Clear answers.
Calmer classrooms.

What is Calling You designed to do?

Calling You is a browser-based workspace for teacher-led classroom participation. You can keep separate classes, organize fixed groups, choose who is called next, form temporary teams, and record what happened after a student was called. These actions share the same roster, so you do not need to paste the same names into several unrelated tools.

For example, import a science class, call someone from Group A, record two correct answers and one incorrect answer, then switch to the whole class. The tool records your choices; it does not listen to students, assess their answers, or decide their grades.

What is the easiest way to prepare a first lesson?

For a lesson-window view, open Participation check beside recent classroom activity. Choose the current roster scope and a time window. Random selections, Responded / present entries, unsaved entries, and saved no-response entries are separate measures. A roll-call presence entry does not establish a spoken answer. This view reads only retained recent records, not cumulative totals, and warns when the 100-record boundary may hide earlier evidence. It does not rank students or assign grades.

On a new browser with no saved classroom, Calling You opens a clearly labeled demo with 6 fictional students, automatic student numbers, and one fixed group. Try demo opens a separate practice classroom and keeps your existing classrooms. Start with my own roster creates a new empty classroom and opens its import editor. Demo response records start empty; Reset demo clears only that demo’s practice records after confirmation.

Start with a short roster and one classroom. Choose Edit list, look at the spreadsheet example, and either paste one name per line or use a Name and Group table. Preview the student count before saving. Exclude anyone absent, then select Whole classroom or a fixed group under Pick from.

For a first discussion, try No-repeat draw so each eligible student gets one turn. After each result, use Record response or its recent activity card. At the end, check Student summary and download a workspace backup. Team locks, photos, and additional classes can be introduced later.

How do TV, iPad, and phone layouts work?

Larger browsers show the wheel and roster side by side, while smaller screens place controls in a single column. The TV, iPad, and Mobile icons indicate these layout targets. A device still needs a sufficiently current browser with JavaScript, canvas, and browser storage; the icons are not certification for every model.

On a classroom TV, open the page in its browser or display a connected computer. On an iPad or phone, use a normal browser and keep the page in the foreground during a draw. An outdated television browser may work better through a connected computer or tablet.

What does presentation mode hide, and how do I exit?

The expand button hides surrounding navigation, setup panels, roster, and help content to focus on the selection stage. The stage identifies the current classroom and scope, so the audience can see whether the draw is for the whole class or a fixed group. This is a page layout mode, not a promise of native operating-system fullscreen.

Press Escape or use the expand button again to return. Space starts a draw when focus is not inside an editing field, another interactive control, or an open dialog. Presentation mode does not change the selection rule or create a separate classroom copy.

Do teachers or students need an account or subscription?

The current version requires no account, student login, payment, or subscription. Features run in the browser. There is no school administration portal, central student database, live multi-user room, or cloud synchronization service behind the interface.

A login therefore cannot recover your roster on another computer. Use a workspace JSON backup to move data between devices. The current application contains no advertising or analytics scripts; any future advertising integration would require its own setup and updated disclosures.

Which spreadsheet columns do I actually need to fill?

Name is the only required column. Group is optional and assigns students to fixed roster groups. Photo filename is also optional and refers to matching image files you select from your device. Student numbers are assigned automatically, and answer statistics are recorded during use, so neither belongs in the import template.

The simple download contains Name and Group. Open it in a spreadsheet editor, replace the sample names, save as CSV, and import it. You can also copy cells with their header row and paste them into the editor. The preview shows interpreted student and group counts before replacement.

Can I import an Excel workbook with pictures inside its cells?

The importer accepts CSV, text, and Calling You JSON backups. It does not read XLSX workbooks or extract embedded cell pictures. CSV stores text values rather than image objects, which is why the optional photo column uses local filenames.

For an Excel roster, keep Name, optional Group, and optional Photo filename columns, then export that sheet as CSV. Select corresponding PNG, JPEG, or WebP files separately in the import editor. The example image, downloadable templates, and preview make this distinction visible before you save.

How are headers, commas, blank cells, and duplicates handled?

Headers identify the Name and optional Group or Photo filename columns; their order can vary. Quoting allows a name such as "Lee, Alex" to remain one cell. Copied tab-separated cells work too. Remove unrelated headings, totals, notes, and extra columns so they cannot be mistaken for roster data.

Exact duplicates are merged and counted in the preview. A repeated name with different groups or photo references is rejected because the importer cannot know whether it represents one student or two. Add initials to distinguish people. Missing names or unsupported columns produce an explanation rather than silently importing ambiguous rows.

Will importing a table replace existing classes or erase statistics?

