Starting an online league--newbie

CoolHandLuke · 06-28-2005, 09:26 PM

I'm a newbie to this game, as are a few other people that I've gotten together with to form a league.

I want to run a couple "test" dynasties before I send the IDs in and start using the host that this place provides. Is there a way to do that? Do I have to use the hosts from here? If not, what other ways to have an online league are there? Some people in the league won't have the game, so that's especially important. Is there a way to run a league through just a message board? I was trying to export everything in a way that would let me just use a message board for a while, but was unable to find a way to do that. Basically, how can I run a league without using this league host?

I'm glad I found this message board--there's a lot of helpful answers and discussion here.

Thanks,

CHL

mad0die · 06-29-2005, 12:08 AM

Best way to learn these types of things is to join an existing league and watch how things are done.

Astros33Resurrected · 06-29-2005, 12:12 AM

You can always buy your own webspace if you want your own domain name.

CoolHandLuke · 06-29-2005, 01:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Astros33Resurrected

You can always buy your own webspace if you want your own domain name.

Well, what I want is to be able to have the league online.

The list of things I don't know.

- How do you export your league so that you can have it online?

- How do you get it online so that it looks like the stuff people have up?

Cowboys3356 · 06-29-2005, 08:40 AM

This post has been deleted because it did not follow the forum rules.

tward13 · 06-29-2005, 09:17 AM

The guy's not even allowed to ask questions to try to learn? Why so rude to him? Or am I missing something? Wouldn't it be better to ignore the thread than to jump all over him. Maybe someone out there who has the answers to his questions will be happy to help. Everyone was new to it at one time.

Tomootp · 06-29-2005, 09:46 AM

tward13, I'm not sure Cowboys3356 is capable of posting without being rude. He pokes his head into quite a few new online league proposal and idea threads with some sort of caustic comment.

Welcome to the boards CoolHandLuke. I've never run an online league personally, so I won't be of much help to you, but there are some amazing commissioners around these parts that might be able to give you some good advice.

Cubsgnrlmngr · 06-29-2005, 10:55 AM

I'd really join a couple of leagues and stay in their for about 5+ seasons to look at what the commish does every offseason, how he sims, how he does it, etc.... you can also learn HTML, how to upload, how to use FTP, how to to build a website, get your own webspace, get your own domain, by then.

The Professor · 06-29-2005, 11:01 AM

1. There is nothing better than a little experience. Mad0die offers the best advice one can give a prospective new commissioner. Join a good league, watch, ask questions, learn. This is the best way to get a feel for the way a league operates and to see how things go. You may want to jump right in and get your feet wet, but your chances of survival are slim to none. Learn the game, learn the way leagues operate. You'll have to exercise a lot of patience, but IT IS ESSENTIAL. Your final product will be better for it.

2. Once you've gotten the hang of things, then you can begin to realize dreams of having your own league.

-- The Website:

*If you can get on the OOTP Server, fine. Otherwise, purchasing space from a web host is almost a necessity. It would be nice if you could run a league off a free web host, but the required bandwidth is usually simply too much. You'll sink before you even get to doggy paddle, much less sink -- and your league will probably be bare bones, including annoying banner ads and pop-ups -- if you can even manage it.

*Simpler is almost always better when it comes to the site. Many new online leaguers feel the need to jazz things up with lots of java or flashy things. Avoid, avoid, avoid unless you are proficient at coding and HTML. A clean, simple, HTML site is a good way to begin. If nothing else you'll want all the necessary links to the OOTP HTML pages up, some kind of place where you can post news tidbits etc. You'll probably want some kind of forum, which again necessitates having space on some web host. Take a look around at other leagues, see what you think works. If you don't know anything about web design, ask for help (there are people here who occasionally offer to help build simple sites, etc.), surf the web, read up on it. As you learn more, you'll be able to improve your site by adding neat new features.

Really, once you have a feel for a how a league works, you'll be much better prepared to run a league yourself. You'll be more confident, you'll be prepared to handle the sticky situations that sometimes come up in leagues, and your owners will be thankful for it. Get experience.

Delgadodawg · 06-29-2005, 11:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cowboys3356

You have no business running an online league if you don't even understand the basics of it. Please stop posting.

LMAO! Now only if you would follow your own advice.

I am glad there are people like The Professor around to offset guys like you.

IatricSB · 06-29-2005, 11:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cowboys3356

You have no business running an online league if you don't even understand the basics of it. Please stop posting.

Yeah, this was helpful

A better idea would be for you to not post in the thread if you don't want to help him. No need to be rude and make azzinine comments.

spleen1015 · 06-29-2005, 11:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cowboys3356

You have no business running an online league if you don't even understand the basics of it. Please stop posting.

Captain Jackassery!

Thanks, Work!

