GDS FanStar Site is Open

By now, all ownership teams should have received an email from me (on behalf of the site) inviting you to login. As soon as you are able, please do so and change your password. 

While I have spent quite a bit of time experimenting with the site and tweaking the configuration, there will still be a number of quirks and user interface issues that I won't be able to address. We've got an open line of communication to the FanStar team, though, so one of the things I'd like to do is compile some suggested changes over the next few weeks and send it to them.

Things you should do right away:

  1. Login and update your account. You can find your account information in "Team ... Edit Team Info" 

    A) Change your password. You will see two fields — "Create/Change your user Password" and "Confirm new Password" — that both need to be changed with your new password choice. They have to match for it to work when you save the form. Note: There isn't very strong security on the whole authentication system, as the admin screens to show me each team reveal the passwords in plain text. When you select a password, don't use the same one as, say, your bank account.

    B) Update other information in your profile. This can include uploading a photo of your ownership team (225x300px), adding a favorite quote, including your phone number, years playing fantasy sports, favorite pro team, game philosophy or occupation. Like the password, these changes are all made at once.

    NOTE: Please leave the other fields as they are, including the appropriated "Interests" (which is where I put your location info).

    C) Check your logo. There are still two teams who have not provided me with a logo. If that is you, Hillsborough and Short Pump, make it a priority to work with your younger owners to come up with some digital logo (and backstory) you can send me. If you already sent or posted it, just let me know where. I will take care of uploading it, as this site only accepts certain formats and sizes. I just need a big raw image from you to work with.

    To save the above changes, click the "Submit" button at the top of the form.
     
  2. Go to "Team ... Set Lineup" and check your roster. The site will transition to a team panel view, with your roster controls on the left. The roster is organized by position, not player, so you will see multiple instances of each player listed, depending on how many positions they qualify for. 

    A) Make sure everyone you drafted is in this list. The rostered players (complete with some position and spelling errors) are posted on this site. That should match what you will see for your team. If it does not, let me know ASAP.

    B) Look for red dots by the names. This is an indication that your player is on the disabled list. You can click the dot to get more detail about when he is due back. Any disabled player can be replaced at a Type 1 substitution (i.e., drop him immediately, replace him with an available player). DO NOT WAIVE HIM. If you plan to replace a player this weekend, contact me and let me know. I'll handle it from the admin side.

    C) Review your starting lineup. I spent time entering the starting lineups based on position eligibility, ESPN500 ranking, and current injury status. There are valid starting lineups for all team, but in a few cases, there will be a need to replace a player in order to avoid starting injured players. Contact me if you are having difficulty fielding a full lineup. (NOTE: I did take time to add some notes about this in the "quoteable" field, but apparently they didn't stay put.)

    D) Update your starting lineup. To change your starting lineup, click on a Green name (the current starters) to remove a starter from the lineup. Click on a Blue name (the current bench) to add a starter. The system will not let you enter an invalid lineup. If a player is already in the lineup, it will let you know. This is where the grouping of the left-panel roster is helpful, since each group represents part of the starting lineup. Look in the green line by the position title to see how many you should add from each group.

    To save the changes, you have to click the "Submit Starting Lineup" button on the top of the starters column. It looks more like a header than a button. Once you submit your lineup, you should get a clear indication of that success in the left-side panel.
     
  3. Go to "Team ... Add/Waive." This is where you will be able to do things like waive and disable players, or assign someone to the minors. You don't have to do anything here, except familiarize yourself with the tools on this page.

    A) Make some limited roster moves. The only things you should be attempting this weekend are "Move to IR" (i.e., disabled list) and "Move to Farm" (i.e., our minor league). To do this, click on a player's name on the left-side panel (as you did when setting the lineup). This will display that player's name next in the left-side of the horizontal form near the top of the page. By default, it will indicate "Waive" (which this weekend, you should not do). To disable or develop a player, click the appropriate button above the name. Add a comment, if it is informative to do so, and click SUBMIT.

  4. Update your Trading Block. Go to "Team ... Propose Trade" to get to the part of the site that allows you to propose a trade to another team, or announce your trading block players to other owners. You can do the latter at the bottom of the page, by using the dropdown menus to select specific players you might be willing to deal, positions you have to offer, and/or positions you need. Click the "Submit" button under the "Edit My Trading Block" bar near the bottom of the page to post this on the front page.

  5. Publish content. There are two ways you can contribute to the content on this site. Click the "Home" button to see the main screen. In the (currently) left and right columns you will find sections for "Message Board" and "League News." Feel free to use these forums for things league related, particularly if it involves reporting on your team as if it were a real one. This is the site to allow the fantasy sports reporter in you to attend your own press conferences, or to talk strategy and game results with other owners.

Tags: FanStar, GDS, instructions, website

Views: 506

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Kevin Makice on May 1, 2012 at 9:34am

BTW, there is a trading block you can use (at the bottom of the trade proposal page) to put those needs/available players info on the site. 

Permalink Reply by Nick Krahn on May 1, 2012 at 9:45am

I will second the option of finding somehow to handle waivers (the week to week kind) more quickly.  I don't mind giving several days but my worry would be as we get into the season and want to make moves it makes the M-F period almost worthless and with kids that is a LONG wait to adjust the roster.  