A Name and Group table replaces the selected classroom's roster and fixed groups after confirmation; other classrooms remain. Names matching existing entries keep their identities, pick counts, response totals, and existing photos unless a selected replacement image is supplied. Entries omitted from the replacement roster are removed from it.

A names-only edit can target one group, Ungrouped, or the whole classroom. Check Edit roster scope first. Roster changes clear saved temporary teams and the latest undo because membership has changed. Download a full workspace backup before a large replacement so you can restore the earlier state.

How large can a roster be, and can I edit one student safely?

A workspace supports 20 classrooms, each with up to 500 students and 50 fixed groups. Names can have up to 80 characters; classroom and group titles have shorter limits. Large files and photo collections still depend on available browser memory and storage.

To correct a spelling or replace a photo without creating a new identity, click the student's avatar and use Edit student. It retains their number and cumulative counts. Historical records keep the name used at the time. Removing a name and adding a different one through roster replacement can instead create a new entry.

What is the difference between a fixed group and a random team?

Fixed roster groups describe how your class is organized: Group A, Group B, or a seminar circle. Each student belongs to one fixed group or is Ungrouped. Pick from uses that membership to define the eligible scope.

Team maker creates a separate temporary arrangement from eligible people in the selected scope. It can mix classmates from different fixed groups without rewriting their roster membership. You can therefore preserve the class structure while trying a different activity arrangement.

How do I call students from one group or the entire class?

Choose the classroom, then use Pick from. Whole classroom includes every eligible person in that class, while a named group limits both the list and selection pool to that group. Ungrouped is a scope for people without a fixed assignment, not another name for the whole class.

The stage shows the selected classroom and scope, including in presentation mode. Inclusion checkboxes still apply: a group with four members and one excluded person leaves three eligible names. Switching to Whole classroom brings eligible people from other groups into the pool again.

Can I edit one group or move a student without losing their records?

Select a group and choose Edit list. Names for selected scope loads only that group's members, so saving does not replace another group's list. The menu beside a student moves their existing entry, and their avatar opens an editor for their name, group, and photo while retaining identity.

If a name already exists outside a group you are editing, a separate group-only import will not silently duplicate that student. Move the existing person using the roster menu, or distinguish the names if they represent different people. This keeps records attached to one roster entry.

What happens when I remove a group or exclude a student?

Removing a fixed group moves its members to Ungrouped. It does not delete those students or reset their totals. Excluding someone with their checkbox temporarily removes them from eligible draws while retaining the roster entry and records.

Include all and Exclude all operate on the selected scope, including people hidden by search. They are not limited to visible matches. Inclusion changes clear saved temporary team assignments because those teams may no longer represent the eligible population; fixed group membership remains intact.

Does changing groups let someone repeat in a no-repeat round?

Eligibility belongs to the classroom round rather than a separate round for each group selector. If a student was drawn from Group A, changing to Whole classroom does not make the same entry eligible again in that round. Starting a new round or undoing the relevant latest draw restores eligibility.

This supports a transition from small-group discussion to whole-class participation. New round restores the pool while keeping counts and history. Reset pick counts is different: it changes participation-priority counts without starting a new no-repeat round.

How is a winner chosen, and what does the animation do?

The browser's crypto.getRandomValues source supplies random values. Rejection sampling maps them to list positions without the simple modulo bias that can result from an uneven mapping. Equal chance selects among eligible entries; Least-picked first narrows that pool according to selection counts.

The winner is chosen before the animation, and the wheel animates to that result. The application does not claim a physical-wheel simulation or let click timing determine the outcome. It is a classroom facilitation tool, not an independently audited prize-drawing or tamper-proof certification service.

Why can the same student appear twice in Equal chance?

Each selection is independent. A person with a one-in-ten chance still has a one-in-ten chance next time, even if just selected. Short runs can contain repeats or leave someone unselected; that alone does not show a biased random mechanism.

Choose No-repeat draw for one turn per person. Choose Least-picked first to prioritize people selected fewer times. These modes serve different classroom goals, so their rules are explained separately instead of describing every method as the same kind of fairness.

Does Least-picked first use correct answers or response totals?

It uses selection counts, not correctness, academic performance, or manually logged attendance. The app finds the smallest pick count among eligible students and chooses randomly within that set. Higher-count students are outside that draw's priority pool.

Someone selected once is therefore prioritized over someone selected three times, regardless of their answers. Manual response entries do not increase pick counts. The selection rule stays transparent and does not silently become a performance-ranking mechanism.

Can I change the countdown or make the draw quieter?

Available durations are 10, 15, 20, and 30 seconds, displayed in the wheel's center. Results are not revealed before the selected duration completes. Reduce animation uses a slow rotation while preserving the wait, and result sound can be turned off independently.

