Categories are Season-Specific
Each season has its own set of 31 standard award categories that can be customized independently. Changes to one season's categories don't affect other seasons.
Automatic Population
When creating a new season, you can automatically populate all 31 standard categories with a single click. The system handles batch insertion internally to work within database limits.
Per-Season Customization
Categories can be enabled/disabled, renamed, or have their rules modified for each season without affecting the standard templates or other seasons.
Create a New Season
Navigate to /admin/seasons and create your new season. Make sure to check the "Populate with standard award categories" checkbox to automatically add all 31 categories.
Access Category Management
Click the "Categories" link next to your season or navigate directly to/admin/seasons/[seasonId]/categories
Populate Categories (if needed)
If you didn't check the box during season creation, click "Populate Standard Categories". The system will automatically add all 31 categories in batches to avoid database limits.
Customize Categories
For each category, you can:
- Toggle active/inactive status using the switch
- Click "Edit" to modify name, description, or nomination rules
- Adjust maximum number of nominees
- Update which show types the category applies to
Technical Implementation Details
The system automatically handles SQLite's variable limit (~999 parameters) by inserting categories in batches of 5. Each category has approximately 19 fields, so 5 categories × 19 fields = 95 variables per query, well within the limit.
This batch processing is handled internally by populateSeasonCategories()and requires no manual intervention.
Performance Categories
- • 7 for both Play & Musical
- • 2 Musical-only (Vocalist, Dancer)
- • 2 Play-only (Physicality, Oration)
Technical Categories
- • 13 for both Play & Musical
- • 2 Musical-only (Orchestra, Choreography)
- • 1 Play-only (Musicality)
Reviewer Categories
- • Reviewer Team (group award)
- • Freshman/Sophomore Reviewer
- • Junior Reviewer
- • Senior Reviewer
Disable a category for one season
Navigate to the season's categories page and toggle the switch next to the category you want to disable. This won't affect other seasons.
Modify nomination rules
Click "Edit" next to any category and update the "Nomination Rules" field. This is useful for special circumstances or clarifications specific to that season.
Clone categories from a previous season
Use the API function cloneCategoriesFromSeason() to copy all customizations from a previous season. This maintains consistency across similar seasons.
"Season already has categories" error
Categories can only be populated once per season. To make changes, use the edit functionality for individual categories rather than trying to populate again.
Categories not showing up
Check that categories are marked as active and that the show type filters match. The system only displays active categories that apply to the relevant show type.
"Too many SQL variables" error
This should be handled automatically by the batch insertion system. If you encounter this error, ensure you're using the latest version of the populateSeasonCategories() function which inserts categories in batches of 5.