New Feature Spotlight: Custom Fields (Compiler)

[Mike MacGregor 20]

One of the improvements to the Compiler & Draft Buddy this year that has me excited is the custom fields feature in the Compiler. Why am I excited about it? Because it opens up a lot more options for users to customize the Compiler just the way they want. For example,

• Did you find some data, like strength of schedule or a letter grade system, you want to reference on your cheatsheets for each player? Add it to the custom fields and use the "with notes" cheatsheets.
   
  
• Do you have rankings you want to use from another source but not detailed projections? Import the rankings into the custom fields, and sort your cheatsheets by the custom fields.
   
  
• Does your league use kickoff and punt return yards and TD for individual players? Add projections to the custom fields, include those custom fields in your scoring in the Compiler, and Compile Cheatsheets.
  

I think that last example could really make people sit up and notice the power of this feature. No, we still don't provide projections for kickoff and punt returners, but we do realize it is getting more popular and significant in many leagues. Whether you want to do your own projections for these players, or maybe even add in prior year stats, you can then incorporate those custom fields into your Compiler scoring system. Nice!

 

This might be better explained with a screencast rather than more text, so that is just what we've done at the following link:

 

http://www.fftoday.com/compiler/screencast...ields/index.htm

[FlaHawker 24]

One of the improvements to the Compiler & Draft Buddy this year that has me excited is the custom fields feature in the Compiler. Why am I excited about it? Because it opens up a lot more options for users to customize the Compiler just the way they want. For example,

• Did you find some data, like strength of schedule or a letter grade system, you want to reference on your cheatsheets for each player? Add it to the custom fields and use the "with notes" cheatsheets.
   
  
• Do you have rankings you want to use from another source but not detailed projections? Import the rankings into the custom fields, and sort your cheatsheets by the custom fields.
   
  
• Does your league use kickoff and punt return yards and TD for individual players? Add projections to the custom fields, include those custom fields in your scoring in the Compiler, and Compile Cheatsheets.
  

I think that last example could really make people sit up and notice the power of this feature. No, we still don't provide projections for kickoff and punt returners, but we do realize it is getting more popular and significant in many leagues. Whether you want to do your own projections for these players, or maybe even add in prior year stats, you can then incorporate those custom fields into your Compiler scoring system. Nice!

 

This might be better explained with a screencast rather than more text, so that is just what we've done at the following link:

 

http://www.fftoday.com/compiler/screencast...ields/index.htm

Hi Mike. I'm having some kind of problem importing the stats. I followed the tutorial step by step for return yards. All is spot on until right after I copy to compiler. When I hit complier cheatsheets on the compiler I get this:

 

1 1 Andre' Davis HOU 10 #VALUE!

2 #VALUE! Miles Austin DAL 6 #VALUE!

3 #VALUE! Andre Caldwell CIN 8 #VALUE!

4 #VALUE! Glenn Holt MIN 9 #VALUE!

5 #VALUE! Courtney Roby NO 5 #VALUE!

6 #VALUE! Larry Fitzgerald ARI 4 383.2

7 #VALUE! Andre Johnson HOU 10 372.5

8 #VALUE! Randy Moss NE 8 372.0

9 #VALUE! Calvin Johnson DET 7 335.9

10 #VALUE! Steve Smith (CAR) CAR 4 335.6

 

Any ideas? Thanks.

[Mike MacGregor 20]

I'd have to see it I think. Can you send me your copy of the Compiler? compiler@fftoday.com

[FlaHawker 24]

I'd have to see it I think. Can you send me your copy of the Compiler? compiler@fftoday.com

Maybe this will help before I send it. I have been playing around with it all night. I actually go it to work. When I use custom fields 1 and 2 for KR yards and RET Tds, like you do in the screencast, for both RBs and WRs with the first 50 players, it works like a charm. As soon as I try to add PR yards to custom field 3, everything goes bonkers for both RBs and WRs.

[Mike MacGregor 20]

Very strange. Anything weird with your scoring input for Custom3 on the scoring tab? Double check there are no letters/spaces in place of a normal scoring input i.e. 1 point per 20 [Custom3].

[FlaHawker 24]

Very strange. Anything weird with your scoring input for Custom3 on the scoring tab? Double check there are no letters/spaces in place of a normal scoring input i.e. 1 point per 20 [Custom3].

Wow, strange indeed. Don't ask me what I did differently, but it is working now. Thanks for your help!!

[Mike MacGregor 20]

Glad that worked. I'm a little surprised myself that came together so quickly. That one was from well beyond the arc

[Mickster 0]

Mike,

I'm very interested on how you would incorperate the strength of schedule for each player. I have data by team and position. How would I add this to the complier? Any insight?

