Documentation

Getting Started

A complete first-to-last guide for setting up AuctionBall, preparing your tournament, running a live auction, and managing everything after the event.

Plan your workspace

Create the right organization, season, teams, and user roles before adding real players.

Prepare the auction room

Configure budgets, bid increments, player categories, big screen, team devices, and registration links.

Run and close cleanly

Control lots, bids, timer, sold or unsold results, exports, payments, and post-event records from one dashboard.

1. Create your AuctionBall account

Start from the registration page and create the first admin account for your tournament. Use an email address you can access because account verification, password reset, billing messages, and support follow-ups may be sent there.

Enter your name, email, password, and organization details.
Choose an organization slug carefully. It becomes part of your workspace identity and can be useful in support requests.
Verify your email if verification is enabled, then log in to the dashboard.
Keep the first account as the main organization admin so you can manage billing, settings, users, and invitations.

2. Understand the main dashboard

The dashboard is organized around the auction workflow. Most setup happens before auction day; auction control and big screen are used during the live event; exports and audit logs help after the event.

Dashboard Home shows the active season and quick operating metrics.
Seasons controls tournament settings such as sport, budget, bid increment, categories, registration forms, and active season.
Players is where you add, import, approve, edit, delete, and export player data.
Teams manages team names, short codes, budgets, device links, approvals, and exports.
Auction contains Control, Big Screen, and Rosters views for the live room.
Analytics and Audit help you review activity, spending, and important changes.
Settings controls display currency, conversion rate, custom domain, and organization information.
Billing controls subscriptions, plan upgrades, renewals, and payment history.

3. Configure organization settings

Before creating your final auction data, open Settings and confirm the organization-level options. These settings affect how money, branding, and public URLs appear across the app.

Set display currency to BDT or USD depending on how you want users to see prices.
Set BDT per USD conversion rate when USD display is enabled. Internal auction amounts still use the canonical stored values.
If your plan supports it, configure a custom domain and complete DNS verification.
Use the current organization name and logo consistently so big-screen and public pages look polished.

4. Create and activate a season

A season is one auction campaign or tournament. You can create multiple seasons, but only one should usually be active while you are preparing or running an event.

Choose the sport, such as cricket or football, because sport controls which player fields matter most.
Set budget per team before creating teams so each new team gets the right starting budget.
Set BDT bid increment and USD bid increment. Team devices use the correct increment for the current display currency.
Add player categories such as A, B, C, Icon, Local, Overseas, Batter, Bowler, All-rounder, or any custom structure.
Activate the season you want the dashboard, registration links, team devices, and auction room to use.

5. Build the player registration form

Public registration lets players submit their own details. You can customize the form so you collect only the data needed for your tournament.

Open Seasons and enable public player registration for the active season.
Add custom fields when you need extra data such as previous team, district, shirt size, batting role, bowling type, or phone number.
Share the public registration link privately or publicly depending on your tournament rules.
Review submitted players in the Players page and approve or reject them before auction day.

6. Add players manually

Manual entry is best for a small list, late additions, or corrections. Use the Add Player button from the Players page.

Enter player name, category, base price, position, and sport-specific details.
Upload a clear player photo when possible. Photos make the big screen and roster pages much easier to follow.
Keep base prices consistent with your category rules.
Use approve status to keep draft players separate from final auction-ready players.

7. Import players by CSV

CSV import is the fastest path for a large tournament. Download the template first, fill it carefully, then preview before confirming.

Use the built-in CSV template from the Players import page.
Keep required columns such as name present and spelled exactly as the template expects.
Preview the import to catch missing columns, invalid prices, or malformed rows.
Confirm only after reviewing the preview. After import, spot-check a few players before the event.

8. Create teams and budgets

Teams are the buyers in your auction. Their budgets control whether bids are valid and how much they can spend.

Add each team with a clear name and short code. Short codes look better on the big screen.
Confirm initial budget and remaining budget before starting the auction.
Use team registration if teams need to apply or submit details before approval.
Keep one admin responsible for reviewing budgets before the first lot starts.

9. Invite users and assign roles

Not everyone needs full admin access. Assign roles based on the work each person will do during setup and live operation.

Organization admins manage settings, billing, users, seasons, players, teams, and auction setup.
Auctioneers can operate the live auction controls and bids.
Viewers can monitor screens and reports without changing key setup data.
Send invitations early and ask every operator to log in before auction day.

10. Prepare team device links

Team device links let captains bid from phones or tablets without seeing admin tools. Treat each link like a private access key for that team.

Open Teams and generate or copy each team device link.
Send each team only its own link. Do not post all links publicly.
Ask captains to open their link before the auction starts so device and network issues are caught early.
Keep a backup admin bidder ready in case a team phone loses internet.

11. Set up the big screen

The big screen is for the venue projector or TV. It shows the current player, bid, timer, leading team, bid history, budgets, and sold or unsold result.

Open Dashboard > Auction > Big Screen on the display laptop.
Use browser fullscreen mode and check that player photos, names, bids, and timer are readable from the room.
Test websocket updates by changing a player or placing a test bid from auction control.
Disable sleep mode on the display laptop and keep power connected.

12. Run a full test auction

Before the real event, create a short test with two teams and two players. This catches almost every setup issue while there is still time to fix it.

Select a player in Auction Control and start the timer.
Place test bids from auction control and from a team device.
Mark one player SOLD and another UNSOLD to confirm result animations.
Check that team budget decreases only after sold confirmation.
Open Rosters to confirm sold players appear under the correct team.

13. Run the live auction

During the event, keep one person on Auction Control and one person watching the big screen or room. The auctioneer should announce each action clearly before clicking.

Select the next player only when the room is ready.
Start, pause, resume, or extend the timer as needed.
Use valid bid increments and confirm the leading team before marking SOLD.
Use UNSOLD when no team buys the player. The stamp stays visible until the next player is selected.
Avoid refreshing or changing settings in the middle of an active bid unless necessary.

14. Review rosters and exports

After the auction, use Rosters and exports to review final teams, spending, unsold players, and records for captains or sponsors.

Open Rosters to inspect final team lists and remaining budgets.
Export players, teams, or season summaries as CSV or PDF depending on your plan.
Use exported files for announcements, record keeping, social media, and dispute resolution.
Keep the audit log available if you need to review who changed important data.

15. Billing, plans, and payment activation

Billing controls your plan limits and renewal state. Free plans are useful for testing; paid plans unlock larger usage and production-ready capacity.

Open Billing to see your current plan, limits, payment history, and renewal status.
Use PayPal checkout where available. Successful payments should activate the selected package automatically.
Use manual bKash payment when configured, then submit the transaction ID for admin review.
Keep payment references for support questions or refund review.

16. Troubleshooting checklist

Most event-day issues come from cache, internet, permissions, missing data, or display setup. Work through this list before assuming the auction data is broken.

If a page looks old after deploy, clear browser cache and Laravel/Vite build cache on the server.
If realtime updates do not show, check websocket console errors and Reverb service status.
If player images break, check storage disk configuration and public storage URL.
If imports fail, confirm the CSV uses the template headers and includes required columns.
If team bidding fails, confirm the team has enough remaining budget and the active season is correct.
If email goes to junk, verify SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records in your email provider DNS settings.

How to use this guide

Work through the steps in order the first time. After your first test auction, you can jump directly to the specific feature area you need: players, teams, auction control, billing, exports, settings, or troubleshooting.

Start free Contact support