Keep the page in the foreground. Browsers can throttle background animation or suspend a sleeping device, so returning later may not resemble an uninterrupted projected spin. The countdown is a classroom interaction, not an advertisement timer, ad-click requirement, or paid-content gate.

What does Undo reverse, and why can it become unavailable?

One latest draw can be undone in each classroom. Undo restores its previous pick count and no-repeat eligibility, removes its event, and reverses response or answer totals recorded against it. It is a correction for a mistaken selection rather than a permanent multi-step audit trail.

Roster edits, resets, clearing history, and adding a manual response can remove undo availability because they change the original draw's context. For a longer rollback, use an earlier workspace backup, remembering that restoration replaces the current workspace rather than merging selected changes.

How do I record attendance or answers after a student is called?

Choose Record response beside the result or click that event in Recent classroom activity. For roll call, select Responded / present, No response, Absent, Excused, or Skipped / passed, leaving question counts at zero. An unrecorded event is different from an explicitly saved No response.

For questions, select Responded and enter correct, incorrect, partially correct, and answered-but-ungraded counts. A record can contain several questions, including follow-ups. The tool records your entries; it does not listen to students or evaluate their answers.

How are questions answered different from response counts?

Questions answered equals correct plus incorrect plus partially correct plus answered-but-ungraded. Two correct answers and one incorrect answer contribute three answered questions and one Responded record. A responded attendance check with zero questions contributes one Responded record and zero answered questions.

No response, Absent, Excused, and Skipped have separate counters and do not add incorrect answers. Low question totals may simply reflect roll-call activity. The application does not convert these categories into a grade or a public student ranking.

Why do response controls and some activity cards turn orange?

After a new result, Record response turns orange-red to prompt the next action. Opening its editor and closing it acknowledges that immediate button prompt, so the button returns to its original color even without a saved outcome.

Activity cards use a stricter rule: an event stays orange until a response status is saved. Opening and closing the editor alone does not clear its reminder. Saving No response counts as a completed entry; changing an outcome back to Not recorded makes the card pending again. The labels also describe status so color is not the only signal.

Can I correct entries, log a response manually, or record absence?

Reopen a record to replace its status and answer counts. The previous contribution is removed before the new one is added, so corrections do not double count. Log response adds a manual event without increasing pick counts or consuming no-repeat eligibility.

Absent does not automatically exclude a student from later draws; use their checkbox to change eligibility. A removed student's older record remains a snapshot but cannot be edited through the response editor. Keep a backup before major roster changes if you may need to revisit those records.

Why can totals exceed visible history, and what does resetting do?

Each classroom keeps up to 100 recent activity records while cumulative student totals continue beyond that window. Student summary can therefore show more responses than the visible events explain individually. Export or back up regularly when you need longer-term records of your own.

Clear beside recent activity removes events but retains counts, cumulative totals, and the round. Reset classroom response totals removes cumulative answer/response totals and recent events together, keeping the roster, pick counts, and no-repeat eligibility. Review the confirmation because these operations intentionally affect different data.

How do I add or replace an individual student photo?

Click the student's avatar and choose a PNG, JPEG, or WebP file. The browser crops and resizes it to a small square thumbnail, then stores it locally when you save. The same editor can correct a name or group while retaining the student's number and cumulative counts.

Photos are optional. If no individual photo is visible, the school badge is used if configured; otherwise the original initials or symbol appear. Uploaded images are roster thumbnails, not automatically published profile pages or images added to the wheel.

How does Photo filename match selected image files?

Enter a local filename such as alex.jpg in the optional column, then use Choose local photos to select matching files. Matching uses filenames without folder paths and ignores letter case. If selected files have the same name, rename them so the importer does not guess which portrait is intended.

The preview identifies missing files. Matching existing students keep their old photo when no replacement is selected; new students without an image use the fallback badge. XLSX embedded pictures and remote URLs are not loaded by this workflow. A plain CSV cannot contain an image object.

Can one school badge replace all default avatars?

Use Customize school badge, select a local raster image, and save. It applies across classrooms wherever an individual student photo is absent or hidden. Use original badge removes the custom fallback after saving the change.

The badge is contained within its thumbnail area to preserve its proportions. A visible personal photo takes priority. This setting changes roster avatars, not the Calling You brand, website favicon, or an external school directory. It does not publish a logo to a shared image service.

What happens to photos when I select initials or student numbers?

Changing Name display to Initials or Student numbers hides individual photos by default, because a face can identify someone even when their name is masked. The school badge or original fallback remains visible. You may explicitly re-enable Show student photos if that is suitable for your classroom.

