This walkthrough is for club owners and admins setting up BookCourt for the first time. From zero to a live queue with members in it, start to finish. About five minutes.
Step 1: Create Your Account
Go to bookcourt.at/register. Free, no credit card. You need:
- Username — shown in the queue, leaderboards, and game history. Permanent — cannot be changed later.
- Email — used only for PIN resets.
- 4-digit PIN — your login password.
Step 2: Create Your Center
Go to bookcourt.at/centers → Create a New Center.
URL Slug
Auto-generated from your center name — e.g. "Smash Club" → bookcourt.at/smash-club. Permanent. Cannot be changed. If the auto-slug doesn't look right, adjust the center name before submitting.
Number of Courts
Set this to the number of courts you run simultaneously. Adjustable later in Settings.
Players Per Set
2 for singles, 4 for doubles. Controls how many players are pulled from the queue per set.
Skip Cap (24h)
Limits how many position-swap skips a player gets per rolling 24-hour window. 0 = unlimited. If regulars abuse skipping, set this to 2–3. Adjustable later.
Timezone
Set to your club's local timezone — this controls when the daily leaderboard resets and when operating hours are calculated.
Submit — you're automatically the Owner.
Step 3: Share Your Center URL
Go to Admin panel → Overview tab. Your center URL is shown with a copy button. Drop it in your club's WhatsApp or group chat.
Step 4: Invite Your Members
Tell members to:
- Go to bookcourt.at/register — create a free account
- Visit your center URL
- Click Request to Join
- Let you know so you can approve them (no automatic notifications are sent)
Step 5: Approve Members
Admin panel → Members tab. Pending requests show at the top. Click Approve. Done — they immediately gain access to the queue and dashboard.
Step 6: Promote Trusted Members to Admin
For busy sessions, 2–3 co-admins are invaluable. Admins can generate sets, manage the queue, and approve new members.
Admin panel → Members tab → Promote to Admin next to any member's name.
Step 7: Run Your First Session
- Players tap Join Queue from the dashboard.
- The top N players (your players-per-set setting) appear highlighted as Next to Play.
- When a court opens, someone taps Move to Court and confirms the 3-step flow (intent → court clear → court number).
- When done, any player on that court (or an admin) taps End Set. Players re-join the queue manually.
The queue updates live for all members. No page refresh.
Common First-Session Mistakes
"Daily stats are resetting at the wrong time."
Admin → Settings → update the Timezone to match your club's location.
"I want to run a tournament too."
Tournaments are a separate feature. Go to bookcourt.at/new-tournament to create one. See the tournaments section of the full guide.
"I can't change the center URL."
Correct — it's permanent by design. You can change the display name in Settings at any time.
Need more detail on any feature? Read the complete guide — it covers centers, tournaments, queue mechanics, admin tools, and more.