IatricSB · 06-29-2005, 11:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Professor

1. There is nothing better than a little experience. Mad0die offers the best advice one can give a prospective new commissioner. Join a good league, watch, ask questions, learn. This is the best way to get a feel for the way a league operates and to see how things go. You may want to jump right in and get your feet wet, but your chances of survival are slim to none. Learn the game, learn the way leagues operate. You'll have to exercise a lot of patience, but IT IS ESSENTIAL. Your final product will be better for it.

2. Once you've gotten the hang of things, then you can begin to realize dreams of having your own league.

-- The Website:

*If you can get on the OOTP Server, fine. Otherwise, purchasing space from a web host is almost a necessity. It would be nice if you could run a league off a free web host, but the required bandwidth is usually simply too much. You'll sink before you even get to doggy paddle, much less sink -- and your league will probably be bare bones, including annoying banner ads and pop-ups -- if you can even manage it.

*Simpler is almost always better when it comes to the site. Many new online leaguers feel the need to jazz things up with lots of java or flashy things. Avoid, avoid, avoid unless you are proficient at coding and HTML. A clean, simple, HTML site is a good way to begin. If nothing else you'll want all the necessary links to the OOTP HTML pages up, some kind of place where you can post news tidbits etc. You'll probably want some kind of forum, which again necessitates having space on some web host. Take a look around at other leagues, see what you think works. If you don't know anything about web design, ask for help (there are people here who occasionally offer to help build simple sites, etc.), surf the web, read up on it. As you learn more, you'll be able to improve your site by adding neat new features.

Really, once you have a feel for a how a league works, you'll be much better prepared to run a league yourself. You'll be more confident, you'll be prepared to handle the sticky situations that sometimes come up in leagues, and your owners will be thankful for it. Get experience.

Good post and I agree that the best way to learn is to be in an online league at first. But if you'd still like to give it a go, you'll need to have someone with some HTML experience to create your main pages. OOTP will perform some stuff for you such as posting your league HTML files (FTP them for you) and technically you could get by with just that. But typically you'll want to have an owners page, a message board for league postings, and some of the 3rd party goodies that are out there (Catobase for example once you get comfortable with what's going on).

Also, a non-website thing, but backup your league files regularly and often (I keep zipped archives of my league). That way if anything happens corrupting the file or an error of some kind, you have backups to go to. But I also keep an end of year file just in case I want to use those previously mentioned 3rd party programs (with Catobase you'll want the history your league creates yearly).

CoolHandLuke · 06-29-2005, 11:29 AM

Thanks for all of the help, guys. Let me say this--I'm not as ignorant as my post came off, I was just trying to make a point of showing that I needed someone to explain the basics, like some of you have.

I have been in online sim leagues before, and have plenty of experience with it, just, not with OOTP. And a group of people and I are trying to start a league, and since none of us have ever run an OOTP league before, it's not like we have an experienced commissioner. I've been watching some of the leagues here though.

I actually have a place that can host the site.

The whole thing that the league generates is the page that starts with the standings and you can click the teams and whatnot, right? What, exactly, is it that I'm going to upload to get that online, and how do I do that?

Thanks again for all the help.

chicoruiz · 06-29-2005, 11:48 AM

I hate to volunteer someone else's time, but when I was setting up my own (now-defunct) league Fidel Montoya was nice enough to answer several similar questions for me in understandable layman's terms. He has another thread on this page; you might want to try PM-ing him.

phenom · 06-29-2005, 11:52 AM

I was in the same boat, and participated in a couple leagues before starting my own. Unfortunately, time constraints only allowed me one season to be a commish, but it was great fun and I hope someday I can do it again.

However, it was over a year from when I decided to run a league until the day came that I actually did, and that was spent participating in other leagues, asking questions, learning how to do things within OOTP, setting up stuff on the web server for exports, etc., coming up with rules, and so forth.

As for a website, the one I made for my league took about an hour. www.tubf.net

ifspuds · 06-29-2005, 12:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CoolHandLuke

The whole thing that the league generates is the page that starts with the standings and you can click the teams and whatnot, right? What, exactly, is it that I'm going to upload to get that online, and how do I do that?

What you're looking for here is in League->Online League Setup->Generate Reports. That'll create the bare bones web pages that contain the standings, team files, player files, and so on. You'll then upload everything contained in the folder where the reports are contained (a folder you specify on the Online League Setup page) to the web space.

DaveHorn · 06-29-2005, 12:33 PM

My first league was my league. There is nothing wrong with a commish learning via trial by fire. What is important though is that you don't start the "real" league on day one. You are going to make mistakes and these mistakes would be hard for a GM to swallow if it negatively impacts their team. Once you go "real", GMs put an emotional investment into their team and they don't want stuff to get ruined by a rookie commish mistake.