Masking is neither encryption nor anonymization. The student editor and workspace JSON backup retain original names and images. Classroom titles and group titles remain visible too. Review your projected screen, browser profile access, and exported files rather than relying on a single display toggle to protect stored information.

Where are images saved, and do settings links contain them?

Images become embedded raster thumbnails in the browser-local workspace, primarily saved with IndexedDB. LocalStorage may be used as a fallback if it can hold the data. Photos are not uploaded to a hosting service or requested from remote image URLs by the application.

Workspace JSON includes photos and the school badge for restoration on another device. CSV exports contain text, not pictures. Settings links exclude images, names, group titles, responses, and rosters. Loading the website still involves normal requests to its hosting provider, as described in the privacy notice.

Should I choose the team count or the maximum people per team?

Choose Number of teams when you know how many activity stations you have. Choose People per team for a capacity limit. Ten eligible students with a maximum of four produce three balanced teams of four, three, and three, rather than two full teams and a final team of two.

Generation uses the current selection scope and inclusion settings, not necessarily the whole roster. Generated sizes differ by at most one. Automatic grouping does not consider ability, relationships, gender, or past team membership; use deliberate manual adjustments for an activity-specific arrangement.

What does locking a team member do?

A lock keeps a student's temporary team assignment on the next generation. The app allocates locked members first, then shuffles the remaining eligible people into the balanced-size slots. Their fixed roster group is unchanged.

Use a lock when one station needs a facilitator or part of an arrangement should remain stable. Moving a locked member manually moves the lock with them. A lock belongs to the current temporary assignment; it is not a promise of permanent team membership across unrelated classroom setups.

Why might the tool refuse to generate teams?

Some locks cannot fit balanced team sizes. If three people are locked into a team that can hold only two, generation stops instead of silently dropping someone or ignoring a lock. Reducing the team count can also leave a lock referring to a nonexistent team.

Unlock members, clear locks, or choose compatible team settings, then generate again. People outside the current scope or excluded from participation do not enter the generated arrangement. This is a constraint conflict, not evidence of a failed random-number source.

Can I move people manually and retain the arrangement?

Use the team menu beside a member after generation. Manual moves are saved and may produce unequal sizes; the interface labels the edited state. The app does not silently rebalance it, because that would reverse your explicit choice.

Teams remain available after switching tools, changing classrooms, or refreshing. Roster and inclusion edits clear assignments that may no longer match eligible members. Export results while Team maker is open downloads the arrangement; a full workspace backup also retains its locks and saved team membership.

Are teams balanced using academic performance?

Automatic grouping balances the number of people, not their performance. Correct and incorrect answer totals do not feed into team generation, and the application does not produce an automatic ability ranking. This keeps the default rule understandable.

You can make explicit manual moves and locks for an activity, but those decisions are yours. Participation summaries reflect entered events rather than a validated academic assessment. Review the context and your organization's practices before using those records for another purpose.

What does browser-local storage mean in practice?

Your workspace is stored in the browser profile on the website origin, primarily with IndexedDB. Older localStorage data can be migrated, and localStorage can act as a fallback. This is device-local browser storage rather than a roster account on a school server.

Another browser, profile, domain, or device does not automatically see that workspace. Someone who can access the profile may be able to view it. Closing a normal tab usually preserves data, but private browsing, browser cleanup, storage eviction, and device settings can affect retention. Keep downloaded backups when retention matters.

What does a full workspace backup contain?

JSON backups contain classrooms, rosters, fixed groups, pick counts, rounds, recent activity, cumulative response totals, latest undo data, temporary teams, locks, preferences, student photos, and the school badge. Full names and images remain in the backup even when display masking is enabled.

Restore shows a preview and requires confirmation before replacing the current workspace. This differs from a roster table import or a legacy single-class backup. Store versions somewhere you control, especially before replacing rosters, changing devices, or clearing site data. A backup is a snapshot, not a continuously synchronized copy.

Why is a CSV report different from a complete backup?

A results or summary CSV is intended for spreadsheet reading. It exports the requested rows using the current name display mode. It does not retain editable workspace state, images, team locks, undo, and all the other information needed to restore the tool.

Use CSV for a limited report, JSON for moving or restoring the workspace, and a settings link for preferences only. These different formats let you share the amount of information you actually intend, rather than assuming every download is a complete roster archive.

What should I check when a roster or photo seems missing?

Check the domain, browser, and profile first. The private preview address and callingyou.net are different origins and keep separate workspaces. Moving the website does not transfer local data. Hidden photos may simply reflect Name display or Show student photos rather than a deleted image.

