# Building a scorecard

> From FilmScorecard Help: https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/building-a-scorecard

The Scorecard Builder is where one scorecard is written: the questions a judge
is asked, or the items a reviewer checks. It belongs to your organization's
library, so what you write here is available to every festival and every
season that uses this scorecard.

It is reached from
[Categories and scorecards](https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/categories-and-scorecards.md), and the two
screens are one job: that screen manages the library, this one writes what is
inside a scorecard.

**Only organization owners can change anything here.** Staff members can open
the same screen and read it.

## Finding the screen

Its address is:

```
/org/<organization>/scorecards/<scorecard>
```

There are four ways in, all from the **Scorecards** tab of Categories and
scorecards:

- **A row's three-dot menu → Edit scorecard.** If the scorecard is used by no
  category, the builder opens straight away. If it is used by one or more, the
  **Shared scorecard** dialog opens first and states the size of the change —
  both of its buttons now work. **Edit for all N** opens the builder on the
  scorecard itself; **Duplicate and edit a copy** makes the copy and opens the
  builder on the copy.
- **+ New scorecard** in the toolbar — see
  [Creating a new scorecard](#creating-a-new-scorecard). The new scorecard
  opens here immediately, empty.
- **Duplicate** in the builder's own header, which lands you inside the copy.

The back link at the top left, **← Categories and scorecards, Scorecards**,
returns you to the Scorecards tab. **Categories and scorecards** stays
highlighted in the left navigation the whole time you are in the builder.

## Who can open it, and who can change it

- **Organization owners** get everything this guide describes.
- **Staff members** get the same screen to read: the name is a heading rather
  than a field, the description is plain text — absent entirely when the
  scorecard has none — and there are no drag handles, no row menus, no Edit
  buttons, no Add button, no Duplicate and no Save changes. Every question,
  its settings and the preview render exactly as an owner sees them.
- **Anyone else** who opens the address — including hosts of other festivals —
  sees an ordinary "page not found", exactly as if they had mistyped it. A
  logged-out visitor is sent to the log-in screen first. A scorecard id that
  does not exist gives the same "page not found", with nothing to tell the two
  apart.

The preview on the right works for everyone, owner or staff. It never saves
anything, so there is nothing to protect.

If a change is somehow attempted without owner access, it is refused with "You
do not have permission to change this library." and nothing is saved.

## Three kinds of scorecard, three shapes of this screen

A scorecard's type is chosen when it is created and **cannot be changed
afterwards**. The type decides what the builder looks like:

| Type | Who fills it in | What each row carries | Right-hand pane |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **Creative** | A judge | A response type — 1 to 10 scale, Yes / No, Single choice, Multiple choice or Free text | A judge's form |
| **Technical** | A reviewer, before judging | A point value | A reviewer's checklist |
| **Press kit** | The submission itself, and a coordinator | A point value, plus either the submission field the item watches or nothing | A reviewer's checklist |

Creative scorecards call their rows **questions**; technical and press kit
scorecards call them **items**, and every button and menu entry follows suit —
Add question / Add item, Save question / Save item, Remove question / Remove
item.

**A press kit item is one of two kinds, and its kind is fixed when it is
created.** An item can watch a field on the submission record and be satisfied
the moment that field has something in it — nobody marks it — or it can be a
check a coordinator marks by hand. That split changes enough of this screen to
have its own section:
[Press kit items: fields and manual checks](#press-kit-items-fields-and-manual-checks).

**Only 1-to-10 questions are scored, and they all count equally.** There is no
weighting anywhere in the builder: no per-question weight on a creative
scorecard, and no per-item weight on a technical or press kit one. The card's
own rule line says so:

> Each question has a response type. Questions scored 1 to 10 count equally
> toward this judge's average. Choice and free text questions are collected
> for the coordinator and are not scored.

A press kit card's rule line describes its own arrangement instead:

> Each item points at a field on the submission and is satisfied when that
> field is not empty, so the card fills itself as the submitter works. A manual
> item has no field behind it and waits for a coordinator.

## The two ways a change is saved

This is the one thing worth reading twice, because the screen has two save
models side by side:

- **Row changes save on their own button, immediately.** Adding a question,
  saving an open question, removing one, reordering, and hiding or showing a
  row from the row menu are all written the moment you do them. There is no
  further confirmation.
- **The scorecard's name, its description and the two written-feedback
  switches save only when you press Save changes.** Nothing else is on that
  button.

