This guide covers all of BookCourt — whether you're running daily court sessions, organizing a club tournament, or just joining as a player. Bookmark it and share it with your members.
Accounts
Creating an Account
Go to bookcourt.at/register. You need:
- Username — visible to all members. Permanent, cannot be changed. 3–30 characters, letters and numbers only.
- Email — for PIN resets only. Never shown to other users.
- 4-digit PIN — your login password.
You're logged in automatically after registering. One account works across all centers and tournaments you belong to.
Forgot Your PIN?
Go to bookcourt.at/login → Forgot PIN → enter your email. You'll receive a reset link valid for 1 hour. If you lost access to that email, ask the center owner — owners can reset PINs directly from Admin → Members.
Your Profile
Go to Account to set a profile emoji, avatar color, bio, and equipment. Your public profile page at bookcourt.at/user/[username] shows your centers, tournament history, and wins. You can set your account to private to keep it off public search.
Centers — Daily Court Management
What Is a Center?
A center is your club's dedicated space on BookCourt — its own live queue, courts, leaderboards, history, and members. Completely isolated from other centers. Every center gets a permanent URL like bookcourt.at/your-center-name.
Creating a Center
Go to bookcourt.at/centers → Create a New Center. Key settings:
- Center name — unique across BookCourt. Display name can be changed later; the URL slug cannot.
- URL slug — auto-generated from the name. Permanent.
- Location — city or neighborhood, shown on center cards.
- Sports played — Badminton, Tennis, Pickleball, Squash, Padel, Table Tennis, Volleyball, Basketball, Other.
- Number of courts — how many courts run simultaneously (1–25). Adjustable later.
- Queue mode — Skip Mode or Set Freeze Mode. See Queue Modes below.
- Single-game threshold — when the queue reaches this count, a "1 Game Per Set" banner appears. Default 16.
- Skip cap (24h) — max skips per player per rolling 24-hour window. 0 = unlimited. Skip Mode only.
- Allow Position Swap on Skip — whether skipping swaps you one spot or sends you to the back. Skip Mode only.
- Operating hours — restrict which days/times the queue is open.
- Auto-end sets / Auto-clear queue — when operating hours close, automatically end all active sets and/or clear the queue. Only available when operating hours are configured.
- Timezone — used for daily leaderboard resets and operating hours.
The creator automatically becomes the Owner.
Joining a Center
- Get the center URL from an admin (e.g.
bookcourt.at/my-club) - Visit it and click Request to Join
- Wait for an admin to approve — there are no automatic notifications, so let them know you've applied
Roles
Member — join the queue, skip turn, end your own set, generate a set (if in Next to Play group).
Admin — everything above plus: approve/reject members, manage the queue, generate sets unconditionally, drag-and-drop reorder, edit settings.
Owner — everything above plus: demote admins, reset PINs, delete the center. One owner per center.
The Queue
How It Works
Players join the queue and are assigned to courts in order. 4 players form a set. When a court opens, someone taps Move to Court — those players are assigned to the court and removed from the queue. Everyone else moves up.
Key Actions
- Join Queue — adds you to the back. You can only be in one center's queue at a time, and not while playing on a court.
- Leave Queue — removes you entirely. Use Skip Turn if you just need a short break.
- Skip Turn — defers you one round. Only available in Skip Mode and only when you're in the Next to Play group. If you've hit your skip cap, the next skip sends you to the back.
- Move to Court — 3-step confirmation: confirm intent → confirm court is physically clear → select court number. Admins can do this anytime; members only when they're in the Next to Play group.
- End Set — records game duration and frees the court. Available to players on that court and all admins.
Undo / Revert Tools (Admins)
- Revert Court to Queue — moves current players back to the front of the queue, as if the set never started.
- Restore Set to Court — restores an archived set back to the court with its original start time. Only within 30 minutes of it ending.
Queue Modes
BookCourt has two queue modes. Admins choose one in Admin → Settings.
Skip Mode (default)
The standard queue. The first 4 players in the waitlist are the Next to Play group. When a court opens, any player in that group (or an admin) taps Move to Court.
- Players can use Skip Turn to defer one round — they swap with the player just after the Next to Play group.
- If swap is disabled, skipping sends you straight to the back.
- If you hit the skip cap, your next skip sends you to the back instead of swapping.
Set Freeze Mode
Sets are pre-formed in the queue. When players join, they're assigned to a set group — a locked group of up to 4. Sets play in group order; the first complete group gets called up when a court opens.
- Skip Turn is disabled for members (admins can still skip).
- If you leave a set group, your spot becomes open — other players see it as an incomplete set.
- Fill Spot — if a set group has an empty slot, other players can tap Fill Spot to join it instead of waiting in their own group. This keeps sets moving even when someone drops out.
- Fill Spot can be enabled or disabled in Admin → Settings.
Which mode should I use? Skip Mode works well for casual drop-in play. Set Freeze Mode suits clubs where players prefer to know their playing partners in advance and want locked group compositions.
Tournaments
What Is a Tournament?
A tournament is a separate feature for organized competition — pair-based registration, bracket generation, score tracking, and a live dashboard. Not connected to center queues.
Creating a Tournament
Go to bookcourt.at/new-tournament and fill in:
- Name, sport, location, description
- Pair cap — maximum number of pairs (teams) that can register
- Players per pair — typically 2 for doubles
- Best of — match format: Best of 1, 3, or 5
- Start date
The creator becomes the tournament Owner.
Tournament Status Flow
- Upcoming — visible but not yet open for registration
- Registration — players can request to join and form pairs
- Registration Closed — no new pairs; admins generate the bracket
- Active — matches are being played; scores submitted live
- Completed — tournament over; winner recorded on all profiles
Owners can cancel from any non-completed status.