Check the saving warning and browser storage settings. If data was erased or evicted, restore a backup. The operator cannot recover a roster stored only on your device. Keep your existing backup unchanged while investigating instead of replacing the only good copy with an unexpectedly empty workspace.

How do I remove student information or the whole workspace?

Remove an individual photo through Edit student, edit roster membership, delete a classroom, or use the history and response reset controls. These operations affect different records: removing a roster entry does not automatically rewrite historical snapshots still retained in recent activity.

To remove everything, clear this website's stored data in browser settings, including IndexedDB and localStorage. Downloaded JSON and CSV files are separate copies and must be managed separately. On a shared classroom computer, consider both profile access and exported files as part of your normal retention and access practices.

Where do I customize the wheel?

Choose Customize wheel & voice above the wheel. During spin controls the 10, 15, 20, or 30-second total duration, rotation speed (0.5–3 seconds per turn; default 1), and reduced animation. After spin & voice contains the result heading, highlight, chime, and spoken-name settings. Appearance contains four themes, eight editable color slots, local images, page color and gradient, section outlines, wheel shadow, pointer color, and text visibility. A small live preview shows appearance changes. Save settings applies them; closing the panel discards the draft. Restore defaults resets the draft, so you can still close without saving.

Before a classroom draw, the wheel slowly drifts through one turn in about 40 seconds. This idle motion does not select names or change counts; it pauses for results, open dialogs, hidden/off-screen pages, and reduced animation. Appearance changes do not change the eligible pool, random selection rules, or the ten-second minimum. Hiding wheel text does not hide the final result. Use the separate Name display setting when you need initials or student numbers.

Can I choose a male or female voice and control volume?

Yes. In After spin & voice, enable Announce selected names and choose a Male voice, Female voice, or Any available voice preference. You can also choose a specific device voice. Use Preview voice to confirm the sound and pronunciation, adjust Volume from 0 to 100%, and change Speaking speed. The volume setting also controls the result chime. System volume, mute switches, and browser playback restrictions still apply.

Browsers do not supply a reliable gender field. The preference matches familiar system voice names as a suggestion. If no matching local voice exists, the panel explains this rather than silently choosing another category. A specific device voice takes priority over the preference. Available voices depend on your device, browser, language installation, and accessibility settings; the website does not promise a particular voice on every device.

Are names sent to a speech service?

Calling You only lists and uses voices that the browser reports as local through its localService flag. Remote speech voices are excluded. The application does not send names to an external text-to-speech API or request microphone access. Classroom name announcements are optional and off by default. Outdoor hand-duel tones and winner announcements have separate controls and default to on. The result is still shown if local speech is unavailable.

Announcements follow your current name display: full name, initials, or student number. Read name aloud lets you replay a selected result with a direct click, which can help when a browser restricts automatic playback. Test with fictional names and check your speakers before a lesson. Changing visibility or starting a new draw stops queued speech.

What images can I use on the wheel?

Choose a local PNG, JPEG, or WebP for the wheel background or center. Files may be up to 15 MB before resizing. The application compresses the background to a square image and contains the center image within its frame. You can use your saved school badge in the center, choose Small, Medium, or Large, or restore the original symbol. The center countdown overrides the image during a spin.

Images stay in the browser and are included in a full JSON backup. They are excluded from settings links. Only use images you are entitled to use, and avoid putting identifiable student portraits on a shared wheel unless appropriate for your classroom. Color overlays and text outlines help readability, but you should inspect your chosen image on the actual display.

Will my custom appearance and voice move to another device?

A full JSON workspace backup includes wheel appearance, embedded local images, voice preference, volume, and speed along with your classroom data. Restoring the file normalizes these settings and keeps the minimum duration at ten seconds. A settings link shares only the smaller set of general tool preferences and leaves the recipient’s custom appearance and voice configuration in place.

A saved device voice identifier may not exist on a second computer. Open the panel there and choose an available local voice; the interface identifies unavailable saved voices. Browser storage is tied to the website origin and profile, so changing domains requires an explicit backup and restore even when you keep using the same physical computer.

What exactly does a settings link share?

The URL fragment contains tool preferences such as mode, duration, name display, animation, sound, and temporary-team settings. It excludes student identities, photos, school badge images, classroom and group titles, activity history, and answer statistics.

The recipient chooses whether to apply the preferences; opening a link does not replace their roster. Their school badge is retained. Create a new link after moving domains, because a local preview or private address may not be available to the recipient. Sharing settings is not sharing a classroom database.

Can several teachers collaborate live or synchronize devices?

The current version has no live collaboration, cloud roster sync, student accounts, or shared gradebook. Different devices have separate browser-local workspaces even when opened through the same settings link. There is no central class record that those copies automatically update.