**Save changes** is grey and does nothing while there is nothing to save. It
turns solid the moment you change the name, the description or a feedback
switch, and after a successful save it reads a green **Saved** — which returns
to **Save changes** the next time you change something, because a Saved button
over changed text would be a lie. It also stays grey if you empty the name
field: a scorecard must have a name.

**Pressing Save changes while a question is still open for editing saves that
question first**, so nothing you typed is silently thrown away. If the open
question cannot be saved — a missing label, an unfilled option — the whole
save stops there with the field error showing, and the name and switches are
not written.

Leaving the screen without pressing Save changes discards a typed name or
description and any switch you flipped. Row changes are already saved and are
unaffected.

## Adding a question or an item

1. Choose the dashed button at the foot of the card — **+ Add question** on a
   creative scorecard, **+ Add checklist item** on a technical one, **+ Add
   item** on a press kit one.
2. The new row is added at the end of the list and **opens for editing
   straight away**, called "New question" or "New item" — a prompt, not a
   finished question.
3. Fill it in (below) and choose **Save question** / **Save item**.

**On a press kit scorecard step 1 asks a question first.** The dashed button
does not add anything by itself: it opens a list of the submission fields you
can point an item at, with **Add a manual item** underneath. Whichever you
pick is what the new item becomes, and it is added at the end and opened for
editing with its points already set to **2**. See
[Press kit items: fields and manual checks](#press-kit-items-fields-and-manual-checks).

To add one in the middle instead, hover the divider between two rows and click
the small **+ Add question** pill that fades in, or use **Insert question
above** in a row's three-dot menu. Both put the new row in that position and
open it for editing. **The hover pill is not available on small screens — the
row menu is the way there.**

**Neither of those exists on a press kit scorecard.** There is no hover pill
and no **Insert item above** in the row menu, because adding a press kit item
means choosing a field first. Add it at the foot of the card and then move it
where you want with **Move up** and **Move down**, or by dragging it.

A brand new scorecard has no rows at all: the card shows its heading and the
dashed Add button, and nothing else. Removing every row returns it to exactly
that state.

## Editing a question

Choose **Edit** on the row, or **Edit question** in its three-dot menu. The
row is replaced in place — the list does not jump — and shows "Editing
question 3" above the fields.

The fields, in order:

1. **Question** (creative) or **Item label** and **Points** (technical and
   press kit). The label is what the judge or reviewer reads. **A press kit
   item that watches a field has no label field at all** — it carries the
   field's own name and cannot be renamed; a **Submission field** dropdown
   stands in its place.
2. **Response type**, creative only — the five chips described below. The ⓘ
   beside the label opens **What each response type does**, one line per type.
3. **Options**, for Single choice and Multiple choice only.
4. **Judge guidance, optional** — a short note under the question. Creative and
   technical only; press kit items are not offered it.
5. **Show on Scorecard**, with its own ⓘ.

Then **Save question** to commit the row, **Cancel** to abandon everything you
typed in it, or **Remove question** to delete the row (confirmed first).

Nothing typed inside an open row is saved until you press Save question, so
Cancel is a real cancel rather than an undo.

## The five response types

Creative questions only.

| Response type | What the judge does | Scored? |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **1 to 10 scale** | Picks a value from 1 to 10 | **Yes** — and counts equally with every other 1-to-10 question |
| **Yes / No** | Answers Yes or No | No, collected for the coordinator |
| **Single choice** | Picks one of your options | No, collected for the coordinator |
| **Multiple choice** | Picks any number of your options | No, collected for the coordinator |
| **Free text** | Writes an answer | No, collected for the coordinator |

The count beside the card heading states both numbers — "7 questions, 5
scored" — so the effect of a non-scored question is always visible. A creative
scorecard with no 1-to-10 questions at all saves quite happily and reads "3
questions, 0 scored"; nothing here blocks it.

New questions start as **1 to 10 scale**.

### Options, for the two choice types

Choosing **Single choice** or **Multiple choice** opens an **Options** editor
already holding two blank rows, because a choice question needs at least two
options.

- Type each option's text in its box. **+ Add option** adds another, up to
  **20**; at the cap the button greys out and says "A question can hold at
  most 20 options."
- The **✕** at the end of a row removes that option.
- Drag an option by its handle to reorder it. Unlike the question list,
  dragging options does not work on touch devices, and this list has no menu
  equivalent, so on a phone or tablet retype the labels in the order you want.
- **Save question** refuses with "Add at least two options, and fill every
  one." if fewer than two options remain, or if any option is blank.

