New Horizon Experience. This article describes the New Horizon Experience. In the Horizon WebRef mobile apps for Android and iOS, New Horizon is already what you see. On a computer or laptop, choose Try the New Horizon Experience from the banner or your account menu. You can switch back from that menu any time.
Both layouts are in use right now. In the Horizon WebRef mobile apps for Android and iOS you see the New Horizon Experience. On a computer or laptop, the older legacy layout stays until you choose Try the New Horizon Experience from the banner or your account menu. Match the steps to the screen in front of you. When a control or rule exists on only one layout, this article says so. The steps below start with the New Horizon Experience in the apps, then cover that older desktop or laptop layout.
All subscription packages for HorizonWebRef include an Auto-Assign feature that lets you quickly populate your game schedule with assignments of available and qualified officials. This article walks through how to use Auto-Assign effectively.
Assignors open the Auto-Assign console from the Master Game Schedule. You can select games first, or open Auto-Assign with no games selected and search for them in the console. Officials who only work games do not run Auto-Assign unless they also assign. Your organization must have Auto-Assign turned on.
Watch the walkthrough, then use the steps below. The video shows the New Horizon Experience. On a computer or laptop you may still see the older layout described at the end of this article.
Turn Auto-Assign on and set it up
Only organization administrators can change these settings. Open System Settings from the menu. On Overview, tap or click the Features & Settings tile. On a larger screen you can also use the left sidebar. Search by number or label (for example auto-assign or 1). Open the Assigning group if that section is collapsed.
Turn on Auto-Assign System (Feature #1). That is the setting that lets assignors use Auto-Assign. When it is off, assignors do not see Auto-Assign. The page saves on its own a moment after you change a setting. Wait for the short Saved or All changes saved message before you leave the page.
On a computer, the same screen uses the wider layout.
The gear next to Feature #1 opens Auto-Assign settings, where you set the default Maximum travel distance and the default Maximum games per day. Those defaults are used the next time you open the console.
Officials must already be members of the organization. Auto-Assign does not issue assignments directly to users under 13.
How to use Auto-Assign
Auto-Assign is four steps in one window: Select, Options, Preview, then Complete. You can start from games you already checked on the Master Game Schedule, or open the window first and search there.
1. Pick games on the Master Game Schedule
On the Master Game Schedule, check the games you want. A red bar shows how many are selected. Games must be unpublished, not cancelled, not in the past, not a meeting, and have at least one open spot. The list follows the same allowed-to-assign rules as the rest of the Master Game Schedule.
On a computer, the same screen uses the wider layout.
2. Open Auto-Assign
After you select games, tap Auto-Assign on the red selection bar. On a phone the red bar shows Actions instead of a separate Auto-Assign button. Open Actions, then tap Auto-Assign (it sits under Scheduling tools when that group is there).
On a computer, the same screen uses the wider layout.
You can also open Utilities (the gear), then Scheduling tools, then Auto-Assign. You do not need a selection first. History is not on the red bar. On the older desktop or laptop layout, use Auto-Assign in the Automation menu on the top toolbar of the Master Game Schedule.
On a computer, the same screen uses the wider layout.
3. Select games in the console when you did not start with a selection
If you already selected games on the Master Game Schedule, the console skips this step. If you did not, choose a Date Range (the main control at the top), then tap Find games next to it. To narrow the list, tap the Filters icon and pick league, game code, or site, then tap Find games again.
On a computer, the same screen uses the wider layout.
Check the games you want, then tap Continue next to Clear all or the Continue that stays at the bottom of the window. More games load as you scroll; tap Show more if you want to load the next set by hand. Games are listed by date, then location name, then time.
On a computer, the same screen uses the wider layout.
4. Set options
The console shows how many selected games are valid to Auto-Assign, and how many are not eligible. Set Maximum travel distance (shown when Feature #47 is on), Maximum games per day, mileage reimbursement if your organization pays travel, which officials to consider, and which positions to fill. Defaults opens the organization starting values (same page as the Feature #1 gear). Tap Continue when you are ready to preview.
On a computer, the same screen uses the wider layout.
Positions are listed once per name for the selected games (for example one Referee, not a separate row for every game code). Leave the pool on All officials, or choose Limit the pool and pick contact groups or named people. Contact groups are the ones you created or that were shared with you.
On a computer, the same screen uses the wider layout.
5. Preview
The plan lists every assignment Auto-Assign is about to create, plus any skipped games, in date, then location name, then time order. Fillable and Skipped counts appear at the top on this step. Tap Back if you want to change options and preview again.