[Mike MacGregor 20]

Hmm.... interesting. Projection Pal is not really going to help I don't think, since we aren't matching up by player. I mean, it could be used but it not necessary. I think I would add a tab to the Compiler to put your SOS tables. Single tab but a table for QB_SOS, RB_SOS, etc. Then create some VLOOKUP formulas in the Custom1 field on each position tab mapping the player's position (which is the team abbreviation way off on the left) to the appropriate positional SOS table.

 

That generic enough an explanation for ya? I would have to see the data to be able to add it in.

[Mickster 0]

Hmm.... interesting. Projection Pal is not really going to help I don't think, since we aren't matching up by player. I mean, it could be used but it not necessary. I think I would add a tab to the Compiler to put your SOS tables. Single tab but a table for QB_SOS, RB_SOS, etc. Then create some VLOOKUP formulas in the Custom1 field on each position tab mapping the player's position (which is the team abbreviation way off on the left) to the appropriate positional SOS table.

 

That generic enough an explanation for ya? I would have to see the data to be able to add it in.

 

Yeah, the data I was referring to was pulled from http://www.fftoolbox.com/football/strength_of_schedule.cfm. I can manually input this data from the current position tabs, but I was hoping there was a trick you knew off. This data could definitely help in draft decisions.

 

Check it out...good stuff

[Mike MacGregor 20]

Okay, I see what you are saying, and it is in one table which is nice and neat. (FYI, we do have similar stats in more detail, right here, for future reference, and we update it all season.)

 

Okay, going to try to post some pics... damn, this used to work Check the following links for images of what I'm doing to get this in the Compiler:

 

http://www.fftoday.com/compiler/images/sos_import_demo_1.gif

 

1. In this first step, I created a new tab in the Compiler using Insert > Worksheet (note these directions will be slightly different for Excel 2007). Then highlighted the table off the web from the top left cell to the bottom right, hit CTRL-C to copy from the web, clicked in the upper left corner on my blank tab in the Compiler, and hit CTRL-V to paste it there.

 

http://www.fftoday.com/compiler/images/sos_import_demo_2.gif

 

2. Created a named range for the QB SOS. Note the part I've highlighted, just the first column with the team abbreviations and then column for QB. Create a named range using Insert > Name > Define. I created a separate named range for each position, SOS_QB, SOS_RB, SOS_WR, but now that I think about it you could just create a single named range for all positions, SOS.

 

http://www.fftoday.com/compiler/images/sos_import_demo_3.gif

 

3. Repeat step 3 but now for RB. Note I'm highlighting 3 columns now since I need to get the RB info into this named range, SOS_RB.

 

http://www.fftoday.com/compiler/images/sos_import_demo_4.gif

 

4. Go to the QB tab in the Compiler and scroll across to the custom fields, and under Custom1 for the top guy - Brady - insert this formula:

 

=VLOOKUP(C5,SOS_QB,2,0)

 

Hit return, and that should bring back the SOS for New England. Note the C5 reference is to the team abbreviation beside Brady.

 

http://www.fftoday.com/compiler/images/sos_import_demo_5.gif

 

5. Copy that formula, highlight down for all players (you can see I cut it off), and paste the formula. Note the error came up for Garrard, because the table we copied from the web has a different abbreviation for the Jags than we do in the Compiler.

 

http://www.fftoday.com/compiler/images/sos_import_demo_6.gif

 

6. Simple solution for the Jaguars issue is to go to the table we copied onto the blank sheet and change JAX to JAC.

 

http://www.fftoday.com/compiler/images/sos_import_demo_7.gif

 

7. Repeat the same steps for each position, the VLOOKUP formula just changes a bit. Note this image for RB the formula is now:

 

=VLOOKUP(C5,SOS_RB,3,0)

 

Not only did the table name reference change, but also the number just after that. It was "2" for QB, and "3" for RB because the RB SOS is the 3rd column from the team abbreviations in our copied SOS table. The formulas for WR, that number will be "4", TE "5", etc., etc.

 

Just thought of one more thing... when you copy the formulas down for all players it will come up with errors for players marked as FA (free agents) and the add player rows. Don't copy the formulas for the add player rows. To solve the FA, go to the web table and insert a row in the middle, and add a line for FA as if it was one of the teams, like this:

 

http://www.fftoday.com/compiler/images/sos_import_demo_8.gif

 

Just leave the data blank in each cell for FA under QB, RB, WR, etc. headings.

[Mickster 0]

Worked perfectly. Thanks for the step-by-step. I tied in the 1-14 SOS (Custom 1) and 15-16 SOS/Playoffs (Custom 2).