Options are saved as part of the question, all at once, when you press Save
question.

**Yes / No shows no options editor** — its two options are fixed.

**Switching a question away from a choice type clears its options.** Switching
back gives you two fresh blank rows; the old options are not remembered. Set
the response type first, then write the options.

### Judge guidance

Optional on creative and technical scorecards. What you write appears as a
small grey line under the question in the editor, and under the question in the
live judge preview.

On technical scorecards the field is offered too, and shows on the row — but
the reviewer preview lists items by label alone, so guidance does not appear
there.

**Press kit items are not offered guidance.** The line under a press kit row is
used to name the field the item watches instead. Guidance written on a press
kit item before this changed is still stored and is still shown to a
coordinator filling the card in, but there is no longer any way to write or
edit it here, and it does not appear on the row.

## Press kit items: fields and manual checks

Every item on a press kit scorecard is one of two kinds, and **the kind is
fixed when the item is created**:

| Kind | Who satisfies it | The pill on the row |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Field item** | The submission record. The item is satisfied whenever the field it watches has something in it, and its points are earned live as the record is filled. Nobody marks it. | **Fills itself** |
| **Manual item** | A coordinator, when they fill the press kit card in. Pass or Fail, exactly as a technical item. | **Manual check** |

**There is no way to turn one into the other.** A field item cannot become a
manual item, and a manual item cannot become a field item. If you picked the
wrong one, remove the row and add the one you meant.

**A field item cannot be renamed.** Its label is the field's own name, and
changing the field changes the label with it. Only its points, its position and
its Show on Scorecard setting are yours.

**There is no coordinator override on a field item**, and that is deliberate
rather than missing. A field item answers one question — "is there anything in
this field?" — and the way to change the answer is to fill the field in, on the
submission's [Information tab](https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/opening-a-submission.md#the-information-tab).
A coordinator who knows the poster arrived by email uploads the poster; the
item then satisfies itself, everywhere, at once. Nobody has to remember to go
back and tick something.

**The press kit scorecard your library starts with is five field items and
nothing manual**: Tagline, Synopsis, Statement, Poster and Submitter email. It
fills itself in entirely from the submission record, so there is nothing on it
for a coordinator to mark and nothing about it lands in the
[Review Queue](https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/review-queue.md). **A brand new organization inherits exactly
that card**, and so does a copy you make of it.

### The card header

The count beside the heading names both halves:

> **Press kit items**  5 items, 4 fields, 1 manual

"manual" stays singular whatever the number, because it is describing the
items rather than counting a different noun.

### Reading a row

A press kit row carries a second line in a typewriter face where a creative row
would carry its guidance:

- **A field item** reads the field's name, then the field's address and what
  kind of thing it holds — `submission.tagline, Text` — with the **Fills
  itself** pill beside it.
- **A manual item** reads your own label, then "Manual item, no field behind
  it", with the **Manual check** pill.

A row switched off with [Show on Scorecard](#show-on-scorecard) also carries
**Not on Scorecard**, exactly as on the other two types — though on a press kit
that does not keep the item off the submitter's scorecard.

### Choosing the field

**+ Add item** at the foot of the card opens a list upward. **Submission
field** in an open field item's editor opens the same list downward.

- **A search box** at the top — "Search 35 fields". It matches the field's name
  and its address, so typing `statement` finds the Statement item and typing
  `link` finds the screener link and the three other links. A **×** appears
  once the box has text and clears it. The search always starts empty when the
  list opens.
- **Every field is listed A to Z by name**, with its address underneath and
  what kind of thing it holds on the right: **Text**, **Link**, **Number**,
  **Yes/no**, **Statement** or **Image**.
- **One field, one item per scorecard.** A field another item on this card
  already watches is still listed — it does not disappear — but it is greyed
  out, cannot be chosen, and its right-hand cell reads **On this card** in
  place of the kind. That is also true when every field is taken.
- **When nothing matches** you get one line naming what you typed — `No field
  matches "press stills".` — with **Clear search** beside it, rather than an
  empty list.
- **Under a divider, from the Add button only: Add a manual item**, with "No
  field, a coordinator marks it" underneath. This is how a check with no field
  behind it gets onto the card.

Picking either appends the item at the end of the list and opens it for
editing, with points already set to **2**.

### The 35 fields

These are the fields a press kit item can watch. They are the same fields the
submission's [Information tab](https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/opening-a-submission.md#the-information-tab)
holds, so anything a coordinator can fill in there can be watched here.

