2019 ZFAC Conversion Guidelines

[mmason]

2019 MFL Site Conversion Walkthrough - ZFAC Leagues

1. Before you begin, please verify that the league MB contains a post w/ the 2019 Rookie Draft Pick Order. Additionally, it may be helpful (though not necessary) to have posts detailing the current ZB balances for each team, and the future draft picks traded by each team.

2. Next, you need to close out business on the 2018 sites. This means that all accounting balances must be current before transitioning to the new web site. Do NOT go forward unless this step has been completed.

As soon as this is complete and the league is ready to move over, ALL abilities need to be taken away on the 2018 MFL sites. Go in to For Commissioners -> Setup -> Commissioner/Franchise Setup -> Abilities Setup and remove all abilities from all league members. The 2018 site is now a historical archive, and you're ready to do business in 2019.

3. To get started, when logged in as commissioner, click on the "click here to upgrade your 2018 league now" link that should be at the top of your league home page.



4. This will transfer the basic settings over to the 2019 version, and you can note the URL for your new league in the address bar of your browser. To continue migration, you need to get your players put back on their appropriate teams.

a. To do this, click "Transfer Rosters" link. (You may need to re-login as commissioner first if you do not see the "Next Steps" box)


b. You now come to a page with a large list of players. Since we're moving everybody just click checkbox for "Load all players listed below."


c. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click "Transfer Rosters" button, and all players will now be back on their appropriate teams. Return to the home page.

5. Now we need to deal with the draft picks. It is IMPORTANT that these steps are done in order. Use the "Draft Order Setup - All Rounds" link in the "Next Steps" box, or go in to For Commissioners -> Setup -> Draft Setup -> Draft Order Setup - All Rounds.


6. Set up BASE Rookie Draft Order BEFORE IMPORTING FUTURE DRAFT PICKS. This is VERY important. The BASE draft order MUST be set according to the draft order posted in your forum (this should align to the final standings from the previous year), REGARDLESS of who owns the actual pick via trades. This has caused a lot of problems in past years and it takes quite an effort to undo it after the fact if it is wrong.
a. Set the BASE draft order according to the draft order posted in your forum.
b. Verify "Number of Rounds" is set to "6."
c. Verify the "Draft Type" is set to "All rounds of the draft are set up as above."
d. Set "Send Email to Owners Regarding How Draft Order Was Generated" to "No".
e. Next click "Set Draft Order" button.


You'll see a page stating "Draft Order Set."

7. Now we need to handle trades. Return to your league home page, and click "Import Future Draft Picks" link.




8. You see a page similar to the below image. Click the "Import Traded Future Draft Picks" button. You'll now be taken to a screen with the draft order including trades. Make sure everything is , and adjust the picks manually if you need to. You can PM me if you have any problems.



We've now finished with the draft pick setup.

9. Accounting transfer

a. The next thing is to bring over each team's accounting balance, which didn't get automatically transferred during the upgrade. This is why it is important that the balances are up to date before this happens. To transfer the balances, Czars/Commissioners will need to add a manual accounting transaction on the 2019 sites for each team. Go to For Commissioners -> Edit Accounting Records. Add a "Credit" for the amount of the final balance from the 2018 site, to a maximum of $500, and in the notes section enter "Conversion from MFL 2018" or something like that, then click the "Add Accounting Records" button.




b. Afterwards, if you haven't already added each team's yearly income of $5500 on the previous year's site do so here. Follow the same process but add a credit of $5500 to each team with the note "2019 Income"

 

 

10. Restore Owner Abilities. Go to For Commissioners -> Setup -> Commissioner/Franchise Setup -> Abilities Setup
a. Reset the abilities for each owner in your league to match the image below.
b. Turn off Commissioner Lockout at this time by selecting the "No, the commissioner will have the ability to view pending owner-initiated transactions" option.
c. Click "Save Abilities"



11. After that, we've got to make sure only the correct draft picks are traded and lock players from being traded once their game has started.
a. Go to For Commissioners -> Setup -> Other Transactions Setup -> Trades Setup
b. Change the option "Allow trading draft picks for up to this many years in the future" to "1" years from now.
c. Make sure that "Prevent owners from accepting trades between kickoff of the player's game and the end of the last game of the week?" is set to "Yes."
d. Click the "Save Trades Setup" button.



