Whenever a user makes an account on JudgeApps, we verify their account, to prevent against abuse, spam, and to ensure that their account information is correct. However, the current outage of Judge Center has significantly increased the turnaround time for new accounts, which is impacting the experience of users who need access to the site to apply for events, or so that their L2 can submit their certification review. Accordingly, we have decided to open the process to all Level 2 judges.

Our expectation is that Level 2 judges will use this in two situations:

• When they certify a new judge, and their account is not yet approved, the certifying L2 will approve the account and write an advancement review
• When a judge candidate in their area needs access to the site to apply to conferences, participate in the forum, or for any other reason, their mentor will approve the account and show the candidate around

This post will describe how to use this new feature.

A Note for Level 3s

If you’re a Level 3, you were already able to do this – using a rather complicated form. You can still see that form, just in case you need it, or you can access the new form using this link (feel free to bookmark it). Right now we’re still showing L3s the old form, since it does provide some extra information – for example, L3s can help if an L2 isn’t able to find an account using the new form. Let us know if you think the form we show by default should change!

Accessing the Account Review Form

If you want to check it out, follow this link. The link is available from the main sidebar on JudgeApps to all Level 2+ judges, as shown below.

Searching for an Account

The first step is to use the form to search for an account. You do not need to fill out all of the fields, only one. You have your choice of how to look up the user account: DCI Number is easiest, but if you don’t have their DCI Number, you can search by name, username, or email address. In the image below, I’m searching for someone named “Test Acct”.

Review Results

If the site finds a user account that is pending approval and which matches the information you provided, it will show you some of the information that the user provided when they signed up. You should check this information, including their name, location, and DCI number. If everything looks good, click the button labeled “Approve”. If the DCI number isn’t correct, contact us using the Account Assistance Form. We are able to correct any problems before approving the account.

If you do use the account assistance form, be sure to give us enough information to find the user’s account, tell us exactly what fields need to be changed, and what they should be changed to.

Account Approved

Once you have approved the account, you’ll be shown the message below. This provides a convenient link to the user’s new profile profile page, in case you need to submit an advancement review or find any other information.

Possible Errors

The form does require you to provide enough information to find a user’s account. If the site can’t determine what account you’re trying to approve, it will show you one of two errors. If it can’t find any matching accounts, you can double check the information you entered and try again. If it finds multiple accounts, you should add more information in order to help the system figure out which account you’re looking for. Either way, asking the user for unique information like their email address or DCI number might help, especially for common names. If you can’t figure out the problem, just contact any L3 judge with the correct information. L3 judges can see the full list of pending accounts, and will be able to help.