**A satisfied item shows what the field holds**, wherever a press kit is read
item by item — the synopsis itself, the address itself, the year itself. Two
fields are the exception and describe themselves instead, because printing
their value would be wrong: **Screener password** reads `On file`, and
**Poster** reads `1 file`. **The submitter's scorecard is the other
exception**: it lists every item but never what a field holds, so a satisfied
item there reads only **Provided** — or, on Submitter email, **Verified at
submission**.

| Field | Kind | What a filled record shows |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Screener link | Link | the address |
| Screener password | Text | `On file` |
| Title | Text | the title |
| Tagline | Text | the tagline |
| Synopsis | Text | the synopsis |
| Statement | Statement | the statement |
| Project type | Text | what it holds |
| Genres | Text | what it holds |
| Runtime or pages | Number | `12:40`, or `142 pages` on a screenplay |
| Completion year | Number | `2018` |
| Language | Text | what it holds |
| Country of origin | Text | what it holds |
| Country of filming | Text | what it holds |
| Production budget | Number | `$18,000` |
| Shooting format | Text | what it holds |
| Aspect ratio | Text | what it holds |
| Film color | Text | what it holds |
| Student project | Yes/no | `Yes` or `No` |
| Name of school | Text | what it holds |
| First time filmmaker | Yes/no | `Yes` or `No` |
| Directors | Text | the names |
| Writers | Text | the names |
| Producers | Text | the names |
| Cast | Text | the names |
| Other credits | Text | the names |
| Submitter email | Text | the address |
| Submitter first name | Text | the name |
| Submitter last name | Text | the name |
| Submitter phone | Text | the number |
| Submitter city | Text | what it holds |
| Submitter state or region | Text | what it holds |
| Trailer URL | Link | the address |
| Project website | Link | the address |
| Instagram | Link | the address |
| Poster | Image | `1 file` |

Five things about that list:

- **Empty is empty, and nothing is judged beyond that.** A link is satisfied by
  having a link in it; nothing checks that it resolves or that it points where
  it should. A synopsis of one word satisfies a Synopsis item.
- **Runtime or pages is one field, not two.** It reads the runtime on a film
  and the page count on a screenplay, so one item works on a scorecard shared
  by both.
- **The two Yes/no fields are satisfied by either answer.** *Yes* and *No* both
  count as answered; only **Not stated** — nobody was ever asked — leaves the
  item empty. See
  [the Information tab](https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/opening-a-submission.md#the-information-tab).
- **There is one Statement field, and one statement per submission.** The item
  is satisfied the moment the submission has a statement. Its label here is the
  plain word *Statement* because a scorecard is written once for films and
  screenplays alike; on the submission itself the statement is headed
  *Director's statement* or *Writer's statement*. See
  [The tagline, the statement and the poster](https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/statements-taglines-and-posters.md).
- **Title and Submitter email are on the list, and are always satisfied.**
  Neither can be empty on a submission that exists, so an item on either earns
  its points from the moment the submission does. That is the point of them:
  they let a press kit finish itself off the record with nothing for anybody to
  mark.

### Editing a field item

The editor for a field item is shorter than the others:

1. **Submission field** — the dropdown, naming the field it currently watches.
   Opening it gives the same searchable list, headed **Field this item
   checks**, with no manual option. Under it, one line states the rule in
   plain terms: "Satisfied when `submission.tagline` is not empty."
2. **Points** — a whole number, exactly as on a technical item.
3. **Show on Scorecard**.

Then **Save item**, **Cancel** or **Remove item**. **The field you pick is not
written until you press Save item**, so Cancel puts the previous field back.

A manual item's editor is the ordinary one — **Item label**, with "No field
behind this one, so a coordinator marks it during review." underneath,
**Points** and **Show on Scorecard**.

### The row menu

A press kit row's three-dot menu is **Move up**, **Move down**, **Hide from
Scorecard** (or **Show on Scorecard**), **Edit item**, then, after a divider,
**Remove item** in amber. There is no **Insert item above** — see
[Adding a question or an item](#adding-a-question-or-an-item).

### What a copy keeps

**Duplicating a press kit scorecard keeps every field item as a field item.**
The copy carries each item's field, its label, its points, its order and its
Show on Scorecard setting, so a card that read "5 items, 4 fields, 1 manual"
reads exactly the same on the copy and goes on filling itself in.

The same is true of the press kit scorecard **a brand new organization
inherits**: its five field items arrive as field items.

**One field, one item — per scorecard.** A copy watching the same fields as its
original is perfectly legal, because the rule is about one card and not about
your library.