For a handoff, export a workspace and explicitly restore it on the other device, understanding that restoration replaces local state. For simultaneous use, keep independent workspaces and agree on your own record-keeping process. The interface does not claim independent copies remain synchronized.

Can I show the tool in a video call, OBS, or a recording?

You can display the browser using your chosen software's screen-sharing or recording features. Presentation mode simplifies what is shown. Calling You has no dedicated OBS control panel, streaming API, authenticated broadcast room, or transparent browser-source integration at present.

Review visible names, photos, classroom titles, and records before sharing. Initials or student numbers with hidden personal photos can reduce displayed information but do not anonymize stored data. Use the sharing product's own instructions to control which window or screen is captured.

Does this version use ads, tracking, or Google certification?

The application currently includes no advertising code, analytics scripts, external font requests, or paid feature gates. It does not claim Google certification or guaranteed approval for a deployment. A future advertising integration needs the operator's actual publisher setup, suitable placement, and updated privacy and consent disclosures.

Student names, photos, responses, and answer totals are not sent to advertising systems by this version. The countdown is not an ad waiting requirement. Using the tool does not by itself certify a school's compliance; apply the policies relevant to your actual organization, audience, and use.

How can I report a problem without sending student information?

Contact Aliya at aliyshelton832@gmail.com. Describe what you were doing, the expected result, the browser and device, and whether the issue involved imports, storage, draws, or records. A reproducible example using fictional names is usually more useful than a real roster.

Do not send student photos, sensitive classroom information, or an unredacted workspace backup as a first step. The operator's address is Room 904, Guorui Xi’an Financial Center, No. 10 Jinye Road, Yanta District, Xi’an, Shaanxi, China. About & contact repeats these details, and Privacy describes information provided through correspondence.

How do I start a real outdoor activity instead of using the sample?

Open Outdoor Activities from the homepage or top menu. The initial “Demo field day — fictional players” contains 30 demonstration names. Try demo opens a separate demo activity without replacing your current participants or results. Start with my own roster creates a new empty activity and opens its participant editor. Reset demo clears only that demo’s practice teams, scores, fixtures, and timer after confirmation. Choose New activity, enter a title such as Tuesday sports, and save it. A new activity starts with an empty roster. Add your own participants before dealing teams; the sample is not a real class list.

Choose Edit participants to paste names, or Use a saved classroom to copy a classroom or fixed-group roster. You can keep up to 10 activities on this browser. Each activity has its own teams, scores, fixtures, timer, audio preferences, and backup data.

How do I copy a class or just one fixed group into an activity?

In the activity setup, choose Use a saved classroom. Select the saved classroom, choose Whole classroom, Ungrouped, or a named fixed group, and check the displayed included-participant count. Choose Copy included participants. Only checked/included students in that scope are copied. Original player numbers, names, photo thumbnails, the school badge, and the classroom display preference are carried into the activity.

The copy is an independent snapshot: later classroom edits do not update the activity automatically, and outdoor scoring does not change classroom pick counts or response totals. The saved classroom must be available on the same website origin and browser profile. If none is found, open Classroom tools there, save the roster, then return. For another device or domain, restore the appropriate classroom backup first.

What is the difference between Number of teams and Maximum players per team?

For 30 participants, choose Divide by → Number of teams and enter 6 to create six teams of five. Choose Maximum players per team and enter 6 to create five teams of six. The second setting is a ceiling on team size, not a request for six teams. The preview beneath the fields shows the resulting team count and size range before you spin.

The result must contain 2–12 nonempty teams. If the division is uneven, generation balances sizes so they differ by at most one: 31 participants into six teams produces one team of six and five teams of five. It balances headcounts, not age, skill, gender, or other player characteristics.

What do Total spin duration and Seconds per turn control?

Total spin duration is the whole wait before cards appear: 10, 15, 20, or 30 seconds. Seconds per turn controls the normal rotation rate before the final slowdown: the default is 1, and 0.5–3 is supported. A smaller number spins faster. Set the two independently, then choose Spin & deal teams and wait for the central countdown to finish.

The roster is shuffled with browser cryptographic randomness and assigned once across the teams. The wheel illustrates the deal; the team under the pointer is not a winning team. Reduced-motion device settings change the visual animation while keeping the full countdown. Appearance and speed do not give a participant an advantage.

How do I rename teams, choose captains, and move player cards?

After dealing, use Edit beside a team title to rename it. Choose random captains before the spin to pick one captain per team automatically. The Captain button on a player card can assign that person, replace the current captain, or remove the designation. Setting a captain does not award points or affect random assignment.