What I did and recommend if you want to jump right in is to find 8 to 10 GMs that will "beta" your league. You do everything as if it were a real league. You sim a season at minimum or more if you are still ironing out problems. Then when you've got a season or two of practice and everything is running smooth, you would be ready to go live and your league will be much better because of it.

Personally, playing in an online league doesn't really compare to running one. It only offers the very basics of the online world and the only way to learn all the ropes for a commissioner is to just do it. Even verteran online league players run into problems when they try to be a commissioner first time and could make their league stronger with a little practice and beta testing their league first.

tward13 · 06-29-2005, 02:35 PM

Now this is the kind of help and advice I was expecting this guy to get.

And I'll second the plug for Fidel. I'm in his Asahi league and the guy's extremely patient and helpful with the GMs, newbies and experienced alike.

CoolHandLuke · 06-29-2005, 03:32 PM

Thanks a lot for the help.

OK, I've got a place that can host it. Now, if I go through the process of generating the reports, like the guy about three posts up explained, and load that onto the place that's hosting my site, I'll have the bare-bones set-up that I see when I look at some of these leagues from the "Standings" page?

Basically, when I'm looking at the "Online League Setup" page in OOTP 6.5, can somebody give me an example of what their online league's Online League Setup page looks like? I mean, I can figure it out, if I have something to base what I'm doing off of.

06-28-2005, 09:26 PM	#1
CoolHandLuke Bat Boy Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 13	Starting an online league--newbie I'm a newbie to this game, as are a few other people that I've gotten together with to form a league. I want to run a couple "test" dynasties before I send the IDs in and start using the host that this place provides. Is there a way to do that? Do I have to use the hosts from here? If not, what other ways to have an online league are there? Some people in the league won't have the game, so that's especially important. Is there a way to run a league through just a message board? I was trying to export everything in a way that would let me just use a message board for a while, but was unable to find a way to do that. Basically, how can I run a league without using this league host? I'm glad I found this message board--there's a lot of helpful answers and discussion here. Thanks, CHL

06-29-2005, 12:08 AM	#2
mad0die All Star Reserve Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: TX Posts: 913	Best way to learn these types of things is to join an existing league and watch how things are done. __________________ Commish GUBA

06-29-2005, 08:40 AM	#5
Cowboys3356 All Star Starter Join Date: Sep 2003 Posts: 1,571	DELETED BY ADMIN! This post has been deleted because it did not follow the forum rules.

06-29-2005, 10:55 AM	#8
Cubsgnrlmngr Minors (Triple A) Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 249	I'd really join a couple of leagues and stay in their for about 5+ seasons to look at what the commish does every offseason, how he sims, how he does it, etc.... you can also learn HTML, how to upload, how to use FTP, how to to build a website, get your own webspace, get your own domain, by then. __________________ Chicago Cubs NGBL If you don't know who Kirby Puckett was or of his face escapes you're memory at the moment. Check this short video out about one of the most clutch baseball players in the history of the MLB. R.I.P. Kirby Puckett

06-29-2005, 11:01 AM	#9
The Professor Hall Of Famer Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: East of East Posts: 3,020	1. There is nothing better than a little experience. Mad0die offers the best advice one can give a prospective new commissioner. Join a good league, watch, ask questions, learn. This is the best way to get a feel for the way a league operates and to see how things go. You may want to jump right in and get your feet wet, but your chances of survival are slim to none. Learn the game, learn the way leagues operate. You'll have to exercise a lot of patience, but IT IS ESSENTIAL. Your final product will be better for it. 2. Once you've gotten the hang of things, then you can begin to realize dreams of having your own league. -- The Website: If you can get on the OOTP Server, fine. Otherwise, purchasing space from a web host is almost a necessity. It would be nice if you could run a league off a free web host, but the required bandwidth is usually simply too much. You'll sink before you even get to doggy paddle, much less sink -- and your league will probably be bare bones, including annoying banner ads and pop-ups -- if you can even manage it. Simpler is almost always better when it comes to the site. Many new online leaguers feel the need to jazz things up with lots of java or flashy things. Avoid, avoid, avoid unless you are proficient at coding and HTML. A clean, simple, HTML site is a good way to begin. If nothing else you'll want all the necessary links to the OOTP HTML pages up, some kind of place where you can post news tidbits etc. You'll probably want some kind of forum, which again necessitates having space on some web host. Take a look around at other leagues, see what you think works. If you don't know anything about web design, ask for help (there are people here who occasionally offer to help build simple sites, etc.), surf the web, read up on it. As you learn more, you'll be able to improve your site by adding neat new features. Really, once you have a feel for a how a league works, you'll be much better prepared to run a league yourself. You'll be more confident, you'll be prepared to handle the sticky situations that sometimes come up in leagues, and your owners will be thankful for it. Get experience. __________________ History isn't really about the past - settling old scores. It's about defining the present and who we are." Last edited by The Professor; 06-29-2005 at 11:03 AM.