### What it costs to change a scorecard people are already using

Two of these are worth knowing before you touch a press kit scorecard that
seasons are running on, because both are correct and both surprise people:

- **Adding the first manual item to a scorecard that had none puts every
  submission using it back on the to-do list.** Until that moment those press
  kits were complete on their own; now there is something for a coordinator to
  mark, so each one is outstanding again and stops counting toward the score
  until its card is filed. That is the right answer — there really is work to
  do — but it can turn a finished season's press kits amber in one press.
- **Removing the last manual item does the reverse.** Every submission using
  that scorecard becomes complete immediately, scored on its field items alone.
  Press kit cards a coordinator had already filed stay where they are and are
  still listed in the [Review Queue](https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/review-queue.md), but they no longer
  change any number, because the only thing they recorded was the marks on
  items that no longer exist.

## Show on Scorecard

Every row carries this switch, and it is a property of the row rather than a
permission.

- **On** (the default): "On the purchased scorecard".
- **Off**: "Internal only, not on the scorecard", and the row gains a **Not on
  Scorecard** pill in the list.

Turning it off means the response **is still collected and is still shown to
the judge** — the question stays on the judge's form and in the preview. The
only thing that changes is the scorecard the submitter buys, which will not
carry that response. It never changes the question count, the scored count or
the points total.

**On a Free text question it also decides what can be quoted.** A judge's
written answer to a Free text question that is on the scorecard can be picked
as a line on the filmmaker's share card, once they have unlocked that
category, signed "Festival judge" — see
[Lines from the notes](https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/sharing-your-scorecard.md#lines-from-the-notes). An
answer to a question switched to "Internal only" can never be quoted.

There are two ways to set it, and they save differently:

- **Hide from Scorecard / Show on Scorecard** in a row's three-dot menu
  commits immediately.
- The **Show on Scorecard** checkbox inside an open row commits with **Save
  question**, along with the rest of that row.

**On a press kit scorecard the switch currently decides nothing.** The
submitter's scorecard lists every press kit item — its name, its points and
whether it counted, locked or unlocked — and an item switched to "Internal
only, not on the scorecard" is listed there all the same. A manual item's label
is yours, so write it as something a filmmaker may read.

## Points and the running total

Technical and press kit only. Each item carries a whole number of points,
0 to 9999, and new items start at **2**. The field ignores anything that is
not a digit, and the note under it says "Changing points changes the total
below."

**Press kit field items carry points exactly as manual ones do.** A satisfied
field item is worth its points; an empty one is worth nothing.

The strip at the foot of the card keeps the running total:

> **Running total** 20 points, normalizes to 10 in the overall score.

Press kit scorecards say "points, normalizes to 10." A card whose items add up
to **0** simply reads "0 points" and states nothing about normalizing — there
is no total to normalize. Nothing here blocks a zero-point card; whether such
a scorecard should be attached to a category is a decision for the
[attach step](https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/categories-and-scorecards.md#attaching-scorecards).

**Zero points on a single item is allowed too**, on both types. A zero-point
item is listed like any other, is marked or satisfied like any other, and
simply contributes nothing either way.

Points are the only numeric setting on these scorecards. There are no per-item
weights.

## Written feedback

Creative scorecards only, in the card under the questions: **Written feedback,
standard on every creative scorecard**, with the line under it:

> Two standard written fields sit after the questions. Turn either one off for
> this scorecard; judges then see, and must write, only the fields you keep.

The two fields:

- **Positive Feedback** — "What worked, in the judge's words."
- **Opportunities for Improvement** — "What would raise the film next time."

They cannot be renamed, cannot be moved into the question list, and cannot be
added to. All you decide per scorecard is whether each one is on, and the pill
beside the heading states where you stand: **Both on**, **1 of 2 on** or
**Both off**.

**What the switches decide — and this is new.** They used to decide only what
the filmmaker's scorecard showed: judges were shown both boxes, and had to
fill both in, whatever the switches said. Now the switches decide the judge's
card as well:

| The switch | On the judge's card | Before filing | On the filmmaker's scorecard |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **On** | The box is drawn | It must have something in it | The judge's words appear |
| **Off** | No box | Nothing is asked for | Nothing appears |

- **The same rule applies everywhere the card is filled in or edited**: a
  judge's scoring screen, a coordinator filling the scorecard in from the
  Submissions list, and a coordinator correcting a filed card in the Review
  Queue — who may not empty a box that is on, and is not shown one that is
  off.
- **Both off means no written feedback at all.** The feedback section is left
  off the judge's card entirely, and a judge files with their answers to the
  questions alone. If you still want the judges to write something, ask for it
  as a **Free text** question.
- **The switches replace the season's old Written comment setting**, which
  decided nothing and has been taken off Settings → Judging. See
  [Festival settings](https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/festival-settings.md#judging).