Before scoring, use a card’s Move to menu to move that player. Keep at least one person in every team. If a captain moves, the old team loses its captain designation. Manual moves can make team sizes unequal and clear existing unplayed fixtures, so finalize lineups before generating your schedule.

Why can I no longer move players, replace the roster, or redeal teams?

Lineups become fixed once the activity contains an activity-point adjustment or a played match. This keeps recorded results attached to the lineup that earned them. Create a new activity for a different set of teams, and import or paste its participants again. Your scored activity remains available in the Activity selector.

Before scoring, a redeal or roster replacement asks for confirmation and clears unplayed fixtures and their first-turn decisions. Replacing the list through Edit participants creates fresh participant entries and drops copied individual photos. Set photos in Classroom tools and copy the roster again when you want those images. Team renaming and captain selection remain available after scoring.

What can I import, and how do photos and masked names work outdoors?

Outdoor Edit participants accepts one name per line; tabs and commas also separate names, so quote a name containing a comma. Exact duplicates are merged. Use 1–200 unique participants with names up to 80 characters. For a spreadsheet, import supported CSV columns in Classroom tools first, then use Use a saved classroom in the activity. Outdoor Restore backup is for outdoor JSON files, not CSV or XLSX rosters.

Full names can show copied portraits. Initials or Player numbers hide individual portraits and use the copied school badge or default symbol. A visible school badge does not hide the underlying saved names. Editors and outdoor JSON backups contain original names and any copied images. CSV and printed cards follow the current Name display setting.

Should I use activity points or match standings?

Use activity points for a relay station, challenge, bonus, or penalty. The +1, −1, and Adjust controls below each team’s cards create these entries. Use match results when two teams compete and you want played, wins, draws, losses, score difference, and league points. The scoreboard keeps the two systems in separate columns.

For example, a relay bonus of +5 gives Team 1 five activity points. Winning a recorded match 3–1 gives it one match win and, under the default rules, three league points. It does not also give three activity points. Choose Rank by activity points or Rank by match standings to match the event you are running.

How do I add a station score, bonus, or penalty and undo a mistake?

Use +1 or −1 beneath the relevant team for a quick adjustment. For a larger change, choose Adjust, enter a nonzero whole-number change from −999 to 999, optionally add a reason such as Relay station, and choose Save adjustment. Negative changes are penalties. The Point adjustments list shows the latest 50 entries and their times; CSV includes all saved entries.

Undo latest adjustment removes only the most recent point entry across the activity, after confirmation. Check the team and amount in that prompt. To correct an older entry without removing later work, add an opposite adjustment with a clear reason, then add the corrected value. Match editing uses a different correction process.

How do I record a match or correct its result?

For an existing fixture, choose Record result on its card. Enter Team A score and Team B score, then Save match result. Scheduled opponents are fixed. For an unscheduled game, choose Record a match, select two different teams, enter their scores, and save. Use whole-number scores from 0 to 9999. The higher score wins and equal scores produce a draw.

Choose Edit result on a played fixture to correct it. Saving replaces that match’s contribution, so it is not counted twice. Changing 3–1 to 2–2 removes the previous win/loss and records a draw for each team. Removing a fixture/result removes its standings contribution and any saved starting-team decision.

How are league points and tied ranks calculated?

The default rules award three league points for a win, one for a draw, and zero for a loss. Open Activity timer & match rules in setup, change Win, Draw, and Loss, and choose Apply match rules. The scoreboard recalculates existing match results under the updated rules. Activity points do not change.

Match ranking sorts by league points, then score difference (For minus Against), then For. Teams still tied on all those values share a rank. Activity-point ranking uses activity points only; matching totals share a rank. No automatic champion or extra head-to-head tiebreaker is imposed. Agree on an event-specific playoff if you need a single winner.

How do I generate fixtures, and why are there 15 games for six teams?

Finalize team membership, then choose Generate round-robin fixtures. Every pair meets once. Six teams produce 15 matches arranged into five rounds of three matches. With an odd team count, one team sits out each round while the bye rotates; no fake opponent is added to your roster.

Generating again replaces an unplayed schedule and its first-turn decisions after confirmation. Once a match is scored, the full schedule cannot be regenerated; retain those results and add friendly matches, or create a new activity for a new competition. This is a single round robin, not an automatic knockout bracket.

How do the activity timer, Print cards, and Present work?

Open Activity timer & match rules. Enter a duration from 5 to 3600 seconds and choose Reset to apply it, then Start timer. Pause keeps the remaining time; Reset restarts from the entered duration. At zero, the timer shows Time is up and a visual notice. This activity timer is separate from the 10-second-minimum team wheel and five-second hand duel; it does not promise an audible alarm.

