This article provides detailed information for an Admin or Manager with ‘Manage Training’ permission on how to create a Multi-level competition.
Note: The document uses the term ‘Levels' for the stages within a competition. Depending on the event, the different stages may be called something else such as ‘Missions’, 'Stages’ etc.
The logic however, to create such a competition is same as documented below.
Creating a Multi-level Competition
You can access the Create Competition form by clicking on the Home [1] tab. You can then create a multi-level competition by clicking on the Create [2] button, then Competition [3] button.
Creating a Multi-level Competition - Competition Details
You can choose whether to create an Individual-Based or a Team-Based competition by selecting an option with the Competition Type [1] radio dials. When creating a multi level competition, you need switch on the Multi-level toggle[2]. The Specify number of levels[3] field then gets enabled, and you are to enter the number of levels/missions to be created here. The number of levels have to be greater than 2.
After that, you have to name your competition by entering a title into the Name [1] text box. This name will be visible to all Participants. You can add a description by using the Description [2] text box. The description will only be visible to other Admins. You can also add a story to the competition in the Story[3] text box. This is available to the participants as a description of the theme of the competition.
You’ll then be asked to select when the Availability Type. “Manual” competitions let you manually start and end the competition whenever you like. “Automatic” competitions let you schedule a time for the competition to automatically start and finish.
You can create a Manual competition by clicking on the Manual [1] radio dial. Alternatively, you can create an Automatic competition by clicking on the Automatic [2] radio dial.
If you select “Automatic”, you will be prompted to select a start and end date. You can set when the competition will start by entering a date and time into the Competition Start [1] field. Participants can only access the competition once the competition’s start date and time has commenced. You can set an end date in the Competition End [2] field. The competition will end for all participants at this time.
The start and end dates can be changed at a later point if you need to reschedule. The dates and times here will reflect your system’s time zone. For example, if your system is using AEST time zone, the dates and times you enter will be in AEST. The Competitions platform will convert any dates and times you set to the relevant time zones for all other users. For example, if the competition is set to start time at 10am AEST, participants on AWST time will be able to access the competition from 8am AWST.
Once you have completed the Availability section, click Next [3] to go to the next page. Otherwise click Cancel [4] if you no longer wish to create a competition.
Advanced Networking Features
Below Availability, you'll see Advanced Networking Features. If you want to allow participants to access a VPN in the competition (to attempt lab challenges with), click Enable VPN Configuration [1]. Note that you can't undo this once this is clicked. If you want to allow participants to connect to a Jump Box for the duration of their event, click the Enable Jump Box toggle [2]. You will be able to toggle this on or off until the competition starts.
Adding Challenges to levels
You can add a challenge to a level by clicking on the Checkboxes [1] next to the challenges that you wish to add. You can select all challenges on the table by clicking on the Checkbox [2] in the top left-hand corner. You can also search for challenges by clicking the Search [3] icon.
You filter challenges by clicking on the Filter button, as shown in the image below.
From here, you can filter challenges based on their Category, Difficulty Level, Points or Estimated Time to Solve by selecting an option from the Columns [1] dropdown menu. You can enter the value that you wish to filter for by typing it into the Value [2] text box. The filter will update the table as you enter a value. You can close the Filter tool by clicking outside of the tool. Alternatively, you can add another filter by clicking on the Add Filter [3] button.
After you select the checkbox(es) for challenge(s), a Select Level dropdown button appears. From the Select Level droprdown, simply select the level you wish to move the challenges to.
After selecting the level for the selected challenges, the Level column on the table should be updated(as highlighted below) and the challenge should be unchecked for those challenges.
Removing Challenge(s) from a level/Moving Challenge(s) from one level to the other.
If you wish to remove challenge(s) from a level or move already allotted challenge(s) to a different level- simply select the challenges to be removed/moved, and then from the Select Level dropdown, select the Remove/No level option[1] for removing the challenge, or select one of the Level option[2] for moving to new level.
After the changes have been made, they will reflect in the Level column showing No level selected for removed challenges, and updated Level number for the moved challenges.
📖 Note: All labs in lab-based challenges have a duration of 2 hours. Participants can extend their lab instances as many times as they require, resetting their lab timers to 2 hours and retaining progress made. Participants can also reset their labs as needed, which will deploy a new lab instance and erase all progress.
Competition Messaging
You can write competition rules, tips or anything else that you’d like participants to read by using the Set Instructions [1] text box. Participants can access these instructions both before and during the competition. You can also set a message for participants to see once the competition is over by using the Post-Competition Message [2] text box. Once you’re happy with your competition, you can hit the Create Competition [3] button. If you need to go back and change anything from the previous pages, hit the Back [4] button. If you don’t wish to create the competition, hit the Cancel [5] button. This will erase the competition.
Competition Summary
After everything in the competition has been defined(Details, Challenges, and Messaging), a summary page is shown as a final step before finally creating the competition.
The challenges in each level are listed in an accordion. You can inspect here if all the challenges are sitting in the right level. If you are happy with all the details, you can select Create Competition[1] button. If you want to make changes to the competition, you can go back by pressing Back[2] button.
After a competition is created, you will get a notification that the competition is created, and you will directed to the list of Competitions in your org, where you will find the newly created competition.
