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Tournament Calendar FAQ
- Jan 1, 2023
- 2 min read
In the past few months, we had to decide how best to maintain and display the Tournament Calendar and ultimately decided to migrate to a new system. Previously we had used an embedded Google Calendar. However, because of the sudden challenges our members were experiencing with compatibility and accessibility, we began to look for a solution to these significant problems. This necessarily changed the layout of the calendar and introduced some new challenges.
We are grateful for your patience and feedback as we work with this new system and hope to address as many suggestions and concerns as possible. With this in mind, we thought it would be helpful to answer some of the most frequently asked questions about the Tournament Calendar.
Q: Why don't more tournaments show up in the date box? Is my tournament missing?
A: There is a set height for the calendar that limits the number of events that can be displayed within each day. If there are more than four tournaments on a given day, you will see a button saying +1 or +2, etc. Click on this button to see the full list of tournaments.
Q: How can I see the full name of the tournament?
A: Because of the design of the calendar application, you will need to click on a tournament to see the full name. This will also display additional information about the tournament, such as location, contact, and link.
Q: Why does the calendar take time to load? Are the buttons not working?
A: The calendar data is still hosted on Google Calendar and it takes time to retrieve data from Google. The loading time will vary depending on your internet speed. This is true for any time the calendar needs to load more information, including switching to another month. If a button appears unresponsive, please give it a second to register and, if nothing has happened, try clicking again.
Q: How do I use the calendar in mobile mode?
A: When viewing the calendar from your mobile device, the calendar will be condensed to fit the reduced screen size. The dots that appear under each day represent the tournaments happening on that day. To see an expanded view, tap on the day and scroll to the bottom of the calendar where you will see the names of the tournaments. Tap on one for additional details.
Q: Is this the final product?
A: We continue to revise and update the Tournament Calendar as we are able. Given that it is one of the most highly used features of the Stoa website, we are invested in ensuring we attain maximum functionality and accessibility. In the future, we hope to develop a more customizable option to meet this community's needs and provide additional features.
I appreciate the transparency about why the calendar feels different now — a lot of orgs just change things and leave everyone guessing. One small thing: when the calendar is loading, a skeleton/placeholder would help a ton so it doesn’t look frozen. I’ve seen that kind of “loading state” done well on sites like StyleLookLab, and it makes the wait feel way less glitchy.
The part about having to click into an event to see the full name/location is understandable, but on mobile it can feel like tap-tap-tap just to confirm basics. If the design can’t change, maybe a quick “peek” panel would help. Weird comparison, but it reminds me of those free ghibli ai styles pages where you want instant context without extra steps.
The FAQ clears up a lot, but I still wonder how people are supposed to discover “missing” events without already knowing to click the little + number. Maybe a tiny note on the calendar itself (“more events hidden”) would prevent a bunch of confusion. I’ve run into similar UX gaps on directories like hrefgo, where the feature exists but isn’t obvious until someone tells you.
The fixed height explanation helps — I kept thinking the calendar was incomplete on days with a lot going on. Is there any plan for a “list view” option that just shows everything chronologically without the day boxes? I’ve seen simple toggles like that on tools such as shift cipher tool, and it makes scanning way faster.
Clicking each tournament just to see the full name is workable, but it’s a lot when you’re scanning a busy weekend. Even a hover tooltip (desktop) would cut down the extra clicks; I see that pattern in random places too, like BlockBlast where you only learn what a piece does after you place it. Not a dealbreaker, just a little friction.