Team User Guide

1. Create your team account

1. Click Sign In in the top-right, then choose to create an account.
2. Pick the Team role and confirm your email and password.
3. You can invite teammates later from My Team so they can help manage registrations.

2. Find and register for an event

1. Use the home map or Explore → Browse Events to find a cookoff near you.
2. Open the event page to see divisions, categories, entry fee, payouts and how to pay the organizer.
3. Click Register Your Team, pick the divisions/categories you want to enter, and add your mobile number.
4. Read and accept the charge acknowledgment popup (you confirm the entry fee you owe the organizer).
5. Pay the organizer directly off-platform (Venmo, Cash App, Zelle, Wise, PayPal, check or cash) — the app never takes your entry fee.

3. Your My Team portal

1. Open My Team from the account menu — this is your home base as a competitor.
2. Profile: upload your team logo, a wide cover banner, write a bio and add your Facebook page link.
3. Roster: add each member with an optional role (Pitmaster, Saucier, Prep, etc.), a photo, phone and email; drag rows to reorder them.
4. Trophies & Awards: upload trophy photos with captions — tap any trophy to view it full-size in a lightbox.
5. Sponsors: add sponsor logos with optional website links so they appear on your public team page.
6. Team Members: invite teammates by email; if they already have an account they're linked instantly, otherwise they auto-link when they sign up. Members share the same portal.
7. Share Team Page: copy your public team link (logo, bio, roster, trophies, sponsors and your competition record) to share anywhere.

Team Finder, claim your team & rivalsNew

1. Team Finder (Explore → Team Finder): search any team on EasyCookoff, competed or not, and see its career — events, Grand and Reserve Champions, top-10s, best finish, average score and every result. Different spellings of a team name are merged into one history.
2. Claim your team: open your team's career page and tap Claim this team (team owner only, after you set up My Team). It's verified instantly if your team registered for one of those events; otherwise EasyCookoff reviews it.
3. Verified teams get a Verified badge, a Team Home on My Team with recent results and milestones, and a Sponsor Stats Card you can print or download for sponsors.
4. Privacy: on Team Home, switch 'List my team publicly in Team Finder' off to hide your career from public search.
5. Privacy: in My Registrations, switch any cookoff's scores to private — you'll show as "Private Team" on public results, and that event is left off your profile and career. On My Team → Privacy & Sharing, choose whether your record, roster, photos, trophies, sponsors and social links are public.
6. Rivals: tap Add rival on any career page. Team Home shows each rival's latest placing and your head-to-head record at events you both entered.

Off-Platform Results (wins from other cookoffs)New

1. On My Team, open Off-Platform Results and tap Add a result.
2. Enter the cookoff name, date, city/state, Scoring Style (KC-Style, Steak, Chili or Other), sanctioning body, category or division, your place, number of teams, prize money and title (e.g. Grand Champion, Reserve Grand Champion, 1st Place – Ribs). Add a proof link or photo if you have one.
3. Results show on your public team page, career page, milestones and Season Recap with a grey "Off-platform · self-reported" badge. Results scored on EasyCookoff carry a green "Verified on EasyCookoff" badge.
4. Official Hall of Champions and Team Finder rankings use verified results by default — visitors can tick "Show off-platform results too". Edit or delete your entries any time (team owner only).

4. My Registrations

1. Open My Registrations to see every event you have entered and its payment status.
2. Tap any organizer pay handle (Venmo/Cash App/etc.) to copy it instantly.
3. Order more ribs on rib events before the cutoff, and view judge comment cards once the organizer posts them.
4. If you added a Cash App for refunds during registration, the organizer can use it to refund you.

5. During scoring and results

1. While the event is being scored, your scores stay private until the organizer publishes results.
2. When the organizer clicks Email Results & Complete Event, you receive an email with YOUR placements and payouts, the shared overall totals, and the event Champions Card.
3. Your scores then appear on your public team profile and the event leaderboard, with your full score history in My Team.
4. View the Hall of Champions to see winners across the whole circuit.

6. Friends, followers & invites

1. Open My Account → Friends (or the user menu → Friends).
2. Find and follow friends: sync phone contacts (Android contact picker), upload a contacts file (.vcf/.csv — on iPhone share contacts from the Contacts app), or search by name, team or email.
3. Following a person sends a request they approve; following an organizer is instant. Accept or decline requests to follow you right on the Friends tab.
4. Invite your cookoff crew with your personal link through Messenger, Instagram DM, Facebook, WhatsApp, text or email — when they join with it you automatically follow each other.
5. Who you share with: choose 'Followers you approved' or 'Nobody' anytime. You can also remove synced contacts.

7. Likes & saved Favorites

1. Tap the heart on any event card or event page to like it — your approved followers see what you like.
2. Tap the bookmark to save an event for later. Find saved events under My Account → Favorites and liked ones under Liked.
3. Events you liked get a 'coming up soon' alert 1–2 days before they start.

8. Notifications & push alerts

1. The bell in the header shows your unread Activity — follow requests, friends joining or signing up for events, new cookoffs from organizers you follow, reminders and feedback requests.
2. My Account → Manage notifications: switch each Social, Activity and Email alert on or off.
3. Turn on Enable push notifications to get alerts even when the app is closed. On iPhone, first tap Share → Add to Home Screen and open EasyCookoff from there.
4. After an event you competed in, you'll be asked to rate it (1–5 stars) — your feedback goes straight to the organizer.

10. People's Choice tally & payout

1. If the organizer shares People's Choice results, My Registrations shows your redeemed rib tickets, side-dish tickets, votes and payout for that event. You'll also get a notification when it's posted.

9. Account settings

1. My Account → Settings puts every choice on an on/off switch: dark mode, using your location for 'events near me', app install tips, sharing your activity, showing your team in the Teams Directory, 'Liked by friends' on events, event invites from organizers, and judge availability.