little so I can just pay for that from my pocket.

 

[Dan Salvato]

I've made some improvements to SMSDash. Virtually any cell phone worldwide should be supported now.

Unfortunately, these improvements mean that it costs me money to run the service. A 256-person bracket will cost me somewhere between $2.50 and $5.00 to run (depending on if the players are using popular cell carriers or not). Because of this, I may ask for TOs of larger tournaments to donate this small amount before using SMSDash at a large tournament.

However, SMSDash will always be free and available to everyone.

 

[Dan Salvato]

Hey, I've noticed that nobody's used this since its release. Is it not working properly for people? Please offer suggestions for improvements if you have decided not to use it.

 

[ICF JTR]

Quick Question for a new TO what is the API Key? I'm unclear about what that is.

 

[Dan Salvato]

Quick Question for a new TO what is the API Key? I'm unclear about what that is.

If you click on "API Key" it will take you to the Challonge page that contains your API key. It's basically a password that applications can use to access your Challonge account.

 

[shairn]

This is really interesting. However I notice that players are added from the application. Does this support seeding? Would seeding in challonge affect the application?

 

[Dan Salvato]

This is really interesting. However I notice that players are added from the application. Does this support seeding? Would seeding in challonge affect the application?

This application hooks into Challonge, so you're still using Challonge to run the bracket. SMSDash simply takes the Challonge bracket and adds SMS notifications, so there are no bracket-related issues to worry about.

 

[TOGOpuff]

This is great ! I'll be sure to use it when international support is available!

 

[LiteralGrill]

This is going to make my online tournaments in the future insanely easy... Oh yes!!! Seriously, you deserve a metal.

 

[NickRiddle]

I'm co-hosting a tournament in two weeks.
I will be using this to see how well it works.
If it works, I will continue to use it for every event in the future.

 

[Domo-dono]

Hey, I've noticed that nobody's used this since its release. Is it not working properly for people? Please offer suggestions for improvements if you have decided not to use it.

Hey I just recently found out about this. I stream for University of Florida's official gaming organization, Gator Gaming, and we plan to use this at our major LAN event titled GatorLAN that will happen on September 27. Thousands of people, both student and non-student, attend our major events so I'm sure that this will be a good chance to test this on a larger scale. I will post in here with the results from the event. Thank you so much for this btw. It means so much.

 

[Dan Salvato]

Hey I just recently found out about this. I stream for University of Florida's official gaming organization, Gator Gaming, and we plan to use this at our major LAN event titled GatorLAN that will happen on September 27. Thousands of people, both student and non-student, attend our major events so I'm sure that this will be a good chance to test this on a larger scale. I will post in here with the results from the event. Thank you so much for this btw. It means so much.

Thanks. Do you have an estimate for the number of entrants that will be participating?

 

[MechWarriorNY]

This is a godsend.
Thank you based IE.

 

[Domo-dono]

Thanks. Do you have an estimate for the number of entrants that will be participating?

For our last LAN in April, we had 79 entrants for Melee alone after DQs. We ran Brawl last time and it had 40 entrants, but the community demanded Project M so this time, we're running Melee and Project M, and we're expecting similar numbers if not more as a result of the growth in the scene.

One of our greatest issues was getting people to show up for their matches. This event is being held at a Ballroom on UF campus. Since we are most likely running 10 tournaments...

[1] League of Legends
[2] Dota 2
[3] Hearthstone
[4] Super Smash Bros. Melee
[5] Project M
[6] Ultra Street Fighter IV
[7] Blazblue: Chrono Phantasma
[8] Pokemon X/Y
[9] Halo 3
[10] Mario Kart 8

People have a tendency to go and leave for food. As a result, in Melee alone we had to DQ around 30 people because they decided to leave the venue for food for about 20-30 minutes even though restaurants are literally right downstairs at the venue. With this SMS system, we can inform these people that their matches need to start soon, and they'll come rushing back (hopefully).

Alright so let me actually answer your question. If we use SMSDash, it will be for all of the console titles. PC players normally stick around because they have to bring their PC rigs to compete in their tournaments, and they aren't going to leave those behind. So for number of people using it....

[1] Melee (100)
[2] Project M (80)
[3] Ultra SF4 (25)
[4] Blazblue (20)
[5] Pokemon X/Y (30)
[6] Halo [20]
[7] Mario Kart [no idea]

Basically this totals out to around 250+ people using it. My estimates however could be way off but this is the best I can do for now. A large majority of people come and visit our Free-play section, Art Corner, Raffles or simply watch the main stage which has its own projector and stage with players playing. We also work with eSports Network and I'll be running a stream for all of the console titles alongside two other streams for the PC titles.

 

[Dan Salvato]

Okay. Just remember not to rely on the app as it hasn't been tested enough to guarantee stability. I hope it helps though.

 

[idea]

Hey man, was planning to use this at a small Canadian tourney this week. Probably somewhere in the range of 30-70 people. How much would that cost you? I'm cool with paypalling you that amount. Or if paypal takes out some amount for transfers (i can't remember) then i'll buy you a coke sometime you going to TBH4?

 

[Dan Salvato]

Hey man, was planning to use this at a small Canadian tourney this week. Probably somewhere in the range of 30-70 people. How much would that cost you? I'm cool with paypalling you that amount. Or if paypal takes out some amount for transfers (i can't remember) then i'll buy you a coke sometime you going to TBH4?

Can't really do an exact calculation but if you want to throw me like $5 that would be cool. If it matters I can probably check the exact cost after the tournament but $5 is probably accurate within a dollar.

 

[HarryTheChin]

Going to recommend this to my local TO. Our tournaments our weekly so we should definitely get good use out of this!