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Standings


Standings (league tables) display team rankings calculated from game results. Each standing belongs to a tournament group and automatically updates when games are finished. Configure ranking criteria, position colors, and column layouts to match your sport’s format.

Standing table showing team rankings with position colors, wins, losses, points columns

How Standings Work

Standings are calculated automatically from finished games:

  1. Game is marked Finished with scores
  2. Plugin calculates points and outcome (win/draw/loss)
  3. Standing table updates with new totals
  4. Teams are sorted by ranking criteria (points, then tiebreakers)

Tip

You don’t need to manually update standings after each game. The standing recalculates automatically when any game in its group is saved.

🚀 Creating a Standing

Step 1: Open Standings List

Go to Sports Leagues > Tournaments > Standings and click Add New.

Step 2: Select Tournament Group

The setup wizard shows tournaments with available groups:

  1. Find your tournament in the list
  2. Select the Stage and Group
  3. Click Select Group & Continue
Standing creation wizard showing tournament list with stage and group selection dropdowns

Note

Only groups without existing standings appear. Each group can have one standing table. Knockout stages don’t appear since they use bracket displays instead of standings.

Step 3: Configure and Save

The standing editor loads with all teams from the selected group. Configure ranking rules, colors, and columns, then click Publish.

Standing editor showing structure info, teams list, ranking criteria with drag-drop ordering, and column configuration sections

Ranking Criteria (Tiebreakers)

When teams have equal points, ranking criteria determine their order. Drag criteria from Available to Current and arrange by priority.

CriteriaDescription
ptsTotal standing points
sdScore difference (scored minus conceded)
sfScores for (total scored)
ratioWin percentage (wins / games played)
all_winTotal wins (all types)
ft_winFull time wins
ov_winOvertime wins
pen_winPenalty/shootout wins
drawTotal draws/ties

Common configurations:

  • Soccer/Football: pts > sd > sf (points, goal difference, goals scored)
  • Basketball: pts > ratio > sd (points, win percentage, point differential)
  • Hockey: pts > all_win > sd (points, wins, goal difference)

Automatic vs Manual Ordering

SettingWhen to Use
Automatic (Yes)Normal operation. Positions calculated using ranking criteria.
Manual (No)Special situations requiring manual position control (e.g., complex head-to-head tiebreakers not handled automatically).

Position Colors

Add background colors to standings rows to indicate playoff spots, promotion zones, or relegation areas.

Position colors configuration interface with color picker and position selection

Adding Colors

  1. Click Add Color
  2. Choose target type:
    • Place – Color a specific position (1st, 2nd, etc.)
    • Team – Color a specific team’s row
  3. Select the position number or team
  4. Choose a predefined color or enter a hex code

Available Colors

ColorTypical Use
success (green)Championship, promotion, conference winner
primary (blue)Playoff qualification, wild card
warning (yellow)Playoff play-in, bubble teams
danger (red)Relegation zone, elimination
secondary (gray)Neutral highlight

Point Adjustments

Add bonus points or deductions for specific teams:

  1. Click Add Points
  2. Select the team
  3. Enter value (positive for bonus, negative for deduction)
Initial points configuration showing team dropdown and points input field with -3 point deduction example

Common uses:

  • -3 points – Financial fair play violations
  • -1 point – Administrative infractions
  • +3 points – Walkover/forfeit awards
  • Bonus points – Carried from previous season

Table Columns

Configure which columns appear in the standing table. Two layouts are available:

LayoutWhere Used
Main LayoutFull standings on tournament pages, shortcodes with default layout
Mini LayoutWidgets, sidebars, compact displays (layout="mini")

Managing Columns

  • Drag columns to change order
  • Click eye icon to show/hide
  • Hidden columns appear faded with strikethrough

Available Columns

ColumnAbbrDescription
PlayedPGames played
Win – allWTotal wins (all types combined)
Win – full timeFTWRegulation wins only
Win – overtimeOTWOvertime/extra time wins
Win – penaltyPWPenalty shootout wins
DrawDDraws/ties
Loss – allLTotal losses
Scores – forSFTotal points/goals scored
Scores – againstSATotal points/goals conceded
Scores – differenceSDSF minus SA
RatioRatioWin percentage (wins / played)
Bonus PointsBPBonus points from games
PointsPtsTotal standing points

Table Notes

Add explanatory notes below the standing table. Notes support rich text and color placeholders that match position colors:

%success% - Promoted to Premier League
%primary% - Championship Playoffs
%danger% - Relegated to League One

Cloning Standings

Copy settings from an existing standing to a new one:

  1. Open the standings list
  2. Find the standing to clone
  3. Click Clone
  4. Select the new tournament group
  5. Click Select Group & Continue

The new standing inherits ranking rules, column order, colors, and notes from the original.