12. Auction Setup: Go to For Commissioners -> Setup -> Auction Setup -> General Auction Setup.

a. Make sure that "Minimum Opening Bid:" is set to "10."
b. Make sure that "All Bids Must Be in Increments Of:" is set to "1."
c. Make sure that "An Individual Player Auction Is Over: is set to "2" day(s) after "high bidder change." (This will be changed back to "1" day at Payday)
d. Make sure that "Use Proxy Bidding:" is set to "Yes, enforcing is private."
e. Make sure that "Available Player Pool For This Auction" is set to "Only NFL Veterans". This will prevent rookies from showing on auction lists prior to the rookie draft.

f. Set "Charge Winning Amounts To:" to "NONE." (Make sure this is set correctly. This is different than Classic/PPR because we do not charge for players until Payday. It is a new setting needed in all leagues!)
g. Set "Starting Auction Funds Available" to "Set to each franchise current accounting balance." (Make sure this is set correctly. This seems to be a new setting needed in all leagues!)

h. Set "Available Auction Funds Are Reduced By:" to "Current open auction bids only." (Make sure this is set correctly. This may be a new setting needed in all leagues!)
i. Select "Save Auction Setup."

 

Note: Additional Auctions setup to allow rookies to be auctioned will have to be done after the Zealots rookie draft. To do so, change the setting in step 19e to "Both NFL Veteran Players and Rookies" after the conclusion of the Zealots rookie draft.

 

13. League Calendar: Go to For Commissioners -> Setup -> General Setup -> League Calendar Setup
a. Make sure the calendar shows the following events. Double check all items, but items in red will likely need to be changed. Events should be set to never end unless an "Event Ends:" date/time is listed below.

Event Type: No Injured Reserve Moves Allowed
Event Starts: March 12th @ 12:00 AM
Event Ends: August 26th @ 12:00 AM
Event Happens: One-time only

Event Type: Auction
Event Starts: March 13th @ 9:00 PM (this will vary based on league. In 2020 it will be set to the day after the league year begins)
Event Happens: One-time only

Event Type: Draft
Event Starts: May 1st @ 8:00 AM
Event Happens: One-time only

Event Type: No Trades Allowed
Event Starts: Kickoff of Week 11
Event Ends: Kickoff of Week 17
Event Happens: One-time only


14. New Division Alignments
a. Go to For Commissioners -> Setup -> General Setup -> General League Setup
b. Set "Total Number of Divisions" to 3.
c. Select "Save General League Setup."
d. Go to For Commissioners -> Setup -> General Setup -> Division and Conference Setup
e. Name the Divisions "Eastern," "Central," and "Western."
f. Check the box for "Assign all franchises randomly to divisions."
g. Select "Save Settings."
h. This will generate a warning about having already selected a packaged schedule. Click "OK" as we will take care of this in the next step.

15. New Fantasy Schedule
a. Go to For Commissioners -> Setup -> Fantasy Schedule Setup -> Select Packaged Schedule
b. Select "13 Week regular season - Play all 3 teams in your division two times and all 8 teams outside your division exactly once with one doubleheader week." (Make sure to select the correct option. It is the one ABOVE the red DOUBLEHEADER row!)

c. Click "Choose Schedule."
d. The next screen should display the new schedule. Note which week is the doubleheader week (it should have 12 games instead of 6); it will likely be week 7.
e. Go to For Commissioners -> Setup -> Fantasy Schedule Setup -> Switch Weeks in Fantasy Schedule
f. Set "Switch games of week:" to the doubleheader week (likely week 7).
g. Set "With games of week:" to "13."
h. Click "Switch Schedule Weeks."
i. Verify that the doubleheader week is now week 13.