Print cards opens the browser’s print dialog for team/player sheets using the current name display. Present switches to a larger, simpler page layout; use the button again or Escape to exit. It does not automatically enter operating-system fullscreen. The timer uses an elapsed-clock deadline, so returning to a running activity reconciles the remaining time.

How do I save, export, and move outdoor records without losing classroom data?

Changes save in this browser when storage is available. Back up activities downloads a full outdoor JSON backup containing all outdoor activities, rosters, copied images, teams, captains, points, fixtures, rules, timer state, and audio preferences. Restore backup accepts an outdoor JSON file up to 30 MB and replaces all outdoor activities on that browser after confirmation. Back up the destination first if it contains work you need.

Classroom and outdoor backups are separate: neither restores the other’s records. Export CSV exports the selected activity’s standings, team membership, fixtures/results, starting teams, and point ledger using the current Name display; it cannot restore the whole workspace. There is no cloud sync or live sharing across phones. A new domain or browser profile needs an explicit backup and restore. Up to 10 activities, 500 matches and 2000 point adjustments per activity are supported.

Where is Rock · Paper · Scissors, and can I use it before making teams?

Choose the prominent Play Rock · Paper · Scissors button near the top of Outdoor Activities. The window shows two large hands and a Start 5-second duel button. Before teams exist it offers a quick Team A / Team B duel; after dealing, choose your actual teams from the two menus. Choose two different opponents.

To attach a first-turn decision to a scheduled game, use Decide first turn on that fixture instead. Its opponents are fixed and a completed decider can save a starting team on that fixture. A free-standing quick duel displays a result without creating a fixture or adding a match win.

What happens during the five-second duel, and how is the result chosen?

Choose Start 5-second duel. Both displayed hands change between Rock, Paper, and Scissors while the central counter runs down from five. At the end, both gestures freeze: rock beats scissors, scissors beat paper, and paper beats rock. The two final gestures are independently generated using browser cryptographic randomness. This is a random decider; captains do not secretly enter gestures.

A tie gives neither team a winning round and shows Tie — play again. Click to repeat. Countdown sound, voice, animation, and volume do not change the outcome. The hand duel chooses a first turn and never changes activity points, match scores, or the scoreboard’s match-win count.

How do I choose best of three or five and save the winner as the starting team?

Before starting, expand Sound, volume & match format below the duel button. Under Format choose One winning round, Best of three, or Best of five. Best of three ends when a team wins two rounds; best of five ends at three winning rounds. Tied rounds do not count toward either total. Continue with Next 5-second round until the decider is complete.

If you opened from a fixture’s Decide first turn button, choose Save as starting team after the overall winner appears. The fixture then shows Starts: followed by that team’s name. This does not record a match victory. A free-standing decider has no fixture to update, so it does not show that save button. Close and reopen if you need to abandon an unfinished series or change locked opponents/format.

Where do I adjust countdown sound, winner speech, and volume?

Expand Sound, volume & match format under the hand-duel button. Countdown sound controls the five short tones and result cue. Announce winner controls the optional spoken result; a tie is announced as a tie. Volume runs from 0 to 100% and controls both tones and speech. At 0%, both are muted. These preferences save automatically for the selected activity; there is no extra Save button.

For voice choice and a direct audio test, open Voice & sound test inside those settings. Choose Device voice, then Test sound & voice. The test deliberately demonstrates sound and speech even if the automatic options are disabled. Stop audio stops pending tones and speech. Audio preferences are included in outdoor backups and can differ between activities.

Why can I see the result but hear no countdown or spoken winner?

First raise Volume above 0%, enable Countdown sound and Announce winner as needed, and check the device’s volume, mute switch, selected speaker, Bluetooth connection, and browser/site audio settings. Use Test sound & voice with a direct click. The physical device volume limits what the website can play.

Speech uses only voices the browser reports as local. If none is available, install a system voice or try a browser with local voice support; if a restored voice is unavailable, choose another Device voice. Pronunciation and voice availability vary. Browser playback restrictions can block speech even while the visible result works; the audio-status message reports this. The website does not send team names to an external speech API.

What happens if I close the duel or switch tabs while it is running?

Closing the duel cancels its current animation and stops pending audio. Hiding the page or leaving it stops queued tones and speech, so a background tab does not keep announcing results. If the animation remains open while the page is hidden, returning may show its completed result; it does not replay missed countdown tones automatically.

A completed fixture starting-team decision is saved only when you choose Save as starting team. Unsaved hand gestures and series scores are held in memory and are not a permanent match history. Keep the decider visible when using it in front of a class, and record the actual game score separately after the game.