Quickstart
Run a hackathon end to end: create it, set up judging, collect projects and publish winners.
This guide takes one hackathon from an empty workspace to a published winners page. Each step covers the minimum and links to the page with the details.
You need a running RoundOne instance and an organizer account. If you don't have them yet, see Deployment and Sign in and settings.
Create the hackathon#
On Your hackathons, click New hackathon. Enter a Name, and optionally a Tagline and Dates, then click Create & set up.
The hackathon opens on Setup › Schema with a default setup already in place: six submission fields, four criteria, two phases and five prize tiers. The next steps adjust them. See Create a hackathon.
Decide what teams submit#
In Setup › Schema, add, remove or reorder the blocks every submission has, such as the repo link, demo video and team. See Schema.
Set the criteria#
In Setup › Criteria, define what projects are scored on. Give each criterion a scale, a weight and a rubric, and choose the mechanisms the agent uses to check it. Weights should add up to 100%. Turn a pass/fail criterion into a gate when projects must meet it to be eligible. See Criteria.
Add judges#
In Setup › Judges, add each judge. Save a group, such as a final panel, if a phase should only go to some of them. Every judge gets a private link. See Judges.
Plan the phases and distribution#
In Setup › Phases, set how many judges review each project and how many projects advance to the next round. The default runs a Group review that sends its top 10 to a Final panel. See Phases.
In Setup › Distribution, choose whether the agent reviews first, how work is split between judges, and whether it goes out all at once or in daily batches. See Distribution.
Collect projects#
In Judging › Projects, use Add project to enter one by hand, Submission form to open a public form for teams, or API to import from a spreadsheet or another platform. See Projects, Submission form and the Intake API.
Start judging#
Open Judging › Progress, or click Start judging in the hackathon's header. Review the checklist, then click Start judging.
Every active project moves into the first phase, the agent's review is queued for each project when Agent first is on, and assignments go out to judges. Setup locks: schema, criteria and phases can only be renamed, and distribution can't change. See Progress.
Follow the judging#
Judges open their private link and score their queue. When email is set up, each judge gets their link by email as a phase starts. You can also copy the links from Judging › Progress or Setup › Judge portal. See Judge link. Watch progress on Judging › Progress. If the agent fails a project on a gate, it waits in the Inbox in the header for someone to agree or overturn the call. See Failed inbox.
Close each phase#
When a phase is done, click Close phase on Progress. The top projects advance and the next phase starts; the rest are eliminated. Closing the last phase ranks the remaining projects and moves the hackathon to Results.
Pick the winners#
In Judging › Rewards, set the prize tiers: prizes by final rank, and awards such as best demo. In Results › Winners, check the final ranking and pick the award winners. See Rewards and Winners.
Publish the results#
On Results › Winners, click Publish results. The winners page at /w/[slug] becomes public. See Winners page.
To tell teams, use the Results emails section on the same page: Email winners sends each winner their prizes, and Email everyone else sends a thank-you. Preview the winner emails in Results › Emails. See Winner emails.