2019 Checks

There were several settings that were found to not be consistent across leagues in 2018, and caused assorted problems. We're going to verify those settings are correct for 2019.

16. Off Partial Lineups: Go to For Commissioners -> Setup -> Players and Rosters -> Starting Lineup Setup.
a. Verify "Lineup Submission Deadline" is set to "Gametime."
b. Verify "Are Partial Lineups Allowed?" is set to "No." (Make sure this is set correctly. This seems to not be set correctly in all leagues!)
c. Verify "Automatically carry over starting lineup from the previous week?" is set to "At the beginning of the week". (Make sure this is set correctly. This one caused a LOT of problems in past seasons!)
d. Select "Save Starting Lineup Settings".

17. Scoring Changes: Go to For Commissioners -> Statistics Changes.Make sure the "Check this box to automatically apply all stat changes for all weeks of the season on Thursdays at 10:00am ET" checkbox is checked, and then click the "Save Setting" button.

18. Rookie Draft: Go to For Commissioners -> Setup -> Draft Setup -> General Draft and Timer Setup.
a. Set "If there's no suitable player in either list:" to "Skip the pick." (This is the top option.)
b. Make sure that "Available Player Pool for this Draft" is set to "Only NFL Rookies."
c. Select "Save Draft Timer Settings."

19. Injured Reserve: Go to For Commissioners -> Setup -> Other Transactions Setup -> Injured Reserve Setup.
a. Make sure "Number of Injured Reserve spots:" is set to "6."
b. Make sure "A player can only be put on Injured Reserve when his current official NFL injury status is:" is set to "IR."
c. Make sure "Can a player be put on IR when he's listed as 'Suspended'?" is set to "No."
d. Make sure "Prevent franchises with ineligible players on their IR from submitting lineup?" is set to "No." (we do not have forced activation in AC leagues)
e. Select "Save IR Setup."

20. General Add/Drop Setup : Go to For Commissioners -> Setup -> Add/Drop and Waivers Setup -> General Add/Drop Setup
a. Make sure "Prevent Owners From Making ANY Roster Moves After Kickoff Of That Player's Game Until The End Of The Week?" is set to "NO"

 

MFL Alerts
As part of the conversion process, we're going to make sure that a minimum set of e-mail alerts is enabled for each owner on MFL.

21. MFL Alerts - Go to For Commissioners -> Setup -> Commissioner/Franchise Setup -> Franchise Setup
a. Click on "Contact Info".
b. Ensure the following "Send email for" options are enabled, and if they are not, enable them.
1. When I'm on the Clock for My Draft (unless they already have "Draft Status Update" enabled)
2. Trade Proposals/Results
3. When Anyone in your League Updates Their Trade Bait
c. Click the "Save Franchise Information" button.


22. Turn on Commissioner Lockout - Go to For Commissioners -> Setup -> Commissioners/Franchise Setup -> Abilities.

a. Select "Yes, the commissioner will give up his ability to view pending owner-initiated transactions."
b. Click the "Save Abilities" Button

23. After the above steps are completed, the site should be ready for owners to move in. To officially announce the site is ready, Commissioners or Czars should use the For Commissioners -> Setup -> Commissioner/Franchise Setup -> Invite Franchise Owners to let owners know the site is ready. This email will send them a link directly to the 2019 site. All other settings on the site should be good to go for the time of year we are in.
Here are some other things that Czars and Commissioners should be aware of:

• You may need to update the Historical Franchises for the league. This can be done by going to For Commissioners -> Setup -> History Setup -> Link Historical Franchises. This option will allow a commissioner to link a current team in the league to the original team when the league was created. This will ensure that all of the new league history reports and records are accurate, even if team ownership has changed.

I will be available for any help you guys need with MFL during the transition process for all leagues. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Edited September 9, 2019 by mmason