**Flipping a switch mid-season reopens nothing.** Each switch is read whenever
a card on this scorecard is saved or filed, so a change reaches every card that
has not been filed yet — a box switched on appears, empty, on a judge's next
load and must be filled in; a box switched off disappears and is no longer
asked for — and no card that has already been filed is changed by the flip
itself. Three things follow from that:

- **Text in a box you switch off is never erased.** Whatever a judge or a
  colleague wrote there before the switch went off stays on the card, out of
  sight — on no screen and not on the filmmaker's scorecard — whether the card
  is filed, re-saved or corrected in the Review Queue while the box is off.
  Switching the box back on shows it again.
- **A box switched on after a card was filed shows on that card in the Review
  Queue, empty.** Approving the card as it stands does not wait for it, from
  the panel or in bulk; but a correction saved in the panel must fill it in.
  See
  [The written feedback](https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/editing-a-filed-scorecard.md#the-written-feedback).

**These two switches save with Save changes, not immediately.** Turning one
off removes it from the preview at once; turning both off removes the whole
feedback section from the preview, though the card itself stays on screen so
you can turn them back on.

Technical and press kit scorecards have no written feedback card at all.

## Reordering

The order of the rows is the order the judge or reviewer sees. There are
three ways to move a row, and all three commit immediately:

- **Drag the row by its handle** — the dotted button at the left of the row,
  not the row itself. This works with a mouse and, on a phone or tablet, with
  a press-and-drag on the handle. While you drag, the row you lifted fades
  and the other rows move out of the way in real time; drop it and it lands
  in the gap they have made.
- **Reorder with the keyboard.** Tab to a row's handle, press Space or Enter
  to lift the row, move it with the arrow keys, and press Space or Enter
  again to drop it. Escape puts it back where it started.
- **Use Move up and Move down in the row's three-dot menu**, which move the
  row one place at a time and do exactly the same thing as a drag.

**Move up** on the first row and **Move down** on the last are shown greyed
out rather than hidden, so the menu never changes shape.

If someone else adds or removes a question in this scorecard while your screen
is open, your reorder is refused with "The questions changed while you were
working. Refresh the page and try again." and the list snaps back to the real
order. Refresh and reorder again.

**A press kit card's field items and manual items are one list, not two.** You
can interleave them however you like, and the coordinator's card groups them
for reading regardless — see
[Filling out a scorecard yourself](https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/filling-out-a-scorecard.md#a-press-kit-card).

## Removing a question

**Remove question** appears in amber at the bottom of a row's three-dot menu,
and again inside an open row. It is confirmed first:

> **Remove this question?**
>
> "Sound design" will be removed from this scorecard. Judging already in
> progress keeps the version it started with, so only future seasons are
> affected.

Confirming deletes the row. Removing every row is allowed — the card falls
back to its heading plus the dashed Add button.

Removing a press kit item frees its field, which then becomes choosable again
in the picker. And if it was the last manual item on the card, read
[What it costs to change a scorecard people are already using](#what-it-costs-to-change-a-scorecard-people-are-already-using)
first.

## Renaming a scorecard

The name in the header is an editable field. Type the new name and press
**Save changes**.

Names are unique within your library, so a name already in use is refused
inline with "That name is already in use. Choose another." — nothing is saved
and your typing is kept.

Once saved, the new name shows on the Scorecards tab, in the attach picker and
on every category slot chip that holds this scorecard.

## The description

Under the name sits a second field for a short description — what this
scorecard is for, in a sentence. It is optional and holds up to **280
characters**, and it saves exactly like the name: type it and press **Save
changes**.

Once saved, the description appears on the line under the scorecard's name on
the Scorecards tab. Emptying the field and saving removes it again — a
scorecard with no description shows its name alone there, not a blank line.

Staff members, and anyone reading an archived scorecard, see the description
as plain text under the name — and see nothing at all when there is none.

**A press kit scorecard's description is also read aloud on the coordinator's
card**, in place of the standing sentence about field and manual items — so a
description you write here is what somebody filling the press kit in will read
first. See
[Filling out a scorecard yourself](https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/filling-out-a-scorecard.md#a-press-kit-card).