On a computer, the same screen uses the wider layout.
6. Complete
After a preview that has fillable games, tap Run Auto-Assign and confirm. On the older desktop or laptop console the same step is labeled Auto Assign Now. Horizon creates the assignments from the previewed plan. No assignment emails are sent.
On a computer, the same screen uses the wider layout.
On a computer, the same screen uses the wider layout.
Options
Maximum travel distance limits officials to those whose stored travel distance to the game site (or linked sites) is within your cap. This is official-to-site travel from the mileage table, not a live map radius and not the distance between games. Values under 5 do not filter by distance. Sites that do not collect mileage skip that check. Officials with no stored distance still pass the cap. Among people who remain eligible, closer travel is preferred.
A skip that says No officials within travel distance means the game itself is not over a limit. Every remaining eligible official lives farther than your Maximum travel distance for that site (or a linked site). Raise the cap in Options, turn mileage off for that site, or leave the value under 5 if you do not want distance to block the plan.
A skip that says Everyone is at the daily game limit means every remaining eligible official would go over Maximum games per day if they took this game (and its linked set).
Mileage reimbursement appears when Feature #47 is on and your organization has mileage tables. Choose None, All assigned, One per game, or One per position.
How Auto-Assign determines who to use
Auto-Assign looks for officials who are eligible for the game and position, then fills the hardest games first (the ones with the fewest remaining eligible people). It prefers TBA respondents and closer travel when those rules apply, and it keeps linked games together.
The exact scoring formula is not published. Auto-Assign uses many of the same qualification rules as the assigning window. Factors it considers include:
Availability Calendar
Number of Games
Mileage System
Officiating Metrics System
Manual Rankings
Age-Based Restrictions
Decline Tracking
Conflict Detection
Game Number Limits
Venue Limitations
Team Block Systems
Game Code Block Systems
Venue Block Systems
League Block Systems
Partner Block Systems
TBA responses (prioritized when you have collected them)
Game linking when Feature #2 is on
Eligible is the full qualification result. Available is the calendar only. A skip for "not available" is a calendar miss. A skip for "not eligible" is a qualification miss. Being available that day does not by itself mean eligible.
Fillable and Skipped counts appear at the top on Preview (and stay through Complete). Each game in the plan is a fill or skip card: who would be assigned to which position, or why that game was skipped (already full, nobody eligible, no officials within travel distance, everyone is at the daily game limit, or filled with a linked game).
Important notes
After Auto-Assign, you still need to Publish the games to finalize and release the assignments.
If needed, you can undo an Auto-Assign session so you can try different settings. Undo lives in Auto-Assign history and removes remaining unaccepted assignments from that run. Published, accepted, past, and cancelled games stay assigned.
Gaps or unfilled spots can appear if no available and eligible officials are found. Review the schedule after Auto-Assign and fill any gaps by hand.
You can run more than one Auto-Assign session on the same set of games, assigning officials to different positions or roles in a few batches. That is often the most effective approach.
Auto-Assign does not send assignment emails when it creates assignments.
Helpful tips
Auto-Assign works best when you have put enough information into HorizonWebRef. The more you enter, the more helpful Auto-Assign is. These steps improve the results:
Turn on the mileage system (Feature #47), even if you do not pay mileage reimbursements. That lets Auto-Assign use stored travel distance from each official to the game site.
Create and use Contact Groups for restrictions and officiating pools.
Use the Game Linking System (Feature #2) to link the games first if you want the same set of officials to work a group of games.
Use Auto-Assign together with the TBA System so it can pick from the TBA responses you have received. TBA responses are prioritized when Auto-Assigning.
History and Defaults
The clock icon in the top right of the Auto-Assign card opens History in a second window on top of the console, so your plan stays where you left it. See How to review Auto-Assign history for undo. You can also open history from the Master Game Schedule under Utilities, then Scheduling tools, then View / undo Auto-Assigns.
On the Options step, tap Defaults. That opens the same Auto-Assign settings page as the Feature #1 gear: default maximum travel distance and default maximum games per day. After you save, you stay on that window.
If you still see the older legacy desktop or laptop layout
On desktop or laptop, check the game boxes, then open Auto-Assign from the Automation menu on the top toolbar of the Master Game Schedule. Choose your officials, positions, and limits, then tap Auto Assign Now. The same publish, undo, gap-fill, and multiple-session notes above still apply.