 

Thanks again...this will be a nice addition!

 

 

Okay, I see what you are saying, and it is in one table which is nice and neat. (FYI, we do have similar stats in more detail, right here, for future reference, and we update it all season.)

 

Okay, going to try to post some pics... damn, this used to work Check the following links for images of what I'm doing to get this in the Compiler:

 

http://www.fftoday.com/compiler/images/sos_import_demo_1.gif

 

1. In this first step, I created a new tab in the Compiler using Insert > Worksheet (note these directions will be slightly different for Excel 2007). Then highlighted the table off the web from the top left cell to the bottom right, hit CTRL-C to copy from the web, clicked in the upper left corner on my blank tab in the Compiler, and hit CTRL-V to paste it there.

 

http://www.fftoday.com/compiler/images/sos_import_demo_2.gif

 

2. Created a named range for the QB SOS. Note the part I've highlighted, just the first column with the team abbreviations and then column for QB. Create a named range using Insert > Name > Define. I created a separate named range for each position, SOS_QB, SOS_RB, SOS_WR, but now that I think about it you could just create a single named range for all positions, SOS.

 

http://www.fftoday.com/compiler/images/sos_import_demo_3.gif

 

3. Repeat step 3 but now for RB. Note I'm highlighting 3 columns now since I need to get the RB info into this named range, SOS_RB.

 

http://www.fftoday.com/compiler/images/sos_import_demo_4.gif

 

4. Go to the QB tab in the Compiler and scroll across to the custom fields, and under Custom1 for the top guy - Brady - insert this formula:

 

=VLOOKUP(C5,SOS_QB,2,0)

 

Hit return, and that should bring back the SOS for New England. Note the C5 reference is to the team abbreviation beside Brady.

 

http://www.fftoday.com/compiler/images/sos_import_demo_5.gif

 

5. Copy that formula, highlight down for all players (you can see I cut it off), and paste the formula. Note the error came up for Garrard, because the table we copied from the web has a different abbreviation for the Jags than we do in the Compiler.

 

http://www.fftoday.com/compiler/images/sos_import_demo_6.gif

 

6. Simple solution for the Jaguars issue is to go to the table we copied onto the blank sheet and change JAX to JAC.

 

http://www.fftoday.com/compiler/images/sos_import_demo_7.gif

 

7. Repeat the same steps for each position, the VLOOKUP formula just changes a bit. Note this image for RB the formula is now:

 

=VLOOKUP(C5,SOS_RB,3,0)

 

Not only did the table name reference change, but also the number just after that. It was "2" for QB, and "3" for RB because the RB SOS is the 3rd column from the team abbreviations in our copied SOS table. The formulas for WR, that number will be "4", TE "5", etc., etc.

 

Just thought of one more thing... when you copy the formulas down for all players it will come up with errors for players marked as FA (free agents) and the add player rows. Don't copy the formulas for the add player rows. To solve the FA, go to the web table and insert a row in the middle, and add a line for FA as if it was one of the teams, like this:

 

http://www.fftoday.com/compiler/images/sos_import_demo_8.gif

 

Just leave the data blank in each cell for FA under QB, RB, WR, etc. headings.

[LoneTexansFan 0]

I would like to go a step further with this post. Once you have created the Strength of Schedule tab, can this be incorporated into the rankings? Is it possible to somehow add a weighting mechanism to this score and add it into the rankings? I would like to do this with not only the SOS, but also with Crank scores and maybe some other variables.

 

Thanks for the help.

[Mike MacGregor 20]

I think that would be difficult unless you are going to add a simple X points per Y [sOS rating] or [Crank Score], etc. Anything else is going to require some formula changes.

[Stinky Pete 0]

Is there an issue with the compiler such that if you copy league profiles from a prior version the custom scoring fields no longer appear?

 

When I download a fresh copy of the compiler, I can clearly see the custom scoring area on the Scoring tab. However, if I copy over my league profiles from a previous version of compiler, the custom scoring area no longer appears.

 

Is it just me???

[Mike MacGregor 20]

No Pete, I don't think that is just you. The Copy League Profiles is wiping out the custom fields when it copies the scoring from the old Compiler. This was an unintended side effect I didn't realize until just recently, and I'm not sure what to do about it yet.

[queler 0]

No Pete, I don't think that is just you. The Copy League Profiles is wiping out the custom fields when it copies the scoring from the old Compiler. This was an unintended side effect I didn't realize until just recently, and I'm not sure what to do about it yet.

 

I copied them over manually, but be aware you have to do it for every league annoyingly

[Mike MacGregor 20]

My apologies.