Joining & Pairing
- Request to join from the tournament page — admin approves you as a member
- During Registration: find a partner and send a pair request. They accept or decline. Once paired, you're a registered team.
- You can only be in one pair per tournament. Unpairing is allowed during Registration or Upcoming only.
- Admins can create pairs directly from the admin panel.
Generating Brackets
Once registration is closed, owners/admins go to Admin → Stages and click Generate Stage. BookCourt auto-generates matches with bye handling for odd numbers of pairs. After all matches in a stage are complete, generate the next stage with the winners.
Recording Scores
Admins enter the number of rounds won per pair (e.g. 2–1 in a Best of 3). The first pair to reach the required wins is recorded as the winner. Scores update live on all dashboards.
Tournament Admin Panel
At bookcourt.at/tournament/[slug]/admin. Tabs:
- Overview — stats, status controls, current stage matches
- Members — approve/reject join requests, promote/demote admins
- Stages — all rounds with match cards and score entry
- Settings — update name, format, best-of, pair cap, dates
- Audit Log — full action history
Tournament Roles
Spectator/Member — view dashboard, watch matches live.
Admin — record scores, manage stages, approve members, manage pairs.
Owner — all admin powers plus settings, status transitions, cancel/delete.
Center Admin Panel
At bookcourt.at/[slug]/admin. Five tabs:
- Overview — stat cards, quick actions (revert court, clear queue, reorder), center info, today's set history
- Members — pending requests, all members, promote/demote/remove, PIN reset (owner only)
- Queue — live queue with skip/remove buttons, Add to Queue for approved members not yet in queue
- Settings — all center configuration in one form
- Audit Log — last 200 actions, color-coded, with actor and timestamp
Drag-and-drop queue reorder is at bookcourt.at/[slug]/move.
Stats & Leaderboards
The Stats tab on the center dashboard has Today and This Month views.
- Personal stats — sets today, sets this month, time on court, estimated kcal burned
- Today highlights — Most Picky (most skips today), Longest Game
- Today leaderboard — all players ranked by sets played today. Resets at midnight in your center's timezone.
- Monthly leaderboard — top 15 players by sets this calendar month
Tied players share the same rank. All stats are automatic — no manual input needed.
URL Quick Reference
| URL | What it is | Who can access |
|---|---|---|
bookcourt.at/register | Create account | Anyone |
bookcourt.at/login | Log in | Anyone |
bookcourt.at/centers | Your centers list | Logged-in users |
bookcourt.at/tournaments | Browse tournaments | Anyone |
bookcourt.at/new-center | Create a center | Logged-in users |
bookcourt.at/new-tournament | Create tournament | Logged-in users |
bookcourt.at/[slug]/dashboard | Live center dashboard | Approved members |
bookcourt.at/[slug]/admin | Center admin panel | Admins & owners |
bookcourt.at/tournament/[slug]/dashboard | Tournament dashboard | Tournament members |
bookcourt.at/tournament/[slug]/admin | Tournament admin panel | Tournament admins & owners |
bookcourt.at/user/[username] | Public player profile | Anyone |
Frequently Asked Questions
General
Is BookCourt really free?
Yes. Every feature — queues, tournaments, leaderboards, brackets, admin tools — is free. No credit card, no plans, no limits.
Does it work for any sport?
Yes. BookCourt is used for badminton, tennis, pickleball, squash, padel, table tennis, volleyball, and more. Everything is configurable — sport name, court count, players per set, format.
Can I use it on my phone without installing an app?
Yes. BookCourt is mobile-first. For an app-like experience: iPhone → Share → "Add to Home Screen". Android → browser menu → "Install app" or "Add to Home Screen".
Can I belong to multiple centers and tournaments?
Yes. One account, unlimited centers and tournaments. Switch between them from bookcourt.at/centers or bookcourt.at/tournaments.
Can I change my username?
No. Usernames are permanent. Choose carefully at registration.
Centers & Queue
My join request isn't being approved.
BookCourt doesn't send automatic notifications to admins. Let your center admin know you've applied — they'll see it in Admin → Members.
Can I queue at two centers at once?
No. You can only be in one center's queue at a time. You also can't join a queue while you're playing on a court.
What's the difference between Skip Mode and Set Freeze Mode?
In Skip Mode, the first 4 players in line get called next — you can skip your turn to defer one round. In Set Freeze Mode, players are locked into pre-formed groups of 4 when they join. Your group plays together and you can't skip. If someone drops out, other players can Fill Spot to take the open slot.
The daily leaderboard resets at the wrong time.
Go to Admin → Settings and update the timezone to your club's local timezone.
Can I change the center's URL?
No. The URL slug is permanent. You can change the display name in Settings at any time.
Someone accidentally moved to court. Can I undo it?
Yes. Go to Admin → Overview → click the active court → Revert Court to Queue. The players go back to the front of the queue. If the set was already ended, you can restore it within 30 minutes via the recent set history.
Tournaments
How many players can be in a tournament?
Determined by the pair cap you set when creating the tournament. You can increase the pair cap in tournament settings as long as registration is still open.
Can spectators watch without being a registered pair?
Yes. Anyone can join the tournament as a member (spectator). Only registered pairs play matches.
Can I run multiple rounds?
Yes. After all matches in a stage complete, generate the next stage — it automatically seeds winners from the previous stage.
What happens if there's an odd number of pairs?
BookCourt auto-assigns a bye. The pair with a bye advances to the next stage automatically.
Can someone outside the club see tournament brackets?
The tournament page is visible to approved members. Non-members see a public info page with a join request button — no brackets or scores are exposed publicly.
Still have questions? Email support@bookcourt.at.