The line beneath states the reach of everything you are doing:

> Used by 23 categories. Changes apply to future seasons only.

## The preview

The right-hand pane shows what the other side sees, and updates as you edit.
On a creative scorecard it is the **Live judge preview**; on the other two it
is the **Reviewer preview**, marked **Not judge facing**.

**It is fully clickable, and nothing you do in it is saved.** Click the 1-to-10
cells, pick options, tick reviewer items — it is there so you can feel the
form you are building. The footer says so on every type: "Preview only,
nothing is saved". Reloading the page empties it, and so does any structural
change to the list: adding, removing or reordering a row, changing a question's
response type, or changing its options. Editing a label or the guidance leaves
your trial answers alone.

On a creative scorecard:

- Each 1-to-10 question renders its ten cells, and the figure on the right
  reads **Not scored** until you click a cell in the preview, then "7 / 10".
- Yes / No, choice and free text questions carry **Collected, not scored**.
  Free text renders a placeholder box and cannot be typed in.
- Guidance shows under the question it belongs to.
- The written feedback fields that are switched on appear at the bottom —
  exactly the ones a judge will be asked to fill in.
- The footer counts your trial answers: "3 of 5 scored questions answered in
  this preview".

On a technical or press kit scorecard, each item is a checkbox with its
points, and ticking items moves the **Technical score** (or **Press kit
score**) figure, shown as earned over possible.

**The press kit preview reads no submission at all**, and it is honest about
it. It is headed **Press kit review** with the line "A field item is satisfied
by the submission itself. A manual item waits for a coordinator. Tick either to
see how the score moves." Each field item shows its address followed by "Fills
itself", each manual item reads "Coordinator check", and the footer says
"Coordinator facing. Nothing to mark on a field item, and no way to overrule
it." Ticking a field item here is a simulation of it being satisfied, nothing
more — no film's record is consulted, and no film is affected.

**Rows hidden from the scorecard still appear in the preview.** That is the
point of the setting: it governs the submitter's purchased copy, not the form
the judge or reviewer fills in.

Below about 1180 pixels of screen width the two panes stack, with the preview
under the editor.

## Duplicating a scorecard

**Duplicate** in the header opens a dialog:

> **Duplicate scorecard**
>
> Copies every question and its settings into a new scorecard in this library.
> The original stays as it is.

The **New scorecard name** field is prefilled with "NAME copy" (then "NAME
copy 2" and so on when that is taken) — change it if you like, then choose
**Create copy**. The footer note is worth reading: "The copy starts unused.
Attaching it to categories is a separate step."

Everything is copied: every question in order with its response type or
points, its options, its guidance and its Show on Scorecard setting, **the
field behind a press kit item included**, plus the scorecard's description, its
submission type and its two written-feedback settings — see
[What a copy keeps](#what-a-copy-keeps). The copy starts attached to no
category, and **you land inside the copy**, ready to edit. Use the back link to
return to the list.

Duplicate is offered to owners even on an archived scorecard, and the copy is
always active — that is how you get an editable version of an archived
scorecard back.

## Creating a new scorecard

**+ New scorecard** sits in the toolbar of the Scorecards tab.

1. Enter a **Name**. The create button stays greyed until you do.
2. Pick a **Type**: **Creative** ("Judge facing. Questions with a response
   type each, plus the two written feedback fields."), **Technical**
   ("Reviewer checklist. Items carry point values and normalize to 10.") or
   **Press Kit** ("Reviewer rubric for the press kit package. Points per item,
   normalizes to 10."). **Choose carefully — the type cannot be changed after
   the scorecard is created**, which is what the footer note "Type is fixed
   after this step" is warning you about.
3. Pick a **Submission type**: Film or Screenplay — what kind of
   submission this scorecard is written for. It is fixed after creation too.
4. Choose **Create *Type* scorecard**. The button names the type you picked.

The scorecard is created with no questions and no description, and opens in
the builder on its empty state, ready for your first **+ Add question**. A
creative scorecard starts with both written feedback fields on — so judges are
asked for both until you turn one off; technical and press kit scorecards
never have them.

If the name is already taken, the dialog stays open with "That name is already
in use. Choose another." under the Name field.

## An archived scorecard

Archived scorecards are not offered for editing in the list, but their address
still works — from a bookmark, the browser's back button, or because a
colleague archived the scorecard while you had it open. Opening one shows the
whole scorecard, read-only, under an amber line:

> This scorecard is archived. Restore it from Categories and scorecards to
> make changes.