06-29-2005, 12:12 AM	#3
Astros33Resurrected Hall Of Famer Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Lufkin, TX Posts: 2,213	You can always buy your own webspace if you want your own domain name.

06-29-2005, 09:17 AM	#6
tward13 All Star Starter Join Date: Jan 2003 Posts: 1,965	The guy's not even allowed to ask questions to try to learn? Why so rude to him? Or am I missing something? Wouldn't it be better to ignore the thread than to jump all over him. Maybe someone out there who has the answers to his questions will be happy to help. Everyone was new to it at one time.

06-29-2005, 09:46 AM	#7
Tomootp Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 24	tward13, I'm not sure Cowboys3356 is capable of posting without being rude. He pokes his head into quite a few new online league proposal and idea threads with some sort of caustic comment. Welcome to the boards CoolHandLuke. I've never run an online league personally, so I won't be of much help to you, but there are some amazing commissioners around these parts that might be able to give you some good advice.

06-29-2005, 11:29 AM	#14
CoolHandLuke Bat Boy Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 13	Thanks for all of the help, guys. Let me say this--I'm not as ignorant as my post came off, I was just trying to make a point of showing that I needed someone to explain the basics, like some of you have. I have been in online sim leagues before, and have plenty of experience with it, just, not with OOTP. And a group of people and I are trying to start a league, and since none of us have ever run an OOTP league before, it's not like we have an experienced commissioner. I've been watching some of the leagues here though. I actually have a place that can host the site. The whole thing that the league generates is the page that starts with the standings and you can click the teams and whatnot, right? What, exactly, is it that I'm going to upload to get that online, and how do I do that? Thanks again for all the help.

06-29-2005, 11:48 AM	#15
chicoruiz Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: Nov 2002 Posts: 37	I hate to volunteer someone else's time, but when I was setting up my own (now-defunct) league Fidel Montoya was nice enough to answer several similar questions for me in understandable layman's terms. He has another thread on this page; you might want to try PM-ing him.

06-29-2005, 11:52 AM	#16
phenom Hall Of Famer Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Near the Great Wall. On the GOOD side. Posts: 3,774	I was in the same boat, and participated in a couple leagues before starting my own. Unfortunately, time constraints only allowed me one season to be a commish, but it was great fun and I hope someday I can do it again. However, it was over a year from when I decided to run a league until the day came that I actually did, and that was spent participating in other leagues, asking questions, learning how to do things within OOTP, setting up stuff on the web server for exports, etc., coming up with rules, and so forth. As for a website, the one I made for my league took about an hour. www.tubf.net

06-29-2005, 12:33 PM	#18
DaveHorn All Star Starter Join Date: Aug 2003 Posts: 1,146	My first league was my league. There is nothing wrong with a commish learning via trial by fire. What is important though is that you don't start the "real" league on day one. You are going to make mistakes and these mistakes would be hard for a GM to swallow if it negatively impacts their team. Once you go "real", GMs put an emotional investment into their team and they don't want stuff to get ruined by a rookie commish mistake. What I did and recommend if you want to jump right in is to find 8 to 10 GMs that will "beta" your league. You do everything as if it were a real league. You sim a season at minimum or more if you are still ironing out problems. Then when you've got a season or two of practice and everything is running smooth, you would be ready to go live and your league will be much better because of it. Personally, playing in an online league doesn't really compare to running one. It only offers the very basics of the online world and the only way to learn all the ropes for a commissioner is to just do it. Even verteran online league players run into problems when they try to be a commissioner first time and could make their league stronger with a little practice and beta testing their league first. __________________ Dave HFTC Commish

06-29-2005, 02:35 PM	#19
tward13 All Star Starter Join Date: Jan 2003 Posts: 1,965	Now this is the kind of help and advice I was expecting this guy to get. And I'll second the plug for Fidel. I'm in his Asahi league and the guy's extremely patient and helpful with the GMs, newbies and experienced alike.

06-29-2005, 03:32 PM	#20
CoolHandLuke Bat Boy Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 13	Thanks a lot for the help. OK, I've got a place that can host it. Now, if I go through the process of generating the reports, like the guy about three posts up explained, and load that onto the place that's hosting my site, I'll have the bare-bones set-up that I see when I look at some of these leagues from the "Standings" page? Basically, when I'm looking at the "Online League Setup" page in OOTP 6.5, can somebody give me an example of what their online league's Online League Setup page looks like? I mean, I can figure it out, if I have something to base what I'm doing off of. Last edited by CoolHandLuke; 06-29-2005 at 03:34 PM.