If you're reading this article, you're likely a race organizer/director who's working with a ChronoTrack timer for one or more of your events. Or perhaps you're looking into using CT Live for your event's registration and working with a non-ChronoTrack timer. In either case, this article will help you figure out the basics of what you can do in CT Live and provide links to other articles that will help you get started using CT Live's admin portal.
If you don't yet have a login for the CT Live admin portal, please reach out to your Timer to get one set up.
If you're NOT working with a CT timer, but would like to start using CT Live as your event's registration platform, please contact sales@chronotrack.com to get started.
There are many more features available through CT Live than are covered in this article, so make sure to explore the rest of the Knowledge Base to discover more!
What's Your Situation?
Please click the link below that best suits your situation:
- I'm working with a ChronoTrack Timer and using CT Live for registration
- I'm working with a ChronoTrack Timer but NOT using CT Live for registration
- I'm just using CT Live for Registration
Working With a CT Timer and Using Registration
Items marked with ** are aspects of your event that we recommend you work closely with your Timer to set up because there may be some elements that affect timing and scoring of the race in CT Live.
Click the headings to see a how-to article for each one. Some descriptions contain additional useful links, so read carefully!
Create Your Event** - If you're doing the event for the first time in CT Live, you'll need to create the Event to get started. If you did the event in CT Live the year before, you can Clone the event to copy most of your settings from the previous year!
Add Races to the Event** - You should create a Race for each distinct distance in your event. If you've got individual and team versions of a single distance, you may want to set up one race per version. E.g. "10K Individual" and "10K Team Race".
Add and Edit Registration Choices** - Registration Choices are the options that athletes can choose from on the Registration Form. You might need more than one Reg Choice for a single race if you're offering discounts for seniors or veterans, for example. There are a couple settings in Registration Choices that may require input from your Timer. Learn more by clicking the link.
Add Pricing - Once you've added and configured your Reg Choices, you need to add Pricing to each one so you can start taking registrations.
Set Up Teams (Optional)** - If any of your races are for Team participation, you'll have to do some configuration to the Race, Reg Choice, and Pricing to get them set up. There are some aspects that only your timer can set up, so work with the Timer to get things ready to go.
Add Products (Optional) - If you're offering free T-Shirts or other swag to your athletes at no cost, you can use the Standard Products slide to add sizes and inventory levels for them. If you're intending to sell merchandise for an additional fee, that's a job for Custom Questions (keep reading below).
Add Coupons (Optional) - If you'd like to offer one-off special discounts during your registration, you can set up Coupons of different types. If you're selling Groupons for race entries, you can also Import the Groupon-provided codes to your event so people can use them right in the Registration Form.
Add Custom Questions (Optional)** - You can use Custom Questions to gather information and sell products you wouldn't otherwise be able to with the standard registration features in CT Live. You have to create a Question Slide before you can make a Question, and it's best to keep similar questions grouped on the same Slide to prevent athletes from getting confused. If you're gathering information from athletes that affects how they're Scored, you should work with your timer to make sure the questions are set up correctly so they integrate smoothly with the scoring elements. Examples of these applications are Clydesdales/Athenas, Wave/Corral selections, Elite status, etc.
Add Graphics (Optional) - There is a set of default graphics with Athlinks logos that you can replace with your own custom graphics. Doing this dresses up your event and provides opportunities to sell advertising space to sponsors.
Release the Registration Form - Before you can open registration to your athletes, you have to release your latest Form version. This should be the last step of your Registration setup process, but you can make changes after you've released the Form. If you do make changes after Registration was already opened, just release the latest Form Version, and your changes will go into effect.
Configure and Publish the Event Landing Page (Optional) - If your event doesn't have an official Website, you can take advantage of the Athlinks Event Landing Page that we offer for free! The ELPs act as mini websites - hosted on the Athlinks website - where you can publish the event schedule, course maps, event sponsor images and links, registration link, and more.
Send Email Blasts (Optional) - Do you need to communicate with all registered athletes quickly? You can use the free Email tool to quickly and easily build and schedule email blasts to everyone, or only a certain group of people.
Use Financial Reports to Track Registration Numbers and Revenue - There are a couple of different Financial Reports that allow you to keep track of incoming revenue and how much you'll be receiving each week.
Use the Confirmed Entries Report to View or Export Athlete Data - If you ever want to examine the data for people who have registered including demographic information, product selections, questions answers, and more, the Confirmed Entries report is your best avenue to easily pulling the data you need.