Everything reads normally and the preview works; there is simply no way to
change anything. Owners still get **Duplicate**, and the copy is active and
editable.

To edit the scorecard itself, restore it from the Scorecards tab's Archived
view first — see
[Archiving and restoring scorecards](https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/categories-and-scorecards.md#archiving-and-restoring-scorecards).

If a colleague archives a scorecard while you are working in it, your next
change is refused with "That scorecard is no longer available. Refresh the
page and try again." Nothing is half-saved.

## The limits

| Field | Limit |
| --- | --- |
| Question or item label | 1 to 200 characters |
| Judge guidance | up to 8,000 characters |
| Points | a whole number from 0 to 9999 |
| Options on a choice question | 2 to 20 |
| Fields on one press kit scorecard | one item per field; 35 fields to choose from |
| Scorecard name | 1 to 200 characters, unique in your library |
| Scorecard description | up to 280 characters |

## If something is refused

Field problems are marked under the field you were filling in, and the row
stays open with your work in it:

| Message | What to do |
| --- | --- |
| Enter a label. | Every question, and every manual item, needs a label. |
| That label is too long. | Trim it to 200 characters or fewer. |
| Enter a whole number, 0 or more. | Points take digits only. Zero is allowed. |
| Points must be 9999 or less. | Lower the number. |
| Add at least two options, and fill every one. | A choice question needs two or more options, all with text. |
| A question can hold at most 20 options. | Remove one before adding another. |
| Choose a submission field. | A press kit field item was saved without a field. Open the dropdown and pick one. |
| That field is already on this scorecard. | Another item on this card already watches that field. Pick a different one, or remove the other item first. |
| That is not a field on the submission. | The field named is not one FilmScorecard holds. Reload the page and pick from the list. |

Everything else is one sentence, shown under the header or inside the row you
were working in:

| Message | What it means |
| --- | --- |
| That name is already in use. Choose another. | Scorecard names are unique in your library. Change the name and save again. |
| The questions changed while you were working. Refresh the page and try again. | Someone else added or removed a question here since your screen loaded, so your new order no longer matches. Refresh and try again. |
| That scorecard is no longer available. Refresh the page and try again. | The scorecard was archived while you were working. Nothing was saved. |
| You do not have permission to change this library. | Only organization owners can change scorecards. |
| Something in the form is not valid. Check the fields and try again. | A field did not pass checking — the fields in error are marked. |
| The change could not be saved. Try again. | A network or server problem. Nothing was half-saved; try again. |

## What editing a scorecard changes, and when

- **Editing affects future seasons only.** A season takes its own copy of your
  library when it is created, so questions you add, edit, reorder or remove
  today do not rewrite a season that is already running or already judged.
  Every dialog on this screen repeats its own version of that sentence.
- **The two written-feedback switches are the exception.** They are read each
  time a judge's card on this scorecard is saved or filed, so a change reaches
  every card not yet filed, on seasons already running — see
  [Written feedback](#written-feedback). Cards already filed are not changed by
  the flip, though a box switched on is then asked of them in the Review Queue.
- **Editing does not create a new version.** The version number beside a
  scorecard's name on the Scorecards tab stays as it is; edits are made in
  place. Duplicating is what gives you a separate scorecard to change freely.
- **Editing does not change which categories hold the scorecard.** The "Used
  by N categories" line in the header tells you how far the change reaches;
  attaching and detaching happen on
  [Categories and scorecards](https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/categories-and-scorecards.md#attaching-scorecards).
- **Show on Scorecard and the two written-feedback switches are the settings
  that concern the submitter.** Show on Scorecard changes only what is printed
  on the scorecard they purchase, and what can be quoted on their share card;
  the switches decide whether there is written feedback for them to read at
  all.
- **Adding or removing a press kit manual item changes what is outstanding
  right now**, on seasons already running — see
  [What it costs to change a scorecard people are already using](#what-it-costs-to-change-a-scorecard-people-are-already-using).

## Related guides

- [Filling out a scorecard yourself](https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/filling-out-a-scorecard.md) — what a
  coordinator sees when they fill a press kit card in, and the half of it they
  do not mark.
- [The creative scorecard](https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/creative-scorecard.md) — the judge's side of the
  questions and the written feedback boxes you switch on.
- [Opening a submission](https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/opening-a-submission.md#the-scoring-tab) — where a
  press kit's live item-by-item state is read.
- [Categories and scorecards](https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/categories-and-scorecards.md) — the library
  this scorecard belongs to, and where it is attached.