Standing Settings (Defaults)

Set defaults for new standings at Sports Leagues > SL Settings & Tools > Standing Settings:

SettingDescription
Ranking CriteriaDefault tiebreaker order for new standings
Columns OrderDefault column arrangement (Main Layout)
Mini Columns OrderDefault column arrangement (Mini Layout)

Note

These settings only apply to newly created standings. Existing standings keep their current configuration.

Displaying Standings

On Tournament Pages

Standings automatically appear on tournament pages when a standing exists for the group.

Using Shortcode

[sl-standing id="123"]
ParameterDefaultDescription
id(required)Standing table ID
titleemptyCustom title above table
layoutdefaultmini for compact display
partialemptySubset: 1-5 (positions 1-5) or team ID (shows nearby teams)
exclude_idsemptyTeam IDs to hide (comma-separated)
bottom_linknonetournament shows link to full standings

Examples

Top 5 teams only:

[sl-standing id="123" partial="1-5"]

Mini layout for sidebar:

[sl-standing id="123" layout="mini" title="Eastern Conference"]

Teams around a specific team (context view):

[sl-standing id="123" partial="45"]

Using Widget or Block

  • Widget: Add “SL Standing” to sidebar widget areas
  • Block: Search “Standing” in block editor to add the block

Premium Standing Features

The Premium version adds advanced standing capabilities:

Premium standing table with conference grouping, custom stat columns, streak indicators, and enhanced visual design

Advanced Columns Builder

Create custom columns beyond the standard set:

  • Streak – Current win/loss streak (W5, L3)
  • Last 5/10 – Record in last 5 or 10 games (W-D-L format)
  • Division Record – Record against division opponents
  • Conference Record – Record against conference opponents
  • Head-to-Head – Record/percentage against standing teams
  • Stats Columns – Add team stats as columns
  • Calculated Columns – Math on other columns (sum, ratio, difference)
  • Composed Columns – Combine values like “3-1” from multiple fields
Advanced columns builder showing column types dropdown, configuration options, and column list with drag handles

Conference & Division Support

Organize teams into conferences and divisions. Display standings grouped by conference with separate headers.

Conference partitions interface showing team assignment to Eastern and Western conferences with division assignments

Manual Data Entry

Enter standing values manually without needing game data. Useful for:

  • Historical seasons without full game records
  • External data imports
  • Mid-season adjustments
Manual data entry mode with editable cells for each team's statistics including wins, losses, and points

Core vs Premium Comparison

FeatureCorePremium
Automatic calculation from games
Ranking criteria / tiebreakers
Position colors
Point adjustments
Column show/hide/reorder
Main + Mini layouts
Shortcode partial display
Clone standings
Advanced columns builder
Streak / Last 5-10 columns
Division/Conference record columns
Head-to-head columns
Calculated columns (formulas)
Composed columns
Stats columns from team stats
Conference & Division partitions
Manual data entry mode
Column visibility per layout
Column background colors
Column borders
Home/Away filtering per column

🆘 Troubleshooting

Standing Not Updating

Problem: Positions/points don’t reflect recent games.

  1. Verify games are marked Finished
  2. Confirm games are in the correct tournament group
  3. Open standing and click Update to force recalculation
  4. Clear cache: SL Settings & Tools > Toolbox > Clear Cache

Wrong Positions

Problem: Teams appear in unexpected order.

  1. Check ranking criteria order (higher priority = first)
  2. Verify point system in Sport Configurator
  3. Look for point adjustments affecting totals
  4. Confirm “Automatic Position Calculation” is enabled

Tournament Group Not Showing

Problem: Can’t find tournament in standing creation.

  1. Verify tournament has a Group Stage (not only knockout)
  2. Check if standing already exists for that group
  3. Ensure tournament is Published
  4. Add teams to the stage group

📚 Related Documentation