Explore Media Revenue Options Available in Athlinks - The ChronoTrack/Athlinks Media team has the experience and insight to help you generate revenue from sponsors using the Media opportunities available through the Athlinks Platform. Click the link above for a quick look at what we can offer, and then check out This Presentation for a more in-depth look at Athlinks Media.
Working With a CTL Timer, Not Using Registration
As a race director, most aspects of CT Live for only scoring will be things the timer sets up. There are a few things you can still use, however.
Click the headings to see a how-to article for each one. Some descriptions contain additional useful links, so read carefully!
Configure and Publish the Event Landing Page - If your event doesn't have an official Website, you can take advantage of the Athlinks Event Landing Page that we offer for free! The ELPs act as mini websites - hosted on the Athlinks website - where you can publish the event schedule, course maps, event sponsor images and links, insert your platform's registration link, and more.
Send Email Blasts - Do you need to communicate with all registered athletes quickly? You can use the free Email tool to quickly and easily build and schedule email blasts to everyone, or only a certain group of people.
Click the headings to see a how-to article for each one. Some descriptions contain additional useful links, so read carefully!
Create Your Event - If you're doing the event for the first time in CT Live, you'll need to create the Event to get started. If you did the event in CT Live the year before, you can Clone the event to copy most of your settings from the previous year!
Add Races to the Event - You should create a Race for each distinct distance in your event. If you've got individual and team versions of a single distance, you may want to set up one race per version. E.g. "10K Individual" and "10K Team Race". Even if you're just using CTL for registration, you should still set up each Race so that you can easily keep track of how many people are in which Race.
Add and Edit Registration Choices - Registration Choices are the options that athletes can choose from on the Registration Form. You might need more than one Reg Choice for a single race if you're offering discounts for seniors or veterans, for example.
Add Pricing - Once you've added and configured your Reg Choices, you need to add Pricing to each one so you can start taking registrations.
Set Up Teams (Optional) - If any of your races are for Team participation, you'll have to do some configuration to the Race, Reg Choice, and Pricing to get them set up.
Add Products (Optional) - If you're offering free T-Shirts or other swag to your athletes at no cost, you can use the Standard Products slide to add sizes and inventory levels for them. If you're intending to sell merchandise for an additional fee, that's a job for Custom Questions (keep reading below).
Add Coupons (Optional) - If you'd like to offer one-off special discounts during your registration, you can set up Coupons of different types. If you're selling Groupons for race entries, you can also Import the Groupon-provided codes to your event so people can use them right in the Registration Form.
Add Custom Questions (Optional) - You can use Custom Questions to gather information and sell products you wouldn't otherwise be able to with the standard registration features in CT Live. You have to create a Question Slide before you can make a Question, and it's best to keep similar questions grouped on the same Slide to prevent athletes from getting confused. If you're working with a non-CT timer, you should still work with them to make sure any needed information from athletes that affects how they're Scored is gathered. Examples of these applications are Clydesdales/Athenas, Wave/Corral selections, Elite status, etc.
Add Graphics (Optional) - There is a set of default graphics with Athlinks logos that you can replace with your own custom graphics. Doing this dresses up your event and provides opportunities to sell advertising space to sponsors.
Release the Registration Form - Before you can open registration to your athletes, you have to release your latest Form version. This should be the last step of your Registration setup process, but you can make changes after you've released the Form. If you do make changes after Registration was already opened, just release the latest Form Version, and your changes will go into effect.
Configure and Publish the Event Landing Page (Optional) - If your event doesn't have an official Website, you can take advantage of the Athlinks Event Landing Page that we offer for free! The ELPs act as mini websites - hosted on the Athlinks website - where you can publish the event schedule, course maps, event sponsor images and links, registration link, and more.
Send Email Blasts (Optional) - Do you need to communicate with all registered athletes quickly? You can use the free Email tool to quickly and easily build and schedule email blasts to everyone, or only a certain group of people.
Use Financial Reports to Track Registration Numbers and Revenue - There are a couple of different Financial Reports that allow you to keep track of incoming revenue and how much you'll be receiving each week.
Use the Confirmed Entries Report to View or Export Athlete Data - If you ever want to examine the data for people who have registered including demographic information, product selections, questions answers, and more, the Confirmed Entries report is your best avenue to easily pulling the data you need. You'll eventually need to export all your Athlete and Team data if you're working with a non-CT timer, and this report will also be useful for that application.