Could we let this week go that way (a waiver period for the post draft players) and then allow actual transactions at anytime?  Or on a 24 hour - clear at midnight - sort of system?  That way players are still subject to being picked up to adjust for injuries, bad play, etc that have already cleared waivers (after this week anyone not on a roster should be considered "unwanted")

My logic for a quicker turn around is to keep the kids interested (instant gratification!) but the current format could punish someone who misses out on a player.  For example I need another OF but if my claim doesn't pass on any of the OF I want I am left holding a bad spot on my team for another week and hoping I can get a player next week.

 If I am missing something please let me know.  I don't mind 'missing out' in a waiver system.  Its how the game works and has for years.  It would just be nice to know sooner as the season progresses so that we can adjust and start digging for another player that we can all agree on.  

Permalink Reply by Kevin Makice on May 1, 2012 at 10:00am

One think that I just did is to increase the site's roster limit from 20 to 25. This is a response to a problem one owner was having trying to sign a minor-league player for his team's developmental list with a full 20-man roster. It should also have benefits with the scenario you describe above.

So,

  • A team with 20 players can add a player and designate them to the farm (or disabled list) before Monday's lineup deadline
  • A team looking to make an uneven trade (multiple players for one) can add free agent players to their queue in anticipation of that deal, so they don't have to go the following week with open spots in the roster
  • A team uncertain of whether they will get a player can make several offers and then keep the one they want.

Come monday, if any rosters are over the limit, I'll look for ways to keep as many players as possible (e.g., using the disabled list) and release the least contested and most recently added players first.

Permalink Reply by Kevin Makice on May 1, 2012 at 10:02am

One thing that FanStar does allow for is multiple transaction periods. So we could have a M-W signing period and a Th-Sa signing period to speed up the opportunities. Would that be of interest?

Permalink Reply by Nick Krahn on May 1, 2012 at 12:21pm

I think that would work better. It would give two periods for people to check in without forcing someone who can't be at a computer daily to check constantly but also give time to adjust if our claims don't go through with Sunday to set final rosters heading into a new week.  

Also I don't see a way to order our desired claims....the waivers are fine but I don't necessarily want the first player I claimed first if that makes sense.  If I need to redact a claim to reorder that is fine and will just have to be accounted for in the weeks ahead.

Permalink Reply by Chip Reese on April 30, 2012 at 5:31pm

My schedule is missing week 15.  Is this intentional?

Chip - Greenwood Aglets

Permalink Reply by Kevin Makice on April 30, 2012 at 5:41pm

Nope. You play Fairport.

I'm thankful owners are checking their schedules. It was a lot of manual entry, so I'm not surprised a mistake or two was made.

Permalink Reply by Kevin Makice on May 1, 2012 at 9:52am

Due to an issue trying to sign players to the farm club with a full roster, I have increased the roster size from 20 to 25. Teams should be able to add players that could put them over the 20-man limit, to help accommodate uneven trades and this farm list.

This does not mean you can keep more players. Come Monday each week, every roster will still have to meet the 20-man limit, plus up to 1 developmental player and 5 disabled list players. 

Permalink Reply by michael.a.lally on May 1, 2012 at 12:16pm

I like the idea of 2 signing periods.I think that is a great solution.

I agree with Nick's reasons for not having a full week (instant gratification!) of waiting. Although it is probably me that is more impatient than Erin.

I think it will cut research time down too. If we have a week long period and we do not get our free agent choice, we would have to wait another week. Or we would have to put in multiple claims. That could get confusing. At least for me.

I think 2 signing periods would eliminate all concerns.

Permalink Reply by Kevin Makice on May 2, 2012 at 1:04am

FREE AGENT ADJUSTMENT:

After discussion here, I went ahead and made the switch this week to two signing periods each week. I have no idea how this is going to work in practice, so please bear with me as we try to find a system that works.

First Signing Period ends Wednesdays at 11p Central (midnight Eastern). 

Second Signing Period ends Saturdays at 11p Central (midnight Eastern).

The processing is set to require commissioner approval. I'm doing this to make sure we can check the transactions, and because I don't know if there is an easy way to automate the multiple-bid process this season (especially not in the first week). We will try to move this to an automated system as soon as we can.

So, if you have not yet put in a bid on a player, today is the last day to do so in the current signing period. All of the players in the Add queue will be processed by Thursday morning. You will then have another opportunity to sign players, to be processed by Sunday morning (in time for lineup adjustments for week 6).

Permalink Reply by Kevin Makice on May 3, 2012 at 1:38am

The first of two weekly signing periods is in the books. It took a while to process due to having a lot of players and team tie-breakers to deal with. I'm not sure I'll be able to be this timely in the future if we ever had a surge as big as this one. I expect this is a product of the initial roster adjustments, though, and isn't likely to repeat.

When the dust had settled, though, we had one team signing 10 players, and two teams over the 20-man roster limit. That limit won't be enforced until Monday morning, when the most recent additions will be waived until the rosters are legal again. I will be happy (perhaps) when we eventually evolve to a bidding system. 

You are able to deal future draft picks, up through 2015 (three future drafts). Expect that we will have at least 8 rounds of drafting (keeping 12 players, drafting 8), even if we wind up making changes to the league rules next year. This is another place where fake cash could come in handy, too, to give owners another way to exchange value.

The second signing period is now open, through the end of Saturday.

Permalink Reply by michael.a.lally on May 3, 2012 at 6:34am

Hi Kevin. I am still showing a pending transaction of dropping brendon Ryan and picking up Mike Aviles. 

When I go to my Team > Add Waive screen. I see multiple Ryan for Aviles swaps for us. I also see Greenwood trying to pick up Aviles. Wondering if this is "lost" in the system because I put it in too early. Let me know. Our Romo for Matusz move worked ok. 

Mike

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